THE PAST YEAR IN IRELAND.

Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1529, 22 April 1882, Page 4

THE PA ST YEAR IN IRELAND.

- .-X*. --' "♦ "—" — The retrospect of the year > 1 SSI is not jne to be contemplated with satisfaction; but much allowance must, b,e made for the circumstance that the country is in a gtfite of transition. .The beneficial influences of the practical working ' of the Land Act have as yet had but little time to make themselves felt: Neither landlord nor tenant professes to be satisfied with it ; but an expressi6n of satisfaction it mast be remembered, would* be' prema--' ture at present. The landlords could not ill the same breath express cententme'nt tnd ask for compensation"; but how little real reason they have for dissatisfaction is demonstrated by the fact that the reductions to which their rent-rolls have been subject do not exceed the reductions which arc being voluntarily made in England. The tenants, it is said, arc not satisfied. This' is fat from a correct statement of the situation. The tenants are wisely refraining from giving expression to their satisfaction, knowing, as they do, that ,subh -an expression would l)e made use of to their detriment. But the ical feeling of the tenants as to the working of the Act is to bo ( arrived at by the fact that with scarcely an' exception the appeals taken against the decisions of the Assistant Commissioners have been taken by the landlords. The landlords will leave no stone untnrned, not only to obtain for themselves n leversal or a modification in their own favour of those decisions, but their policy will be to flood the Land Commission Court ->vith appears, so j as not only to create a block, if that can be done, but to haraibs the tenants who j have' had the temeiity to go into the Court. A, just and. fearless administration of the Act and the due exorcise of the power of awarding costs will go far to frustrate efforts at obstruction such as those indicated . Although the year has been marked by the commission of many agrarian murders and other outrages, theic is iCiison to hope tnat in this respect an improvement has already begun. Boycotting has ceased to be an effective weapon ; the people in a great many places have shown greater moral courage, and a greatci determination to assert thoirlibuity of action ; juiics have on the whole ,sho\\ n a disposition to give their \cidicts "without fear;" the polico, piobnbly aided nioie efficiently than heretofore by the people, heciu to be getting on the tiack of tho perpetrators ot tho dgiMiiiiii ciimus whoso rccunls disgicicc the until tiy ; and there scorns to ))o a glowing conviction that the written law is iroic powoiful than the unwritten l.i\v, and had tht'iofoio bettor bo more respected. JJus-incfas docs not appear to h.no isiilk'i'od muJi by the distraction caused by tho disturbed state of affairs of the country. The banks have managed their afl.uis with di'cichon, and the wholesale business houses have not made litoio than the avouige amount of bad dobty. Kiiliiiih have hen lev, and on the whole business his boon steady. It i-i boli.'ved th.it the kink dopo&ils and cihh l>alajtccs will 'ihrrv an increase—atti:biilable to the '• delay' in the payment ot u-iit. -J)»t/>! Xnr,.

Tin: lii fit successful attempt at pres>ci \ ing meat hy packing in air tiglit j.u^, v.is in ule by M. Appnrt in France in 1811. For Ins diaooveiy the Empeior icw aided him ■\vith a, gilt of 12,000 iiaiits. Eihc'vtim; ]Tohsi:s— JTorsos can be educated to the evtent of their undcistanding as well as children, and can be as easily damaged or ruined by bad management. The gveat ihftovence in hozses as to vicious habits comes much more from different management than fvom variance of natural disposition. Horses with high mettle are more easily educated than tlio.se of dull spirit, and more .susceptible to ill-training. Tint horses with dull spirits are not by any means proof against bad management, for in them may often be found the most provoking obstinancy and a icious habits of different characters that render them almost worthless. Could the coming generations of horses in this country be kept .from their days os colthood to the age of five years in the hands of good, careful managers, there would be scon a v ast difference in in the general characters of the noble animals. If a colt is never allowed to get an advantage, it will never know that it possesses a power that man cannot control ; 'and if made familiar with strange objects, it will not be skittish and nervous. If a hoisc is accustomed fiom his oaily days to have objects hit him on the heels, back, and hip^, ho will pny no attention to the giving out of a harness, or of a wag o on running against him at an unecpectod moment. I once saw an aged lady dine a, high-smiled hovsc attached to a carnage down a .steep hill, and with no hold-back s-tiap^ upon the harness, and she assured mo that there was no d.uiger, for her .son accustomed his hoi->es to nil kinds of usages and fights tluit commonly dine the animal into a fien/.y of fear and excitement. A gun can be tired horn the back of a hoi so, an umbiulLi hold o\er hi.s ho.id, a buffalo robe tin own upon his neck, a railroad engine pass close by, Jus heels humped with sticks, and the animal take it all as .1 liatuial condition of things, if only tilllifht by careful management that ho Will not be injured thovohy. Theie is great need of impiovemcnt in managenicnt—lc<~s be.iting and moic education, — • Count) >i Grtdloiuai. An Itvmw Juuy's VKit'm'r. — .hivics seem to be constituted much the same all the world over- so fai af> occasional ecccntiioity is concerned. All Milan id now l inging w ilh the a erdict of » jui y in that city. ()uee\cning last June, Toresina la Kioiaia, a llower girl of e\traoulinuiy beauty, was retuiniug to her lodging fiom a pciformanoe at tlie Wowa Circus, a\ hen as she stepped out of cab at the dooi, a cloaked figure rprang upon her from the poitico with a menacing gesture, and then vanished in the darkness, having, however, contrived to inflict a severe wound on her light cheek with one dexteious cut of a ra?or as he brushed passed her. She fell bleeding profusely to the ground, whence she was presently picked up mil convoyed to thp hospital, di<sfigmed for life. The police succeeded in diMxneriiig the author of this barbarous outrage, a Neapolitan by bhth, who, strange to say, had no personal grudge against his victim, but had undertaken to I mutiliatc her on bohalf of a friend whom she had previously offended. For' some months previous to the catastrophe in question, Teresina. had carried on a liaison with a handsome young A T oluiiteer in the Novara regiment of Lancers, as jealous as he was loving. Wearied at last of his jealousy, she threw him over, and openly transferred her affections to another of her many admirers. Driven to despair by her fickleness, the "youthful Lancer confided his soi rows ( to a comrade, the Neapolitan above alluded to, who, observing that "in Naples it was the custom for jilted lovers to set their mark on the.faithless destroyers of their peace," offered to act as his ,friend{s avenger,' and did so, with the -result \ already stated. Incredible as it jjnay appear, the juiy before Svhich s he aiuWvi&. comrade wore tried a few days ago, acquitted both culprits, on the amazing qi omul that "the impulses of jealousy being irresistible, aa all men lm^wythe . accused could not be held responsible for actions committed, under the influence of that overwhelm ii»g p^sj^onV', „(