OPINIONS.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume II, Issue 190, 1 September 1888, Page 3

OPINIONS.

-* Opinions may be worn on both aides like a leather jerkin.” "Contributed. J SHALL I KOT TAKE MINE EASE IN MINE INN ? A public demonstration against the Licensing clauses in the Local Government Bill has been held in Hyde Park, London. They protested against these clauses, warm-headed enthusiasts, sons of Pbt'oix, brothers of ditto ; Good Templars and Bechabites assembled in force. Now that these people have got into their hands all that they have toiled after for years, they should, they ought to be, supremely content. But the compensation items —ah, Sir, it’s a dear collop that’s cut from one’s own flesh ; the clauses to compensate the publican. Oh ! no, out root and branch with the whole traffic and traffickers; compensate the publican indeed, never. If such a thing may be thought of, let compensation be made to the multitudes whom they have tempted to their ruin. So say the good Rechabite and Templar. The publican has been engaged in a lawful trade. The Government who has placed him in his position has no right now to hand him over to the mercies of his enemies. The principle of compensation has been again and again recognised in much weaker instances. When slavery was abolished the slaveholders were compensated for the property which they were obliged to surrender. When the system of purchase in the Army was discontinued, those holding commissions were compensated I and were not permitted to sell. Surely the most rabid foes of the liquor traffic would not put it on a moral level with slave-holdipg. There are some queer dogs, whom nothing will satisfy. Sir Wilfred Lawson has got what he has long been asking, we trust that his good breeding will not fail him now. OULD XBBLAND. Mr 8., member of Parliament; Lord Mayor of Dublin ; Cousin of St. Patrick. Friend of the Queen of England; Enemy of all the world besides. Seriously, whatever bewitched the promoters Of the Irish Exhibition to have and to hold their performances in London ? Well, so it is. Seven acres, so we are told, are laid out in magnificent style as pleasure grounds. These are entered through an intricate mazy underground cave structure, a thing in itself a marvel of design and construction. See these queer old stones of all sizes and geological quality; what gloomy recesses, where bats and cats and badgers breed; see how the light of day playa at hide-and-seek-me through the chinks: how prettily these stalactites and Stalagmites hang from roof or spring upwards from the floor, where neither snake nor toad ever crawled or wriggled. Why, here, one might fancy, witch and fairy and goblin might And suitable accommodation. A genuine Irish cave ; so says our Englishman guide, wonder did he ever see a genuine Engfish cave; if so, in what respect do they differ ? We emerge safely from the Irish cave. Oh ! What green greens are all about us here; turf (oft as carrigeen moss, what nice paths, cool retreats, and other rural objects of most Original interest; ah 1 all so very Hirith. We turn toward the Irish village, reminding one of—“Kilkenny's a pretty town, an' shines where she stands, An' the more I think on her, the more my heart warms.’’ Bight in the middle of this village stands a stone cross from a village in the County Meath, called Ardbracean, a real thing this: why the relic was allowed to be taken over the sea, is to me an unexplained event; supposing that the ship in which it was stowed had been wrecked at sea 1 Our guide says that this and Other similar structures have all the appearance of being built of stone; the deception is ■ complete:—and in the same breath he tells OS that the cross itself has been brought over from its native village in Ireland. And the dear pigs and their savoury surroundings will soon all be there. And the dogs, cats, and poultry, with a few tame jackdaws, turkeys, geese, and ducks, not forgetting the soorific Voiced jsckass, then indeed Olympia’s Irish Village v JI be an attractive region. Ah I there is the grand castle we've often admired within its home woods, visible for many a long mile, towering from its height, overlooking the picturespue country beneath. Here mimic sieges, we are told, will take place, as well as other military displays of an interesting and exciting nature. Perhaps so, let us hope that no fool will be killed. And there is an Irish round tower, moss covered, ivy-mantled of hoary age and—paste hoard—in stone. But come here we are in—- “ The groves of Blarney they look so Channing, All by the purling of sweet silent brooks.” Don’t forget the famous stone as the poet Sings :—

’’ There is a stone there, That whoever kisses Oh 1 he never misses To grow eloquent 1” The object of the exhibition on the whole is commendable, every important Irish industry—the few that are left her—will be represented. Linen, damasks, lace, bog-oak jewelry, ropes, serges, tobacco, and her shipping will all be represented. We are told that a whole aisle of the building will be fitted with Irish whiskies in every conceivable packet or bottle or other receptacle. Whether St. Patrick be the patron of the Hibernian distiller or not, our guide does not say, perhaps does not know; but the Irish poet evidently knows something about it since he sings :— “No wonder that the Saint himself Should understand distilling, Since his mother kept a sheebeen* shop In the town of Enniskillen. ’’ Art, Irish fine art, will be represented; (nd Irish antiquities also will be richly displayed. And the famous Brook of Kells, preserved with religions care in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, it is hoped will be exhibited for a short time. Ignorance, slovenlines, and superstitionterrible triplet this—and as the English guide says, these, dear sir, are at the bottom, the whole bottom, sides, back, top, and front of Ireland’s sorrows. Arrah John Agra 1 wid ye be so kind as t»;he yer granny to suck gooseberries ; ye know purty well be this tonne o' day that it’s nothin’ i' the sort. Paddy is neither ignorant, nor too particularly nate in person we admit, but as to his superstition, well after Mr John Morley's tachin, and the dear odd Pope's rescript, lure, ye can’t say that we're over head an’ pan in love wid religion true or false, if it's that ye mane. ’Bhseb«a—a low whisk shop . And here we are by a genuine Irish dairy ; and also a few nate Kerry cows to give milk for your tag in the morning : and the dairymaids, yes, sure it is as the poet again sings—- “ It’s rollin' in the dew, Makes the milkmaids fair.” But here is the Rev. Canon Bagot giving lessons in dairying; only think of his riverince being so beautifully and artistically employed : With a chum and a duh, to make the crame splash, Some boilin’ hot wather to splutter • See his riverince at work, like a brick, or a Turk, Arrah 1 how nately he fists up the butter.’.’ (Note. —We would like to know, if the New Zealand Government would endeavor to secure the Rev. Canon for a term, so as to give instructions as above, to our colonial dairy-maids.)