ANECDOTES FROM TIIK JOURNALS OF MR. O'NEILL DAUNT.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXIV, Issue 11, 5 February 1897, Page 29

ANECDOTES FROM TIIK JOURNALS OF MR. O'NEILL DAUNT.

Some good stories are told in the journals of Mr. O'Neill Daunt, recently published under the title '" A Life Spent in Ireland." At one time Mr. Daunt w the guest of Father Burke, in whose pari-h one of the sanguinary tithe affrays occurred between the parsons and the Catholic people. The soldiers were called on to tire on the populace, and some persons were killed. Soon afterward.-* Father Burke received <i Government circular inquiring the number of his flock, for the purpose of making up a census. He answered that, as he had not yet ascertained to what extent his people were thinned out on the last shooting day. he could not furnish the required information with accuracy. When the poor law was first introduced, a Dublin beggarwoman, whom a gentleman referred to the poor-house said : " The poor law's a grand thing for the sowls of the gintlemcn." " Why so /" "Bekaise now, when we axes for alms they only say • -Go to the poor house.' but before there was a poor-house they used to say : 'Go to the divil !' " At a contested election in G-ahvay a landlord named Foster sold his whole stock of votes for a good aum to each of the candidates. Having pocketed the money of both, ho called all the voters together. Foster was too generous to keep all the traffic to himself. '"Boys," he exclaimed, to his expectant serfs, " I don't care a button who you vote for. I have made the most I could of you, ; go and sell your vote, every man of you, to the best advantage you can." When Mr. Hemphill was canvassing Cashel he found that a party of electors, known as ■• commoners." numbering some thirteen or fourteen, were notoriously corrupt, and always sold their vote to the highest bidder. Their annual price was -C2O per vote. Hemphill requested the priest to preach on the sin of trafficking on the franchise, and the priest complied, and denounced corrupt trafficking in votes as a mortal sin. The next day Homphill met one of the commoners, and anxious to learn what effect the sermon had produced on these venal gentlemen, ho asked the man whether he had been at Mass on the previous day. " I was, your honour." \ y " Was not that sermon on bribery excellent .' ' • "It was an elegant sermon, your honour." " Will it do good, do you think .'"' " I think it will make the election run very close, your honour." " How so ?" " Why, we always got £20 for a vote before we knew it was a sin ; but. as his reverence says we'll be damned for it we can't for the future take lesa than JCJo."

When Lord Muskerry was dying 1 the parson in attendance remarked that life and its vanities would soon pass away and exhorted him to repent. " Eepent ! For what should I repent ?" demanded the old lord. " Why, I don't remember that during my whole life I ever denied myself anything."