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An Excellent Letter From the Pen of Mr "William Eedmond, Showing How to Build Up Irish Manufactures. THE BELLEEK POTTERY FACTORY Js a Special and Genuine Irish Industry, and Yet There is Comparatively Little Interest Taken in it in Ireland. Mr. William Redmoud. M. P.. writ ing in the Dublin Freemen of October 21, on the Belleek manufactory says— The best way to build up native manu factures in the future is to nourish and keep going what we have at present and this, I am very much afraid, is not done by any means, as generally as it should be. Take, for instance, the Bel leek Pottery Factory, which a a a spe cial and genuine Irish industry, and yet there is comparatively little interest taken in. it in Ireland. When the Ex hibition was in Dublin, some pretty specimens of tbe Belleek work was ex hibited and admired on all sides. There are in Dublin and the provinces some few shops where Belleek manufactures may be Been and purchased if asked for. I ey oral this, however, there is very little known of the beautiful work executed bv the people of the little Fermanagh town: and yet that work, from the point of a t, is a credit to Ireland, and might be a credit to any manufacturing centre of the world. There is no more deli cately beautiful ware produced than sue Belieek, and at the same time it is quite durable and in every respeet equal to the wares imported from England. Yet all over the country the English ware is used and how very few, com paratively speaking, ever ask for Bel leek I may be told that it is dearer than the English work, and to some ex tent this is no doubt, true: but if the country were to genuinely support the native work, Belleek, with enlarged custom, would produce better goods quite as cheaply as the English can be got. If the people only realized the great blessings that flow from the exis tence of a factory like the Belleek Pot tery, 1 am sure that, for the sake oi being able to think that they had done something to sustain labor in the coun try, they would even pay a few pence more, if necessary, and have the satis faction of knowing that their money was going to feed hard-working Irish men and women and children, instead o? going to England, where the people are well able to take care of themselves. It may be necessary for the peoole of Ireland, for some time, to make a little sacrifice to set the work of manufacture going but, God knows, the sacrifice will not be much, and the result will be work for the idle, bread for the hungry, and general help to those of our poor country-people whose very lives depend upon the existence of workshops like Belleek. it is almost impossible to realize to oneself how very great a blessing a fac tory is. in a little country place in Ire land especially, where the land is poor, and means of living scanty. I had an opportunity of inspecting the potteries at Belleek, last week, and so much struck was I at the real merit of the work that-1 made up my mind to place this paper before the public, in the hope that it might have the efleet of doing something towards stimulating a more general support to what is one of the lew artistic manufactures left to Irelaud HOW. There are some two hundred and twenty men, women and children em ployed at the Belleek factory—some times more and sometimes less. The etlicient way in which the many differ ent processes of manufacture are gone through is in itself abundant proof of the great skill and intelligence with which the Irish people can adapt them selves to fine- and delicate work of this kind. Most, indeed nearly all, of the emplayes are local people, who, by so berness and strict attention, have mas tered the intricacies of the trade which they now ply. It was to me and the gentleman wiio so kindly showed me over the' factory, the most pleasant sight in the world to see how cheerful ly and cleverly such a large number of people were engaged in turning out the most beautiful and delicately hand finished work and this not in Paris or London, but in little Belleek, a remote corner in the county Fermanagh. The whole place, with its business-like ac tivity and orderly and regular system of work, amply illustrated to our minds what the country might be if only fac tories of his kind were at once set go ing, to give work and wages to the people, who are now obliged to seek employment everywhere, anywhere but at home. A great deal of the Belleek work is hand-worked, and it was really marvelous to watch the swiftness and accuracy with which the clay turned into the prettiest shapes and patterns under the busy fingers of the workers. As for the painting, I must sa/ that I was never so much astonished in my life as to see the really exquisite way in which a number of young men and wo men were painting pictures on plates, ornaments, etc., etc. The artistic na ture of the work, and its delicate exe cution, are creditable in the highest de gree, and I am quite certain that it only requires to be well-known to be highly appreciated. There is no doubt that Belleek is not sufficiently known, and I believe if the work there was sup ported properly the name of the Fer managh town will yet become a house hold word far outside of Ireland. The little factory is not by any means, be it understood, doing badiv, but 1 want to see it grow so that it may increase till it is able to supply its goods as cheaply as they can be got from England. Bel leek is principally known,as far as it is known, for its fine work, but it also turns out the roughest and strongest wares for everyday use, and 1 believe it will yet do a large trade in these things by-and-by. I do not know what would become of its neighborhood if anything happened the works, or where the people employed there would turn for bread. It would be a great calam ity if this industry, struggling against fierce English competition, were to go down. It rests, after all, with tLe pub lic. and I know well there is enough patriotism about these matters and I say again I believe that Belleek oniy wants to be known. A more thoroui. li ly Irish concern you could not have. The clay is Irish, the hands that fash ion it are Irish, and the capital of the business is Irish. I venture to appeal to the Irish merchants at home, and particularly in America and Australia, to try, for the sake of the credit of Ire land, to push this trade. Personally I do not know any of tbe shareholders of the concern, though I believe they are nearly all local men, I draw attention to the factory in the interest of the factory hands and let my excuse for trespassing so long upon your space lie in the fact that Belleek—I am very proud of it—is in my constituency, and I am intimately acquainted with the real good and comfort which the presence of the factory there diffuses all around the district. If you could seethe hands at work, if you could notice the interest they take in it, and how proud they are of it, I am sure you would f*-el as sorry as possible to think that it should not prosper and flourish and, above all, if you could see how hard and cheerfully they toil—men, women and children—for the pay (small enough), how glad they are to get it, no one knows who has not expe rience of how hard the people find it, in many parts, to get the chance even of earning one shilling. They are jeal ous of Belleek in England, and I have heard of an intention on the part of certain Englishmen to try and buy it, and to let it drop and die. This, sure ly, of itself should be enough to arouse the support and sympathy of the coun try in the little factory. I would like to see the words, Belleek" written up everywhere. My only excuse for this (I am afraid too long) letter is that it is admitted everywhere that questions concerning Irish manufacture are of the greatest importance. Scotch Eesist Evictors. Some time since a speaker addressing a meeting of Scotch crofters declared that if the evicting landlords persisted in their attempts to exterminate the people they would be met with stern resistance. "Scottish blood," he said, "would dye the heather" if the emissa ries of destruction continued their atrocious'work. His word has been made good. Scot tish blood has dyed the heather, and though the attempt at resistance was unsuccessful the men who made it have no reason to be ashamed. The affair referred to was witnessed at Kilmuir, in the Isle of Skye, a few days ago. A large force of police there were assisting the sheriff and bailiffs to evict a num ber of poor people when they were at tacked and driven back by the hardy islanders. But a large body of troops were at once ordered to tfce spot and the people were finally repulsed and fell back, leaving six of their comrades wounded in the hands of the military. Such events as this are calculated to excite renewed indignation among the men of Scotland against the landlord system which has wrought such havoc in their country. This "victory" may cost the British dear before the end is reached. The example set by the croft ers of Ivilmuir will, we have no doubt, be followed by many others of their countrymen similarly circumstanced, and the exasperation felt now against cruel and heartless landlords will be fore long be entertained towards the Government which in its efforts to sup port an sustain them sends its armed forces to shed the blood of the people upon the soil from which they sprung. —Irish World. VOLUME III. MINNEAPOLIS AND ST. PAUL, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1886. NUMBER NATIONAL PRISON CONGRESS Several Interesting Papers Read Before the National Prison Congress at Its Last Annual Session. MR, MOYLAN, THE INSPECTOR Of Penitentiaries in Canada Speaks of the Benefit of Catholic Chaplains in Connection "With Prisons. Thr National Prison Congress com menced Its annual session iu Atlanta. Ga.. on the 6lh inst., and continued its deliberations until Saturday. the 13fch. A most interesting paper was read by Justin Dixon, of the New York Juve nile Reformatory. Indeed it was one of the most valuable contributions to the Congress, aud was highly appre-! ciated. When the subject of prison chap lains was under debate, Rev. F. H. Wines, of Springfield, 111., a son of the late Rev. E. C. Wines, Secretary Prison Association, and founder of the Na tional Prison Association, aud Inter national Congresses—with that liber ality which distinguished his excellent father, called the attention of the Con gress to the justice and necessity of having Catholic chaplains appointed wherever there are Protestant chap lains in the prisons of the country, and to be placed on the same footing as to salary, official recognition, etc., with those officials. He said tlia-t the ne cessity for Catholic service for Catholic prisoners is admitted almost every where in the world. In this decidedly Protestant country there is some danger of being unjust to those with whose religious faith Ave do not agree. In Catholic countries of Europe he had been impressed with a .liberality on this question which was in contrast with views often enforced iu this land of boasted religious freedom. The Catholic chaplain should be placed ex actly on the same footing with Catholic prisoners as the Protestant ehaplain has with Protestant prisoners. Mr. Moylan, the Inspector of Peni tentiaries from Canada, slated that the most beneficial effects resulted from the ministrations of chaplains in the penal institutions of the Dominion, and that the Government was alive to the necessity of providing for the spiritual wants of convicts of every denomina tion, and, hence, in each penitentiary there is a Catholic as well as a Pro testant chaplain appointed and paid by the State. This, he said, was done from the time Kingston Penitentiary was opened. In England, up to a com paratively recent period, and in Ire laud, too, there were no Catholic chap lains appointed to the penal prisons or common jails. An agitation was com menced by liberal-minded Proteslants all over Great Britain and Ireland, and in public meetings and through the press, a system as tyrannical as it was opposed to the spirit and progress of the age, was denounced. After years of discussion, in and out of Parliament, but mainly after it had been well as certained that the religious influences which had been brought to bear upon Catholic prisoners had no effect in re forming them. Catholic chaplains were appointed and paid in the same manner as the Protestant chaplains. The bene ficial effect of this policy, Mr. Moylan continued, has been felt in England and in Canada. It may be accepted as a truism that a Catholic, so long as in his heart and conscience he adheres to the faith in which he was brought up, will never be made a better man by be ing compelled to attend any other form of worship than his own. He may pre tend reformation, but he is serviens ad oculos—an eye servant—a hypocrite at heart. If then, the members of this influential association desire, as I be lieve they do, the true reformation of criminals, I venture the liberty of sug gesting the advisability, nay the justice of considering the rights of conscience of the large uumber of Catholics that unhappily goes to make up the prison population of the United States. These rights should be respected. The con vict, after sentence, becomes the ward of the State, and, as the State is bound, in its capacity of guardian, to provide for the physical wants of its convicts, obligation to make suitable provision for their moral and religious require ments is equally strong and binding. He was pleased that Mr. Wines had in troduced this question and had made an appeal for liberality in the matter of religious service. We are gratified, says the Boston Pilot, that a matter which so materially affects Catholic prisoners has. been brought under the consideration of the National Prison Association. This or ganization is composed of the leading prison men of the United States and Canada. It comprises in its member ship a number of true philanthropists, who devote their time, thought and means to the elevation of those who have forfeited their place in society through crime. They are persons of prominence and position in the coun try. The sentiments expressed by Mr. Moylan, the Inspector of Penitentiaries for the Dominion of Canada, will meet hearty endorsement from every Catho lic. The Congress is, almost without any exception, non-Catholic. We re gret that such is the case. In our opinion, there should be a large repre sentation Catholics at the annual meetings of the National Prison Asso ciation. ___ Ballykilbeg,!' Johnston. The Dublin Freeman has the follow ing sarcastic aud amusing reference to the family history of William Johns ton: The Belfast Weekly Telegraph in a recent isjsue published a biography of Mr. William Johnston, of Ballykil beg, which, it is said, has been inspired by that redoubtable gentleman him self, and which certainly Jets in a new light upon the member for Belfast. Mr. Johnston, as it would seem, is de scended from ancestors "nearly con nected with Queens Mary and Anne," says the biography, so that William "has come of dacent people,1' and is not of the Brown, Jones, Robinson, and Johnston class of individual at all. Very well we congratulate Mr. Johns ton, and we are heartily glad to know that he may now, in consideration of these new facts, take his place proudly beside the knightly -De Cobain, who has been a-scowling since he became the member for Ballymacarrett, on the nothing less than a Parliament of ple beians. He may now throw off his haughtiness, for though it cannot be denied that to be able to trace one's forerunners back to a Huguenot, I)e Cobienne, who with young Henry of Navarro charged for the Golden Lilies, it cannot, sure enough, be denied that this is something. But where is "De Cobienne" In presence of "Queens Mary and Alineand if it comes to that, may not the ex-borough cashier, even Jiough he be the possessor of a "brougham," as he modestly informed the London Standard, as well give over his patrician airs at once, when he sees that that must inevitably be the end of it But there were two Queen Marys! Ye, gods, is William Johnston, who marched to Bangor, who crossed the ocean to the loyal shores of Canada, who took to his bosom the Downpatrick plank bed is William Johnson, who sasrificed his Inspectorship, and was ready to sacrifice his life in the cause of the pious aud immortal memory, and in defence of the eternal principles of Oraugeism—is he to be ranked amongst the relations of Bloody Queen Mary No, no it cannot be entertained at all. The chivalry of Ulster and the man hood of Canada would rise against such a proposition the sky would fall on it the deluge would come again and over whelm it. But, after all, if we turn to the other Mary—James's daughter and William's wife—we get no further light, for Mary had no children by Wil liam. But then there have been such things a3 royal amours. Ah! that may explain. James II. and Arabella Churchill (sister of John, Duke of Marlborough were somewhat intimate, and Now, William the brave and the leal, stand out before men in thy true character-may not the hero of the Orangemen's hearts be a relative, distant though shady, of the Chancellor of the Exchequer We fear it is only too true, and if it be, Ireland need never expect to get Home Rule, for William will never allow his friend Randolph to give in to rebels and Pap ists. Nevertheless we congratulate Mr. Johnson on these new blushing honors which are coming so thick upon him. Mgr. Straniero, the Papal Ablegate who brought the Beretta for Cardinal Gibbons, has given wiling testimony to the extraordinary growth of Catholic sentiment in the United States. He went to the country, it appears, with the idea that the Catholic Church was unpopular and not strong. He leaves with the impression that the "signs of the times point, with unerring hand, to the prevalence of Catholicity." So far' from there being any great prejudice against the Church, the Ablegate says that, on the contrary, "intelligent peo ple of all sects acknowledged the great debt the country owed to Catholicity and this feeling,4ie thinks, is due to the fact that "to Catholicity, and to Catho licity alone, can they look for a sure de fence against the assaults of Socialists and Anarchists." The development of the Church in the United States during the past half century has certainly been phenomenal. Though at times as sailed with all the virulence of bigotry and faction, and the hatred Knownoth ingism displayed towards it, the Church has advanced all-conquering and irre sistible. That the public regard it as a great safeguard and bulwark against social disorders is, no doubt, true, but the secret of its success lies much above that level.—Montreal True Witness. THE LAKES OF KILLARNEY. A Description of the Beauties of the Country Surrounding the Par Pamed Waters. EARLY LIFE OF EDMUND BURKE, The Orator and Statesman, Who, in After Years, Reflected so Much Credit on His Country. When Lord Palmerston spent a brief holiday in Ireland his host apologized for the rain (which rained every day) as a shower and twenty years after, in writing to Lord Carlisle. Lord Palmer ston added: "P. S.—Is that shower over yet?" The shower continues still, with twenty years added to the original score, and to see fair Erin aright it must be visited in mackintosh. Thus equipped, the gentle dews of Heaven may be defied, as they fall from a mild gray sky, laced here and there with a sunbeam. Immediately on reaching Killarney the traveler becomes ab sorbed in the great hotel system, which is the same in Paris, Geneva, Munich, and probably in every corner of the habitable globe. A. roan is shot dead ten mr.es oft in 'lralee, but the table d'hote is conducted on the same safe principles as if it were in ..Loudon. The shaggy corner-boys lounge in the streets of Killarney as in Dublin: but the spruce waiters of tho gicat hotels do their work in the las!- fashion of Italy or Hamburg ahd the hotel, situ ated in the fairest position to catch, the first morning rays upon the unruffled luster of the lake, is as vast a pile oi dollars as energy aud capital can make it. The lake itself differs from the great continental waters in many quali ties. Tones of pure cobalt take the place of the striking yellow and strong high lights of foreign lands. There is no sparkle in the sunshine: the slow, calm movement of the light travels over the vast and plumy mountains as if the side of a lantern were opened and shut, now disclosing- a gentle slope of fervid green or purple heather, now the the thick rounded growth of tree3, of a brilliant emerald or as the light falls on the hill tops, discovering the heights of purple slate aud gray stone, which wall in a foreground of ex quisitely humid myrtle-green, every changing hue softly given back in the waters of Killarney. The tint of gray, dear to Sir Edwin Landseer, spreads over the sky. opening on pale transpar ent azure: indicative of serene heights above. The hilly distances retreat coyly into the background, unlike for eign mountains, which are cut out iu bright lines on the eyelight. Fantastic shapes traced in purple on the horizon mark Magillicuddv's (the second it is silent) Reeks, and beyond them the imagination passes over seven miles easily and quickly to the Atlantic, which joins the Killarney waters. It is said that, once in seven years, in the dew of a May morning, the great O'Donoghue rises from his lair under the depths, and, drawn by milk-white coursers, drives over these shining gulfs to a cave, where old men become young again if they duly light upon the spot. Once upon a time, too, all the lake was a green valley watered by a fairy well. The well was closed by a large gray stone, and the condition by which it was held decreed that no one —maid, wife or widow—should leave the spring uuseaied at sunset. A girl, due at the trysting-place, forgot to close the well: and as the sun set the water rose, and welled forth, so abundantly that not only the maiden and her lover, but all the township were destroyed and melted away under, the fairy tem pest. But. at evening, once, every seven years or so, pinnacle and battle ment rise from the waves for one brief minute the lover clasps his sweet heart, to his breast, the hum of the spinning-wheel and the lowing of cattle rise from the drowned settlement, till in another instant allis swept away and the radiant waters close again over their secret. These and scores of other legends people the lakes and their sur rounding hills, side by side with tour ists in checked suits and waterproofs, and with the herd of touts on horse back or on foot, selling potheen, morn ing dew, goats' milk, coarse-knitted socks, inlaid gewgaws, or trafficking in combustions of cannon and the racket of penny whistles, in order to rouse an echo. There is amoral in the fact that a coarse instrument struck within the embrasure of the hills repeats itself in a dozen sweet echoes of fairy music, such is the power of the lake and moun tain. It is to such music that the fair outlines of Howth and of Dublin bay fade/upon the sky. and the traveler ad dresses himself to his berth and his re flection.—London News. EDMUND BURKE. A late issue of the Contemporary Re- V* *1 view speaks thus of Edmund Burke/ "In 1750, Burke (being then 21) came for the first time to London, to do what so many of his lively young countrymen are still doing—though they are begin ning to make a grievance even of that —eat his dinners at the Middle Temple?, and so qualify himself for the Bur. Certainly that student was .iu luck wlto found himself in the same mess witl Burke, and yet so stupid are men—so prone to rest with their full weight on the immaterial and slide over the es sential—that had that good fortune: been ours we should probably have been more taken up with Burke's brogue thatt with his brains. Burke came to Lon don with a cultivated curiosity, and in no spirit of desperate determination to make his fortune. That the study of the law interested him cannot be doubt ed, for everything interested him, par ticularly the stage. Like the sensible Irishman he was, be lost his heart Peg Woflington on the first opportunity, He was fond of roaming about the country during, it is to be hoped, vaca tion time only, and is to be found writ ing the most cheerful letters to his friends in Irelaud, all of whom are per suaded that he is going some day to h® somebody, though puzzled to surmise what thing or when, so pleasantly does he take life from all sorts of our-of-tht way country places, where he lodges with quaint old landladies, who won der naturally why he never gets drunk and generally mistake him for an au thor until he pays his bill. When in town he frequented debating societies in Fleet street and Covent Garden, and made his first speeches for which pur pose lie would, unlike some debaters, devote studious hours in getting up the subjects to be discussed. There- is goc reason to believe that it was in thd?. manner his attention was first directed to India. He was at all times a great talker, and, Dr. Johnson's dictum 'not withstanding, a good listener. He was endlessly interested in everything—m the state of the crops, in the last play, in details of all trades, the rhythm o:f all poems, the plots of all novels, and indeed in the course ol' every mana facture. And so for six years he went up and down, to aud fro, gathering in formation, imparting knowledge, ami preparing himself, though he knew not for what. The attorney in Dublin grew anxious, and searched for precedents of a son behaving like this and rising eminence. Had his son got the legal mindV —which, according to a keen ob server., chiefly displays itself by illus trating the obvious, explaining the evi dent, and expatiating on the common place. Edmund's powers of illustration and expatiation could, not be ques tioned: but then the subjects selected for the exhibition of these powers were far indeed from being obvious, evident-, or common-place, and the attorney's heart grew heavy within him.' The pa ternal displeasure was signified ?n the usual manner—the supplies were cut off. Edmund Burke, however, was no ordinary prodigal, and his reply to his father's expostulations took the uo:x pected and unprecedented shape of a second and enlarged edition of his treatise on the Sublime and Beautf. ful,' which he had published in 1756 afc the price of 1s. Burke's father promptly sent the author a bank bill for ,£100 conduct on his part which', considering he had sent his son to London aud maintained him there fur six years to study lavy, was in my judg ment both sub'ime and beautiful." An Alipr.x'-io as a Witness. John Philpet Cur ran defended a. poor devil who was charged with rob bing a nobleman. On trial the victim positively identified the thief, saying,, though the robbery occurred at night, the mi-on was bright enough to allow him to see the face of his assailant.. The driver and footmen both ga'»e '-'u? ilar testimony. Curran addressed the court and the jury, lie pleaded t).a. his client was not guilty—had been at home,fifteen miles away from the scene of the robbery at the time of its occur rence. He could not prove an alibi a wife could not testify for hrr li'.^ band, and his child was not old enougii a a could introd'uee the oniy witness prosecution had depended on for iden tification—the moon. "The driyer ancs footman testified as they did becau* their master did so." There Curia® called for the almanac. Several of thei red-bound pamphlets were brought m. The judge took one. Turning to the date of the robbery, whie'i occuired 11 o'clock it was discovered that no moon arose that night, and the prison er was acquitted. He talked to Currari afterward, and the attorney said: "Yora ga*re me £20 ($100 of our money) to de fend you. Well, I only get about £2 of: that. It cost me £18 to get those al manacs printed 1"—Columbia Jurist. The census for Germany fori 1885 shows an increase in the population oi?, 411.125. 'M "to, it ih J'- J1