35 



sacred duty of his ministry ; and as he does not keep a curate, 

 there is enough to employ his time, without attending to Petty 

 Sessions, or speculations on the sea-coast salmon fishery. He 

 should leave such occupations to other persons, such as are 

 described in the following lines, with which I conclude these 

 remarks : 



" But he, more modest, took an humbler range 

 Of life, and in an honester vocation, 

 Pursued on the high seas his watery journey, 

 And merely practised as a Sea- Attorney." 



From Lord Byron s Poems. 



PUBLIC MEETING. 



IN pursuance of a requisition, a meeting took place of the 

 inhabitants of Ballyshannon and its neighbourhood on Monday, 

 the 30th of August, 1841, to address Thomas John Atkinson, 

 Esq. J.P., congratulatory on the result of the recent investiga- 

 tion into his magisterial conduct. From an early hour, not- 

 withstanding the inclemency of the weather, vast numbers were 

 thronging into the town ; and long before the hour named, the 

 Town Hall became densely filled, and crowds were assembled 

 outside who could not gain admission. At two o'clock, the 

 appointed hour, ALEXANDER SANDERSON, Esq., was called to 

 the chair, and said, that he considered it an honour to be called 

 to preside over so respectable a meeting, composing, as it did, 

 the merchants of Ballyshannon, and the gentry and landowners 

 of the neighbourhood persons of different politics and per- 

 suasions. He considered that the object of the meeting was 

 praiseworthy ; and he hoped that the conduct and behaviour of 

 all present would prove that a respect for^the law, and a wish 

 to show their respect and confidence in the local magistracy, 

 was the cause of their assembling here this day. The conduct 

 of Mr. Atkinson as a magistrate had been attacked. His con- 

 duct had been investigated, and the result had been a complete 

 and triumphant acquittal of his character. (Great cheering.) 



c 2 



