A battle-royal is expected in Londonderry on 18th December, the
Catholics having, it is believed, armed themselves to resist the insults showered on them by the Protestants on that day. The county of Londonderry has, accordingly, been proclaimed under the Peace Preservation Act. It was high time. On the 7th inst., Mr. W. Johnstone, M.P., and leader of the Independent Orange- men, told an Orange lodge of Derry, amid enthusiastic cheering, that between Fenians and Ultramontanes he chose Fenians, that " it is no part of the duty of an Orangeman to fire a shot or draw a sword as between the English Government and the Fenians." "If there is to be a fight, or an attempt to set up a Fenian Republic, the Orangemen will stand aside, and will protect themselves, main- tain their Protestant religion, and protect their homes and hearths, and let the English Government and the Fenians fight it out between them." Is the battle won at last, then? It looks like it, for if Belfast and Tipperary can but agree, whether to agree with us or to fight us, the good government of Ireland has become possible.
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