Telling it like it was

Amongst the minor points of amusement on the White House website is their faithful transcripts of Dubya's rallies, including references to crowd cheers (for Dubya) and boos (for domestic and foreign evildoers, either category fitting John Kerry). Josh Marshall had noted this tendency here and we had credited the transcribers with their careful use of sic here.

We thought of all this when reading a favourite feature from the Times of London -- their reproduction of an article from their paper in some past year on the same date. So for Wednesday, it's their story from this day in 1879, when a huge protest rally was held in Hyde Park to support the imprisoned leadership of the Irish Land League, including its leader Michael Davitt.

For one thing, we like the Austen-esque echoes in this clause:

when the speakers appeared a vast assembly had collected which was computed at no less than 100,000 persons

but in keeping with our main theme above, we note the narration of crowd reaction:

Mr O'Connor Power, the chairman, said he rejoiced to see present thousands of Irishmen and friends of Ireland who had come because they were animated by the passion of patriotism and the love of public liberty (cheers). They had assembled in numbers that far exceeded those of any assemblage in Hyde Park, and which included Englishmen as well as Irishmen (hear, hear) because they were convinced that the action of Her Majesty's Government (hisses) endangered the liberties of Great Britain and Ireland.