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James Watt, the improver of the steam-engine, was | handsome but ill-assorted quadrangle, surmounted by a porn in Greenock in 1736; and an institution for literary and scientific purposes, designed to serve as a monument to him, and termed the Watt Institution, has been recently completed. The situation of the town, on the shore of a land-locked basin of the Firth of Clyde, with the mountains of Argyllshire and Dumbartonshire rising on the opposite side, is very fine.

Among Scottish towns, Aberdeen ranks next to Edinburgh and Glasgow. It is situated in the county named from it, on a level piece of ground between the effluxes of the rivers Dec and Don, 110 miles from Edinburgh. Its external appearance produces a favourable impression; the principal streets are straight and regular, and the buildings at once substantial and elegant, the chief material used in constructing them being a gray granite found here in great abundance. New Aberdeen, or what is now generally called Aberdeen, is close to the efflux of the Der, the mouth of which forms its harbour; and Old Aberdeen, where the ancient Cathedral and King's College are situated, is a comparatively small town, about a mile distant, on the bank of the Don. The entire population is about 60,000.

Aberdeen is a city of great antiquity. It became the seat of a university by the erection of King's College, in Old Aberdeen, in 1495; Mareschal College, in New Aberdeen, was added in 1593. By the recent Reform Acts, it is a royal burgh of the first class, divided into districts for municipal purposes, and returning one member to Parliament. Aberdeen is at once a seat of manufactures and a sea-port. There are four great houses engaged in the cotton manufacture, two in the woollen trade, and three in flax-spinning and the weaving of linen. Ship-building, iron-founding, comb-making, ropemaking, and paper-making, are also carried on to a great extent. The fisheries of the river Dee, and the export of granite, are sources of considerable income. Of the exports for the year 1836, we may notice, as indicating at once the extent and nature of the agricultural and manufacturing products of the district, the following items:-Flax manufactures, 30,482 barrel bulk; cotton manufactures, 16,336 do.; woollen manufactures, 20,043 do.; oats, 29,239 quarters; meal 13,375 bolls; sheep and lambs, 1407; pigs, 3034; butter, 9261 cwts; eggs, $120 barrel bulk; pork, 6006 cwts.; salmon, 7757 do.; granite stones, 1738 tons. The chief imports are, coal, of which there was unloaded, during the same year, 371,914 bolls; lime, cotton, flax, wool, wood, wheat, flour, salt, iron, whale-blubber, and miscellaneous goods, consisting of groceries, &c. There were, in 1836, belonging to the port of Aberdeen, 360 vessels, tonnage 42,080, employing 3110 men.

Aberdeen is entered from the south by Union street, an elegant double line of buildings, a mile in length and seventy feet wide, in the centre of which a ravine pervaded by a rivulet is crossed by a noble arch of one hundred and thirty-two feet in span, upon a rise of twentytwo. King street, which opens up the city from the north, is sixty feet wide, and contains many splendid edifices. Besides these two main streets, there is a considerable number of modern squares and terraces. The public buildings are much scattered, but are generally of an elegant appearance. The Public Rooms, erected by the gentlemen of the counties of Banff, Aberdeen, Kincardine, and Forfar, for meetings, dancing assemblies, &c., and partly occupied as a reading-room, constitute a handsome Grecian structure, fronting to Union street. On the north side of Castle street, stands the Town- | House, and in the centre is the Cross, a curious structure re-erected in 1822, and containing sculptures of eight Scottish sovereigns between James I. and James VII. Mareschal College, formerly a plain old structure, has lately been re-edified in handsome style, chiefly at the expense of the nation. King's College consists of a

fine tower and spire. The two colleges are attended by about five hundred students, nearly equally divided between them. In Old Aberdeen are also to be seen the remains of the Cathedral, consisting of the nave of the original building, with two towers at the west end. The ceiling is composed of oak, cut out into forty-eight compartments, each displaying in strong colours the armorial bearings of some eminent person, whose name is given below, in Latin, and in the old Gothic character.

Dundee, situated in Forfarshire, on the shore of the Firth of Tay, may be considered as the fourth town in Scotland, whether in population, or in the importance conferred by wealth. It is a busy sea-port, and the chief seat of the linen manufacture in Scotland, and, indeed, in Great Britain. A series of docks, the erection of which cost £365,000, extend along the shore, where, a century ago, there was only a small quay in the form of a crooked wall. The dues collected for the harbour were, in 1839, £15,996; the tonnage belonging to it, in 1839, was 44,882. In the year ending May 31, 1839, the quantity of hemp and flax imported was 32,462 tons, and the number of pieces of sheeting, bagging, sailcloth, sacking, and dowlas exported, was 717,070, the value of which was about £1,500,000, being considerably greater than the entire exports from Ireland. In 1839, the number of spinning-mills was 41, and of flax-mills (that is, mills for weaving), 47; besides which there are several machine-factories, candle-factories, sugar-refineries, and establishments for rope-making and ship-building. This great hive of industry contained, in 1831, a population of 45,355, to which it is probable that 15.000 have since been added. The town is represented in Par liament by one member.

Dundee contains one handsome place, denominated the High Street, in the centre of the town, and several other good streets; but the most elegant and commodious pri vate dwellings take the form of suburban villas. There is a handsome modern building, serving the purposes of an exchange and reading-room, besides which the most conspicuous public buildings are the Town-House and a building comprehensively called the Seminaries, containing an academy and grammar-school. The High Church of Dundee was an interesting building of the thirteenth century, with a massive tower 156 feet high; but the whole structure, excepting the steeple, was de stroyed by fire in January, 1841. Dundee is connected by railways with Arbroath and Brechin on the one hand, and Newtyle on the other. It carries on a regular steam intercourse with London.

Perth, the chief town of the county of the same name, is celebrated on account of its elegant appearance and the beautiful situation which it enjoys on the banks of the Tay, here a broad and majestic stream. Umbrella cloths, ginghams, handkerchiefs, and shawls, are manufactured in Perth in considerable quantities, the number of weavers employed being 1600; and there are a fax spinning-mill and an extensive bleachfield. The river being navigable to this place for small vessels, there is a harbour, chiefly for coasting trade. The salmon fisheries on the river are a source of considerable income: the fish are sent to London, in boxes, the number of which, in 1835, was 5000, amounting to 250 tons. Perth had, in 1831, a population of 20,016, and it is represented by one member in Parliament.

The streets of Perth are generally rectangular, and well built of stone. The river is spanned by a substan tial bridge, connecting the town with a small suburb on the other side, and forming part of the great north road. The town contains most of the public buildings found in places of similar character and magnitude: the ancient Church of St. John, an elegant suite of county buildings an academy, and town-hall, are those most entitled to no tice within the town. In the environs, besides a lunatic

asylum, there is a structure designed, when finished, to serve as a national reformatory for criminals. The beauty and salubrity of Perth are much enhanced by two beautiful pieces of adjacent public ground, respectively entitled the North Inch and South Inch. In the midst of a highly cultivated vale, pervaded by a great river, and with lofty mountains in the distance, Perth, especially when its own neat appearance is considered, may be said eminently to deserve its appellation of "the fair city."

Dumfries, the principal town of Dumfriesshire (71 miles from Edinburgh and 34 from Carlisle), enjoys a beautiful situation on the Nith, which is navigable to nearly this point for small vessels. Inclusive of a large suburb on the opposite side of the river, the population is about 14,000. Dumfries has a few small manufactures, but its chief importance rests in its character as a kind of provincial capital and seat of the county courts, and as an entrepôt for the transmission of cattle and pork to the English market. Eighty-four vessels belong to the port, with an aggregate tonnage of 5783; and steamvessels sail regularly to Liverpool. The town has a neat and clean appearance, has some handsome public buildings, and is the seat of considerable refinement. In St. Michael's Churchyard repose the remains of Robert Burns, over which his admirers have reared a handsome mausoleum.

Inverness (155 miles from Edinburgh) is the principal seat of population in the northern counties of Scotland. It is an ancient royal burgh, a seaport for the export and import trade of the district, and the seat of the county courts. The situation on the river Ness, near its junc

tion with the sea, with some picturesque eminences in the neighbourhood, is one of great beauty, and the town itself is well built and remarkably clean. Inverness is often called the Highland capital, being within the line of the Grampians, and the residence of many persons connected with that district. The population of the town and parish, in 1831, was 14,324. Among objects of interest may be enumerated-the remains of a fort built by Cromwell; Craig-Phadric, an eminence crowned by a vitrified fort; and the moor of Culloden (distant five miles), the scene of the fatal battle which extinguished the hopes of the house of Stuart.

The principal towns in Scotland, next to those above enumerated, are-in Ayrshire, Kilmarnock, a prosperous seat of the coarser woollen manufacture-population about 20,000; Ayr, the capital of the county, a thriving market-town, and in a small degree a sea-port-popula. tion (including dependencies) about 17,000; in Stirlingshire, Stirling, the county town, remarkable chiefly for its castle, a favourite seat of the Scottish monarchs, and from which the most splendid views are commanded; Falkirk, a busy market-town, and the centre of a district remarkable for its iron founderies, particularly the celebrated one of Carron-population about 7000; in Fifeshire, Dunfermline, the principal seat of the manufacture of damasks, diapers, and similar fabrics-population about 18,000, Cupar, the county town; Kircaldy, a busy manufactur ing and sea-port town; St. Andrews, the seat of an ancient university; in Forfarshire, Montrose and Arbroath, active seats of the linen trade, and likewise seaports; in Morayshire, Elgin, an ancient royal burgh and county town.

DESCRIPTION OF IRELAND.

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boundary on the other sides. Of a more compact form than Great Britain, it is nevertheless penetrated by a considerable number of deep bays and estuaries, which give it an outline upon the whole irregular. Besides enjoying this advantage for internal navigation, it may be considered as more favourably situated for foreign commerce than either England or Scotland. It lies tween 51° 19' and 55° 23' north latitude, and 5° 19' and 10° 28' of west longitude from Greenwich; but the greatest length, from Brow Head in the county of Cork, to Fair Head in the county of Antrim, is 306 miles, and the longest transverse line, between similar points in the counties of Mayo and Down, 182 miles. The entire area appears, from the latest and best measurement, to include 31,874 square miles, or 20,399,608 English

statute acres.

Ireland is divided into four provinces, namely LEINSTER, on the east; MUNSTER, on the south; ULSTER, on the north; and CONNAUGHT, on the west: these are subdivided into 32 counties, 252 baronies, and 2348 parishes. For an account of the ecclesiastical divisions and civil polity, we refer to the CONSTITUTION AND RESOURCES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

In superficial character, Ireland may be called a hilly or mountainous country, since there are few spots where the view is not terminated by lofty hills or mountain scenery. Generally speaking, the mountains stand in groups, and are more or less detached from each other, but in some districts they form ridges of grea The Mourne range, in the county of Do and east, ending with Slieve Donard, w

tent.

feet above the level of the sea, and is the highest of the northern mountains. The Slieve Bloom mountains, placed in nearly the centre of the island, run north and south, intersecting the King and Queen's Counties: in this range, sometimes called the Ard na Erin, or Heights of Ireland, the rivers Nore, Barrow, and Suir, commonly called by the country people the Three Sisters, take their rise. In Connaught there is a fine range, of which the Twelve Pins form a part; and in Munster, a ridge of varied height extends from Dungarvon, in the county of Waterford, across the kingdom, into the county of Kerry. It may be here observed, that wherever the Irish term slieve is applied to a mountain, it expresses that that mountain forms part of a range. The highest mountain in Ireland is Curran Tual, at Killarney, being 3410 feet above the level of the sea. Mount Nephin and Croagh Patrick, two conspicuous mountains in Mayo, are respectively 2639 and 2499 feet high. Some, however, of the counties, though possessing a very varied surface, can only boast of hills, as Armagh, Monaghan, Cavan, and Louth, while others are in general very level: Meath, Kildare, Longford, and Galway, are of the latter character. A distinguishing peculiarity of the country, whether in its hilly or more level districts, is its generally green appearance, a circumstance arising from its fertile soil and moist and temperate climate, and which has led to its receiving the appellations of the "Emerald Isle" and "Green Isle of the Ocean"-names sung by its poets, and repeated with affection by its natives in all quarters of the world.

In the lower and less reclaimed portions of the country, there are various extensive bogs or morasses, which disfigure the beauty of the scenery, and are only serviceable in supplying fuel to the adjacent inhabitants. The chief of these morasses is the Bog of Allen, which stretches in a vast plain, across the centre of the island, or over a large portion of Kildare, Carlow, and the King and Queen's Counties. In this bog, the beautiful River Boyne takes its rise, flowing thence north-eastward to the sea at Drogheda, on the borders of the county of Louth: much of this bog has been drained and brought iuto tillage, and there is good reason to think that in time the whole of it will be reclaimed. Along the banks of the River Inny, which, rising in Lough Iron, in the county of Westmeath, crosses Longford and falls into the Shannon, are large tracts of deep wet bog, only exceeded in dreariness by that which for miles skirts the Shannon, in its course through Longford, Roscommon, and the King's County. All these bogs might be easily reclaimed, could they be drained; but that cannot be accomplished, as the Inny and the Shannon are kept up to their present level by the numerous eel-weirs which at present interrupt their course. There are also many tracts of bog in the western counties, and many detached bogs both in Ulster and Munster; but none of such great size as those above mentioned. It is remarkable, that notwithstanding the quantity of water contained in these extensive bogs, there arises from them no miasma injurious to health. This is attributable to the large portion of tannin they contain, which possesses so strong an antiseptic quality, that bodies plunged into a deep bog remain undecayed, the flesh becoming like that of an Egyptian mummy. It sometimes happens that a bog, overcharged with water during a rainy season, breaks through the obstruction which the drained and more solid part affords, and, rushing forward, overflows large portions of good land. This occurred in the year 1821, when the Bog of Clara, in the county of Westmeath, suddenly burst into the valley of the River Brusna, and totally destroyed many hundred acres of excellent land: a similar occurrence took place, to a large extent, a very few years since, in the county of Antrim.

Ireland is described as a thickly-wooded country, not only by her carly native writers, but by all those English

authors who have given any account of the country, from the days of Giraldus Cambrensis, about a. D. 1185. Morrison (1596) and Davis (1605) mention the forests in which the poor Irish took refuge; and all the scenery of Spenser's Fairy Queen is drawn from the River Bandon, which he celebrates as the "pleasant Bandon, wood y-crowned," as it is to this day. Boate, in his Natural History, mentions the great extent of wood then standing; but not long did it so stand, for wherever Cromwell's army came, the forests were felled, and the country laid bare. In most cases, the bogs give ample testimony to the truth of these statements, some supplying large quantities of fir, which burns with a pleasant aromatic smell, and a flame so brilliant that it is often used in the place of candles. In other bogs, only oak is dug up, and sometimes sallow, and yew of a great size, which takes a fine polish and is used for cabinet-work. There are still, in a few favoured spots, some remains of the ancient oak and ash woods, as at Killarney, at Glengariffe near Bantry, in Connemara, in some spots of the county of Wicklow, and in Donegal, near the beautiful but little Lough Van, where a few red deer are still to be seen. Near the mouth of the Suir, at the foot of the Knockmeledan Mountains, is a wood of the pine species, commonly called Scotch fir, of such size and hardness, that Mr. Nimmo, the engineer, pronounced it to be equal to the best Memel timber, and used it in constructing the pier at Dunmore. Many noblemen and gentlemen have planted largely and with great success, their flourishing plantations giving promise that the country in a few years will again be furnished with trees.

Ireland possesses many large and remarkably fine rivers, several of which form lakes at certain points in their course, and fall into the sea at the head of spacious bays every way suitable for navigation. The principal rivers are the Foyle and the Bann, which flow into the Northern Ocean; the Foyne, the Liffey, and the Slaney, which empties themselves into the Irish Channel; the Barrow and the Nore, which, falling into the Suir, pour their united streams into the Bay of Waterford; the Blackwater and the Lee, which run southward, their em bouchures being at Youghal and Cork; the Shannon, the Gweebarra, the Erne, the Moy, the Mang, and the Lane, which flow into the Atlantic. Among inland lakes or loughs, the largest is Lough Neagh in Ulster, which exceeds in size any lake in the United Kingdom, its length being twenty miles by a breadth of from ten to twelve: its waters are discharged by the Bann.

GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE.-MINERALOGY.

Ireland stretches westward into the Atlantic, and is indented, as has been stated, by deep bays, protected by jutting promontories, which have hitherto withstood the force of the boisterous ocean to which they are exposed. The rock which forms the bed or bottom of these bays, is generally composed of the secondary or carboniferous limestone, while the projecting promontories to the north and south of each, are composed, for the most part, of primary or transition rocks, and particularly of granite, mica-slate, quartz rock, grawacke, and old red sandstone conglomerate. In Ireland, the coast is mostly mountain ous, and the interior flat. Thus, we find the mountains of Antrim on the east; of Derry and Donegal on the north-west coasts; those of Sligo and Kerry west and south-west. The slate districts of Cork and Waterford form the south and south-east, while the mountains of Wicklow, and those still higher ones of Louth and Down, are situated on the eastern coast. The interior of the island is, generally speaking, composed of flat or gently-swelling grounds, covered with rich and fruitful soil. This peculiar conformation of the surface has been the origin of the great number of rivers with which the Irish coast abounds. They have their sources in the neighbouring mountains, whence they flow directly to

the sea. The flatness of the interior of Ireland has been the probable cause of those vast accumulations of alluvial matter called escars. They possibly originated at a period when the country was at least partially submerged, from dies formed by undulations on the surface. The origin of the great tracts of bog found so generally in the flat country, may be attributed to the water pent up, as we even now find it, above the level of the dry country, by gravel hills, which form a continuous ridge, though not of equal height, round the edge of the bog. The central district of Ireland contains upwards of one million of acres of bog. comprehended between Wicklow Head and Galway, Houth Head and Sligo.

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time. The spring is earlier, fruit ripens a fortnight
sooner, and the harvest is fit for the sickle a month
before that of the northern, and about a fortnight before
that of the midland districts. In the counties of Cork
and Kerry, tender shrubs, such as bay, verbena, fuchsia,
&c., grow with extraordinary luxuriance; and the native
arbutus enriches the wild scenery of Killarney and
Glengariffe. The moisture of the climate is its greatest
defect; but this varies remarkably in degree. The at-
mosphere of the western side of Ireland is naturally
much more humid than that of the eastern, exposed as it
is to the influence of the moist vapours of the great
Atlantic, which, attracted by the mountains, rest upon
their heads and pour down rain into the valleys. Thus,
the greatest quantity of rain which has been known to
fall-forty-twc inches-was near Colooney in the county
of Sligo, while the smallest quantity is at Armagh, which,
though a very hilly, is comparatively an inland district.
In a paper lately read at the Royal Irish Academy, it
appeared, from comparative registers carefully kept, that,
in the year 1839, there had been, at Monks Eleigh, which
is about forty miles from the sea-coast of Suffolk, 21.796
inches of rain; while at Toomavara, in the county of
Tipperary, and about forty miles from the western coast,
there fell 40.552 inches, or very nearly double the quan
tity: but during the same year, only 21.7 fell at Armagh
-a curious instance of the differences arising from local
circumstances. Again, the county of Dublin is wetter
than that of Wicklow, because the clouds charged with
rain pass over Dublin towards the channel, free from
every obstacle, while those which cross Wicklow, striking
upon the mountains and hills, deposit their moisture
upon their western slopes, leaving the eastern sides of
the country between them and the sea dry and in
sunshine.

A vast tract of limestone extends in an almost unbroken line from the north of Cork to the south of Fermanagh, with an intermixture towards the eastern coast of clayslate, grawacke, and grawacke-slate, with veins of granite interspersed, as is the case in the counties of Down, Armagh, and Wicklow. The southern coast is composed of limestone and old conglomerate, with red, purple, and gray clay slate, which may be distinctly seen along the shores of Cork and Waterford. In the south-western coasts are large tracts of coal formation; while the western are formed of granite, carboniferous limestone, including the lower limestone, calp or black shale series, and the upper limestone, with a tract of the coal formation. There are also in Galway, Mayo, and Sligo, tracts of mica-slate, quartz rock, yellow sandstone, and conglomerate. The northern division, consisting of the counties of Donegal and Derry, is chiefly mica-slate, with an intermixture, in the northern part of Donegal, of granite, quartz rock, and primary limestone; while the county of Antrim is composed of tabular trap. The counties in which coal is worked are Carlow, Kilkenny, Donegal, Limerick, Tyrone, and part of Tipperary. Ireland is rich in minerals, and contains gold and silver, though not in large veins, as well as copper, lead, coal, and sulphur. Her quarries also produce a variety of beautiful marbles, as the black marble of Kilkenny, the green of Galway, and the manycoloured of Fermanagh. The quarries of Killaloe and The more remarkable plants which are indigenous of Valentia, in the county of Kerry, afford large-sized Nor and peculiar to Ireland, are-the arbutus unedo, or excellent slates, now coming extensively into use. should the inexhaustible supply of extremely fine build-strawberry-tree, found at Killarney, particularly beauing-stone which the hills south of Dublin afford, be left unmentioned. Of this granite, the particular vein which is worked at the coast village of Bullock, has been found to withstand the wash of the sea better than any other kind of stone, and is exclusively reserved for the building of the lower stories of those lighthouses which are exposed to violent sea-wash. The stones are cut on the spot, and shipped ready fitted to their places.

CLIMATE.

There is but a small part of Ireland more than fifty miles from the sea, a circumstance which fully accounts for the mildness of the climate, its equability, and its humidity. The temperate atmosphere of Ireland was held in high estimation, and strong testimony to its goodness is borne by the older historians. At the beginning of this century (1804), Dr. Hamilton, in his account of Antrim, mentions the equable distribution of heat throughout the island, and the perpetual verdure of the fields, unimpaired by either solstice. This equability of temperature is clearly proved by the fact, that delicate plants thrive in the county of Donegal, close upon the Northern Ocean. Arbutus and laurestinus there grow healthily, and myrtles so luxuriantly, as to cover the walls of houses up to the second story. On the shore of Lough Swilley, near Ramelton, the agapanthus and the fuchsia abide in winter in the open ground, and flower extremely well in summer.

The southern part of Ireland is considerably warmer than Ulster. The snow seldom lies for any considerable

VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS.-ANIMALS.

The botany and zoology of Ireland generally resemble those of the neighbouring island. The cultivated plants and useful animals are identical. There are, however, some peculiar to Ireland.

tiful from its abundance of red fruit; the rosu Hibernica, Irish rose, found near Belfast; the uler strieta, Irish furze, found sparingly in the county of Down, distinguished from common furze by its upright mode of growth and softer texture; the taxus Hibernica, frequently called Florencecourt yew, from having been first observed in Lord Enniskillen's demesne in the county of Fermanagh -its growth is upright, resembling that of the cypress, and its foliage dark green; the menziesia polyfolia, Irish menziesia, a very beautiful plant, whose large purple heath-like bells decorate the wild districts of Galway; the erica Mediterranea, discovered by Mr. Mackay at Connemara in 1829, a distinct variety of the Corsican heath, very ornamental in the flowering season; the erica Mackayana, many-branched, cross-leaved heath, sent to Mr. Mackay from Connemara, and named after him by Sir William Hooker, Professor of Botany, Glas gow (the three last species of heaths are also natives of the Pyrenees); the saxifraga geum, kidney-leaved saxifrage; s. hirsuta, hairy saxifrage; s. elegans, small roundleaved saxifrage; s. umbrosa, variety serratula, saw-leaved saxifrage, or London pride. The above four species and varieties, new to Britain and Ireland, were discovered by Mr. Mackay, in the mountains near Killarney, in 1805. They all resemble the London pride of the gardens, which also grows wild on the mountains of Galway, Mayo, Sligo, and Donegal.*

For the above account of Irish plants, the writer is indebted to Mr. Mackay, Curator of Trinity College Botanic Gardens and author of the Flora Hibernica.

ceives his just meed of respect. This system of absenteeism has led to that of middlemen, who hold large tracts of land from the head landlord, and relet this land at a much increased rent to farmers; these, again, let to a third set of under-tenants at rack-rents; and this lowest grade of tenantry divide their small farms among their sons, thus creating a race of farming poor, who are unable to till their holdings properly, and miserably increasing a population raised but a step above the pauper. There is perhaps no more thriving person than the farming landholder, who, contented with his condition, rises with his labourers, holds his own plough, and superintends the management of his farm; but the state of the cottier is often far from being a happy one. The discomfort of this class may be said to arise chiefly from three causes-low wages, high rents, and, most of all, from the want of steady employment. The too great subdivision of land, as will be shown, in treating of the condition of the peasantry in the provinces, is another cause of the general poverty and want of comfort of the cottier. Under the excitement of war prices and the free trade in corn with Great Britain, agriculture ad

With respect to the animal kingdom, there were formerly several races of cattle considered as exclusively Irish, of which two kinds are still extant-the Kerry breed, which is black, very small, and beautifully proportioned, the limbs and horns being most delicately made; they are excellent milkers, both for quantity and quality, and are remarkable for their gentle and affectionate disposition: they are to be had only in the remote barony of Iveragh, in the county of Kerry. The other species, which is always called the old Irish breed, is usually of a bright red, the back hollow, the pin bones high, the head very small, a fine eye; the horns growing upright, and remarkably slender, as are the legs. They are very deficient in beauty, but are valuable for the dairy. The red deer, though now extremely scarce, are still to be found at Killarney, in some of the wild mountain districts of Kerry, and the adjoining part of the county of Cork; at Shanbally in the county of Tipperary, and in Donegal. The wolf-dog, now almost extinct, is still occasionally to be seen in Ireland; the curly-haired, liver-coloured water-dog, which is considered quite an Irish breed; the large black and tan breed of terriers, peculiar to the county of Kerry. Squir-vanced rapidly, and, consequently, so did the demand for rels are common in some places. The gillaroo-trout is peculiar to Lough Neagh; and the pollen, or fresh-water trout, was long considered so, but has lately been found in the Scottish lakes. The dorchar is also peculiar to Lough Neagh; it is of a darker colour than trouts usually are. It is generally supposed that Ireland possesses no reptiles, but this is a vulgar error. The toad and frog are common.

THE PEOPLE THEIR CHARACTER AND CIRCUM

STANCES.

The bulk of the Irish people are a branch of the Celtic race, who were probably the first settlers in the island. The peasantry, throughout nearly the whole country, are of this origin, and in many parts they still speak the Celtic (here termed the Irish) language. The chief exception from this rule is in the north, where a great number of the humbler, as well as middle classes, are descended from comparatively recent settlers of Scottish extraction. Another rather conspicuous exception is found in Connaught, particularly in Galway, where a considerable number of the people seem to be of Spanish descent. Families of English extraction are comparatively rare among the labouring class in Ireland.

The Irish labouring classes, and a large portion of the middle classes, being thus generally of Celtic origin, are marked by many peculiar features. Their character includes much quickness of apprehension and ingenuity, considerable natural eloquence and wit, and affections much warmer than those of most European nations, but is generally acknowledged to be deficient in reflection and foresight, and liable to a peculiar irascibility, which often attaches to a mercurial and upon the whole amiable character. The upper, and a large portion of the middle classes, being of Saxon descent, are not much different from the same classes in Great Britain; but, in as far as any difference exists, it may be said to consist in a tineture of the Celtic, or genuine Irish character, as just described. This admixture is perhaps that which gives the educated Irish so much artistic talent, whether to be exhibited in literature or the arts, while some of the more peculiarly English characteristics are less conspicuous.

labour; land rose in value, lessees were tempted to realize profit-rents by subletting their farms; and thus a class of middlemen was created, by whom the land was let in still smaller divisions, and at extreme rents. This system was an absolute bar to the encouragement which might have been given to the tenantry by the proprietors of estates. The occupying landlord pays a higher rent to the middleman than does the middleman to the proprietor, because the middleman exacts as much as he can get, without any reference to the future situation of the tenant: but the landlord has different feelings-he looks forward, and considers the reversionary interest which he has in keeping his tenant in prosperity, and his land in a state to yield a remunerating profit.

The habits of getting credit frequently at an advance of 50 per cent., of resorting to pawnbrokers, and of forming early marriages, contribute to the impoverish ment of the labouring classes in Ireland. The poorer the individuals are, the more eager are they for wed lock; even the very beggars intermarry. It must, how ever, be admitted as some excuse, that early marriage is much encouraged by the Romish priesthood; and in fairness it must be added, that this practice contributes exceedingly to the morality of the lower classes. The superstitious regard to wakes and funerals, which has been handed down from ancient times, is often a deplorable drain on the slender resources of the peasant.

In considering the character of the Irish peasantry general, it is refreshing to see some noble traits standing out in full relief against the darker shades. The Irish people are of acknowledged bravery, proverbial hospi tality, affectionate to their parents and aged relatives, charitable to the mendicant, and evincing in many places, even under extreme distress, a decency of feeling, which renders them averse to soliciting eleemosynary assist ance. The women, generally speaking, are modest and irreproachable in their conduct; and it must be added, that, notwithstanding the crime and wretchedness which oppress the country, the poor Irish are free from some species of vice which are but too common in other countries. During the hay and corn harvests of England and Scotland, the services of the Irish labourers are very Limiting the consideration of the social state of Ire- important. They are generally sober, well-conducted, land to what is peculiar to it, we may first advert to a and inoffensive; labouring hard and living hard, that conspicuous practice of the landowners-absenteeism. they may bring their earnings home to pay the rent of By absentees are not meant those noblemen, who, being their little farm or dwelling. A spalpeen, or harvestEnglishmen, have also large possessions in this coun- man, carries home from four to eight or ten pounds; to try, and whose estates (with some glaring exceptions) | do which, he is contented, while away, almost to starve are usually well and justly managed; but those sons of himself. There is reason, therefore, to hope, that under Erin who prefer living in any other country to remaining a better state of things, the national character would in their own, although it is at home only that a man re-rise to a standard much higher than it has yet attained;

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