dignitaries, is one of the most attractive things in Dublin. The state-apartments of the viceroy are in the taste of the middle of the last century, and are elegant, but not remarkable for grandeur. In one is a bust of Chesterfield, who was lord lieutenant in 1745. The most remarkable room is the ball-room, denominated St. Pat rick's hall, which is spacious, and among other attractions has a ceiling ornamented with pictures, representing transactions in the history of Ireland.

In Ireland, old ecclesiastical structures are usually more curious for their antiquity than their beauty. Accordingly, the exterior of St. Patrick's and Christ church, the two cathedrals of Dublin, is apt to appear ungainly to an eye fresh from Westminster or Melrose. In the former building, nevertheless, the interior of the choir, in which service is usually performed, will impress every mind by its lofty proportions, its pompous monuments, and the dark stalls and niches, surmounted with the helmets and banners of the knights of the order of St. Patrick. In visiting this ancient church, the predominant thought is-SWIFT. We look for his dwelling as we approach, and for his tomb when we enter-such is the power which genius has of fix ing the feelings of men for all time, upon every external thing connected with it! The deanery still exists in St. Kevin street, containing the portrait of Swift from which all the engraved likenesses have been derived. The streets immediately surrounding St. Patrick's cathedral, are the meanest and vilest in the city. The houses have a ruinous and forlorn look, and the pavements are crowded with a population of the most wretched order. These streets are filled with shops, but the trades to which they are devoted serve rather to betray the misery than to manifest the comfort of the people. Dealers in old clothes, pawnbrokers, spirit-dealers, and persons trading in offals, almost the only kinds of animal food indulged in by the lower orders of the people, abound.

At the western extremity of Dublin, on the north side of the river, is the celebrated public promenade denominated the Phenix park, said to consist of about thousand acres. Not only does this park greatly exceed those of London in extent, but it is questionable if even the Regent's park, after all the expense incurred in ornamenting it, will ever match this domain in beauty. The ground is of an undulating charac ter, and is covered with groups of fine old timber and shrubbery, amid which are the domestic residences of the lord-lieutenant and his principal officers, besides some other public buildings, and a tall obelisk in honor of the duke of Wellington's victories. A zoological garden has lately been added to the other attractions of the park.

Dublin was formerly a busy literary mart, in consequence of the state of the copyright law, which allowed of cheap reprints of British books being here issued. After a long interval, the activity of its publishers have lately revived, and there are now several houses which afford considerable encouragement to native talent; among others, those of Mr. Tims and Mr. Milliken in Grafton street, and that of Messrs. W. Curry, jr., and Co., in Sackville street. The latter has had the merit of, for the first time establishing a respectable periodical work in Ireland, the "Dublin University Magazine," which has been carried on with increasing success for a number of years.

Dublin possesses a number of beneficiary institutions, conducted on a scale of great liberality; also several religious and educational societies, whose operations are extended over the whole kingdom. The trade carried on in the town refers chiefly to home consumption; and, excepting tabinets or poplins, it is not distinguished as the seat of any kind of manufacture. The foreign export from Dublin is extremely small. Its principal imports are-timber, from the Baltic; tallow, hemp, and tar, from Russia; wine and fruits, from France, Spain, and Portugal; tobacco, bark, and spices, from Holland; and sugar, from the West India islands.

The most important branch of its commerce is that carried on with England, chiefly in connexion with Liverpool, to whose market there are now large exports of native produce. Though the Liffey forms the harbor of the port, vessels of large burden, and steamboats have an opportunity of preferring the harbor at Kingston (formerly called Dunleary), at the mouth of the bay, on its southern side. This harbor, which is constructed on a magnificent scale, with the neat town adjacent, may at all times be readily reached by a railway from Dublin, which proves a great convenience to the inhabitants. At the opposite side of the bay from Kingston is Howth, whose celebrated "hill" forms a distinguishing landmark.

The number of light private vehicles in Dublin is one of its most remarkable distinctive features. These are generally of the kind called cars, drawn by one horse, and having a seat on each side, admitting of two or more persons sitting with their faces outward. To keep a car is one of the highest aims of the ambition of a Dublin tradesman. "Previous to the Union," says an intelligent writer who has been consulted with advantage, "Dublin was the constant residence of two hundred and seventy-one temporal and spiritual peers, and three hundred members of the house of commons. At present about half a dozen peers, and fifteen or twenty members of the house of commons, have a settled dwelling within its precincts. Other persons of this exalted class of society, whom business or amusement may draw to the capital occasionally, take up their residence at the hotels, which are numerous in the city. The resident gentry of Dublin now amount to about two thousand families, including clergymen and physicians, besides nearly an equal number of lawyers and attorneys, who occasionally reside there. The families engaged in trade and commerce are calculated at about five thousand, and the whole may yield a population of sixty or seventy thousand in the higher and middle ranks of society. The change which has taken place, though injurious to commercial prosperity, has perhaps in an equal proportion proved beneficial to public morals; the general character of the inhabitants, which was once gay and dissipated, has now become more serious and religious, and those sums formerly lavished on expensive pleasures, are now happily converted to purposes of a more exalted nature. merly there were seven theatres well supported; at present the only one which remains is frequently thinly attended. Club-houses and gaming-tables are nearly deserted; and even among the lower classes, vice of every kind has visibly diminished." In 1831 the population of Dublin was two hundred and four thousand one hundred and fifty-five.

For

Kilkenny, the capital of the county of the same name, situated on the river Nore, was formerly a town of great consequence, as its ancient castle, the ruins of its embattled walls, and churches, testify. Till lately it carried on a considerable trade in the manufacture of woollen cloths and blankets; but these branches have in a great degree fallen off, and the business is now confined to the retail of necessaries for its inhabitants, and the sale of the agricultural produce of the district. The city contains several good streets, which are respectably inhabited, both by private families and tradesmen; but the suburbs are miserable. The most conspicuous ornament of the city is the fine baronial castle of the marquis of Ormond, full of historical associations, rising boldly over the Nore. The cathedral of St. Canice, built in 1202, is not excelled by any of the ancient ecclesiastical buildings in the kingdom, except St. Patrick's and Christ Church in Dublin. The town possesses a number of respectable schools, and various asylums and other beneficiary institutions. Near the town there is a marble quarry of considerable local importance. Population in 1831, twenty-three thousand seven hundred and forty-one.

Drogheda, in the county of Louth, and situated on the Boyne, in the line of road from Dublin to Belfast, is a town of respectable appearance, and the seat of an industrious population. From the time the English settled in Ireland, this town was called Tredagh, and considered of such importance, that parliaments were formerly held in it. In 1649, it was stormed by Cromwell, and the inhabitants put to the sword, except a few who were transported to America. Five steamers ply regularly between Drogheda and Liverpool or Glasgow, carrying out corn, cattle, sheep, pigs, and fowl, and bringing back cotton cloth, timber, leather, tobacco, salt, and iron. Drogheda contains three Episcopal churches-St. Peter's, St. Mary's, and St. Mark's, which is a chapel of ease to St. Peter's; four Roman catholic chapels, two convents, and a friary. The chief civic buildings are a handsome tholsel, customhouse, mayoralty-house, jail, and linen-hall. The town does not bear a literary character: it has, however, four tolerably good bookseller's shops and a readingroom: there is also a mechanics' society in Drogheda. Its principal manufactories are a flax-mill, two foundries, salt works, a distillery, three breweries, one of which, belonging to Mr. Cairns, is celebrated for the superior quality of its ale, which is in constant demand in the English and foreign markets. There are, besides, several large flour-mills, and a soap and candle manufactory. There is a salmon-fishery on the Boyne, close to the town; and cod, haddock, plaice, soles, and gurnet, are abundantly caught along the coast. The linen trade is still carried on in Drogheda, though it is at present in a very depressed condition. The time of its greatest pros

perity was from 1814 to 1820, during which period four thousand pieces of linen were averaged to be the weekly product. There was also a temporary revival of the cotton trade in this town; but in the commercial panic of 1825-'6, many of the Drogheda weavers passed over to Manchester and Oldham, others went to France, and a large body emigrated to America, in consequence of which the cotton business ceased. The population in 1831 was seventeen thousand three hundred and sixty-six.

CHAPTER LI.

MUNSTER.

MUNSTER contains six counties, Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, and Waterford, and may be considered as that part of Ireland in which the national character, and the national habits of all kinds, are maintained in their greatest purity. Some of the largest seats of population in the island, as the cities of Cork, Waterford, and Limerick, are situated in Munster. The province contains many tracts of beautiful scenery, and one in particular, which is allowed to be unequalled in the kingdom-the celebrated lake district at Killarney.

The lakes of Killarney are situated in the bosom of the mountainous county of Kerry, and are annually visited by travellers from all parts of the island, as well as from neighboring countries. They are three in number, of unequal size, and considerably varied with respect to surrounding scenery, though that may be described as generally of a mountainous character. Lough Lane, or the Lower lake, by far the largest of the three, is skirted on one side by the level and well-cultivated country surrounding the pleasant village of Killarney; on the other side rise the Glena and Tomies mountains. In this lake there are a number of wooded islands, one of which contains the ruins of an abbey, and another the remains of an ancient castle. On the shore, toward the east, is the beautiful ruin of Muckross abbey. Divided from the Lower lake by the fine wooded promontory of Muckross, but accessible by two channels of level water, is the Middle lake, called also Turk lake, from the name of the mountain at whose foot it reposes. Over and above the islands which stud the surface, the beauty of these two sheets of water may be said to consist in the irregular promontories and slopes, generally wooded, by which they are surrounded, and above which the mountains tower in sterile grandeur. In many nooks of the scenery, elegant mansions look out upon the lakes; in others the mountain streams are seen descending in glittering cascades. The Upper lake, the third of the series, is three miles apart from the middle one, on a higher level, and totally embosomed amid the hills. A stream descending from the one to the other can be passed in a boat; and, at a particular place on the passage, it is common for tourists to have the bugle played, in order to enjoy the oft-repeating echoes which it awakes in the neighboring hills. The Upper lake, having the wooded heights of Dericunighy on one side, the round-headed Purple Mountains on the other, and, at the head, the bare many-colored ridge of Macgillicuddy's Reeks, while the surface is broken by a variety of sylvan islets, presents a landscape of enchanting loveliness. In connexion with the lakes, there is a narrow rugged vale, named Dunloe, which is usually taken in by a tourist in a survey of this fine scenery.

Among other beautiful places in Munster, we can only particularize Glengarriff, a ragged and most picturesque vale near the head of Bantry bay; the banks of the Blackwater, between Lismore and Youghal; the river Lee, below Cork, and the fine natural harbor (the cove of Cork) in which it terminates; and the lofty ironbound coasts of Clare, amid which are some scenes of uncommon grandeur.

The soil in the southern parts of Limerick and Tipperary is perhaps not inferior in fertility to any portion of Europe. The Corkass lands of the former, and the Golden Vale of the latter, are celebrated for their extraordinary richness. These districts are chiefly appropriated to the feeding of black cattle. Wheat husbandry is cultivated throughout the limestone districts of Tipperary, Clare, and Limerick

while dairy farming is followed in the mountain districts of Kerry and Waterford. The potato culture necessary to supply the wants of an over-dense population, is eagerly pursued throughout the whole province; and it is a deplorable fact, that a large portion of that population have no other food during the greater part of the year. The grass farms let in large divisions of from one hundred and fifty to four hundred acres, at from forty shillings to three pounds per acre. In the dairies of the county of Cork, the great butter county of Munster, it is no uncommon thing to have from one to two hundred cows in profit; the advantage of which is, that a cask is filled at once by butter all of the same churning. The sweet thick cream only is churned, and that every morning. The pastures of these dairy-farms are highly manured, and are never broken up for tillage, experience having taught the dairy farmers that the older the sward the richer is the milk. Some of these grass lands have not been ploughed for a hundred and fifty years.

Daily laborers are generally paid from eightpence to tenpence per day; or, if engaged by the year, from sixpence to eightpence. In the latter case it is supposed that the laborer has a house, and grass for a cow, at what is called a moderate rent, and which, in the estimation of the laborer, is equivalent to additional wages. The food of a great part of the Munster peasantry consists of potatoes; to this is usually added milk, and, if they live near the sea, haak or herrings. In Cork, but few of the laboring poor have cows, because milk can be had in abundance at a moderate price at the dairies. It is, however, very customary to have ewes, which not only supply a tolerable quantity of milk, but furnish clothing. The women spin and dye the fleeces, and have them woven into thick frieze, and fulled at the village fullingmill: from this practice, the southern Munster men are remarkably well clothed. The cottages, or rather cabins, are, generally speaking, wretched; but it may be stated, that in the dwellings and furniture of the people there is a growing improvement. The character of the Munster peasantry may be considered as of mixed good and evil-the evil arising from a total want of restraint in early childhood, bad education, or, as frequently happens, none at all. Female education is peculiarly neglected; and it is deplorable to see marriages contracted when the wife has few capabilities for managing a family, and rendering her husband comfortable, or his house a happy home.

Generally speaking, the trade of Munster consists in the export of provisions and agricultural produce, as wheat, oats, and potatoes, to a large amount.

There is on the Shannon an active fishery for trout, herrings, &c., and abundance of excellent fish are sent into Limerick, Ennis, Kilrush, and to the county of Kerry. Along the coast of Cork there is a fishery for pilchards, herrings, and other kinds of fish, which are caught in great quantities, so that frequently the farmers manure the fields with sprats.

The leading towns of Munster are Cork, Limerick, and Waterford. The name of Cork is derived from the Irish word corcah, which signifies a marsh. This city, which ranks as the second in Ireland with respect to population and commercial importance, stands on the River Lee, which, through several channels, pours its waters into the harbor, whence the tide flows to some distance above the town. The streets are built along the river channels, which, being all quayed, give the city somewhat of a Venetian character: of late years, however, the narrower have been arched over, and only the main streams, in which the merchant vessels lie, left open. The episcopal ecclesiastical buildings of Cork consist of seven parish churches, the cathedral of St. Fin Barry, St Luke's chapel of Ease and Free church, the chapel of the Foundling hospital, and the church of St. Michael's at Blackrock: two other churches are in progress. There are four Roman catholic chapels, three new ones nearly completed, and four friaries. There are numerous dissenting chapels-two meetinghouses for Wesleyan methodists, one for the Primitive Wesleyans, one for anabaptists, two for presbyterians, one for the society of Friends, and two for two other small bodies of dissenters. A new Scotch church is in progress. The principal public buildings are, the bishop's palace, which stands on a height overlooking the town; a new jail, a little to the west of the city; the customhouse, large and handsome barracks, the city library, the reading-rooms, the infirmaries, the chamber of commerce, the steam-packet office, and a well-built and spacious courthouse, having in front a pediment supported on six Corinthian columns, and surmounted by an emblematic group of colossal figures. There is now in progress a new savings' bank, an extensive and ornamental building; also a new banking house of cut stone

for a branch bank of Ireland; a new and showy corn-market house; and an extensive work house for the Poor-Law Union, about three quarters of a mile from the city. Cork boasts of many schools-the Blue-Coat hospital, for twenty-two sons of reduced protestants; the Green-Coat hospital, for twenty children of each sex, to be brought up protestants; the Cove street infant, Diocesan, Lancastrian, and Female Orphan schools; the diocesan schools for the united diocese of Cork and Ross, and a free school founded by Archdeacon Pomeroy.

Among the charitable institutions in this city are-Birtridge's charity, where are maintained seven old protestant soldiers; Skiddy's almshouse, where twelve aged women receive twenty-nine pounds yearly; Deane's schools, where forty poor children are clothed and taught gratis. There is, besides, a masonic female orphan asylum, and several almshouses. Indeed, in proportion to its size and wealth, the city of Cork bears a peculiarly high character for benevolence.

There are five societies here whose objects are almost entirely scientific: the Royal Cork institution, the Cuvierian, the Scientific and Literary societies, the Mechanics' institute, and the school and library in Cook street; one public subscription, and several circulating libraries; eighteen protestant societies, devoted to religious purposes; four benevolent societies, for the relief of the distressed; five philanthropic societies, two lunatic asylums, and a school for instructing the deaf and dumb poor in George's street.

The chief exports of Cork are grain, butter, cattle, and provision; its chief imports, wine, tea, sugar, and coals. From the parliamentary returns, it appears that, during the five years ending 1834, the average annual number of vessels entering the port of Cork, was, British 135, tonnage 26,438; and foreign 29, tonnage 3,384. Steam-vessels communicate between Cork and Dublin, Bristol and Liverpool; and steamboats ply daily between Cork and Cove. The population of Cork, according to the census of 1831, was one hundred and seven thousand and sixteen.

Limerick, the chief city of the west of Ireland, is situated on the Shannon, near the place where that noble river expands into an estuary. In consists of the Old and New Town, respectively situated on the north and south sides of the river, and connected by an elegant modern bridge. The new city contains many good streets, filled with handsome shops; but the old town is confined, dirty, decayed, and inhabited by a very miserable population. Limerick contains a handsome cathedral of some antiquity, situated in the old part of the city, six episcopal churches and a chapel of ease, meetinghouses belonging to the presbyterians, independents, and the society of friends, with five Roman catholic chapels, three friaries, and one nunnery. The principal public buildings are the exchange, the city courthouse, the city and county jail, the police barrack, the customhouse, the commercial buildings, the linen-halĺ, the market, and two banks. Though Limerick is not a particularly literary city, it has an excellent library and some very good booksellers' shops. The principal school at Limerick is the diocesan, but there are many private day and boarding schools. There are many charitable institutions, as the county hospital; the house of industry for the aged and infirm, widows, orphans, young females, and deserted children; the corporation almshouse; Dr. Hall's and Mrs. Villiers's almshouses.

With regard to the trade of Limerick, it has been observed, that though it has increased with the extension of the city, it has done so by no means in an adequate proportion, when its peculiar advantages are considered; the Shannon, which connects it with Clare, Kerry, Waterford, and Tipperary, affording it innumerable commercial facilities. The quays of Limerick are nevertheless a scene of considerable bustle, though chiefly frequented by vessels for the export of the native produce. Provisions to the amount of seventy-five thousand tons are here shipped annually. The population of Limerick in 1831 was estimated to be 66,555.

Waterford, the chief town of the county bearing its name, and a large seaport, is situated on the Suir, a few miles from its junction with the sea. Native produce, to the value of £2,000,000, is annually exported from Waterford; but the imports are comparatively unimportant. There is here a fine cathedral, founded by the Ostmen, and endowed with lands by King John, and several churches, meetinghouses for the presbyterians and the society of friends, a French church for the Huguenots, and several abbeys and friaries. The principal buildings are the bishop's palace, the exchange, and the city jail. Among its schools are the Latin free-school, and the Blue Boys' free-school, in which seventy-five are instructed and partly clothed gratis and the boys apprenticed to different trades. The population in 1831 was 28,820.