ering walls are the tombs of the nobility, with the bearings of their families, and many inscriptions, some of which are in illegible characters. The organ, which is profusely ornamented, and the tones of which are said to be uncommonly sweet, was captured from the Spanish by Admiral Drake. We climbed this edifice, which is a specimen of pure Gothic architecture, to the very battlements, whence a perfect view of the city was obtained.

After dinner our rambles were resumed. Limerick was once a walled city, and is celebrated in the history of the wars between England and Ireland. A section of the ancient rampart is yet standing; as are also two castles, in one of which, King John for some time resided. They are now both vacant and shut up. Adjoining to them are the barracks, in which there is a regiment of troops at present stationed. Near these old fortresses, a stone bridge of equal antiquity, extends across the Shannon. A bloody battle was once fought upon it, and multitudes of the troops were in the heat of the conflict precipitated into the river and seen floating over the falls below.

The Shannon, opposite Limerick, is a narrow stream, but the channel is of sufficient depth to admit ships of 500 tons burthen to ascend with ease and safety. It soon becomes wide. Where we first saw it this morning, it is nearly as broad as the Hudson. The distance from Limerick to its mouth is 63 miles. It rises far in the interior, and is the largest river, not only in the three kingdoms, but on any island yet explored. Its commerce is extensive. The steam-boat Lady of the Shannon, which is small in comparison with ours, runs every other day to Killrush, a village on the right bank of the river, near its mouth.

This city is apparently in a flourishing condition. Fewer beggars are seen in the streets, than in other towns, and the lower classes are more decently clad. This difference in the aspect of the population is ascribed to the number and activity of the charitable institutions, among which is a house of industry, where eight hundred or a thousand are constantly kept employed. There is, however, yet a wide field open for melioration.

LETTER IV.

ROUTE FROM LIMERICK TO DUBLIN-CITY OF DUBLIN-PASSAGE FROM DUBLIN TO LIVERPOOL.

July, 1825.

On Saturday morning the 9th instant, we left Limerick in the post coach, at 5 o'clock, and arrived at Dublin at 9 on the same evening. The distance is 91 Irish, or about 116 English miles. Each of the horses belonging to this line has his name stamped upon the collar. Our coach was drawn by Bolivar, and other heroes. Relays are stationed at distances of eight or ten miles, and changes are effected with great expedition, seldom occupying more than two minutes. So exact are the times of arrival at the different stages, that the teams are standing harnessed at the door of the inn, and the only delay is the unhitching and hitching the traces. Irish horses are generally stout and well fed, calculated for strength rather than speed. They are not so fleet as ours. An American stage, with an American driver, would fly like lightning along an Irish road, which presents no obstructions. I have smiled at the caution of coachmen in this country. They begin to turn out by the time another team is in sight, always taking the left hand side of the path, exemplifying the solecism that in travelling, "the left is always the right." Where there is only a moderate descent, the wheels are locked. With such precautions, accidents very seldom happen. Travellers feel so much security as frequently to sleep upon the top of the coach, although at almost a dizzy height from the ground. We were told that our ride from Limerick to Dublin was a pretty fair specimen of English travelling; and if so, it has the preference in point of comfort over ours. The motion of the coach is easy, and very little fatigue was felt at the end of this long journey.

The road between these two cities stretches across the Island in a diagonal direction; and as we rode almost the whole distance upon the outside, we had a good view of the interior and agricultural part of the country. Both in point of soil and cultivation, Ireland has much surpassed my expectations. The surface is uniform, consisting of moderate undulations, with here and there chains of hills and intervening bogs. There is however, very little waste land, the high grounds being used for pastures to their very tops, and the morasses for supplies of fuel. A destitution of trees and timber is the greatest defect, both in point of convenience and beauty of landscape. No woodlands are seen, except about the seats of the more wealthy inhabitants; and the

residence of one of the nobility may be ascertained as far as the eye can reach, by the green copses about his dwelling. Geologists infer from the strata in the bogs, that Ireland was at three different periods covered with forests of heavy timber. These morasses are composed of vegetable and ligneous materials some of which are found in a perfect state, in different layers, for many feet below the surface. Stumps and trees of a large growth have frequently been dug up in cutting turf.

The formation of the Island is secondary, being chiefly composed, as far as our observation has extended, of lime stone and slate, lying in strata nearly horizontal. We have seen no primitive rock since landing, not even about the mountains of Killarney. The soil is heavy and moist, being much better adapted to pasture and grass-land than to other crops. Wheat fields frequently look well, and are sometimes extensive. One was observed containing twenty acres. Potatoes, however, are the staple commodity, and fields of them are every where to be seen. The mode of tillage, both as it respects this vegetable and grain, is generally different from ours, the ground being thrown up into beds four or five feet wide. Sometimes the former is planted in drills, but never in separate hills, as with us.

Fruits of all kinds are rare, with the exception, perhaps of the gooseberry, currant, and strawberry; and these are insipid, compared with those of the United States. We have not seen a dozen orchards in the whole of our route. The few apple-trees to be found are dwarfish, and the fruit equally small and stinted in its growth. New-York pippins are spoken of in terms of admiration by those who have tasted them. They are very frequently brought to the principal cities in Ireland. Our cherries are as much superior in size and flavour as our apples; and the peach will not grow here at all. The traveller is struck with the scantiness of the fare at the inns, compared with the profusion of our hotels. Nothing is placed before him, but what is expressly ordered, and a dozen little articles are not thought of, until the knife and fork are extended to take them. The necessity of making one's tea is awkward enough. We are not very well versed in Madam Glass ; and our tea has on some occasions been a strange kind of beverage. Experience has, however, taught us to measure the quantity with tolerable accuracy.

Immediately after leaving Limerick, the road runs along a section of the Grand Canal, which connects the waters of the Shannon with those of the Liffey and the Barrow. This is an important work, and has been of great utility to the country. Boats are constantly passing this navigable channel extending across the island. Farther north is the Royal Canal, running nearly parallel to the other. But I have not yet

seen enough of these great national works, to enable me to enter into detail, or to draw a comparison between them and similar improve. ments in our own country.

In one of the villages, a beautiful range of white cottages was observed, with neat doors and windows, and the grounds about them in a high state of cultivation. Every thing appeared in a thrifty condition, presenting a perfect contrast to the poverty, dirt and wretchedness of the ordinary cabin. The appearance was so novel, as to arrest the attention of the passengers. A gentleman in the coach, who was acquainted with the country, furnished an easy solution of this moral phenomenon. He remarked that the tenants were all freeholders, feeling the pride and ambition of citizens.

Seven or eight miles from Limerick, is Castle Connel Spa, with a cluster of houses about it, situate upon the banks of the Shannon. The waters are chalybeate, and said to be efficacious in bilious complaints and obstructions of the liver. The Spring is much frequented in the summer months. Mineral waters are very common in Ireland, there being eight hundred or a thousand similar springs, scattered over the island. Near this fountain are the ruins of an old castle, blown up by the Prince of Hesse, in the year 1690. The Earl of Clare has a beautiful seat called Mount Shannon, within a mile of this watering place.

In the course of the forenoon, we passed a lead mine which is the only one wrought to any extent in Ireland. Several old shafts were observed about the lakes of Killarney, and pieces of ore were picked up, which probably contained 25 per cent. of lead. Experience proved the mines to be not worth working. Metals and minerals of all descriptions, except tin, are found on this island. On the banks of the Shannon we saw several coal mines. One of the shafts extended about 70 feet under the bed of the river. The coal is of an inferior quality, used only in reducing lime. It is said that native gold was formerly abundant in Ireland; and that immense masses of it were used in the furniture and ornaments of the early chieftains. It does not appear to be very plentiful at present.

In the county of Tipperary, we passed through the village of Roscrea, where are several interesting ruins, among which is a castle erected by King John, in the year 1213. It is an immense pile, and still in a tolerable state of preservation. A few rods from this, stands the shrine of St. Cronan, consisting of a triangular structure, like the gable end of a house, with a gate forming the entrance to a modern church. It is a rude piece of antiquity, of Saxon architecture, and presenting the half-effaced images of Saints, in bas-relief, with some unintelligible inscriptions. On the opposite side of the way, is a round

tower, 15 feet in diameter, and a hundred in height, supposed to be of Danish origin. We had barely time to look into the tower, and stand a moment at the sacred shrine, when the coach took us up and hurried us away. There is also at Roscrea an ancient castle of great extent, built by the Earl of Ormond. A dwelling house now stands within the walls.

A few miles farther on, are seen the ruins of an abbey, situate upon a little oasis in the bog of Mouela, inaccessible for a considerable part of the year. Upon the island, traces of an orchard and fishpond are discoverable. The monastery was founded in the seventh century. Its site is truly romantic. To the south-west rise the hills of Sliew-bloom, celebrated by the poet Spenser. The morass around the abbey was evidently once covered with a forest of heavy timber, the remains of which are yet found in the bog in three distinct strata. It is conjectured, that the last growth was destroyed in the eleventh century. The monastery was therefore for many centuries in the midst of a deep and dark wood, insulated entirely from the rest of the world.

At Emo are the ruins of the castle of Dunamase, planted upon an insulated rock, impregnable before the invention of gunpowder. It has gone through many revolutions, having belonged successively to M'Murrough, King of Leinster, the Earl of Pembroke, Lord Mortimer, and Lisagh O'Moore, until it was finally destroyed by Cromwell, who was any thing but a protector to the castles and monasteries of Ireland. The marks of his scourge are visible in every part of the Island. Had he acted strictly upon the principles which he professed, the destruction of monastic institutions and of castles might have been beneficial to the country; but in most cases, his career was marked by a barbarous destruction of property, without substituting any thing better, either in religion or government.

Kildare is one of the most celebrated places upon this route. The name signifies the wood of oaks. It was so called from being originally surrounded by an immense forest. In the centre of the woods was a large plain, now called the Currah of Kildare, once sacred to heathenish superstition. St. Bridgid, a natural daughter of an Irish chieftain, after her conversion to christianity, here founded a nunnery, as early as the fifth century. She is said to have received the veil at the age of 14, from the hand of St. Patrick himself. She possessed great talents, as well as great sanctity, governing for many years a friary connected with the nunnery. Her name is still enrolled in the calendar of saints, and her festival observed on the 1st of February. Here also Black Hugh, one of the Kings of Leinster,