lands had begun to renew her youth, and that under the new dynasty she was once more to become a powerful nation. Turn over the page, and how great the contrast. In the forty years of Mehemet Ali's authority over Egypt, her population has been diminished one-half! What a tale of wrong and oppression does this single fact unfold. War, the very element of the Pacha's life, has exhausted the manhood of the land. A merciless conscription has accomplished what neither a foreign invasion nor civil oppression could have done. Whenever the Pacha needed more troops, a new levy was ordered, and recruiting bands everywhere penetrated the land; the mechanic was seized in his shop, the laborer in his field, and the miserable Fellah was borne away from the midst of his disturbed 'family. The sight of a soldier was a sign for the wretched inhabitants to hide themselves. Festivals and funerals were deserted through fear of the conscriptions. An anecdote from the Foreign Quarterly Review will illustrate the crafty way in which his army was sometimes recruited. "He induced a Christian slave, in one of the large villages of Egypt to commit an offense against the Mohammedan religion, the penalty of which was death. The man was promised not only that he should not lose his life, but also that if he played his part well to the last, he should receive a handsome reward. The Christian was tried with great ceremony, and sentenced to die. The governor, who was in the secret, ordered that the execution should take place with unusual pomp, as the offense' was one which excited great indignation among the faithful; and to do honor to the ceremony, and under pretense that a rescue might be attempted, several hundred soldiers were marched into the village without exciting suspicion. On the day appointed for the execution, the peasantry of the country, for miles round, flocked into the town. The man was tied up, and the signal for execution had only to be given, when, suddenly, the soldiers closed upon the populace, and driving out all the women and children, and the old men, bound the rest, and marched them off. It is but just to say, that the supposed culprit was released, thus showing that Mehemet Ali could keep faith. If he had chosen to break it, the poor fellow might have been executed without having an opportunity of imploring the despot to spare the life which he had solemnly promised to preserve." This anecdote sufficiently illustrates the cost at which the armies of Mehemet Ali were recruited, and what an expense of terrorism and life his system was successful in imposing upon Europeans by the appearance of vigor, such vigor as necessarily attends upon the plans of sagacious barbarians, bent upon witnessing immediate results of his policy. Mehemet Ali died in the year 1849, after a stormy and most eventful career in Egypt of forty-nine years. His step-son Ibrahim Pacha, evinced during his short possession of the Pachalic, considerable military, but little civic talent. The reforms of his father were suffered to languish, and now under the rule of Abbas Pacha, the grandson of Mehemet Ali, and a dissolute, debauched young man, Egypt is fast relapsing into the same wretched condition in which the Albanian mercenary found it more than half a century ago. A TOUR IRELAND. HISTORICAL and Descriptive Sketch-Belfast-Linen Manufacture-A Primitive PreacherThe Round Towers Jaunting car-Londonderry-Dublin-Misery of the People-Limerick-Irish Wit-Lakes of Killarney-Anecdote-Father Mathew and his Reforms Causes of the degradation of the Irish-Vicious Legislation-Indolence and Improvidence-Intolerance-Oppressive Ecclesiastical System-Absenteeism-Evictions. IRELAND has an area of 32,000 square miles: about equal to the State of Maine. It is divided into the four great provinces of Ulster, Munster, Leinster, and Connaught: these are divided into thirty-two counties. Two centuries since, the population of Ireland was but a trifle over one million; in 1841, it was over eight millions. The face of the country affords a pleasing variety of surface. In some parts there are rich and fertile plains, watered by large and beautiful streams, while in other parts, hills are found in frequent succession, which agreeably diversify the scenery. The level parts are generally in the center of the island, where an extensive plain, comprising nearly a third of Ireland, extends from sea to sea. The hilly parts, in general, admit of culture a considerable (561) way up their sides; some of them are, however, precipitous, and terminate in peaks; but few of them are of sufficient height to be termed mountains. The bogs of Ireland are its greatest disfigurement, and cover about one-tenth of its surface. There are many beautiful lakes, among which, those of Killarney, in the midst of the mountains of Kerry, are celebrated for their Dicturesque beauties. In Donegal is Lough Derg or Red Lake, a small lake, which contains several small islands, one of which, is a noted place of pilgrimage, called "St. Patrick's Purgatory," consisting of a cavern ten feet long, and less than three broad, by passing through which, and performing sundry tedious ceremonies, the deluded pilgrims believe that they obtain a remission of their sins. For this purpose every year, between the 15th of July, and 15th of August, crowds of people assemble here from all parts of Ireland. The Shannon, the largest of Irish rivers, is 214 miles long; its estuary is the safest retreat for shipping on the coast. The islands off the coast, are generally very small and dangerous to navigation. Tipperary and Limerick, long distinguished as the golden vale, possess an extraordinary fertility. Extensive tracts of grazing land are uncommon; potatoes and oats, are the principal agricultural products. Notwithstanding the great fertility of the soil, the average product is much less than that of England, owing to the backward state of agriculture. Formerly, Ireland was entirely covered with vast forests, which in the early period of its connection with England, formed the chief obstacle to the progress of the invaders, and were destroyed; and now well grown timber is rarely to be seen. The climate is much milder and more equable than that of England, and the verdure of the fields is generally preserved throughout the year. The dairy farms form a conspicuous feature in the rural economy of the country, and far exceed the grazing farms. The butter is the staple trade. The cultivation of flax has become very extensive, and the manufacture of linen is carried on largely. The province of Leinster is the largest in Ireland, and contains twelve counties. It forms a large tract on the east side of the island, and is much varied in its scenery. The county of Wicklow in this province, a short way south of Dublin, is remarkable for its picturesque beauty; the hills, glens and valleys, are here rich in natural wood; and bounded by an extensive prospect of the ocean, can hardly be excelled in natural beauty. The principal points of attraction, are Lough Bray, a woody ravine called the Dargle, and the celebrated vale of Avoca, so beautifully apostrophized by the Irish poet, Tom Moore: "Sweet vale of Avoca! how calm could I rest In thy bosom of shade, with the friends I love best- Leinster far surpasses the other provinces in agriculture; and the counties of Wexford and Wicklow, contain a remarkably industrious, thriving popu lation. The peasantry of the latter are reckoned the finest in the world, and are proverbial for their handsome features and fine Roman profiles. The resident gentry are more numerous, and take a great interest in the wellbeing of their tenantry. The chief towns are Dublin, Kilkenny, and Drogheda. The province of Munster, which occupies the southern part of Ireland, contains six counties. Within it are many tracts of beautiful scenery, among which is the celebrated lake district, at Killarney. The population is very dense, and it is a deplorable fact, that a great part of the year the great mass of the people have no other food than the potato. Here are some magnificent dairy farms, which 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 plowed for a hundred and fifty years. The wages of the daily laborer here, is only about 8d per day, and their cabins or dwellings most wretched. The principal towns are Cork, Limerick, and Waterford. Connaught, which occupies the western part, is the smallest of the four provinces, and contains five counties. The Peninsula of Connemara in this province is a vast tract of mingled bog, lake, rocky moorland, and mountain, bounded, and partially penetrated by deep inlets of the sea, resembling the fiords of Norway; it contains a small, scattered, and primitive population, unusually full of superstitions, and old feudal feelings. The peasantry of Connaught are miserably poor, and even the food of those who are the best off, is generally dry potatoes with occasionally a herring or an egg. Galway, the capital, is an old town resembling a Spanish city, which is attributed to its early intercourse with Spain. Sligo, although a smaller town, is of more commercial importance. Ulster occupies the north of Ireland, and contains nine counties. The surface is hilly and picturesque. It abounds with basaltic columns, which are strikingly displayed in Fair's Head, and the Giant's Causeway. The soil is various. The linen trade is extensively carried on in some parts. The people are generally Protestants, and are better educated, and more thriving than in any other part of Ireland. The principal cities are Belfast, Londonderry, and Armagh." The beginning of the history of Ireland, is enveloped in fable. Their vernacular language proves that they are a part of the great Celtic race, which was once spread all over western Europe, a dialect of the Celtic language, nearly akin to the Erse of Scotland, pervades in the south and west. Since the invasion and conquest, the English and the English language, have pervaded Ireland, so that the present is a very much mixed race. Many Scottish families have also settled in Ulster, and have given much of their peculiar character to that part of Ireland. No Irish manuscript has been found more ancient than the tenth century. There is no evidence that the Irish had the use of letters before the middle of the fifth century, when Christianity and Christian literature were introduced by St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. In the eighth and ninth centuries the scholars of Ireland were among the most distinguished in Western Europe. Soon after the Northmen commenced their descents on the coasts. Divided among a number of barbarians and hostile chiefs, Ireland had been for a long time torn by internal wars, ravaged by the Danes, when, in the beginning of the eleventh century, Brian Borrhoimi (the conqueror) united the greater part of the island under his scepter, restored public tranquillity, and expelled the northern invaders. In 1169, the English invaded the country, and aided by the mutual jealousies of the native chiefs reduced the part of the country around Dublin. In 1310, Edward Bruce, with a Scotch force, caused himself to be crowned king, but was driven out by the English. When Henry VIII, in the sixteenth century, embraced the Reformation, the Irish continued to adhere to the Catholic religion: a parliament which met at Dublin, 1536, declared Henry VIII the supreme head on earth of the church of Ireland, annulled the papal sees, and suppressed the monasteries. Every nonconformist was declared a traitor. To resist these usurpations, confederacies were formed, and the Reformation was rendered so odious to the Irish that it made but slow progress, and the cause of Rome continued the cause of the nation. The attempt to supersede the religion taught by St. Patrick so excited the indignation of the nation, that in 1596, the Irish rebelled, and attempted to throw off the English yoke. O'Neil, the most formidable of the rebel chiefs, assumed the rank and appellation of king of Ulster, and received arms and ammunition from Spain. This insurrection was marked by the most revolting barbarities on both sides; and among the English were many who had long been accustomed to regard the life of a mere Irishman beneath their notice. The rebellion proved unsuccessful, and the whole energies of the people sank beneath the unequal contest. After the death of Charles I, Cromwell was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Ireland, and with his usual energy, soon reduced the whole country. All the possessions of the Catholics were confiscated; about twenty thousand Irish were sold as slaves in America, and forty thousand entered into foreign service to escape the cruelty of the conqueror. Charles II restored the fourth part of the confiscated estates to the Irish, and James II so favored the Catholics as to alarm the Protestant party, and most of the traders and persons of wealth fled from the country with all their movable possessions. The battle of the Boyne, in 1689, restored the Protestant ascendancy three hundred thousand Irish were outlawed for the revolt, and sixteen millions of acres confiscated. The dependence of the Irish Parliament on the English next became a subject of controversy, and in 1719, an act was passed deelaring that the British parliament had full power to make laws binding the people of Ireland. The Irish trade and industry were also subject to every kind of restraint and discouragement; and it was not until the American war broke out that a change became perceptible in the conduct and language of the British government toward Ireland. In 1796, the Irish, denied the enjoyment of their dearest rights, and condemned to political disability, on account of their religion, once more rebelled, and flew to arms: a small French force landed and joined them; but these were obliged to surrender to a superior body of English under Cornwallis, and the insurgents, fleeing, were pursued with great slaughter. By gross |