The lWvniteeer of Thursday publishes a report of the Minister
of Commerce to the King, recommending a reduction of the import-duty on Colonial sugar ; to come into operation on the 10th of September
The duty on raw sugar is reduced front 49 francs 50 centimes to francs per 100 kilogrammes.
We have great pleasure in publishing a letter, descriptive of the im- pressions of a visit to Ireland after ten years' absence, by Mr. WILLIAM conceits of Edinburgh. Mr. CHAMBERS is one of the brother-con- ductors of the well-known and popular periodical, and author of a Tour in Holland and Belgium, reviewed in the Spectator about two months
ee. The powers of close observation and distinct description exhi- bited iu that Tour, induce us to place full reliance on the gratify ing statements of Irish progression contained in this letter.
TO THE EDITOR OF TILE SPECTATOR.
Eauhurghs 19th August 1839. DEAR SIR—Since I saw you in London, I have made a pretty considerable round, by way of Dublin and Belfast, to Edinburgh; but how rapidly is such a journey now made!—froth London to Liverpool by railway, ten hours ; Liverpool to Kingston, twelve hours ; Kingston to Dublin by regway, a quarter of 1111 hour—all steam. What a magician is this steam, now-a-days! It is doing more for Ireland in the way of moral and physical improvement in one day, than was effected in years by the rubbish of Parliamentary enactments. People in England, however, arc not aware of this : they go on dreaming about uproars, civil wars, and miseries which characterized a past age in heland, apparently not aware that the Ireland of 1839 ts quite a different thing from the Ireland of 1798, or even of 1828. 1 had not been in Ireland for ten years, and was on this occasion much struck with the signals of improvement which on all sides presented themselves. Dublin is more cleanly, and infinitely more orderly, than it used to be. It has got a police, dressed in the same garb and disciplined in the same manner as that in the Metropolis. This civil force has, I understand, been of prodigious benefit to Dublin ; every thing like a row is now promptly! quelled, and during the night all is as quiet and peaceful as in Loudon. There is, I think, also snuck less of that tag-rag and broken-windowedness in the appearance of sonic, of the by-streets thmi I saw formerly,—as if a taste for neatness and love of com- fort were on the increase. Those funny fellows who drive the street-cars are likewise more decent in their apparel—the straw rope having disappeared from the hat or legs, and their /at-wan/Tie being altogether of a better order. The railway to Kingston is now going on famously after some initiatory difficulties. The tram goes every half-hour. I went several times to and fro, and there were never fewer than from a hundred to two hundred persons carried. In consequence of the case of conveyance out of town in this direction, the beau- tiful low sloping hills along the entrance to the Bay are becoming covered with villas, the whole presenting a scene of great beauty from the sea. While the environs are thus receiving the higher class of householders from the city, the streets they leave partially deserted are filling up with shops and houses of business; thus affording at evidence of growing prosperity. I was pleased to observe, among other tokens of improvement, an increase of booksellers' shops : these are even numerous, and I learned that literature is daily advancing. A few years ago, there was no publishing at all ; but now, one house, CCRRY and Company, issues as many new books, the produce of native talent, as are issued by all the publishers of Edinburgh, if not considerably more. When 1 was last in Dublin, (in 18290 I was astonished to see the vast num- ber of red coats in the streets ; but stow there is hardly one to be seen. From whatever causes, this is doubtless a good sign of the state of affairs : there is always something wrong when red is a predominating colour in apparel. The thing, however, which pleased use most, was the appearance of the schools for the children of the poorer classes. At the school of the National Board of Education, I saw 1,700 children, a mixture of Roman Catholics and Protestants, receiving an education infinitely superior in quality to that given in our Scottish parish-schools. 1 found not only mere reading taught, but ma- thematics and natural sciences. A class of very poorly-clad urchins, at my request, went through an examination in these branches of knowledge ; and the result was most satisfactory. (School-fee ld. per week.) I visited also the lame school of the Kildare Place Society ; and in it found 1,100 children under a similar system of tuition. From these visits, and what I saw otherwise, I feel impressed with the belief that the Irish have got fairly into the right course of intellectual and moral advancement, and that the country will by and by show us goad a f'ront as England or Scotland. One thing is most gratify- ing—the landed proprietors have begun to take an interest in the condition of the poor peasantry. The Poor-law deserves the credit of bringing about this be- neficial change in public sentiment. Foreseeing that the peasantry may fhll Iwo" them for subsistence, already a stir has been created anion.. the gentry, and they are at this moment, in divers places, projecting some wam
lesoe measures of emigration, and making an effort to enlarge the size of farms and introduce
agricultural capitalists. All this is exactly as it should be. The mischief of Ireland is too many people and too little work; and although the country will ultimately support in comfort the more than Its present number of inhabitants, it is clear that in eh,' minim time the profitless mass of labourers must lie removed—that is, in the spirit of kindness, sent away to regions where labourers are wanted and well paid. it is likely enough that a class of orators, newspapers, and maga- zines, who thrive upon keeping up mischief, may set their tisee against these benevolent plans of emigration ; but I. would fain hope that, by good manage- ment, Ireland will be relieved of her difficulties' and the land everywhere put tinder a right system of agriculture. Already, I estates are bring- ing good prices: and no wonder, seeing that produce of every description is so readily exported to England and Scotland, by steam-boats. Cattle, pork, poultry, knitter, and vegetables, are now sent off daily for half-a-dozen ports ; and, would you believe it, Glasgow is now supplied with butter-milk from Belfast. Of course, all this is rapidly transplanting capital from Great Bri- tain to 'Ireland ; and hence Ireland must thrive in spite of liersulS, Every one with wham I conversed allowed, that provided no political sq mild& inter- vened, and that Ireland was thirly treated as an integral, ;sortie's of the l• I ited Kingdom, its advance in the course of the next ten years would be very comider- able. I have no doubt in my own mind, that in that period there will hue a decided rush of capital into Ireland--the rush, indeed, has begun. That half a cen- tury, however, may elapse before it is what it ought to he, is not improledde; for Scotland took nearly a century to recover from the shock of its tniuun- all improvements, as you know, being of quite it recent date. Among (eller symptoms of an advance, 1 found that the Church is roused to do something useful. There is now a greater energy about the clergy.; and they are at pre- sent projecting the establishment of schools of a strictly Protestant kind. This is excellent. The more schools the better, for the greater chance is there of the whole people being educated. In the North, I found things in a fully more flourishing state than in the South. A railway, just opened from Belfast to Lisburne, is making a stir. It is to be carried shortly to Armagh, and afterwards, 1 believe, to Drogheda and Dublin. When we get our railway from Edinburgh to Glasgow finished, and also the railway from Glasgow to Greenock, we shall be able to reach Ireland from the East coast of Scotland in no time.
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