THE ANGLER IN IRELAND.

THE author of these volumes is a lover Of fly-fishing and beautiful scenery : he is also, as he tells us, of "a roving disposition." These propensities have led him to explore almost every nook of his native country, from the "Land's End to Cape Wrath and John O'Groats." They have taken him to many parts of the Continent, and a short distance in the North of Ireland. This snatch probably servel as a whet ; or, a piscatorial ALEXANDER, he might be in want bf new waters to fish and new sights to see. He therefore determined to devote the whole of last summer to the "Southern and Western" or rather to the South and South- west counties of Ireland. The immediate result, as we make out from an appendix, or angler's bulletin, was 375 salmon, trout, pike, and perch, weighing 5 cwt. I Sibs. 130z. The remoter consequence is a tour in two volumes ; to the production of which the writer was prompted by the difficulty of procuring correct Irish guide- books, not only for anglers, but for the mere pursuer of pleasure. Our author is a stanch Tory, or, what is about the same thing, a Conservative Whig, but gentlemanly and pleasant withal. Having reached Dublin, and remained there long enough to look about him, he proceeded to Carlow and Kilkenny, then put under the ban of the Coercion Bill; and where he "fancied, that he ob- served in the eountenanc s and demeanour of the peasants greater roughness and uncouthness than he had been accustomed to re- mark among the lower orders of Ireland." From Kilkenny he went-to Limerick, through Clonmel and Tipperary. After fishing the neighbouring waters, and seeing what was to be seen, he passed on to Galway; did there as he had done at Limerick ; and then set out for "the houseless wilds of Cunnemarra." He threaded in various directions this yet uncultivated district,—though not now so wild as it was within these few years, when a great pro- prietor, and perhaps a great debtor to boot, could "thank God that the King's wait was not worth one farthing in Cunnernarra ;" partook of the hospitality of the Irish gentry, to whom he was in- troduced; gazed on the beautifully romantic scenery of this far-off Western country ; generally, rose from the dinner-table of Mr. Besme(the well-known author of Letters from Me Irish High- lands) to see the sun set in the Atlantic from "the next parish to America ;" and after fishing as usual, returned to Limeriek. He thence proceeded down the Shannon in a steamer to Tarbert ; and on the next day (Sunday), "contrary to his usual practice and principles," drove over to the celebrated though scarcely well- known Balybunnion, in a jaunting-car. When the " caves " had been thoroughly explored, he set out for the Lakes of Killarney ; diverged to Dingle Bay and Bantry ; and returned to Dublin by Cork and 'Waterford. Or, to convey in a few words a loose notion of his route, to the reader who has not a map at hand, he struck from Dublin across the island, westward, and returned round the southern coast. The time devoted to the trip was nearly five months : he left Dublin on the 10th May, and returned on the 3d October.

The literary character of this work is not of the highest order ; but it is very respectable—without pretension, eking out, or non- sense of any kind. Tho tourist has given us a pleasant, plain, and unaffected narrative of his journey, intermingled with truthful descriptions of scenery, and of the appearance and manners of the people, some practical hints on inns and prices, a good deal of minute information on angling and angling-stations, with a few valuable facts, and some opinions (not quite so useful) on the political and social condition of Ireland.

The most wearisome parts of the volumes are those relating to the gentle art; the reported residence of the finny tribe endowing a spot with importance in the eyes of the author, however uninte- resting in itself, and exciting him to give it a notice to which its general merits do not entitle it. Leaving these passages for the perusal of the brethren of the angle, we present a few sketches of a less technical kind ; and begin with the beginning.

DUBLIN.

I left Dublin on the morning of May 10, after about a fortnight's enjoyment of its gayeties, of which there is no lack at this season. Indeed, the Saxon who comes charged witb the descriptions of a portion of the Irish press and Irish orators, expecting to find the shops all closed and the grass growing in the streets, will, at any time of the year, be greatly astonished at the bustle and crowd of pedestrians and carriages always to be seen in the principal thorough. fares of Dublin.

But in the spring especially, this city is very full and gay. Many families resort to it from the provinces, who, mixing with the numerous body connected with the Irish metropolis, by their profess.onal or official duties, form a large and excellent society. For two or three months, the town presents an appear- ance of unusual animation and gayety. Riding parties and dinner parties are the order of the morning and evening ; in addition to which, there is a nightly succession of very handsome public and private balls, where may be seen as much female beauty as in any part of the British Isles; while the immense garrison, and the numerous attaches_of the Government, insure a plentiful -supply of beaux. Nor want there attractions for visiters of other tastes. Dublin contains many very interesting scientific institutions ; and can boast a number of highly- educated, intelligent, and learned men, among her sons. Its environs are pro- verbial for their loveliness ; and the town itself possesses many remarkably handsome public buildings, as well as some noble streets, intermixed, it must be confessed, with not a few of the meanest houses and filthiest lanes that dis- grace the interior of any capital. Then, the general appearance, and manners, and tones, of the people, the variety and style of the equipages, &c. all wear such a novel and peculiar look in the eyes of a stranger, as to make a ramble through the streets of Dublin un- commonly interesting and amusing to the newly-arrived Englishman. If he have any turn for the observation of character, or relish for genuine humour, it will be his own fault if he meet not with ample opportunity for the indulgence of both. Or, if he be a philanthropist, where can he find such scope for the indulgence of his heart's best feelings—where can lie acquire such a practical lesson of the wants and the miseries of his fellow-creatures, as in the streets and in the hovels of Dublin?

APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE.

It was impossible to travel even one day through the interior of Ireland without being forcibly reminded that I was in a perfectly different country, and among a totally dissimilar people, from those on the Saxon side of the Channel. The general aspest of the country through which I this day passed, as indeed, of the greater part of Ireland, has an unusually bare look in the eyes elan Englishman and reminds him more of the imerior of Fiance than of the smiling fields of ingland. This naked appearance arises, in a great measure, from the absence of hedges and hedge-row timber. The usual fence in Ireland it a mound of earth, or, in some counties, stone walls. These earthen or stone walls are very often without any gateway even into the road. When the pro- prietor wishes to enter into the enclosure, he breaks down as much of the fence as will admit his little cart, and often blocks up the gap with the same car turned up with its shafts in the air. Then the cabins of the peasantry appear to the newly-arrived Englishman very i small, and, alas! very dirty and comfortless. There s no attempt at ornament in the architecture, nor any symptoms of a wish to keep neat what never could have been handsome. The walls and roof are too often going to decay, and blackened with the smoke that eddies out of the ever open door. There are no roses clustering round the porch, no jasmine climbing up the windows, nor gay borders of flowers, such as frequently give so cheerful and pleasing an appearance to our rural cottages. In front of the Irish cabin is universally the manure-heap ; and as universally, inside, may be seen or heard sundry pigs, who are every now and then violently ejected by the scolding mother or by the laughing child ; both of them guiltless of wearing either shoe or stocking, and the latter very frequently as unencumbered with any other article of clothing. Yet out of these small, low-roofed cots, you will not seldom see four or five fine tall fellows issue, bend- ing almost double in order to escape under the puny doorway. It is difficult to imagine bow they exist in such disproportioued dwellings.

Perhaps our readers may remember the Parliamentary state- ment of the fox-hunting Captain on the Coercion Bill, who was so terrified at the looks of the people that he determined to follow the chase cap-a-pee. Take a contrast from piscator : the reader may gather, what he will learn more convincingly from the book, that there is not the slightest risk for strangers who may feel in- clined to travel in Ireland. On the contrary, let him go where he he is sure of civility and attention.

AN IRISH ROW.

It had been market day at Bantry, and numbers were returning home more or lees under the influence of whisky. I had encountered many parties giving vent to their joyous good-fellowship in songs and shouts, and met with nothing but the greatest civility ; when suddenly, as I was passing up a dark avenue, I distinguished sounds not quite so good- tempered as usual just before me, and, in an instant afterwards: heard a ear come galloping violently towards we, with a man in it vociferating ten thousand murders. It being quite dark, I stopped short in front of a cottage that was close by, to let him pass ; but, unfortuuately, the carman also turned sharp into the same court where I was, and almost up- eat me.

Having luckily escaped immersion in the soft heap which an Irish cotter always puts by way of ornament before his cabin, I asked the man what was the matter that he galloped down the road at such a rate.

" The matter ? is it the matter, your Honour? Orb, sure be had liked to have been murthered entirely, by some bad boys up the road thete, who were fighting together, and had kilt him with stones; and he kindly promised me the same fate, if I persisted in going on my way. I bad, however, been too long in Ireland to have any such fears for myself, provided they knew that I was a stranger. I accordingly pursued my road very quietly, and soon came to the spot, where some twenty or thirty fellows were quarrelling and fighting, more with words than with blows. There were three or four mounted on horseback, who seemed to be the most respectable M the party; and, wishing at once to invest myself with the safeguard that in Ireland always attaches to the character of a stranger (for which I knew I had but to open try mouth), I at once rode up to one of them, and good-humouredly asked him what all the noise was about.

At the foreign tones of my voice, Irish curiosity neutralized Irish pugnacity, and they all crowded round me, and answered, "It was only two or three of the boys that had had a quarrel among themselves ; but that it was nothing at all, at Ialrle. c"ommended them to be friends, and to go home ; and then told them the murderous account that the man I had just left hail given me. "Oh ! the big liar ! " they all exclaimed ; "the thief of the world ! Your Honour may be sure that there's no danger for you, nor for any one else, from us, your Honour. It's we that'll go back, our own selves, with you to the town, and see that you do n't meet with any harm at all—that we shall, sal willingly too." And several of them actually turned, and for some time persisted in their determination to accompany me back into Bantry. I thanked them most warmly for their kind-hearted offer, but assured them I had known Irishmen too long and too well ever to fear trusting myself as a stranger among them anywhere.

This seemed to please them excessively.: they regularly cheered me on part. ing ; and the excitement produced by this little scene entirely put an end to the fight.

In our author's excursion to Bantry Bay, his road led him near the mansion of the great Agitator, and curiosity induced him to take a survey of Derrinane House, or, as the owner calls it " Abbey." Here we have_

THE ROAD TO THE GREAT O'S.

About two miles beyond Waterville, commences a long and steep ascetic which at length becomes so very precipitous and rough, that even the mountaia ponies have some difficulty in surmounting it.

"Upon at length reaching the summit of this tedious ascent, a magnificent prospect opened before me. I had been previously much pleased with the views I had enjoyed of the fine open Bay of Ballinekellings, in which Waterville is placed ; but now an infinitely more extensive and more varied panorama burst upon my sight. We had attained a very considerable elevation, from which we commanded a long line of the rugged coast of Kerry, indented with numberless creeks, and guarded by a fearful array of rocks, against which the sea beat and foamed, even in this calm weather. Below me lay the narrow inlet, on whose sandy beach Derrinane is built; but the house itself was not visible. Beyond were the entrances to Kenmare and Bantry Bays ; behind which the rich hut tame plains of Cork closed the horizon, and contrasted strongly with the stem features of the immediate scenery around me. To my left, towered bare, broken mountains, "in desolation's sullen majesty ;" while to the westward, as far as the eye could reach, stretched the vast billowy Atlantic. The interest of the scene was somewhat heightened by a numerous cant. cade on their way to Derrinane, consisting of male and female equestrians, mounted in prve fashion on saddle and pillion. They were rdatives of O'Connell ; aud having quarrelled about some family property, had agreed to refer the matter to the counsellor himself. I understood that he renders hin self very useful in this way while sojourning in Iveragh. His knowledge of law and his natural acuteness qualify him admirably for a judge, where his own interests or prejudices are not involved ; and such is the prestige attached to his name, that here at least his decisions are considered oracular.

THE HOUSE AND THE MAN.

It is an extensive pile, a most singular jumble of incongruous additions ; part of it weather-slated, part of it aping the castellated style. I believe, though, that its accommodation within is much superior to its appearance without. There is some attempt at gardens and grounds immediately around it ; but neither Nature nor Western breezes have favoured the Liberator's improvement. In front, is 3 boggy meadow ; and beyond that a ridge of sand, w Inch extends to the shore of the little bay. The situation is wild and secluded, and therefore strikingly is contrast with the busy scenes in whichM O'Connell is usually occupied.

I rode round the house as near as I could without intruding; arid while thus engaged, was much much surprised to see "the great 0" coming out to meet me. I must do him the justice to say, that he accosted me with the politeness of a gentleman and the hospitality of an Irishman ; inviting me in the kindest manner, as a stranger, to dine and sleep at his house. This invitation, however, I was reluctantly compelled to decline, partly from feeling my time to be very limited ; but chiefly from the arrangements I had made respecting my car all baggage, which were waiting for me at Sueem. He repeated the invitation more than once, in a manner that both showed be wished me to accept it and also that he was not accustomed to be refused : but I obstinately withstood all his solicitations, much to my after regret ; and thus lost an opportunity of seeing one of the most remarkable men of his time, under peculiarly favourable Cie. cumstances. I however gladly accepted his offer of refreshments, and accompanied him into the house. The drawing-room, into which I was shown,. is a new and spacious apartment : the furniture was neat, but nothing more. There were oa the walls a few moderate engravings ; some that appeared to be Austrian, one of General Devereux, another of Hely Hutchinson, another of the Piineess Charlotte. But the two to which he chiefly directed my attention were a pair • of engravings representing the principal Founders of the Catholic Association: in the centre of the one, stands himself; in the centre of the other, his wily rival at these famous meetings, Richard Lalor Shell.

This led to conversation about the different characters of each individual there portrayed, the portraits of himself, &c. ; in the course of which be re- ferred with much self-cornplancy to the part be had played on the world's great stage ; but more as a matter of history than of politics, it being his prudent maxim to exclude polities at his house, except when all are known to entertais the same opinions. His conversation was replete with, anecdotes, chielli legal ; and was very lively, good-humoured, and pleasant. thought it was his evident wish to make a favourable impression on the Saxon stranger ; and in that be certainly succeeded to some extent. Kilian"' and attention. I trust, I shall always appreciate, from whatever quarter tliel may come •' bat, when received from a mats hike Mr. O'Connell, without t,e slightest eliMa M lia aotice,, they naturally Aispose tba Iteart to tel RIM towards him who shows them. .My impraasion of his private character was theretUre somewhat softened by this glimpse of his domestic manners ; corro- borated as it was by the favourable account, given me of him by his immediate neighbours of all ranks. But my opinion of his public conduct, of course, re- mained exactly the same as before our interview ; or, if anything, was only confirmed and strengthened.

Take a couple of odds to end with.

IRISH POST•CUAISES AND CARS.

Post-chaises are perhaps, at present, the most deficient and most discredit- Able articles connected with Irish travelling. Even when handsome at first, which is by no means always the case, they are so wofully neglected that they soon " fall into the sere and yellow leaf." They are left out in the open inn- yard, unprotected, and unwashed from the last journey's dirt. Very soon, under such treatment, the paint gets rubbed off and the work rusty ; the lining gets damp and moth-eaten ; and the outside leather torn and ripped up. Few, therefore, travel by them, except in bad weather, but naturally prefer the much more comfortable jaunting car. An Irish car, especially an outside one, i' only it be tolerably well made, and have the necessary accompaniments of a good horse and driver, is the pleasantest and most independent mode of travelling possible. You can see the country perfectly ; can jump off and on without stopping the vehicle; and can chat at vour ease with the driver, from whom you may almost always depend upon gleaning information and amusement. These cars are to be had everywhere thmugh Ireland ; the price varying from sixpence to tenpence per mile; but eightpence is the usual charge, as one shilling per Mile is the price of a post- chaise. The coaches are also greatly improved of late years, so that on most of the great roads there is now very good travelling by them.

ORANGEICII IN THE PULPIT.

We had a very long sermon of fifty-four minutes; as usual, extempore ;_ and alas! also, as usual, very evangelical. The same clergyman likewise read the service, which is seldom the case in Ireland; and, in doing so, totally omitted the prayers for the Lord-Lieutenant, for the Parliament, and for the Queen; and also would not call his Majesty " religious or gracious." These omissions, I am sorry to say, I have often observed amongst the evangelical clergymen of Ireland ; but dies to mutilate the appointed Liturgy of the Church, of which he was a public minister, in the presence of his diocesan, was, I thought, en pee trop fort.