IRELAND.
A rumour, for some time in circulation, that Mr. Gavan Duffy is about to retire from Parliamentary life, is confirmed by the Nation. Mr. Duffy retires because "the Irish cause is hopelessly deser ted by those who ought to guide and bless it" and he is about to impose upon himself a tem- porary banishment, seeking the rest he does not find here, at the Cape and in Australia. Other "independent" Members, including Mr. Lucas, are said to be equally "disgusted" with the situation of "the Ira cause."
The Irish agricultural returns just published show that the cultivation of wheat has decreased to a remarkable extent in Ireland, the number of acres in 1853 being 45 per cent less than in 1850: The extent of land under oats shows little difference; but barley has decreased about 7 per cent. Potatoes, while they show an increase in acres of only about 2 per cent, have increased in produce about 45 per cent since 1850, the produce of the 1853 crop being 10,000;000 barrels more than that of either 1851 or 1852, and 14,000,000 more than that of 1850.
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