numerous flocks of sheep kept in the hilly districts. Flax is a common crop in the soils suited to it. There is still room for great improvement in the agriculture of this country, which has suffered particular discouragements from various circumstances of internal regulation.

The inhabitants of Ireland derive their origin from different stocks. The great body of the nation is a Celtic tribe of very ancient establishment in this island, who speak a dialect of the Celtic tongue, called Erse or Gaelic. The settlement of the English by conquest in the reign of Henry II, to whom continual accessions were made in the subsequent reigns, gave a mixture of English blood, with the language and manners of that nation. The northern province of Ulster has received successive bodies of colonists from Scotland. From these circumstances political consequences arose which long ruled the fate of Ireland, and still exert an influence over it.

The 'repugnance of the native Irish to the English yoke produced a long series of insurrections and rebellions, which naturally caused the bands of subjection to be drawn tighter. Confiscations and proscriptions multiplied, till at length almost all the original inhabitants were stript of their properties, and driven back to the savage state. Religious differences increased these disorders. The English reformation was rejected not only by the native Irish, but by the descendants of the early English settlers; and the establishment of a protestant church upon the model of that of England, instead of converting the mass of people from popery, only added to their grievances, and inflamed their disaffection. At present it is reckoned that at least two-thirds of the people are Roman catholics; and of the remaining third, about one half are dissenters, chiefly of the presbyterian sect, introduced by the settlers from Scotland. It is obvious that an ecclesiastical establishment, five-sixths of the expense of which is borne by those who do not share in its benefits, can never cease to be regarded as an oppressive burden by the nation at large.

The Irish national character, especially that of the original stock is considerably different from that of Great Britain. Greater vivacity and quickness of parts, propensities more social

and stronger sensibilities of all kinds, accompanied with the. usual attendants on such qualities, unsteadiness and want of selfgovernment, sufficiently mark them as a distinct people. The state of perpetual hostility against government, and of internal dissension, in which they have long lived, has given a ferocity to the lower classes, and not to them alone, which too frequently breaks out in savage and bloody deeds; yet no people display more faithful and affectionate attachment to those who have conciliated their good-will. A precipitancy of manner, and a proneness to exaggeration, have introduced into the conversation-style of the Irish a kind of hurry and confusion, which has subjected them to the imputation of often falling into ludicrous contradictions: but, on the other hand, eloquence is.natural to them; and they display more imagination than their eastern neighbours. Few nations have given more undeniable proofs of a genius adapted to scientific and literary pursuits; but it is to be lamented that the prevalence of dissipation has exerted so unfavourable an influence upon the general habits of life, that scarcely any European country is less distinguished by the productions of its press. In this point Ireland is a striking contrast to Scotland.

The state of subordination in which Ireland was held by the British government, and the restrictions upon her commerce, have been gradually relaxing during the present reign, till at length an act of union has admitted her to all the rights and privileges of the larger country. Her parliament has merged in a proportionate share of members in the British houses of lords and commons. A viceroy, or lord-lieutenant, still resides in Dublin to administer the executive government in that island, the detached situation and peculiar circumstances of which render such an appointment necessary. One of these circumstances is the disabilities under which a large majority of the inhabitants (the Roman catholics) lie with respect to offices of trust and profit, and the right of sitting in parliament. It is to be presumed, from the liberality of the times, that such disqualifications will be removed as soon as prudence will permit.

The staple manufacture of Ireland is white linens. These are made in quantities sufficient for a large exportation, chiefly to

England and America. Much of the flax employed in it is the produce of the country. The town of Belfast is the centre of the linen trade, which extends over great part of the province of Ulster. That part of Ireland is in consequence the best cultivated, and inhabited by the most opulent and orderly people. Woollen manufactures prevail in the south-east, at Wexford and its neighbourhood. Dublin possesses fabrics of silk and mixed stuffs. The cotton trade is beginning to make a progress in some parts. The dressing of leather is a considerable branch of business, and various other species of manufacture have been introduced to employ the rising industry of this country. It is still, however, in internal improvement of every kind much behind Britain.

The metropolis, Dublin, is the second city in the British dominions. It has a few magnificent public buildings, and many modern streets which may vie with those of London for elegance. The style of living is gay and luxurious; but grandeur here, and throughout the island, is too closely bordered on by meanness and beggary. The harbour of Dublin is incommodious, though great sums have been expended on its improvement. Its commerce is chiefly that occasioned by its own wants. The number of inhabitants is estimated at 150000, many of whom are engaged in manufacture. Dublin possesses the only Irish university, formed upon the model of those in England, and like them an appendage of the ecclesiastical establishment. Its situation in a dissipated capital is unfavourable to morals and discipline; and it affords a very inadequate provision for public education in a populous country. The neighbourhood of Dublin has many pleasing and romantic situations, adorned with elegant villas. Its bay is greatly admired as a sea-view.

Cork, the second city for wealth and population, situated on the south-east side of the island, has one of the most capacious harbours in Europe. It is a place of great commerce, and is particularly the mart for the provision-trade; on which account it is visited by numbers of ships outward-bound to the West Indies and other parts. Beef, hides, tallow, and butter, are its principal articles of exportation. Waterford, a populous town at the mouth of the Suir, deals largely in the same commodities.

Limerick, on the Shannon, is the third city in Ireland for population. Its trade is of the same kind with that of the two pre, ceding.

Nothing displays the inferiority of this country in respect to industry and police so much as the wretched condition of the rural poor, who live in miserable huts, half naked, and scarcely provided with common necessaries. Yet they generally marry and bring up large families, furnishing a copious supply of emigrants to England, America, or other countries where their services are in demand. The whole population of Ireland has been variously stated, at from three to four millions. A late estimate raises it much higher.

FRANCE.

THIS country, which, from its natural advantages and the character of its inhabitants, has long held a place among the principal European powers, has from late events filled such a space in the history of the age, and has acquired such an accu-. mulation of power and consequence, that the attention of all its neighbours is irresistibly attracted to it.

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France, the ancient Gaul, is marked out as one of the separate countries of Europe by natural limits on three of its sides these are, the channel between it and England on the north; the bay of Biscay (a portion of the Atlantic ocean) on the west; and the Pyrenean mountains and Mediterranean sea on the south. It remained to draw the connecting eastern line, and this it has cost deluges of blood to establish. Long fluctuating on the borders of Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands, the struggles of the revolution have at length advanced it to the Alps, the Jura, the Rhine, and the Maes. But the emperor Napoleon seems inclined to extend the boundaries of France beyond these limits, and it still remains doubtful where the boundaries of this country will be finally fixed.

This extensive tract occupies the middle region of the temperate zone, chiefly between the 43d and 51st degrees of N. latitude, and its greatest breadth from east to west is not much inferior to its length. The face of country within such a compass cannot but be much diversified; but upon the whole it tends to a level. Elevations deserving the name of mountains occur only about the centre of France, in Auvergne, thence running in a long narrow ridge, chiefly bearing the name of the Cevennes, in a south-western direction, till they terminate in the Pyrenees a branch proceeding from this ridge in a northwesterly line forms the lofty Cantal and Mont d'Or. On the eastern border, the low and rounded chain of the Vosges begins