standers, but he terms it little as contrasted with the hosts it had opposed and destroyed.

We do not include in this censure of irrevelancy the historical account Miss Plumptre attempts of the rise and progress of the Irish stage: she observes, "there is no account of any regular theatre, established in Dublin, earlier than the year 1635, when one was built in Werburgh Street, and the undertaking carried on by John Ogilby, Esq. historiographer to the King, and Master of the Revels under the Earl of Stafford, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Here were produced two new plays, by natives of that country, the Royal Master, acted in 1638, the author of which was Mr. Shirley, an intimate friend of Mr.. Ogilby, the manager; and Langartha, written by Henry Burnell, Esq. Neither possessed sufficient merit to be handed down to posterity; I believe the names alone are all that remain of them now extant." If Miss Plumptre were not more accurate in her other statements than in the above, her information would not be deemed very satisfactory; in the first place, Shirley was not a native of Ireland, and in the dedication of his Royal Master, (which is eatant, and, with 38 other plays, has possessed sufficient merit to be handed down to posterity, as our author would have found had she consulted the most ordinary authorities) he calls himself a stranger in the kingdomne' of Ireland. That it was acted before 1638 is most probable, because it was printed in London in that year. Several other plays were written by Shirley for the Dublin stage, among which is "St. Patrick for Ireland," reprinted there not very long ago this admirable dramatist was born in London, and employed himself in Ireland (to use his own words) until "the English stage should be recovered from her long silence, and her languishing scene changed into a welcome return of wits and men.

Although we have blamed Miss Plumptre for the trifling minuteness of some of her details, we do not wish to be understood as censuring her general pains-taking accuracy, more particularly when it relates to matters of importance. The great object of curiosity in Ireland is the Giant's Causeway; and if, in the volume on our table, a less striking

These mistakes are the more singular, because Miss Plumptre pretends to such critical knowledge on the drama, and is besides, we believe, an authoress for the stage. We beg to refer her for an account of Shirley and his works to the articles in our last and our present number, under the title of Bibliotheca Antiqua.

description is given of this "freak of nature," we are inclined to think that it deserves greater reliance than the more picturesque representations hitherto published. We extract as large a portion of it as our limits will allow.

"The usual description given of the Causeway is, that it is a mole towering from the foot of a towering basaltic rock some way into the sea. So far the description is very proper; but care should be taken at the same time to explain that the mole itself is not towering, that it does not in any part rise to a considerable height above the water. The tallest pillars are in the group called the Giants' Loom, and none of them exceed thirty-three feet in height. Mr. Hamilton says that the Causeway runs from the foot of the rock some hundred feet into the sea: this is a very loose and indefinite mode of description. I had heard before I saw it that it projected three-quarters of a mile into the sea;-estimating it at the utmost possible extent to which it could be taken, I believe that it would be found scarcely to run to a sixth part of that length.* But the accounts are so extremely varied that one thing only is to be inferred, which is, that no accurate measurement of it has ever yet been taken. My guide, whom in many respects I found very intelligent, seemed wholly at a loss when I questioned him on this subject. Indeed in computing the length of the Causeway, the first thing to be determined is the point from which the measurement is to commence. The whole length from the foot of the rock is commonly comprehended in it; whereas, in fact, the Causeway properly so called commences only at the range of low columns seen in the print to the right :-hence may very much arise the contradiction in the accounts. Something will also depend upon the state of the tide when the measurement is made. The mole slopes gradually down till it is lost at the water's edge; but as far as the eye can discern, the same mass of pillars is continued under the water; consequently, at a very low ebb the Causeway will have the appearance of much greater length than at high water. Sir R. C. Hoare says, that from the flattened surface of the causeway it would be entirely overlooked if not pointed out by the guides. This is going much too far;-if the eye fails of discovering the gigantic wonder which the imagination had conceived, it seems wholly impossible that it should not be caught by the actual wonder spread before it. Two smaller moles project from the same mass of rock, the three being each divided from the other by a whin dyke, vast masses of which rise many feet above the water; they are conspicuous features in Mrs. Drury's print of the western side of the Causeway. The three moles together are said to include a mass of 30,000 pillars.

* Dr. Pococke says he measured the more western point, which he found 360 feet from the rock above, and thinks it might extend 60 feet further at low water. The eastern or great mole he measured to 540 feet, and believes the same allowance of 60 feet might be made for the additional length seen at the retreating of the tide."

"I wish I may have succeeded here in endeavouring to give more just ideas than are generally entertained as to the extent and height of this phænomenon, Though I cannot assent to Sir R. C. Hoare's position, that it would be overlooked if not pointed out to observation, yet I am exceedingly disposed to think that the impression which its wonderful construction would naturally make if the imagination had not been led astray, is extremely weakened by the disappointment experienced in not finding it awfully gigantic. But I must persuade myself that the astonishment and admiration of every contemplative mind will increase in proportion as its construction is more and more minutely examined. It is now sufficiently known that the whole is a mass of naturally-formed pillars of basalt;-upon their nature and origin the opinions of men of science vary exceedingly, nor does my little knowledge suffice to authorize my having any decided opinion of my own." (p. 133-134.)

The author has more taste (if we may so say) for minutia than for the grander beauties of natural scenery: even the Lakes of Killarney, which she went over on her second tour in 1815, impress her with no feeling, and inspire her with no eloquence; she takes more pleasure in mentioning a satirical remark upon the bad weather usual there, by the late Mr. Fox, than in describing the pleasures of the finest day she spent in that delightful situation, yet she declares, notwithstanding, that she can scarcely conceive it possible for any person who visits Killarney to be disappointed. To shew the manner in which she contemplates these scenes, and the impressions they produce upon her mind, we quote a passage from about the middle of her observations on this part of her tour.

"This Punch-bowl is a vast chasm in the top of the mountain, encircled for the greater part by almost perpendicular rocks. On the side towards the Turk-mountain alone is an interval of rock at which the water is accessible, and from which it issues out in a small stream; this runs down the side of the mountain, generally appearing insignificant, though occasionally swelled to a fine cascade. Only one spring is known to feed the lake, the water of which is so extremely cold that it is scarcely possible to bear the hand in it; yet this water never freezes. The rocks by which the chasm is surrounded rise so directly from the water, that it is impossible to go round its edge; the only way to make the circuit of it is by the tops of the rocks. The guide inquired whether I would go round; to which I replied, By all means. We ascended, therefore, among blocks of stone and coarse herbage, but found nothing difficult in the ascent, and pursued our course to the opposite side of the lake. What an extraordinary scene here presented itself! Another lake, exactly of a similar nature to the Punch-bowl, appeared, the two

separated only by a ridge of rock covered with the same coarse herbage. I can compare the whole to nothing so well as an enormous bridge of a nose with the eyes on each side. How extraordinary that, amidst all the accounts I have read of this country, this very striking, very remarkable feature, (and indeed I think it far from one of the least remarkable,) is never mentioned!" (p. 272.)

This resemblance of two lakes with a rugged ridge between them, to two eyes and the bridge of a nose, is as fine a specimen of the art of sinking in comparing great things with small, as we recollect in any author: Miss Plumptre wonders that no other traveller had observed "this very striking and remarkable feature." Does she mean the nose, or the eyes, or both? For our parts, we should have thought it extraordinary if any other person but Miss Plumptre had pitched upon such a ludicrous simile. She concludes by recommending " every body to come so far round the Devil's Punch-bowl as to see so remarkable a feature," and seems much pleased with her surprizing discovery. Her laudable curiosity generally induces her to visit every thing in the neighbourhood worthy of notice; but having omitted the Collieries, she easily consoles herself for the loss by observing, "but I saw a noble fire in a kitchen made from the produce of them." This is a gratification most of us can enjoy, without the trouble of a journey to Ireland or the North.

The latter chapters of this work are devoted to general topics, such as the education and condition of the lower classes in Ireland, their habits and employments; with a discussion upon many subjects, incidental and non-incidental, on which the author thinks fit to dilate: among these is a long discourse upon the origin of Irish history, and an argument to prove what has been a thousand times established, that the first historians of every country are poets. From the size and price of the volume, we suppose that Miss Plumptre addresses herself to the better-informed portion of society; but it is not a little affronting to them to conclude that they are quite so ignorant as to render necessary the instruction here supplied. We are not by any means disposed to treat as lightly her remarks upon the present state of Ireland, upon which we are less informed in this country than upon the condition of some of the remoter nations of the world. The following observations are dictated by good sense; a quality in which the author is not so deficient as in many others of less importance:"There is one point to which I cannot help more particularly adverting. We never cease hearing the wretchedness of the Irish

cabins made the subject of animadversion, and very wretched indeed they are, for the most part; but I have not yet found the true cause of their wretchedness explained. The landholders do not, as in England, provide cottages for the poor on their estates; each labourer provides his own habitation: the inevitable consequence of this is, that, the means being very slender, it must be built at the least possible expense; that the whole family, human beings and animals together, must be squeezed into the smallest space in which they can be contained: the inevitable result is, that they live in a degree of filth which I am confident is no less injurious to the mental than the corporeal health.-What do I say?-no less?—it is infinitely more injurious. I have seen troops of healthy-looking children issue forth from these cabins, but I am sure the moral man cannot live in such a way without being exceedingly degraded. The remedy of this evil would be a very important step towards introducing more general habits of order and regularity. Is it possible for the infant mind to be impressed with any notion of such habits, when at the first dawning of its tender ideas they are presented with spectacles so directly opposite? Their ideas must be formed after what they do see; they cannot be formed after what they do not see. 'Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.' Let him be accustomed to see nothing but neatness and order around him, depend upon it when he grows up he will not sigh for a mud cabin and filth. A very laudable spirit seems now to be awakened among the gentry, who remain at their posts, and attend to the welfare of their poorer neighbours, for educating the children of these classes; but I do think that an indispensable step towards rendering education of any avail, is first to provide the poor with more decent homes." (p. 339.)

In one respect, the opinion of Miss Plumptre differs from that of most persons who have written upon the subject, viz. as to the disposition of the great mass of the people to unite themselves with this country: we are extremely happy to learn that there exists this spirit of harmony, and we consider the opinion of the author as less questionable, not only on account of the pains she took in forming it, but because she imagines it to be in opposition to her general political sentiments. Those who have hitherto contended in favour of the Catholic Claims have founded themselves on the compulsion arising from the disturbed and rancorous state of the lower orders in the sister kingdom; but a much more powerful argument, we think, is to be derived from their tranquillity, and their wish to unite and amalgamate themselves with the people of Great Britain: the first may prove that it is necessary to concede, but the last will convince us that it is safe to do so.