side and begged a light. Whatever may
be said in favour of the political latitude of
our institutions, I fancy it will be a long
time before we see in England such
absolute social liberty as this.

In our present condition, it would be
simply impossible for such a scene to be
witnessed at any of our open-air
entertainments. Mr. Cad and his associates would
soon make the chosen garden too hot for
those who are their superiors by birth and
bearing. It is the fault of Mr. Cad and his
class, in fact, that we do not see a better and
more select attendance at al fresco gatherings,
and the sooner he and his belongings
are put down the better it will be for our
social progress, in this as in other matters.
I would, fain hope, then, that before
many summers are passed, an enterprising
purveyor of amusements may rise up
amongst us; one who will rule despotically
in his glittering kingdom of light, and
give such an entertainment, so conducted
that all grades of society may learn to
mingle freely and with confidence in each
other. As I have said, I am a great
advocate for evenings out of doors, and
from what I have witnessed abroad, I am
convinced that nothing tends so much to
humanise a people as bringing all classes
together. The rougher element can be
softened and polished by its contact with
one that is superior, and a mutual respect
may grow up where previously there had
been mistrust and misconception.

In another paper I shall endeavour to
give my views of the entertainments offered
at our public gardens, and of their tendency
upon those who frequent them.

REXTOWN-ON-THE-SEA

THE scene of the Ballyskelter races* is
not very far from Rextown-on-the-Sea,
whose greater glories Ballyskelter (Old or
New) cheerfully acknowledges. If Ballyskelter
claims the title of " the Brighton of Ireland,"
we at Rextown are considered
to run another English watering-place very
hard, and proudly flaunt on our banner
"the Irish Scarboro'." Without really
instituting such comparisons, always more
or less painful, it may be said that Rextown
is a charming spot, where any one
who loves the sea will get an overpowering
abundance of that article, and not have
it served out to him round corners, or
through small openings, as is the case at
some other places. From every point is
seen the same boundless waste of blue;
everywhere the breezes come wafted
inwards, fresh, yet not chilling or sharp; the
great hill or mountain which rises out of the
water on the opposite side of the bay only
wants a crater to look like Vesuvius, or,
as the more irreverent would say, like an
admiral's cocked-hat fallen overboard and
floating on the waves

*See ALL THE YEAR ROUND, New Series, Vol. IV, p.465

Rextown was formerly a poor fishing-
village, known as Dunsheary; but, once
upon a time, the first gentleman in Europe,
on a visit to various parts of his dominions,
landed here, and the obsequious little place
immediately changed its name to Rextown.
A tiny column, looking like an enlarged
chess-pawn, or still more like an old-
fashioned constable's staff, tipped with a
crown, marks to this day the glorious spot
where that gentlemanly and royal foot first
touched the ground. At a later period of
its history it was chosen as a mail-packet
station; a handsome harbour was
constructed, and then Rextown became
officially, and as of right, a watering-place.
Coming in on some bright morning in the
packet, the tiers of terraces have quite
an Italian air, and sparkle and glitter in
the morning as if we were in the
Mediterranean and passing by Spezia. There
are two or three hotels perched on
inviting eminences, round whose base the
waves plash lazily. And here, as at
Ballyskelter, we have "jontility" developed in
the highest degree, and lists of persons are
daily set down by the rival hotels as
"sojourning" at these houses. In our morning
journals we read without surprise, although
with respectful interest, some such list as
the following:

"The 'O' Shaughnessy and suite are at
present sojourning at Bolger's Royal
Georgeville Hotel. Mr. and Mrs. Horace Morphy,
Miss Florence Morphy, Masters G. and E.
Morphy, and suite, are sojourning at
Bolger's Royal Georgeville Hotel, after a
protracted tour of visits in Cumberland. Sir
James O'Callaghan, Bart, and suite, have
left the Georgeville. The O'Grogan and
suite have arrived."

"Suite," it will be seen, is " the thing,"
and even the smallest complement of
retainers does duty under this denomination.
But the principle is carried further in the
instance of the mail boats, in whose cabins
a piece of paper is duly left, so that all
who have that weakness can set down their
names " and suite" as having " crossed over