We might, however, establish a sick fund, and send
medicines from Apothecaries' Hall, for Mrs. Carlaw
and the schoolmaster to distribute, with the aid of
books. I wished I could have been lodged in the
glen, but that was impossible. Ballycastle is a very
poor place: there is nothing worthy to be called an
inn, and the accommodation is sorry. Being out of
the regular line of tourists is an advantage in one
respect, as there are hardly any professional beggars.
I was surprised at being so little solicited for money
by poor objects, whose tattered garments and
emaciated countenances denoted the extreme of want.
They really looked half-starved. They are a small
race, below the usual Irish stature, and many of the
young have a prematurely old appearance. I told
Mr. Carlaw I had come a thousand miles to see the
farm, and that I did not regret the trouble.

"I spent two months altogether in Ireland, and
was in eighteen different counties. There is a wide
distinction of character between Tipperary and
Mayo, but I never met with want of civility
anywhere. I saw much beauty in some parts of the
country, and many gratifying evidences of improvement,
both moral and physical. Much is still
wanted before it can become a really flourishing
country, but I feel more hopeful since I have seen
it; and the exertions of some of the landed
proprietors to improve their estates, and raise the
condition of their people, are beyond all praise. I trust
they may be rewarded with the success they so
well deserve, and inspire others who have hitherto
disregarded their responsibilities with a desire to imitate
them. The greatest difficulty in dealing with the
Irish, is their religion; but if they are convinced of
your good faith and kind intentions towards them, it
is not insuperable. The first thing is to set them a
good example, and show them that strict morality,
veracity, and regular money payments, are virtues
practised by Protestants. The natural resources
of the country are very great; and I am confident
there is much to be done with poor Paddy, if people
will set about it in the right way. That right way is
certainly pursued at Ballinglen, and I saw nothing
between Enniskillen and Kenmare (my extreme
points) which gave me more sincere satisfaction than
the results of the experiment. Would it could be
carried out on a larger scale, and the same system
applied to the numerous places in the west of Ireland
which still are what Ballinglen was; and though
schools and Scripture-readers are, thank God, gradually
creeping on, and bringing the greatest of all
blessings—the Bible—within reach of these neglected
creatures, yet how much remains still to be done,
and what a mass of evil to overcome with good! Is
it wonderful that ignorance and hopeless destitution
should occasionally lead to crime? (I am surprised
there is not infinitely more); and are not these
things, within only twenty-eight hours' journey from
London, a scandal and reproach to us?"

The lands of Ballinglen belong to John
Knox, Esq., of Castlerea, and it was not till
recently anticipated that they would require
to be sold under the Encumbered Estates Act.
Intimation has, however, been made to this
effect in the Court of Chancery, and it is proposed
by the little knot of Edinburgh philanthropists
that a sufficient sum be collected to
purchase the townland of Ballinglen, of which
the farm in question forms a part. The propriety
of making this attempt, in present circumstances,
will be evident to all  who are
acquainted with the state of Ireland. The
extent of the estate is about one thousand four
hundred acres, which, as appears from the
Ordinance valuation, yields a yearly rental of
about three hundred and ten pounds; this,
at sixteen years' purchase, without reference
to the public burdens, would represent a
capital of about five thousand pounds, the sum
now proposed to be raised. When the subscription
is complete, and the land purchased,
the conveyance shall be made to trustees, and
the returns be applied to the prosecution of
the agricultural operations, the assistance of
the agricultural school, and to elevating the
moral and social condition of the population
in the midst of which the work is carried on.

The intention of giving a more permanent
character to what has been so well begun,
cannot fail to recommend itself to those who
have taken an interest in promoting the improvement
of the Irish; and it is to be hoped
that the subscribers to this excellent purchase
will be prompt, numerous and liberal. The
experience of two years has demonstrated
that, by kind and judicious treatment, the
natives of Connaught are willing to labour at
very small wages upon their own soil and in
ways foreign to their habits, and that strangers
have found themselves as safe to carry on such
work in Mayo as they would be in any other
district in the United Kingdom.

CHAMOUNY.

THIS glorious spot, which so vividly rests
in the memory of every traveller who has
visited it, and which beams so brightly on the
hopes of those who anticipate a journey to the
Alps, requires no new description or advice
how to reach and enjoy it; numerous journals
and guide-books amply furnish all these. But
one who has frequently visited this beautiful
valley, at intervals during thirty years, has
observed many changes; and among the most
recent, one that may do much to destroy its
future prosperity, if it be not suppressed.

At my first visit there, in 1822, I found no
more than a single inn in which English travellers
could be received with English comfort:
it was the Hôtel de Londres, kept by Victor
Tairraz. I shall never forget the kind and
unofficious attention which we received during
our stay there, from the host and his excellent
wife, and which contributed so largely to our
enjoyment of our visit to Chamouny.

I have since been there five or six times,
and marked many social changes—not physical
ones: for, at Chamouny, the forms of nature
seem eternal. But old guides had died.
Jacques Balmat, "Mont Blanc," as he was
called, still loitered about the inns to be
noticed by travellers, as the first intrepid
man who had attained the summit of the
mountain; others had disappeared whose
names were almost as familiar. New laws had
been enforced by the Government to regulate
the guides. Of some, tales were related of