LETTERS, &c. LETTER I. THE ADIEU. Dublin, 1807. Í ARRIVED in this great capital, my dear father, in perfect safety, and with my accustomed spirits; which, however; have been occasionally a little damped by reflecting upon the time that must roll away before I shall have the happiness of seeing. you all again. Your parental fondness, your liberality, your admonitions, and the interesting objects that are before me, are constantly present to my mind; and I trust, upon my return, you will find me competent to the management of the handsome property which I owe to my uncle's muniowe to my uncle' ficent recollection of me; that I shall do no dishonour to the Irish bar, and that I shall enjoy the respect and esteem of my neighbours, and the confidence and affection of my tenants. COLERAINE. Pat, whom I left the day before yesterday, at Belfast, with directions to make the best of his way back with the horses, will, I dare say, give you a whimsical account of some of our adventures: and I now turn over my journal briefly to inform you of my proceedings. bit. I find nothing to amuse you, till I arrived at Coleraine, where I staid to dine. The town appears to be neat, handsome, and thriving; the banks of the Bann presented several beautiful objects to the THE GIANT'S CAUSEWAY. ૐ eye, and I regret that I had not more time to devote to them. I am glad I went to Ballycastle, for I had not been in the house five minutes, before I found that my good aunt would have thought herself much neg lected had I not seen her previous to my leaving Ireland. THE GIANT's CAUSEWAY.... In my way I visited the Giant's Causeway, with which I was equally amazed and gratified. Pat called the astonishing strong pillars that form the wonder of the place, "God's own masonry." Figure to yourself, in a bay half surrounded by stupendous basaltic cliffs, a vast irregular arrangement of many hundred thousands right pantagonal columns of sable rock, of unequal height and breadth, closely and compactly placed against each other, yet preserving their distinctness throughout, forming by their tops, a sloping and uneven platform, stretching to an undiscovered ex up BALLYCASTLE, ) Tax tent into the ocean. Every column composed of several joints, fitting into each other like a ball and socket, sometimes with the concavity upwards, sometimes downwards, with exquisite coincidence and adaptation, whilst in various directions glo+ bular masses of pumice stone and beds of ochre seem to indicate that the whole had been formed at different intervals by volcanic eruptions; but whether in this way, or by some occult quality in the sea salt, philosophers have widely differed; with regard, however, to the origin, the disciples of Vulcan infinitely exceed, I am told, those of Neptune. BALLYCASTLE. I shall continue my sketch till my arrival at Dublin. The ride to Ballycastle from the Causeway is very barren and dreary: the day when I arrived was very fine; the ocean was of a brilliant azure, with which, at an inconsiderable distance, BALLYCASTLE. 5 the chalky cliffs of the island of Ragherry surmounted with Crown Rock, contrasted, with pleasing and picturesque effects, a propos, this island is only about five miles long and three quarters of a mile broad, yet so forcibly attached are its simple and honest natives to the soil, that the Rev. Mr, assured me, they speak of Ireland as of a foreign, and half barbarous country; and amongst their imprecations, they say, May Ireland be your hinder end." Ballycastle is a very pretty and romantic town, and has reached much of the consequence it once enjoyed, through the enterprising spirit of Mr. Boyd, a name which is held in high veneration there. In an abrupt bank impending over the sea, are the Colleries, said to have been wrought in a very early period. The manufactures of Ballycastle are now, and have been for some time, on the decline. After taking leave of my good aunt, who wept, and told me she could only hope to see me once more before she died, I and |