PRINCIPAL RIVERS OF IRELAND, WITH THE CHIEF TOWNS SITUATED ON OR NEAR THEM. The letters A, B, &c., denote the Rivers on the Outline Map; and the figures 1, 2, &c., indicate the position of the Towns. C. Dee, D. Newry River, F. Lagan, G. Bann, Main, Wexford 103, Enniscorthy 104, Tullow 105. Wicklow (near) 108. Kingstown 1, Blackrock 2, DUBLIN 3. Kells 9. Ardee 10, Dundalk (on Castletown) 11. Belfast 18, Lisburn 19, Dromore 20. INTO THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. Charlemont 27, Aughnacloy 28, Armagh (near Callan) 29. H. Foyle, Mourne, and (Londonderry 30, Lifford 31 (on Foyle), Strule, Strabane 32, Newtownstewart (on Mourne) 33, Omagh 34 (on Strule). Newtownlimavady 35. The a In each county there is a large extent of surface unfit for cultivation. proportion, of course, varies in each province and county. The number of arable acres in cach province is as follows:-Leinster, 3,961,188; Munster, 3,874.613; Ulster, 3,407,539; Connaught, 2,220,960. Hence, it appears that Leinster is the most, and Connaught the least extensively cultivated, in proportion to their extent. If 100 be taken to represent the whole surface of Ireland, it may be divided as follows:-Arable land, 647; plantations, 17; uncultivated, 30-3; towns, 2; water, 3. According to the last census (1881), the population of Ireland is but 5,159.839, that is, a decrease, within 10 years, of about 47 per cent.. In the province of Connaught, the decrease is 34 per cent.; in Munster, 5·0; in Ulster, 51; and in Leinster. 4.5. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. ENGLAND was originally peopled by the ancient CELTS, who, migrating from Asia in the earliest ages of the world, gradually spread over the south and west of Europe, and the adjoining Islands. At subsequent periods the eastern and south-eastern coast was occupied by the Belge and other GOTHIC tribes, who also originally migrated from Asia, the cradle of the human race, and spread over the north and north-west of Europe. The Phoenicians traded with the inhabitants of Cornwall for tin several centuries before the Christian era; but little was known of the country till the invasion of it by the ROMANS, under Julius Cæsar. This event occurred in the fifty-fifth year before the Christian era. At this period its inhabitants had made little progress in civilization. They had nothing deserving the name of city or town; their dwellings were mere hovels; and their clothing was the skins of animals. The parts of their bodies which were exposed they painted or stained with the juice of herbs, from which custom it is said they were called Britons, and the country Britannia, that is the painted nation. They were, however, a brave and warlike people; and it was not without difficulty that the victorious legions of Cæsar reduced them to submission. After the time of Cæsar, Britain remained unmolested by the Romans for nearly a hundred years. In the year 43, after the Christian era, an expedition was despatched by the Emperor Claudius to complete the conquest of the country, which was finally effected in about 20 years after by the celebrated Roman general, Agricola. The Romans continued to keep possession of the country till the year 410, when Herdonius finally gave up Britain, and the Roman troops withdrew for the defence of Italy against the barbarous nations of the north. Under the Romans the arts of peace were introduced into Britain, and the natives rapidly advanced in civilization; but they entirely lost the martial spirit and love of freedom a Hence, the term Cassiterides or Tin islands, which was afterwards restricted to the Scilly Isles. b The PICTS, according to some authors, derived their name from the same custom, which is indeed common to most barbarous nations. for which their ancestors were so distinguished. Hence, on the departure of the Romans, the Britons became an easy prey to their rude and rapacious neighbours the PICTS and the Scors. Having in vain besought the Romans to return, they solicited the SAXONS, a warlike people of northern Germany, to fight their battles against the Picts and Scots, offering them as a reward for their services the Isle of Thanet, which forms a part of the county of Kent.* The SAXONS, under Hengist and Horsa, arrived in Britain in the year 449; and having repelled without difficulty the Picts and Scots, they turned their arms against the Britons themselves, whom they dispossessed of the south-eastern part of the island. The success which attended the arms of the Saxons, and the favourable accounts of the beauty and fertility of the country, attracted numerous bands of their countrymen; and with them a kindred tribe called ANGLES or ANGLO-SAXONS, who it is supposed occupied that part of Germany between the Elbe and the Eyder. It was from this tribe that the country was afterwards called ENGLAND, that is, Angle land or land of the Angles. The Saxons, Jutes, and Angles, having destroyed, enslaved or expelled the inhabitants, particularly of the south-eastern and eastern parts of the country, established seven independent kingdoms, since known by the name of the SAXON HEPTARCHY. The Saxon "Invasion," as it is commonly called, may be regarded as an immigration rather than a mere conquest of the country. The Britons that escaped from the slaughter or subjugation of the Saxons, took refuge either in Cornwall or Wales, or passed over into Armorica, in France, where they settled in great numbers among a kindred people, and gave their name to the province of Bretagne or Brittany. The Britons that settled in Wales maintained their independence till the time of Edward I.; and their descendants are to this day called the Ancient Britons. Under the Saxons the customs and manners of the country were changed as well as its name; and the language, which had been either Celtic or Latin, gave way to the AngloSaxon, from which the modern English is principally derived a The Isle of Thanet is separated from Kent by a narrow channel, formed by the river Stour. In it are the towns of Margate, Ramsgate, and several villages. In the year 827 the several kingdoms of the Heptarchy were united into one, under the name of ENGLAND, by Egbert, king of Wessex or the West Saxons. Egbert was therefore the first king of England. About the year 866 the DANES invaded England, and took possession of the country north of the Humber; and in 1017 they were in possession of the whole kingdom, under Canute the Great, king of Denmark and Norway. But during the reign of Alfred the Great, from 871 to 901, the Danes were kept in check, and for a time expelled from the country. The last invasion of the Danes occurred in the year 1097. On the death of Hardicanute, the son of Canute, in 1042, the Saxon monarchy was restored in the person of Edward the Confessor. Upon this monarch's death, in 1066, Harold, brother of the queen, usurped the crown; but in the same year he was defeated and slain at the battle of Hastings, by William Duke of Normandy, who claimed the kingdom under the will of Edward the Confessor. This event is known by the name of the NORMAN CONQUEST; and the Duke of Normandy, who was crowned immediately after as king of England, is called William the Conqueror. Under the Normans great changes were made in the customs, laws, and language of England. The most important events in English history that have since taken place, are:-1. The annexation of Ireland to England in the reign of Henry II. in 1172. 2. The granting of the Magna Charta by John in the year 1215. 3. The invasions of France by Edward III. and Henry V. 4. The wars between the houses of York and Lancaster in the fifteenth century. 5. The union of the crowns of England and Scotland under James I. in 1604. 6. The great civil war in the reign of Charles I.; and the establishment of the commonwealth under Cromwell in 1649. 7. The Restoration under Charles II. in 1660. 8. The Revolution and abdication of James II. in 1688. 9. The legislative union between England and Scotland in 1707. 10. The accession of the house of Hanover in 1714. 11. The American War, 1776-1784. 12. The war with revolutionary France, 1793– 1815. 13. The legislative union between Great Britain and Ireland, 1st January, 1801. 14. The Parliamentary Reform Bill passed in 1832. 15. The abolition of slavery in the |