The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-24 00:00:00

IRELAND,

The show is to be held on the fair green of
Kil-
kenny, a quadrilateral space, containing about nine
acres, the greater portion of which has been enclosed
for the purpose. On Wednesday morning the judges
will commence their arduous task, and in the after-
noon the ground will be opened to the public. The
show will continue throughout Thursday and Friday.
On Tuesday there will be a trial of agricultural im-
plements, the principal feature in which will be the
testing of Howard's steam plough—an instrument
said to be especially adapted to stiff and retentive
soils.

The Earl of Carlisle has announced his intention
of honouring the show with his presence. He is to
arrive in Kilkenny on 'Tuesday, where he will be
entertained at a defamer by the Mayor, and receive
an address from the Town-council. He will pass the
night at Woodstock, the seat of Colonel the Hon.
W. F. Tighe ; and on Wednesday he will drive into
Kilkenny and inspect the exhibition. In the even-
ing he will be present at the banquet of the Agri-
cultural Society, which is to take place in the
Athenaeum, Oa Thursday he will be the guest of
Lady Ormonde, at Kilkenny Castle. On Friday he
will visit the public institutions of Kilkenny and
the vicinity, and in the evening he will attend at a
grand ball, which is to close the proceedings of the
Agricultural Society in Kilkenny.
At the meeting of the Grand Canal Company,
held yesterday, a report of a highly satisfactory
character was presented. Notwithstanding the
great depression of trade during the last year and
the diminution of their resources, the directors were
enabled to declare a larger dividend than the last—
namely, £1 2s. 6d. per cent., free of income-tax.
The working of the half-year shows an increase of
income over expenditure of £ic,B7o.
Those who have visited the county of Wicklow
will regret to learn that the famous and picturesque
"Scalp," the property of Viscount Powerscourt, has
been shorn of much of its beauty by a fire which
broke out among the furze on Thursday evening,
and is probably still raging, for up to this morning
the efforts made to check its ravages had' been in-
effectual. A valuable plantation on the eastern side
of the mountain and several fields of grain have
been destroyed. A great quantity of young timber
has also been hastily felled in order to restrict the
area of the conflagration. The amount of the da-
mage must be very considerable in a pecuniary
point of view, and it will take years to restore the
natural beauties of the scene. It is provoking that
all this mischief was caused by the carelessness of

a young urchin who was roasting potatoes among
the furze.

A French Watering Place.

A correspondent of the Cambridge Independent
Press, writing from Dieppe on Wednesday last,
after remarking that "lodgings there are to the
English in the fashionable time just double the
price which is asked for corresponding accommoda-
tion at Hastings or Scarborough," and that " £3O
a month is considered cheap for two rooms, up a
wearisome flight of stairs," gives a graphic and
vivacious account of the manner in which the
French visitors pass their time. He says—" A
peculiarity which the average English gentleman
regret in Dieppe, is the artificiality which the
Parisians, who mainly compose the body of visitors
here, all seem to bring with them into their holi-
days by the sea. French ladies come with their
most expensive dresses, and French gentlemen with
their lounging cafe life and cigars. I have said
that the sea before Dieppe is magnificent, but I
scarcely ever meet en it a Frenchman. I have my
pick of the sailing boats. There are very few of
them, and almost the only persons who hire them
are Englishmen. Round Dieppe are green lanes in
the deepest shade, between high grass and flower-
covered banks, and musical with the song of birds,
but we rarely meet the Parisians there. The forest
of Argues, with nooks, and paths, and roads, that
to us were positively enchanting, is but a short dis-
tance off, yet the visitors who go there rarely ex-
ceed 20 or 30 a day. Can any one living in a city
desire a more exquisite retreat than the grounds
around the Chateau of En ? Yet when I have been
there,l have not Been a dozen of people in the place.
My first impression was that the hotel books, and
lodging-house keepers, and local journals had all
misled me, and that Dieppe was deserted. Where
were the people ? I must look into this mystery.
Accordingly I ventured an inquiry. Has Mou-
sier,' said the French lady to whom I put the ques-
tion at a table d'hote,' has Monsieur been to the Eta-
blissement ?' I answered that I had not. I liked to
see as much of dear nature as I could. Ith !' she
said, with a smile, thought you had not been to
the Etablissement. Go there this evening and the
secret will be out.' I went. I became a sub-
scriber, aed in two or three seconds I saw what the
visitors did with themselves. The Etablissement
is a little toy Crystal Palace, with a large reading-
room, a theatre, a ball-room, and a concert-room,
and a large restaurant. It is close to the sea, at
the extreme end of the Plage, and some hundreds
of chairs stand about on the terrace in front, on
which you can sit, and at high water almost touch
the white crest of the waves. This place is filled
from noon to night. Every Parisian lady dresses
herself for it after a late breakfast, and walks
straight to it from her hotel. Here she glides
leisurely round the garden, showing her tasteful
robe to the best advantage, or she reads a little—(a
very little)—or chatters with her companions round
the tables on the terrace. At 2 o'clock she has a
substantial lunch; and at half-past •five the com-
pany all swarm to their respective hotels to dinner.
At 8 o'clock they return—this time in fresh dresses,
and stay until 11 or 12, Of course there is a list
of amusements, fallowing closely upon one another.
This afternoon there is a children's ball—one of the
prettiest sights, by the way, in a civilised society ;
another, there is a ball for adults; two evenings a
week French comedy is played by a competent
troupe of actors; and concerts are constantly going
on. This is the French holiday at the seaside—
music, dress, and comedy. The sea is only an acci-
dent, to be looked at as a curious monster; and the
country is to be Studied in the pages of AIM.
Michelet and Lamartine."

75
65
70
80

MRS. CHARLES SELBY is announced as about to
open tho New Royalty Theatro with an original comedy,
in two acts, written by her Into Ir4Orand, and entitled
Court c 4, all t

DtMLIN, Aug. 22.
The National Cattle Show, which is held an-
nually, under the auspices of the Royal Agricultural
Society of Ireland, is always looked forward to with
great interest, not unmixed with anxiety, as it
affords a most reliable indication of the progess
made by the country during the year in those pur-
suits on which its prosperity mainly depends. In
this respect the show of last year, held at Limerick,
was not satisfactory. An unfavourable season and
scanty harvests had prevented many who would
otherwise have been exhibitors from bringing their
stock to the high condition necessary to insure sue-
C2SS in the competition, and the number of entries
was considerably below the average of former years.
This year the prospect is much brighter, and the
approaching exhibition at Kilkenny is expected to
be one of the most successful that the society has
yet held. The competition will be very spirited,
as the best stock breeders in Ireland, besides many
in England and Scotland, have announced their
intention of sending the choicest of their herds and
flocks. In the class of horned cattle there are already
about 150 entries ; in that of sheep they amount to
more than 100, and the swine are equally nume-
rous. The show of horses will also be very good,
and there will be a large collection of agricultural
implements.
The prizes offered to the competitors are nume-
rous and valuable. For sheep two silver cups, value
50 guineas each, are offered for the best rams of
the long and short woolled breeds respectively. The
Messrs. Purdon, proprietors of the Irish Farmers'
Gazette, have presented a silver cup, also worth 50
guineas, for the best general collection of imple-
ments suited to the agriculture of Ireland. In the
equine class a piece of plate of equal value is offered
for the best stallion, mare, or filly in any of the sec-
tions. There are also several money prizes of vari-
ous amounts.