The Sun.
London, England, 1848-09-16 00:00:00

STATE OF KERRY.

KILLARNEY, SEPT. 11.—On Saturday last there
was a meeting of the depositors in the Killarney
savings' bank held in the Court-house, to prepare an
address to Mr. Herbert, M.P. for the county, ea pres-
sive of their gratitude for the services he had rendered
and the unabated zeal with which he urged their
claims upon the Government, althought without
success. The depositors felt deeply the obligation,
and expressed their satisfaction in a short and %veil-
written address, which will soon be presented to their
'in 1 et n f
It is certainly due to Mr. lent-if to state, that-
he has fulfilled his duty to his constituents, and
although a Conservative, voted for the few popular
questions which came before the Llouse of Commons
in the last session.

The condition of the people in this part of the
country is most disheartening. They had expectod
to retrieve their br.rl losses in some degree by the
crops of this year. But they have been sadly and bit-
terly di-appointed. The failure of the potato here is
all but universal. One third of the quantity dug
does not prove sound, and what is still worse, the
decay is rapidly on the increase. The farmers ::ay
that the last week of fine weather, instead of retard-
ing, has accelerated the corruption of the tubers. The
poor people are utterly bewildered. Two years of
famine were followed by the loss of 20,0001. in the
savings' bank • and now comes another potato blight
to complete their misery !
Another cause of depression which operates very
extensively, although strictly local in its character,
is this—the chief produce of Kerry consists of butter,
pork, and black or "dry" cattle, for exportation to
the midland and northern counties. Butter this year is
nearly 20s. a cwt. lower than in the last ; pork has
fallen in price before American competition ; and
the sale of horned stock has almost altogether
ceased. The jobbers, who purchased largely at
the fairs for inland traffic, and expended consi-
derable sums among the mountain breeders, by which
they were enabled to pay the March rent—this useful
class has been put completely hors de combat by the
bank failure. They draw out their money in the
beginning of summer, purchased cattle, and after
realising a good profit in the interior, returned the
aggregate amount to the savings' bank until the fol-
lowing year. This class of dealers has been utterly
extinguished, and the stock of dry cattle remains un-
sold on the hands of the farmers.

There is a rumour here that a landlord of high pre-
tensions, who has received a large sum for drainage,
has been paying his labourers with meal, and realis-
ing a profit on the sweat of misfortune. This per-
version of the public money, which the Earl of Cla-
rendon appears to have fresh in his mind's eye when
lashing certain of the Irish landlords, coram Mr.
Beazley, was rerresented to the Board f Works, and
the proprietor has in consequence been ordered to
Dublin to render an account touching the money and
the meal. It would be well such practices were
checked in time, for, without inculpating the gentle-
man referred to, it is unquestionable that the public
money has been very widely jobbed in this county as
elsewhere. Since assistance is expected from the
state in the coming winter, an example or two among
the " meal-mongering" proprietors would greatly
tend to keep straight their dealings with the :pea-
santry and their accounts with the Board of Works.
The Board of Works is presidinglover the erection
of a sumptuous lunatic asylum within a short distance
of this town. The estimate of the work, of which
Sir Thomas Deane is the contractor, is not less than
28,0001., to provide accommodation for 250 inmates,
or at a rate of 1101. or so per head! People here
imagine that a modest and convenient structure,
which would cost about 10,0001., would be prefer-
able to the bastard and unappropriate piece of archi-
tecture which is to link arms with:the poor-house on
the other side of the road. Colonel Jones has been
down here on a tour of inspection, but he suddenly
returned to Dublin last week for some object con-
nected with the Premier's visit. _ _ .

Our beautiful lakes are comparatively deserted this
season, for " when sorrows come, they come not
single." Real famines deterred strangers before—
now immaginary rebellions do the same work. You
might hear an odd bugle, or the occasional and most
musical plash of the oar on some fine mornings or
evenings while standing on the quay at Ross. But
the old and buisy life of innkeepers, boatmen, and
buglers is extinguished. No stag-hunts—no dejeunts
—no dancing. Everything is changed but the
" Genius of the place," who will haunt it, and fill it
for ever with the beautiful, the graceful, and the

grand.
SUDDEN DEATH OF SIR RICHARD LEVINGE,
BART.

This gentlemen suddenly dropped dead at four
o'clock on last Tuesday evening, while out on a walk
in the grounds of his princely residence, Knock-
drill Castle. He was, up to the fatal moment,
in his usual good health, and had reached his
sixtieth year. He was distinguished from the
tilts the
for
great majority of his class by his permanent
introducing residence on his estate, by the extensive improvements
which he had made on his demesne, thereby afford-
ing employment on a large scale, and by his encou-
rag e
peasantry a better plan of agriculture than that
e
hitherto in use. He was the first to introduce into
the provinceet of
o allf L
e ff
tesr theat
manufacture
among
of lcs
the rough draining, which have since been so exten-
sivelyninosrt
and so profitably used. Conservative in
politics, Sir Richard 'did not, we b l' e love, treat his