The New York herald., 1873-11-25
7 R = T. a NJ d.
A PICTURE OF DUBLIN
The Metropolis OF Modern
Ireland.

-
Ireland.
DUBLIN. Oct. a. 1874
TO q man who, ike Ulysses. has ''seen many
men and citiesr whose feet are familiar with the
Partisan boulevards and the Viennese rings, who
has driven Inter den Linden at Berlin and lodged
in the Piazza d Spagna at Rome, who has been
surrounded with all the luxurious comforts OF the
Brevoort House, in New York, and within week
has had to shift for himself in the unwarmed rooms
and with the half stocked larder Of newly erected
frame hotel in rising city on the shore OF Lake
Michigan; to q man VINO has passed through such
vcissitudes as these there Is yet something novel
and strange in the aspect OF ireland. The capital
Is itself an epitome OF the country. From Dublin
and its Immediately surrounding neighborhood
one can form a toerably correct idea Of
the national peculiarites and characteristics. It's.
situation is splendid; its principal street (SaOk-
vile street) is far broader ana grander and moro
imposing than any thoroughfare In the United
Kingdom. It's principal squares lFltzwnuam,
Merri0n, Rutland and Stephens Green) vie with
Russell square, London, in their tall, stately, red
brick houses and utterly surpass that or any other
portion or the English metropolis IN the fresh
greenery OF the turf and the luxuriant beauty OF
the flowers In their central enclosures. And the
Trinity College, st. Patrick's Cathedral the Gus
tom House and the Four Courts-are eacn and alt
of them magnificent specimens OF architecture.
highly and appropriately decorated, while tho
Phoenix Park Is larger than Hyde Park, with .
wealth of greenwood almost equalng In extcnr
and certainly SURPRISING In vernal tint the far
famed foliage OF Kenslngton Gardens. Inland the
suburbs stretch away along broad roads, hne0
here with terraces and rows OF houses, there
with pretty cottages dotted down in the midst OF
smiling gardens, and with the soft unduatng
range of the Dublin or wicklow mountains as the
background while within 90 minutes rail Is the
grand open seattle lovely Bay OF Dublin. the
chosen rival to the Bay OF Naples, and by Thack-
cray considered to have asserted its superiority
over its Italian competitor in the fact that 1t pro-
duces excellent herrngs, none OF which fish has
ever been caught in the Neapoitan Sea. What
would not be given by the tired Londoner. jaded
and wearied with his work in the eternal log and
smoke, which dim his eyesight and choke his lungs,
ifwithin quarter Of an hour from his city den be
could be steam-borne to spot where he could
See the children sport upon the shore,
And hear the mighty waters rolling evermoro,
and feel the fresh sea breeze clearing the cobwebS
from his brain and bracng his enfeebled healthf
The shore OF this silver sea Is 1rnged with pretty
villages and hamlets, each of which has its sep
arate station the railroad, with high cliffs and
bold, picturesque headlands, along which the train.
looking remarkably like a child's toy, winds In
and out with pretty market gardens, every lncM
OF which seems to be jealousy cultivated with q
broad sweep Of espanade or tall, succeed ter
race or q covey OF one-storied cottages, with the
most romantic names inscribed on their white
washed outward walls. These should be the sum-
mer homes of the citizens the marine retreats OF
the aristocracy the resting places for the old and
weary, the Irritation ground OF the young and
thoughtless Such a capital so situated and with
such suburbs, boastng, if not OF court ITSELF az
all events OF its mimic semblance; OF .
learned university, OF its own halls OF JUS
tice, OF school Of art, Of splendid
cathedral. OF large military garrison.
both Of cavalry and infantry, would, one
would imagine be not merely populous ana COM
mercially thriving, brisk, stirring and independ-
ent, but would contain within itself the elements
OF society IN which all could hnd their levei-at
once the gayest and gravest, the most learned and
the most frivolous The docks should be filed, the
quays crowded with merchandise, the railways
laden with native manufactures, the university an
alma mater OF hundreds OF hard-working and
weconditioned students, the law courts q curric-
ulum for the future pleaders and judges OF the
land. Gayety and fashion should hold undisputed
sway over the great squares, the spacious streets
should be filed with dashng carriages and l0unginG
pedestrians. and general air Of well-being should
pervade the entire city. Such, to the untravelled
and halfinformed mind would be the ideal state Of
Dublin but we now glance at the real condition OF
affairs.
Throughout the whole OF the city OF Dublin, alike
in its business streets as In its fashionable quar-
tiers, there is an omnipresent, unmistakable and
not to be gotten rid OF air OF desoaton. In the
commercial districts business is carried on In
anguid, helpless, purposeless manner. Vans are
laden and unladen by men who set about their
work with no more determination or earnestnesS
than q Neapolitan azZarone. There Is singular
want OF alacrty in the serving of customers and
utter absence OF that disposition to press wares
upon the attention OF the unwilling which Is SO
characteristic OF the successful shopkeepng class
In the Four Courts the great uncertainty OF the
law, with all its natural delays and difficulties. Is
rendered hundred times more difficult and
more procrastinating tnan elsewhere Three
or four judges SIT In solemn conclave
TO deliberate over a matter which could
be dismissed by Judge in chambers in twenty
minutes, the grand jury system is confusion. the
regulation for the recovery Of small debts Is stated
to be full OF practical anomalies, while the Bank
ruptcy and Insolvent law has, on the authority Of
one who well knows what he is speaking Of. n5een
| in muddle for years" From the advantages OF
! education in their ancient university the great
| mass OF the people are excluded on account Of
| their religion, while no Irish law student can be
called to the Bar before he has attended an English
inn OF court large proportion OF the big, red
| laced old houses in the aforementioned square
! which, before the union, we're inhabited by the
grand Old Irish peers and the hospitablc old Irish
squires-who, while their chimneys blazed and their
,,laret flowed and their hall doors we're always open
10 those properly recommended, yet did
not fa,l to keep up certain state ana
dionitv-a.e now tenanted Dy doctors ana
LAWYERS whos., brass plates adorn the area rail-
ings. Many OF the.Nn bear tne announoemen' -
lodgings to Let" while - . ~ ana tho ,.nn,o
down, the windows are paperee ~ -. aaaa rv,s
mansion has the appearance OF hcAs