The arts, too, were cultivated by her people; and the round towers, still pointed out to travelers, are believed to be the remains of the architecture of the tenth century.

The ruin of Ireland must be traced to other causes than the character of the people or the Catholic religion.

Historians give us facts showing English oppressions sufficient to destroy any nation.
The short, dark days of November intensified, in my eyes, the gloomy prospects of that people, and made the change to the _Sirius_ of the Cunard Line, the first regular Atlantic steamship to cross the ocean, most enjoyable.

Once on the boundless ocean, one sees no beggars, no signs of human misery, no crumbling ruins of vast cathedral walls, no records of the downfall of mighty nations, no trace, even, of the mortal agony of the innumerable host buried beneath her bosom.

Byron truly says: "Time writes no wrinkle on thine azure brow-- Such as creation's dawn beheld, thou rollest now." When we embarked on the _Sirius_, we had grave doubts as to our safety and the probability of our reaching the other side, as we did not feel that ocean steamers had yet been fairly tried.