ern English lakes, have yielded the palm to those of Killarney. 2. The three lakes have very distinct characteristics: the Lower Lake is studded with islands, all richly clothed with evergreens; the Upper Lake is remarkable for its wild magnificence, the mountains completely enclosing it; and the Middle Lake is noted for a happy mingling of both, yet in ferior to the one in grace and beauty, and to the other in majestic grandeur. 3. The romantic beauties of the Killarney Lakes were celebrated ages ago. In a very ancient poem they are classed as the "tenth wonder" of Ireland. The Irish name is Loch Lene, "the Lake of Learning," according to some authorities, a name by which it is still known among the peasantry, and which it is presumed to have derived from the number of learned monks by whom its monasteries of Innisfallen, Mucross, and Aghadoe were at one time crowded. 4. The lakes are formed and supplied by numerous minor lakes that exist in the surrounding mountains, and may be described as an immense reservoir for the several rivers that also flow into them, having received on their way the waters of innumerable tributary streams. 5. The only outlet for the waters thus collected is the narrow the narrow and rapid river Laune, a channel along which they proceed to the Atlantic through the beautiful Bay of Dingle. 6. The Upper Lake is somewhat more than two miles in length; it is in no place more than a mile in breadth; in circumference being about eight miles. It is narrow and straggling. The islands it contains, though small, are numerous and gracefully wooded: but its chief value is derived from the mountains the most noticeable being "the Reeks"-by which it is on all sides surrounded, and which throw their dark shadows upon the water, so as to give it a character of gloom in perfect keeping with the loneliness of the scene. 7. The narrow and winding channel that leads from the Upper to the Middle Lake is full of interest and beauty; the water is clear and rapid, and on either side it is amply wooded. The Middle or Mucross Lake is more sheltered and less crowded with islands than the other lakes. Near it, on the peninsula of Mucross, is the far-famed abbey of that The great tributary to this lake is the name. beautiful Torc cascade, supplied from a lake in the neighbouring mountain. 8. Tourists generally prefer the Middle Lake to either of its sister rivals. It is more cheerful, and in parts more beautiful; but, as we have intimated, less graceful than the one, and far less grand than the other. 9. In the Lower Lake, there are about fiveand-thirty islands, of all sizes and proportions, and nearly all of them are bountifully clothed in the richest verdure and foliage. The principal in extent and the most distinguished for beauty are Ross, Innisfallen, and Rabbit Island; but among the lesser there are several that surpass even their grand neighbours in natural loveliness and grace. 10. Sweet Innisfallen receives from all tourists the distinction of being the most beautiful, as it is certainly the most interesting, of the lake islands. Its peculiar beauty is derived from the alternating hill and dale within its small circle; the elegance of its miniature creeks and harbours, and the luxuriance of its ever greens. 11. It far surpasses in interest any one of its graceful neighbours, inasmuch as here, twelve centuries ago, was founded an abbey, of which the ruins still exist, from which afterwards issued the "Annals of Innisfallen," among the earliest and the most reliable of the ancient Irish histories. The original manuscript, preserved for centuries in this abbey, is now in the Bodleian library at Oxford. THE POWER OF GOD. fare-well beam, rays of the setting sun. vis-tas, the views between rows of trees forming an avenue. youth-ful spring, the early 1. Thou art, O God! the life and light |