Mullingar. 265 



form any judgment of the beauty for which it 

 is so extolled. 



Mullingar is a town of some extent j the prin- 

 cipal street is above a mile in length, and the 

 houses are generally good ; but the quantity of 

 dirt and filth before the doors did not pre- 

 possess us in favor of the place ; possibly we 

 saw it, in this respect, to a disadvantage, owing 

 to recent rain and great passage of sheep from 

 Ballinasloe. As the grand canal to Dublin 

 passes the town, we had an opportunity of 

 seeing one of the passage boats; the accom- 

 modations were good, and we understood its 

 progress to be about six miles an hour. 



This neighbourhood has recently been dis- 

 graced by the banditti mentioned in a former 

 letter, who style themselves carders ; and al- 

 though punishment has overtaken several of the 

 offenders, these outrages still continue. 



At Mullingar, we quitted the direct road to 

 Dublin, and pursued that leading to Athboy : 

 we breakfasted at Reynella, the seat of Mrs. 

 Ueynell, iive miles from Mullingar. At Kil- 

 burn, two miles before we reached Reynella, 

 we were agreeably surprised by the sight of 



