of excursionists, or confine their investigations to the common re- 

 sorts of holiday folk. Some bleak mountain or some quiet hamlet 

 is as often selected for exploration as the popular places of tourist 

 guides. Ballinderry and Portmore were selected for the third ex- 

 cursion in this year's programme, and accordingly a number of 

 well-known members of the Club, male and female, found themselves, 

 on Saturday morning, on the narrow platform of Ballihderry station 

 of the Antrim Junction Railway, much to the surprise of the rail- 

 way officials, the two members of the R.I.C. on duty, and the 

 farmer's boy, the only other passenger that arrived so early. The 

 whistle that preceded the bustle of arrival was quickly followed by 

 the whistle of the departing train, that left the station in its nor- 

 mal stillness. No 'bus hailed from a neighbouring inn, no jarvey 

 competed for an expected fare, no nimble urchin volunteered to 

 " carry it .up for you, sir ; " not even the newsboy's cry was heard. 

 But such discouragement did not turn the party from their purpose. 

 They at once prepared for and commenced their delightful walk of 

 some three miles from the station to Portmore, on the margin of 

 Loughbeg. The road passed through an agricultural district that 

 in every direction afforded evidence of careful culture and a pro- 

 mise of a rich return.' The luxuriance of the various crops, the 

 verdure of the lanes and hedges breathing the perfume of honey- 

 suckle and wild rose, the apparent comfort that surrounded every 

 cottage, and the rural beauty that clothed the landscape here and there, 

 were more than sufficient to realise the expectations of the party, 

 and to increase their interest in a district that has sent to Belfast 

 many of her most industrious, prosperous, and honoured com- 

 mercial men. This locality is also associated with the name of 

 Jeremy Taylor, justly styled " The Shakspeare of English divines," 

 and who filled the united sees of Down and Connor, to which also, 

 in his person, that of Dromore was added, in consideration of his 

 " virtue, wisdom, and industry • " a man who, notwithstanding his 

 opinions and prejudices, must ever be associated with the religious 

 history and the literature of Ireland, and, indeed, with that of the 

 nation. 



Previous to his elevation to the episcopal office in 1566, Jeremy 



