New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1872-12-27
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
FRoupE,s ENGLIsHIN IRELAND.


The iptroduotion 10 this volume which occupies o
,..,or 90 sovsral sections is an elaborate. and in
,D.nv respects an ingenious specimen "a historical
rocnlation 1t consists of exposition OF certain
,,r7ncinles which in the view OF Mr.. troude,
have determined the progress of affairs IN
IRELAND, and now crop out In the condition oil
that unhappy country. natural right TO
liberty he, maintains, irrespective Of the ability
so defend IT, exists neither in individuals nor IN
nations The superior part has natural right 10
govern the inferior natural right TO be governor;
aud the test is to be found in the relative strength
of the different orders of human beings. Among
wild beasts and savsges, Mr.. Froude argues, niSn'
makes right. Among reasonable beings rlSnV IS
forever tending TO make might. Superior lnteDl-
eenoe and character compensate for inteTiolly Oh
Numbers. The better sort Of men willingly submit
60 be governed by those who are noDler ana
wiser than themselves The faculty OF organ
ization creates superiority of force. The ignorant
and the selfish are thus justly compelled TO OBEY
rule which delivers them from their own natural
weakness No person has On inherent privilege 10
lead an unworthy life, when he can be forced upon
amore honorable career The rights of man are not
60 liberty. but to wise direction and control. Inc
right of people to selfgovernment consists only IN
their power to defend themselves. AL societies OF
men are naturally forced into relations with other
societies of men. They are natural friends OF nat
nra rivals; they accordingly either agree 10 unite,
OF else find themselves in collision. when the
weaker gives way. On the whole, superior strength
rs the equivalent of superior merit When weaker
people are compelled to part with their separate ex-
isence and permitted to share the privileges OF
The nation in which they absorbed they forfeit
nothing which they should care TO lose, and rather
gain than sulerby the exchange. There isno freedom
possible to man except in obedience to law, and
ho he a N
be content 20 accept direction from others Liberty
s only the privilege of those who can govern them
selves better than others can govern them. They
who are able to govern themselves need not petition
Tor a boon which they can take for themselves.
From the announcement Of these principles Of
government which virtually coincide with the odous
theories of Thomas Hobbies, that were so stOutly re-
sisted by the great thinkers Of the seventeenth
century sapping the foundations OF civil society
and in which the of justice is absorbed in the
consciousness of power the transition is easy to the
defense of the oppression which subjected the Ameri-
ran colonies to the caprIces Of British despotism,
and which still holds brave and generous people IN
thralldOm to an arbitrary foreign rule.
Subsequent to the Norman conquest, Ireland, ac-
rording to Mr. Froude, better provided than
either Scotland OF Wales with the means to with
stand the encroachments of England. She had a
territory more difficult TO penetrate and greatly
more numerous population. Her frontier was sew
snty miles of dangerous sea- instead of narrow
river The courage OF the Irish was undisputed.
The hardihood of the Irish KEN was proverbial
throughout Europe Yet in Their efforts to shake
Of English supremacy. their patriotism has
svaporated in words. No advantage Of
numbers has availed them No sacred sense of hearth
and home has stirred their nObler natures. Their
anappeasable discomfort has been attended with the
paralysis Of manliuess and with a few exceptions.
their attempts to rise have only issued IN disgrace
full defeat If Ireland could have fought scotland
fought she would have been the mistress OF her own
aestiuies In a successful struggle for freedom,
she would have developed qualities that would
have made her worthy Of the admiration of the
world But Ireland was prepared neither Tor oouT-
ageous resistance for honorable submission. Her
shicfs bad no real patriotism. Although they could
make no stand for liberty, they could not endure
order or settled government. Their instructions
we're dsfigured with crimes which brought shame
On their cause.
In these facts Mr. Froude finds apology, if not
justification, for the policy of England. HerSe-
Verites were provoked by the excuses of the peo-
pie. In the first instance, she wished that Ireland
might share in fullest measure whatever she most
greatly valued for herself But the temper in which
she was met exasperated her to haTshness, and al
times 10 cruelty. Revolt and punishment followed
each other in quick succession Fresh causes FOR
nutiny arose. until the case became apparently des-
perate and it seemed 40 last Mr.. FrOude remarks,
"as if no solution OF the problem was possible save
the expulsion destruction Of race which APP
peared incurable"
The NormaDs who occupied Ireland in the twelfth
century were not properly colonists, but military
Rristocracy whose peculiar mission was TO govern
men. With the exception Of the clergy, the Irish
are described by Mr. FIoude scarcely better than
Rmob Of armed savages." They had no settled indus
try and no settled habitatiOns. They had scarcely
any conception Of property. The weak and poor
spirited were compelled 20 perform such wretched
tlagc as could not be dispensed with Fighting
and plumber were deemed the only honorable pur-
suits. Each tribe roamed within its own limits, liv
ing the plage Of it's neighbors OF the wild cattle
which wandered through the woods Their religion,
which three centuries earlier had burst like star
in Western Europe no longer served as check upon
their ferOciOus passions. Their chief characteristics
were treachery thirst for blood nnbridled hcen-
tiousness and nveterate detestaton of order and
rule To such people. needing only bit and bride,
liberty was only mischievOus and the Nornans came
NJ their natural masters. Their right to govern was
found in their ability to govern, and in the need OF
the Irish to be governed The conquest was legiti-
matted by the character Of the eonquerors. They
were born rulers of men, and were forced by the
same necessity which brought the decreplt Kingdoms
of Asia under the authority of England and
Russia to undertake the management OF the an
archie nations of the West.
The first effect of the conquest was favorable to
the condition Of Ireland. Large sections of the
country were subdued into some kind Of order. The
new corners rooted themselves into the soil, gather
ing about them retainers of their own blood. who
overmastered and IN some degree, transformed the
wild and hayward yagabonds" whom they forced to
become their subjects But the dominant race soon