New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-08-03
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
IRISH HISTORY.


Tn. title of this work is misleading. 1t re not
What i, purpsrts to be, namely. a history OF the
IRISH people, even from the standpoint of the author
Fer he saws aluiost the opening of bis narrative
s.,vh.n we sneak of the irisA people, distinguishing
tbe,u from the Sc,c or Norman chiefs We really re-
fer 10 that rorticn Of the inhabitants OF our Island
VITO are spFang IN part iineally but altogether
ally aud morally, fen the earliest settlers
These earliest settlers the Fornaliaas aud tao
Parthatoalaas, and there Is no aathenuc OF sa'ls-
factory account OF either OF those peoples exIahs
They are alleged TO have been respectively lDerah
and Aryan. and Wills the former appear to have
been title IL at ali removed from sayasery the I9ter
seem to have brought with them a certain amount
OF civilization. But the result Of postnlat'hg au
.Irish People as altogether distinct FROM the inhao
itants of Ireland who have made its history since
sbe first iruption of foreign conquerors is 10 pro
duce so confused and fallaeious view OF eFen's
that il is i'm pos<ible TO follow them 70 any uSelu
Durposo. Yet Mr. OCo1Or while protesting 10 wllte
a history OF the irish people, meaning, as nc say,
history of the aboriginal Irish, has really cohttNe
almost to omit them altogether, or has employer
them somewhat after tho fashion of Greek chords
1t is clear that after certain time all the various
races which in turn overran Ireland. became
merged IN its general population. This is what &C.
currsd in England, and the best proof OF such ao-
sorptjop NAV be found at the present DAY III the
general diffusion of certain nauonai chSTacteiis-
tics among by far the greater part OF the hish
people But Mr. OConor has undertaken To create
an impossible aud mythical Irish people who were
always the victims and never the aggressors; VINO
maintained mysterious passion for liberty when
they were never able to embody in action; who are
wholly esponsiblc for any of the troubles OF the
country; who are represented at one and the same
time as being passive sheep, yet upon whose
uncomfortable yearnung for independence the
destiny of their country depends Other Irish bis
torans have lamentea the fatal lack of unity which
they declare has repeatedly prevented Irish emancl-
nation but Mr. OConor explains every failure to
act in concert by ascrbng it to race agonisms or
to the peridies of Mlesians or Scots or Nornans OF
Francs, or Anglo-Normans. va
real history of the Irish peopls would undoubt
eddy be very interesting work, but ii Is question
able whether such history will ever be written
either by an Irishman or Engshman. For the
people of both countries appear to have got into
a perfectly hopeless way of regarding one another !
The Irishman looks upon England as the embodi- |
ment of tyranny cruelty, oppression and rapacity
The Englishman looks upon Ireland rs the embodi- |
nent Of impracticabiliy, turbulence, reaohery and
rhodomontade. Neither Of these views is compati- |
BILE with the historical spirit, and, therefore. it is
not remark abo that satisfactory history OF the
Irish people has hitherto been written. Mr.. |
vague and eccentric. Throughout these volumes
he does not cite a single authority. He appears to
consider 1t quite unnecessary to do more than make
assertions When he aifrms in the most posi- |
tive way that there absolutely no foundation |
in fact for the alleged massacre of 1880 1t does not
occur TO him that such position requires extra
ncous support SO when he gives Mr.. Froude the |
lie, as several times docs he is content with |
simple contradiction, and though he is frequently
via nd 4
historical events in no single instance has he taken
the pans to fortify his statements by demonstra-
tion III follows that as history his book is with
ont much value In fact it has the capital fault of
being written too exclusively from one side of the
question. Yet even partial and loose writer /
cannot avoid making the fact clear that |
Ireland has suffered more from the chronic discord
of her own people than from any other cause. In /
the earlier history of the island there is only
monotonOus succession of quarrss and troasOus
among the native rulers. Petty king after petty
king aspires to dominion and is briefly ovsrthrown.
1t scene in which everv man to be fighting
fer his own hand aud neither the fear of foreign
subjugation the hope of domestic prosperity has
ever been powerful enough to put stop to these
intestine commissions.
Yet no history of Ireland, however partial and |
defective can fail to bring into strong relief the
crimes of England against that most unhappy
country. England herself suffered all the pangs of
conquest. Her aboriginal people were hunted like
game through her forests and morasses They also
were dispossessed of their land and forced to
accept the rule OF the brutal insoent and grasping
Normans But they learned to sssimilate them
selves to the conditions, and in the end they
absorbed the invaders. In Ireland, on the other
hand the people were trampled in turn by all the
foreign immigrants. and the latter IN order to
possess themselves Of the land. and to keep down
Instruction. subjected their victims to process of
torture which extended centuries. 1t Is quite
impossible TO palliate the severity OF the measures
at different times resorted 10 for the
purpose Of crushing out resistance to spoliatiOn.
Nor is it possible for any dispassonate student of
history to find fault with the Irish for their efforts
to take advantage of Englands distress and dan
GER There certainly could be no obligation resting
on a people who bad been systematically sacrificed
ssd abused and nothing can be much more IRA
tiona than much of the English complaint of lnsh
turbulence and treachery. The plain truth is that
the Irish peopls were first plundered and then
shaved, and that the English have no moro right
to complain OF the Inevitable consequences of their
degradation the Southern Shareholders had to
try to make capital of the negroes ignorance and
inferiority. But while recognizing the intoerabls
wrongs inflicted upon Ireland the dispassonate
historian must point with clear emphasis to the
consideration that people whose individual brav-
cry is proverbisl. who have attested their ntellec
tual force so often. who have given so many world
known names to art. and science aud literature. and
arms, must long ago have succeeded in cOnquering
their independence had their efforts not been
etensly frustrated by their fatal inability to act in
harmony. And while tie suffering of the Irish
people for centuries Is taken full account of it
must also be realized that Of the effects of that
suffering (perhaps) has been TO encourage iii the
lower classes tendency to grind the faces Of their
fellows whenever they have the opportunity. Thus
1t has bsen made evident that while the tenant