The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-05-10
SOME NEW BOOKS.


Ireland before the English Conquest.
Almost all reading people must have
desired Some authentic and scholarly
eccount within manageable compass
- the actual state of Irish culture be-
rhrc the Anglo Norman invasion and
the beginning of $500 years of wrong"
That there have been many and griev-
GUS wrongs during the 500 years is
really indisputable. But that the whole
eight centuries have consisted. of
wrong" Is equally incredible. Espe-
"'aily when one remembers that during
ne earlier of the eight centuries. and
even down to the later. IL has been a
complaint OF the advocates OF the Eng
lish Connection THAI the English set
tiers in Ireland have been 40 attracted
~ the Irish character and the Irish
orIization as to become more Irish
than the Irish" That is a complaint at
least as old as the "spaciou times of
Queen Elizabeth and Edmund Spenser.
say half way back to the beginning "
the 500 years. Since then the Irish
complaint has been that the Anglo
Norman civilization extirpated the
promise Of a civilization In many and
even in most respects more fruitful and
promising than itself. one result of
the modern agitation of the Irish ques-
tion. an agitation now of itself upward
Of hundred years OF age IL. as the
late Edwin Lawrence Godl>in. himself
an lrishman Of the anglo Norman" or
more properly of what Is now coming
10 be recognized as the Ulster" type.
once complained has been that when
the pre-Ango- Norman civilization Of
ireland was concerned the chief effect
~ criticism of his historical pretensions
upon the tochthonous and Celtic
Irishman was to goad him into exag-
gerating the architectural splendor of
"Tara's halls" and the number Of
harps in the orchestra" The reported
discourse of an Irish priest IL only "A
typical showing of this eNaggeration
while all Europe besides was sunk in
ignorance and superstition Ireland was
filed with churches and palaces and
colleges Of the most magnificent archi-
lecture. with libraries filled with thou
sands and thousands of volumes Of the
most beautiful po'try." To all but
Celtic Irishmen this account Of the an
cient state of Ireland has seemed to he,
like the cabled account of Mark Twaln's
death as described by himself. grossly
exaggerated" But the sceptics and the
believers alike have thus far been at a
loss for an account of what really was
the culture and the civilization of Ire
land in the days and the centuries, say
between its Contamination by st. Pat
rick in the fifth century and the arrival
Of SIrongbow in the twelfth.
Monographs ana special treatises
there are no doubt in abundance. from
which the inquirer might furnish HIM
self. but for the shortness of life and
the urgency Of other interests in II.
with a working account of the various
phases of the old Irish civilization. The
names of OCurry and ODonovan and
kuno Meyer and Nash and Petrie and
many more are honored 10y all scholars
in their respective departments. But a
general view Of old Irish culture was
still lacking. 1t is this view that IL I'M
dertaken to be supplied In 4 Social His
torn OF Ancient ireland. by Il. W. JOYCE
Longmans). Mr.. Joyce. 1t appears. Is
already known as u scholarly contribu-
tor to one or more of the specialties.
Here he appears as attempting in two
volumes of not repellent size, profusely
and pertinently illustrated. To cover the
entire field. 1t Is an ambitious attempt
and the undertaken Is entitled to every
reasonable allowance. Certainly one
must not find fault with him for his
enthusiasm. So long as It does not
carry him to absurd lengths 1t is not
only respectable but the very first OF
essentials for his task one recurs to
his Carlyle: ITO understand thing the
first requirement Is that you should
love the thing. lac in sympathy with 1t.
This requirement the author fLltils, as
indeed this requirement has been full
filed by many enthusiastic 1rishmen
whose historical labors have failed I,
command the crcdence of dislnterestec
scholars, The uncritical enthusiasm al
such historians the present historian
expressly deprecates. I'm regard to my
subject we have on the one hand those
English and Anglo-Irish people-an,
they are not fcw-Who think merely
from ignorance that ireland Vas "A bar
harous and half saVag" country before
the English came among tn" people ant
civilized them; and ON the other hant
there are those Of my cOuntrymcn wh'
have an exaggerated Idea of the great
ness and splendor of the ancient Irisl
nation" The entire preface from whici
this citation is taken Is very well worti
reading not only on account of its expo
sitiOn nut On account t1 ltS ndtlplltl W
"ethnic" STYLE. l. Is most unmistakahl.
me composition Of an Irishman, and a
Enthusiastically of an Irishman equipped
with the learning Of the Egyptians,
II Is difficult to read It without SOM
more or less awkward imitation of tn
nellifuous brogun In which 1t was wi
IDENTIFY composed.
II Is y datum so to say. Of tn
existence of an important and Influential
condition of civilization IN any countr,
that the country should he populou'
without populousncss the "lesur
class" tbsolved from the cares Of get
ting daily bread by manual labor and n
liberty To devote itself to ornamental
arts or to the things ~ Ia" mind or III
spirit cannot exist. Accordingly the au
thor naturally labors ~ show that Ire
land was well and even denSely popu
lated in the early Christian ages, an
even in the prc-Christian. Statistic
were not of course accurately Kept unit
many centuries after even the later a
these two periods. The estimates Of tn
population of ireland, even at the tim
Of the Restoration, arr conjecture
But the most plausible of these put tn
population Of Ireland IN 1860 AZ a mill
ion. This is doubtless rs far below IN
resources of the island for the decor
and comfortable maintenance of huma
life a the npDiilH ion inst before IN