84 THE IRISH PEOPLE. 



immoderately. . . . But . . . the inherent 

 good qualities of the common people in Ireland hava 

 long and justly been the common theme of praise. 

 The leading orator and movement-man of his age 

 delighted to call them ' the finest peasantry on the 

 face of the earth ! ' Superlative commendation that, 

 and facts are neither few nor inconsiderable, which 

 go far to bear it fully out. With all their faults 

 . . . the peasantry of Ireland will stand the test 

 of the severest examination of their claims to the 

 possession of some of the best qualities human 

 nature can display. Speaking contemptuously of 

 the Irish peasant has grown into fashion. 



" What is the poor Irishman's cabin ? mud ! His 

 food ? a single vegetable ! Yet how quick is his 

 intelligence ; how apt his capacity ; how refined his 

 wit ; how warm his affections ; how constant his 

 attachment ; how patient and untiring his industry !" 

 (Here he quotes Gerald Barry, Holingshed, and Lord 

 Macartney, whose words I give at pp. 19, 24, 46, and 

 he adds) : " The ancients and moderns paint the Irish 

 peasant in the same colours, and with the same 

 features, and endow him with the same qualities. 

 Is he a person on whom to vent reproaches? For 

 centuries and such centuries ! he has not degene- 

 rated. Fate ordained that he should not improve, 

 but he would not let her make him worse. Gerald 



