14 THE IRISH AGRARIAN PROBLEM. 



would be won over to Protestantism through 

 colonization has been totally frustrated. We 

 may say, without much exaggeration, that the 

 non-Romanists, with few exceptions, are de- 

 scended from colonists. 



The English Government has been somewhat 

 more successful in the abolition of Irish customs 

 and usages, and above all in the extermination 

 of the Irish language. The number of persons 

 who understood Irish were : — 



Here we have therefore a considerable retro- 

 gression in the Irish language. Within the past 

 few years a movement, under the direction of 

 the " Gaelic League," has been set on foot, 

 with the object of resuscitating the ancient 

 Celtic habits and customs and above all the 

 language and literature. The English Govern- 

 ment has offered no resistance to this, and has 

 even subsidized the teaching of Gaelic in the 

 schools. It has probably seen that the mere 

 external assimilation of a population of foreign 

 stock has no great value, and that, so long as 

 the Irishman does not feel that he coalesces 

 politically with the British Empire, the use of 



