PREFACE. 5 



not yet begun to gain upon the forces of decay. 

 If the Irish question, as Dr. Bonn concisely 

 puts it, is a " turnip question," then the latest 

 reports, which have come to hand as I write, 

 give little encouragement to those who would 

 fain believe that the economic decline of Ireland 

 has touched bottom. The nation's life is still 

 ebbing, and the mind of the nation, as a whole, 

 is not yet alive to the danger and to its source. 



T. W. ROLLESTON. 



Glenealy, 



Co. WiCKLOW. 



