Ti ri'a.ii,.i.i- i ii. ' jt i ' !' . ■ 



CHAPTER XV. 



IRELAND. 



General Features. 



,^(x-vjiRELAND and Great Britain form together a geographical unit. 

 The latter, so elegant in its contours, is harmoniously balanced 

 by the former, whose outline resembles that of a geometrical 

 figure. Originally portions of the same continent, the two islands 

 were severed in the course of geological ages without losing their 

 family likeness. The geological formations exhibit the original continuity of the 

 land, and the arm of the sea which separates the two islands exceeds only locally 

 a depth of 50 fathoms. 



Washed by the same sea and bathed in the same atmosphere, the destinies of 

 the inhabitants of the sister islands have been similar, and for centuries past they 

 have been under the same government. But hitherto this political union has not 

 brought about an intimate coalescence between the Irish and their neighbours of the 

 larger island. On the contrary, there exist feelings of strong hostility, fostered 

 by differences of religion, manners, and national traditions. The Irish look 

 upon themselves as a conquered race, injured in its most sacred rights and 

 interests, while the English, conscious of their power, have too frequently treated 

 substantial Irish grievances with contempt. They, too, regard the Irish as a 

 conquered people, not entitled to an independent government, owing to their lack 

 of strength to enforce it.* 



Ireland has sometimes been called an English Poland, but two centuries have 

 elapsed since the Irish were able to place an army in the field to fight for their 

 alleged risrhts. Their divisions are too numerous to enable them to overthrow the 

 existing Government, and many amongst them are attached to England through 

 kinship, religion, and interest. Every attempt at a resurrection — even that of 1798, 

 when 30,000 men took the field — has been promptly suppressed. But though 

 England need no longer dread an open rebellion, she has nevertheless to contend 

 with the sullen hostility of a majority amongst the inhabitants of the sister island. 



* Froude, "The English in Ireland." 



