Page:Studies in Irish History, 1649-1775 (1903).djvu/355

After Limerick that towards the end of the period we may see the faint beginnings of a new national spirit, a spirit raised not as in other countries, by common traditions and a common history, but one aroused by the unwise policy of England. But the beginning was faint and could come to nothing until a great leader appeared and until England's difficulties made Ireland's opportunity. No Irishman can read the history of his country from 1691-1775 without a feeling that is almost akin to horror. But these dreary annals form very instructive reading for the man of to-day who would wish to understand modern Ireland. It is always unjustifiable to blame England in any treatment of Irish history. She was, after all, the conquering nation, and the age was not an age of humanity or toleration. Still the fact must be looked squarely in the face that it was under English rule that the Irish people underwent sufferings hardly paralleled in history. And yet Englishmen were surprised and horrified at the disloyalty of the Irish in '98!

It is indeed impossible for any sane person to read the history of Ireland during this period without feeling how different the material condition of Ireland might even now be had English policy only been different. Ireland has suffered from the ideas of the past more than any other 343