oved conditions who now
die in consequence of poverty in early childhood. From another side
comes the assertion that the shameless oppression inflicted by the
English is the cause of the trouble. It is the cause of the somewhat
earlier appearance of this poverty, but not of the poverty itself. Or
the blame is laid on the Protestant Church forced upon a Catholic nation;
but divide among the Irish what the Church takes from them, and it does
not reach six shillings a head. Besides, tithes are a tax upon landed
property, not upon the tenant, though he may nominally pay them; now,
since the Commutation Bill of 1838, the landlord pays the tithes directly
and reckons so much higher rent, so that the tenant is none the better
off. And in the same way a hundred other causes of this poverty are
brought forward, all proving as little as these. This poverty is the
result of our social conditions; apart from these, causes may be found
for the manner in which it manifests itself, but not for the fact of its
existence. That poverty manifests itself in Ireland thus and not
otherwise, is owing to the character of the people, and to their
historical development. The Irish are a people related in their whole
character to the Latin nations, to the French, and especially to the
Italians. The bad features of their character we have already had
depicted by Carlyle. Let us now hear an Irishman, who at least comes
nearer to the truth than Carlyle, with his prejudice in favour of the
Teutonic character: {273}

"They are restless, yet indolent, clever and indiscreet, stormy,
impatient, and improvident; brave by instinct, generous without much
reflection, quick to revenge and forgive insults, to make and to
renounce friendships, gifted with genius prodigally, sparingly with
judgment."

With the Irish, feeling and passion predominate; reason must bow before
them. Their sensuous, excitable nature prevents reflection and quiet,
persevering activity from reaching development--such a nation is utterly
unfit for manufacture as now conducted. Hence they held fast to
agriculture, and remained upon the lowest plane even of that. With the
small subdivisions of land, which were not here artificially created, as
in France and on the Rhine, by the division of great estates, but have
existed from time immemorial, an improvement of the soil by the
investment of capital was not to be thought of; and it would, according
to Alison, re