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little connected with the general history of mankind as Ireland has been , should have hitherto attracted the attention of few , if any , deserving of that character . Much as we have heard of the ancient literature of Ireland , nothing has been preserved to prove its existence ; so that either a few dark hints have led some modern writers to fancy a progress in literature which never occurred , or the ravages of barbarians have obliterated the traces of it in a greater degree than in any other known instance . Certain it is , that our
account of Ireland previous to the reign of Henry II . is unsatisfactory . From that time , however , we have a variety of annalists ; and for the later and more interesting periods of Irish story , there is perhaps no greater want of materials than for the history of any other country . But they are materials peculiarly liable to suspicion , being , for the most part , the productions of persons not only blinded by prejudice , but often interested in misrepresentation ; whilst the greater part of them are on one side , and from the deficiency of counter-statements , we are sometimes tempted to suspect error , when we want the means to prove it .
In addition , then , to the general qualifications of extensive and varied knowledge , patient investigation , and strict impartiality , which should be found in every one who undertakes to write history , the Irish historian should possess a quickness of discernment which may enable him to detect error , and should be as free as possible from connexion with either of the leading parties whose unhappy contests , continued to the present day , are to be the subject of his narrative . These qualifications have not been all found in preceding historians .
" Thefe is / ' says Mr . ODriscol , " but one history of Ireland deserving the name—that of Mr . Leland . But it is a heavy work , overlaid with the rubbish of barbarous and unimportant details , and disfigured with a degree of prejudice and unfairness still more objectionable . Leland writes like a gentleman and a scholar ; but he had no clear views of his subject , arid he was unable or unwilling to disengage himself from the prejudices of the period in which he lived . It is to be feared that the latter was very much the case , for throughout his misrepresentations and glosses , we are here and there struck with glimpses of a conscience ill at ease . He is not , however , often chargeable with misstating facts , but he discolours them with observations strangely at variance with the natural deductions from the matter to which they relate . "Preface , p . ix .
There is some truth in this , but it is not a candid statement . Dr . Leland was not only a gentleman and a scholar , but also an amiable and moderate man ; and to his good feelings and love of truth often counteracting the prejudice he had early imbibed , we should attribute these admissions which our
author calls glimpses of a conscience ill at ease . In the volumes which Mr . O ' Driscol has published , are to be found instances of gross misrepresentation , but we should be sorry to suppose for a moment that they were intentional ; and that he is unwilling to disengage himself from his prejudices , against Socinians for example ; or to infer , because he appears inconsistent , that this arises from a conscience ill at ease . On the contrary , we believe him to be ,
in general , candid and liberal , but that his prejudice occasionally prevails and influences his judgment . There is another history of Ireland , which , however Mr . O'Dnscol may disapprove the spirit and tendency of it , should ndt have been passed over ; that by Mr . Lawless , better known in the political world as " Tfie Irishman . " Like Dr . Leland , he must be regarded as a partizan , and perhaps a more violent one , but on the opposite side of the question , Mr . Lawless felt strongly the wrongs of his country , and his work
Untitled Article
174 Review . •* -O'Driscol ' $ History of Ireland .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1828, page 174, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2558/page/30/
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