ff than ever--they will afterwards quarrel
amongst themselves, destroy one another, and be again enslaved with
heavier chains. I am and have been all my life a sincere friend to
moderate measures, as long as reason can be heard; but there comes
a time, at the actual commencement of uproar, when reason cannot be
heard, and when the ultimate law of force must be resorted to, to
prevent greater evils. _That time was lost in the beginning of the
French Revolution_--I hope it may not be lost in Ireland. It is
scarcely possible that this country can now be tranquilized without
military force to reestablish law; the people _must_ be made to
obey the laws or they cannot be ruled after any concessions. Nor
would the mob be able to rule if they got all they desire; they
would only tear each other to pieces, and die _drunk_ or famish
_sober_. The misfortune of this country has been that England has
always yielded to _clamor_ what should have been granted to
justice.

As Miss Edgeworth advanced in life she often spoke of "my poor Ireland,"
showing that hopelessness with regard to the problem had dawned on her.
She was a patriot, but belonged to no party; and was blind neither to
the nation's wrongs, follies nor crimes. She grew more and more to
advocate the _laissez-faire_ system. She contended that her
observations, which extended over so long a period of time, had shown
her steady progression in Ireland, and she believed that the land would
ultimately do well if people would only not force their political
nostrums upon it. What she did demand from England was equality of
legislation, but no more; and this accorded, she believed Ireland would
rise from her state of degradation, though of necessity the rise would
be slow, since the length of time of recovery must be in proportion to
the length and force of the infliction. Mrs. Hall very rightly remarked
that Miss Edgeworth's affection for Ireland was "philosophic." Yet
another change Miss Edgeworth observed in the Irish, and one that made
them less useful to her for literary purposes:--

The modern peasantry imagine they have a part to play in the
organization of their country; their heads are fuller of politics
than fun; in fact, they have been drilled into thinking about what
they cannot understand, and so have become reserved and
suspicious--that is, to what they used to be.

A