to English state necessity, and robbing
concession of its grace, of all its power to conciliate. From the
battle of the Boyne to Catholic emancipation, the king of Ireland had
never set foot on Irish soil, except in the case of George IV., whose
visit was little better than a melodramatic exhibition, repaid by
copious libations of flattery, which however failed to melt his
bigotry, or to persuade him to redeem his solemn promises and pledges,
until, nine years later, he was compelled to yield by the fear of
impending civil war.

Ireland may get from her sister, England, everything but that for
which the heart yearns--affection--that which alone 'can minister to
a mind diseased, can pluck from the memory its rooted sorrow, and rase
out the written troubles from the brain.' That is just what Ireland
needs above all things. She wants to be kept from brooding morbidly
over the dismal past, and to be induced to apply herself in a cheerful
spirit to the business of life. The prescriptions of state physicians
cannot fully reach the root of the disease. Say that it is a
sentimental malady--a delusion. What is gained by saying _that_,
if the sentiment or the delusion makes life wretched, unfits for
business, produces suicidal propensities, and renders _keepers_
necessary?

In theory, Ireland is one with England; in practice, she is hourly
made to feel the reverse. _The Times_, and all the journals which
express the instincts of the dominant nation, constantly speak of the
Irish people as '_the subjects of England_, whom Englishmen have
a right to control. They are the subjects of the Queen only in a
secondary sense--_as_ the Queen of England, and reigning over them
through England. Every sovereign, from Queen Elizabeth to Queen
Victoria, was sovereign of Ireland merely in this subordinate sense,
even when there was an Irish parliament. The King of _Ireland_ could
speak to his Irish parliament only as he was advised by his English
ministers; and their advice was invariably prompted by English
interests. Her king was not _hers_ in the true sense. His _heart_ and
his company were wholly given to another, to whose pride, power,
and splendour she was made to minister. That state of things
still continues in effect, and while it lasts Ireland can never be
contented. Her heart will always be disquieted within her. Something
bitter will ever be bubbling up from the bottom of that troubled
fountain.

Nor let it be supposed that thi