ARE THE IRISH EASILY RULED ?
fro THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—When Mr. Cowen says the Irish are as easily ruled as any people, if only justice is done to them, be is but echoing the words of the best statesmen of the Tudor times. I am just now unable to consult authorities, but I am certain of Sir John Davis ; he speaks much more strongly than Mr. Cowen ; and I am pretty sure that at least half-a-dozen others might be brought in evidence. Even Spenser, in that " State of Ireland," which all who love the " Faery Queen " would so much rather he had never written, testifies to the strong sense of justice of the Irish, and to the justness of that Brehon code to which the lawyers of James I. gave its death-blow. These Tudor politicians had not our advantages. They.bad learned from the Spaniard his short method of dealing with natives, and they were only too ready to imitate it in Ireland. But still they were impressed with that national love of justice to which Mr. Cowen referred. You will, I know, agree with me that till of late years the Irish have had sadly little experience of " a liberal and cordial policy."—I am, Sir, &c.,
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