Irish Literature - Vol Viii

AN IRISH MANUSCRIPT - THE SUNNINESS OF IRISH LIFE. JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE has said many hard things of Ireland-that is, of Ireland as the battle-ground of political and social questions-but he has paid an ungrudging and eloquent tribute tq the charms of Ireland, of the mountain, the lake, and the valley, and of its light-hearted and liumorous inhabitants. THe have heard much of the wrongs of Ireland, the miseries of Ireland, the crimes of Ireland, he writes every cloud has its sunny side, and, when all is said, Ireland is still the most beautiful island in the world and the Irish themselves, though their temperament is ill-matched with ours, are still amongst the most interesting of peoples. Every cloud in Ireland has, indeed, its glint of sunshine. Thanlcs to the natural charms of the country, and the kindly, genial manners of the people, there is diffused through Irish life a warm, pleasant, stimulating influence, which is best described by the expressive and picturesque word sunny. That delightful quality of sunniness in Irish life is most appreciated by those who know the strain on mental and physical energies of living amid the perpetual rush and noise and excitement of a large and busy English city. After such an experience, one feels, while in Ireland, that there is no country in the world so fresh and reposeful as the Emerald Isle, with its perpetual touch of spring-no race so leisurely and restful as the Irish-that there is no land and no people so well adapted to reinvigorate an overworked frame or restore to cheerfulness a weary mind...