our writers of fiction, though some among them have few warmer admirers than myself. i trust that Sir Charles Duffy will collect and give to the world the best of his essays in the old Nation, and that some capable hand will do the same for Mitchel. There is a paper by Mitchel written in the despairing time of the famine of 1847, and bearing the simple title of "[[Irish Guide Book]]," to which for beauty of description and depth of pathos I hardly know an equal. It is difficult to read it without tears. — I am, yours,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE QUEEN'S COLLEGE, CORK.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMAN.
Sir — I have to thank you for a copy of the article of "Historicus" on "The Hundred Best Books," which I have read with much pleasure. Absence from home and other causes have, how- ever, prevented me until now from responding to your courteous invitation to offer some observa- tions on that list. In the meantime your corre- spondents have supplied most of the omissions and additions which I might have noted. "Historicus," so far as I gathered from the books named by him, appears to limit, and I think wisely, the scope of his selection to history and biography, including poetry, fiction, &c. only so far as they illustrate historical events, and the customs, habits, and character of the Irish people. He prepared his list evidently with the view of giving, not an exhaustive catalogue of books, but one which would indicate the scope of his inquiry, the impartiality that should govern the selection of the books, and suggest to correspondents nume- rous gaps which they were expected to fill, and thus bring before the Irish public as com- plete a list of books on Irish history as would serve to guide the various classes of students in their studies of the subject. Many of the books recommended are rare and expen- sive. Some are written in Latin, and conse- quently not accessible to the majority of readers Others, again, are voluminous and would require more time to read than most people can devote to such a task, even supposing them sufficiently interesting to induce anyone to consult them, ex- cept for reference, or as store houses of facts. Before a suitable selection of one hundred or any other number of books could therefore be made at all we should first consider who are to read them. There are two distinct classes of readers of historic literature. First, there are those whe only want to have such a general acquaintance with the history of their country as every educated man and woman should possess. This class of readers, out of which the other class is evolved, want books which shall give them the results of historical investigations in a compendious, readable form — the best being those in which the narrative of facts is most trust- worthy, the inductions sound, and the conclusions unprejudiced. The second class comprise students who desire to examine for themselves the printed materials from which the books of the first class have been compiled. The few who develop into historical investigators, and extend their investi- gations to original documents, manuscript as well as printed, have to make their own list of books.
The list of "Historicus" contains many books of the first class. There is, however, ample mar- gin for additions. As regards ancient and mediæval history there is great want of books which could be recommended. That period of our history is still in a state of chaos ; deities and heroes rule as kings, fight battles, or make laws at periods so remote, yet so correctly fixed, to the exact year, that the foundation of Rome is a comparatively modern event. In some books, too, the long exploded Phœnician coloniation theory is still implicitly relied upon. Among the books which might be advantageously added to the first class of books are — Thomas Moore (1779-1852)|'s "Hist<»ry of Ireland," the works of John Mitchel w'hich for their style alone deserve a place in an L is hhistorical library, and AM Sullivan's "Story of Ireland." Some of your corre.spondent.s having already mentioned the books of Father Meehan, I need only say that they are among the best and most valuable of the books of this class we possess. Moore's "History of Ireiand" is uot, it is true, free from faults. H« took his materials at second-hand, and the mi*as of material since published was not available to him; nevertheless, it is the only history oflrelana deserving of the name. Among recent books Mr. R Bagwell's "Ireland under the Tudors" (still incomplete), or, as it should be more pro- perly described, "The English in Ireland under the Tudors," deserves to be .specially men- lioned. To the second class should be referred such books as Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum," the great "Acta Sanctorum of the Bollandists," the works Ussher, Ware, O'Douovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," the publications of the Archaeo- logical and Celtic Societies, the books relating to Ireland in the "Record Publications," edited by Sweetman, Hamilton, Russell, Prender- gaat, BuUen, Brewer, Todd, Gilbert, and Hennessy. The Aphorismal Discovery and the documents relating to the Confederation of Kil- kenny (still incomplete), published by Mr. Gil- bert, as well as his splendid National Manuscripts, are among the most important additions made to the history of Ireland in the seventeenth cen- tury. A complete history of a country takes into ac- count the influence of its geographical position, physical features, geological structure, and climate, as w'ell as its economic resources — hence the works of Hull and Kinahan on the physical geography of Ireland, Thompson's Birds of Ire- land, the Cybele Hibernica of Moore and More, and other works of Irish naturalists; Sir Richard Griffith's Reports ou Irish Coal Fields, and Sir Robert Kane's Industrial Resouices of Ireland come within the scope of "Historicus'" pro- gramme. As I believe philosophy, the mathematical and physical sciences, and general literature to be out- side that programme, I do not propose to suggest the names of any books on these subjects. Among the works of Irish poets there are, however, many illustrative of Irish history, and in addition to the name of Moore, whose songs gave a dignity and a new life to the pa.st of Ireiand, the poems of D F M'Carthy, Sir Samuel Ferguson, T D SuUivan, Aubrey de Vere, and Robert Joyce should ou this ground alone occupy foremost places in an Irish mistorical library. Permit me to make one digression. It is not plea-sant to think how unmindful we have been, even since the renaissance of historical
