Excerpt from An Authentic History of Ireland and Its People This is quite natural. Nations, like individuals, when once fallen, are soon forgotten; and Ireland has; perhaps, no reason to complain of the treatment she receives from a cold and pitiless world. A French writer once said: Nothing is so successful as success, and it would seem that alone ensures the admira tion of the world. Such, alas Is history. Those sufferings that attract not the stranger have rendered her more clear to the hearts of her children. Love of country is a sentiment common to all people, yet I sometimes think no people on earth loved their country half so intensely as the Irish people loved their native Erin, and if they treasure in their hearts the glorious sufferings and heroic deeds of their fathers, let not malice chide them, for hope in a joyous future is all they have left. And yet, you who are not of them, mark me well, theirs is a history for which no people need blush. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.