[38]
Every two or three years from 1821 to the great blight of '45 and '46, a
failure of some kind, more or less extensive, occurred to the potato
crop, not merely in Ireland, but in almost every country in which it was
cultivated to any considerable extent. Reviewing, then, the history of
this famous root for over a period of one hundred years, we find, that
although it produces from a given acreage more human food than any other
crop, it is yet a most treacherous and perishable one; and it may,
perhaps, surprise future generations, that the statesmen and landed
proprietors of that lengthened period did nothing whatever to regulate
the husbandry of the country, in such a way as to prevent the lives of a
whole people from being dependant on a crop liable to so many
casualties. Perhaps the social and political condition of Ireland,
during these times, will be found to have had something to do with this
culpable apathy.
It is commonly assumed that the subjugation of Ireland was effected by
Elizabeth, but the submission to English rule was only a forced one; the
spirit of the nation was one of determined opposition, which was
abundantly shown at Aughrim and Limerick, and on many a foreign field
besides.
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