As  matters  stood  in  Ireland  when  Cromwell  disem-
barked at  Dublin  in  1649,  it  may  fairly  be  urged  that
it  passed  the  wit  of  man  to  imagine  a  settlement  which
would  satisfy  the  just  requirements  of  both  nations.
The  root  of  the  difficulty  lay  in  the  fact  that  at  the
time  of  the  original  conquest  by  Henry  II.  and  John,
the  Irish,  though  superior  to  the  Anglo-Norman  race
in  art,  were  at  a  lower  stage  of  civilisation  as  far
as  political  institutions  were  concerned.  On  the  one
hand  this  inferiority  made  the  conquest  easy.  On  the
other  hand,  it  made  the  English  nation  contemptuous
of  the  conquered  tribes,  and  little  disposed  to  support
either  good  or  strong  government  in  Ireland.  The  first
English  king  to  deal  firmly  with  the  Irish  problem
was  Henry  VIII.,  who  enriched  the  chiefs  with  the
spoils  of  the  monasteries,  seeking  thereby  to  bind
them  to  his  government,  and  gradually  to  introduce
through  them  a  higher  political  organisation  into  the
country.
