"Jack Hinton," but not muck of Irish feeling. I have reserved, for the last, the best delineator of Irish character, especially the character of the Irish peasantry, Carleton, and I believe that if what Mr. Ruskin had said of Miss Edgeworth's books could, with accuracy, be affirmed of any Irish novelist, it would be applicable to Carleton's "Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry," "Fardarougha the Miser," and "The Emigrants of Ahadarra." With Carleton's name I close this list of the "Best Hundred Irish Books," conscious of its shortcomings and imperfections, and, present it to the readers of the Freeman's Journal., not for acceptance, but for discussion and amendment.
The foregoing contribution by "Historicus" was submitted to a number of notable men, including many whose judgment on literary questions is held in universal and deserved esteem. In bringing the article under their notice the object was, of course, to elicit the enlightened criticism of those whose words are of weight, that thus opinions might be collected of value to the student and of intrinsic interest to the general public. The majority of those who were invited to express their views responded in a courteous and sympathetic spirit. The result is the interesting contributions which, first published in the Freeman's Journal, the Editor is now enabled to present in collected and collated form in the present pamphlet.
