It may be said that the circumstances in which he found himself obliged him to speak as he did, but is this an excuse worthy of such an honorable position?
The Normans, he is reported to have said, conquered the land in Ireland, but in England they conquered completely.

The most cursory acquaintance with Irish history would have informed the right honorable gentleman, that the Normans did _not_ conquer the land in Ireland--no man has as yet been rash enough to assert that they conquered the people.

The Normans obtained possession of a small portion, a very small portion of Irish land; and if the reader will glance at the map of the Pale, which will be appended to this edition, at the proper place, he will see precisely what extent of country the English held for a few hundred years.

Even that portion they could scarcely have been said to have conquered, for they barely held it from day to day at the point of the sword.

Morally Ireland was never conquered, for he would be a bold man who dared to say that the Irish people ever submitted nationally to the English Church established by law.