But the experiment remains to be made." An example had been set by Gladstone in the Land Act, and that was the path which further legislation ought to follow.

So far there would not be much disagreement between Froude and most Irish Americans.

Rack-renting upon the tenants' improvements was the bane of Irish agriculture, and the Act of 1870 was precisely what Froude described it, a partial antidote.

Then the lecturer reverted to ancient history, to the Annals of the Four Masters, and the Danish invasion.

The audience found it rather long, and rather dull, even though Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, and Limerick were all built by the Danes.