THE WORLD'S DEBT TO THE IRISH 
ment of the Irish after the introduction of Christian- 
ity and for the awakening of the enthusiasm in them 
which made them missionaries of the spirit and the 
mind for the rest of the world. These were St. 
Patrick and St. Bridget and I think that we shall 
see in the course of this volume that they eminently 
deserve all that has been said in praise of them by 
the Irish ever since. St. Patrick literally made of 
Ireland ‘‘the island of saints and of scholars” and 
above all gave that impetus to education which 
meant so much in enabling the Irish people to be 
the saviors of civilization when the invasion of 
the barbarians threatened seriously to put an end 
to it. 
St. Bridget was a pioneer in education for women. 
Of course it seems utterly incredible that in the fifth 
century after Christ there should have been a very 
definite organization of higher education for women, 
but no one can doubt the facts with regard to it 
who studies the ancient records of the Irish people 
as they have been recovered, not so much in Ireland 
itself, where unfortunately invasion after invasion 
of barbarians from the north and then the conquest 
by the unsympathetic English destroyed most of 
their historical documents and monuments, but in 
the libraries of many countries over on the European 
continent and in the traditions of many places where 
the Irish were the apostles of Christianity and cul- 
ture to the European peoples. 
It is not surprising to learn that St. Bridget was 
a founder in feminine education when the status of 
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