THE WORLD'S DEBT TO THE IRISH 
of the marvelous work of the book illuminators in 
the early centuries in Ireland. 
If Kildare really possessed a more beautiful copy 
of the Scriptures than the Book of Kells, it is only 
another evidence for the wonderful work that these 
Irish were able to do. There is no question however 
of its having come from so early a period as 
Bridget’s own day. She had done so much to awaken 
the spirit of the Irish with regard to beauty that 
traditions were likely to connect her name with al- 
most anything that was to be seen in Ireland. What 
we know of her makes us realize very clearly that 
she eminently deserved such attributions and that she 
is undoubtedly one of the greatest women of history 
in the influence for good that she exerted on the 
Irish people and through them in succeeding genera- 
tions on the rest of the civilized world. She stands 
beside St. Patrick in this regard, and when we recall 
all that the Irish in the generations after their time 
accomplished for Christianity and civilization 
throughout the rest of Europe, it is easy to under- 
stand the reverence there has been for the name of 
Bridget for all these fifteen centuries not only in 
Ireland but throughout all the west of Europe. 
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