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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