nothing worthy of
remembrance. Hercules wrestled with twin serpents in his cradle, and
there were twin serpents of sectarianism ready to strangle this infant
State of ours if its guardians were not watchful, or if the infant was
not itself strong enough to destroy them.

It is about the State of Ireland, its character and future, I have here
written some kind of imaginative meditation. The State is a physical
body prepared for the incarnation of the soul of a race. The body of the
national soul may be spiritual or secular, aristocratic or democratic,
civil or militarist predominantly. One or other will be most powerful,
and the body of the race will by reflex action affect its soul, even
as through heredity the inherited tendencies and passions of the flesh
affect the indwelling spirit. Our brooding over the infant State must
be dual, concerned not only with the body but the soul. When we essay
self-government in Ireland our first ideas will, in all probability, be
borrowed from the Mother of Parliaments, just as children before they
grow to have a character of their own repeat the sentiments of their
parents. After a time, if there is anything in the theory of Irish
nationality, we will apply original principles as they are from time
to time discovered to be fundamental in Irish character. A child in the
same way makes discoveries about itself. The mood evoked by picture or
poem reveals a love of beauty; the harsh treatment of an animal provokes
an outburst of pity; some curiosity of nature draws forth the spirit of
scientific inquiry, and so, as the incidents of life reveal the innate
affinities of a child to itself, do the adventures of a nation gradually
reveal to it its own character and the will which is in it.

For all our passionate discussions over self-government we have
had little speculation over our own character or the nature of the
civilization we wished to create for ourselves. Nations rarely, if ever,
start with a complete ideal. Certainly we have no national ideals, no
principles of progress peculiar to ourselves in Ireland, which are a
common possession of our people. National ideals are the possession of a
few people only. Yet we must spread them in wide commonalty over Ireland
if we are to create a civilization worthy of our hopes and our ages of
struggle and sacrifice to attain the power to build. We must spread them
in wide commonalty because it is certain that democracy will prevail
in Ireland.