er is not the limitation but the extent
of his success.

There was neither delay nor uncertainty in his exposition of Ireland's
duty. Quite literally, he seized the first chance that came to his hand.
He left London on the evening when the Act was signed, motored to
Holyhead, as he liked to do, in the big car which his friends had
presented to him--it was the only material testimonial which he ever
received--and crossed by the night boat, driving on in the morning to
Aughavanagh. When he reached the Vale of Ovoca he found a muster of the
East Wicklow Volunteers. These were the nearest thing to him in all the
force--his own friends and neighbours from the Wicklow hills. Aughrim,
his post-town at the foot of his own particular valley, had its company,
commanded by a friend of his, the local schoolmaster--typical of what
was best in the Volunteers, a keen Gaelic Leaguer, tireless in, work for
the old language and old history. This man, well on in the forties, but
mountain-bred and hardy, had thrown himself into the new
movement--little guessing that a few months would see him a private in
the British Army, or that he would come with honour to command a company
of a famous Irish regiment on the battlefields of a European war.

If it had been only for the sake of Captain MacSweeny (he was then, of
course, only a captain of Volunteers), I think Redmond would have
stopped. But it was a gathering of many friends, who pressed him to
speak at a moment when his heart was full. Grave results followed from
what he said that day; but a week sooner or later he was bound to say
these things, and the results were bound to follow. Here is the pith of
his utterance:

"I know that you will make efficient soldiers. Efficient for what?
Wicklow Volunteers, in spite of the peaceful happiness and beauty
of the scene in which we stand, remember this country at this
moment is in a state of war, and the duty of the manhood of Ireland
is twofold. Its duty is at all cost to defend the shores of Ireland
from foreign invasion. It has a duty more than that, of taking care
that Irish valour proves itself on the field of war as it has
always proved itself in the past. The interests of Ireland, of the
whole of Ireland, are at stake in this war. This war is undertaken
in defence of the highest principles of religion and morality and
right, and it would be a disgrace for ever to our country, a
r