gh the different sections of his speech introducing the
word joy: Is Ireland going to become joyous? She has dreamed long
enough among dead bones and ancient formulae. The little stations went
by and the train rolled into Harcourt Street. He called a car. He was
speaking at the Rotunda.

He was speaking on the depopulation question, and he said that this
question came before every other question. Ireland was now confronted
with the possibility that in five-and-twenty years the last of Ireland
would have disappeared in America. There were some who attributed the
Irish emigration to economic causes: that was a simple and obvious
explanation, one that could be understood by everybody; but these
simple and obvious explanations are not often, if they are ever, the
true ones. The first part of Ned's speech was taken up with the
examination of the economic causes, and proving that these were not the
origin of the evil. The country was joyless; man's life is joyless in
Ireland. In every other country there were merry-makings. "You have
only to go into the National Gallery," he said, "to see how much time
the Dutch spent in merry-makings." All their pictures with the
exception of Rembrandt's treated of joyful subjects, of peasants
dancing under trees, peasants drinking and singing songs in taverns,
and caressing servant girls. Some of their merry-makings were not of a
very refined character, but the ordinary man is not refined, and in the
most refined men there is often admiration and desire for common
pleasure. In the country districts Irish life is one of stagnant
melancholy, the only aspiration that comes into their lives is a
religious one. "Of course it will be said that the Irish are too poor
to pay for pleasure, but they are not too poor to spend fifteen
millions a year upon religion." He was the last man in the world who
would say that religion was not necessary, but if he were right in
saying that numbers were leaving Ireland because Ireland was joyless he
was right in saying that it was the duty of every Irishman to spend his
money in making Ireland a joyful country. He was speaking now in the
interests of religion. A country is antecedent to religion. To have
religion you must first have a country, and if Ireland was not made
joyful Ireland would become a Protestant country in about twenty-five
years. In support of this contention he produced figures showing the
rate at which the Catholics were emigrating. But not onl