eve, be otherwise created, and I am not
certain that it could not be as well preserved and defended by a
civil organization, such as I have indicated, as by armed power. Our
geographical position and the slender population of our country also
make it evident that the utmost force Ireland could organize would make
but a feeble barrier against assault by any of the greater States. We
have seen how Belgium, a country with a population larger than that of
Ireland, was thrust aside, crushed and bleeding, by one stroke from the
paw of its mighty neighbor.* The military and political institutions of
a small country are comparatively easy to displace, but it would be
a task infinitely more difficult to destroy ideals or to extinguish a
national being based on a social order, democratic and co-operative in
character, the soul of the country being continually fed by institutions
which, by their very nature, would be almost impossible to alter unless
destruction of the whole humanity of the country was aimed at. National
ideals, based on a co-operative social order, would have the same
power of resistance almost as a religion, which is, of all things, most
unconquerable by physical force, and, when it is itself militant, the
most powerful ally of military power. The aim of all nations is to
preserve their immortality. I do not oppose the creation of a national
army for this purpose. There are occasions when the manhood of a nation
must be prepared to yield life rather than submit to oppression, when
it must perish in self-contempt or resist by force what wrong would be
imposed by force. But I would like to point out that for a country in
the position of Ireland the surest means of preserving the national
being by the sacrifice and devotion of the people are economic and
spiritual.

* Since this book was written Ireland has had a tragic
illustration of the truth of what is urged in these pages.

Our political life in the past has been sordid and unstable because we
were uncultured as a nation. National ideals have been the possession of
the few in Ireland, and have not been diffused. That is the cause of our
comparative failure as a nation. If we would create an Irish culture,
and spread it widely among our people, we would have the same
unfathomable sources of inspiration and sacrifice to draw upon in our
acts as a nation as the individual has who believes he is immortal, and
that his life here is but a temporary fo