out them. He becomes a citizen of the world.
His horizon is no longer bounded by the wave of blue hills beyond his
village. The roar of the planet begins to sound in his ears. What
is more important is that he is becoming a better citizen of his
own country. He meets on his committee his religious and political
opponents, not now discussing differences out identities of interest. He
also meets the delegates from other societies in district conferences
or general congresses, and those who meet thus find their interests are
common, and a new friendliness springs up between North and South,
and local co-operation leads on to national co-operation. The best
intellects, the best business men in the societies, meet in the big
centres as directors of federations and wholesales, and they get an
all-Ireland view of their industry. They see the parish from the point
of view of the nation, and this vision does not desert them when they go
back to the parish. They realize that their interests are bound up with
national interests, and they discuss legislation and administration with
practical knowledge. Eyes getting keener every year, minds getting more
instructed, begin to concentrate on Irish public men. Presently Patrick
will begin to seek for men of special knowledge and administrative
ability to manage Irish affairs. Ireland has hitherto been to Patrick
a legend, a being mentioned in romantic poetry, a little dark Rose, a
mystic maiden, a vague but very simple creature of tears and aspirations
and revolts. He now knows what a multitudinous being a nation is, and in
contact with its complexities Patrick's politics take on a new gravity,
thoughtfulness, and intellectual character.

Under the influence of these associations and the ideas pervading them
our typical Irish farmer gets drawn out of his agricultural sleep of
the ages, developing rapidly as mummy-wheat brought out of the tomb and
exposed to the eternal forces which stimulate and bring to life. I have
taken an individual as a type, and described the original circumstance
and illustrated the playing of the new forces on his mind. It is the
only way we can create a social order which will fit our character as
the glove fits the hand. Reasoning solely from abstract principles about
justice, democracy, the rights of man and the like, often leads us into
futilities, if not into dangerous political experiments. We have to see
our typical citizen in clear light, realize his defi