g disagreement
with this aphorism. But when I came to reflect how much the nature of
one generation must be the outcome of the education of those which went
before it, I gradually came to see the truth in Lord Chesterfield's
words. I must leave it to experts to define the exact steps which ought
to be taken to make the general education of this country capable of
cultivating the judgment, strengthening the will, and so of building up
the character. But every day, every thought, I give to the problems of
Irish progress convinces me more firmly that this is the real task of
educational reform, a task that must be accomplished before we can prove
to those who brand us with racial inferiority that, in Ireland, it was
not nature that has been unkind in causing the difference we find in the
character of men.

FOOTNOTES:

[23] _Leaders of Public Opinion in Ireland_, II., 122-4.

[24] _Recent Reforms in Irish Education_, p. 7.

[25] It was not authorised to give degrees to lay students; and even the
admission of lay students to an Arts course was prohibited by
Government, lest Catholic students should be drawn away from Trinity
College. See Cornwallis Correspondence, III., 366-8.

[26] Appendix to First Report, p. 37.

[27] Appendix to Third Report, pp. 283, 296.

CHAPTER VI.

THROUGH THOUGHT TO ACTION.

I have now completed my survey of the main conditions which, in my
opinion, must be taken into account by anyone who would understand the
Irish mind, and still more by those who seek to work with it in
rebuilding the fortunes of the country. The task has been one of great
difficulty, as it was necessary to tell, not only the truth--for that
even an official person may be excused--but also the whole truth, which,
unless made compulsory by the kissing of the book, is regarded as a
gratuitous kissing of the rod. From the frying pan of political dispute,
I have passed into the fire of sectarian controversy. I have not
hesitated to poach on the preserves of historians and economists, and
have even bearded the pedagogues in their dens. Before my stock of
metaphors is exhausted, let me say that I have one hope of escape from
the cross-fire of denunciation which independent speaking about Ireland
is apt to provoke. I once witnessed a football match between two
villages, one of which favoured a political party called by the name of
a leader, with an 'ism' added to indicate a policy, the other adopting
the same name