anew the unfinished work of their predecessors, and carry
it another stage towards the end which they aimed to reach. Why should
they not? Every generation of men furnishes its own tale of thinkers and
workers. The mind of Ireland has not grown barren, nor can I believe that
it has grown indifferent, though public cares have diverted it away from
intellectual pursuits. There are men, I do not doubt, fit and worthy and
willing to undertake such a task.

Have you reflected on all we have lost, and are losing by the subsidence
of the intellectual enthusiasm of half a century ago? It is not alone that
we are deficient in knowledge essential to equip us for the battle of life
by an acquaintance with the character, capacities, and history of our own
country; but, far worse than that, the mind of the generation destined
some day to fill our place, the youthful mind which used to be kindled and
purified by the poetry and legends of Ireland, runs serious risks of
becoming debased, perhaps depraved, by battening on literary garbage.

I have made inquiries, and I am assured that the books chiefly read by the
young in Ireland are detective or other sensational stories from England
and America, and vile translations from the French of vile originals. It
is for the moralist, and indeed for all of us who love Ireland, to
consider whether the virtues for which our people were distinguished,
purity, piety, and simplicity, are not endangered by such intellectual
diet. I have been vehemently warned that these detestable books can only
be driven out by books more attractive, and I will not dispute the
proposition. There are histories and biographies that delight the student,
there is a poetry that is an inspiration and a solace to healthy minds,
which it would be useless, I admit, to offer to young men accustomed to
the dram-drinking of sensational literature. To them, at any rate, you
must bring books which will excite and gratify the love of the wonderful,
and carry them away from the commonplace world to regions of romance. And
why may not this be done? Why may there not be opened to them a nobler
world of wonder, the story of transcendent achievements, the romance of
history, the "fairy tales of science"? In the dominion of intellectual
wonders there are many fair fields, and only one corner which is a
stagnant fen. To the student, using that word in the wide sense which
covers all who study, you must bring solider and more attractive