It is the traditional Irish way, which
we have too often forgotten, to notice the good in the opponent before
battling with what is evil. So Maeve, the ancient Queen of Connacht,
looking over the walls of her city of Cruachan at the Ulster foemen,
said of them, "Noble and regal is their appearance," and her own
followers said, "Noble and regal are those of whom you speak." When we
lost the old Irish culture we lost the tradition of courtesy to each
other which lessens the difficulties of life and makes it possible to
conduct controversy without creating bitter memories.

8. I desire first to argue with Irish Unionists whether it is accurate
to say of them, as it would appear to be from their spokesmen, that the
principle of nationality cannot be recognized by them or allowed to take
root in the commonwealth of dominions which form the Empire. Must one
culture only exist? Must all citizens have their minds poured into
the same mould, and varieties of gifts and cultural traditions be
extinguished? What would India with its myriad races say to that theory?
What would Canada enclosing in its dominion and cherishing a French
Canadian nation say? Unionists have by every means in their power
discouraged the study of the national literature of Ireland though it
is one of the most ancient in Europe, though the scholars of France and
Germany have founded journals for its study, and its beauty is being
recognized by all who have read it. It contains the race memory of
Ireland, its imaginations and thoughts for two thousand years. Must that
be obliterated? Must national character be sterilized of all taint of
its peculiar beauty? Must Ireland have no character of its own but be
servilely imitative of its neighbor in all things and be nothing of
itself? It is objected that the study of Irish history, Irish literature
and the national culture generates hostility to the Empire. Is that a
true psychological analysis? Is it not true in all human happenings
that if people are denied what is right and natural they will instantly
assume an attitude of hostility to the power which denies? The hostility
is not inherent in the subject but is evoked by the denial. I put it
to my Unionist compatriots that the ideal is to aim at a diversity of
culture, and the greatest freedom, richness and variety of thought. The
more this richness and variety prevail in a nation the less likelihood
is there of the tyranny of one culture over the rest. We shoul