Mars, the red planet of war, was in the
ascendant when it was born. Like other births famous in history, the
child had to be hidden away for a time, and could not with pride be
shown to the people as royal children were wont to be shown. Its
enemies were unforgiving, and its friends were distracted with mighty
happenings in the world. Hardly did they know whether it would not be
deformed if it survived: whether this was the Promised, or another
child yet to be conceived in the womb of the Mother of Parliaments.
Battles were threatened between two hosts, secular champions of two
spiritual traditions, to decide its fate. That such a conflict
threatened showed indeed that there was something of iron fibre in the
infant, without which in their make-up individuals or nations do nothing
worthy of remembrance. Hercules wrestled with twin serpents in his
cradle, and there were twin serpents of sectarianism ready to strangle
this infant State of ours if its guardians were not watchful, or if the
infant was not itself strong enough to destroy them.
It is about the State of Ireland, its character and future, I have here
written some kind of imaginative meditation.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25