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.
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