The dream began to enter into the children of
our race, and turn their thoughts from earth to that world in which it
had its inception.
It was a common belief among the ancient peoples that each had a
national genius or deity who presided over them, in whose all-embracing
mind they were contained, and who was the shepherd of their destinies.
We can conceive of the national spirit in Ireland as first manifesting
itself through individual heroes or kings, and as the history of famous
warriors laid hold of the people, extending its influence until it
created therein the germs of a kindred nature.
An aristocracy of lordly and chivalrous heroes is bound in time to
create a great democracy by the reflection of their character in the
mass, and the idea of the divine right of kings is succeeded by the idea
of the divine right of the people. If this sequence cannot be traced in
any one respect with historical regularity, it is because of the
complexity of national life, its varied needs, the vicissitudes of
history, and its infinite changes of sentiment.
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