(AUGUST 1914)
Since I spoke the words here reprinted there has been a quick movement
of events in Ireland. The young men of the nation stand organised and
disciplined, and are rapidly arming themselves; blood has flowed in
Dublin Streets, and the cause of the Volunteers has been consecrated by
a holocaust. A European war has brought about a crisis which may
contain, as yet hidden within it, the moment for which the generations
have been waiting. It remains to be seen whether, if that moment reveals
itself, we shall have the sight to see and the courage to do, or whether
it shall be written of this generation, alone of all the generations of
Ireland, that it had none among it who dared to make the ultimate
sacrifice.
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