Welsh Journals

A MESSAGE FROM IRELAND. This number of the WELSH OUTLOOK appears on the festival of our national Saint, and we thought it not out of place on such an occasion to attempt to give our readers some idea of the ways in which that eternal and unconquerable force which is called nationalism is working among people who are our kinsmen by blood and tradition. That great Breton, Ernest Renan, spoke of the Messianism of the Celtic races "The hand that arose from the mere, when the sword of Arthur fell therein, that seized it, and brandished it thrice, is the hope of the Celtic races. It is thus that little peoples dowered with imagination revenge themselves on their conquerors. Feeling themselves to be strong inwardly and weak outwardly, they protest, they exult; and such a strife unloosing their might, renders them capable of miracles. Nearly all great appeals to the super- natural are due to peoples hoping against all hope Israel in humiliation dreamed of the spiritual conquest of the world, and the dream has come to pass." That is poetry, but surely no one can doubt that this Celtic Messianism is one of the most aggressive and fundamental historic facts in the record of our civiliza- tion. As in Mr Chesterton's "Ballad of the White Horse," Conan of Caerleon may be the "last of a race in ruin," but even in death that forlorn last figure works miracles: "And a strange music went with him, Loud and yet strangely far, The wild pipes of the western land, Too keen for the ear to understand, Sang high and deathly on each hand When the dead man went to war." 84, Merrion Square, Dear Davies, You are asking me, at a time when every Irishman who had high dreams for his country is shivering with humiliation, to write for Welsh Nationalists a message from Ireland. The less we make ourselves known at the moment the better. For the moment we are hateful to ourselves. I have no doubt we shall emerge from this civil conflict, and what is best in us will overcome what is worst. But I think it will be a long time before any Irishman can speak with pride of his own people. There is love for Ireland here. Yes, but it is like the passion of a lover who, if he cannot get the beauty he adores, flings vitriol over it, so that its face may be marred and none other possess it. How could you expect anybody to write messages when our best hope is that for the time being the outside world is licking its own sores and has not In Wales, at the moment, many of us are waiting for the gathering and growing of Colan's company, "lost down the other road," to carry dead leaders to victory, but we have not lost any of our faith. We know that the days of our kingdom are coming, and that in peace we or those who come after us, shall do their scouring and their building according to their heart's desire. The same spirit exists everywhere among the Celtic peoples. We asked M. Mocaer to tell the story of hope in Brittany, and it will give the joy to our readers that it would have given to Renan, who was proud to open his lecture on Marcus Aurelius at the Royal Institution with the words "I am a French Briton." It is, however, our privilege to publish first a very wonderful message from Ireland. There are in that land at this hour a few men and women who are bearing the greatest of all tortures-the helpless agony of the Mother at the Crucifixion. One of them is A.E. It was after many misgivings and much hesitation that we asked him for a message for Wales on St. David's Day. But knowing that there are hundreds of young Welshmen who regard him as the profoundest nationalist philosopher in Europe, and are proud to call him their master, we ventured to do so, and we have the honour of publishing his letter. It contains in a few hundred words the essence of the gospel of "National Being" and "The Interpreters." It is also a great warning and call to watchfulness. We may, perhaps, be allowed to add that we wish we had at this time in Wales a man with the same gifts of realistic vision, of penetration into causes and effects, and of such reasoned optimism and faith in ultimate triumph, as A.E. It will take generations of very intense spiritual experiences to produce suoh a man as it has done in Ireland.-EDITOR. Dublin. 16th January, 1923. interest to hear about us? This may be melancholy reading for those of you in Wales who have found some inspiration in Irish thought. But if you will learn from us that spiritual and cultural causes cannot be advanced by material means, our mis- fortunes may prove of some advantage to you. I think we will come to ourselves, and with a deeper consciousness of the depths as well as the heights in Irish char- acter. Our thought will have more sub- stance and solidity. But it will take a generation in which many, perhaps the majority, will be cynical materialists, and they will make the country in their own image until a better kind of idealist emerges, and the country has forgotten the wreckage caused by idealists without intellect, whose inspiration was hatred of the stranger rather than love of their own. What kind of encouraging message is this, but in my present mood I have no other.- Yours sincerely, A.E.