It also exposes to view the few
pusillanimous young men who are satisfied to enjoy protection from the
horrors of invasion and the priceless boon of personal freedom, secured
to them by the self-sacrifice and valour of others, while they
themselves remain snugly at home and talk of their consciences.
Patriotism such as that which in 1914 led the flower of our race to flock
in countless thousands to the standards and be enrolled for battle in
defence of
"This precious stone set in the silver sea,"
"This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,"
being without doubt or cavil one of the noblest emotions of the human
heart, has often been the begetter of inspired prose. Our own great war
has not yet produced many fine utterances, and I go back to-day to a
contemporary of Sir William Napier for one of the noblest outbursts of
eloquence expressive of a burning patriotism that has ever been poured
forth.
Someone in the days when Wellington was alive had alluded in the
House of Lords to the Irish as "aliens," and Richard Sheil, rising in the
House of Commons, lifted up his voice for his country in an impassioned
flight of generous eloquence.
Sir Henry Hardinge, who had been at the battle of Waterloo, happened
to be seated opposite to Sheil in the House, and to him Sheil appealed
with the deepest emotion to support him in his vindication of his
country's valour.
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