SOME IRISH CRITICISMS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 223, 20 September 1928, Page 6

SOME IRISH CRITICISMS.

(To the Editor.) Logicians tell us that most arguments arise from a misuse of words. I used the word "mechanical" in a purely qualifying sense There is no such thing as a "mechanical" race* All human beings—all animals, even down to the lowly Amoita, are nori-mechanicaL. That England produced a brilliant constellation of poets and authors does not make her emotional Holland and Germany (two very practical races) are rich in poets, artists and musicians. Your correspondent should consult the historians and writers of his own country who for the last two centuries have tumbled over one another in accusing England of being metallic, callous and non-emotional. Guoa Sheehan: "A metallic race are the English Made in putty—and then frozen." Banim: "A race of marionettes." Justin McCarthy: "After a life spent among thaw, whenever I have an Englishman in my study for the first time he seems to say, 1 defy you to prove that I am emotional'." John Redmond: "We have always clashed. How could you expect an emotional race and • mechanical one to fuse?" Bernard Shaw: "Ah Englishman when he tries to become emotional becomes ridiculous. . . . When he makes love he acts as if he were drunk. . . . When he makes religion he acts as if he were an imbecile." Oscar Wilde: "The Englishman is as mechanical in his sport as he is in his business. He loves sport—but if you do not conform to his contentions he will disqualify you." John Dillon: "Each Englishman live* on his own little island —an island surrounded by icebergs." Dan O'Connell: "You must never show any emotion in front of "an Englishman. Be as mechanical as you like; but if you glow he will put on his monocle and freeze vou." Sexton: "The Englishman is frightfully "just, i.e., mechanically just. If you break the most minute law he is prepared, if necessary, to i*n out the reserves and mobilise the fleet at Spithead." And so on, ad lib. This "coldness" of the English race has stood to them again and again. Perhaps I might conclude with a Napoleonic utterance: "They (the English) seem indifferent to life or death. They commit suicide with less fuss than we (the French) do about making a visit to the opera." I think I have made out a very strong case. HERBERT MULVIHELL. In asserting that the Englishman is more of a poet than the Scot or the Irishman your correspondent "Irishman, Too" seems to forget that no great men are original and that nationality does not count in the least. Shakespeare, for instance, borrowed extensively, had abundant material to select from, and may be described as a master mind in the science of arrangement. Furthermore, his environment was good. How much was his own and the amount derived from other men's works none can tell —that is buried in the past. And it is only reasonable to suppose that hundreds of men in the British Isles have shared the same impulse as the leading poets but had not the inclination or lacked the power to express their thoughts. No man is clever enough to judge between genius and acquirements. A great author often gets the credit for something which has been the work of centuries and of countless nationalities. JOHN GUINIVEN.