Page:Speeches and addresses by the late Thomas E Ellis M P.pdf/114

 But the agony of Ireland is the awakening of Britain. By the ancient laws of Wales and Ireland every Welshman and Irishman owned land, and the instinct is planted deep in every fibre of their nature. The leaders and the rank and file in the movement for land reform, which really means social reform, are Celts.

I think Englishmen will some day realise and acknowledge that the land war waged by the Celt is not waged for material spoils and gain. It is true that it is a manifestation of a passion for social equality which characterises every democracy. But with the Celt it is really not a question of the percentage of rent, but of the security and sacredness of the home, of the consciousness of the rights and duties of nationality. In Wexford not long ago a peasant and in a large part of Wexford the peasants are Welsh immigrants—was defending his little home against the crowbar brigade. Between the thuds of the crowbars and the battering ram, the bystanders could hear the peasant and his family singing: "Gra ma chree, I hope to see Ould Aireland free again."