“Well, there’s love of country then,” said Oswald.
“That Dublin corporation is the most patriotic and nationalist in the world. Fierce about it. And it’s got complete control there. It’s green in grain. No English need apply.... From the point of view of administration that town is a muck heap—for patriotic crowings. Look at their dirty, ill-paved streets. Look at their filthy slums! See how they let their blessed nation’s children fester and die!”
“There are bigger ideas than patriotism. There are ideas of empire, the Pax Britannica.”
“Carson smuggling guns.”
“Well, is there nothing? Do you know of nothing?”
Oswald turned on his ward for the reply.
“There’s a sort of idea, I suppose.”
“But what idea?”
“There’s an idea in our minds.”
“But what is it, Peter?”