THE FRONTIER I Our frontier is twofold, the language and the sea.

For the majesty of our encircling waters we have no need to raise a plea, but to give God thanks for setting so certain a seal on our individual existence and giving us in the spreading horizon of the ocean some symbol of our illimitable destiny.

For the language there is something still to be said; there are some ideas gaining currency that should be challenged--the cold denial of some that the unqualified name Irish be given to the literature of Irishman that is passionate with Irish enthusiasm and loyalty to Ireland, yet from the exigencies of the time had to be written in English; the view not only assumed but asserted by some of the Gael that the Gall may be recognised only if he take second place; the aloofness of many of the Gall, not troubling to understand their rights and duties; the ignoring on both sides of the fine significance of the name Irishman, of a spirit of patriotism and a deep-lying basis of authority and justice that will give stability to the state and secure its future against any upheaval that from the unrest of the time would seem to threaten the world.
II Consider first the literature of Irishmen in English.

From the attitude commonly taken on the question of literary values, it is clear that the primary significance of expression in writing is often lost.

What is said, and the purpose for which it is said, take precedence of the medium through which it is said.