The Struggle For Peace

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we have ever had the good fortune to meet on prSvipus
occasions. These discussions have been carried through in a
spirit of accommodation and good will. I would like to pay
my tribute to Mr. de Valera and his colleagues for the way in
which they played their part in these discussions. We could
not always agree with them, but we always felt that we had
before us men of sincerity who were genuinely anxious to
meet us and to come to terms with us if they could.
" In spite of all the controversies of the past and all the heat
that has been generated, this country and Eire cannot do
without one another. Our natural interests and our geo-
graphical position inevitably tend to bring us together, and
what has kept us apart has been, not a divergence of interests,
but something which ought to be far less important, and that
is a difference of opinion. Somebody sent me the other day a
passage from John Selden's Talk Talk, written some 300 years
ago, which perhaps the House will allow me to read, because
although it is quaintly expressed, it seems to have a bearing
upon this subject. He writes :
" ' That was a good fancy of an old Platonic; that the gods,
which are above men, had something whereof men did par-
take (an intellect knowledge), and the gods kept on their
course quietly. The beasts, which are below men, had some-
thing whereof man did partake (sense and growth) and the
beasts lived quietly in their way- But man had something in
him whereof neither gods nor beasts did partake, which gave
him all the trouble and made all the confusion we see in the
world; and that is opinion.'
I hope that that difference of opinion with Eire is now at an
end. I trust the House will give us this afternoon their
unanimous support, and I would ask hon. Members to bear in
mind that what we have done has obtained the warm approval,
not only of many people in this country, but of others outside
our shores, in the Dominions, in the United States of America,
and indeed everywhere where men desire to see the establish-
ment of peace and good will."