Excerpt from The Intellectuals: An Experiment in Irish Club-Life<br><br>This volume is an attempt to describe a possibility which the author hopes lies latent in the future that is before his country; when, under the influences of wider and more rational systems of education, the barriers of racial and sectarian prejudices may be broken down, and the higher humanities accepted as an integral portion of social and domestic life. It should be superfluous to say that, where so many diflerent and even contradictory opinions on all sub jects are so freely expressed, it would be quite illogical to identify the author with any class of sentiments. He has endeavoured to make his characters speak and act in con formity with what may be regarded as their preconceived notions on the difierent subjects discussed, holding aloof from any partisanship, and seeking only proportion and con gruity in the action and conversations that are recorded. If it will help to show that there are really no invincible antag onisms amongst the peoples who make up the commonwealth of Ireland, no mutual repugnances that may not be removed by freer and kindlier intercourse with each other, he will be sufficiently rewarded.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.