THE WORLD'S DEBT TO THE IRISH 
would remind one of the qualities that the chemists 
used to attribute to the elements of matter when 
they were in their nascent state. 
The Irish took up with enthusiastic ardor then 
the task of bringing Christianity to the barabarian 
invaders of the Roman provinces. At the same time 
they carried across the seas with them culture and 
the love of beauty and the development of the heart 
as well as the head. They proceeded to found schools 
in what we now know as France and Germany as 
well as Switzerland and Italy and even distant Scan- 
dinavia and in Africa and Asia. The names of Irish 
scholars and saints are associated with the founda- 
tions of a great many of the modern centres of 
civilization and education in those times. Aix, 
Tours, Marseilles, Salzburg, St. Gall, Bobbio, are 
only oustanding examples of cities that owed so 
much to Irish apostles of Christianity and culture 
that their names are forever in benediction among 
the citizens of these towns and even in our time, al- 
most a millennium and a half later, their prestige has 
not faded and their festivals are celebrated by the 
descendants of the peoples to whom they came. 
At home in Ireland the Irish were making the 
most beautiful books ever made and the level of 
culture of a people can probably be better appreci- 
ated from the kind of books they want to handle 
than in almost any other way. They were at the 
same time making the most beautiful jewelry ever 
fashioned. It was made not for the personal adorn- 
ment of the rich but for use in religious ceremonials,