Page 1046 - ULYSSES

Ulysses

—The Irish, for choice, retorted the cabby like
Campbell, facial blemishes apart.
—That’s right, the old tarpaulin corroborated. The
Irish catholic peasant. He’s the backbone of our empire.

You know Jem Mullins?
While allowing him his individual opinions as
everyman the keeper added he cared nothing for any
empire, ours or his, and considered no Irishman worthy of
his salt that served it. Then they began to have a few
irascible words when it waxed hotter, both, needless to
say, appealing to the listeners who followed the passage of
arms with interest so long as they didn’t indulge in
recriminations and come to blows.
From inside information extending over a series of
years Mr Bloom was rather inclined to poohpooh the
suggestion as egregious balderdash for, pending that
consummation devoutly to be or not to be wished for, he
was fully cognisant of the fact that their neighbours across
the channel, unless they were much bigger fools than he
took them for, rather concealed their strength than the
opposite. It was quite on a par with the quixotic idea in
certain quarters that in a hundred million years the coal
seam of the sister island would be played out and if, as
time went on, that turned out to be how the cat jumped

1045 of 1305