―A traitor to his country! replied Dante. A traitor, an adulterer! The priests were right to abandon him. The priests were always the true friends of Ireland.
―Were they, faith? said Mr. Casey.
He threw his fist on the table and, frowning angrily, protruded one finger after another.
―Didn’t the bishops of Ireland betray us in the time of the union when Bishop Lanigan presented an address of loyalty to the Marquess Cornwallis? Didn’t the bishops and priests sell the aspirations of their country in 1829 in return for catholic emancipation? Didn’t they denounce the fenian movement from the pulpit and in the confession box? And didn’t they dishonour the ashes of Terence Bellew MacManus?
His face was glowing with anger and Stephen felt the glow rise to his own cheek as the spoken words thrilled him. Mr. Dedalus uttered a guffaw of coarse scorn.
―O, by God, he cried, I forgot little old Paul Cullen! Another apple of God’s eye!
Dante bent across the table and cried to Mr. Casey:
―Right! Right! They were always right! God and morality and religion come first.
Mrs. Dedalus, seeing her excitement, said to her:
― Mrs. Riordan, don’t excite yourself answering them.
―God and religion before everything! Dante cried. God and religion before the world.