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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/14326-0.txt b/14326-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7ccb3e6 --- /dev/null +++ b/14326-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11819 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14326 *** + +ULSTER'S STAND FOR UNION + +by + +RONALD McNEILL + +With Frontispiece + +London +John Murray, +Albemarle Street, W. + +1922 + + + + + + + +DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF THE UNIONIST PARTY + + + + +PREFACE + + +The term "Ulster," except when the context proves the contrary, is used +in this book not in the geographical, but the political meaning of the +word, which is quite as well understood. + +The aim of the book is to present an account of what I have occasionally +in its pages referred to as "the Ulster Movement." The phrase is perhaps +somewhat paradoxical when applied to a political ideal which was the +maintenance of the _status quo_; but, on the other hand, the steps taken +during a period of years to organise an effective opposition to +interference with the established constitution in Ireland did involve a +movement, and it is with these measures, rather than with the policy +behind them, that the book is concerned. + +Indeed, except for a brief introductory outline of the historical +background of the Ulster standpoint, I have taken for granted, or only +referred incidentally to the reasons for the unconquerable hostility of +the Ulster Protestants to the idea of allowing the government of +Ireland, and especially of themselves, to pass into the control of a +Parliament in Dublin. Those reasons were many and substantial, based +upon considerations both of a practical and a sentimental nature; but I +have not attempted an exposition of them, having limited myself to a +narrative of the events to which they gave rise. + +Having been myself, during the most important part of the period +reviewed, a member of the Standing Committee of the Ulster Unionist +Council, and closely associated with the leaders of the movement, I have +had personal knowledge of practically everything I have had to record. I +have not, however, trusted to unaided memory for any statement of fact. +It is not, of course, a matter where anything that could be called +research was required; but, in addition to the _Parliamentary Reports_, +the _Annual Register_, and similar easily accessible books of reference, +there was a considerable mass of private papers bearing on the subject, +for the use of some of which I am indebted to friends. + +I was permitted to consult the Minute-books of the Ulster Unionist +Council and its Standing Committee, and also verbatim reports made for +the Council of unpublished speeches delivered at private meetings of +those bodies. A large collection of miscellaneous documents accumulated +by the late Lord Londonderry was kindly lent to me by the present +Marquis; and I also have to thank Lord Carson of Duncairn for the use of +letters and other papers in his possession. Colonel F.H. Crawford, +C.B.E., was good enough to place at my disposal a very detailed account +written by himself of the voyage of the _Fanny_, and the log kept by +Captain Agnew. My friend Mr. Thomas Moles, M.P., took full shorthand +notes of the proceedings of the Irish Convention and the principal +speeches made in it, and he kindly allowed me to use his transcript. And +I should not like to pass over without acknowledgment the help given me +on several occasions by Miss Omash, of the Union Defence League, in +tracing references. + +R. McN. + +February 1922. + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + + I. INTRODUCTION: THE ULSTER STANDPOINT + + II. THE ELECTORATE AND HOME RULE + + III. ORGANISATION AND LEADERSHIP + + IV. THE PARLIAMENT ACT: CRAIGAVON + + V. THE CRAIGAVON POLICY AND THE U.F.V. + + VI. MR. CHURCHILL IN BELFAST + + VII. "WHAT ANSWER FROM THE NORTH?" + + VIII. THE EXCLUSION OF ULSTER + + IX. THE EVE OF THE COVENANT + + X. THE SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT + + XI. PASSING THE BILL + + XII. WAS RESISTANCE JUSTIFIABLE? + + XIII. PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT AND PROPAGANDA + + XIV. LORD LOREBURN'S LETTER + + XV. PREPARATIONS AND PROPOSALS + + XVI. THE CURRAGH INCIDENT + + XVII. ARMING THE U.V.F. + +XVIII. A VOYAGE OF ADVENTURE + + XIX. ON THE BRINK OF CIVIL WAR + + XX. ULSTER IN THE WAR + + XXI. NEGOTIATIONS FOR SETTLEMENT + + XXII. THE IRISH CONVENTION + +XXIII. NATIONALISTS AND CONSCRIPTION + + XXIV. THE ULSTER PARLIAMENT + +APPENDIX + + +A. NATIONALIST LETTER TO PRESIDENT WILSON + +B. UNIONIST LETTER TO PRESIDENT WILSON + +INDEX + + + + +ULSTER'S STAND FOR UNION + + + + +CHAPTER I + +INTRODUCTION: THE ULSTER STANDPOINT + + +Like all other movements in human affairs, the opposition of the +Northern Protestants of Ireland to the agitation of their Nationalist +fellow-countrymen for Home Rule can only be properly understood by those +who take some pains to get at the true motives, and to appreciate the +spirit, of those who engaged in it. And as it is nowhere more true than +in Ireland that the events of to-day are the outcome of events that +occurred longer ago than yesterday, and that the motives of to-day have +consequently their roots buried somewhat deeply in the past, it is no +easy task for the outside observer to gain the insight requisite for +understanding fairly the conduct of the persons concerned. + +It was Mr. Asquith who very truly said that the Irish question, of which +one of the principal factors is the opposition of Ulster to Home Rule, +"springs from sources that are historic, economic, social, racial, and +religious." It would be a hopeless undertaking to attempt here to probe +to the bottom an origin so complex; but, whether the sympathies of the +reader be for or against the standpoint of the Irish Loyalists, the +actual events which make up what may be called the Ulster Movement would +be wholly unintelligible without some introductory retrospect. Indeed, +to those who set out to judge Irish political conditions without +troubling themselves about anything more ancient than their own memory +can recall, the most fundamental factor of all--the line of cleavage +between Ulster and the rest of the island--- is more than +unintelligible. In the eyes of many it presents itself as an example of +perversity, of "cussedness" on the part of men who insist on magnifying +mere differences of opinion, which would be easily composed by +reasonable people, into obstacles to co-operation which have no reality +behind them. + +Writers and speakers on the Nationalist side deride the idea of "two +nations" in Ireland, calling in evidence many obvious identities of +interest, of sentiment, or of temperament between the inhabitants of the +North and of the South. The Ulsterman no more denies these identities +than the Greek, the Bulgar, and the Serb would deny that there are +features common to all dwellers in the Balkan peninsula; but he is more +deeply conscious of the difference than of the likeness between himself +and the man from Munster or Connaught. His reply to those who denounced +the Irish Government Act of 1920 on the ground that it set up a +"partition of Ireland," is that the Act did not "set up," but only +recognised, the partition which history made long ago, and which wrecked +all attempts to solve the problem of Irish Government that neglected to +take it into account. If there be any force in Renan's saying that the +root of nationality is "the will to live together," the Nationalist cry +of "Ireland a Nation" harmonises ill with the actual conditions of +Ireland north and south of the Boyne. This dividing gulf between the two +populations in Ireland is the result of the same causes as the political +dissension that springs from it, as described by Mr. Asquith in words +quoted above. The tendencies of social and racial origin operate for the +most part subconsciously--though not perhaps less powerfully on that +account; those connected with economic considerations, with religious +creeds, and with events in political history enter directly and +consciously into the formation of convictions which in turn become the +motives for actions. + +In the mind of the average Ulster Unionist the particular point of +contrast between himself and the Nationalist of which he is more +forcibly conscious than of any other, and in which all other +distinguishing traits are merged, is that he is loyal to the British +Crown and the British Flag, whereas the other man is loyal to neither. +Religious intolerance, so far as the Protestants are concerned, of +which so much is heard, is in actual fact mainly traceable to the same +sentiment. It is unfortunately true that the lines of political and of +religious division coincide; but religious dissensions seldom flare up +except at times of political excitement; and, while it is undeniable +that the temper of the creeds more resembles what prevailed in England +in the seventeenth than in the twentieth century, yet when overt +hostility breaks out it is because the creed is taken--and usually taken +rightly--as _prima facie_ evidence of political opinion--political +opinion meaning "loyalty" or "disloyalty," as the case may be. The label +of "loyalist" is that which the Ulsterman cherishes above all others. It +means something definite to him; its special significance is reinforced +by the consciousness of its wearers that they are a minority; it +sustains the feeling that the division between parties is something +deeper and more fundamental than anything that in England is called +difference of opinion. This feeling accounts for much that sometimes +perplexes even the sympathetic English observer, and moves the hostile +partisan to scornful criticism. The ordinary Protestant farmer or +artisan of Ulster is by nature as far as possible removed from the being +who is derisively nicknamed the "noisy patriot" or the "flag-wagging +jingo." If the National Anthem has become a "party tune" in Ireland, it +is not because the loyalist sings it, but because the dis-loyalist shuns +it; and its avoidance at gatherings both political and social where +Nationalists predominate, naturally makes those who value loyalty the +more punctilious in its use. If there is a profuse display of the Union +Jack, it is because it is in Ulster not merely "bunting" for decorative +purposes as in England, but the symbol of a cherished faith. + +There may, perhaps, be some persons, unfamiliar with the Ulster cast of +mind, who find it hard to reconcile this profession of passionate +loyalty with the methods embarked upon in 1912 by the Ulster people. It +is a question upon which there will be something to be said when the +narrative reaches the events of that date. Here it need only be stated +that, in the eyes of Ulstermen at all events, constitutional orthodoxy +is quite a different thing from loyalty, and that true allegiance to +the Sovereign is by them sharply differentiated from passive obedience +to an Act of Parliament. + +The sincerity with which this loyalist creed is held by practically the +entire Protestant population of Ulster cannot be questioned by anyone +who knows the people, however much he may criticise it on other grounds. +And equally sincere is the conviction held by the same people that +disloyalty is, and always has been, the essential characteristic of +Nationalism. The conviction is founded on close personal contact +continued through many generations with the adherents of that political +party, and the tradition thus formed draws more support from authentic +history than many Englishmen are willing to believe. Consequently, when +the General Election of 1918 revealed that the whole of Nationalist +Ireland had gone over with foot, horse, and artillery, with bag and +baggage, from the camp of so-called Constitutional Home Rule, to the +Sinn Feiners who made no pretence that their aim was anything short of +complete independent sovereignty for Ireland, no surprise was felt in +Ulster. It was there realised that nothing had happened beyond the +throwing off of the mask which had been used as a matter of political +tactics to disguise what had always been the real underlying aim, if not +of the parliamentary leaders, at all events of the great mass of +Nationalist opinion throughout the three southern provinces. The whole +population had not with one consent changed their views in the course of +a night; they had merely rallied to support the first leaders whom they +had found prepared to proclaim the true objective. Curiously enough, +this truth was realised by an English politician who was in other +respects conspicuously deficient in insight regarding Ireland. The +Easter insurrection of 1916 in Dublin was only rendered possible by the +negligence or the incompetence of the Chief Secretary; but, in giving +evidence before the Commission appointed to inquire into it, Mr. Birrell +said: "The spirit of what to-day is called Sinn Feinism is mainly +composed of the old hatred and distrust of the British connection ... +always there as the background of Irish politics and character"; and, +after recalling that Cardinal Newman had observed the same state of +feeling in Dublin more than half a century before, Mr. Birrell added +quite truly that "this dislike, hatred, disloyalty (so unintelligible to +many Englishmen) is hard to define but easy to discern, though incapable +of exact measurement from year to year." This disloyal spirit, which +struck Newman, and which Mr. Birrell found easy to discern, was of +course always familiar to Ulstermen as characteristic of "the South and +West," and was their justification for the badge of "loyalist," their +assumption of which English Liberals, knowing nothing of Ireland, held +to be an unjust slur on the Irish majority. + +If this belief in the inherent disloyalty of Nationalist Ireland to the +British Empire did any injustice to individual Nationalist politicians, +they had nobody but themselves to blame for it. Their pronouncements in +America, as well as at home, were scrutinised in Ulster with a care that +Englishmen seldom took the trouble to give them. Nor must it be +forgotten that, up to the date when Mr. Gladstone made Home Rule a plank +in an English party's programme--which, whatever else it did, could not +alter the facts of the case--the same conviction, held in Ulster so +tenaciously, had prevailed almost universally in Great Britain also; and +had been proclaimed by no one so vehemently as by Mr. Gladstone himself, +whose famous declarations that the Nationalists of that day were +"steeped to the lips in treason," and were "marching through rapine to +the dismemberment of the Empire," were not so quickly forgotten in +Ulster as in England, nor so easily passed over as either meaningless or +untrue as soon as they became inconvenient for a political party to +remember. English supporters of Home Rule, when reminded of such +utterances, dismissed with a shrug the "unedifying pastime of unearthing +buried speeches"; and showed equal determination to see nothing in +speeches delivered by Nationalist leaders in America inconsistent with +the purely constitutional demand for "extended self-government." + +Ulster never would consent to bandage her own eyes in similar fashion, +or to plug her ears with wool. The "two voices" of Nationalist leaders, +from Mr. Parnell to Mr. Dillon, were equally audible to her; and, of the +two, she was certain that the true aim of Nationalist policy was +expressed by the one whose tone was disloyal to the British Empire. +Look-out was kept for any change in the direction of moderation, for any +real indication that those who professed to be "constitutional +Nationalists" were any less determined than "the physical force party" +to reach the goal described by Parnell in the famous sentence, "None of +us will be ... satisfied until we have destroyed the last link which +keeps Ireland bound to England." + +No such indication was ever discernible. On the contrary, Parnell's +phrase became a refrain to be heard in many later pronouncements of his +successors, and the policy he thus described was again and again +propounded in after-years on innumerable Nationalist platforms, in +speeches constantly quoted to prove, as was the contention of Ulster +from the first, that Home Rule as understood by English Liberals was no +more than an instalment of the real demand of Nationalists, who, if they +once obtained the "comparative freedom" of an Irish legislature--to +quote the words used by Mr. Devlin at a later date--would then, with +that leverage, "operate by whatever means they should think best to +achieve the great and desirable end" of complete independence of Great +Britain. + +This was an end that could not by any juggling be reconciled with the +Ulsterman's notion of "loyalty." Moreover, whatever knowledge he +possessed of his country's history--and he knows a good deal more, man +for man, than the Englishman--confirmed his deep distrust of those whom, +following the example of John Bright, he always bluntly described as +"the rebel party." He knew something of the rebellions in Ireland in the +seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, and was under no +illusion as to the design for which arms had been taken up in the past. +He knew that that design had not changed with the passing of +generations, although gentler methods of accomplishing it might +sometimes find favour. Indeed, one Nationalist leader himself took +pains, at a comparatively recent date, to remove any excuse there may +ever have been for doubt on this point. Mr. John Redmond was an orator +who selected his words with care, and his appeals to historical +analogies were not made haphazard. When he declared (in a speech in +1901) that, "in its essence, the national movement to-day is the same as +it was in the days of Hugh O'Neill, of Owen Roe, of Emmet, or of Wolfe +Tone," those names, which would have had but a shadowy significance for +a popular audience in England, carried very definite meaning to the ears +of Irishmen, whether Nationalist or Unionist. Mr. Gladstone, in the +fervour of his conversion to Home Rule, was fond of allusions to the +work of Molyneux and Swift, Flood and Grattan; but these were men whose +Irish patriotism never betrayed them into disloyalty to the British +Crown or hostility to the British connection. They were reformers, not +rebels. But it was not with the political ideals of such men that Mr. +Redmond claimed his own to be identical, nor even with that of +O'Connell, the apostle of repeal of the Union, but with the aims of men +who, animated solely by hatred of England, sought to establish the +complete independence of Ireland by force of arms, and in some cases by +calling in (like Roger Casement in our own day) the aid of England's +foreign enemies. + +In the face of appeals like this to the historic imagination of an +impressionable people, it is not surprising that by neither Mr. +Redmond's followers nor by his opponents was much account taken of his +own personal disapproval of extremes both of means and ends. His +opponents in Ulster simply accepted such utterances as confirmation of +what they had known all along from other sources to be the actual facts, +namely, that the Home Rule agitation was "in its essence" a separatist +movement; that its adherents were, as Mr. Redmond himself said on +another occasion, "as much rebels as their fathers were in 1798"; and +that the men of Ulster were, together with some scattered sympathisers +in the other Provinces, the depositaries of the "loyal" tradition. + +The latter could boast of a pedigree as long as that of the rebels. If +Mr. Redmond's followers were to trace their political ancestry, as he +told them, to the great Earl of Tyrone who essayed to overthrow England +with the help of the Spaniard and the Pope, the Ulster Protestants could +claim descent from the men of the Plantation, through generation after +generation of loyalists who had kept the British flag flying in Ireland +in times of stress and danger, when Mr. Redmond's historical heroes were +making England's difficulty Ireland's opportunity. + +There have been, and are, many individual Nationalists, no doubt, +especially among the more educated and thoughtful, to whom it would be +unjust to impute bad faith when they professed that their political +aspirations for Ireland were really limited to obtaining local control +of local affairs, and who resented being called "Separatists," since +their desire was not for separation from Great Britain but for the +"union of hearts," which they believed would grow out of extended +self-government. But the answer of Irish Unionists, especially in +Ulster, has always been that, whatever such "moderate," or +"constitutional" Nationalists might dream, it would be found in +practice, if the experiment were made, that no halting-place could be +found between legislative union and complete separation. Moreover, the +same view was held by men as far as possible removed from the standpoint +of the Ulster Protestant. Cardinal Manning, for example, although an +intimate personal friend of Gladstone, in a letter to Leo XIII, wrote: +"As for myself, Holy Father, allow me to say that I consider a +Parliament in Dublin and a separation to be equivalent to the same +thing. Ireland is not a Colony like Canada, but it is an integral and +vital part of one country."[1] + +It is improbable that identical lines of reasoning led the Roman +Catholic Cardinal and the Belfast Orangeman and Presbyterian to this +identical conclusion; but a position reached by convergent paths from +such distant points of departure is defensible presumably on grounds +more solid than prejudice or passion. It is unnecessary here to examine +those grounds at length, for the present purpose is not to argue the +Ulster case, but to let the reader know what was, as a matter of fact, +the Ulster point of view, whether that point of view was well or ill +founded. + +But, while the opinion that a Dublin Parliament meant separation was +shared by many who had little else in common with the Ulster +Protestants, the latter stood alone in the intensity of their conviction +that "Home Rule meant Rome Rule." It has already been mentioned that it +is the "disloyalty" attributed rightly or wrongly to the Roman Catholics +as a body that has been, in recent times at all events, the mainspring +of Protestant distrust. But sectarian feeling, everywhere common between +rival creeds, is, of course, by no means absent. Englishmen find it hard +to understand what seems to them the bigoted and senseless animosity of +the rival faiths in Ireland. This is due to the astonishing shortness of +their memory in regard to their own history, and their very limited +outlook on the world outside their own island. If, without looking +further back in their history, they reflected that the "No Popery" +feeling in England in mid-Victorian days was scarcely less intense than +it is in Ulster to-day; or if they realised the extent to which +Gambetta's "Le clĂ©ricalisme, voilĂ l'ennemi" continues still to +influence public life in France, they might be less ready to censure the +Irish Protestant's dislike of priestly interference in affairs outside +the domain of faith and morals. It is indeed remarkable that +Nonconformists, especially in Wales, who within living memory have +displayed their own horror of the much milder form of sacerdotalism to +be found in the Anglican Church, have no sympathy apparently with the +Presbyterian and the Methodist in Ulster when the latter kick against +the encompassing pressure of the Roman Catholic priesthood, not in +educational matters alone, but in all the petty activities of every-day +life. + +Whenever this aspect of the Home Rule controversy was emphasised +Englishmen asked what sort of persecution Irish Protestants had to fear +from a Parliament in Dublin, and appeared to think all such fear +illusory unless evidence could be adduced that the Holy Office was to be +set up at Maynooth, equipped with faggot and thumb-screw. Of persecution +of that sort there never has been, of course, any apprehension in +modern times. Individual Catholics and Protestants live side by side in +Ireland with fully as much amity as elsewhere, but whereas the Catholic +instinctively, and by upbringing, looks to the parish priest as his +director in all affairs of life, the Protestant dislikes and resists +clerical influence as strongly as does the Nonconformist in England and +Wales--and with much better reason. For the latter has never known +clericalism as it exists in a Roman Catholic country where the Church is +wholly unrestrained by the civil power. He has resented what he regards +as Anglican arrogance in regard to educational management or the use of +burying-grounds, but he has never experienced a much more aggressive +clerical temper exercised in all the incidents of daily life--in the +market, the political meeting, the disposition of property, the +amusements of the people, the polling booth, the farm, and the home. + +This involves no condemnation of the Irish priest as an individual or as +a minister of his Church. He is kind-hearted, charitable, and +conscientious; and, except that it does not encourage self-reliance and +enterprise, his influence with his own people is no more open to +criticism than that of any other body of religious ministers. But the +Roman Catholic Church has always made a larger claim than any other on +the obedience of its adherents, and it has always enforced that +obedience whenever it has had the power by methods which, in Protestant +opinion, are extremely objectionable. In theory the claim may be limited +to affairs concerned with faith and morals; but the definition of such +affairs is a very elastic one. Cardinal Logue not many years ago said: +"When political action trenches upon faith or morals or affects +religion, the Vicar of Christ, as the supreme teacher and guardian of +faith and morals, and as the custodian of the immunities of religion, +has, by Divine Right, authority to interfere and to enforce his +decisions." How far this principle is in practice carried beyond the +limits so denned was proved in the famous Meath election petition in +1892, in which the Judge who tried it, himself a devout Catholic, +declared: "The Church became converted for the time being into a vast +political agency, a great moral machine moving with resistless +influence, united action, and a single will. Every priest who was +examined was a canvasser; the canvas was everywhere--on the altar, in +the vestry, on the roads, in the houses." And while an election was in +progress in County Tyrone in 1911 a parish priest announced that any +Catholic who should vote for the Unionist candidate "would be held +responsible at the Day of Judgment." A still more notorious example of +clericalism in secular affairs, within the recollection of Englishmen, +was the veto on the Military Service Act proclaimed from the altars of +the Catholic Churches, which, during the Great War, defeated the +application to Ireland of the compulsory service which England, +Scotland, and Wales accepted as the only alternative to national defeat +and humiliation. + +But these were only conspicuous examples of what the Irish Protestant +sees around him every day of his life. The promulgation in 1908 of the +Vatican decree, _Nec Temere_, a papal reassertion of the canonical +invalidity of mixed marriages, followed as it was by notorious cases of +the victimisation of Protestant women by the application of its +principles, did not encourage the Protestants to welcome the prospect of +a Catholic Parliament that would have control of the marriage law; nor +did they any more readily welcome the prospect of national education on +purely ecclesiastical lines. Another Vatican decree that was equally +alarming to Protestants was that entitled _Motu Proprio_, by which any +Catholic layman was _ipso facto_ excommunicated who should have the +temerity to bring a priest into a civil court either as defendant or +witness. Medievalism like this was felt by Ulster Protestants to be +irreconcilable with modern ideas of democratic freedom, and to indicate +a temper that boded ill for any regime which would be subject to its +inspiration. These were matters, it is true,--and there were perhaps +some others of a similar nature--on which it is possible to conceive +more or less satisfactory legislative safeguards being provided; but as +regards the indefinable but innumerable minutiae in which the prevailing +ecclesiastical standpoint creates an atmosphere in which daily life has +to be carried on, no safeguards could be devised, and it was the +realisation of this truth in the light of their own experience that made +the Ulstermen continually close their ears to allurements of that sort. + +The Roman Church is quite consistent, and from its own point of view +praiseworthy, in its assertion of its right, and its duty, to control +the lives and thoughts of men; but this assertion has produced a clash +with the non-ecclesiastical mind in almost every country, where +Catholicism is the dominant religious faith. But in Ireland, unlike +Continental countries, there is no Catholic lay opinion--or almost +none--able to make its voice heard against clerical dictation, and +consequently the Protestants felt convinced, with good reason, that any +legislature in Ireland must take its tone from this pervading mental and +moral atmosphere, and that all its proceedings would necessarily be +tainted by it. + +Prior to 1885 the political complexion of Ulster was in the main +Liberal. The Presbyterians, who formed the majority of the Protestant +population, collateral descendants of the men who emigrated in the +eighteenth century and formed the backbone of Washington's army, and +direct descendants of those who joined the United Irishmen in 1798, were +of a pronounced Liberal type, and their frequently strong disapproval of +Orangeism made any united political action an improbable occurrence. But +the crisis brought about by Gladstone's declaration in favour of Home +Rule instantly swept all sections of Loyalists into a single camp. There +was practically not a Liberal left who did not become Unionist, and, +although a separate organisation of Liberal Unionists was maintained, +the co-operation with Conservatives was so whole-hearted and complete as +almost to amount to fusion from the outset. + +The immediate cessation of class friction was still more remarkable. For +more than a decade the perennial quarrel between landlord and tenant had +been increasing in intensity, and the recent land legislation had +disposed the latter to look upon Gladstone as a deliverer. Their +gratitude was wiped out the moment he hoisted the green flag, while the +labourers enfranchised by the Act of 1884 eagerly enrolled themselves +as the bitterest enemies of his new Irish policy. The unanimity of the +country-side was matched in the towns, and especially in Belfast, where, +with the single exception of a definitely Catholic quarter, employer and +artisan were as whole-heartedly united as were landlord and tenant in +passionate resentment at what they regarded as the betrayal by England's +foremost statesman of England's only friends in Ireland. + +The defeat of the Home Rule Bill of 1886 brought relief from the +immediate strain of anxiety. But it was at once realised that the +encouragement and support given to Irish disloyalty for the first time +by one of the great political parties in Great Britain was a step that +could never be recalled. Henceforth the vigilance required to prevent +being taken unawares, and the untiring organisation necessary for making +effective defence against an attack which, although it had signally +failed at the first onslaught, was certain to be renewed, welded all the +previously diverse social and political elements in Ulster into a single +compact mass, tempered to the maximum power of resistance. There was +room for no other thought in the minds of men who felt as if living in a +beleaguered citadel, whose flag they were bound in honour to keep flying +to the last. The "loyalist" tradition acquired fresh meaning and +strength, and its historical setting took a more conscious hold on the +public mind of Ulster, as men studied afresh the story of the Relief of +Derry or the horrors of 1641. Visits of encouragement from the leaders +of Unionism across the Channel, men like Lord Salisbury, Mr. Balfour, +Mr. Chamberlain, Lord Randolph Churchill, fortified the resolution of a +populace that came more and more to regard themselves as a bulwark of +the Empire, on whom destiny, while conferring on them the honour of +upholding the flag, had imposed the duty of putting into actual practice +the familiar motto of the Orange Lodges--"No surrender." + +From a psychology so bred and nourished sprang a political temper which, +as it hardened with the passing years, appeared to English Home Rulers +to be "stiff-necked," "bigoted," and "intractable." It certainly was a +state of mind very different from those shifting gusts of transient +impression which in England go by the name of public opinion; and, if +these epithets in the mouths of opponents be taken as no more than +synonyms for "uncompromising," they were not undeserved. At a memorable +meeting at the Albert Hall in London on the 22nd of April, 1893, Dr. +Alexander, Bishop of Derry, poet, orator, and divine, declared in an +eloquent passage that was felt to be the exact expression of Ulster +conviction, that the people of Ulster, when exhorted to show confidence +in their southern fellow-countrymen, "could no more be confiding about +its liberty than a pure woman can be confiding about her honour." + +Here was the irreconcilable division. The Nationalist talked of +centuries of "oppression," and demanded the dissolution of the Union in +the name of liberty. The Ulsterman, while far from denying the +misgovernment of former times, knew that it was the fruit of false ideas +which had passed away, and that the Ireland in which he lived enjoyed as +much liberty as any land on earth; and he feared the loss of the true +liberty he had gained if put back under a regime of Nationalist and +Utramontane domination. And so for more than thirty years the people of +Ulster for whom Bishop Alexander spoke made good his words. If in the +end compromise was forced upon them it was not because their standpoint +had changed, and it was only in circumstances which involved no +dishonour, and which preserved them from what they chiefly dreaded, +subjection to a Dublin Parliament inspired by clericalism and disloyalty +to the Empire. + +The development which brought about the change from Ulster's resolute +stand for unimpaired union with Great Britain to her reluctant +acceptance of a separate local constitution for the predominantly +Protestant portion of the Province, presents a deeply interesting +illustration of the truth of a pregnant dictum of Maine's on the working +of democratic institutions. + +"Democracies," he says, "are quite paralysed by the plea of nationality. +There is no more effective way of attacking them than by admitting the +right of the majority to govern, but denying that the majority so +entitled is the particular majority which claims the right."[2] + +This is precisely what occurred in regard to Ulster's relation to Great +Britain and to the rest of Ireland respectively. The will of the +majority must prevail, certainly. But what majority? Unionists +maintained that only the majority in the United Kingdom could decide, +and that it had never in fact decided in favour of repealing the Act of +Union; Lord Rosebery at one time held that a majority in Great Britain +alone, as the "Predominant Partner," must first give its consent; Irish +Nationalists argued that the majority in Ireland, as a distinct unit, +was the only one that should count. Ulster, whilst agreeing with the +general Unionist position, contended ultimately that her own majority +was as well entitled to be heard in regard to her own fate as the +majority in Ireland as a whole. To the Nationalist claim that Ireland +was a nation she replied that it was either two nations or none, and +that if one of the two had a right to "self-determination," the other +had it equally. Thus the axiom of democracy that government is by the +majority was, as Maine said, "paralysed by the plea of nationality," +since the contending parties appealed to the same principle without +having any common ground as to how it should be applied to the case in +dispute. + +If the Union with Great Britain was to be abrogated, which Pitt had only +established when "a full measure of Home Rule" had produced a bloody +insurrection and Irish collusion with England's external enemies, Ulster +could at all events in the last resort take her stand on Abraham +Lincoln's famous proposition which created West Virginia: "A minority of +a large community who make certain claims for self-government cannot, in +logic or in substance, refuse the same claims to a much larger +proportionate minority among themselves." + +The Loyalists of Ulster were successful in holding this second line, +when the first was no longer tenable; but they only retired from the +first line--the maintenance of the legislative union--after a long and +obstinate defence which it is the purpose of the following pages to +relate. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _Henry Edward Manning_, by Shane Leslie, p. 406. + +[2] Sir S.H. Maine, _Popular Government_, p. 28. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE ELECTORATE AND HOME RULE + + +We profess to be a democratic country in which the "will of the people" +is the ultimate authority in determining questions of policy, and the +Liberal Party has been accustomed to regard itself as the most zealous +guardian of democratic principles. Yet there is this curious paradox in +relation to the problem which more than any other taxed British +statesmanship during the thirty-five years immediately following the +enfranchisement of the rural democracy in 1884, that the solution +propounded by the Liberal Party, and inscribed by that party on the +Statute-book in 1914, was more than once emphatically rejected, and has +never been explicitly accepted by the electorate. + +No policy ever submitted to the country was more decisively condemned at +the polls than Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule proposals in the General +Election of 1886. The issue then for the first time submitted to the +people was isolated from all others with a completeness scarcely ever +practicable--a circumstance which rendered the "mandate" to Parliament +to maintain the legislative union exceptionally free from ambiguity. The +party which had brought forward the defeated proposal, although led by a +statesman of unrivalled popularity, authority, and power, was shattered +in the attempt to carry it, and lost the support of numbers of its most +conspicuous adherents, including Chamberlain, Hartington, Goschen, and +John Bright, besides a multitude of its rank and file, who entered into +political partnership with their former opponents in order to withstand +the new departure of their old Chief. + +The years that followed were a period of preparation by both sides for +the next battle. The improvement in the state of Ireland, largely the +result of legislation carried by Lord Salisbury's Government, especially +that which promoted land purchase, encouraged the confidence felt by +Unionists that the British voter would remain staunch to the Union. The +downfall of Parnell in 1890, followed by the break-up of his party, and +by his death in the following year, seemed to make the danger of Home +Rule still more remote. The only disquieting factor was the personality +of Mr. Gladstone, which, the older he grew, exercised a more and more +incalculable influence on the public mind. And there can be no doubt +that it was this personal influence that made him, in spite of his +policy, and not because of it, Prime Minister for the fourth time in +1892. In Great Britain the electors in that year pronounced against Home +Rule again by a considerable majority, and it was only by coalition with +the eighty-three Irish Nationalist Members that Gladstone and his party +were able to scrape up a majority of forty in support of his second Home +Rule Bill. Whether there was any ground for Gladstone's belief that but +for the O'Shea divorce he would have had a three-figure majority in 1892 +is of little consequence, but the fall of his own majority in Midlothian +from 4,000 to below 700, which caused him "intense chagrin,"[3] does not +lend it support. Lord Morley says Gladstone was blamed by some of his +friends for accepting office "depending on a majority not large enough +to coerce the House of Lords"[4]; but a more valid ground of censure was +that he was willing to break up the constitution of the United Kingdom, +although a majority of British electors had just refused to sanction +such a thing being done. That Gladstone's colleagues realised full well +the true state of public opinion on the subject, if he himself did not, +was shown by their conduct when the Home Rule Bill, after being carried +through the House of Commons by diminutive majorities, was rejected on +second reading by the Peers. Even their great leader's entreaty could +not persuade them to consent to an appeal to the people[5]; and when +they were tripped up over the cordite vote in 1895, after Gladstone had +disappeared from public life, none of them probably were surprised at +the overwhelming vote by which the constituencies endorsed the action of +the House of Lords, and pronounced for the second time in ten years +against granting Home Rule to Ireland. + +If anything except the personal ascendancy of Gladstone contributed to +his small coalition majority in 1892 it was no doubt the confidence of +the electors that the House of Lords could be relied upon to prevent the +passage of a Home Rule Bill. It is worth noting that nearly twenty years +later Lord Crewe acknowledged that the Home Rule Bill of 1893 could not +have stood the test of a General Election or of a Referendum.[6] + +During the ten years of Unionist Government from 1895 to 1905 the +question of Home Rule slipped into the background. Other issues, such as +those raised by the South African War and Mr. Chamberlain's tariff +policy, engrossed the public mind. English Home Rulers showed a +disposition to hide away, if not to repudiate altogether, the legacy +they had inherited from Gladstone. Lord Rosebery acknowledged the +necessity to convert "the predominant partner," a mission which every +passing year made appear a more hopeless undertaking. At by-elections +Home Rule was scarcely mentioned. In the eyes of average Englishmen the +question was dead and buried, and most people were heartily thankful to +hear no more about it. Mr. T.M. Healy's caustic wit remarked that "Home +Rule was put into cold storage."[7] + +Then came the great overthrow of the Unionists in 1906. Home Rule, +except by its absence from Liberal election addresses, contributed +nothing at all to that resounding Liberal victory. The battle of +"terminological inexactitudes" rang with cries of Chinese "slavery," +Tariff Reform, Church Schools, Labour Dispute Bills, and so forth; but +on Ireland silence reigned on the platforms of the victors. The event +was to give the successors of Mr. Gladstone a House of Commons in +complete subjection to them. For the first time since 1885 they had a +majority independent of the Nationalists, a majority, if ever there was +one, "large enough to coerce the House of Lords," as they would have +done in 1893, according to Lord Morley, if they had had the power. But +to do that would involve the danger of having again to appeal to the +country, which even at this high tide of Liberal triumph they could not +face with Home Rule as an election cry. So, with the tame acquiescence +of Mr. Redmond and his followers, they spent four years of unparalleled +power without laying a finger on Irish Government, a course which was +rendered easy for them by the fact that, on their own admission, they +had found Ireland in a more peaceful, prosperous, and contented +condition than it had enjoyed for several generations. Occasionally, +indeed, as was necessary to prevent a rupture with the Nationalists, +some perfunctory mention of Home Rule as a _desideratum_ of the future +was made on Ministerial platforms--by Mr. Churchill, for example, at +Manchester in May 1909. But by that date even the contest over Tariff +Reform--which had raged without intermission for six years, and by +rending the Unionist Party had grievously damaged it as an effective +instrument of opposition--had become merged in the more immediately +exciting battle of the Budget, provoked by Mr. Lloyd George's financial +proposals for the current year, and by the possibility that they might +be rejected by the House of Lords. This the House of Lords did, on the +30th of November, 1909, and the Prime Minister at once announced that he +would appeal to the country without delay. + +Such a turn of events was a wonderful windfall for the Irish +Nationalists, beyond what the most sanguine of them can ever have hoped +for. The rejection of a money Bill by the House of Lords raised a +democratic blizzard, the full force of which was directed against the +constitutional power of veto possessed by the hereditary Chamber in +relation not merely to money Bills, but to general legislation. For a +long time the Liberal Party had been threatening that part of the +Constitution without much effect. Sixteen years had passed since Mr. +Gladstone in his last speech in the House of Commons declared that +issue must be joined with the Peers; but the emphatic endorsement by the +constituencies in 1895 of the Lords' action which he had denounced, +followed by ten years of Unionist Government, damped down the ardour of +attack so effectually that, during the four years in which the Liberals +enjoyed unchallengeable power, from 1906 to 1910, they did nothing to +carry out Gladstone's parting injunction. Had they done so at any time +when Home Rule was a living issue in the country an attack on the Lords +would in all probability have proved disastrous to themselves. For there +was not a particle of evidence that the electors of Great Britain had +changed their minds on this subject, and there were great numbers of +voters in the country--those voters, unattached to party, who constitute +"the swing of the pendulum," and decide the issue at General +Elections--who felt free to vote Liberal in 1906 because they believed +Home Rule was practically dead, and if revived would be again given its +_quietus_, as in 1893, by the House of Lords. But the defeat of the +Budget in November 1909 immediately opened a line of attack wholly +unconnected with Ireland, and over the most favourable ground that could +have been selected for the assault. + +Nothing could have been more skilful than the tactics employed by the +Liberal leaders. Concentrating on the constitutional question raised by +the alleged encroachment of the Lords on the exclusive privilege of the +Commons to grant supply, they tried to excite a hurricane of popular +fury by calling on the electorate to decide between "Peers and People." +The rejected Finance Bill was dubbed "The People's Budget." A "Budget +League" was formed to expatiate through the constituencies on the +democratic character of its provisions, and on the personal and class +selfishness of the Peers in throwing it out. As little as possible was +said about Ireland, and probably not one voter in ten thousand who went +to the poll in January 1910 ever gave a thought to the subject, or +dreamed that he was taking part in reversing the popular verdict of 1886 +and 1895. Afterwards, when it was complained that an election so +conducted had provided no "mandate" for Home Rule, it was found that in +the course of a long speech delivered by Mr. Asquith at the Albert Hall +on the 10th of December there was a sentence in which the Prime Minister +had declared that "the Irish problem could only be solved by a policy +which, while explicitly safeguarding the supreme authority of the +Imperial Parliament, would set up self-government in Ireland in regard +to Irish affairs." The rest of the speech dealt with Tariff Reform and +with the constitutional question of the House of Lords, on which the +public mind was focused throughout the election. + +In the unprecedented deluge of oratory that flooded the country in the +month preceding the elections the Prime Minister's sentence on Ireland +at the Albert Hall passed almost unnoticed in English and Scottish +constituencies, or was quickly lost sight of, like a coin in a +cornstack, under sheaves of rhetoric about the dear loaf and the +intolerable arrogance of hereditary legislators. Here and there a +Unionist candidate did his best to warn a constituency that every +Liberal vote was a vote for Home Rule. He was invariably met with an +impatient retort that he was attempting to raise a bogey to divert +attention from the iniquity of the Lords and the Tariff Reformers. Home +Rule, he was told, was dead and buried. + +On the 19th of January, 1910, when the elections were over in the +boroughs, Mr. Asquith claimed that "the great industrial centres had +mainly declared for Free Trade," and the impartial chronicler of the +_Annual Register_ stated that "the Liberals had fought on Free Trade and +the constitutional issue." The twice-repeated decision of the country +against Home Rule for Ireland was therefore in no sense reversed by the +General Election of January 1910. + +But from the very beginning of the agitation over the Budget and the +action of the House of Lords in relation to it, in the summer of 1909, +the gravity of the situation so created was fully appreciated by both +political parties in Ireland itself. Only the most languid interest was +there taken in the questions which stirred the constituencies across +the Channel. Neither Nationalist nor Unionist cared anything whatever +for Free Trade; neither of them shed a tear over the rejected Budget. +Indeed, Mr. Lloyd George's new taxes were so unpopular in Ireland that +Mr. Redmond was violently attacked by Mr. William O'Brien and Mr. Healy +for his neglect of obvious Irish interests in supporting the Government. +Mr. Redmond, for his part, made no pretence that his support was given +because he approved of the proposals for which he and his followers gave +their votes in every division. The clauses of the Finance Bill were +trifles in his eyes that did not matter. His gaze was steadily fixed on +the House of Peers, which he saw before him as a huntsman views a fox +with bedraggled brush, reduced to a trot a field or two ahead of the +hounds. That House was, as he described it, "the last obstacle to Home +Rule," and he was determined to do all he could to remove the obstacle. +Lord Rosebery said at Glasgow in September 1909 that he believed +Ministers wanted the House of Lords to reject the Budget. Whether they +did or not, there can be no doubt that Mr. Redmond did, for he knew +that, in that event, the whole strength of the Liberal Party would be +directed to the task of beating down the "last obstacle," and that then +it would be possible to carry Home Rule without the British +constituencies being consulted. It was with this end in view that he +took his party into the lobby in support of a Budget that was detested +in Ireland, and threw the whole weight of his influence in British +constituencies on to the Liberal side in the elections of January 1910. + +But, notwithstanding the torrent of class prejudice and democratic +passion that was stirred up by six weeks of Liberal oratory, the result +of the elections was a serious loss of strength to the Government. The +commanding Liberal majority of 1906 over all parties in the House of +Commons disappeared, and Mr. Asquith and his Cabinet were once more +dependent on a coalition of Labour Members and Nationalists. The +Liberals by themselves had a majority of two only over the Unionists, +who had won over one hundred seats, so that the Nationalists were +easily in a position to enforce their leader's threat to make Mr. +Asquith "toe the line." + +When the Parliament elected in January 1910 assembled disputes arose +between the Government and the Nationalists as to whether priority was +to be given to passing the Budget rejected in the previous session, or +to the Parliament Bill which was to deprive the House of Lords of its +constitutional power to reject legislation passed by the Commons; and +Mr. Redmond expressed his displeasure that "guarantees" had not yet been +obtained from the King, or, in plain language, that a promise had not +been extorted from the Sovereign that he would be prepared to create a +sufficient number of Peers to secure the acceptance of the Parliament +Bill by the Upper House. + +The whole situation was suddenly changed by the death of King Edward in +May 1910. Consideration for the new and inexperienced Sovereign led to +the temporary abandonment of coercion of the Crown, and resort was had +to a Conference of party leaders, with a view to settlement of the +dispute by agreement. But no agreement was arrived at, and the +Conference broke up on the 10th of November. Parliament was again +dissolved in December, "on the assumption," as Lord Crewe stated, "that +the House of Lords would reject the Parliament Bill." + +During the agitation of this troubled autumn preceding the General +Election, the question of Home Rule was not quite so successfully +concealed from view as in the previous year. The Liberals, indeed, +maintained the same tactical reserve on the subject, alike in their +writings and their speeches. The Liberal Press of the period may be +searched in vain for any clear indication that the electors were about +to be asked to decide once more this momentous constitutional question. +Such mention of it as was occasionally to be found in ministerial +speeches seemed designed to convey the idea that, while the door leading +to Home Rule was still formally open, there was no immediate prospect of +its being brought into use. The Prime Minister in particular did +everything in his power to direct the attention of the country to the +same issues as in the preceding January, among which Ireland had had no +place. In presenting the Government's case at Hull on the 25th of +November, he reminded the country that in the January elections the veto +of the Peers was "the dominant issue"; in the intervening months the +Government, he said, had brought forward proposals for dealing with the +veto, and had given the Lords an opportunity to make proposals of their +own; a defeat of the Liberals in the coming elections would bring in +"Protection disguised as Tariff Reform"; but he (Mr. Asquith) preferred +to concentrate his criticism on Lord Lansdowne's "crude and complex +scheme" for Second Chamber reform; he made a passing mention of +"self-government for Ireland" as a policy that would have the sympathy +of the Dominions, but added that "the immediate task was to secure fair +play for Liberal legislation and popular government." And in his +election address Mr. Asquith declared that "the appeal to the country +was almost narrowed to a single issue, and on its determination hung the +whole future of democratic Government." + +This zeal for "popular," or "democratic" government was, however, not +inconsistent apparently with a determination to avoid at all hazards +consulting the will of the people, before doing what the people had +hitherto always refused to sanction. The suggestion had been made +earlier in the autumn that a Referendum, or "Poll of the People" might +be taken on the question of Home Rule. The very idea filled the Liberals +with dismay. Speaking at Edinburgh on the 2nd of December, Mr. Lloyd +George, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, made the curiously naive +admission, for a "democratic" politician, that the Referendum would +amount to "a prohibitive tariff against Liberalism." A few days earlier +at Reading (November 29th) his Chief sought to turn the edge of this +disconcerting proposal by asking whether the Unionists, if returned to +power, would allow Tariff Reform to be settled by the same mode of +appeal to the country; and when Mr. Balfour promptly accepted the +challenge by promising that he would do so Mr. Asquith retreated under +cover of the excuse that no bargain had been intended. + +While the Liberal leaders were thus doing all they could to hold down +the lid of the Home Rule Jack-in-the-box, the Unionists were warning the +country that as soon as Mr. Asquith secured a majority his thumb would +release the spring. Speakers from Ulster carried the warning into many +constituencies, but it was noticed that they were constantly met with +the same retort as in January--that Home Rule was a "bogey," or a "red +herring" dragged across the trail of Tariff Reform and the Peers' veto; +and it is a significant indication of the straits to which the +Government afterwards felt themselves driven to find justification for +dealing with so fundamental a question as the repeal of the Union +without the explicit approval of the electorate, that they devised the +strange doctrine that speeches by their opponents provided them with a +mandate for a policy about which they had themselves kept silence, even +although those speeches had been disbelieved and derided on the very +ground that it would be impossible for Ministers to bring forward a +policy they had not laid before the country during the election. + +The extent to which this ministerial reserve was carried was shown by a +question put to Mr. Asquith in his own constituency in East Fife on the +6th of December. Scottish "hecklers" are intelligent and well informed +on current politics, and no one who knows them can imagine one of them +asking the Prime Minister whether he intended to introduce a Home Rule +Bill if Home Rule had been proclaimed as one of the chief items in the +policy of the Government. Mr. Asquith gave an affirmative reply; but the +elections were by this time half over, and in the following week Mr. +Balfour laid stress on the fact that five hundred contests had been +decided before any Minister had mentioned Home Rule. Even after giving +this memorable answer in East Fife Mr. Asquith, speaking at Bury St. +Edmunds on the 12th of December, declared that "the sole issue at that +moment was the supremacy of the people," and he added, in deprecation of +all the talk about Ireland, that "it was sought to confuse this issue by +catechising Ministers on the details of the next Home Rule Bill." + +Even if this had been, as it was not, a true description of the +attempts that had been made to extract a frank declaration from the +Government as to their intentions in regard to this vitally important +matter--far more important to hundreds of thousands of people than any +question of Tariff, or of limiting the functions of the Second Chamber +--it was surely a curious doctrine to be propounded by a statesman +zealous to preserve "popular government "! There had been two Home Rule +Bills in the past, differing one from the other in not a few important +respects; discussion had shown that many even of those who supported the +principle of Home Rule objected strongly to this or that proposal for +embodying it in legislation Language had been used by Mr. Asquith +himself, as well as by some of his principal colleagues, which implied +that any future Home Rule Bill would be part of a general scheme of +"devolution," or federation, or "Home Rule All Round"--a solution of the +question favoured by many who hotly opposed separate treatment for +Ireland Yet here was the responsible Minister, in the middle of a +General Election, complaining that the issue was being "confused" by +presumptuous persons who wanted to know what sort of Home Rule, if any, +he had in contemplation in the event of obtaining a majority sufficient +to keep him in power. + +Under such circumstances it would have been a straining of +constitutional principles, and a flagrant violation of the canons of +that "democratic government" of which Mr Asquith had constituted himself +the champion, to pass a Home Rule Bill by means of a majority so +obtained, even if the majority had been one that pointed to a sweeping +turnover of public opinion to the side of the Government The elections +of December 1910, in point of fact, gave no such indication. The +Government gained nothing whatever by the appeal to the country. +Liberals and Unionists came back in almost precisely the same strength +as in the previous Parliament. They balanced each other within a couple +of votes in the new House of Commons, and the Ministry could not have +remained twenty-four hours in office except in coalition with Labour and +the Irish Nationalists. + +The Parliament so elected and so constituted was destined not merely to +destroy the effective power of the House of Lords, and to place on the +Statute-book a measure setting up an Irish Parliament in Dublin, but to +be an assembly longer in duration and more memorable in achievement than +any in English history since the Long Parliament. During the eight years +of its reign the Great War was fought and won; the "rebel party" in +Ireland once more, as in the Napoleonic Wars, broke into armed +insurrection in league with the enemies of England; and before it was +dissolved the political parties in Great Britain, heartily supported by +the Loyalists of Ulster, composed the party differences which had raged +with such passion over Home Rule and other domestic issues, and joined +forces in patriotic resistance to the foreign enemy. + +But before this transformation took place nearly four years of agitation +and contest had to run their course. In the first session of the +Parliament, by a violent use of the Royal Prerogative, the Parliament +Bill became law, the Peers accepting the measure under duress of the +threat that some four or five hundred peerages would, if necessary, be +created to form a majority to carry it. It was then no longer possible +for the Upper House to force an appeal to the country on Home Rule, as +it had done in 1893. All that was necessary was for a Bill to be carried +in three successive sessions through the House of Commons, to become +law. "The last obstacle to Home Rule," as Mr. Redmond called it, had +been removed. The Liberal Government had taken a hint from the procedure +of the careful burglar, who poisons the dog before breaking into the +house. + +The significance of the manner in which the Irish question had been kept +out of view of the electorate by the Government and their supporters was +not lost upon the people of Ulster. In January 1911, within a month of +the elections, a meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council was held at +which a comprehensive resolution dealing with the situation that had +arisen was adopted, and published as a manifesto. One of its clauses +was: + + "The Council has observed with much surprise the singular reticence + as regards Home Rule maintained by a large number of Radical + candidates in England and Scotland during the recent elections, and + especially by the Prime Minister himself, who barely referred to + the subject till almost the close of his own contest. In view of + the consequent fact that Home Rule was not at the late appeal to + the country placed as a clear issue before the electors, it is the + judgment of the Council that the country has given no mandate for + Home Rule, and that any attempt in such circumstances to force + through Parliament a measure enacting it would be for His Majesty's + Ministers a grave, if not criminal, breach of constitutional duty." + +The great importance, in relation to the policy subsequently pursued by +Ulster, of the historical fact here made clear--namely, that the "will +of the people" constitutionally expressed in parliamentary elections has +never declared itself in favour of granting Home Rule to Ireland, lies, +first, in the justification it afforded to the preparations for active +resistance to a measure so enacted; and, secondly, in the influence it +had in procuring for Ulster not merely the sympathy but the open support +of the whole Unionist Party in Great Britain. Lord Londonderry, one of +Ulster's most trusted leaders, who afterwards gave the whole weight of +his support to the policy of forcible resistance, admitted in the House +of Lords in 1911, in the debates on the Parliament Bill, that the +verdict of the country, if appealed to, would have to be accepted. The +leader of the Unionist Party, Mr. Bonar Law, made it clear in February +1914, as he had more than once stated before, that the support he and +his party were pledging themselves to give to Ulster in the struggle +then approaching a climax, was entirely due to the fact that the +electorate had never sanctioned the policy of the Government against +which Ulster's resistance was threatened. The chance of success in that +resistance "depended," he said, "upon the sympathy of the British +people, and an election would undoubtedly make a great difference in +that respect"; he denied that Mr. Asquith had a "right to pass any form +of Home Rule without a mandate from the people of this country, which +he has never received"; and he categorically announced that "if you get +the decision of the people we shall obey it." And if, as then appeared +likely, the unconstitutional conduct of the Government should lead to +bloodshed in Ireland, the responsibility, said Mr. Bonar Law, would be +theirs, "because you preferred to face civil war rather than face the +people."[8] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] Morley's _Life of Gladstone_, in, 492. + +[4] Ibid., 493. + +[5] Ibid., 505. + +[6] _Annual Register_, 1910, p. 240. + +[7] See _Letters to Isabel_, by Lord Shaw of Dunfermline, p. 130. + +[8] _Parliamentary Debates_ (5th Series), vol. I viii, pp. 279-84. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +ORGANISATION AND LEADERSHIP + + +From the day when Gladstone first made Home Rule for Ireland the leading +issue in British politics, the Loyalists of Ulster--who, as already +explained, included practically all the Protestant population of the +Province both Conservative and Liberal, besides a small number of +Catholics who had no separatist sympathies--set to work to organise +themselves for effective opposition to the new policy. In the hour of +their dismay over Gladstone's surrender Lord Randolph Churchill, +hurrying from London to encourage and inspirit them, told them in the +Ulster Hall on the 22nd of February, 1886, that "the Loyalists in Ulster +should wait and watch--organise and prepare."[9] They followed his +advice. Propaganda among themselves was indeed unnecessary, for no one +required conversion except those who were known to be inconvertible. The +chief work to be done was to send speakers to British constituencies; +and in the decade from 1885 to 1895 Ulster speakers, many of whom were +ministers of the different Protestant Churches, were in request on +English and Scottish platforms. + +A number of organisations were formed for this purpose, some of which, +like the Irish Unionist Alliance, represented Unionist opinion +throughout Ireland, and not in Ulster alone. Others were exclusively +concerned with the northern Province, where from the first the +opposition was naturally more concentrated than elsewhere. In the early +days, the Ulster Loyalist and Patriotic Union, organised by Lord +Ranfurly and Mr. W.R. Young, carried on an active and sustained campaign +in Great Britain, and the Unionist Clubs initiated by Lord Templetown +provided a useful organisation in the smaller country towns, which still +exists as an effective force. The Loyal Orange Institution, founded at +the end of the eighteenth century to commemorate, and to keep alive the +principles of, the Whig Revolution of 1688, had fallen into not +unmerited disrepute prior to 1886. Few men of education or standing +belonged to it, and the lodge meetings and anniversary celebrations had +become little better than occasions for conviviality wholly inconsistent +with the irreproachable formularies of the Order. But its system of +local Lodges, affiliated to a Grand Lodge in each county, supplied the +ready-made framework of an effective organisation. Immediately after the +introduction of Gladstone's first Bill in 1886 it received an immense +accession of strength. Large numbers of country gentlemen, clergymen of +all Protestant denominations, business and professional men, farmers, +and the better class of artisans in Belfast and other towns, joined the +local Lodges, the management of which passed into capable hands; the +character of the Society was thereby completely and rapidly transformed, +and, instead of being a somewhat disreputable and obsolete survival, it +became a highly respectable as well as an exceedingly powerful political +organisation, the whole weight of whose influence has been on the side +of the Union. + +A rallying cry was given to the Ulster Loyalists in the famous phrase +contained in a letter from Lord Randolph Churchill to a correspondent in +May 1886: "Ulster will fight, and Ulster will be right." From this time +forward the idea that resort to physical resistance would be preferable +to submission to a Parliament in Dublin controlled by the "rebel party" +took hold of the popular mind in Ulster, although after the elections of +1886 there was no serious apprehension that the necessity would arise, +until the return to power of Mr. Gladstone at the head of a small +majority in 1892 brought about a fresh crisis. + +The work of organisation was then undertaken with greater energy and +thoroughness than before. It was now that Lord Templetown founded the +Unionist Clubs, which spread in an affiliated network through Ulster, +and proved so valuable that, after falling into neglect during the ten +years of Conservative Government, they were revived at the special +request of the Ulster Unionist Council in December 1910. Nothing, +however, did so much to stimulate organisation and concentration of +effort as the great Convention held in Belfast on the 19th of June 1892, +representing on a democratic basis all the constituencies in Ulster. +Numerous preliminary meetings were arranged for the purpose of electing +the delegates; and of these the Special Correspondent of _The Times_ +wrote: + + "Nothing has struck me more in the present movement than the + perfect order and regularity with which the preliminary meetings + for the election of delegates has been conducted. From city and + town and village come reports of crowded and enthusiastic + gatherings, all animated by an equal ardour, all marked by the same + spirit of quiet determination. There has been no 'tall talk,' no + over-statement; the speeches have been dignified, sensible, and + practical. One of the most marked features in the meetings has been + the appearance of men who have never before taken part in public + life, who have never till now stood on a public platform. Now for + the first time they have broken with the tranquil traditions of a + lifetime, and have come forward to take their share and their + responsibility in the grave danger which threatens their + country."[10] + +There being no building large enough to hold the delegates, numbering +nearly twelve thousand, every one of whom was a registered voter +appointed by the polling districts to attend the Convention, a pavilion, +the largest ever used for a political meeting in the kingdom, was +specially constructed close to the Botanical Gardens in Belfast. It +covered 33,000 square feet, and, owing to the enthusiasm of the workmen +employed on the building, it was erected (at a cost of over ÂŁ3,000) +within three weeks. It provided seating accommodation for 13,000 people, +but the number who actually gained admittance to the Convention was +nearly 21,000, while outside an assemblage, estimated by the +correspondent of _The Times_ at 300,000, was also addressed by the +principal speakers. + +The commencement of the proceedings with prayer, conducted by the +Primate of all Ireland and the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church, set +a precedent which was extensively followed in later years throughout +Ulster, marking the spirit of seriousness which struck numerous +observers as characteristic of the Ulster Movement. The speakers were +men representative of all the varied interests of the Province--- +religious, agricultural, commercial, and industrial--and among them were +two men, Mr. Thomas Sinclair and Mr. Thomas Andrews, who had been +life-long Liberals, but who from this time forward were distinguished +and trusted leaders of Unionist opinion in Ulster. It was Mr. Andrews +who touched a chord that vibrated through the vast audience, making them +leap to their feet, cheering for several minutes. "As a last resource," +he cried, "we will be prepared to defend ourselves." But the climax of +this memorable assembly was reached when the chairman, the Duke of +Abercorn, with upraised arm, and calling on the audience solemnly to +repeat the words one by one after him, gave out what became for the +future the motto and watchword of Ulster loyalty: "We will not have Home +Rule." It was felt that this simple negation constituted a solemn vow +taken by the delegates, both for themselves and for those they +represented--an act of self-dedication to which every loyal man and +woman in Ulster was committed, and from which there could be no turning +back. + +The principal Resolution, adopted unanimously by the Convention, +formulated the grounds on which the people of the Province based their +hostility to the separatist policy of Home Rule; and as frequent +reference was made to it in after-years as an authoritative definition +of Ulster policy, it may be worth while to recall its terms: + + "That this Convention, consisting of 11,879 delegates representing + the Unionists of every creed, class, and party throughout Ulster, + appointed at public meetings held in every electoral division of + the Province, hereby solemnly resolves and declares: 'That we + express the devoted loyalty of Ulster Unionists to the Crown and + Constitution of the United Kingdom; that we avow our fixed resolve + to retain unchanged our present position as an integral portion of + the United Kingdom, and protest in the most unequivocal manner + against the passage of any measure that would rob us of our + inheritance in the Imperial Parliament, under the protection of + which our capital has been invested and our homes and rights + safeguarded; that we record our determination to have nothing to do + with a Parliament certain to be controlled by men responsible for + the crime and outrages of the Land League, the dishonesty of the + Plan of Campaign, and the cruelties of boycotting, many of whom + have shown themselves the ready instruments of clerical domination; + that we declare to the people of Great Britain our conviction that + the attempt to set up such a Parliament in Ireland will inevitably + result in disorder, violence, and bloodshed, such as have not been + experienced in this century, and announce our resolve to take no + part in the election or proceedings of such a Parliament, the + authority of which, should it ever be constituted, we shall be + forced to repudiate; that we protest against this great question, + which involves our lives, property, and civil rights, being treated + as a mere side-issue in the impending electoral struggle; that we + appeal to those of our fellow countrymen who have hitherto been in + favour of a separate Parliament to abandon a demand which + hopelessly divides Irishmen, and to unite with us under the + Imperial Legislature in developing the resources and furthering the + best interests of our common country.'" + +There can be no doubt that the Ulster Convention of 1892, and the +numerous less imposing demonstrations which followed on both sides of +the Channel and took their tone from it, of which the most notable was +the great meeting at the Albert Hall in London on the 22nd of April, +1893, had much effect in impressing and instructing public opinion, and +thus preparing the way for the smashing defeat of the Liberal Home Rule +Party in the General Election of 1895. After that event vigilance again +relaxed during the ten years of Unionist predominance which followed. +But the organisation was kept intact, and its democratic method of +appointing delegates in every polling district provided a permanent +electoral machinery for the Unionist Party in the constituencies, as +well as the framework for the Ulster Unionist Council, which was brought +into existence in 1905, largely through the efforts of Mr. William +Moore, M.P. for North Armagh. This Council, with its executive Standing +Committee, was thenceforward the acknowledged authority for determining +all questions of Unionist policy in Ulster. + +Its first meeting was held on the 3rd of March, 1905, under the +presidency of Colonel James McCalmont, M.P. for East Antrim. The first +ten members of the Standing Committee were nominated by Colonel +Saunderson, M.P., as chairman of the Ulster Parliamentary Party. They +were, in addition to the chairman himself, the Duke of Abercorn, the +Marquis of Londonderry, the Earl of Erne, the Earl of Ranfurly, Colonel +James McCalmont, M.P., the Hon. R.T. O'Neill, M.P., Mr. G. Wolff, M.P., +Mr. J.B. Lonsdale, M.P., and Mr. William Moore, K.C., M.P. These +nominations were confirmed by a ballot of the members of the Council, +and twenty other members were elected forthwith to form the Standing +Committee. This first Executive Committee of the organisation which for +the next fifteen years directed the policy of Ulster Unionism included +several names that were from this time forward among the most prominent +in the movement. There were the two eminent Liberals, Mr. Thomas +Sinclair and Mr. Thomas Andrews, and Mr. John Young, all three of whom +were members of the Irish Privy Council; Colonel R.H. Wallace, C.B., Mr. +W.H.H. Lyons, and Sir James Stronge, leaders of the Orangemen; Colonel +Sharman-Crawford, Mr. E.M. Archdale, Mr. W.J. Allen, Mr. R.H. Reade, and +Sir William Ewart. Among several "Unionist candidates for Ulster +constituencies" who were at the same meeting co-opted to the Council, we +find the names of Captain James Craig and Mr. Denis Henry, K.C. The Duke +of Abercorn accepted the position of President of the Council, and Mr. +E.M. Archdale was elected chairman of the Standing Committee. Mr. T.H. +Gibson was appointed secretary. In October 1906 the latter resigned his +post owing to failing health, and, on the motion of Mr. William Moore, +M.P., Mr. Richard Dawson Bates, a solicitor practising in Belfast, was +"temporarily" appointed to fill the vacancy. This temporary appointment +was never formally made permanent, but no question in regard to the +secretaryship was ever raised, for Mr. Bates performed the duties year +after year to the complete satisfaction of everyone connected with the +organisation, and in a manner that earned the gratitude of all Ulster +Unionists. The funds at the disposal of the Council in 1906 only enabled +a salary of ÂŁ100 a year to be paid to the secretary--a salary that was +purely nominal in the case of a professional gentleman of Mr. Bates's +standing; but the spirit in which he took up his duties was seen two +years later, when it was found that out of this salary he had himself +been paying for clerical assistance; and then, of course, this matter +was properly adjusted, which the improved financial position of the +Council happily rendered possible. + +The declared purpose of the Ulster Unionist Council was to form a union +of all local Unionist Associations in Ulster; to keep the latter in +constant touch with their parliamentary representatives; and "to be the +medium of expressing Ulster Unionist opinion as current events may from +time to time require." It consisted at first of not more than 200 +members, of whom 100 represented local Associations, and 50 represented +the Orange Lodges, the remaining 50 being made up of Ulster members of +both Houses of Parliament and of certain "distinguished residents in or +natives of Ulster" to be co-opted by the Council. As time went on the +Council was considerably enlarged, and its representative character +improved. In 1911 the elected membership was raised to 370, and included +representatives of local Associations, Orange Lodges, Unionist Clubs, +and the Derry Apprentice Boys. In 1918 representatives of the Women's +Associations were added, and the total elected membership was increased +to 432. The delegates elected by the various constituent bodies were in +the fullest sense representative men; they were drawn from all classes +of the population; and, by the regularity with which they attended +meetings of the Council whenever business of any importance was to be +transacted, they made it the most effective political organisation in +the United Kingdom. + +A campaign of public meetings in England and Scotland conducted jointly +by the Ulster Unionist Council and the Irish Unionist Alliance in 1908 +led to a scheme of co-operation between the two bodies, the one +representing Unionists in the North and the other those in the southern +Provinces, which worked smoothly and effectively. A joint Committee of +the Unionist Associations of Ireland was therefore formed in the same +year, the organisations represented on it being the two already named +and the Ulster Loyalist Anti-Repeal Union. The latter, which in earlier +years had done excellent spade-work under the fostering zeal of Lord +Ranfurly and Mr. William Robert Young, was before 1911 amalgamated with +the Unionist Council, so that all rivalry and overlapping was +thenceforward eliminated from the organisation of Unionism in Ulster. +The Council in the North and the Irish Unionist Alliance in Dublin +worked in complete harmony both with each other and with the Union +Defence League in London, whose operations were carried on under the +direction of its founder, Mr. Walter Long. + +The women of Ulster were scarcely less active than the men in the matter +of organisation. Although, of course, as yet unenfranchised, they took +as a rule a keener interest in political matters--meaning thereby the +one absorbing question of the Union--than their sex in other parts of +the United Kingdom. When critical times for the Union arrived there was, +therefore, no apathy to be overcome by the Protestant women in Ulster. +Early in 1911 the "Ulster Women's Unionist Council" was formed under the +presidency of the Duchess of Abercorn, and very quickly became a most +effective organisation side by side with that of the men. The leading +spirit was the Marchioness of Londonderry, but that it was no +aristocratic affair of titled ladies may be inferred from the fact that +within twelve months of its formation between forty and fifty thousand +members were enrolled. A branch in Mr. Devlin's constituency of West +Belfast, which over four thousand women joined in its first month of +existence, of whom over 80 per cent, were mill-workers and shop-girls in +the district, held a very effective demonstration on the 11th of +January, 1912, at which Mr. Thomas Sinclair, the most universally +respected of Belfast's business men, made one of his many telling +speeches which familiarised the people with the commercial and financial +aspects of Home Rule, as it would be felt in Ulster. The central Women's +Council followed this up with a more imposing gathering in the Ulster +Hall on the 18th, which adopted with intense enthusiasm the declaration: +"We will stand by our husbands, our brothers, and our sons, in whatever +steps they may be forced to take in defending our liberties against the +tyranny of Home Rule." + +Thus before the end of 1911 men and women alike were firmly organised in +Ulster for the support of their loyalist principles. But the most +effective organisation is impotent without leadership. Among the +declared "objects" of the Ulster Unionist Council was that of acting "as +a connecting link between Ulster Unionists and their parliamentary +representatives." In the House of Commons the Ulster Unionist Members, +although they recognised Colonel Edward Saunderson, M.P., as their +leader until his death in 1906, did not during his lifetime, or for some +years afterwards, constitute a separate party or group. When Colonel +Saunderson died the Right Hon. Walter Long, who had held the office of +Chief Secretary in the last year of the Unionist Administration, and who +had been elected for South Dublin in 1906, became leader of the Irish +Unionists--with whom those representing Ulster constituencies were +included. But in the elections of January 1910 Mr. Long was returned for +a London seat, and it therefore became necessary for Irish Unionists to +select another leader. + +By this time the Home Rule question had, as the people of Ulster +perceived, become once more a matter of vital urgency, although, as +explained in the preceding chapter, the electors of Great Britain were +too engrossed by other matters to give it a thought, and the Liberal +Ministers were doing everything in their power to keep it in the +background. The Ulster Members of the House of Commons realised, +therefore, the grave importance of finding a leader of the calibre +necessary for dealing on equal terms with such orators and +Parliamentarians as Mr. Asquith and Mr. John Redmond. They did not +deceive themselves into thinking that such a leader was to be found +among their own number. They could produce several capable speakers, and +men of judgment and good sense; but something more was needed for the +critical times they saw ahead. After careful consideration, they took a +step which in the event proved to be of momentous importance, and of +extreme good fortune, for the enterprise that the immediate future had +in store for them. Mr. J.B. Lonsdale, Member for Mid Armagh, Hon. +Secretary of the Irish Unionist Parliamentary Party, was deputed to +request Sir Edward Carson, K.C., to accept the leadership of the Irish +Unionist party in the House of Commons. + +Several days elapsed before they received an answer; but when it came it +was, happily for Ulster, an acceptance. It is easy to understand Sir +Edward Carson's hesitation before consenting to assume the leadership. +After carrying all before him in the Irish Courts, where he had been Law +Officer of the Crown, he had migrated to London, where he had been +Solicitor-General during the last six years of the Unionist +Administration, and by 1910 had attained a position of supremacy at the +English Bar, with the certain prospect of the highest legal advancement, +and with an extremely lucrative practice, which his family circumstances +made it no light matter for him to sacrifice, but which he knew it would +be impossible for him to retain in conjunction with the political duties +he was now urged to undertake. Although only in his fifty-seventh year, +he was never one of those who feel younger than their age; nor did he +minimise in his own mind the disability caused by his too frequent +physical ailments, which inclined him to shrink from embarking upon +fresh work the extent and nature of which could not be exactly foreseen. +As to ambition, there are few men who ever were less moved by it, but he +could not leave altogether out of consideration his firm +conviction--which ultimately proved to have been ill-founded--that +acceptance of the Ulster leadership would cut him off from all +promotion, whether political or legal.[11] + +Moreover, although for the moment it was the leadership of a +parliamentary group to which he was formally invited, it was obvious +that much more was really involved; the people in Ulster itself needed +guidance in the crisis that was visibly approaching. Ever since Lord +Randolph Churchill, with the concurrence of Lord Salisbury, first +inspired them in 1886 with the spirit of resistance in the last resort +to being placed under a Dublin Parliament, and assured them of British +sympathy and support if driven to that extremity, the determination of +Ulster in this respect was known to all who had any familiarity with the +temper of her people. Any man who undertook to lead them at such a +juncture as had been reached in 1910 must make that determination the +starting-point of his policy. It was a task that would require not only +statesmanship, but political courage of a high order. Lord Randolph +Churchill, in his famous Ulster Hall speech, had said that "no +portentous change such as the repeal of the Union, no change so +gigantic, could be accomplished by the mere passing of a law; the +history of the United States will teach us a different lesson." Ulster +always took her stand on the American precedent, though the exemplar was +Lincoln rather than Washington. But although the scale of operations +was, of course, infinitely smaller, the Ulster leader would, if it came +to the worst, be confronted by certain difficulties from which Abraham +Lincoln was free. He might have to follow the example of the latter in +forcibly resisting secession, but his legal position would be very +different. He might be called upon to resist technically legal +authority, whereas Lincoln had it at his back. To guide and control a +headstrong people, smarting under a sense of betrayal, when entering on +a movement pregnant with these issues, and at the same time to stand up +against a powerful Government on the floor of the House of Commons, was +an enterprise upon which any far-seeing man might well hesitate to +embark. + +Pondering over the invitation conveyed to him in his Chambers in the +Temple, Carson may, therefore, well have asked himself what inducement +there was for him to accept it. He was not an Ulsterman. As a Southerner +he was not familiar with the psychology of the northern Irish; the +sectarian narrowness popularly attributed to them outside their province +was wholly alien to his character; he was as far removed by nature from +a fire-eater as it was possible for man to be; he was not fond of +unnecessary exertion; he preferred the law to politics, and disliked +addressing political assemblies. In Parliament he represented, not a +popular constituency, but the University of Dublin. But, on the other +hand, he was to the innermost core of his nature an Irish Loyalist. His +youthful political sympathies had, indeed, been with the Liberal Party, +but he instantly severed his connection with it when Gladstone joined +hands with Parnell. He had made his name at the Irish Bar as Crown +Prosecutor in the troubled period of Mr. Balfour's Chief Secretaryship, +and this experience had bred in him a hearty detestation of the whining +sentimentality, the tawdry and exaggerated rhetoric, and the +manufactured discontent that found vent in Nationalist politics. A +sincere lover of Ireland, he had too much sound sense to credit the +notion that either the freedom or the prosperity of the country would be +increased by loosening the tie with Great Britain. Although he as yet +knew little of Ulster, he admired her resolute stand for the Union, her +passionate loyalty to the Crown; he watched with disgust the way in +which her defences were being sapped by the Liberal Party in England; +and the thought that such a people were perhaps on the eve of being +driven into subjection to the men whose character he had had so much +opportunity to gauge in the days of the Land League filled him with +indignation. + +If, therefore, he could be of service in helping to avert so great a +wrong Sir Edward Carson came to the conclusion that it would be shirking +a call of duty were he to decline the leadership that had been offered +him. Realising to the full all that it meant for himself--inevitable +sacrifice of income, of ease, of chances of promotion, a burden of +responsibility, a probability of danger--he gave his consent; and the +day he gave it--the 21st of February, 1910--should be marked for all +time as a red-letter day in the Ulster calendar. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[9] _Lord Randolph Churchill_, by the Right Hon. W.S. Churchill, vol. +ii, p. 62. + +[10] _The Times_, June 16th, 1892. + +[11] He expressed this conviction to the author in 1911. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE PARLIAMENT ACT: CRAIGAVON + + +A good many months were to elapse before the Unionist rank and file in +Ulster were brought into close personal touch with the new leader of the +Irish Unionist Parliamentary Party. The work to be done in 1910 lay +chiefly in London, where the constitutional struggle arising out of the +rejection of the "People's Budget" was raging. But shortly before the +General Election of December a demonstration was held in the Ulster Hall +in Belfast, in the hope of opening the eyes of the English and Scottish +electors to the danger of Home Rule. Mr. Walter Long was the principal +speaker, and Sir Edward Carson, in supporting the resolution, ended his +speech by quoting Lord Randolph Churchill's famous jingling phrase, +"Ulster will fight, and Ulster will be right." + +On the 31st of January, 1911, when the elections were over, he went over +from London to preside at an important meeting of the Ulster Unionist +Council. The Annual Report of the Standing Committee, in welcoming his +succession to Mr. Long in the leadership, spoke of his requiring no +introduction to Ulstermen; and it is true that he had occasionally +spoken at meetings in Belfast, and that his recent speech in the Ulster +Hall had made an excellent impression. But he was not yet a really +familiar figure even in Belfast, while outside the city he was +practically unknown, except of course by repute. That a man of his +sagacity would quickly make his weight felt was never in doubt; but few +at that time can have anticipated the extent to which a stranger--with +an accent proclaiming an origin south of the Boyne--was in a short time +to captivate the hearts, and become literally the idolised leader, of +the Ulster democracy. + +For the latter are a people who certainly do not wear their hearts on +their sleeves for daws to peck at. In the eyes of the more volatile +southern Celts they seem a "dour" people. They are naturally reserved, +laconic of speech, without "gush," far from lavish in compliment, slow +to commit themselves or to give their confidence without good and proved +reason. + +Opportunity for the populace to get into closer touch with the leader +did not, however, come till the autumn. He was unable to attend the +Orange celebration on the 12th of July, when the anniversary, which +preceded by less than a month the "removal of the last obstacle to Home +Rule" by the passing of the Parliament Act, was kept with more than the +usual fervour, and the speeches proved that the gravity of the situation +was fully appreciated. The Marquis of Londonderry, addressing an immense +concourse of Belfast Lodges, stated that it was the first time an +Ex-Viceroy had been present at an Orange gathering, but that he had +deliberately created the precedent owing to his sense of the danger +threatening the Loyalist cause. + +It was the first of innumerable similar actions by which Lord +Londonderry identified himself whole-heartedly with the popular +movement, throwing aside all the conventional restraints of rank and +wealth, and thereby endearing himself to every man and woman in +Protestant Ulster. There was no more familiar figure in the streets of +Belfast. Barefooted street urchins, catching sight of him on the steps +of the Ulster Club, would gather round and, with free-and-easy +familiarity, shout "Three cheers for Londonderry." He knew everybody and +was everybody's friend. There was no aristocratic hauteur or aloofness +about his genial personality. He was in the habit of entertaining the +whole Unionist Council, some five hundred strong, at luncheon or dinner +as the occasion required, when important meetings of the delegates took +place. Distinguished political visitors from England could always be +invited over without thought for their entertainment, since a welcome at +Mount Stewart was never wanting. His financial support of the political +movement was equally open-handed. + +But, helpful as were his hospitality and his subscriptions, it was the +countenance and support of a man who had held high Cabinet office, and +especially the great position of Viceroy of Ireland, that made Lord +Londonderry's full participation an asset of incalculable value to the +cause he espoused. Moreover, while he was always ready to cross the +Channel, even if for a few hours only, when wanted for any conference or +public meeting, never pleading his innumerable social and political +engagements in London or the North of England as an excuse for absence, +his natural modesty of character made it easy for him to act under the +leadership of another. Indeed, he underrated his own abilities; but +there are probably not many men of his prominence and antecedents who, +if similarly placed, would have been able to give, without a trace of +_amour-propre,_ to a leader who had in former years been his own +official subordinate, the consistently loyal backing that Lord +Londonderry gave to Sir Edward Carson. + +But, although there never was the slightest friction between the two +men, a difference of opinion between them on an important point showed +itself within a few months of Carson's acceptance of the leadership. In +July 1911 the excitement over the Parliament Bill reached its climax. +When the Government announced that the King had given his assent to the +creation of whatever number of peerages might be required for carrying +the measure through the Upper House, the party known as "Die Hards" were +for rejecting it and taking the consequences; while against this policy +were ranged Lord Lansdowne, Lord Curzon, and other Unionist leaders, who +advocated the acceptance of the Bill under protest. On the 20th of July +Carson told Lansdowne that in his judgment "the disgrace and ignominy of +surrender on the question far outweighed any temporary advantage" to be +gained by the two years' delay of Home Rule which the Parliament Bill +would secure.[12] Lord Londonderry, on the other hand, supported the +view taken by Lord Lansdowne, and he voted with the majority who carried +the Bill on the 10th of August. This step temporarily clouded his +popularity in Ulster, but not many weeks passed before he completely +regained the confidence and affection of the people, and the difference +of opinion never in the smallest degree interrupted the harmony of his +relations with Sir Edward Carson. + +The true position of affairs in relation to Home Rule had not yet been +grasped by the British public. As explained in a former chapter, it had +not been in any real sense an issue in the two General Elections of the +previous year, and throughout the spring and summer of 1911 popular +interest in England and Scotland was still wholly occupied with the +fight between "Peers and People" and the impending blow to the power of +the Second Chamber; and the coronation festivities also helped to divert +attention from the political consequences to which the authors of the +Parliament Bill intended it to lead. + +The first real awakening was brought about by an immense demonstration +held at Craigavon, on the outskirts of Belfast, on the 23rd of +September. The main purpose of this historic gathering was to bring the +populace of Ulster face to face with their new leader, and to give him +an opportunity of making a definite pronouncement of a policy for +Ulster, in view of the entirely novel situation resulting from the +passing of the Parliament Act. + +For that Act made it possible for the first time for the Liberal Home +Rule Party to repeal the Act of Union without an appeal to the country. +It enacted that any Bill which in three successive sessions was passed +without substantial alteration through the House of Commons might be +presented for the Royal Assent without the consent of the Lords; and an +amendment to exclude a Home Rule Bill from its operation had been +successfully resisted by the Government. It also reduced the maximum +legal duration of a Parliament from seven to five years; but the +existing Parliament was still in its first session, and there was +therefore ample time, under the provisions of the new Constitution, to +pass a Home Rule Bill before the next General Election, as the coalition +of parties in favour of Home Rule constituted a substantial majority in +the House of Commons. + +The question, therefore, which the Ulster people had now to decide was +no longer simply how they could bring about the rejection of a Home Rule +Bill by propaganda in the British constituencies, as they had hitherto +done with unfailing success, although that object was still kept in +view, but what course they should adopt if a Home Rule Act should be +placed on the Statute-book without those constituencies being consulted. +Was the day at last approaching when Lord Randolph Churchill's +exhortation must be obeyed? Or were they to be compelled, because the +Cabinet had coerced the Sovereign and tricked the people by straining +the royal prerogative in a manner described by Mr. Balfour as "a gross +violation of constitutional liberty," to submit with resignation to the +government of their country by the "rebel party "--the party controlled +by clerical influence, and boasting of the identity of its aims with +those of Wolfe Tone and Robert Emmet? This was the real problem in the +minds of those who flocked to Craigavon on Saturday, the 23rd of +September, 1911, to hear what proposals Sir Edward Carson had to lay +before his followers. + +Craigavon was the residence of Captain James Craig, Member of Parliament +for East Down. It is a spacious country house standing on a hill above +the road leading from Belfast to Holywood, with a fine view of Belfast +Lough and the distant Antrim coast beyond the estuary. The lawn in front +of the house, sloping steeply to the shore road, forms a sort of natural +amphitheatre offering ideal conditions for out-of-door oratory to an +unlimited audience. At the meeting on the 23rd of September the platform +was erected near the crest of the hill, enabling the vast audience to +spread out fan-wise over the lower levels, where even the most distant +had the speakers clearly in view, even if many of them, owing to the +size of the gathering, were unable to hear the spoken word. + +It was on this occasion that Captain Craig, by the care with which every +minute detail of the arrangements was thought out and provided for, +first gave evidence of his remarkable gift for organisation that was to +prove so invaluable to the Ulster cause in the next few years. The +greater part of the audience arrived in procession, which, starting +from the centre of the city of Belfast, took over two hours to pass a +given point, at the quick march in fours. All the Belfast Orange Lodges, +and representative detachments from the County Grand Lodges, together +with Lord Templetown's Unionist Clubs, and other organisations, +including the Women's Association, took part in the procession. But +immense numbers of people attended the meeting independently; it was +calculated that not less than a hundred thousand were present during the +delivery of Sir Edward Carson's speech, and although there must have +been very many of them who could hear nothing, the complete silence +maintained by all was a remarkable proof--or so it appeared to men +experienced in out-door political demonstrations--of the earnestness of +spirit that prevailed. To some it may appear still more remarkable that, +with such a concourse of people within a couple of miles of Belfast, not +a single policeman was present, and that none was required; no +disturbance of any sort occurred during the day, nor was a single case +of drunkenness observed. + +It had been intended that the Duke of Abercorn, whose inspiring +exhortation as chairman of the Ulster Convention in 1892 had never been +forgotten, should preside over the meeting; but, as he was prevented by +a family bereavement from being present, his place was taken by the Earl +of Erne, Grand Master of the Orange Order. The scene, when he rose to +open the proceedings, was indescribable in its impressiveness. Some +members of the Eighty Club happened to be in Ireland at the time, for +the purpose of "seeing for themselves" in the familiar fashion of such +political tourists; but they did not think it worth while to witness +what Ulster was doing at Craigavon. If they had, they could have made a +report to their political leaders which, had it been truthful, might +have averted some irreparable blunders; for they could hardly have +looked upon that sea of eager faces, or have observed the enthusiasm +that possessed such a host of earnest and resolute men, without revising +the opinion, which they had accepted from Mr. Redmond, that there was +"no Ulster question." + +The meeting took the form of according a welcome to Sir Edward Carson +as the new leader of Irish Loyalism, and of Ulster in particular. But +before he rose to speak a significant note had already been sounded. +Lord Erne struck it when he quoted words which were to become very +familiar in Ulster--the letter from Gustavus Hamilton, Governor of +Enniskillen in 1689, to "divers of the nobility and gentry in the +north-east part of Ulster," in which he declared: "We stand upon our +guard, and do resolve by the blessing of God to meet our danger rather +than to await it." And the veteran Liberal, Mr. Thomas Andrews, in +moving the resolution of welcome to the leader, expressed the universal +sentiment of the multitude when he exclaimed, "We will never, never bow +the knee to the disloyal factions led by Mr. John Redmond. We will never +submit to be governed by rebels who acknowledge no law but the laws of +the Land League and illegal societies." + +A great number of Addresses from representative organisations were then +presented to Sir Edward Carson, in many of which the determination to +resist the jurisdiction of a Dublin Parliament was plainly declared. But +such declarations, although they undoubtedly expressed the mind of the +people, were after all in quite general terms. For a quarter of a +century innumerable variations on the theme "Ulster will fight, and +Ulster will be right," had been fiddled on Ulster platforms, so that +there was some excuse for the belief of those who were wholly ignorant +of North Irish character that these utterances were no more than the +commonplaces of Ulster rhetoric. The time had only now come, however, +when their reality could be put to the test. Carson's speech at +Craigavon crystallised them into practical politics. + +Sir Edward Carson's public speaking has always been entirely free from +rhetorical artifice. He seldom made use of metaphor or imagery, or +elaborate periods, or variety of gesture. His language was extremely +simple and straightforward; but his mobile expression--so variable that +his enemies saw in it a suggestion of Mephistopheles, and his friends a +resemblance to Dante--his measured diction, and his skilful use of a +deep-toned voice, gave a remarkable impressiveness to all he said--even, +indeed, to utterances which, if spoken by another, would sometimes have +sounded commonplace or obvious. Sarcasm he could use with effect, and a +telling point was often made by an epigrammatic phrase which delighted +his hearers. And, more than all else, his meaning was never in doubt. In +lucidity of statement he excelled many much greater orators, and was +surpassed by none; and these qualities, added to his unmistakable +sincerity and candour, made him one of the most persuasive of speakers +on the platform, as he was also, of course, in the Law Courts. + +The moment he began to speak at Craigavon the immense multitude who had +come to welcome him felt instinctively the grip of his power. The +contrast to all the previous scene--the cheering, the enthusiasm, the +marching, the singing, the waving of handkerchiefs and flags--was deeply +impressive, when, after a hushed pause of some length, he called +attention without preface to the realities of the situation in a few +simple sentences of slow and almost solemn utterance: + + "I know full well what the Resolution you have just passed means; I + know what all these Addresses mean; I know the responsibility you + are putting upon me to-day. In your presence I cheerfully accept + it, grave as it is, and I now enter into a compact with you, and + every one of you, and with the help of God you and I joined + together--giving you the best I can, and you giving me all your + strength behind me--we will yet defeat the most nefarious + conspiracy that has ever been hatched against a free people. But I + know full well that this Resolution has a still wider meaning. It + shows me that you realise the gravity of the situation that is + before us, and it shows me that you are here to express your + determination to see this fight out to a finish." + +He went on to expose the hollowness of the allegation, then current in +Liberal circles, that Ulster's repugnance to Home Rule was less +uncompromising than it formerly had been. On the contrary, he believed +that "there never was a moment at which men were more resolved than at +the present, with all the force and strength that God has given them, +to maintain the British connection and their rights as citizens of the +United Kingdom." Apart from principle or sentiment, that was an +attitude, he maintained, dictated by practical good sense. He showed how +Ireland had been "advancing in prosperity in an unparalleled measure," +for which he could quote the authority of Mr. Redmond himself, although +the Nationalist leader had omitted to notice that this advance had taken +place under the legislative Union, and, as Carson contended, in +consequence of it. He laid special emphasis on the point, never +forgotten, that the danger in which they stood was due to the +hoodwinking of the British constituencies by Mr. Asquith's Ministry. + + "Make no mistake; we are going to fight with men who are prepared + to play with loaded dice. They are prepared to destroy their own + Constitution, so that they may pass Home Rule, and they are + prepared to destroy the very elements of constitutional government + by withdrawing the question from the electorate, who on two + previous occasions refused to be a party to it." + +He ridiculed the "paper safeguards" which Liberal Ministers tried to +persuade them would amply protect Ulster Protestants under a Dublin +Parliament, giving a vivid picture of the plight they would be in under +a Nationalist administration, which, he declared, meant "a tyranny to +which we never can and never will submit"; and then, in a pregnant +passage, he summarised the Ulster case: + + "Our demand is a very simple one. We ask for no privileges, but we + are determined that no one shall have privileges over us. We ask + for no special rights, but we claim the same rights from the same + Government as every other part of the United Kingdom. We ask for + nothing more; we will take nothing less. It is our inalienable + right as citizens of the British Empire, and Heaven help the men + who try to take it from us." + +It was all no doubt a mere restatement--though an admirably lucid and +forcible restatement--of doctrine with which his hearers had long been +familiar. The great question still awaited an answer--how was effect to +be given to this resolve, now that there was no longer hope of +salvation through the sympathy and support of public opinion in Great +Britain? This was what the eager listeners at Craigavon hoped in hushed +expectancy to hear from their new leader. He did not disappoint them: + + "Mr. Asquith, the Prime Minister, says that we are not to be + allowed to put our case before the British electorate. Very well. + By that determination he drives you in the ultimate result to rely + upon your own strength, and we must follow all that out to its + logical conclusion.... That involves something more than that we do + not accept Home Rule. We must be prepared, in the event of a Home + Rule Bill passing, with such measures as will carry on for + ourselves the government of those districts of which we have + control. We must be prepared--and time is precious in these + things--the morning Home Rule passes, ourselves to become + responsible for the government of the Protestant Province of + Ulster. We ask your leave at the meeting of the Ulster Unionist + Council, to be held on Monday, there to discuss the matter, and to + set to work, to take care that at no time and at no intervening + interval shall we lack a Government in Ulster, which shall be a + Government either by the Imperial Parliament, or by ourselves." + +Here, then, was the first authoritative declaration of a definite policy +to be pursued by Ulster in the circumstances then existing or foreseen, +and it was a policy that was followed with undeviating consistency under +Carson's leadership for the next nine years. To be left under the +government of the Imperial Parliament was the alternative to be +preferred, and was asserted to be an inalienable right; but, if all +their efforts to that end should be defeated, then "a government by +ourselves" was the only change that could be tolerated. Rather than +submit to the jurisdiction of a Nationalist legislature and +administration, they would themselves set up a Government "_in those +districts of which they had control_." It was because, when the first of +these alternatives had to be sorrowfully abandoned, the second was +offered in the Government of Ireland Act of 1920 that Ulster did not +actively oppose the passing of that statute. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[12] _Annual Register_, 1911, p. 175. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE CRAIGAVON POLICY AND THE U.F.V. + + +No time was lost in giving practical shape to the policy outlined at +Craigavon, and in taking steps to give effect to it. On the 25th of +September a meeting of four hundred delegates representing the Ulster +Unionist Council, the County Grand Orange Lodges, and the Unionist +Clubs, was held in Belfast, and, after lengthy discussion in private, +when the only differences of opinion were as to the most effective +methods of proceeding, two resolutions were unanimously adopted and +published. It is noteworthy that, at this early stage in the movement, +out of nearly four hundred popularly elected delegates, numbers of whom +were men holding responsible positions or engaged in commercial +business, not one raised an objection to the policy itself, although its +grave possibilities were thoroughly appreciated by all present. Both +Lord Londonderry, who presided, and Sir Edward Carson left no room for +doubt in that respect; the developments they might be called upon to +face were thoroughly searched and explained, and the fullest opportunity +to draw back was offered to any present who might shrink from going on. + +The first Resolution registered a "call upon our leaders to take any +steps they may consider necessary to resist the establishment of Home +Rule in Ireland, solemnly pledging ourselves that under no conditions +shall we acknowledge any such Government"; and it gave an assurance that +those whom the delegates represented would give the leaders "their +unwavering support in any danger they may be called upon to face." The +second decided that "the time has now come when we consider it our +imperative duty to make arrangements for the provisional government of +Ulster," and for that purpose it went on to appoint a Commission of +five leading local men, namely, Captain James Craig, M.P., Colonel +Sharman Crawford, M.P., the Right Hon. Thomas Sinclair, Colonel R.H. +Wallace, C.B., and Mr. Edward Sclater, Secretary of the Unionist Clubs, +whose duties were _(a)_ "to keep Sir Edward Carson in constant and close +touch with the feeling of Unionist Ulster," and _(b)_ "to take immediate +steps, in consultation with Sir Edward Carson, to frame and submit a +Constitution for a Provisional Government of Ulster, having due regard +to the interests of the Loyalists in other parts of Ireland: the powers +and duration of such Provisional Government to come into operation on +the day of the passage of any Home Rule Bill, to remain in force until +Ulster shall again resume unimpaired her citizenship in the United +Kingdom." + +At the luncheon given by Lord Londonderry after this business +conference, Carson took occasion to refer to a particularly contemptible +slander to which currency had been given some days previously by Sir +John Benn, one of the Eighty Club strolling seekers after truth. It was +perhaps hardly worth while to notice a statement so silly as that the +Ulster leader had been ready a few weeks previously to betray Ulster in +order to save the House of Lords, but Carson did not yet realise the +degree to which he had already won the confidence of his followers; +moreover, the incident proved useful as an opportunity of emphasising +the uninterrupted mutual confidence between Lord Londonderry and +himself, in spite of their divergence of opinion over the Parliament +Bill. It also gave those present a glimpse of their leader's power of +shrivelling meanness with a few caustic drops of scorn. + +The proceedings at Craigavon and at the Conference naturally created a +sensation on both sides of the Channel. They brought the question of +Ireland once more, for the first time since 1895, into the forefront of +British politics. The House of Commons might spend the autumn ploughing +its way through the intricacies of the National Insurance Bill, but +everyone knew that the last and bitterest battle against Home Rule was +now approaching. And, now that the Parliament Act was safely on the +Statute-book, Ministers had no further interest in concealment. During +the elections, from which alone they could procure authority for +legislation of so fundamental a character, Mr. Asquith, as we have seen, +regarded any inquiry as to his intentions as "confusing the issue." But +now that he had the constituencies in his pocket for five years and +nothing further was to be feared from that quarter, his cards were +placed on the table. + +On the 3rd of October Mr. Winston Churchill told his followers at Dundee +that the Government would introduce a Home Rule Bill next session "and +press it forward with all their strength," and he added the +characteristic injunction that "they must not take Sir Edward Carson too +seriously." But that advice did not prevent Mr. Herbert Samuel, another +member of the Cabinet, from putting in an appearance in Belfast four +days later, where he threw himself into a ludicrously unequal combat +with Carson, exerting himself to calm the fears of business men as to +the effect of Home Rule on their prosperity; while, in the same week, +Carson himself, at a great Unionist demonstration in Dublin, described +the growth of Irish prosperity in the last twenty years as "almost a +fairy tale," which would be cut short by Home Rule. On the 19th of the +same month Mr. Birrell, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, in a speech at +Ilfracombe, gave some scraps of meagre information in regard to the +provisions that would be included in the coming Home Rule Bill; and on +the 21st Mr. Redmond announced that the drafting of the Bill was almost +completed, and that the measure would be "satisfactory to Nationalists +both in principle and detail."[13] + +So the autumn of 1911 wore through--Ministers doling out snippets of +information; members of Parliament and the Press urging them to give +more. The people of Ulster, on the other hand, were not worrying over +details. They did not require to be told that the principle would be +"satisfactory to Nationalists," for they knew that the Government had to +"toe the line"; nor were they in doubt that what was satisfactory to +Nationalists must be unsatisfactory to themselves. What they were +thinking about was not what the Bill would or would not contain, but the +preparations they were making to resist its operation. + +A day or two after Craigavon the leader spoke at a great meeting in +Portrush, after receiving, at every important station he passed _en +route_ from Belfast, enthusiastic addresses expressing confidence in +himself and approval of the Craigavon declaration; and in this speech he +considerably amplified what he had said at Craigavon. After explaining +how the whole outlook had been changed by the Parliament Act, which cut +them off from appeal to the sympathies of Englishmen, he pointed out to +his hearers the only course now open to them, namely, that resolved upon +at Craigavon. + + "Some people," he continued, "say that I am preaching disorder. No, + in the course I am advising I am preaching order, because I believe + that, unless we are in a position ourselves to take over the + government of those places we are able to control, the people of + Ulster, if let loose without that organisation, and without that + organised determination, might in a foolish moment find themselves + in a condition of antagonism and grips with their foes which I + believe even the present Government would lament. And therefore I + say that the course we recommend--and it has been solemnly adopted + by your four hundred representatives, after mature discussion in + which every man understood what it was he was voting about--is the + only course that I know of that is possible under the circumstances + of this Province which is consistent with the maintenance of law + and order and the prevention of bloodshed." + +Superficially, these words may appear boldly paradoxical; but in fact +they were prophetic, for the closest observers of the events of the next +three years, familiar with Irish character and conditions, were in no +doubt whatever that it was the disciplined organisation of the Ulster +Unionists alone that prevented the outbreak of serious disorders in the +North. There was, on the contrary, a diminution even of ordinary crime, +accompanied by a marked improvement in the general demeanour, and +especially in the sobriety, of the people. + +The speaker then touched upon a question which naturally arose out of +the Craigavon policy of resistance to Home Rule. He had been asked, he +said, whether Ulster proposed to fight against the forces of the Crown. +He had already contrasted their own methods with those of the +Nationalists, saying that Ulstermen would never descend to action "from +behind hedges or by maiming cattle, or by boycotting of individuals"; he +now added that they were "not going to fight the Army and the Navy ... +God forbid that any loyal Irishman should ever shoot or think of +shooting the British soldier or sailor. But, believe me, any Government +will ponder long before it dares to shoot a loyal Ulster Protestant, +devoted to his country and loyal to his King." + +In newspaper reports of public meetings, sayings of pith and moment are +often attributed to "A Voice" from the audience. On this occasion, when +Sir Edward Carson referred to the Army and the Navy, "A Voice" cried +"They are on our side." It was the truth, as subsequent events were to +show. It would indeed have been strange had it been otherwise. Men +wearing His Majesty's uniform, who had been quartered at one time in +Belfast or Carrickfergus and at another in Cork or Limerick, could be +under no illusion as to where that uniform was held in respect and where +it was scorned. The certainty that the reality of their own loyalty was +understood by the men who served the King was a sustaining thought to +Ulstermen through these years of trial. + +This Portrush speech cleared the air. It made known the _modus +operandi_, as Craigavon had made known the policy. Henceforward Ulster +Unionists had a definite idea of what was before them, and they had +already unbounded confidence both in the sagacity and in the courage of +the man who had become their leader. + +The Craigavon meeting led, almost by accident as it were, to a +development the importance of which was hardly foreseen at the time. +Among the processionists who passed through Captain Craig's grounds +there was a contingent of Orangemen from County Tyrone who attracted +general attention by their smart appearance and the orderly precision of +their marching. On inquiry it was learnt that these men had of their own +accord been learning military drill. The spirit of emulation naturally +suggested to others to follow the example of the Tyrone Lodges. It was +soon followed, not by Orangemen alone, but by members of the Unionist +Clubs, very many of whom belonged to no Orange Lodge. Within a few +months drilling--of an elementary kind, it is true--had become popular +in many parts of the country. Colonel R.H. Wallace, C.B., who had served +with distinction in the South African War, where he commanded the 5th +Royal Irish Rifles, was a prominent member of the Orange Institution, in +which he was in 1911 Grand Master of the Belfast Lodges, and Grand +Secretary of the Provincial Grand Orange Lodge of Ulster; and, being a +man of marked ability and widespread popularity, his influence was +powerful and extensive. He was a devoted adherent of Carson, and there +was no keener spirit among the Ulster Loyalist leaders. Colonel Wallace +was among the first to perceive the importance of this military drilling +that was taking place throughout Ulster, and through his leading +position in the Orange Institution his encouragement did much to extend +the practice. + +Having been a lawyer by profession before South Africa called him to +serve his country in arms, Wallace was careful to ascertain how the law +stood with regard to the drilling that was going on. He consulted Mr. +James Campbell (afterwards Lord Chancellor of Ireland), who advised that +any two Justices of the Peace had power to authorise drill and other +military exercises within the area of their jurisdiction on certain +conditions. The terms of the application made by Colonel Wallace himself +to two Belfast magistrates show what the conditions were, and, under the +circumstances of the time, are not without a flavour of humour. The +request stated that Wallace and another officer of the Belfast Grand +Lodge were-- + +"Authorised on behalf of the members thereof to apply for lawful +authority to them to hold meetings of the members of the said Lodge and +the Lodges under its jurisdiction for the purpose of training and +drilling themselves and of being trained and drilled to the use of arms, +and for the purpose of practising military exercises, movements, and +evolutions. And we are authorised, on their behalf, to give their +assurance that they desire this authority as faithful subjects of His +Majesty the King, and their undertaking that such authority is sought +and will be used by them only to make them more efficient citizens for +the purpose of maintaining the constitution of the United Kingdom as now +established and protecting their rights and liberties thereunder." + +The _bona fides_ of an application couched in these terms, which +followed well-established precedent, could not be questioned by any +loyal subject of His Majesty. The purpose for which the licence was +requested was stated with literal exactness and without subterfuge. +There was nothing seditious or revolutionary in it, and the desire of +men to make themselves more efficient citizens for maintaining the +established government of their country, and their rights and liberties +under it, was surely not merely innocent of offence, but praiseworthy. + +Such, at all events, was the view taken by numbers of strictly +conscientious holders of the Commission of the Peace throughout Ulster, +with the result that the Ulster Volunteer Force sprang into existence +within a few months without the smallest violation of the law. +Originating in the Orange Lodges and the Unionist Clubs, it soon +enrolled large numbers of men outside both those organisations. Men with +military experience interested themselves in training the volunteers in +their districts; the local bodies were before long drawn into a single +coherent organisation on a territorial basis, which soon gave rise to an +_esprit de corps_ leading to friendly rivalry in efficiency between the +local battalions. + +This Ulster Volunteer Force had as yet no arms in their hands, but, as +the first act of the Liberal Government on coming into power in 1906 had +been to drop the "coercion" Act which prohibited the importation of +firearms into Ireland, there was no reason why, in the course of time, +the U.V.F. should not be fully armed with as complete an avoidance of +illegality as that with which in the meantime they were acquiring some +knowledge of military duties. But for the present they had to be content +with wooden "dummy" rifles with which to learn their drill, an expedient +which, as will be seen later on, excited the derisive mirth of the +English Radical Press. + +The application to the Belfast Justices for leave to drill the Orange +Lodges was dated the 5th of January, 1912. For some months both before +and after that date the formation of new battalions proceeded rapidly, +so that by the summer of 1912 the force was of considerable strength and +decent efficiency; but already in the autumn of 1911 it soon became +apparent that the existence of such a force would give a backing to the +Craigavon policy which nothing else could provide. At Craigavon the +leader of the movement had foreshadowed the possibility of having to +take charge of the government of those districts which the Loyalists +could control. The U.V.F. made such control a practical proposition, and +the consciousness of this throughout Ulster gave a solid reality to the +movement which it must otherwise have lacked. + +The special Commission of Five set to work immediately after the +Craigavon meeting to carry out the task entrusted to them by the +Council. But, as more than two years must elapse before the Home Rule +Bill could become law under the Parliament Act, there was no immediate +urgency in making arrangements for setting up the Provisional Government +resolved upon by the Council on the 25th of September, 1911, and the +outside public heard nothing about what was being done in the matter for +many months to come. + +Meantime the Ulster Loyalists watched with something akin to dismay the +dissensions in the Unionist party in England over the question of Tariff +Reform, which made impossible a united front against the revived attack +on the Union, and woefully weakened the effective force of the +Opposition both in Parliament and the country. Public opinion was +diverted from the one thing that really mattered--had Englishmen been +able to realise it--from an Imperial standpoint, no less than from the +standpoint of Irish Loyalists. On the 8th of November, 1911, mainly in +consequence of these dissensions, Mr. Balfour resigned the leadership of +the Unionist Party. This event was regarded in Ulster as a calamity. Mr. +Balfour was the ablest and most zealous living defender of the Union, +and the great services he had rendered to the country during his +memorable Chief Secretaryship were not forgotten. Ulstermen, in whose +eyes the tariff question was of very subordinate importance, feared that +no one could be found to take command of the Unionist forces comparable +with the Achilles who, as they supposed, was now retiring to his tent. + +What happened in regard to the vacant leadership is well known--how Mr. +Walter Long and Mr. Austen Chamberlain, after presenting themselves for +a day or two as rival candidates, patriotically agreed to stand aside +and give united support to Mr. Bonar Law in order to avoid a division in +the ranks of the party. It is less generally known that Mr. Bonar Law, +before consenting to his name being proposed, wrote and asked Sir Edward +Carson if he would accept the leadership, and that it was only when he +received an emphatic reply in the negative that he assumed the +responsibility himself. If this had been known at the time in Ulster +there can be little doubt that consternation would have been caused by +the refusal of their own leader to place himself at the head of the +whole Unionist Party. It is quite certain that Sir Edward Carson would +have been acceptable to the party meeting at the Carlton Club, for he +was then much better known to the party both in the House of Commons and +in the country than was Mr. Bonar Law, whose great qualities as +parliamentarian and statesman had not yet been revealed; but it is not +less certain that, if his first thought was to be of service to Ulster, +Carson acted wisely in maintaining a position of independence, in which +all his powers could continue to be concentrated on a single aim of +statecraft. + +At all events, the new leader of the Unionist Party was not long in +proving that the Ulster cause had suffered no set-back by the change, +and his constant and courageous backing of the Ulster leader won him +the unstinted admiration and affection of every Irish Loyalist. Mr. +Balfour also soon showed that he was no sulking Achilles; his loyalty to +the Unionist cause was undimmed; he never for a moment acted, as a +meaner man might, as if his successor were a supplanter; and within the +next few months he many times rose from beside Mr. Bonar Law in the +House of Commons to deliver some of the best speeches he ever made on +the question of Irish Government, full of cogent and crushing criticism +of the Home Rule proposals of Mr. Asquith. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[13] _Annual Register_, 1911, p. 228. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +MR. CHURCHILL IN BELFAST + + +At the women's meeting at the Ulster Hall on the 18th of January, +1912,[14] Lord Londonderry took occasion to recall once more to the +memory of his audience the celebrated speech delivered by Lord Randolph +Churchill in the same building twenty-six years before. That clarion +was, indeed, in no danger of being forgotten; but there happened at that +particular moment to be a very special reason for Ulstermen to remember +it, and the incident which was present in Londonderry's mind--a +Resolution passed by the Standing Committee of the Ulster Unionist +Council two days earlier--proved to be so distinct a turning-point in +the history of Ulster's stand for the Union that it claims more than a +passing mention. + +"Diligence and vigilance should be your watchword, so that the blow, if +it is coming, may not come upon you as a thief in the night, and may not +find you unready and taken by surprise." Such had been Lord Randolph's +warning. It was now learnt, with feelings in which disgust and +indignation were equally mingled, that Lord Randolph's son was bent on +coming to Belfast, not indeed as a thief in the night, but with +challenging audacity, to give his countenance, encouragement, and +support to the adherents of disloyalty whom Lord Randolph had told +Ulster to resist to the death. And not only was he coming to Belfast; he +was coming to the Ulster Hall--to the very building which his father's +oration had, as it were, consecrated to the Unionist cause, and which +had come to be regarded as almost a loyalist shrine. + +It is no doubt difficult for those who are unfamiliar with the +psychology of the North of Ireland to understand the anger which this +projected visit of Mr. Winston Churchill aroused in Belfast. His change +of political allegiance from the party which his father had so +brilliantly served and led, to the party which his father had so +pitilessly chastised, was of course displeasing to Conservatives +everywhere. Politicians who leave their friends to join their opponents +are never popular with those they abandon, and Mr. Winston Churchill was +certainly no exception. But such desertions, after the first burst of +wrath has evaporated, are generally accepted with a philosophic shrug in +what journalists call "political circles" in London, where plenty of +precedents for lapses from party virtue can be quoted. In the provinces, +even in England, resentment dies down less easily, and forgiveness is of +slow growth; but in Ulster, where a political creed is held with a +religious fervour, or, as a hostile critic might put it, with an +intolerance unknown in England, and where the dividing line between +"loyalty" and "disloyalty" is regarded almost as a matter of faith, the +man who passes from the one to the other arouses the same bitterness of +anger and contempt which soldiers feel for a deserter in face of the +enemy. + +To such sentiments there was added, in the case of Mr. Winston +Churchill, a shocked feeling that his appearance in the Ulster Hall as +an emissary of Home Rule would be an act not only of political apostasy +but of filial impiety. The prevailing sentiment in Belfast at the time +was expressed somewhat brutally, perhaps, in the local Press--"he is +coming to dance on his father's coffin." It was an outrage on their +feelings which the people of Belfast could not and would not tolerate. +If Mr. Churchill was determined to flaunt the green flag let him find a +more suitable site than the very citadel in which they had been exhorted +by his father to keep the Union Jack flying to the last. + +If anything could have added to the anger excited by this announcement +it would have been the fact that the Cabinet Minister was to be +accompanied on the platform of the Ulster Hall by Mr. Redmond and Mr. +Devlin, and that Lord Pirrie was to be his chairman. There was no more +unpopular citizen of Belfast than Lord Pirrie; and the reason was neatly +explained to English readers by the Special Correspondent of _The +Times_. "Lord Pirrie," he wrote, "deserted Unionism about the time the +Liberals acceded to power, and soon afterwards was made a Peer; whether +_propter hoc_ or only _post hoc_ I am quite unable to say, though no +Ulster Unionist has any doubts on the subject."[15] But that was not +quite the whole reason. That Lord Pirrie was an example of apostasy +"just for a riband to stick in his coat," was the general belief; but it +was also resented that a man who had amassed, not "a handful of silver," +but an enormous fortune, through a trade created by an eminent Unionist +firm, and under conditions brought about in Belfast by the Union with +Great Britain, should have kicked away the ladder by which he had +climbed from obscurity to wealth and rank. An additional cause of +offence, moreover, was that he was at that time trying to persuade +credulous people in England that there was in Ulster a party of Liberals +and Protestant Home Rulers, of which he posed as leader, although +everyone on the spot knew that the "party" would not fill a tramcar. Of +this party the same Correspondent of _The Times_ very truly said: + + "Nearly every prominent man in it has received an office or a + decoration--and the fact that, with all the power of patronage in + their hands for the last six years, the Government had been able to + make so small an inroad into the solid square of Ulster Unionism is + a remarkable testimony to the strength of the sentiment which gives + it cohesion." + +But a score of individuals in possession of an office equipped with +stamped stationery, and with a titled chairman of fabulous wealth, have +no difficulty in deluding strangers at a distance into the belief that +they are an influential and representative body of men. It was in +furtherance of the scheme for creating this false impression across the +Channel that Lord Pirrie and his so-called "Ulster Liberal Association" +invited Mr. Winston Churchill and the two Nationalist leaders to speak +in the Ulster Hall on the 8th of February, 1912, and that the +announcement of the fixture was made in the Press some three weeks +earlier. + +The Unionist leaders were not long left in ignorance of the public +excitement which this news created in the city. A specially summoned +meeting of the Standing Committee, with Londonderry in the chair, was +held on the 16th of January to consider what action, if any, should be +taken; but it was no simple matter they had to decide, especially in the +absence of their leader, Sir Edward Carson, who was kept in England by +great Unionist meetings which he was addressing in Lancashire. + +The reasons, on the one hand, for doing nothing were obvious enough. No +one, of course, suggested the possibility of preventing Mr. Churchill +coming to Belfast; but could even the Ulster Hall itself, the Loyalist +sanctuary, be preserved from the threatened desecration? It was the +property of the Corporation, and the Unionist political organisation had +no exclusive title to its use. The meeting could only be frustrated by +force in some form, or by a combination of force and stratagem. The +Standing Committee, all men of solid sense and judgment, several of whom +were Privy Councillors, were very fully alive to the objections to any +resort to force in such a matter. They valued freedom of speech as +highly as any Englishman, and they realised the odium that interference +with it might bring both on themselves and their cause; and the last +thing they desired at the present crisis was to alienate public sympathy +in Great Britain. The force of such considerations was felt strongly by +several members, indeed by all, of the Committee, and not least by Lord +Londonderry himself, whose counsel naturally carried great weight. + +But, on the other hand, the danger of a passive attitude was also fully +recognised. It was perfectly well understood that one of the chief +desires of the Liberal Government and its followers at this time was to +make the world believe that Ulster's opposition to Home Rule had +declined in strength in recent years; that there really was a +considerable body of Protestant opinion in agreement with Lord Pirrie, +and prepared to support Home Rule on "Liberal," if not on avowedly +"Nationalist" principles, and that the policy for which Carson, +Londonderry, and the Unionist Council stood was a gigantic piece of +bluff which only required to be exposed to disappear in general +derision. + +From this point of view the Churchill meeting could only be regarded as +a deliberate challenge and provocation to Ulster. It seemed probable +that the First Lord of the Admiralty had been selected for the mission +in preference to any other Minister precisely because he was Lord +Randolph's son. All this bluster about "fight and be right" was +traceable, so Liberal Ministers doubtless reasoned, to that unhappy +speech of "Winston's father"; let Winston go over to the same place and +explain his father away. If he obtained a hearing in the Ulster Hall in +the company of Redmond, Devlin, and Pirrie the legend of Ulster as an +impregnable loyalist stronghold would be wiped out, and Randolph's rant +could be made to appear a foolish joke in comparison with the more +mature and discriminating wisdom of Winston. + +It cannot, of course, be definitely asserted that the situation was thus +weighed deliberately by the Cabinet, or by Mr. Churchill himself. But, +if it was not, they must have been deficient in foresight; for there can +be no doubt, as several writers in the Press perceived, that the +transaction would so have presented itself to the mind of the public; +the psychological result would inure to the benefit of the Home Rulers. + +But there was also another consideration which could not be ignored by +the Standing Committee--namely, the attitude of that important +individual, the "man in the street." Among the innumerable +misrepresentations levelled at the Ulster Movement none was more common +than that it was confined to a handful of lords, landlords, and wealthy +employers of labour; and, as a corollary, that all the trouble was +caused by the perversity of a few individuals, of whom the most guilty +was Sir Edward Carson. The truth was very different. Even at the zenith +of his influence and popularity Sir Edward himself would have been +instantly disowned by the Ulster democracy if he had given away anything +fundamental to the Unionist cause. More than to anything else he owed +his power to his pledge, never violated, that he would never commit his +followers to any irretraceable step without the consent of the Council, +in which they were fully represented on a democratic basis. At the +particular crisis now reached popular feeling could not be safely +disregarded, and it was clearly understood by the Standing Committee +that public excitement over the coming visit of Mr. Churchill was only +being kept within bounds by the belief of the public that their leaders +would not "let them down." + +All these considerations were most carefully balanced at the meeting on +the 16th of January, and there were prolonged deliberations before the +decision was arrived at that some action must be taken to prevent the +Churchill meeting being held in the Ulster Hall, but that no obstacle +could, of course, be made to his speaking in any other building in +Belfast. The further question as to what this action should be was under +discussion when Colonel R.H. Wallace, C.B., Grand Master of the Belfast +Orangemen, and a man of great influence with all classes in the city as +well as in the neighbouring counties, entered the room and told the +Committee that people outside were expecting the Unionist Council to +devise means for stopping the Ulster Hall meeting; that they were quite +resolved to take matters into their own hands if the Council remained +passive; and that, in his judgment, the result in that event would +probably be very serious disorder and bloodshed, and the loss of all +control over the Unionist rank and file by their leaders. + +This information arrived too late to influence the decision on the main +question, but it confirmed its wisdom and set at rest the doubts which +some of the Committee had at first entertained. It was reported at the +time that there had been a dissenting minority consisting of Lord +Londonderry, Mr. Sinclair, and Mr. John Young, the last-mentioned being +a Privy Councillor, a trusted leader of the Presbyterians, and a man of +moderate views whose great influence throughout the north-eastern +counties was due to his high character and the soundness of his +judgment. There was, however, no truth in this report, which +Londonderry publicly contradicted; but it is probable that the +concurrence of the men mentioned, and perhaps of others, was owing to +their well-founded conviction that the course decided upon, however +high-handed it might appear to onlookers at a distance, was in reality +the only means of averting much more deplorable consequences. + +On the following day, January 17th, an immense sensation was created by +the publication of the Resolution which had been unanimously adopted on +the motion of Captain James Craig, M.P. It was: + + "That the Standing Committee of the Ulster Unionist Council + observes with astonishment the deliberate challenge thrown down by + Mr. Winston Churchill, Mr. John Redmond, Mr. Joseph Devlin, and + Lord Pirrie in announcing their intention to hold a Home Rule + meeting in the centre of the loyal city of Belfast, and resolves to + take steps to prevent its being held." + +There was an immediate outpouring of vituperation by the Ministerial +Press in England, as had been anticipated by the Standing Committee. +Special Correspondents trooped over to Belfast, whence they filled their +papers with telegrams, articles, and interviews, ringing the changes on +the audacity of this unwarranted interference with freedom of speech, +and speculating as to the manner in which the threat, was likely to be +carried out. Scribes of "Open Letters" had a fine opportunity to display +their gift of insolent invective. Cartoonists and caricaturists had a +time of rare enjoyment, and let their pencils run riot. Writers in the +Liberal Press for the most part assumed that Mr. Churchill would bid +defiance to the Ulster Unionist Council; others urged him to do so and +to fulfil his engagement; some, with more prudence, suggested that he +might be extricated from the difficulty without loss of dignity if the +Chief Secretary would prohibit the meeting, as likely to produce a +breach of peace, and it was pointed out that Dublin Castle would +certainly forbid a meeting in Tipperary organised by the Ulster Unionist +Council, with Sir Edward Carson as principal speaker. + +However, on the 25th of January Mr. Churchill addressed a letter, dated +from the Admiralty, to Lord Londonderry at Mount Stewart, in which he +said he was prepared to give up the idea of speaking in the Ulster Hall, +and would arrange for his meeting to be held elsewhere in the city, as +"it was not a point of any importance to him where he spoke in Belfast." +He did not explain why, if that were the case, he had ever made a plan +that so obviously constituted a direct premeditated challenge to Ulster. +Lord Londonderry, in his reply, said that the Ulster Unionist Council +had no intention of interfering with any meeting Mr. Churchill might +arrange "outside the districts which passionately resent your action," +but that, "having regard to the intense state of feeling" which had been +aroused, the Council could accept no responsibility for anything that +might occur during the visit. Mr. Churchill's prudent change of plan +relieved the extreme tension of the situation, and there was much +speculation as to what influence had produced a result so satisfactory +to the Ulster Unionist Council. The truth seems to be that the Council's +Resolution had impaled the Government on the horns of a very awkward +dilemma, completely turning the tables on Ministers, whose design had +been to compel the Belfast Unionists either to adopt, on the one hand, +an attitude of apparent intolerance which would put them in the wrong in +the eyes of the British public, or, on the other, to submit to the +flagrant misrepresentation of their whole position which would be the +outcome of a Nationalist meeting in the Ulster Hall presided over by the +President of the illusory "Ulster Liberal Association," and with Lord +Randolph Churchill's son as the protagonist of Home Rule. The threat to +stop the meeting forced the Government to consider how the First Lord of +the Admiralty and his friends were to be protected and enabled to fulfil +their programme. The Irish Executive, according to the Dublin +Correspondent of _The Times_, objected to the employment of troops for +this purpose; because-- + + "If the Belfast Unionists decided to resist the soldiers, bloodshed + and disorder on a large scale must have ensued. If, on the other + hand, they yielded to the _force majeure_ of British bayonets, and + Mr. Churchill was enabled to speak in the Ulster Hall, they would + still have carried their point; they would have proved to the + English people that Home Rule could only be thrust upon Ulster by + an overwhelming employment of military force. The Executive + preferred to depend on the services of a large police force. And + this meant that Mr. Churchill could not speak in the Ulster Hall; + for the Belfast democracy, though it might yield to soldiers, would + certainly offer a fierce resistance to the police. It seemed, + therefore, that the Government's only safe and prudent course was + to prevent Mr. Churchill from trying to speak in that Hall."[16] + +The Government, in fact, had been completely out-manoeuvred. They had +given the Ulster Unionist Council an opportunity to show its own +constituents and the outside world that, where the occasion demanded +action, it could act with decision; and they had failed utterly to drive +a wedge between Ulster and the Unionist Party in England and in the +South of Ireland, as they hoped to do by goading Belfast into +illegality. On the other hand, they had aroused some misgiving in the +ranks of their own supporters. A political observer in London reported +that the incident had-- + + "Caused a feeling of considerable apprehension in Radical circles. + The pretence that Ulster does not mean to fight is now almost + abandoned even by the most fanatical Home Rulers."[17] + +Unionist journals in Great Britain, almost without exception, applauded +the conduct of the Council, and proved by their comments that they +understood its motive, and sympathised with the feelings of Ulster. _The +Saturday Review_ expressed the general view when it wrote: + + "With the indignation of the loyal Ulstermen at this proposal we + are in complete sympathy. Where there is a question of Home Rule, + the Ulster Hall is sacred ground, and to the Ulster mind and, + indeed, to the mind of any calm outsider, there is something both + impudent and impious in the proposal that this temple of Unionism + should be profaned by the son of a man who assisted at its + consecration."[18] + +The southern Unionists of Ireland thoroughly appreciated the difficulty +that had confronted their friends in the North, and approved the way it +had been met. This was natural enough, since, as the Dublin +Correspondent of _The Times_ pointed out-- + + "They understand Ulster's position better than it can be understood + in England. They realise that the provocation has been extreme. + There has been a deliberate conspiracy to persuade the English + people, first, that Ulster is weakening in its opposition to Home + Rule; and, next, that its declared refusal to accept Home Rule in + any form is mere bluff. It became necessary for Ulster to defeat + this conspiracy, and the Ulster Council's Resolution has defeated + it."[19] + +A few days later a still more valuable token of sympathy and support +from across the Channel gave fresh encouragement to Ulster. On the 26th +of January Mr. Bonar Law made his first public speech as leader of the +Unionist Party, when he addressed an audience of ten thousand people in +the Albert Hall in London. In the course of a masterly analysis of the +dangers inseparable from Home Rule, he once more drew attention to "the +dishonesty with which the Government hid Home Rule before the election, +and now propose to carry it after the election"; but the passage which +gave the greatest satisfaction in Ulster was that in which, speaking for +the whole Unionist Party--which meant at least half, and probably more +than half, the British nation--Mr. Bonar Law, in reference to the recent +occurrence in Belfast, said: + + "We hear a great deal about the intolerance of Ulster. It is easy + to be tolerant for other people. We who represent the Unionist + Party in England and Scotland have supported, and we mean to + support to the end, the loyal minority. We support them not because + we are intolerant, but because their claims are just." + +Meanwhile, Mr. Churchill's friends were seeking a building in Belfast +where the baffled Minister could hold his meeting on the 8th of +February, and in the course of the search the director of the Belfast +Opera-house was offered a knighthood as well as a large sum of money for +the use of his theatre,[20] a fact that possibly explains the statement +made by the London Correspondent of _The Freeman's Journal_ on the 28th +of January, that the Government's Chief Whip and Patronage Secretary was +busying himself with the arrangement.[21] Captain Frederick Guest, M.P., +one of the junior whips, arrived in Belfast on the 25th to give +assistance on the spot; but no suitable hall with an auspicious _genius +loci_ could apparently be found, for eventually a marquee was imported +from Scotland and erected on the Celtic football ground, in the +Nationalist quarter of the city. + +The question of maintaining order on the day of the meeting was at the +same time engaging the attention both of the Government in Dublin and +the Unionist Council in Belfast. The former decided to strengthen the +garrison of Belfast by five battalions of infantry and two squadrons of +cavalry, while at the Old Town Hall anxious consultations were held as +to the best means of securing that the soldiers should have nothing to +do. The Unionist leaders had not yet gained the full influence they were +able to exercise later, nor were their followers as disciplined as they +afterwards became. The Orange Lodges were the only section of the +population in any sense under discipline; and this section was a much +smaller proportion of the Unionist rank and file than English Liberals +supposed, who were in the habit of speaking as if "Orangemen" were a +correct cognomen of the whole Protestant population of Ulster. It was, +however, only through the Lodges and the Unionist Clubs that the +Standing Committee could hope to exert influence in keeping the peace. +That Committee, accordingly, passed a Resolution on the 5th of February, +moved by Colonel Wallace, the most influential of the Belfast +Orangemen, which "strongly urged all Unionists," in view of the Ulster +Hall victory, "to abstain from any interference with the meeting at the +Celtic football ground, and to do everything in their power to avoid any +action that might lead to any disturbance." + +The Resolution was circulated to all the Orange Lodges and Unionist +Clubs in Belfast and the neighbouring districts--for it was expected +that some 30,000 or 40,000 people might come into the city from outside +on the day of the meeting--with urgent injunctions to the officers to +bring it to the notice of all members; it was also extensively placarded +on all the hoardings of Belfast. Of even greater importance perhaps, in +the interests of peace, was the decision that Carson and Londonderry +should themselves remain in Belfast on the 8th. This, as _The Times_ +Correspondent in Belfast had the insight to observe, was "the strongest +guarantee of order" that could be given, and there is no doubt that +their appearance, together with Captain Craig, M.P., and Lord +Templetown, on the balcony of the Ulster Club had a calming effect on +the excited crowd that surged round Mr. Churchill's hotel, and served as +a reminder throughout the day of the advice which these leaders had +issued to their adherents. + +The First Lord of the Admiralty was accompanied to Belfast by Mrs. +Churchill, his Secretary, and two Liberal Members of Parliament, Mr. +Fiennes and Mr. Hamar Greenwood--for the last-mentioned of whom fate was +reserving a more intimate connection with Irish trouble than could be +got from a fleeting flirtation with disloyalty in West Belfast. They +were greeted at Larne by a large crowd vociferously cheering Carson, and +singing the National Anthem. A still larger concourse of people, though +it could not be more hostile, awaited Mr. Churchill at the Midland +Station in Belfast and along the route to the Grand Central Hotel. When +he started from the hotel early in the afternoon for the football field +the crowd in Royal Avenue was densely packed and actively demonstrating +its unfavourable opinion of the distinguished visitor; on whom, however, +none desired or attempted to inflict any physical injury, although the +involuntary swaying of so great a mass of men was in danger for a +moment of overturning the motor-car in which he and his wife were +seated. + +The way to the meeting took the Minister from the Unionist to the +Nationalist district and afforded him a practical demonstration of the +gulf between the "two nations" which he and his colleagues were bent +upon treating as one. The moment he crossed the boundary, the booing and +groaning of one area was succeeded by enthusiastic cheers in the other; +grotesque effigies of Redmond and of himself in one street were replaced +by equally unflattering effigies of Londonderry and Carson in the next; +in Royal Avenue both men and women looked like tearing him in pieces, in +Falls Road they thronged so close to shake his hand that "Mr. Hamar +Greenwood found it necessary" (so the _Times_ Correspondent reported) +"to stand on the footboard outside the car and relieve the pressure." + +It was expected that Mr. Churchill would return to his hotel after the +meeting, and there had been no shrinkage in the crowd in the interval, +nor any change in its sentiments. The police decided that it would be +wiser for him to depart by another route. He was therefore taken by back +streets to the Midland terminus, and without waiting for the ordinary +train by which he had arranged to travel, was as hastily as possible +despatched to Larne by a special train before it was generally known +that Royal Avenue and York Street were to see him no more. Mr. Churchill +tells us in his brilliant biography of his father that when Lord +Randolph arrived at Larne in 1886 "he was welcomed like a King." His own +arrival at the same port was anything but regal, and his departure more +resembled that of the "thief in the night," of whom Lord Randolph had +bidden Ulster beware. + +So this memorable pilgrimage ended. Of the speech itself which Mr. +Churchill delivered to some thousands of Nationalists, many of whom were +brought by special train from Dublin, it is unnecessary here to say more +than that Sir Edward Carson described it a few days later as a "speech +full of eloquent platitudes," and that it certainly did little to +satisfy the demand for information about the Home Rule Bill which was to +be produced in the coming session of Parliament. + +The undoubted importance which this visit of Mr. Churchill to Belfast +and its attendant circumstances had in the development of the Ulster +Movement is the justification for treating it in what may appear to be +disproportionate detail. From it dates the first clear realisation even +by hostile critics in England, and probably by Ministers themselves, +that the policy of Ulster as laid down at Craigavon could not be +dismissed with a sneer, although it is true that there were many Home +Rulers who never openly abandoned the pretence that it could. Not less +important was the effect in Ulster itself. The Unionist Council had +proved itself in earnest; it could, and was prepared to, do more than +organise imposing political demonstrations; and so the rank and file +gained confidence in leaders who could act as well as make speeches, and +who had shown themselves in an emergency to be in thorough accord with +popular sentiment; the belief grew that the men who met in the Old Town +Hall would know how to handle any crisis that might arise, would not +timidly shrink from acting as occasion might require, and were quite +able to hold their own with the Government in tactical manoeuvres. This +confidence improved discipline. The Lodges and the Clubs and the general +body of shipyard and other workers had less temptation to take matters +into their own hands; they were content to wait for instructions from +headquarters now that they could trust their leaders to give the +necessary instructions at the proper time. + +The net result, therefore, of an expedition which was designed to expose +the hollowness and the weakness of the Ulster case was to augment the +prestige of the Ulster leaders and the self-confidence of the Ulster +people, and to make both leaders and followers understand better than +before the strength of the position in which they were entrenched. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[14] See _ante_, p. 38. + +[15] _The Times_, January 18th, 1912. + +[16] _The Times_, January 26th, 1912. + +[17] _The Standard_, January 18th, 1912. + +[18] _The Saturday Review_, January 27th, 1912. + +[19] _The Times_, January 20th, 1912. + +[20] See Interview with Mr. F.W. Warden in _The Standard_, February 8th, +1912. + +[21] See Dublin Correspondent's telegram in _The Times_, January 29th, +1912. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +"WHAT ANSWER FROM THE NORTH?" + + +Public curiosity as to the proposals that the coming Home Rule Bill +might contain was not set at rest by Mr. Churchill's oration in Belfast. +The constitution-mongers were hard at work with suggestions. Attempts +were made to conciliate hesitating opinion by representing Irish Home +Rule as a step in the direction of a general federal system for the +United Kingdom, and by tracing an analogy with the constitutions already +granted to the self-governing Dominions. Closely connected with the +federal idea was the question of finance. There was lively speculation +as to what measure of control over taxation the Bill would confer on the +Irish Parliament, and especially whether it would be given the power to +impose duties of Customs and Excise. Home Rulers themselves were sharply +divided on the question. At a conference held at the London School of +Economics on the 10th of January, 1912, Professor T.M. Kettle, Mr. +Erskine Childers, and Mr. Thomas Lough, M.P., declared themselves in +favour of Irish fiscal autonomy, while Lord Macdonnell opposed the idea +as irreconcilable with the fiscal policy of Great Britain.[22] The +latter opinion was very forcibly maintained a few weeks later by a +member of the Government with some reputation as an economist. Speaking +to a branch of the United Irish League in London, Mr. J.M. Robertson, +Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, summarily rejected fiscal +autonomy for Ireland, which, he said, "really meant a claim for +separation." "To give fiscal autonomy," he added, "would mean +disintegration of the United Kingdom. Fiscal autonomy for Ireland put +an end altogether to all talk of Federal Home Rule, and he could see no +hope for a Home Rule Bill if it included fiscal autonomy."[23] + +Although the Secretary to the Board of Trade was probably not in the +confidence of the Cabinet, many people took Mr. Robertson's speech as an +indication of the limits of financial control that the Bill would give +to Ireland. On the same day that it was delivered the Dublin +Correspondent of _The Times_ reported that the demand of the +Nationalists for control of Customs and Excise was rapidly growing, and +that any Bill which withheld it, even if it could scrape through a +National Convention, "would never survive the two succeeding years of +agitation and criticism"; and he agreed with Mr. Robertson that if, on +the other hand, fiscal autonomy should be conceded, it would destroy all +prospect of a settlement on federal lines, and would "establish virtual +separation between Ireland and Great Britain." He predicted that +"Ulster, of course, would resist to the bitter end."[24] + +Ulster, in point of fact, took but a secondary interest in the question. +Her people were indeed opposed to anything that would enlarge the +separation from England, or emphasise it, and, as they realised, like +the Secretary to the Board of Trade, that fiscal autonomy would have +this effect, they opposed fiscal autonomy; but they cared little about +the thing in itself one way or the other. Nor did they greatly concern +themselves whether Home Rule proceeded on federal lines or any other +lines; nor whether some apt analogy could or could not be found between +Ireland and the Dominions of the Crown thousands of miles oversea. +Having made up their minds that no Dublin Parliament should exercise +jurisdiction over themselves, they did not worry themselves much about +the powers with which such a Parliament might be endowed. It is +noteworthy, however, in view of the importance which the question +afterwards attained, that so early as January 1912 Sir Edward Carson, +speaking in Manchester, maintained that without fiscal autonomy Home +Rule was impossible,[25] and that some months later Mr. Bonar Law, in a +speech at Glasgow on the 21st of May, said that if the Unionist Party +were in a position where they had to concede Home Rule to Ireland they +would include fiscal autonomy in the grant.[26] These leaders, who, +unlike the Liberal Ministers, had some knowledge of the Irish +temperament, realised from the first the absurdity of Mr. Asquith's +attempt to satisfy the demands of "the rebel party" by offering +something very different from what that party demanded. The Ulster +leader and the leader of the Unionist Party knew as well as anybody that +fiscal autonomy meant "virtual separation between Ireland and Great +Britain," but they also knew that separation was the ultimate aim of +Nationalist policy, and that there could be no finality in the Liberal +compromise; and they no doubt agreed with the forcible language used by +Mr. Balfour in the previous autumn, when he said that "the rotten hybrid +system of a Parliament with municipal duties and a national feeling +seemed to be the dream of political idiots." + +The ferment of speculation as to the Government's intentions continued +during the early weeks of the Parliamentary session, which opened on the +14th of February, but all inquiries by members of the House of Commons +were met by variations on the theme "Wait and See." Unionists, however, +realised that it was not in Parliament, but outside, that the only +effective work could be done, in the hope of forcing a dissolution of +Parliament before the Bill could become law. A vigorous campaign was +conducted throughout the country, especially in Lancashire, and +arrangements were made for a monster demonstration in Belfast, which +should serve both as a counter-blast to the Churchill fiasco, and for +enabling English and Scottish Unionists to test for themselves the +temper of the Ulster resistance. In the belief that the Home Rule Bill +would be introduced before Easter, it was decided to hold this meeting +in the Recess, as Mr. Bonar Law had promised to speak, and a number of +English Members of Parliament wished to be present. At the last moment +the Government announced that the Bill would not be presented till the +11th of April, after Parliament reassembled, and its provisions were +therefore still unknown when the demonstration took place on the 9th in +the Show Ground of the Royal Agricultural Society at Balmoral, a suburb +of Belfast. + +Feeling ran high as the date of the double event approached, and the +indignant sense of wrong that prevailed in Ulster was finely voiced in a +poem, entitled "Ulster 1912," written by Mr. Kipling for the occasion +which appeared in _The Morning Post_ on the day of the Balmoral +demonstration, of which the first and last stanzas were: + + "The dark eleventh hour + Draws on, and sees us sold + To every evil Power + We fought against of old. + Rebellion, rapine, hate, + Oppression, wrong, and greed + Are loosed to rule our fate, + By England's act and deed. + + "Believe, we dare not boast, + Believe, we do not fear-- + We stand to pay the cost + In all that men hold dear. + What answer from the North? + One Law, One Land, One Throne. + If England drive us forth + We shall not fall alone!" + +The preparations for the Unionist leader's coming visit to Belfast had +excited the keenest interest throughout England and Scotland. Coinciding +as it did with the introduction of the Government's Bill, it was +recognised to be the formal countersigning by the whole Unionist Party +of Great Britain of Ulster's proclamation of her determination to resist +her forcible degradation in constitutional status. The same note of +mingled reproach and defiance which sounded in Kipling's verses was +heard in the grave warning addressed by _The Times_ to the country in a +leading article on the morning of the meeting: + + "Nobody of common judgment and common knowledge of political + movements can honestly doubt the exceptional gravity of the + occasion, and least of all can any such doubt be felt by any who + know the men of Ulster. To make light of the deep-rooted + convictions which fill the minds of those who will listen to Mr. + Bonar Law to-day is a shallow and an idle affectation, or a token + of levity and of ignorance. Enlightened Liberalism may smile at the + beliefs and the passions of the Ulster Protestants, but it was + those same beliefs and passions, in the forefathers of the men who + will gather in Belfast to-day, which saved Ireland for the British + Crown, and freed the cause of civil and religious liberty in these + islands from its last dangerous foes.... It is useless to argue + that they are mistaken. They have reasons, never answered yet, for + believing that they are not mistaken.... Their temper is an + ultimate fact which British statesmen and British citizens have to + face. These men cannot be persuaded to submit to Home Rule. Are + Englishmen and Scotchmen prepared to fasten it upon them by + military force? That is the real Ulster question." + +Other great English newspapers wrote in similar strain, and the support +thus given was of the greatest possible encouragement to the Ulster +people, who were thereby assured that their standpoint was not +misunderstood and that the justice of their "loyalist" claims was +appreciated across the Channel. + +Among the numberless popular demonstrations which marked the history of +Ulster's stand against Home Rule, four stand out pre-eminent in the +impressiveness of their size and character. Those who attended the +Ulster Convention of 1892 were persuaded that no political meeting could +ever be more inspiring; but many of them lived to acknowledge that it +was far surpassed at Craigavon in 1911. The Craigavon meeting, though in +some respects as important as any of the series, was, from a spectacular +point of view, much less imposing than the assemblage which listened to +Mr. Bonar Law at Balmoral on Easter Tuesday, 1912; and the latter +occasion, though never surpassed in splendour and magnitude by any +single gathering, was in significance but a prelude to the magnificent +climax reached in the following September on the day when the Covenant +was signed throughout Ulster. + +The Balmoral demonstration had, however, one distinctive feature. At it +the Unionist Party of Great Britain met and grasped the hand of Ulster +Loyalism. It gave the leader and a large number of his followers an +opportunity to judge for themselves the strength and sincerity of +Ulster, and at the same time it served to show the Ulstermen the weight +of British opinion ready to back them. Mr. Bonar Law was accompanied to +Belfast by no less than seventy Members of Parliament, representing +English, Scottish, and Welsh constituencies, not a few of whom had +already attained, or afterwards rose to, political distinction. Among +them were Mr. Walter Long, Lord Hugh Cecil, Sir Robert Finlay, Lord +Charles Beresford, Lord Castlereagh, Mr. Amery, Mr. J.D. Baird, Sir +Arthur Griffith-Boscawen, Mr. Ian Malcolm, Lord Claud Hamilton, Mr. J.G. +Butcher, Mr. Ernest Pollock, Mr. George Cave, Mr. Felix Cassel, Mr. +Ormsby-Gore, Mr. Scott Dickson, Mr. W. Peel, Captain Gilmour, Mr. George +Lloyd, Mr. J.W. Hills, Mr. George Lane-Fox, Mr. Stuart-Wortley, Mr. +J.F.P. Rawlinson, Mr. H.J. Mackinder, and Mr. Herbert Nield. + +The reception of the Unionist Leader at Larne on Easter Monday was +wonderful, even to those who knew what a Larne welcome to loyalist +leaders could be, and who recalled the scenes there during the historic +visits of Lord Randolph Churchill, Lord Salisbury, and Mr. Balfour. "If +this is how you treat your friends," said Mr. Bonar Law simply, in reply +to one of the innumerable addresses presented to him, "I am glad I am +not an enemy." Before reaching Belfast he had ample opportunity at every +stopping-place of his train to note the fervour of the populace. "Are +all these people landlords?" he asked (in humorous allusion to the +Liberal legend that Ulster Unionism was manufactured by a few +aristocratic landowners), as he saw every platform thronged with +enthusiastic crowds of men and women, the majority of whom were +evidently of the poorer classes. In Belfast the concourse of people was +so dense in the streets that the motor-car in which Mr. Bonar Law and +Sir Edward Carson sat side by side found it difficult to make its way +to the Reform Club, the headquarters of what had once been Ulster +Liberalism, where an address was presented in which it was stated that +the conduct of the Government "will justify loyal Ulster in resorting to +the most extreme measures in resisting Home Rule." In his reply Mr. +Bonar Law gave them "on behalf of the Unionist Party this +message--though the brunt of the battle will be yours, there will not be +wanting help from 'across the Channel.'" At Comber, where a stop was +made on the way to Mount Stewart, he asked himself how Radical Scotsmen +would like to be treated as the Government were treating Protestant +Ulster. "I know Scotland well," he replied to his own question, "and I +believe that, rather than submit to such fate, the Scottish people would +face a second Bannockburn or a second Flodden." + +These few quotations from the first utterances of Mr. Bonar Law on his +arrival are sufficient to show how complete was the understanding +between him and the Ulster people even before the great demonstration of +the following day. He had, as _The Times_ Correspondent noted, "already +found favour with the Belfast crowd. All the way from Larne by train to +Belfast and through Belfast by motor-car to Newtownards and Mount +Stewart, his progress was a triumph." + +The remarks of the same experienced observer on the eve of the Balmoral +meeting are worth recording, especially as his anticipations were amply +fulfilled. + + "To-morrow's demonstration," he telegraphed from Belfast, "both in + numbers and enthusiasm, promises to be the most remarkable ever + seen in Ireland. If expectations are realised the assemblage of men + will be twice as numerous as the whole white population of the + Witwatersrand, whose grievances led to the South African War, and + they will represent a community greater in numbers than the white + population of South Africa as a whole. Unless all the signs are + misleading, it will be the demonstration of a community in the + deadliest earnest. By the Protestant community of Ulster, Home Rule + is regarded as a menace to their faith, to their material + well-being and prosperity, and to their freedom and national + traditions, and thus all the most potent motives which in history + have stirred men to their greatest efforts are here in operation." + +No written description, unless by the pen of some gifted imaginative +writer, could convey any true impression of the scenes that were +witnessed the following day in the Show Ground at Balmoral and the roads +leading to it from the heart of the city. The photographs published at +the time give some idea of the apparently unbounded ocean of earnest, +upturned faces, closely packed round the several platforms, and +stretching away far into a dim and distant background; but even they +could not record the impressive stillness of the vast multitude, its +orderliness, which required the presence of not a single policeman, its +spirit of almost religious solemnity which struck every observant +onlooker. No profusion of superlative adjectives can avail to reproduce +such scenes, any more than words, no matter how skilfully chosen, can +convey the tone of a violin in the hands of a master. Even the mere +number of those who took part in the demonstration cannot be guessed +with any real accuracy. There was a procession of men, whose fine +physique and military smartness were noticed by visitors from England, +which was reported to have taken three hours to pass a given point +marching in fours, and was estimated to be not less than 100,000 strong, +while those who went independently to the ground or crowded the route +were reckoned to be at least as many more. The Correspondent of _The +Times_ declared that "it was hardly by hyperbole that Sir Edward Carson +claimed that it was one of the largest assemblies in the history of the +world." + +But the moral effect of such gatherings is not to be gauged by numbers +alone. The demeanour of the people, which no organisation or stage +management could influence, impressed the English journalists and +Members of Parliament even more than the gigantic scale of the +demonstration. There was not a trace of the picnic spirit. There was no +drunkenness, no noisy buffoonery, no unseemly behaviour. The Ulster +habit of combining politics and prayer--which was not departed from at +Balmoral, where the proceedings were opened by the Primate of All +Ireland and the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church--was jeered at by +people who never witnessed an Ulster loyalist meeting; but the Editor of +_The Observer_, himself a Roman Catholic, remarked with more insight +that "the Protestant mind does not use prayer simply as part of a +parade;" and _The Times_ Correspondent, who has already been more than +once quoted, was struck by the fervour with which at Balmoral "the whole +of the vast gathering joined in singing the 90th Psalm," and he added +the very just comment that "it is the custom in Ulster to mark in this +solemn manner the serious nature of the issue when the Union is the +question, as something different from a question of mere party +politics." + +The spectacular aspect of the demonstration was admirably managed. A +saluting point was so arranged that the procession, on entering the +enclosure, could divide into two columns, one passing each side of a +small pavilion where Mr. Bonar Law, Sir Edward Carson, Lord Londonderry, +and Mr. Walter Long stood to take the salute before proceeding to the +stand which held the principal platform for the delivery of the +speeches. In the centre of the ground was a signalling-tower with a +flagstaff 90 feet high, on which a Union Jack measuring 48 feet by 25 +and said to be the largest ever woven, was broken at the moment when the +Resolution against Home Rule was put to the meeting. + +Mr. Bonar Law, visibly moved by the scene before him, made a speech that +profoundly affected his audience, although it was characteristically +free from rhetorical display. A recent incident in Dublin, where the +sight of the British Flag flying within view of a Nationalist meeting +had been denounced as "an intolerable insult," supplied him, when he +compared it with the spectacle presented by the meeting, with an apt +illustration of the contrast between "the two nations" in Ireland--the +loyal and the disloyal. He told the Ulstermen that he had come to them +as the leader of the Unionist Party to give them the assurance that +"that party regard your cause, not as yours alone, nor as ours alone, +but as the cause of the Empire"; the meeting, which he had expected to +be a great gathering but which far exceeded his expectation, proved +that Ulster's hostility to Home Rule, far from having slackened, as +enemies had alleged, had increased and solidified with the passing +years; they were men "animated by a unity of purpose, by a fixity of +resolution which nothing can shake and which must prove irresistible," +to whom he would apply Cromwell's words to his Ironsides: "You are men +who know what you are fighting for, and love what you know." Then, after +an analysis of the practical evils that Home Rule would engender and the +benefits which legislative union secured, he again emphasised the lack +of mandate for the Government policy. His hearers, he said, "knew the +shameful story": how the Radicals had twice failed to obtain the +sanction of the British people for Home Rule, "and now for the third +time they were trying to carry it not only without the sanction, but +against the will, of the British people." + +The peroration which followed made an irresistible appeal to a people +always mindful of the glories of the relief of Derry. Mr. Bonar Law +warned them that the Ministerial majority in the House of Commons, "now +cemented by ÂŁ400 a year," could not be broken up, but would have their +own way. He therefore said to them: + + "With all solemnity--you must trust in yourselves. Once again you + hold the pass--the pass for the Empire. You are a besieged city. + The timid have left you; your Lundys have betrayed you; but you + have closed your gates. The Government have erected by their + Parliament Act a boom against you to shut you off from the help of + the British people. You will burst that boom. That help will come, + and when the crisis is over men will say to you in words not unlike + those used by Pitt--you have saved yourselves by your exertions and + you will save the Empire by your example." + +The overwhelming ovation with which Sir Edward Carson was received upon +taking the president's chair at the chief platform, in the absence +through illness of the Duke of Abercorn, proved that he had already won +the confidence and the affection of the Ulster people to a degree that +seemed to leave little room for growth, although every subsequent +appearance he made among them in the years that lay ahead seemed to add +intensity to their demonstrations of personal devotion. The most +dramatic moment at Balmoral--if for once the word so hackneyed and +misused by journalists may be given its true signification--the most +dramatic moment was when the Ulster leader and the leader of the whole +Unionist Party each grasped the other's hand in view of the assembled +multitude, as though formally ratifying a compact made thus publicly on +the eve of battle. It was the consummation of the purpose of this +assembly of the Unionist hosts on Ulster soil, and gave assurance of +unity of aim and undivided command in the coming struggle. + +Of the other speeches delivered, many of them of a high quality, +especially, perhaps, those of Lord Hugh Cecil, Sir Robert Finlay, and +Mr. Scott Dickson, it is enough to say that they all conveyed the same +message of encouragement to Ulster, the same promise of undeviating +support. One detail, however, deserves mention, because it shows the +direction in which men's thoughts were then moving. Mr. Walter Long, +whose great services to the cause of the Union procured him a welcome +second in warmth to that of no other leader, after thanking Londonderry +and Carson "for the great lead they have given us in recent difficult +weeks "--an allusion to the Churchill incident that was not lost on the +audience--added with a blunt directness characteristic of the speaker: +"If they are going to put Lord Londonderry and Sir Edward Carson into +the dock, they will have to find one large enough to hold the whole +Unionist Party." + +The Balmoral demonstration was recognised on all sides as one of the +chief landmarks in the Ulster Movement. The Craigavon policy was not +only reaffirmed with greater emphasis than before by the people of +Ulster themselves, but it received the deliberate endorsement of the +Unionist Party in England and Scotland. Moreover, as Mr. Long's speech +explicitly promised, and Mr. Bonar Law's speech unmistakably implied, +British support was not to be dependent on Ulster's opposition to Home +Rule being kept within strictly legal limits. Indeed, it had become +increasingly evident that opposition so limited must be impotent, since, +as Mr. Bonar Law pointed out, Ministers and their majority in the House +of Commons were in Mr. Redmond's pocket, and had no choice but to "toe +the line," while the "boom" which they had erected by the Parliament Act +cut off Ulster from access to the British constituencies, unless that +boom could be burst as the boom across the Foyle was broken by the +_Mountjoy_ in 1689. The Unionist leader had warned the Ulstermen that +in these circumstances they must expect nothing from Parliament, but +must trust in themselves. They did not mistake his meaning, and they +were quite ready to take his advice. + +Coming, as it did, two days before the introduction of the Government's +Bill, the Balmoral demonstration profoundly influenced opinion in the +country. The average Englishman, when his political party is in a +minority, damns the Government, shrugs his shoulders, and goes on his +way, not rejoicing indeed, but with apathetic resignation till the +pendulum swings again. He now awoke to the fact that the Ulstermen meant +business. He realised that a political crisis of the first magnitude was +visible on the horizon. The vague talk about "civil war" began to look +as if it might have something in it, and it was evident that the +provisions of the forthcoming Bill, about which there had been so much +eager anticipation, would be of quite secondary importance since neither +the Cabinet nor the House of Commons would have the last word. + +Supporters of the Government in the Press could think of nothing better +to do in these circumstances than to pour out abuse, occasionally varied +by ridicule, on the Unionist leaders, of which Sir Edward Carson came in +for the most generous portion. He was by turns everything that was bad, +dangerous, and absurd, from Mephistopheles to a madman. "F.C.G." +summarised the Balmoral meeting pictorially in a _Westminster Gazette_ +cartoon as a costermonger's donkey-cart in which Carson, Londonderry, +and Bonar Law, refreshed by "Orangeade," took "an Easter Jaunt in +Ulster," and other caricaturists used their pencils with less humour and +more malice with the same object of belittling the demonstration with +ridicule. But ridicule is not so potent a weapon in England or in Ulster +as it is said to be in France. It did nothing to weaken the Ulster +cause; it even strengthened it in some ways. It was about this time that +hostile writers began to refer to "King Carson," and to represent him as +exercising regal sway over his "subjects" in Ulster. Those "subjects" +were delighted; they took it as a compliment to their leader's position +and power, and did not in the least resent the role assigned to +themselves. + +On the other hand, they did resent very hotly the vulgar insolence often +levelled at their "Sir Edward." He himself was always quite indifferent +to it, sometimes even amused by it. On one occasion, when something +particularly outrageous had appeared with reference to him in some +Radical paper, he delighted a public meeting by solemnly reading the +passage, and when the angry cries of "Shame, shame" had subsided, saying +with a smile: "This sort of thing is only the manure that fertilises my +reputation with you who know me." + +And that was true. If Home Rulers, whether in Ireland or in Great +Britain, ever seriously thought of conciliating Ulster, as Mr. Redmond +professed to desire, they never made a greater mistake than in saying +and writing insulting things about Carson. It only endeared him more and +more to his followers, and it intensified the bitterness of their +feeling against the Nationalists and all their works. An almost equally +short-sighted error on the part of hostile critics was the idea that the +attitude of Ulster as exhibited at Craigavon and Balmoral should be +represented as mere bluster and bluff, to which the only proper reply +was contempt. There never was anything further removed from the truth, +as anyone ought to have known who had the smallest acquaintance with +Irish history or with the character of the race that had supplied the +backbone of Washington's army; but, if there had been at any time an +element of bluff in their attitude, their contemptuous critics took the +surest means of converting it into grim earnestness of purpose. Mr. +Redmond himself was ill-advised enough to set an example in this +respect. In an article published by _Reynold's Newspaper_ in January he +had scoffed at the "stupid, hollow, and unpatriotic bellowings" of the +Loyalists in Belfast. Some few opponents had enough sense to take a +different line in their comments on Balmoral. One article in particular +which appeared in _The Star_ on the day of the demonstration attracted +much attention for this reason. + + "We have never yielded," it said, "to the temptation to deride or + to belittle the resistance of Ulster to Home Rule.... The + subjugation of Protestant Ulster by force is one of those things + that do not happen in our politics.... It is, we know, a popular + delusion that Ulster is a braggart whose words are empty bluff. We + are convinced that Ulster means what she says, and that she will + make good every one of her warnings." + +_The Star_ went on to implore Liberals not to be driven "into an +attitude of bitter hostility to the Ulster Protestants," with whom it +declared they had much in common. + +After Balmoral there was certainly more disposition than before on the +part of Liberal Home Rulers to acknowledge the sincerity of Ulster and +the gravity of the position created by her opposition, and this +disposition showed itself in the debates on the Bill; but, speaking +generally, the warning of _The Star_ was disregarded by its political +adherents, and its neglect contributed not a little to the embitterment +of the controversy. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[22] _Annual Register_, 1912, p. 3. + +[23] _The Times_, February 3rd, 1912. + +[24] Ibid. + +[25] _Annual Register_, 1912, p. 7. + +[26] Ibid., p. 126. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE EXCLUSION OF ULSTER + + +Within forty-eight hours of the Balmoral meeting the Prime Minister +moved for leave to introduce the third Home Rule Bill in the House of +Commons. Carson immediately stated the Ulster case in a powerful speech +which left no room for doubt that, while every clause in the Bill would +be contested, it was the setting up of an executive administration +responsible to a Parliament in Dublin--that is to say, the central +principle of the measure--that would be most strenuously opposed. + +There is no occasion here to explain in detail the proposals contained +in Mr. Asquith's Home Rule Bill. They form part of the general history +of the period, and are accessible to all who care to examine them. Our +concern is with the endeavour of Ulster to prevent, if possible, the +passage of the Bill to the Statute-book, and, if that should prove +impracticable, to prevent its enforcement "in those districts of which +they had control." But one or two points that were made in the course of +the debates which occupied Parliament for the rest of the year 1912 +claim a moment's notice in their bearing on the subject in hand. + +Mr. Bonar Law lost no time in fully redeeming the promises he made at +Balmoral. Challenged to repeat in Parliament the charges he had made +against the Government in Ulster, he not only repeated them with +emphasis, but by closely-knit reasoning justified them with chapter and +verse. As to Balmoral, "it really was not like a political +demonstration; it was the expression of the soul of a people." He +declared that "the gulf between the two peoples in Ireland was really +far wider than the gulf between Ireland and Great Britain." He then +dealt specifically with the threatened resistance of Ulster. "These +people in Ulster," he said, "are under no illusion. They know they +cannot fight the British Army. The people of Ulster know that, if the +soldiers receive orders to shoot, it will be their duty to obey. They +will have no ill-will against them for obeying. But they are ready, in +what they believe to be the cause of justice and liberty, to lay down +their lives. How are you going to overcome that resistance? Do +Honourable Members believe that any Prime Minister could give orders to +shoot down men whose only crime is that they refuse to be driven out of +our community and be deprived of the privilege of British citizenship? +The thing is impossible. All your talk about details, the union of +hearts and the rest of it, is a sham. This is a reality. It is a rock, +and on that rock this Bill will inevitably make shipwreck." + +The Unionist leader then made a searching exposure of the traffic and +bargaining between the Cabinet and the Nationalists by which the support +of the latter had been bought for a Budget which they hated, the price +paid being the Premier's improper advice to the Crown, leading to the +mutilation of the Constitution; the acknowledgment in the preamble to +the Parliament Act that an immediate reform of the Second Chamber was a +"debt of honour"; the omission to redeem that debt, which had provided a +new proverb--"Lying as a preamble"; and, finally, the determination to +carry Home Rule after deliberately keeping it out of sight during the +elections. The Prime Minister's "debt of honour must wait until he has +paid his debt of shame"; and the latter debt was being paid by the +proposals they were then debating. If those proposals had been submitted +to the electors, "there would be a difference," said Mr. Bonar Law, +"between the Unionists in England and the Unionists in Ireland. Now +there is none. We can imagine nothing which the Unionists in Ireland can +do which will not be justified against a trick of this kind." + +Dissatisfaction with the financial clauses of the Bill was expressed at +once by the General Council of County Councils in Ireland, a purely +Nationalist body; but on the 23rd of April a Nationalist Convention in +Dublin, under the influence of Mr. Redmond's oratory, accepted the whole +of the Government's proposals with enthusiasm. The first and second +readings of the Bill were duly carried by the normal Government majority +of about a hundred Liberal, Labour, and Irish Nationalist votes, and the +committee stage opened on the 11th of June. On that day an amendment was +down for debate which required the most careful consideration by the +representatives of Ulster, since their attitude now might have an +important bearing on their future policy, and a false step at this stage +might easily prove embarrassing later on. The author of this amendment +was Mr. Agar-Robartes, a Cornish Liberal Member, whose proposal was to +exclude the four counties of Antrim, Derry, Down, and Armagh from the +jurisdiction of the proposed Irish Parliament, a gratifying proof that +Craigavon and Balmoral were bearing fruit. + +A conference of Ulster Members and Peers, and some English Members +closely identified with Irish affairs, of whom Mr. Walter Long was one, +met at Londonderry House before the sitting of the House on the 11th of +June to decide what course to take on this proposal. + +It was not surprising to find that there were sharp differences of +opinion among those present, for there were obvious objections to +supporting the amendment and equally obvious objections to voting +against it. The opposition of Ulster for more than a quarter of a +century had been directed against Home Rule for any part of Ireland and +in any shape or form. No suggestion had ever been made by any of her +spokesmen that the Protestant North, or any part of it, should be dealt +with separately from the rest of the island, although Carson and others +had pointed out that all the arguments in support of Home Rule were +equally valid for treating Ulster as a unit. There were both economic +and administrative difficulties in such a scheme which were sufficiently +obvious, though by no means insuperable; but what weighed far more +heavily in the minds of the Ulster members was the anticipation that +their acceptance of the proposal would probably be represented by +enemies as a desertion of all the Irish Loyalists outside the four +counties named in the amendment, with whom there was in every part of +Ulster the most powerful sentiment of solidarity. The idea of taking any +action apart from these friends and associates, and of adopting a policy +that might seem to imply the abandonment of their opposition to the main +principle of the Bill, was one that could not be entertained except +under the most compelling necessity. + +But, had not that necessity now arisen? The Ulster members had to keep +in view the ultimate policy to which they were already committed. That +policy, as laid down at Craigavon, was to take over, in the event of the +Home Rule Bill being carried, the government "of those districts which +they could control" in trust for the Imperial Parliament, and to resist +by force if necessary the establishment of the Dublin jurisdiction over +those districts. The policy of resistance was always recognised as being +strictly limited in area; no one ever supposed that Ulster could +forcibly resist Home Rule being set up in the south and west. The +likelihood of failure to bring about a dissolution before the Bill +became law had to be faced, and if no General Election took place there +would be no alternative to resistance. If, then, it were decided to vote +against an amendment offering salvation to the four most loyalist +counties, what would be their position if ultimately driven to take up +arms? Except as to a matter of detail concerning the precise area +proposed to be excluded from the Bill, would they not be told that they +were fighting for what they might have had by legislation, and what they +had deliberately refused to accept? And if they so acted, could they +expect not to forfeit the support of the great and growing volume of +public opinion which now sympathised with Ulster? They could not, of +course, secure themselves against malicious misrepresentation of their +motives, but the Ulster members sincerely believed, and many in the +South shared the opinion, that if it came to the worst they could be of +more use to the Southern Unionists outside a Dublin Parliament than as +members of it, where they would be an impotent minority. Moreover, it +was perfectly understood that Ulster was resolved in any case not to +enter a legislature in College Green, and there would, therefore, be no +more "desertion" of Unionists outside the excluded area if the exclusion +were effected by an amendment to the Bill, than if it were the result of +what Mr. Bonar Law had called "trusting to themselves." + +The considerations thus briefly summarised were thoroughly discussed in +all their bearings at the conference at Londonderry House. It was one of +many occasions when Sir Edward Carson's colleagues had an opportunity of +perceiving how his penetrating intellect explored the intricate windings +of a complicated political problem, weighing all the alternatives of +procedure with a clear insight into the appearance that any line of +conduct would present to other and perhaps hostile minds, calculating +like a chess-master move and counter-move far ahead of the present, and, +while adhering undeviatingly to principle, using the judgment of a +consummate strategist to decide upon the action to be taken at any given +moment. He had an astonishing faculty of discarding everything that was +unessential and fastening on the thing that really mattered in any +situation. His strength in counsel lay in the rare combination of these +qualities of the trained lawyer with the gift of intuition, which women +claim as their distinguishing characteristic; and it often extorted from +Nationalists the melancholy admission that if Carson had been on their +side their cause would have triumphed long ago. + +His advice now was that the Agar-Robartes amendment should be supported; +and, although some of those present required a good deal of persuasion, +it was ultimately decided unanimously that this course should be +followed. The wisdom of the decision was never afterwards questioned, +and, indeed, was abundantly confirmed by subsequent events. + +Mr. Agar-Robartes moved his amendment the same afternoon, summarising +his argument in the dictum, denied by Mr. William Redmond, that "Orange +bitters will not mix with Irish whisky." The debate, which lasted three +days, was the most important that took place in committee on the Bill, +for in the course of it the whole Ulster question was exhaustively +discussed. Sir Edward Grey and Mr. Churchill had thrown out hints in the +second reading debate that the Government might do something to meet the +Ulster case. The Prime Minister was now pressed to say what these hints +meant. Had the Government any policy in regard to Ulster? Had they +considered how they could deal with the threatened resistance? Mr. Bonar +Law told the Government that they must know that, if they employed +troops to coerce the Ulster Loyalists, Ministers who gave the order +"would run a greater risk of being lynched in London than the Loyalists +of Ulster would run of being shot in Belfast." Every argument in favour +of Home Rule was, he said, equally cogent against subjecting Ulster to +Home Rule contrary to her own desire. If the South of Ireland objected +to being governed from Westminster, the North of Ireland quite as +strongly objected to being ruled from Dublin. If England, as was +alleged, was incapable of governing Ireland according to Irish ideas, +the Nationalists were fully as incapable of governing the northern +counties according to Ulster ideas. If Ireland, with only one-fifteenth +of the population of the United Kingdom, had a right to choose its own +form of government, by what equity could the same right be denied to +Ulster, with one-fourth of the population of Ireland? + +As had been anticipated at Londonderry House, Mr. Asquith and some of +his followers did their best to drive a wedge between the Ulstermen and +the Southern Unionists, by contending that the former, in supporting the +amendment, were deserting their friends. Mr. Balfour declared in answer +to this that "nothing could relieve Unionists in the rest of Ireland +except the defeat of the measure as a whole"; and a crushing reply was +given by Mr. J.H. Campbell and Mr. Walter Guinness, both of whom were +Unionists from the South of Ireland. Mr. Guinness frankly acknowledged +that "it was the duty of Ulster members to take this opportunity of +trying to secure for their constituents freedom from this iniquitous +measure. It would be merely a dog-in-the-manger policy for those who +lived outside Ulster to grudge relief to their co-religionists merely +because they could not share it. Such self-denial on Ulster's part would +in no way help them (the Southerners) and it would only injure their +compatriots in the North." + +Sir Edward Carson, in supporting the amendment, insisted that "Ulster +was not asking for anything" except to be left within the Imperial +Constitution; she "had not demanded any separate Parliament." He +accepted the "basic principle" of the amendment, but would not be +content with the four counties which alone it proposed to exclude from +the Bill. He only accepted it, however, on two assumptions--first, that +the Bill was to become law; and, second, that it was to be, as Mr. +Asquith had assured them, part of a federal system for the United +Kingdom. If the first steps were being taken to construct a federal +system, there was no precedent for coercing Ulster to form part of a +federal unit which she refused to join. He had been Solicitor-General +when the Act establishing the Commonwealth of Australia was being +discussed, and it never would have passed, he declared, "if every single +clause had not been agreed to by every single one of the communities +concerned." Ministers were always basing their Irish policy on Dominion +analogies, but could anyone, Carson asked, imagine the Imperial +Government sending troops to compel the Transvaal or New South Wales to +come into a federal system against their will? + +The arguments in favour of the amendment were also stated with +uncompromising force by Mr. William Moore, Mr. Charles Craig, and his +brother Captain James Craig, the last-mentioned taking up a challenge +thrown down by Mr. Birrell in a maladroit speech which had expressed +doubt as to the reality of the danger to be apprehended in Ulster. +Captain Craig said they would immediately take steps in Ulster to +convince the Chief Secretary of their sincerity. Lord Hugh Cecil, in an +outspoken speech, greatly to the taste of English Unionists, "had no +hesitation in saying that Ulster would be perfectly right in resisting, +and he hoped she would be successful." + +In the division on Mr. Agar-Robartes's amendment the Government +majority fell to sixty-nine, both the "Tellers" being usual supporters +of the Ministry. Mr. F.E. Smith, in a vigorous speech to the Belfast +Orangemen on the 12th of July, declared that "on the part of the +Government the discussion (on Mr. Agar-Robartes's amendment) was a trap. +... The Government hoped that Ulster would decline the amendment in +order that the Coalition might protest to the constituencies: 'We +offered Ulster exclusion and Ulster refused exclusion--where is the +grievance of Ulster? where her justification for armed revolt?'" The +snare was avoided; but the debate was a landmark in the movement, for it +was then that the spokesmen of Ulster for the first time publicly +accepted the idea of separate treatment for themselves as a possible +alternative policy to the integral maintenance of the Union. + +The Government, for their part, made no response to the demand of Bonar +Law and Carson that they should declare their intentions for dealing +with resistance in Ulster. It was clearly more than ever necessary for +the Ulstermen to "trust in themselves." The debates on the Bill occupied +Parliament till the end of the year, and beyond it, and great blocks of +clauses were carried under the guillotine closure without a word of +discussion, although they were packed with constitutional points, many +of which were of the highest moment. Over in Ulster, at the same time, +those preparations were industriously carried forward which Captain +Craig told the House of Commons would be necessary to cure the +scepticism of the Chief Secretary. + +In England and Scotland, also, Unionists did their utmost to make public +opinion realise the gravity of the crisis towards which the country was +drifting under the Wait-and-See Ministry. Never before, probably, had so +many great political meetings been held in any year as were held in +every part of the country in 1912. With the exception of those that took +place in Ireland, the most striking was a monster gathering at Blenheim +on the 27th of July, which was attended by delegates from every Unionist +Association in the United Kingdom. + +A notable defeat of the Government in a by-election at Crewe, news of +which reached the meeting while the audience of some fifteen thousand +people was assembling, was an encouraging sign of the trend of opinion +in the country, and added confidence to the note of defiance that +sounded in the speeches of Mr. Bonar Law, Mr. F.E. Smith, and Sir Edward +Carson. + +The Unionist leader repeated, with added emphasis, what he had already +said in the House of Commons, that he could imagine no length of +resistance to which Ulster might go in which he and the overwhelming +majority of the British people would not be ready to give support. He +again said that resistance would be justified only because the people +had not been consulted, and the Government's policy was "part of a +corrupt parliamentary bargain." He refused to acknowledge the right of +the Government "to carry such a Revolution by such means," and as they +appeared to be resolved to do so, Mr. Bonar Law and the party he led +"would use any means to deprive them of the power they had usurped, and +to compel them to face the people they had deceived." Mr. F.E. Smith +expressed the same thought in a more epigrammatic antithesis: "We have +come to a clear issue between the party which says 'We will judge for +the democracy,' and the party which says 'The democracy shall judge +you.'" + +The tremendous enthusiasm evoked by Mr. Bonar Law's pledge of support to +Ulster, and by Sir Edward Carson's announcement that they in Ulster +"would shortly challenge the Government to interfere with them if they +dared, and would with equanimity await the result," was a sufficient +proof, if proof were needed, that the intention of the Ulstermen to +offer forcible resistance to Home Rule had the whole-hearted sympathy +and approval of the entire Unionist party in Great Britain, whose +representatives from every corner of the country were assembled at +Blenheim. + +Liberals hoped and believed that this promise of support for the +"rebellious" attitude of Ulster would alienate British opinion from the +Unionist party. The supporters of the Government in the Press daily +proclaimed that it was doing so. When Parliament adjourned for the +summer recess, at the beginning of what journalists call "the silly +season," Mr. Churchill published two letters to a constituent in +Scotland which were intended to be a crushing indictment both of Ulster +and of her sympathisers in Great Britain. The Ulster menace was in his +eyes nothing but "melodramatic stuff," and he sneeringly suggested that +the Unionist leaders would be "unspeakably shocked and frightened" if +anything came of their "foolish and wicked words." The letter was +lengthy, and contained some telling phrases such as Mr. Churchill has +always been skilful in coining; but the "turgid homily--a mixture of +sophistry, insult, and menace," as _The Times_ not unfairly described +it, was less effective than the terse and simple rejoinder in which Mr. +Bonar Law pointed out that Mr. Churchill's onslaught wounded his +father's memory more deeply than it touched his living opponents, since +Lord Randolph's "incitement" of Ulster was at a time when Ulster could +not be cast out from the Union without the consent of the British +electors. + +Mr. Churchill's epistles to Scottish Liberals started a correspondence +which reverberated through the Press for weeks, breaking the monotony of +the holiday season; but they entirely failed in their purpose, which was +to break the sympathy for Ulster in England and Scotland. In March the +Unionists had won a seat at a by-election in South Manchester; the +victory at Crewe in July, which so cheered the gathering at Blenheim, +was followed by still more striking victories in North-west Manchester +in August, and in Midlothian--Gladstone's old constituency--in +September; and perhaps a not less significant indication of the trend of +opinion so far as the Unionist party was concerned, was given by the +local Unionist Association at Rochdale, which promptly repudiated its +selected candidate who had ventured to protest against the Blenheim +speech of the Unionist leader. In an analysis of electoral statistics +published by _The Times_ on the 24th of August it was shown that, in +thirty-eight contests since the General Election in December 1910, the +Unionists had gained an advantage of more than 32,000 votes over +Liberals. And shortly afterwards, at a dinner in London to three newly +elected Unionists, Mr. Bonar Law pointed out that the results of +by-elections, if realised in the same proportion all over the country, +would have given a substantial Unionist majority in the House of +Commons. + +The Ulster people had, therefore, much to encourage them at a time when +they were preparing the most significant forward step in the movement, +and the most solemn pronouncement of their unfaltering resolution never +to submit to the Dublin Parliament--the signing of the Ulster Covenant. +Their policy of resistance, first propounded at Craigavon, reiterated at +Balmoral, endorsed by British sympathisers at Blenheim, and specifically +defended in Parliament both by Unionist leaders like Mr. Bonar Law and +Mr. Long and by prominent members of the Unionist rank and file like +Lord Hugh Cecil, had won the approval and support of great popular +constituencies in Lancashire and in Scotland, and had alienated no +section of Unionist opinion or of the Unionist Press. It was in no +merely satirical spirit that Carson wrote in August that he was grateful +to Mr. Churchill "for having twice within a few weeks done something to +focus public opinion on the stern realities of the situation in +Ulster."[27] For that was the actual result of the "turgid homily." It +proved of real service to the Ulster cause by bringing to light the +complete solidarity of Unionist opinion in its support. That meant, in +the light of the electoral returns, that certainly more than half the +nation sympathised with the measures that were being taken in Ulster, +and that Ulster could well afford to smile at the mockery which English +Home Rulers deemed a sufficient weapon to demolish the "wooden guns" and +the "military play-acting of King Carson's Army." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[27] See _The Times_, August 19th, 1912. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE EVE OF THE COVENANT + + +There was one Liberal statesman, formerly the favourite lieutenant of +Gladstone and the closest political ally of Asquith, who was under no +illusion as to the character of the men with whom Asquith was now +provoking a conflict. Speaking in Edinburgh on the 1st of November, +1911, that is, shortly after the Craigavon meeting, Lord Rosebery told +his Scottish audience that "he loved Highlanders and he loved +Lowlanders, but when he came to the branch of their race which had been +grafted on to the Ulster stem he took off his hat with reverence and +awe. They were without exception the toughest, the most dominant, the +most irresistible race that existed in the universe."[28] + +The kinship of this tough people with the Lowlanders of Scotland, in +character as in blood, was never more signally demonstrated than when +they decided, in one of the most intense crises of their history, to +emulate the example of their Scottish forefathers in binding themselves +together by a solemn League and Covenant to resist what they deemed to +be a tyrannical encroachment on their liberties and rights. + +The most impressive moment at the Balmoral meeting at Easter 1912 was +when the vast assemblage, with uncovered heads, raised their hands and +repeated after Sir Edward Carson words abjuring Home Rule. The incident +suggested to some of the local Unionist leaders that the spirit of +enthusiastic solidarity and determination thus manifested should not be +allowed to evaporate, and the people so animated to disperse to the four +corners of Ulster without any bond of mutual obligation. The idea of an +oath of fidelity to the cause and to each other was mooted, and +appeared to be favoured by many. The leader was consulted. He gave deep, +anxious, and prolonged consideration to the proposal, calculating all +the consequences which, in various possible eventualities, might follow +its adoption. He was not only profoundly conscious of the moral +responsibility which he personally, and his colleagues, would be +undertaking by the contemplated measure; he realised the numerous +practical difficulties there might be in honouring the bond, and he +would have nothing to do with a device which, under the guise of a +solemn covenant, would be nothing more than a verbal manifesto. If the +people were to be invited to sign anything of the sort, it must be a +reality, and he, as leader, must first see his way to make it a reality, +whatever might happen. + +For, although Carson never shrank from responsibility, he never assumed +it with levity, or without full consideration of all that it might +involve. Many a time, especially before he had fully tested for himself +the temper of the Ulster people, he expressed to his intimates his +wonder whether the bulk of his followers sufficiently appreciated the +seriousness of the course they had set out upon. Sometimes in private he +seemed to be hypersensitive as to whether in any particular he was +misleading those who trusted him; he was scrupulously anxious that they +should not be carried away by unreflecting enthusiasm, or by personal +devotion to himself. About the only criticism of his leadership that was +ever made directly to himself by one of the rank and file in Ulster was +that it erred on the side of patience and caution; and this criticism +elicited the sharpest reproof he was ever heard to administer to any of +his followers.[29] His expressions of regard, almost amounting to +affection, for the men and women who thronged round him for a touch of +his hand wherever he appeared in the streets might have been ignorantly +set down as the arts of a demagogue had they ever been spoken in public, +but were capable of no such misconstruction when reserved, as they +invariably were, for the ears of his closest associates. The truth is +that no popular leader was ever less of a demagogue than Sir Edward +Carson. He had no "arts" at all--unless indeed complete simplicity is +the highest of all "arts" in one whom great masses of men implicitly +trust. He never sought to gain or augment the confidence of his +followers by concealing facts, minimising difficulties, or overcolouring +expectations. + +It is not surprising, then, that the decision to invite the Ulster +people to bind themselves together by some form of written bond or oath +was one which Carson did not come to hastily. While the matter was still +only being talked about by a few intimate friends, and had not been in +any way formally proposed, Captain James Craig happened to be occupying +himself one day at the Constitutional Club in London with pencil and +paper, making experimental drafts that might do for the proposed +purpose, when he was joined by Mr. B.W.D. Montgomery, Secretary of the +Ulster Club in Belfast, who asked what he was doing. "Trying to draft an +oath for our people at home," replied Craig, "and it's no easy matter to +get at what will suit." "You couldn't do better," said Montgomery, "than +take the old Scotch Covenant. It is a fine old document, full of grand +phrases, and thoroughly characteristic of the Ulster tone of mind at +this day." Thereupon the two men went to the library, where, with the +help of the club librarian, they found a History of Scotland containing +the full text of the celebrated bond of the Covenanters (first drawn up, +by a curious coincidence of names, by John Craig, in 1581), a verbatim +copy of which was made from the book. + +The first idea was to adapt this famous manifesto of militant +Protestantism by making only such abbreviations and alterations as would +render it suitable for the purpose in view. But when it was ultimately +decided to go forward with the proposal, and the task of preparing the +document was entrusted to the Special Commission,[30] it was at once +realised that, however strongly the fine old Jacobean language and the +historical associations of the Solemn League and Covenant might appeal +to the imagination of a few, it was far too involved and long-winded, +no matter how drastically revised, to serve as an actual working +agreement between men of to-day, or as a rallying-point for a modern +democratic community. What was needed was something quite short and +easily intelligible, setting forth in as few words as possible a purpose +which the least learned could grasp at a glance, and which all who so +desired could sign with full comprehension of what they were doing. + +Mr. Thomas Sinclair, one of the Special Commission, was himself a +draughtsman of exceptional skill, and in a matter of this kind his +advice was always invaluable, and it was under his hand that the Ulster +Covenant, after frequent amendment, took what was, with one important +exception, its final shape. The last revision cut down the draft by more +than one-half; but the portion discarded from the Covenant itself, in +the interest of brevity, was retained as a Resolution of the Ulster +Unionist Council which accompanied the Covenant and served as a sort of +declaratory preamble to it[31]. The exception referred to was an +amendment made to meet an objection raised by prominent representatives +of the Presbyterian Church. The Special Commission, realising that the +proposed Covenant ought not to be promulgated without the consent and +approval of the Protestant Churches, submitted the agreed draft to the +authorities of the Church of Ireland and of the Presbyterian, Methodist, +and Congregational Churches. The Moderator, and other leaders of the +Presbyterians, including Mr. (afterwards Sir Alexander) McDowell, a man +endowed with much of the wisdom of the serpent, while supporting without +demur the policy of the Covenant, took exception to its terms in a +single particular. They pointed out that the obligation to be accepted +by the signatories would be, as the text then stood, of unlimited +duration. They objected to undertaking such a responsibility without the +possibility of modifying it to meet the changes which time and +circumstance might bring about; and they insisted that, before they +could advise their congregations to contract so solemn an engagement, +the text of the Covenant must be amended by the introduction of words +limiting its validity to the crisis which then confronted them. + +This was accordingly done. Words were introduced which declared the +pledge to be binding "throughout this our time of threatened calamity," +and its purpose to be the defeat of "the present conspiracy." The +language was as precise, and was as carefully chosen, as the language of +a legal deed; but in an unhappy crisis which arose in 1916, in +circumstances which no one in the world could have foreseen in 1912, +there were some in Ulster who were not only tempted to strain the +interpretation which the Covenant as a whole could legitimately bear, +but who failed to appreciate the significance of the amendments that had +been made in its text at the instance of the Presbyterian Church.[32] + +When these amendments had been incorporated in the Covenant by the +Special Commission, a meeting of the Standing Committee was convened at +Craigavon on the 19th of September to adopt it for recommendation to the +Council. The Committee, standing in a group outside the door leading +from the arcade at Craigavon to the tennis-lawn, listened while Sir +Edward Carson read the Covenant aloud from a stone step which now bears +an inscription recording the event. Those present showed by their +demeanour that they realised the historic character of the transaction +in which they were taking part, and the weight of responsibility they +were about to assume. But no voice expressed dissent or hesitation. The +Covenant was adopted unanimously and without amendment. Its terms were +as follows: + + "ULSTER'S SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT + + "Being convinced in our consciences that Home Rule would be + disastrous to the material well-being of Ulster as well as of the + whole of Ireland, subversive of our civil and religious freedom, + destructive of our citizenship, and perilous to the unity of the + Empire, we, whose names are underwritten, men of Ulster, loyal + subjects of His Gracious Majesty King George V, humbly relying on + the God whom our fathers in days of stress and trial confidently + trusted, do hereby pledge ourselves in solemn Covenant throughout + this our time of threatened calamity to stand by one another in + defending for ourselves and our children our cherished position of + equal citizenship in the United Kingdom, and in using all means + which may be found necessary to defeat the present conspiracy to + set up a Home Rule Parliament in Ireland. And in the event of such + a Parliament being forced upon us we further solemnly and mutually + pledge ourselves to refuse to recognise its authority. In sure + confidence that God will defend the right we hereto subscribe our + names. And further, we individually declare that we have not + already signed this Covenant. God save the King." + +On Monday, the 23rd of September, the Ulster Unionist Council, the body +representing the whole loyalist community on an elective and thoroughly +democratic basis, held its annual meeting in the Ulster Hall, the chief +business being the ratification of the Covenant prior to its being +presented for general signature throughout the province on Ulster Day. +Upwards of five hundred delegates attended the meeting, and unanimously +approved the terms of the document recommended for their acceptance by +their Standing Committee. They then adopted, on the motion of Lord +Londonderry, the Resolution which, as already mentioned, had originally +formed part of the draft of the Covenant itself. This Resolution, as +well as the Covenant, was the subject of extensive comment in the +English and Scottish Press. Some opponents of Ulster directed against it +the flippant ridicule which appeared to be their only weapon against a +movement the gravity of which was admitted by Ministers of the Crown; +but, on the whole, the British Press acknowledged the important +enunciation of political principle which it contained. It placed on +record that: + + "Inasmuch as we, the duly elected delegates and members of the + Ulster Unionist Council, representing all parts of Ulster, are + firmly persuaded that by no law can the right to govern those whom + we represent be bartered away without their consent; that although + the present Government, the services and sacrifices of our race + having been forgotten, may drive us forth from a Constitution which + we have ever loyally upheld, they may not deliver us bound into the + hands of our enemies; and that it is incompetent for any authority, + party, or people to appoint as our rulers a Government dominated by + men disloyal to the Empire and to whom our faith and traditions are + hateful; and inasmuch as we reverently believe that, as in times + past it was given our fathers to save themselves from a like + calamity, so now it may be ordered that our deliverance shall be by + our own hands, to which end it is needful that we be knit together + as one man, each strengthening the other, and none holding back or + counting the cost--therefore we, Loyalists of Ulster, ratify and + confirm the steps so far taken by the Special Commission this day + submitted and explained to us, and we reappoint the Commission to + carry on its work on our behalf as in the past. + + "We enter into the Solemn Covenant appended hereto, and, knowing + the greatness of the issues depending on our faithfulness, we + promise each to the others that, to the uttermost of the strength + and means given us, and not regarding any selfish or private + interest, our substance or our lives, we will make good the said + Covenant; and we now bind ourselves in the steadfast determination + that, whatever may befall, no such domination shall be thrust upon + us, and in the hope that by the blessing of God our Union with + Great Britain, upon which are fixed our affections and trust, may + yet be maintained, and that for ourselves and for our children, for + this Province and for the whole of Ireland, peace, prosperity, and + civil and religious liberty may be secured under the Parliament of + the United Kingdom and of the King whose faithful subjects we are + and will continue all our days." + +It had been known for some weeks that it was the intention of the Ulster +Loyalists to dedicate the 28th of September as "Ulster Day," by holding +special religious services, after which they were to "pledge themselves +to a solemn Covenant," the terms of which were not yet published or, +indeed, finally settled. This announcement, which appeared in the Press +on the 17th of August, was hailed in England as an effective reply to +the recent "turgid homily" of Mr. Churchill, but there was really no +connection between them in the intentions of Ulstermen, who had been too +much occupied with their own affairs to pay much attention to the attack +upon them in the Dundee letters. The Ulster Day celebration was to be +preceded by a series of demonstrations in many of the chief centres of +Ulster, at which the purpose of the Covenant was to be explained to the +people by the leader and his colleagues, and a number of English Peers +and Members of Parliament arranged to show their sympathy with the +policy embodied in the Covenant by taking part in the meetings. + +It would not be true to say that the enthusiasm displayed at this great +series of meetings in September eclipsed all that had gone before, for +it would not be possible for human beings greatly to exceed in that +emotion what had been seen at Craigavon and Balmoral; but they exhibited +an equally grave sense of responsibility, and they proved that the same +exaltation of mind, the same determined spirit, that had been displayed +by Loyalists collected in the populous capital of their province, +equally animated the country towns and rural districts. + +The campaign opened at Enniskillen on the 18th of September, where the +leader was escorted by two squadrons of mounted and well-equipped yeomen +from the station to Portora Gate, at which point 40,000 members of +Unionist Clubs drawn from the surrounding agricultural districts marched +past him in military order. During the following nine days +demonstrations were held at Lisburn, Derry, Coleraine, Ballymena, +Dromore, Portadown, Crumlin, Newtownards, and Ballyroney, culminating +with a meeting in the Ulster Hall--loyalist headquarters--on the eve of +the signing of the Covenant on Ulster Day. At six of these meetings, +including, of course, the last, Sir Edward Carson was the principal +speaker, while all the Ulster Unionist Members of Parliament took part +in their several constituencies. Lord Londonderry was naturally +prominent among the speakers, and presided as usual, when the Duke of +Abercorn was prevented by illness from being present, in the Ulster +Hall. Mr. F.E. Smith, who had closely identified himself with the +Ulster Movement, delighting with his fresh and vigorous eloquence the +meetings at Balmoral and Blenheim, as well as the Orange Lodges whom he +had addressed on the 12th of July, crossed the Channel to lend a helping +hand, and spoke at five meetings on the tour. Others who took part--in +addition to local men like Mr. Thomas Sinclair and Mr. John Young, whose +high character always made their appearance on political platforms of +value to the cause they supported--were Lord Charles Beresford, Lord +Salisbury, Mr. James Campbell, Lord Hugh Cecil, Lord Willoughby de +Broke, and Mr. Harold Smith; while the Marquis of Hamilton and Lord +Castlereagh, by the part which they took in the programme, showed their +desire to carry on the traditions which identified the two leading +Ulster families with loyalist principles. + +A single resolution, identical in the simplicity of its terms, was +carried without a dissenting voice at every one of these meetings: "We +hereby reaffirm the resolve of the great Ulster Convention of 1892: 'We +will not have Home Rule.'" These words became so familiar that the +laconic phrase "We won't have it," was on everybody's lips as the Alpha +and Omega of Ulster's attitude, and was sometimes heard with unexpected +abruptness in no very precise context. A ticket-collector, when clipping +the tickets of the party who were starting from Belfast in a saloon for +Enniskillen, made no remark and no sign of recognition till he reached +Carson, when he said almost in a whisper and without a glimmer of a +smile, as he took a clip out of the leader's ticket: "Tell the +station-master at Clones, Sir Edward, that we won't have it." He +doubtless knew that the political views of that misguided official were +of the wrong colour. A conversation overheard in the crowd at +Enniskillen before the speaking began was a curious example of the habit +so characteristic of Ulster--and indeed of other parts of Ireland +also--of thinking of + + "Old, unhappy, far-off things, and battles long ago" + +as if they had occurred last week, and were a factor to be taken into +account in the conduct of to-day. The demonstration was in the open air, +and the sunshine was gleaming on the grass of a hill close at hand. "It +'ud be a quare thing," said a peasant to his neighbour in the crowd, "if +the rebels would come out and hould a meetin' agin us on yon hill." +"What matter if they would," was the reply, "wouldn't we let on that we +won't have it? an' if that wouldn't do them, isn't there hundreds o' +King James's men at the bottom o' the lough, an' there's plenty o' room +yet." It was not spoken in jest, but in grim conviction that the issue +of 1689 was the issue of 1912, and that another Newtown Butler might +have to be fought. + +This series of meetings in preparation for the Covenant brought Carson +much more closely in touch with the Loyalists in outlying districts than +he had been hitherto, and when it was over their wild devotion to him +personally equalled what it was in Belfast itself. The appeal made to +the hearts of men as quick as any living to detect and resent humbug or +boastfulness, by the simplicity, uncompromising directness, and courage +of his character was irresistible. He never spoke better than during +this tour of the Province. The Special Correspondent of _The Times_, who +sent to his paper vivid descriptive articles on each meeting, said in +his account of the meeting at Coleraine that "Sir Edward Carson was +vigorous, fresh, and picturesque. His command over the feelings of his +Ulster audiences is unquestionable, and never a phrase passes his lips +which does not tell." And when the proceedings of the meeting were over, +the same observer "was at the station to witness the 'send-off' of the +leaders, and for ten minutes before the train for Belfast came in the +tumult of the cheers, the thanks, and the farewells never faltered for +an instant."[33] Two days later another English commentator declared +that "The Ulster campaign has been conducted up to the present with a +combination of wisdom, ability, and restraint which has delighted all +the Unionists of the province, and exasperated their Radical and +Nationalist enemies. From its opening at Enniskillen not a speech has +been delivered unworthy of a great movement in defence of civil and +religious liberty."[34] + +It was characteristic of Sir Edward Carson that neither at these +meetings nor at any time did he use his unmatched power of persuasion to +induce his followers to come forward and sign the Covenant. On the +contrary, he rather warned them only to do so after mature reflection +and with full comprehension of the responsibility which signature would +entail. He told the Unionist Council a few days before the memorable +28th of September: "How often have I thought over this Covenant--how +many hours have I spent, before it was published that we would have one, +in counting the cost that may result! How many times have I thought of +what it may mean to all that we care about up here! Does any man believe +that I lightly took this matter in hand without considering with my +colleagues all that it may mean either in the distant or the not too +distant future? No, it is the gravest matter in all the grave matters in +the various offices I have held that I have ever had to consider." And +he went on to advise the delegates, "responsible men from every district +in Ulster, that it is your duty, when you go back to your various +districts, to warn your people who trust you that, in entering into this +solemn obligation, they are entering into a matter which, whatever may +happen in the future, is the most serious matter that has ever +confronted them in the course of their lives."[35] + +A political campaign such as that of September 1912 could not be a +success, however spontaneous the enthusiasm of the people, however +effective the oratory, unless the arrangements were based on good +organisation. It was by general consent a triumph of organisation, the +credit for which was very largely due to Mr. Richard Dawson Bates, the +Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council. Sir Edward Carson himself very +wisely paid little attention to detail; happily there was no need for +him to do so, for he had beside him in Captain James Craig and Mr. Bates +two men with real genius for organisation, and indefatigable in +relieving "the chief" of all unnecessary work and worry. Mr. Bates had +all the threads of a complex network of organisation in his hands; he +kept in close touch with leading Unionists in every district; he always +knew what was going on in out-of-the-way corners, and where to turn for +the right man for any particular piece of work. Anyone whose duty it has +been to manage even a single political demonstration on a large scale +knows what numerous details have to be carefully foreseen and provided +for. In Ulster a succession of both outdoor and indoor demonstrations, +seldom if ever equalled in this country in magnitude and complexity of +arrangement, besides an amazing quantity of other miscellaneous work +inseparable from the conduct of a political movement in which crisis +followed crisis with bewildering rapidity, were managed year after year +from Mr. Bates's office in the Old Town Hall with a quiet, +unostentatious efficiency which only those could appreciate who saw the +machine at work and knew the master mechanic behind it. Of this +efficiency the September demonstrations in 1912 were a conspicuous +illustration. + +Nor did the Loyalist women of Ulster lag an inch behind the men either +in organisation or in zeal for the Unionist cause, and their keenness at +every town visited in this September tour was exuberantly displayed. +Women had not yet been enfranchised, of course, and the Ulster women had +shown but little interest in the suffragette agitation which was raging +at this time in England; but they had organised themselves in defence of +the Union very effectively on parallel lines to the men, and if the +latter had needed any stimulus to their enthusiasm they would certainly +have got it from their mothers, sisters, and wives. The Marchioness of +Londonderry threw herself whole-heartedly into the movement. Having +always ably seconded her husband's many political and social activities, +she made no exception in regard to his devotion to Ulster. Lord +Londonderry, she was fond of saying, was an Ulsterman born and bred, and +she was an Ulsterwoman "by adoption and grace." Her energy was +inexhaustible, and her enthusiasm contagious; she used her influence and +her wonderful social gifts unsparingly in the Unionist cause. + +A meeting of the Ulster Women's Unionist Council, of which the Dowager +Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava, widow of the great diplomat, was +president, was held on the 17th of September, the day before the +demonstration at Enniskillen, when a resolution proposed by Lady +Londonderry declaring the determination of Ulster women to stand by +their men in the policy to be embodied in the Covenant, was carried with +immense enthusiasm and without dissent. No women were so vehement in +their support of the Loyalist cause as the factory workers, who were +very numerous in Belfast. Indeed, their zeal, and their manner of +displaying it, seemed sometimes to illustrate a well-known line of +Kipling's, considered by some to be anything but complimentary to the +female sex. Anyhow, there was no divergence of opinion or sympathy +between the two sexes in Ulster on the question of Union or Home Rule; +and the women who everywhere attended the meetings in large numbers were +no idle sightseers--though they were certainly hero-worshippers of the +Ulster leader--but a genuine political force to be taken into account. + +It was during the September campaign that the "wooden guns" and "dummy +rifles" appeared, which excited so much derision in the English Radical +Press, whose editors little dreamed that the day was not far distant +when Mr. Asquith's Government would be glad enough to borrow those same +dummy rifles for training the new levies of Kitchener's Army to fight +the Germans. So far as the Ulstermen were concerned the ridicule of +their quasi-military display and equipment never had any sting in it. +They were conscious of the strength given to their cause by the +discipline and military organisation of the volunteers, even if the +weapons with which they drilled should never be replaced by the real +thing; and many of them had an instinctive belief that their leaders +would see to it that they were effectively armed all in good time. And +so with grim earnestness they recruited the various battalions of +volunteers, gave up their evenings to drilling, provided cyclist corps, +signalling corps, ambulances and nurses; they were proud to receive +their leader with guards of honour at the station, and bodyguards while +he drove through their town or district to the meetings where he spoke. +Few of them probably ever so much as heard of the gibes of _The Irish +News_, _The Daily News_, or _The Westminster Gazette_ at the "royal +progresses" of "King Carson"; but they would have been in no way upset +by them if they had, for they were far too much in earnest themselves to +pay heed to the cheap sneers of others. At each one of the September +meetings there was a military setting to the business of the day. At +Enniskillen Carson was conducted by a cavalry escort to the ground where +he was to address the people; at Coleraine, Portadown, and other places +volunteers lined the route and marched in column to and from the +meeting. They were, it is true, but "half-baked" levies, with more zeal +than knowledge of military duties. But competent critics--and there were +many such amongst the visitors--praised their bearing and physique and +the creditable measure of discipline they had already acquired. And it +must be remembered that in September 1912 the Ulster Volunteer Force was +still in its infancy. In the following two years its improvement in +efficiency was very marked; and within three years of the time when its +battalions paraded before Sir Edward Carson, with dummy rifles, and +marched before him to his meetings in Lisburn, Newtownards, Enniskillen, +and Belfast on the eve of the Covenant, those same men had gloriously +fought against the flower of the Prussian Army, and many of them had +fallen in the battle of the Somme. + +The final meeting in the Ulster Hall on Friday the 27th of September was +an impressive climax to the tour. Many English journalists and other +visitors were present, and some of them admitted that, in spite of all +they had heard of what an Ulster Hall meeting was like, they were +astonished by the soul-stirring fervour they witnessed, and especially +by the wonderful spectacle presented at the overflow meeting in the +street outside, which was packed as far as the eye could reach in either +direction with upturned faces, eager to catch the words addressed to +them from a platform erected for the speakers outside an upper window of +the building.[36] + +Messages of sympathy and approval at this supreme moment were read from +Mr. Bonar Law and Lord Lansdowne, Mr. Long, Mr. Balfour, and Mr. Austen +Chamberlain. Then, after brief speeches by four local Belfast men, one +of whom was a representative of Labour, and while the audience were +waiting eagerly for the speech of their leader, there occurred what _The +Times_ next day described as "two entirely delightful, and, as far as +the crowd was concerned, two entirely unexpected episodes." The first +was the presentation to Sir Edward Carson of a faded yellow silk banner +by Colonel Wallace, Grand Master of the Belfast Orangemen, who explained +that it was the identical banner that had been carried before King +William III at the battle of the Boyne, and was now lent by its owner, a +lineal descendant of the original standard-bearer, to be carried before +Carson to the signing of the Covenant; the second was the presentation +to the leader of a silver key, symbolic of Ulster as "the key of the +situation," and a silver pen wherewith to sign the Covenant on the +morrow, by Captain James Craig. "The two incidents," continued the +Correspondent of _The Times_, "were followed by the audience with +breathless excitement, and made a remarkably effective prelude to Sir +Edward Carson's speech. Premeditated, no doubt, that incident of the +banner--yet entirely graceful, entirely fitting to the spirit of the +occasion--a plan carried through with the sense of ceremony which +Ulstermen seem to have always at their command in moments of emotion." + +And if ever there was a "moment of emotion" for the Loyalists of +Ulster--those descendants of the Plantation men who had been +deliberately sent to Ireland with a commission from the first sovereign +of a united Britain to uphold British interests, British honour, and the +Reformed Faith across the narrow sea--Loyalists who were conscious that +throughout the generations they had honestly striven to be faithful to +their mission--if ever in their long and stormy history they experienced +a "moment of emotion," it was assuredly on this evening before the +signing of their Covenant. + +The speeches delivered by their leader and others were merely a vent for +that emotion. There was nothing that could be said about their cause +that they did not know already; but all felt that the heart of the +matter was touched--the whole situation, so far as they were concerned, +summed up in a single sentence of Carson's speech: "We will take +deliberately a step forward, not in defiance but in defence; and the +Covenant which we will most willingly sign to-morrow will be a great +step forward, in no spirit of aggression, in no spirit of ascendancy, +but with a full knowledge that, if necessary, you and I--you trusting +me, and I trusting you--will follow out everything that this Covenant +means to the very end, whatever the consequences." Every man and woman +who heard these words was filled with an exalted sense of the solemnity +of the occasion. The mental atmosphere was not that of a political +meeting, but of a religious service--and, in fact, the proceedings had +been opened by prayer, as had become the invariable custom on such +occasions in Ulster. It was felt to be a time of individual preparation +for the _Sacramentum_ of the following day, which Protestant Ulster had +set apart as a day of self-dedication to a cause for which they were +willing to make any sacrifice. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[28] _The Scotsman_, November 2nd, 1911. + +[29] See Sir B. Carson's speech in _Belfast Newsletter_, September 24th, +1912. + +[30] See _ante_, p. 53. + +[31] See p. 106. + +[32] See p. 248. + +[33] _The Times_, September 23rd, 1912. + +[34] _The Daily Telegraph_, September 25th, 1912. + +[35] _Belfast Newsletter_, September 24th, 1912. + +[36] The article which appeared on the following Sunday in _The +Observer_, showed how profoundly a distinguished London editor and +writer had been moved by what he saw in Belfast. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT + +Ulster Day, Saturday the 28th of September, 1912, was kept as a day of +religious observance by the Northern Loyalists. So far as the +Protestants of all denominations were concerned, Ulster was a province +at prayer on that memorable Saturday morning. In Belfast, not only the +services which had more or less of an official character--those held in +the Cathedral, in the Ulster Hall, in the Assembly Hall--but those held +in nearly all the places of worship in the city, were crowded with +reverent worshippers. It was the same throughout the country towns and +rural districts--there was hardly a village or hamlet where the parish +church and the Presbyterian and Methodist meeting-houses were not +attended by congregations of unwonted numbers and fervour. Not that +there was any of the religious excitement such as accompanies revivalist +meetings; it was simply that a population, naturally religious-minded, +turned instinctively to divine worship as the fitting expression of +common emotion at a moment of critical gravity in their history. "One +noteworthy feature," commented upon by one of the English newspaper +correspondents in a despatch telegraphed during the day, "is the silence +of the great shipyards. In these vast industrial establishments on both +sides of the river, 25,000 men were at work yesterday performing their +task at the highest possible pressure, for the order-books of both firms +are full of orders. Now there is not the sound of a hammer; all is as +silent as the grave. The splendid craftsmen who build the largest ships +in the world have donned their Sunday clothes, and, with Unionist +buttons on the lapels of their coats, or Orange sashes on their +shoulders, are about to engage on what to them is an even more important +task." He also noticed that although the streets were crowded there was +no excitement, for "the average Ulsterman performs his religious and +political duties with calm sobriety. He has no time to-day for mirth or +merriment, for every minute is devoted to proving that he is still the +same man--devoted to the Empire, to the King, and Constitution."[37] + +There is at all times in Ulster far less sectarian enmity between the +Episcopal and other Reformed Churches than in England; on Ulster Day the +complete harmony and co-operation between them was a marked feature of +the observances. At the Cathedral in Belfast the preacher was the Bishop +of Down,[38] while a Presbyterian minister representing the Moderator of +the General Assembly, and the President of the Methodist College took +part in the conduct of the service. At the Ulster Hall the same unity +was evidenced by a similar co-operation between clergy of the three +denominations, and also at the Assembly Hall (a Presbyterian place of +worship), where Dr. Montgomery, the Moderator, was assisted by a +clergyman of the Church of Ireland representing the Bishop. + +The service in the Ulster Hall was attended by Sir Edward Carson, the +Lord Mayor of Belfast (Mr. McMordie, M.P.), most of the distinguished +visitors from England, and by those Ulster members whose constituencies +were in or near the city; those representing country seats went thither +to attend local services and to sign the Covenant with their own +constituents. + +One small but significant detail in the day's proceedings was much +noticed as a striking indication of the instinctive realisation by the +crowd of the exceptional character of the occasion. Bedford Street, +where the Ulster Hall is, was densely packed with spectators, but when +the leader arrived, instead of the hurricane of cheers that invariably +greeted his appearance in the streets, there was nothing but a general +uncovering of heads and respectful silence. It is true that the people +abundantly compensated themselves for this moment of self-restraint +later on, until in the evening one wondered how human throats could +survive so many hours of continuous strain; but the contrast only made +the more remarkable that almost startling silence before the religious +service began. + +The "sense of ceremony" which _The Times_ Correspondent on another +occasion had declared to be characteristic of Ulstermen "in moments of +emotion," was certainly displayed conspicuously on Ulster Day. Ceremony +at large public functions is naturally cast in a military +mould--marching men, bands of music, display of flags, guards of honour, +and so forth--and although on this occasion there was, it is true, more +than mere decorative significance in the military frame to the picture, +it was an admirably designed and effective spectacle. It is but a few +hundred yards from the Ulster Hall to the City Hall, where the signing +of the Covenant was to take place. When the religious service ended, +about noon, Sir Edward Carson and his colleagues proceeded from one hall +to the other on foot. The Boyne standard, which had been presented to +the leader the previous evening, was borne before him to the City Hall. +He was escorted by a guard consisting of a hundred men from the Orange +Lodges of Belfast and a like number representing the Unionist clubs of +the city. These clubs had also provided a force of 2,500 men, whose +duty, admirably performed throughout the day, was to protect the gardens +and statuary surrounding the City Hall from injury by the crowd, and to +keep a clear way to the Hall for the endless stream of men entering to +sign the Covenant. + +The City Hall in Belfast is a building of which Ulster is justly proud. +It is, indeed, one of the few modern public buildings in the British +Islands in which the most exacting critic of architecture finds nothing +to condemn. Standing in the central site of the city with ample garden +space in front, its noble proportions and beautiful façade and dome fill +the view from the broad thoroughfare of Donegal Place. The main entrance +hall, leading to a fine marble stairway, is circular in shape, +surrounded by a marble colonnade carrying the dome, to which the hall is +open through the full height of the building. It was in this central +space beneath the dome that a round table covered with the Union Jack +was placed for the signing of the Covenant by the Ulster leaders and the +most prominent of their supporters. + +To those Englishmen who have never been able to grasp the Ulster point +of view, and who have, therefore, persisted in regarding the Ulster +Movement as a phase of party politics in the ordinary sense, it must +appear strange and even improper that the City Hall, the official +quarters of the Corporation, should have been put to the use for which +it was lent on Ulster Day, 1912. The vast majority of the citizens, +whose property it was, thought it could be used for no better purpose +than to witness their signatures to a deed securing to them their +birthright in the British Empire. + +At the entrance to the City Hall Sir Edward Carson was received by the +Lord Mayor and members of the Corporation wearing their robes of office, +and by the Harbour Commissioners, the Water Board, and the Poor Law +Guardians, by whom he was accompanied into the hall. The text of +Ulster's Solemn League and Covenant had been printed on sheets with +places for ten signatures on each; the first sheet lay on the table for +Edward Carson to sign. + +No man but a dullard without a spark of imagination could have witnessed +the scene presented at that moment without experiencing a thrill which +he would have found it difficult to describe. The sunshine, sending a +beam through the stained glass of the great window on the stairway, +threw warm tints of colour on the marbles of the columns and the +tesselated floor of the hall, sparkled on the Lord Mayor's chain, lent a +rich glow to the scarlet gowns of the City Fathers, and lit up the red +and the blue and the white of the Imperial flag which draped the table +and which was the symbol of so much that they revered to those who stood +looking on. They were grouped in a semicircle behind the leader as he +stepped forward to sign his name--men of substance, leaders in the +commercial life of a great industrial city, elderly men many of them, +lovers of peace and order; men of mark who had served the Crown, like +Londonderry and Campbell and Beresford; Doctors of Divinity, guides and +teachers of religion, like the Bishop and the Moderator of the General +Assembly; Privy Councillors; members of the Imperial Parliament; +barristers and solicitors, shopkeepers and merchants,--there they all +stood, silent witnesses of what all felt to be one of the deeds that +make history, assembled to set their hands, each in his turn, to an +Instrument which, for good or evil, would influence the destiny of their +race; while behind them through the open door could be seen a vast +forest of human heads, endless as far as eye could reach, every one of +whom was in eager accord with the work in hand, and whose blended +voices, while they waited to perform their own part in the great +transaction, were carried to the ears of those in the hall like the +inarticulate noise of moving waters. + +When Carson had signed the Covenant he handed the silver pen to +Londonderry, and the latter's name was followed in order by the +signatures of the Moderator of the General Assembly, the Lord Bishop of +Down, Connor, and Dromore (afterwards Primate of All Ireland), the Dean +of Belfast (afterwards Bishop of Down), the General Secretary of the +Presbyterian Church, the President of the Methodist Conference, the +ex-Chairman of the Congregational Union, Viscount Castlereagh, and Mr. +James Chambers, M.P. for South Belfast; and the rest of the company, +including the Right Hon. Thomas Sinclair and the veteran Sir William +Ewart, as well as the members of the Corporation and other public +authorities and boards, having attached their signatures to other +sheets, the general public waiting outside were then admitted. + +The arrangements for signature by the general public had fully taxed the +organising ability of the specially appointed Ulster Day Committee, and +their three hon. secretaries, Mr. Dawson Bates, Mr. McCammon, and Mr. +Frank Hall. They made provision for signatures to be received in many +hundreds of localities throughout Ulster, but it was impossible to +estimate closely the numbers that would require accommodation at the +City Hall. Lines of desks, giving a total desk-space of more than a +third of a mile, were placed along both sides of the corridors on the +upper and lower floors of the building, which enabled 540 persons to +sign the Covenant simultaneously. It all worked wonderfully smoothly, +largely because every individual in the multitude outside was anxious to +help in maintaining orderly procedure, and behaved with the greatest +patience and willingness to follow directions. The people were admitted +to the Hall in batches of 400 or 500 at a time, and as there was no +confusion there was no waste of time. All through the afternoon and up +to 11 p.m., when the Hall was closed, there was an unceasing flow of men +eager to become Covenanters. Immense numbers who belonged to the Orange +Lodges, Unionist clubs, or other organised bodies, marched to the Hall +in procession, and those whose route lay through Royal Avenue had an +opportunity, of which they took the fullest advantage, of cheering +Carson, who watched the memorable scene from the balcony of the Reform +Club, the quondam headquarters of Ulster Liberalism. + +Prominent and influential men in the country districts refrained from +coming to Belfast, preferring to sign the Covenant with their neighbours +in their own localities. The Duke of Abercorn, who had been prevented by +failing health from taking an active part in the movement of late, and +whose life unhappily was drawing to a close, signed the Covenant at +Barons Court; his son, the Marquis of Hamilton, M.P. for Derry, attached +his signature in the Maiden City together with the Bishop; another +prelate, the Bishop of Clogher, signed at Enniskillen with the Grand +Master of the Orangemen, Lord Erne; at Armagh, the Primate of All +Ireland, the Dean, and Sir John Lonsdale, M.P. (afterwards Lord +Armaghdale), headed the list of signatures; the Provost of Trinity +College signed in Dublin; and at Ballymena the veteran Presbyterian +Privy Councillor, Mr. John Young, and his son Mr. William Robert Young, +Hon. Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council, and for thirty years one +of the most zealous and active workers for the Loyalist cause, were the +first to sign. But a more notable Covenanter than any of these local +leaders was Lord Macnaghten, one of the most illustrious of English +Judges, whose great position as Lord of Appeal did not deter him from +wholly identifying himself with his native Ulster, by accepting the full +responsibility of the signatories of the Covenant. + +Ulstermen living in other parts of Ireland, and in Great Britain, were +not forgotten. Arrangements were made enabling such to sign the Covenant +in Dublin, London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, +and York. Two curious details may be added, which no reader who is alive +to the picturesqueness of historical associations will deem too trivial +to be worth recording. In Edinburgh a number of Ulstermen signed the +Covenant in the old Greyfriars' Churchyard on the "Covenanters' Stone," +the well-known memorial of the Scottish Covenant of the seventeenth +century; and the other incident was that, among some twenty men who +signed the Covenant in Belfast with their own blood, Major Crawford was +able to claim that he was following a family tradition, inasmuch as a +lineal ancestor had in the same grim fashion emphasised his adherence to +the Solemn League and Covenant in 1638. + +The most careful precautions were taken to ensure that all who signed +were properly entitled to do so, by requiring evidence to be furnished +of their Ulster birth or domicile, and references able to corroborate +it. The declaration in the Covenant itself that the person signing had +not already done so was in order to make sure that none of the +signatures should be duplicates. When the lists were closed--they were +kept open for some days after Ulster Day--they were very carefully +scrutinised by a competent staff at the Old Town Hall, and it is certain +that the numbers as eventually published included no duplicate signature +and none that was not genuine. Precisely the same care was taken in the +case of the Declaration by which, in words similar to the Covenant but +without its pledge for definite action, the women of Ulster associated +themselves with the men "in their uncompromising opposition to the Home +Rule Bill now before Parliament." + +It was not until the 22nd of November that the scrutiny and verification +of the signatures was completed, and the actual numbers published. They +were as follows: In Ulster itself 218,206 men had registered themselves +as Covenanters, and 228,991 women had signed the Declaration; in the +rest of Ireland and in Great Britain 19,162 men and 5,055 women had +signed. Thus, a grand total of 471,414 Ulster men and women gave their +adherence to the policy of which the Ulster Covenant was the solemn +pledge. To every one of these was given a copy of the document printed +on parchment, to be retained as a memento, and in thousands of cottages +throughout Ulster the framed Covenant hangs to-day in an honoured place, +and is the householder's most treasured possession. + +Although the main business of the day was over, so far as Carson and the +other leaders were concerned, when they had signed the Covenant in the +City Hall at noon, every hour, and every minute in the hour, until they +took their departure in the Liverpool packet in the evening, was full of +incident and excitement. The multitude in the streets leading to the +City Hall was so densely packed that they had great difficulty in making +their way to the Reform Club, where they were to be entertained at +lunch. And, as every man and woman in the crowd was desperately anxious +the moment they saw him to get near enough to Carson to shake him by the +hand, the pressure of the swaying mass of humanity was a positive +danger. Happily the behaviour of the people was as exemplary as it was +tumultuously enthusiastic. _The Times_ Special Correspondent thus summed +up his impressions of the scene: + + "Belfast did all that a city could do for such an occasion. I do + not well see how its behaviour could have been more impressive. The + tirelessness of the crowd--it was that perhaps which struck me + most; and, secondly, the good conduct of the crowd. Belfast had one + of the lowest of its Saturday records for drunkenness and + disorderliness yesterday. I was in the Reform Club between one and + three o'clock. Again and again I went out on the balcony and + watched the streets. I saw the procession of thousands upon + thousands come down Royal Avenue. But this was not the only line of + march, for all Belfast was now converging upon the City Hall, the + arrangements in which must have been elaborate. It was a procession + a description of which would have been familiar to the Belfast + public, but the like of which is only seen in Ulster." + +The tribute here paid to the conduct of the Belfast crowd was well +merited. But in this respect the day of the Covenant was not so +exceptional as it would have been before the beginning of the Ulster +Movement. Before that period neither Belfast nor any part of Ulster +could have been truthfully described as remarkable for its sobriety. But +by the universal testimony of those qualified to judge in such +matters--police, clergy of all denominations, and workers for social +welfare--the political movement had a sobering and steadying influence +on the people, which became more and more noticeable as the movement +developed, and especially as the volunteers grew in numbers and +discipline. The "man in the street" gained a sense of responsibility +from the feeling that he formed one of a great company whom it was his +wish not to discredit, and he found occupation for mind and body which +diminished the temptations of idle hours. + +From the Reform Club Carson, Londonderry, Beresford, and F.E. Smith went +to the Ulster Club, just across the street, where they dined as the +guests of Lord Mayor McMordie before leaving for Liverpool; and it was +outside that dingy building that the enthusiasm of the people reached a +climax. None who witnessed it can ever forget the scene, which the +English newspaper correspondents required all their superlatives to +describe for London readers next day. Those superlatives need not be +served up again here. One or two bald facts will perhaps give to anyone +possessing any faculty of visualisation as clear an idea as they could +get from any number of dithyrambic pages. The distance from the Ulster +Club to the quay where the Liverpool steamer is berthed is ordinarily +less than a ten minutes' walk. The wagonette in which the Ulster leader +and his friends were drawn by human muscles took three minutes short of +an hour to traverse it. It was estimated that into that short space of +street some 70,000 to 100,000 people had managed to jam themselves. +Movement was almost out of the question, yet everyone within reach +tried to press near enough to grasp hands with the occupants of the +carriage. When at last the shed was reached the people could not bear to +let Carson disappear through the gates. _The Times_ Correspondent heard +them shout, "Don't leave us," "You mustn't leave us," and, he added, "It +was seriously meant; it was only when someone pointed out that Sir +Edward Carson had work to do in England for Ulster, that the crowd +finally gave way and made an opening for their hero."[39] There had been +speeches from the balcony of the Reform Club in the afternoon; speeches +from the window of the Ulster Club in the evening; speeches outside the +dock gates; speeches from the deck of the steamer before departure; +speeches by Carson, by Londonderry, by F.E. Smith, by Lord Charles +Beresford--and the purport of one and all of them could be summed up in +the familiar phrase, "We won't have it." But this simple theme, +elaborated through all the modulations of varied oratory, was one of +which the Belfast populace was no more capable of becoming weary than is +the music lover of tiring of a recurrent _leitmotif_ in a Wagner opera. + +At last the ship moved off, and speech was no longer possible. It was +replaced by song, "Rule Britannia"; then, as the space to the shore +widened, "Auld Lang Syne"; and finally, when the figures lining the quay +were growing invisible in the darkness, those on board heard thousands +of Loyalists fervently singing "God save the King." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[37] _The Standard_, September 30th, 1912. + +[38] Dr. D'Arcy, now (1922) Primate of All Ireland. + +[39] _The Times_, September 30th, 1912. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +PASSING THE BILL + +No part of Great Britain displayed a more constant and whole-hearted +sympathy with the attitude of Ulster than the city of Liverpool. There +was much in common between Belfast and the great commercial port on the +Mersey. Both were the home of a robust Protestantism, which perhaps was +reinforced by the presence in both of a quarter where Irish Nationalists +predominated. Just as West Belfast gave a seat in Parliament to the most +forceful of the younger Nationalist generation, Mr. Devlin, the Scotland +Division of Liverpool had for a generation been represented by Mr. T.P. +O'Connor, one of the veteran leaders of the Parnellite period. In each +case the whole of the rest of the city was uncompromisingly +Conservative, and among the members for Liverpool at the time was Mr. +F.E. Smith, unquestionably the most brilliant of the rising generation +of Conservatives, who had already conspicuously identified himself with +the Ulster Movement, and was a close friend as well as a political +adherent of Carson. Among local leaders of opinion in Liverpool Alderman +Salvidge exercised a wide and powerful influence on the Unionist side. + +It was in accordance with the fitness of things, therefore, that +Liverpool should have wished to associate itself in no doubtful manner +with the men who had just subscribed to the Covenant on the other side +of the Channel. Having left Belfast amid the wonderful scenes described +in the last chapter, Carson, Londonderry, F.E. Smith, Beresford, and the +rest of the distinguished visitors awoke next morning--if the rollers of +the Irish Sea permitted sleep--in the oily waters of the Mersey, to find +at the landing-stage a crowd that in dimensions and demeanour seemed to +be a duplicate of the one they had left outside the dock gates at +Belfast. Except that the point round which everything had centred in +Belfast, the signing of the Covenant, was of course missing in +Liverpool, the Unionists of Liverpool were not to be outdone by the +Ulstermen themselves in their demonstration of loyalty to the Union. + +The packet that carried the group of leaders across the Channel happened +to be, appropriately enough, the R.M.S. _Patriotic_. As she steamed +slowly up the river towards Prince's Landing-stage in the chilly +atmosphere of early morning it was at once evident that more than the +members of the deputation who had arranged to present addresses to +Carson were out to welcome him to Liverpool, and when the workers who +thronged the river bank started singing "O God, our help in ages past," +the sound was strangely familiar in ears fresh from Ulster. + +An address from the Unionist working men of Liverpool and district, +presented by Alderman Salvidge, thanked Carson for his "magnificent +efforts to preserve the integrity of the Empire," and assured him that +they, "Unionist workers of the port which is connected with Belfast in +so many ways, stand by Ulster in this great struggle." Scenes of intense +enthusiasm in the streets culminated in a monster demonstration in Shiel +Park, at which it was estimated that close on 200,000 people were +present. In all the speeches delivered and the resolutions adopted +during this memorable Liverpool visit the same note was sounded, of full +approval of the Covenanters and of determination to support them +whatever might befall. + +The events of the last three months, and especially the signing of the +Covenant, had concentrated on Ulster the attention of the whole United +Kingdom, not to speak of America and the British oversea Dominions. This +was not of unmixed advantage to the cause for which Ulster was making so +determined a stand. There was a tendency more and more to regard the +opposition to Irish Home Rule as an Ulster question, and nothing else. +The Unionist protagonists of the earlier, the Gladstonian, period of the +struggle, men like Salisbury, Randolph Churchill, Devonshire, +Chamberlain, and Goschen, had treated it mainly as an Imperial question, +which it certainly was. In their eyes the Irish Loyalists, of whom the +Ulstermen were the most important merely because they happened to be +geographically concentrated, were valuable allies in a contest vital to +the safety and prosperity of the British Empire; but, although the +particular interests of these Loyalists were recognised as possessing a +powerful claim on British sympathy and support, this was a consideration +quite secondary in comparison with the larger aspects of Imperial policy +raised by the demand for Home Rule. It was an unfortunate result of the +prominence into which Ulster was forced after the introduction of Mr. +Asquith's measure that these larger aspects gradually dropped away, and +the defence of the Union came to be identified almost completely in +England and Scotland with support of the Ulster Loyalists. It was to +this aspect of the case that Mr. Kipling gave prominence in the poem +published on the day of the Balmoral meeting,[40] although no one was +less prone than he to magnify a "side-show" in Imperial policy; and it +was the same note that again was sounded on the eve of the Covenant by +another distinguished English poet. The general feeling of bewilderment +and indignation that the only part of Ireland which had consistently +upheld the British connection should now be not only thrown over by the +British Government but denounced for its obstinate refusal to co-operate +in a separatist movement, was finely expressed in Mr. William Watson's +challenging poem, "Ulster's Reward," which appeared in _The Times_ a few +days before the signing of the Covenant in Belfast: + + "What is the wage the faithful earn? + What is a recompense fair and meet? + Trample their fealty under your feet-- + That, is a fitting and just return. + Flout them, buffet them, over them ride, + Fling them aside! + + "Ulster is ours to mock and spurn, + Ours to spit upon, ours to deride. + And let it be known and blazoned wide + That this is the wage the faithful earn: + Did she uphold us when others defied? + Then fling her aside. + + "Where on the Earth was the like of it done + In the gaze of the sun? + She had pleaded and prayed to be counted still + As one of our household through good and ill, + And with scorn they replied; + Jeered at her loyalty, trod on her pride, + Spurned her, repulsed her, + Great-hearted Ulster; + Flung her aside." + +Appreciating to the full the sympathy and support which their cause +received from leading men of letters in England, it was not the fault of +the Ulstermen themselves that the larger Imperial aspects of the +question thus dropped into the background. They continually strove to +make Englishmen realise that far more was involved than loyal support of +England's only friends in Ireland; they quoted such pronouncements as +Admiral Mahan's that "it is impossible for a military man, or a +statesman with appreciation of military conditions, to look at a map and +not perceive that if the ambition of the Irish Separatists were +realised, it would be even more threatening to the national life of +Britain than the secession of the South was to that of the American +Republic.... An independent Parliament could not safely be trusted even +to avowed friends"; and they showed over and over again, quoting chapter +and verse from Nationalist utterances, and appealing to acknowledged +facts in recent and contemporary history, that it was not to "avowed +friends," but to avowed enemies, that Mr. Asquith was prepared to +concede an independent Parliament. + +But those were the days before the rude awakening from the dream that +the world was to repose for ever in the soft wrappings of universal +peace. Questions of national defence bored Englishmen. The judgment of +the greatest strategical authority of the age weighed less than one of +Lord Haldane's verbose platitudes, and the urgent warnings of Lord +Roberts less than the impudent snub administered to him by an +Under-Secretary. Speakers on public platforms found that sympathy with +Ulster carried a more potent appeal to their audience than any other +they could make on the Irish question, and they naturally therefore +concentrated attention upon it. Liberals, excited alternately to fury +and to ridicule by the proceedings in Belfast, heaped denunciation on +Carson and the Covenant, thereby impelling their opponents to vehement +defence of both; and the result of all this was that before the end of +1912 the sun of Imperial policy which had drawn the homage of earlier +defenders of the Union was almost totally eclipsed by the moon of +Ulster. + +When Parliament reassembled for the autumn session in October the Prime +Minister immediately moved a "guillotine" resolution for allotting time +for the remaining stages of the Home Rule Bill, and, in resisting this +motion, Mr. Bonar Law made one of the most convincing of his many +convincing speeches against the whole policy of the Bill. It stands for +all time as the complete demonstration of a proposition which he argued +over and over again--that Home Rule had never been submitted to the +British electorate, and that that fact alone was full justification for +Ulster's resolve to resist it. It was impossible for any democratic +Minister to refute the contention that even if the principle of the +Government's policy had been as frankly submitted to the electorate as +it had in fact been carefully withheld, it would still remain true that +the intensity of the Ulster opposition was itself a new factor in the +situation upon Which the people were entitled to be consulted. There was +a limit, said Mr. Bonar Law, to the obligation to submit to legally +constituted authority, and that limit was reached "in a free country +when a body of men, whether they call themselves a Cabinet or not, +propose to make a great change like this for which they have never +received the sanction of the people." + +It was, however, thoroughly understood by every member of the House of +Commons that argument, no matter how irrefutable, had no effect on the +situation, which was governed by the simple fact that the life of the +Ministry depended on the good-will of the Nationalist section of the +Coalition, which rigorously demanded the passage of the Bill in the +current session, and feared nothing so much as the judgment of the +English people upon it. Consequently, under the guillotine, great blocks +of the Bill, containing the most far-reaching constitutional issues, +and matters vital to the political and economic structure of the centre +of the British Empire, were passed through the House of Commons by the +ringing of the division bells without a word of discussion, exactly as +they had come from the pen of the official draftsman, and destined under +the exigencies of the Parliament Act procedure to be forced through the +Legislature in the same raw condition in the two following sessions. + +This last-mentioned fact suggested a consideration which weighed heavily +on the minds of the Ulster leaders as the year 1912 drew to a close, and +with it the debates on the Bill in Committee. Had the time come when +they ought to put forward in Parliament an alternative policy to the +absolute rejection of the Bill? They had not yet completely abandoned +hope that Ministers, however reluctantly, might still find it impossible +to stave off an appeal to the country; but the opposite hypothesis was +the more probable. If the Bill became law in its present form they would +have to fall back on the policy disclosed at Craigavon and embodied in +the Covenant. But, although it is true that they had supported Mr. +Agar-Robartes's amendment to exclude certain Ulster counties from the +jurisdiction to be set up in Dublin, the Ulster representatives were +reluctant to make proposals of their own which might be misrepresented +as a desire to compromise their hostility to the principle of Home Rule. +Under the Parliament Act procedure, however, they realised that no +material change would be allowed to be made in the Bill after it first +left the House of Commons, although two years would have to elapse +before it could reach the Statute-book; if they were to propound any +alternative to "No Home Rule" it was, therefore, a case of now or never. + +Having regard to the extreme gravity of the course to be followed in +Ulster in the event of the measure passing into law, it was decided that +the most honest and straightforward thing to do was to put forward at +the juncture now reached a policy for dealing with Ulster separately +from the rest of Ireland. But in fulfilment of the promise, from which +he never deviated, to take no important step without first consulting +his supporters in Ulster, Carson went over to attend a meeting of the +Standing Committee in Belfast on the 13th of December, where he +explained fully the reasons why this policy was recommended by himself +and all his parliamentary colleagues. It was not accepted by the +Standing Committee without considerable discussion, but in the end the +decision was unanimous, and the resolution adopting it laid it down that +"in taking this course the Standing Committee firmly believes the +interests of Unionists in the three other provinces of Ireland will be +best conserved." In order to emphasise that the course resolved upon +implied no compromise of their opposition to the Bill as a whole, Sir +Edward Carson wrote a letter to the Prime Minister during the Christmas +recess, which was published in the Press, and which made this point +clear; and he pressed it home in the House of Commons on the 1st of +January, 1913, when he moved to exclude "the Province of Ulster" from +the operation of the Bill in a speech of wonderfully persuasive +eloquence which deeply impressed the House, and which was truly +described by Mr. Asquith as "very powerful and moving," and by Mr. +Redmond as "serious and solemn." + +Carson's proposal was altogether different from what was subsequently +enacted in 1920. It was consistent with the uninterrupted demand of +Ulster to be let alone, it asked for no special privilege, except the +privilege, which was also claimed as an inalienable right, to remain a +part of the United Kingdom with full representation at Westminster and +nowhere else; it required the creation of no fresh subordinate +constitution raising the difficult question as to the precise area which +its jurisdiction could effectively administer. + +Carson's amendment was, of course, rejected by the Government's +invariably docile majority, and on the 16th of January the Home Rule +Bill passed the third reading in the House of Commons, without the +smallest concession having been made to the Ulster opposition, or the +slightest indication as to how the Government intended to meet the +opposition of a different character which was being organised in the +North of Ireland. + +When the Bill went to the Upper House at the end of January the whole +subject was threshed out in a series of exceedingly able speeches; but +the impotence of the Second Chamber under the Parliament Act gave an air +of pathetic unreality to the proceedings, which was neatly epitomised by +Lord Londonderry in the sentence: "The position is, that while the House +of Commons can vote but not speak, the Lords can speak but not vote." +Nevertheless, such speeches as those of the Archbishop of York, Earl +Grey, the Duke of Devonshire, and Lord Londonderry, were not without +effect on opinion outside. Earl Grey, an admitted authority on federal +constitutions, urged that if, as the Government were continually +assuring the country, Home Rule was the first step in the federalisation +of the United Kingdom, there was every reason why Ulster should be a +distinct unit in the federal system. The Archbishop dealt more fully +with the Ulster question. Admitting that he had formerly believed "that +this attitude of Ulster was something of a scarecrow made up out of old +and outworn prejudices," he had now to acknowledge that the men of +Ulster were "of all men the least likely to be 'drugged with the wine of +words,' and were men who of all other men mean and do what they say." +Behind all the glowing eloquence of Mr. Asquith and Mr. Redmond, he +discerned "this figure of Ulster, grim, determined, menacing, which no +eloquence can exorcise and no live statesmanship can ignore." If the +result of this legislation should be actual bloodshed, then, on +whomsoever might rest the responsibility for it, it would mean the +shattering of all the hopes of a united and contented Ireland which it +was the aim of the Bill to create. If Ulster made good her threat of +forcible resistance there was, said the Archbishop, one condition, and +one condition only, on which her coercion could be justified, and that +was that the Government "should have received from the people of this +country an authority clear and explicit" to carry it out. + +But among the numerous striking passages in the debate which occupied +the Peers for four days, none was more telling than Lord Curzon's +picturesque description of how Ulster was to be treated. "You are +compelling Ulster," he said, "to divorce her present husband, to whom +she is not unfaithful, and you compel her to marry someone else whom she +cordially dislikes, with whom she does not want to live; and you do it +because she happens to be rich, and because her new partner has a large +and ravenous offspring to provide for. You are asking rather too much of +human nature." + +That the Home Rule Bill would be rejected on second reading by the Lords +was a foregone conclusion, and it was so rejected by a majority of 257 +on the 31st of January, 1913. The Bill then entered into its period of +gestation under the Parliament Act. The session did not come to an end +until the 7th of March, and the new session began three days afterwards. +It is unnecessary to follow the fortunes of the Bill in Parliament in +1913, for the process was purely mechanical, in order to satisfy the +requirements of the Parliament Act. The preparations for dealing with +the mischief it would work went forward with unflagging energy +elsewhere. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[40] See _ante_, p. 79. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +WAS RESISTANCE JUSTIFIABLE? + + +A story is told of Queen Victoria that in her youthful days, when +studying constitutional history, she once asked Lord Melbourne whether +under any circumstances citizens were justified in resisting legal +authority; to which the old courtier replied: "When asked that question +by a Sovereign of the House of Hanover I feel bound to answer in the +affirmative." If one can imagine a similar question being asked of an +Ulsterman by Mr. Asquith, Mr. Lloyd George, or Sir Edward Grey, in 1912, +the reply would surely have been that such a question asked by a +statesman claiming to be a guardian of Liberal principles and of the +Whig tradition could only be answered in the affirmative. This, at all +events, was the view of the late Duke of Devonshire, who more than any +other statesman of our time could claim to be a representative in his +own person of the Whig tradition handed down from 1688.[41] Passive +obedience has, indeed, been preached as a political dogma in the course +of English history, but never by apostles of Liberalism. Forcible +resistance to legally constituted authority, even when it involved +repudiation of existing allegiance, has often, both in our own and in +foreign countries, won the approval and sympathy of English Liberals. A +long line of illustrious names, from Cromwell and Lord Halifax in +England to Kossuth and Mazzini on the Continent, might be quoted in +support of such a proposition if anyone were likely to challenge it. + +When, then, Liberals professed to be unutterably shocked by Ulster's +declared intention to resist Home Rule both actively and passively, they +could not have based their attitude on the principle that under no +circumstances could such resistance be morally justified. Indeed, in +the case in question, there were circumstances that would have made the +condemnation of Ulster by the English Liberal Party not a little +hypocritical if referred to any general ethical principle. For that +party had itself been for a generation in the closest political alliance +with Irishmen whose leader had boasted that they were as much rebels as +their fathers were in 1798, and whose power in Ireland had been built up +by long-sustained and systematic defiance of the law. Yet the same +politicians who had excused, if they had not applauded, the "Plan of +Campaign," and the organised boycotting and cattle-driving which had for +years characterised the agitation for Home Rule, were unspeakably +shocked when Ulster formed a disciplined Volunteer force which never +committed an outrage, and prepared to set up a Provisional Government +rather than be ruled by an assembly of cattle-drivers in Dublin. +Moreover, many of Mr. Asquith's supporters, and one at least of his most +distinguished colleagues in the Cabinet of 1912, had themselves +organised resistance to an Education Act which they disliked but had +been unable to defeat in Parliament. + +Nevertheless, it must, of course, be freely admitted that the question +as to what conditions justify resistance to the legal authority in the +State--or rebellion, if the more blunt expression be preferred--is an +exceedingly difficult one to answer. It would sound cynical to say, +though Carlyle hardly shrinks from maintaining, that success, and +success alone, redeems rebellion from wickedness and folly. Yet it would +be difficult to explain on any other principle why posterity has +applauded the Parliamentarians of 1643 and the Whigs of 1688, while +condemning Monmouth and Charles Edward; or why Mr. Gladstone sympathised +with Jefferson Davis when he looked like winning and withdrew that +sympathy when he had lost. But if success is not the test, what is? Is +it the aim of the men who resist? The aim that appears honourable and +heroic to one onlooker appears quite the opposite to another, and so the +test resolves itself into a matter of personal partisanship. + +That is probably as near as one can get to a solution of the question. +Those who happen to agree with the purpose for which a rebellion takes +place think the rebels in the right; those who disagree think them in +the wrong. As Mr. Winston Churchill succinctly puts it when commenting +on the strictures passed on his father for "inciting" Ulster to resist +Home Rule, "Constitutional authorities will measure their censures +according to their political opinions." He reminds us, moreover, that +when Lord Randolph was denounced as a "rebel in the skin of a Tory," the +latter "was able to cite the authority of Lord Althorp, Sir Robert Peel, +Mr. Morley, and the Prime Minister (Gladstone) himself, in support of +the contention that circumstances might justify morally, if not +technically, violent resistance and even civil war."[42] + +To this distinguished catalogue of authorities an Ulster apologist might +have added the name of the Chief Secretary for Ireland in Mr. Asquith's +own Cabinet, who admitted in 1912 that "if the religion of the +Protestants were oppressed or their property despoiled they would be +right to fight[43];" which meant that Mr. Birrell did not condemn +fighting in itself, provided he were allowed to decide when the occasion +for it had arisen. Greater authorities than Mr. Birrell held that the +Ulster case for resistance was a good and valid one as it stood. No +English statesman of the last half-century has deservedly enjoyed a +higher reputation for political probity, combined with sound common +sense, than the eighth Duke of Devonshire. As long ago as 1893, when +this same issue had already been raised in circumstances much less +favourable to Ulster than after the passing of the Parliament Act in +1911, the Duke of Devonshire said: + + "The people of Ulster believe, rightly or wrongly, that under a + Government responsible to an Imperial Parliament they possess at + present the fullest security which they can possess of their + personal freedom, their liberties, and their right to transact + their own business in their own way. You have no right to offer + them any inferior security to that; and if, after weighing the + character of the Government which it is sought to impose upon them, + they resolve that they are no longer bound to obey a law which does + not give them equal and just protection with their fellow subjects, + who can say--how at all events can the descendants of those who + resisted King James II say, that they have not a right, if they + think fit, to resist, if they think they have the power, the + imposition of a Government put upon them by force?"[44] + +All the same, there never was a community on the face of the earth to +whom "rebellion" in any real sense of the word was more hateful than to +the people of Ulster. They traditionally were the champions of "law and +order" in Ireland; they prided themselves above all things on their +"loyalty" to their King and to the British flag. And they never +entertained the idea that the movement which they started at Craigavon +in 1911, and to which they solemnly pledged themselves by their Covenant +in the following year, was in the slightest degree a departure from +their cherished "loyalty"--on the contrary, it was an emphatic assertion +of it. They held firmly, as Mr. Bonar Law and the whole Unionist party +in Great Britain held also, that Mr. Asquith and his Government were +forcing Home Rule upon them by unconstitutional methods. They did not +believe that loyalty in the best sense--loyalty to the Sovereign, to the +Empire, to the majesty of the law--required of them passive obedience to +an Act of Parliament placed by such means on the Statute-book, which +they were convinced, moreover, was wholly repugnant to the great +majority of the British people. + +This aspect of the matter was admirably and soberly presented by _The +Times_ in one of the many weighty articles in which that great journal +gave undeviating support to the Ulster cause. + + "A free community cannot justly, or even constitutionally, be + deprived of its privileges or its position in the realm by any + measure that is not stamped with the considered and unquestionable + approval of the great body of electors of the United Kingdom. Any + attempt so to deprive them is a fraud upon their fundamental + rights, which they are justified in resisting, as an act of + violence, by any means in their power. This is elementary doctrine, + borne out by the whole course of English history."[45] + +That the position was paradoxical calls for no denial; but the pith of +the paradox lay in the fact that a movement denounced as "rebellious" by +its political opponents was warmly supported not only by large masses, +probably by the majority, of the people of this country, but by numbers +of individuals of the highest character, occupying stations of great +responsibility. Whatever may be thought of men engaged in actual +political conflict, whom some people appear to think capable of any +wickedness, no one can seriously suggest that men like Lord Macnaghten, +like the late and present Primates of Ireland, like the late Provost of +Trinity, like many other sober thinkers who supported Ulster, were men +who would lightly lend themselves to "rebellion," or any other wild and +irresponsible adventure. As _The Times_ very truly observed in a leading +article in 1912: + + "We remember no precedent in our domestic history since the + Revolution of 1688 for a movement among citizens, law-abiding by + temperament and habit, which resembles the present movement of the + Ulster Protestants. It is no rabble who have undertaken it. It is + the work of orderly, prosperous, and deeply religious men."[46] + + +Nor did the paradox end there. If the Ulster Movement was "rebellious," +its purpose was as paradoxical as its circumstances. It had in it no +subversive element. In this respect it stands (so far as the writer's +knowledge goes) without precedent, a solitary instance in the history of +mankind. The world has witnessed rebellions without number, designed to +bring about many different results--to emancipate a people from +oppression, to upset an obnoxious form of Government, to expel or to +restore a rival dynasty, to transfer allegiance from one Sovereign or +one State to another. But has there ever been a "rebellion" the object +of which was to maintain the _status quo_? Yet that was the sole purpose +of the Ulstermen in all they did from 1911 to 1914. That fact, which +distinguished their movement from every rebellion or revolution in +history, placed them on a far more solid ground of reasonable +justification than the excuse offered by Mr. Churchill for their +bellicose attitude in his father's day. Although he is no doubt right in +saying that "When men are sufficiently in earnest they will back their +words with more than votes," it is a plea that would cover alike the +conduct of Halifax and the other Whigs who resisted the legal authority +of James II, of the Jacobites who fought for his grandson, and of the +contrivers of many another bloody or bloodless Revolution. But there was +nothing revolutionary in the Ulster Movement. It was resistance to the +transfer of a people's allegiance without their consent; to their +forcible expulsion from a Constitution with which they were content and +their forcible inclusion in a Constitution which they detested. This was +the very antithesis of Revolution. English Radical writers and +politicians might argue that no "transfer of allegiance" was +contemplated; but Ulstermen thought they knew better, and the later +development of the Irish question proved how right they were. Even had +they been proved wrong instead of right in their conviction that the +true aim of Irish Nationalism (a term in which Sinn Fein is included) +was essentially separatist, they knew better than Englishmen how little +reality there was in the theory that under the proposed Home Rule their +allegiance would be unaffected and their political _status_ suffer no +degradation. They claimed to occupy a position similar to that of the +North in the American Civil War--with this difference, which, so far as +it went, told in their favour, that whereas Lincoln took up arms to +resist secession, they were prepared to do so to resist expulsion, the +purpose in both cases, however, being to preserve union. The practical +view of the question, as it would appear in the eyes of ordinary men, +was well expressed by Lord Curzon in the House of Lords, when he said: + + "The people of this country will be very loth to condemn those + whose only disloyalty it will be to have been excessive in their + loyalty to the King. Do not suppose that the people of this country + will call those 'rebels' whose only form of rebellion is to insist + on remaining under the Imperial Parliament."[47] + +Of course, men like Sir Edward Carson, Lord Londonderry, Mr. Thomas +Sinclair, and other Ulster leaders were too far-seeing not to realise +that the course they were taking would expose them to the accusation of +having set a bad example which others without the same grounds of +justification might follow in very different circumstances. But this was +a risk they had to shoulder, as have all who are not prepared to +subscribe to the dogma of Passive Obedience without limit. They accepted +it as the less of two evils. But there was something humorous in the +pretence put forward in 1916 and afterwards that the violence to which +the adherents of Sinn Fein had recourse was merely copying Ulster. As if +Irish Nationalism in its extreme form required precedent for +insurrection! Even the leader of "Constitutional Nationalism" himself +had traced his political pedigree to convicted rebels like Tone and +Emmet, and since the date of those heroes there had been at least two +armed risings in Ireland against the British Crown and Government. If +the taunt flung at Ulstermen had been that they had at last thrown +overboard law and order and had stolen the Nationalist policy of active +resistance, there would at least have been superficial plausibility in +it. But when it was suggested or implied that the Ulster example was +actually responsible in any degree whatever for violent outbreaks in the +other provinces, a supercilious smile was the only possible retort from +the lips of representatives of Ulster. + +But what caused them some perplexity was the disposition manifested in +certain quarters in England to look upon the two parties in Ireland in +regard to "rebellion" as "six of one and half a dozen of the other." It +has always, unhappily, been characteristic of a certain type of +Englishman to see no difference between the friends and the enemies of +his country, and, if he has a preference at all, to give it to the +latter. Apart from all other circumstances which in the eyes of +Ulstermen justified them up to the hilt in the policy they pursued, +apart from everything that distinguished them historically and morally +from Irish "rebels," there was the patent and all-important fact that +the motive of their opponents was hostility to England, whereas their +own motive was friendliness and loyalty to England. In that respect they +never wavered. If the course of events had ever led to the employment of +British troops to crush the resistance of Ulster to Home Rule, the +extraordinary spectacle would have been presented to the wondering world +of the King's soldiers shooting down men marching under the British flag +and singing "God save the King." + +It was no doubt because this was very generally understood in England +that the sympathies of large masses of law-loving people were never for +a moment alienated from the men of Ulster by all the striving of their +enemies to brand them as rebels. Constitutional authorities may, as Mr. +Churchill says, "measure their censures according to their political +opinions," but the generality of men, who are not constitutional +authorities, whose political opinions, if they have any, are +fluctuating, and who care little for "juridical niceties," will measure +their censures according to their instinctive sympathies. And the sound +instinct of Englishmen forbade them to blame men who, if rebels in law, +were their firm friends in fact, for taking exceptional and even illegal +measures, when all others failed, to preserve the full unity which they +regarded as the fruit of that friendship. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[41] See _Life of the Eighth Duke of Devonshire,_ by Bernard Holland, +ii, pp. 249-51. + +[42] _Life of Lord Randolph Churchill_, vol. ii, p. 65. + +[43] _Annual Register_, 1912, p. 82. + +[44] Bernard Holland's _Life of the Eighth Duke of Devonshire_, ii, 250. + +[45] _The Times_, July 14th, 1913. + +[46] Ibid., August 22nd, 1912. + +[47] _Parliamentary Debates_ (House of Lords), July 15th, 1913. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT AND PROPAGANDA + + +By the death of the Duke of Abercorn on the 3rd of January, 1913, the +Ulster Loyalists lost a leader who had for many years occupied a very +special place in their affection and confidence. Owing to failing health +he had been unable to take an active part in the exciting events of the +past two years, but the messages of encouragement and support which were +read from him at Craigavon, Balmoral, and other meetings for organising +resistance, were always received with an enthusiasm which showed, and +was intended to show, that the great part he had played in former years, +and especially his inspiring leadership as Chairman of the Ulster +Convention in 1893, had never been forgotten. + +His death inflicted also, indirectly, another blow which at this +particular moment was galling to loyalists out of all proportion to its +intrinsic importance. The removal to the House of Lords of the Marquis +of Hamilton, the member for Derry city, created a vacancy which was +filled at the ensuing by-election by a Liberal Home Ruler. To lose a +seat anywhere in the north-eastern counties at such a critical time in +the movement was bad enough, but the unfading halo of the historic siege +rested on Derry as on a sanctuary of Protestantism and loyalty, so that +the capture of the "Maiden City" by the enemy wounded loyalist sentiment +far more deeply than the loss of any other constituency. The two parties +had been for some time very nearly evenly balanced there, and every +electioneering art and device, including that of bringing to the poll +voters who had long rested in the cemetery, was practised in Derry with +unfailing zeal and zest by party managers. For some time past trade, +especially ship-building, had been in a state of depression in Derry, +with the result that a good many of the better class of artisans, who +were uniformly Unionist, had gone to Belfast and elsewhere to find work, +leaving the political fortunes of the city at the mercy of the casual +labourer who drifted in from the wilds of Donegal, and who at this +election managed to place the Home Rule candidate in a majority of +fifty-seven. + +It was a matter of course that the late Duke's place as President of the +Ulster Unionist Council should be taken by Lord Londonderry, and it +happened that the annual meeting at which he was formally elected was +held on the same day that witnessed the rejection of the Home Rule Bill +by the House of Lords. + +It was also at this annual meeting (31st January, 1913) that the special +Commission who had been charged to prepare a scheme for the Provisional +Government, presented their draft Report. The work had been done with +great thoroughness and was adopted without substantial alteration by the +Council, but was not made public for several months. The Council itself +was, in the event of the Provisional Government being set up, to +constitute a "Central Authority," and provision was made, with complete +elaboration of detail, for carrying on all the necessary departments of +administration by different Committees and Boards, whose respective +functions were clearly defined. Among those who consented to serve in +these departmental Committees, in addition to the recognised local +leaders in the Ulster Movement, were Dr. Crozier, Archbishop of Armagh, +the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in +Ireland, Lord Charles Beresford, Major-General Montgomery, Colonel +Thomas Hickman, M.P., Lord Claud Hamilton, M.P., Sir Robert Kennedy, +K.C.M.G., and Sir Charles Macnaghten, K.C., son of Lord Macnaghten, the +distinguished Lord of Appeal. Ulster at this time gave a lead on the +question of admitting women to political power, at a time when their +claim to enfranchisement was being strenuously resisted in England, by +including several women in the Provisional Government. + +A most carefully drawn scheme for a separate judiciary in Ulster had +been prepared with the assistance of some of the ablest lawyers in +Ireland. It was in three parts, dealing respectively with (a) the +Supreme Court, (b) the Land Commission, and (c) County Courts; it was +drawn up as an Ordinance, in the usual form of a Parliamentary Bill, and +it is an indication of the spirit in which Ulster was preparing to +resist an Act of Parliament that the Ordinance bore the introductory +heading: "_It is Hereby Enacted by the Central Authority in the name of +the King's Most Excellent Majesty that_------" Similarly, the form of +"Oath or Declaration of Adherence" to be taken by Judges, Magistrates, +Coroners, and other officers of the Courts, set out in a Schedule to the +Ordinance, was: "I ... of ... being about to serve in the Courts of the +Provisional Government as the Central Authority for His Majesty the +King, etc." + +It will be remembered that the original resolution by which the Council +decided to set up a Provisional Government limited its duration until +Ulster should "again resume unimpaired her citizenship in the United +Kingdom,"[48] and at a later date it was explicitly stated that it was +to act as trustee for the Imperial Parliament. All the forms prepared +for use while it remained in being purported to be issued in the name of +the King. And the Resolution adopted by the Unionist Council immediately +after constituting itself the Central Authority of the Provisional +Government, in which the reasons for that policy were recorded, +concluded with the statement that "we, for our part, in the course we +have determined to pursue, are inspired not alone by regard to the true +welfare of our own country, but by devotion to the interests of our +world-wide Empire and loyalty to our beloved King." If this was the +language of rebels, it struck a note that can never before have been +heard in a chorus of disaffection. + +The demonstrations against the Government's policy which had been held +during the last eighteen months, of which some account has been given, +were so impressive that those which followed were inevitably less +remarkable by comparison. They were, too, necessarily to a large +extent, repetitions of what had gone before. There might be, and there +were, plenty of variations on the old theme, but there was no new theme +to introduce. Propaganda to the extent possible with the resources at +the disposal of the Ulster Unionist Council was carried on in the +British constituencies in 1913, the cost being defrayed chiefly through +generous subscriptions collected by the energy and influence of Mr. +Walter Long; but many were beginning to share the opinion of Mr. Charles +Craig, M.P., who scandalised the Radicals by saying at Antrim in March +that, while it was incumbent on Ulstermen to do their best to educate +the electorate, "he believed that, as an argument, ten thousand pounds +spent on rifles would be a thousand times stronger than the same amount +spent on meetings, speeches, and pamphlets." + +On the 27th of March a letter appeared in the London newspapers +announcing the formation of a "British League for the support of Ulster +and the Union," with an office in London. It was signed by a hundred +Peers and 120 Unionist Members of the House of Commons. The manifesto +emphasised the Imperial aspect of the great struggle that was going on, +asserting that it was "quite clear that the men of Ulster are not +fighting only for their own liberties. Ulster will be the field on which +the privileges of the whole nation will be lost or won." A small +executive Committee was appointed, with the Duke of Bedford as Chairman, +and within a few weeks large numbers of people in all parts of the +country joined the new organisation. A conference attended by upwards of +150 honorary agents from all parts of the country was held at +Londonderry House on the 4th of June, where the work of the League was +discussed, and its future policy arranged. Its operations were not +ostentatious, but they were far from being negligible, especially in +connection with later developments of the movement in the following +year. This proof of British support was most encouraging to the people +of Ulster, and the Dublin correspondent of _The Times_ reported that it +gave no less satisfaction to loyalists in other parts of Ireland, among +whom, as the position became more desperate every day, there was "not +the least sign of giving way, of accepting the inevitable." + +Every month that passed in uncertainty as to what fate was reserved for +Ulster, and especially every visit of the leader to Belfast, endeared +him more intensely to his followers, who had long since learnt to give +him their unquestioning trust; and his bereavement by the death of his +wife in April 1913 brought him the profound and affectionate sympathy of +a warm-hearted people, which manifested itself in most moving fashion at +a great meeting a month later on the 16th of May, when, at the opening +of a new drill hall in the most industrial district of Belfast, Sir +Edward exclaimed, in response to a tumultuous reception, "Heaven knows, +my one affection left me is my love of Ireland." + +He took occasion at the same meeting to impress upon his followers the +spirit by which all their actions should be guided, and which always +guided his own. With a significant reference to the purposes for which +the new drill hall might be used, he added, "Always remember--this is +essential--always remember you have no quarrel with individuals. We +welcome and we love every individual Irishman, even though he may be +opposed to us. Our quarrel is with the Government." When the feelings of +masses of men are deeply stirred in political conflict such exhortations +are never superfluous; and there never was a leader who could give them +with better grace than Sir Edward Carson, who himself combined to an +extraordinary degree strength of conviction with entire freedom from +bitterness towards individual opponents.[49] + +In this same speech he showed that there was no slackening of +determination to pursue to the end the policy of the Covenant. There had +been rumours that the Government were making secret inquiries with a +view to taking legal proceedings, and in allusion to them Carson moved +his audience to one of the most wonderful demonstrations of personal +devotion that even he ever evoked, by saying: "If they want to test the +legality of anything we are doing, let them not attack humble men--I am +responsible for everything, and they know where to find me." + +The Bill was running its course for the second time through Parliament, +a course that was now farcically perfunctory, and Carson returned to +London to repeat in the House of Commons on the 10th of June his defiant +acceptance of responsibility for the Ulster preparations. He was back in +Belfast for the 12th of July celebrations, when 150,000 Orangemen +assembled at Craigavon to hear another speech from their leader full of +confident challenge, and to receive another message of encouragement +from Mr. Bonar Law, who assured them that "whatever steps they might +feel compelled to take, whether they were constitutional, or whether in +the long run they were unconstitutional, they had the whole of the +Unionist Party under his leadership behind them." + +The leader of the Unionist Party had good reason to know that his +message to Ulster was endorsed by his followers. That had been +demonstrated beyond all possibility of doubt during the preceding month. +The Ulster Unionist Members of the House of Commons, with Carson at +their head, had during June made a tour of some of the principal towns +of Scotland and the North of England, receiving a resounding welcome +wherever they went. The usual custom of political meetings, where one or +two prominent speakers have the platform to themselves, was departed +from; the whole parliamentary contingent kept together throughout the +tour as a deputation from Ulster to the constituencies visited, taking +in turn the duty of supporting Carson, who was everywhere the principal +speaker. + +There were wonderful demonstrations at Glasgow and Edinburgh, both in +the streets and the principal halls, proving, as was aptly said by _The +Yorkshire Post_, that "the cry of the new Covenanters is not unheeded by +the descendants of the old"; and thence they went south, drawing great +cheering crowds to welcome them and to present encouraging addresses at +the railway stations at Berwick, Newcastle, Darlington, and York, to +Leeds, where the two largest buildings in the city were packed to +overflowing with Yorkshiremen eager to see and hear the Ulster leader, +and to show their sympathy with the loyalist cause. Similar scenes were +witnessed at Norwich and Bristol, and the tour left no doubt in the +minds of those who followed it, and who studied the comments of the +Press upon it, that not only was the whole Unionist Party in Great +Britain solidly behind the Ulstermen in their resolve to resist being +subjected to a Parliament in Dublin, but that the general drift of +opinion detached from party was increasingly on the same side. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[48] See _ante_, p. 53. + +[49] But he could be moved to stern indignation by the treachery of +former friends, as he showed in December 1921. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +LORD LOREBURN'S LETTER + + +Whatever might be the state of public opinion in England, it was +realised that the Government, if they chose, were in a position to +disregard it; and in Ulster the tension was becoming almost unbearable. +The leaders were apprehensive lest outbreaks of violence should occur, +which they knew would gravely prejudice the movement; and there is no +doubt that it was only the discipline which the rank and file had now +gained, and the extraordinary restraining influence which Carson +exercised, that prevented serious rioting in many places. Incidents like +the attack by Nationalist roughs in Belfast on a carriage conveying +crippled children to a holiday outing on the 31st of May because it was +decorated with Union Jacks might at any moment lead to trouble. There +was some disorder in Belfast in the early hours of the 12th of July; and +an outbreak occurred in August in Derry, always a storm centre, when a +procession was attacked, and a Protestant was shot while watching it +from his own upper window. The incident started rioting, which continued +for several days, and a battalion of troops had to be called in to +restore order. + +Meantime, throughout the summer, while the Government were complacently +carrying their Bill through Parliament for the second time, the Press +was packed with suggestions for averting the crisis which everybody +except the Cabinet recognised as impending. + +It began to be whispered in the clubs and lobbies that the King might +exercise the prerogative of veto, and even men like Lord St. Aldwyn and +the veteran Earl of Halsbury, both of them ex-Cabinet Ministers, +encouraged the idea; but there was no widespread acceptance of the +notion that even in so exceptional a case His Majesty would reject the +advice of his responsible Ministers. But in a letter to _The Times_ on +the 4th of September, Mr. George Cave, K.C., M.P. (afterwards Home +Secretary, and ultimately Lord of Appeal), suggested that the King might +"exercise his undoubted right" to dissolve Parliament before the +beginning of the next session, in order to inform himself as to whether +the policy of his Ministers was endorsed by the people. + +But a much greater sensation was created a few days later by a letter +which appeared in _The Times_ on the 11th of the same month over the +signature of Lord Loreburn. Lord Loreburn had been Lord Chancellor at +the time the Home Rule Bill was first introduced, but had retired from +the Government in June 1912, being replaced on the Woolsack by Lord +Haldane. When the first draft of the Home Rule Bill was under discussion +in the Cabinet in preparation for its introduction in the House of +Commons, two of the younger Ministers, Mr. Lloyd George and Mr. Winston +Churchill, proposed that an attempt should be made to avert the stern +opposition to be expected from Ulster, by treating the northern +Province, or a portion of it, separately from the rest of Ireland. This +proposal was not acceptable to the Cabinet as a whole, and its authors +were roundly rated by Lord Loreburn for so unprincipled a lapse from +orthodox Gladstonian doctrine. What, therefore, must have been the +astonishment of the heretics when they found their mentor, less than two +years later, publicly reproving the Government which he had left for +having got into such a sad mess over the Ulster difficulty! They might +be forgiven some indignation at finding themselves reproved by Lord +Loreburn for faulty statesmanship of which Lord Loreburn was the +principal author. + +Those, however, who had not the same ground for exasperation as Mr. +Lloyd George and Mr. Churchill thought Lord Loreburn's letter very sound +sense. He pointed out that if the Bill were to become law in 1914, as it +stood in September 1913, there would be, if not civil war, at any rate +very serious rioting in the North of Ireland, and when the riots had +been quelled by the Government the spirit that prompted them would +remain. Everybody concerned would suffer from fighting it out to a +finish. The Ex-Chancellor felt bound to assume that "up to the last, +Ministers, who assuredly have not taken leave of their senses, would be +willing to consider proposals for accommodation," and he therefore +suggested that a Conference should be held behind closed doors with a +view to a settlement by consent. If Lord Loreburn had perceived at the +time the draft Bill was before the Cabinet that it was not the Ministers +who proposed separate treatment for Ulster who had "taken leave of their +senses," but those, including himself, who had resisted that proposal, +his wisdom would have been more timely; but it was better late than +never, and his unexpected intervention had a decided influence on +opinion in the country. + +The comment of _The Times_ was very much to the point: + + "On the eve of a great political crisis, it may be of national + disaster, a distinguished Liberal statesman makes public confession + of his belief that, as a permanent solution, the Irish policy of + the Government is indefensible." + +This letter of the ex-Lord Chancellor gave rise to prolonged discussion +in the Press and on the platform. At Durham, on the 13th of September, +Carson declared that he would welcome a Conference if the question was +how to provide a genuine expansion of self-government, but that, if +Ulster was to be not only expelled from the Union but placed under a +Parliament in Dublin, then "they were going to make Home Rule impossible +by steady and persistent opposition." The Government seemed unable to +agree whether a conciliatory or a defiant attitude was their wiser +policy, though it is true that the latter recommended itself mostly to +the least prominent of its members, such as Mr. J.M. Robertson, +Secretary of the Board of Trade, who in a speech at Newcastle on the +25th of September announced scornfully that Ministers were not going to +turn "King Carson" into "Saint Carson" by prosecuting him, and that "the +Government would know how to deal with him."[50] But more important +Ministers were beginning to perceive the unwisdom of this sort of +bluster. Lord Morley, in the House of Lords, denied that he had ever +underrated the Ulster difficulty, and said that for twenty-five years he +had never thought that Ulster was guilty of bluff. Mr. Churchill, at +Dundee, on the 9th of October, no longer talked as he had the previous +year about "not taking Sir Edward Carson too seriously," though he still +appeared to be ignorant of the fact that there was in Ulster anybody +except Orangemen. "The Orange Leaders," he said, "used violent language, +but Liberals should try to understand their position. Their claim for +special consideration, if put forward with sincerity, could not be +ignored by a Government depending on the existing House."[51] + +The Prime Minister, less assured than his subordinate at the Board of +Trade that "King Carson" was negligible, also displayed a somewhat +chastened spirit at Ladybank on the 25th of October, when he +acknowledged that it was "of supreme importance to the future well-being +of Ireland that the new system should not start with the apparent +triumph of one section over another," and he invited a "free and frank +exchange of views."[52] Sir Edward Grey held out another little twig of +olive two days later at Berwick. + +To these overtures, if they deserve the name, Mr. Bonar Law replied in +an address to a gathering of fifteen thousand people at Wallsend on the +29th, in the presence of Sir Edward Carson. Having repeated the Blenheim +pledge, he praised the discipline and restraint shown by the Ulster +people and their leaders, but warned his hearers that the nation was +drifting towards the tragedy of civil war, the responsibility for which +would rest on the Government. He expressed his readiness to respond to +Mr. Asquith's invitation, but pointed out that there were only three +alternatives open to the Government. They must either (1) go on as they +were doing and provoke Ulster to resist--that was madness; (2) they +could consult the electorate, whose decision would be accepted by the +Unionist Party as a whole; or (3) they could try to arrange a settlement +which would at least avert civil war. + +There had been during the past six or eight months an unusual dearth of +by-elections to test public opinion in regard to the Irish policy of the +Government, and it must be borne in mind that the Unionist Party in +Great Britain was still distracted by disputes over the Tariff question, +which in January 1913 had very nearly led to the retirement of Mr. Bonar +Law from the leadership. Nevertheless, in May the Unionists won two +signal victories, one in Cambridgeshire, and one in Cheshire, where the +Altrincham Division sent a staunch friend of Ulster to Parliament in the +person of Mr. George C. Hamilton, who in his maiden speech declared that +he had won the contest entirely on the Ulster Question. Even more +significant, perhaps, were two elections which were fought while the +interchange of party strokes over the Loreburn letter was in progress, +and the results of both were declared on the 8th of November. At +Reading, where the Unionists retained the seat, the Liberal candidate +was constrained by pressure of opinion in the constituency to promise +support for a policy of "separate and generous treatment for Ulster." At +Linlithgow, a Liberal stronghold, where no such promise was forthcoming, +the Liberal majority, in spite of a large Nationalist vote, was reduced +by 1,500 votes as compared with the General Election. There were signs +that Nonconformists, whose great leaders like Spurgeon and Dale had been +hostile to Home Rule in Gladstone's time, were again becoming uneasy +about handing over the Ulster Presbyterians and Methodists to the Roman +hierarchy. A memorial against Home Rule, signed by 131,000 people, which +had been presented to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in +June, had no doubt had some effect on Nonconformist opinion in England, +and it was just about the time when these elections took place that +Carson was described at a large gathering of Nonconformists in London as +"the best embodiment at this moment of the ancient spirit of +Nonconformity."[53] + +Meanwhile the people in Ulster were steadily maturing their plans. The +arrangements already mentioned for setting up a Provisional Government +were confirmed and finally adopted by the Unionist Council in Belfast on +the 24th of September, and the Council by resolution delegated its +powers to the Standing Committee, while the Commission of Five was at +the same time appointed to act as an Executive. Carson, in accepting the +chairmanship of the Central Authority, used the striking phrase, which +precisely epitomised the situation, that "Ulster might be coerced into +submission, but in that case would have to be governed as a conquered +country." The Nationalist retort that the rest of Ireland was now being +so treated, appeared forcible to those Englishmen only who could see no +difference between controlling a disaffected population and chastising a +loyal one. + +At the same meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council on the 24th of +September a guarantee fund was established for providing means to +compensate members of the U.V.F. for any loss or disability they might +suffer as a result of their service, and the widows and dependents of +any who might lose their lives. This was a matter that had caused Carson +anxiety for some time. He was extremely sensitive to the moral +responsibility he would incur towards those who so eagerly followed his +lead, in the event of their suffering loss of life or limb in the +service of Ulster. His proposal that a guarantee fund of a million +sterling should be started, met with a ready response from the Council, +and from the wealthier classes in and about Belfast. The form of +"Indemnity Guarantee" provided for the payment to those entitled to +benefit under it of sums not less than they would have been entitled to +under the Fatal Accidents Act, the Employers' Liability Act, and the +Workman's Compensation Act, as the circumstances of the case might be. +The list was headed by Sir Edward Carson, Lord Londonderry, Captain +Craig, Sir John Lonsdale, Sir George Clark, and Lord Dunleath, with a +subscription of ÂŁ10,000 each, and their example was followed by Mr. Kerr +Smiley, M.P., Mr. R.M. Liddell, Mr. George Preston, Mr. Henry Musgrave, +Mr. C.E. Allen, and Mr. Frank Workman, who entered their names +severally for the same amount. A quarter of a million sterling was +guaranteed in the room before the Council separated; by the end of a +week it had grown to ÂŁ387,000; and before the 1st of January, 1914, the +total amount of the Indemnity Guarantee Fund was ÂŁ1,043,816. + +It gave Carson and the other leaders the greatest possible satisfaction +that the response to this appeal was so prompt and adequate. Not only +was their anxiety relieved in regard to their responsibility to loyal +followers of the rank and file who might become "casualties" in the +movement, but they had been given a striking proof that the business +community of Belfast did not consider its pocket more sacred than its +principles. Moreover, if there had been doubt on that score in anyone's +mind, it was set at rest by a memorable meeting for business men only +held in Belfast on the 3rd of November. Between three and four thousand +leaders of industry and commerce, the majority of whom had never +hitherto taken any active share in political affairs, presided over by +Mr. G.H. Ewart, President of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, gave an +enthusiastic reception to Carson, who told them that he had come more to +consult them as to the commercial aspects of the great political +controversy than to impress his own views on the gathering. It was said +that the men in the hall represented a capital of not less than +ÂŁ145,000,000 sterling,[54] and there can be no doubt that, even if that +were an exaggerated estimate, they were not of a class to whom +revolution, rebellion, or political upheaval could offer an attractive +prospect. Nevertheless, the meeting passed with complete unanimity a +resolution expressing confidence in Carson and approval of everything he +had done, including the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force, and +declaring that they would refuse to pay "all taxes which they could +control" to an Irish Parliament in Dublin. This meeting was very +satisfactory, for it proved that the "captains of industry" were +entirely in accord with the working classes, whose support of the +movement had never been in doubt. It showed that Ulster was solid +behind Carson; and the unanimity was emphasised rather than disturbed by +a little handful of cranks, calling themselves "Protestant Home Rulers," +who met on the 24th of October at the village of Ballymoney "to protest +against the lawless policy of Carsonism." The principal stickler for +propriety of conduct in public life on this occasion was Sir Roger +Casement. + +While the unity and steadfastness--which enemies called obstinacy--of +the Ulster people were being thus made manifest, the public in England +were hearing a good deal about the growth of the Ulster Volunteer Force +in numbers and efficiency. As will be seen later, the anniversary of the +Covenant was celebrated with great military display at the very time +when the newspapers across the Channel were busy discussing Lord +Loreburn's letter, and at a parade service in the Ulster Hall, Canon +Harding, after pronouncing the Benediction, called on the congregation +to raise their right hands and pledge themselves thereby "to follow +wherever Sir Edward Carson shall lead us." + +The events of September 1913--the setting up of the Provisional +Government, the wonderful and instantaneous response to the appeal for +an Indemnity Guarantee Fund, the rapid formation of an effective +volunteer army--were given the fullest publicity in the English Press. +Every newspaper of importance had its special correspondent in Belfast, +whose telegrams filled columns every day, adorned with all the varieties +of sensational headline type. The Radicals were becoming restive. The +idea that Carson was "not to be taken too seriously," had apparently +missed fire. It was the Ministerial affectation of contempt that no one +was taking seriously; in fact, to borrow an expression from current +slang, the "King Carson" stunt was a "wash-out." + +_The Nation_ suggested that, instead of being laughed at, the Ulster +leader should be prosecuted, or, at any rate, removed from the Privy +Council, and other Liberal papers feverishly took up the suggestion, +debating whether the indictment should be under the Treason Felony Act +of 1848, the Crimes Act of 1887, or the Unlawful Drilling Act of 1819. +One of them, however, which succeeded in keeping its head, did not +believe that a prosecution would succeed; and, as to the Privy Council, +if Carson's name were removed, what about Londonderry and F.E. Smith, +Walter Long, and Bonar Law? In fact, "it would be difficult to know +where to stop."[55] It would have been. The Privy Council would have had +to be reduced to a committee of Radical politicians; and, if Carson had +been prosecuted, room would have had to be found in the dock, not only +for the whole Unionist Party, but for the proprietors and editors of +most of the leading journals. The Government stopped short of that +supreme folly; but their impotence was the measure of the prevailing +sympathy with Ulster. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[50] _Annual Register_, 1913, p. 205. + +[51] Ibid., p. 209. + +[52] Ibid., p. 220. + +[53] _Annual Register_, 1913, p. 225. + +[54] _Annual Register_, 1913, p. 225. + +[55] _Liverpool Daily Post and Mercury_, September 22nd, 1913. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +PREPARATIONS AND PROPOSALS + + +We have seen in a former chapter how the Ulster Volunteer Force +originated. It was never formally established by the act of any +recognised authority, but rather grew spontaneously from the zeal of the +Unionist Clubs and the Orange Lodges to present an effective and +formidable appearance at the demonstrations which marked the progress of +the movement after the meeting at Craigavon in 1911. By the following +summer it had attained considerable numbers and respectable efficiency, +and was becoming organised, without violation of the law, on a +territorial basis under local officers, many of whom had served in the +Army. Early in 1913 the Standing Committee resolved that these units +should be combined into a single force, to be called The Ulster +Volunteer Force, which was to be raised and limited to a strength of +100,000 men, all of whom should be men who had signed the Covenant. When +this organisation took place it became obvious that a serious defect was +the want of a Commander-in-Chief of the whole force, to give it unity +and cohesion. This defect was pressed on the attention of the leaders of +the movement, who then began to look about for a suitable officer of +rank and military experience to take command of the U.V.F. Among English +Members of the House of Commons there was no firmer friend of Ulster +than Colonel Thomas Hickman, C.B., D.S.O., who has been mentioned as one +of those who consented to serve in the Provisional Government. Hickman +had seen a lot of active service, having served with great distinction +in Egypt and the Soudan under Kitchener, and in the South African War. +It was natural to take him into confidence in the search for a general; +and, when he was approached, it was decided that he should consult Lord +Roberts, whose warm sympathy with the Ulster cause was well known to the +leaders of the movement, and whose knowledge of army officers of high +rank was, of course, unequalled. Moreover, the illustrious Field-Marshal +had dropped hints which led those concerned to conjecture that in the +last resort he might not himself be unwilling to lend his matchless +prestige and genius to the loyalist cause in Ireland. The contingency +which might bring about such an accession had not, however, yet arisen, +and might never arise; in the meantime, Lord Roberts gave a ready ear to +Hickman's application, which, after some weeks of delay, he answered in +the following letter, which was at once communicated to Carson and those +in his immediate confidence: + + "ENGLEMERE, ASCOT, BERKS. + + "_4th June_, 1913. + + "DEAR HICKMAN, + + "I have been a long time finding a Senior Officer to help in the + Ulster business, but I think I have got one now. His name is + Lieut.-General Sir George Richardson, K.C.B., c/o Messrs. Henry S. + King & Co., Pall Mall, S.W. He is a retired Indian officer, active + and in good health. He is not an Irishman, but has settled in + Ireland.... Richardson will be in London for about a month, and is + ready to meet you at any time. + + "I am sorry to read about the capture of rifles. + + "Believe me, + + "Yours sincerely, + + "ROBERTS." + +The matter was quickly arranged, and within a few weeks Sir George +Richardson had taken up his residence in Belfast, and his duties as +G.O.C. the Ulster Volunteer Force. + +He was a distinguished soldier. He served under Roberts in the Afghan +Campaign of 1879-80; he took part in the Waziri Expedition of 1881, and +the Zhob Valley Field Force operations of 1890. He was in command of a +Flying Column in the Tirah Expedition of 1897-8, and of a Cavalry +Brigade in the China Expeditionary Force in 1900, and had commanded a +Division at Poona for three years before retiring in 1907. He had been +three times mentioned in despatches, besides receiving a brevet and many +medals and clasps. He was at this time sixty-six years of age, but, like +the great soldier who recommended him to Ulster, he was an active little +man both in body and mind, with no symptom of approaching old age. + +General Richardson was not long in making himself popular, not only with +the force under his command, but with all classes in Ulster. There were +unavoidable difficulties in handling troops whose officers had no +statutory powers of discipline, who had inherited no military +traditions, and who formed part of a population conspicuously +independent in character. But Sir George Richardson was as full of tact +as of good humour, and he soon found that the keenness of the officers +and men, to whom dismissal from the U.V.F. would have been the severest +of punishments, more than counterbalanced the difficulties referred to. + +When the new G.O.C. went to Belfast in July, 1913, he found his command +between fifty and sixty thousand strong, with recruits joining every +day. In September a number of parades were held in different localities, +at which the General was accompanied by Sir Edward Carson, Mr. F.E. +Smith, Captain James Craig, and other Members of Parliament. The local +battalions were in many cases commanded by retired or half-pay officers +of the regular army. At all these inspections Carson addressed the men, +many of whom were now seeing their Commander-in-Chief for the first +time, and pointed out that the U.V.F., being now under a single command, +was no longer a mere collection of unrelated units, but an army. At an +inspection at Antrim on the 21st of September, he made a disclosure +which startled the country not a little next day when it appeared in the +headlines of English newspapers. "I tell the Government," he said, "that +we have pledges and promises from some of the greatest generals in the +army, who have given their word that, when the time comes, if it is +necessary, they will come over and help us to keep the old flag flying." +These promises were entirely spontaneous and unsolicited. More than one +of those who made them did fine service to the Empire in the impending +time of trial which none of them foresaw in 1913. + +Of the men inspected on that day, numbering about 5,000, it was said by +the Special Correspondent of _The Yorkshire Post_, who was present-- + + "As far as I could detect in a very careful observation, there were + not half a dozen of them unqualified by physique or age to play a + manly part. They reminded me more than anything else--except that + but few of them were beyond the best fighting age--of the finest + class of our National Reserve. There was certainly nothing of the + mock soldier about them. Led by keen, smart-looking officers, they + marched past in quarter column with fine, swinging steps, as if + they had been in training for years. Officers who have had the + teaching of them tell me that the rapidity with which they have + become efficient is greater than has ever come within their + experience in training recruits for either the Territorials or the + Regular Service."[56] + +The 24th of September, it will be remembered, was the day when the +formation of the Provisional Government and the Indemnity Fund (with the +subscription of a quarter of a million sterling in two hours) was made +public; on Saturday the 27th, the country parades of Volunteers of the +preceding weeks reached a climax in a grand review in Belfast itself, +when some 15,000 men were drawn up on the same ground where the Balmoral +meeting had been held eighteen months before. They were reviewed by Sir +George Richardson, G.O.C., and it was on this occasion that Mr. F.E. +Smith became famous as "galloper" to the General. The Commanders of the +four regiments on parade--one from each parliamentary division of the +city--comprising fourteen battalions, were: Colonel Wallace, Major F.H. +Crawford, Major McCalmont, M.P., and Captain the Hon. A.C. Chichester. +More than 30,000 sympathetic spectators watched the arrival and the +review of the troops. + +Among these spectators were a large number of special military +correspondents of English newspapers, whose impressions of this +memorable event were studied in every part of the United Kingdom on the +following Monday morning. That which appeared in a great Lancashire +journal may be quoted as a fair and dispassionate account of the scene: + + "It is quite certain that the review of Volunteers at Balmoral + to-day will go down into history as one of the most extraordinary + events in the annals of these islands. Not since the marshalling of + Cromwell's Puritan army have we had anything approaching a + parallel; but, whereas the Puritans took up arms against a king of + whom they disapproved, the men of Ulster strongly protest their + loyalty to the British Throne. The great crowd which lined the + enclosure was eager, earnest, and sympathetic. It was not a + boisterous crowd. On the contrary, beyond the demonstration + following the call for cheers for the Union there was comparatively + little cheering. The crowd seemed burdened with a heavy sense of + the importance of the occasion. The conduct of the gathering was + serious to the point of positive solemnity. + + "The Volunteers from their own ranks policed the grounds, not a + solitary member of the Royal Irish Constabulary being seen in the + enclosure. The sun shone brilliantly as Colonel Wallace led the men + of the North division into the enclosure. Amidst subdued cheers he + marched them across the field in fours, forming up in quarter + column by the right, facing left. For an hour and a quarter the + procession filed through the gates, the men taking up their + positions with perfect movement and not the faintest suggestion of + confusion. As the men from the West took up their position the + crowd broke into a great cheer. They mustered only two battalions, + but they had come from Mr. Devlin's constituency! + + "As a body the men were magnificent. The hardy sons of toil from + shipyards and factories marched shoulder to shoulder with clergy + and doctors, professional men and clerks. From the saluting base + General Richardson took command, and almost immediately Sir Edward + Carson took up his position on the platform, with Lord Londonderry + and Captain Craig in attendance. Then followed a scene that will + live long in the memories of that vast concourse of people. With + the men standing to 'Attention,' the bands struck up the 'British + Grenadiers,' and the whole division advanced in review order, in + perfect lines and unison. + + "The supreme moment had arrived. The men took off their hats, and + the G.O.C. shouted, 'I call upon the men to give three cheers for + the Union, taking their time from me. Hip, hip----' + + "Well, people who were not there must imagine the rest. Out of the + deafening cheers came the strains of 'Rule, Britannia!' from the + bands; the monster Union Jack was unfurled in the centre of the + ground, and the mighty gathering stood bare-headed to 'God save the + King.' It was solemn, impressive, thrilling."[57] + +The following day, Sunday, was "Ulster Day," the first anniversary of +the signing of the Covenant, and it was celebrated in Belfast and many +other places in Ulster by holding special services in all places of +worship, which had the effect of sustaining that spirit of high +seriousness which struck all observers as remarkable in the behaviour of +the people. + +This week, in which occurred the proclamation of the Provisional +Government, the great review of the Belfast Volunteers, and the second +celebration of Ulster Day, was a notable landmark in the movement. The +Press in England and Scotland gave the widest publicity to every +picturesque and impressive detail, and there can be little doubt that +the idea of attempting to arrive at some agreed settlement, started by +Lord Loreburn's letter to _The Times_, was greatly stimulated by these +fresh and convincing proofs of the grim determination of the Ulster +people. + +At all events, the autumn produced more than the usual plethora of +political meetings addressed by "front bench" politicians on both sides, +each answering each like an antiphonal choir; scraps of olive-branch +were timidly held out, only to be snatched back next day in panic lest +someone had blundered in saying too much; while day by day a clamorous +Liberal Press, to whom Ulster's loyalty to King and Empire was an +unforgivable offence, alternated between execration of Ulster wickedness +and affected ridicule of Ulster bluff. But it was evident that genuine +misgiving was beginning to be felt in responsible Liberal quarters. A +Correspondent of _The Manchester Guardian_ on the 25th of November made +a proposal for special treatment of Ulster; on the 1st of December Mr. +Massingham, in _The Daily News_, urged that an effort should be made to +conciliate the northern Protestants; and on the 6th Mr. Asquith +displayed a more conciliatory spirit than usual in a speech at +Manchester. A most active campaign of propaganda in England and Scotland +was also carried on during the autumn by Ulster speakers, among whom +women bore their full share. The Ulster Women's Unionist Association +employed 93 voluntary workers, who visited over 90 constituencies in +Great Britain, addressing 230 important meetings. It was reckoned that +not less than 100,000 electors heard the Ulster case from the lips of +earnest Ulster women. + +On the 5th of December two Royal Proclamations were issued by the +Government, prohibiting the importation of arms and ammunition into +Ireland. But during the Christmas holidays the impression gained ground +that the Government contemplated making concessions to Ulster, and +communications in private between the Prime Minister and Sir Edward +Carson did in fact take place at this time. The truth, however, was that +the Government were not their own masters, and, as Mr. Bonar Law bluntly +declared at Bristol on the 15th of January, 1914, they were compelled by +the Nationalists, on whom they depended for existence, to refuse any +genuine concession. In the same speech Mr. Bonar Law replied to the +allegation that Ulster was crying out before she was hurt, by saying +that the American colonies had done the same thing--they had revolted on +a question of principle while suffering was still distant, and for a +cause that in itself was trivial in comparison with that of Ulster.[58] + +Most of the leaders on both sides were speaking on various platforms in +January. On the 17th Carson, at an inspection of the East Belfast +U.V.F., said he had lately visited Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, and that the +dying statesman, clear-sighted and valiant as ever, had said to him at +parting, "I would fight it out." In the same spirit Mr. Austen +Chamberlain, in a speech at Skipton a fortnight later, ridiculed any +concession that fell short of the exclusion of Ulster from the Irish +Parliament, and asserted that what the policy of the Government amounted +to was that England was to conquer a province and hold it down at the +expense of her friends for the benefit of her enemies.[59] + +Public attention was, however, not allowed to concentrate wholly on +Ireland. The Radicals, instigated by Sir John Brunner, President of the +National Liberal Federation, were doing their best to prevent the +strengthening of the Navy, the time being opportune for parsimony in Mr. +Lloyd George's opinion because our relations with Germany were "far more +friendly than for years past."[60] The militant women suffragists were +carrying on a lively campaign of arson and assault all over the country. +Labour unrest was in a condition of ferment. Land agitation was exciting +the "single-taxers" and other fanatics; and the Tariff question had not +ceased to be a cause of division in the Unionist Party. But, while these +matters were sharing with the Irish problem the attention of the Press +and the public, "conversations" were being held behind the scenes with a +view to averting what everyone now agreed would be a dangerous crisis if +Ulster proved implacable. + +When Parliament met on the 10th of February, 1914, Mr. Asquith referred +to these conversations; but while he congratulated everyone concerned on +the fact that the Press had been successfully kept in the dark for +months regarding them, he had to admit that they had produced no result. +But there were, he said, "schemes and suggestions of settlement in the +air," among them the exclusion of Ulster from the Bill, a proposal on +which he would not at that moment "pronounce, or attempt to pronounce, +any final judgment", and he then announced that, as soon as the +financial business of the year was disposed of, he would bring forward +proposals for the purpose of arriving at an agreement "which will +consult not only the interests but the susceptibilities of all +concerned." + +This appeared to be a notable change of attitude on the part of the +Government; but it was received with not a little suspicion by the +Unionist leaders. Whether or not the change was due, as Mr. William +Moore bluntly asserted, to the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force, +which had now reached its full strength of 100,000 men, the question of +interest was whether the promised proposals would render that force +unnecessary. Mr. Austen Chamberlain asked why the Government's proposals +should be kept bottled up until a date suspiciously near All Fools' Day; +and Sir Edward Carson, in one of the most impressive speeches he ever +made in Parliament, which wrung from Mr. Lloyd George the acknowledgment +that it had "entranced the House," joined Chamberlain in demanding that +the country should not be kept in anxious suspense. The only proper way +of making the proposals known was, he said, by embodying them at once in +a Bill to amend the Home Rule Bill. He confirmed Chamberlain's statement +that nothing short of the exclusion of Ulster would be of the slightest +use. The Covenanters were not men who would have acted as they had done +for the sake of minor details that could be adjusted by "paper +safeguards," they were "fighting for a great principle and a great +ideal," and if their determination to resist was not morally justified +he "did not see how resistance could ever be justified in history at +all." But if the exclusion of Ulster was to be offered, he would +immediately go to Belfast and lay the proposal before his followers. He +did not intend "that Ulster should be a pawn in any political game," and +would not allow himself to be manoeuvred into a position where it could +afterwards be said that Ulster had resorted to arms to secure something +that had been rejected when offered by legislation. The sympathy of +Ulstermen with Loyalists in other parts of Ireland was as deep and +sincere as ever, but no one had ever supposed that Ulster could by force +of arms do more than preserve her own territory from subjection to +Dublin. As for the Nationalists, they would never succeed in coercing +Ulster, but "by showing that good government can come under Home Rule +they might try and win her over to the case of the rest of Ireland." +That was a plan that had never yet been tried. + +The significance of the announcement which Mr. Asquith had now made lay +in the fact that it was an acknowledgment by the Government for the +first time that there was an "Ulster Question" to be dealt with--that +Ulster was not, as had hitherto been the Liberal theory, like any other +minority who must submit to the will of the majority opposed to it, but +a distinct community, conditioned by special circumstances entitling it +to special treatment. The Prime Minister had thus, as Mr. Bonar Law +insisted, "destroyed utterly the whole foundation on which for the last +two years the treatment extended to Ulster in this Bill has been +justified." From that day it became impossible ever again to contend +that Ulster was merely a recalcitrant minority in a larger unity, +without rights of her own. + +The speeches of the Unionist leaders in the House of Commons showed +clearly enough how little faith they had that the Government intended to +do anything that could lead to an agreed settlement. The interval that +passed before the nature of the Government's proposals was made known +increased rather than diminished this distrust. The air was full of +suggestions, the most notable of which was put forward by the veteran +constitutional lawyer, Mr. Frederic Harrison, who proposed that Ulster +should be governed by a separate committee elected by its own +constituencies, with full legislative, administrative, and financial +powers, subject only to the Crown and the Imperial Parliament.[61] +Unionists did not believe that the Liberal Cabinet would be allowed by +their Nationalist masters to offer anything so liberal to Ulster; nor +did that Province desire autonomy for itself. They believed that the +chief desire of the Government was not to appease Ulster, but to put her +in a tactically indefensible position. This fear had been expressed by +Lord Lansdowne as long before as the previous October, when he wrote +privately to Carson in reference to Lord Loreburn's suggested Conference +that he suspected the intention of the Government to be "to offer us +terms which they know we cannot accept, and then throw on us the odium +of having obstructed a settlement." Mr. Walter Long had the same +apprehension in March 1914 as to the purpose of Mr. Asquith's unknown +proposals. Both these leaders herein showed insight and prescience, for +not only Mr. Asquith's Government, but also that which succeeded it, had +resort on many subsequent occasions to the manoeuvre suspected by Lord +Lansdowne. + +On the other hand, there were encouraging signs in the country. To the +intense satisfaction of Unionists, Mr. C.F.G. Masterman, who had just +been promoted to the Cabinet, lost his seat in East London when he +sought re-election in February, and a day or two later the Government +suffered another defeat in Scotland. On the 27th of February Lord +Milner, a fearless supporter of the Ulster cause, wrote to Carson that a +British Covenant had been drawn up in support of the Ulster Covenanters, +and that the first signatures, in addition to his own, were those of +Field-Marshal Lord Roberts, Admiral of the Fleet Sir E. Seymour, the +Duke of Portland, Lord Balfour of Burleigh, Lord Desborough, Lord Lovat, +Mr. Rudyard Kipling, Sir W. Ramsay, F.R.S., the Dean of Canterbury, +Professors Dicey and Goudy, Sir George Hayter Chubb, and Mr. Salvidge, +the influential alderman of Liverpool. On the 6th of March Mr. Walter +Long, writing from the office of the Union Defence League, of which he +was President, was able to inform Carson that there was "a rush to sign +the Covenant--we are really almost overpowered." This was supplemented +by a women's Covenant, which, like the men's, "had been numerously and +influentially signed, about 3 or 4 per cent, of the signatories, it was +said, being Liberals."[62] Long believed from this and other evidence +that had reached him that "public opinion was now really aroused in the +country," and that the steadfast policy of Ulster had the undoubted +support of the electorate. + +Only those who were in the confidence of Mr. Asquith and his colleagues +at the beginning of 1914 can know whether the "proposals" they then made +were ever seriously put forward as an effort towards appeasement. If +they were sincerely meant for such, it implied a degree of ignorance of +the chief factor in the problem with which it is difficult to credit +able Ministers who had been face to face with that problem for years. +They must have supposed that their leading opponents were capable of +saying emphatically one thing and meaning quite another. For the +Unionist leaders had stated over and over again in the most unmistakable +terms, both in the recent debate on the Address, and on innumerable +former occasions, that nothing except the "exclusion of Ulster" could +furnish a basis for negotiation towards settlement. + +And yet, when the Prime Minister at last put his cards on the table on +the 9th of March, in moving the second reading of the Home Rule +Bill--which now entered on its third and last lap under the Parliament +Act--it was found that his much-trumpeted proposals were derisory to the +last degree. The scheme was that which came to be known as county option +with a time limit. Any county in Ulster, including the cities of Belfast +and Derry, was to be given the right to vote itself out of the Home Rule +jurisdiction, on a requisition signed by a specified proportion of its +parliamentary electorate, for a period of six years. + +Mr. Bonar Law said at once, on behalf of the Unionist Party, that apart +from all other objections to the Government scheme, and they were many, +the time limit for exclusion made the whole proposal a mockery. All that +it meant was that when the preparations in Ulster for resistance to Home +Rule had been got rid of--for it would be practically impossible to keep +them in full swing for six years--Ulster should then be compelled to +submit to the very thing to which she refused to submit now. Carson +described the proposal as a "sentence of death with a stay of execution +for six years." He noted with satisfaction indeed the admission of the +principle of exclusion, but expressed his conviction that the time limit +had been introduced merely in order to make it impossible for Ulster to +accept. Ulster wanted the question settled once for all, so that she +might turn her attention from politics to her ordinary business. The +time limit would keep the fever of political agitation at a high +temperature for six years, and at the end of that period forcible +resistance would be as necessary as ever, while in the interval all +administration would be paralysed by the unworkable nature of the system +to be introduced for six years. Although there were other gross blots on +the scheme outlined by the Prime Minister, yet, if the time limit were +dropped, Carson said he would submit it to a convention in Belfast; but +he utterly declined to do so if the time limit was to be retained. + +The debate was adjourned indefinitely, and before it could be resumed +the whole situation was rendered still more grave by the events to be +narrated in the next chapter, and by a menacing speech delivered by Mr. +Churchill at Bradford on the 14th of March. He hinted that, if Ulster +persisted in refusing the offer made by the Prime Minister, which was +the Government's last word, the forces of the Crown would have to be +employed against her; there were, he said, "worse things than bloodshed +even on an extended scale"; and he ended by saying, "Let us go forward +together and put these grave matters to the proof."[63] Two days later +Mr. Asquith, in answer to questions in the House of Commons, announced +that no particulars of the Government scheme would be given unless the +principle of the proposals were accepted as a basis of agreement. + +The leader of the Unionist Party replied by moving a vote of censure on +the Government on the 19th of March. Mr. Churchill's Bradford speech, +and one no less defiant by Mr. Devlin the day following it, had charged +with inflammable material the atmosphere in which the debate was +conducted. Sir Edward Carson began his speech by saying that, after +these recent events, "I feel that I ought not to be here, but in +Belfast." There were some sharp passages between him and Churchill, whom +he accused of being anxious to provoke the Ulster people to make an +attack on the soldiers. A highly provocative speech by Mr. Devlin +followed, at the end of which Carson rose and left the House, saying +audibly, "I am off to Belfast." He was accompanied out of the Chamber by +eight Ulster members, and was followed by ringing and sustained cheers +of encouragement and approval from the crowded Unionist benches. It was +a scene which those who witnessed it are not likely to forget. + +The idea of accommodation between the combatant parties was at an end. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[56] _The Yorkshire Post_, September 22nd, 1913. + +[57] _The Liverpool Daily Courier_, September 29th, 1913. + +[58] _Annual Register_, 1914, p. 6. + +[59] _Annual Register_, 1914, p. 12. + +[60] Ibid., p. 1. + +[61] _The Annual Register_, 1914, p. 33. + +[62] _Annual Register_, 1914, pp. 51-2. + +[63] _The Times_, March 16th, 1914. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE CURRAGH INCIDENT + + +When Mr. Bonar Law moved the vote of censure on the Government on the +19th of March he had no idea that the Cabinet had secretly taken in hand +an enterprise which, had it been known, would have furnished infinitely +stronger grounds for their impeachment than anything relating to their +"proposals" for amending the Home Rule Bill. It was an enterprise that, +when it did become known, very nearly brought about their fall from +power. + +The whole truth about the famous "Curragh Incident" has never been +ascertained, and the answers given by the Ministers chiefly concerned, +under cross-examination in the House of Commons, were so evasive and in +several instances so contradictory as to make it certain that they were +exceedingly anxious that the truth should be concealed. But when the +available evidence is pieced together it leads almost irresistibly to +the conclusion that in March 1914 the Cabinet, or at any rate some of +the most prominent members of it, decided to make an imposing +demonstration of military force against Ulster, and that they expected, +if they did not hope, that this operation would goad the Ulstermen into +a clash with the forces of the Crown, which, by putting them morally in +the wrong, would deprive them of the popular sympathy they enjoyed in so +large and increasing a measure. + +When Mr. Churchill spoke at Bradford on the 14th of March of "putting +these grave matters to the proof" he was already deeply involved in what +came to be known as "the plot against Ulster," to which his words were +doubtless an allusion. That plot may perhaps have originated at Mr. +Lloyd George's breakfast-table on the 11th, when he entertained Mr. +Redmond, Mr. Dillon, Mr. Devlin, Mr. O'Connor, and the Chief Secretary +for Ireland, Mr. Birrell; for on the same day it was decided to send a +squadron of battleships with attendant cruisers and destroyers from the +coast of Spain to Lamlash, in the Isle of Arran, opposite Belfast Lough; +and a sub-committee of the Cabinet, consisting of Lord Crewe, Mr. +Churchill, Colonel Seely, Mr. Birrell, and Sir John Simon, was appointed +to deal with affairs connected with Ulster. This sub-committee held its +first meeting the following day, and the next was the date of Mr. +Churchill's threatening speech at Bradford, with its reference to the +prospect of bloodshed and of putting grave matters to the proof. Bearing +in mind this sequence of events, it is not easy to credit the contention +of the Government, after the plot had been discovered, that the despatch +of the fleet to the neighbourhood of the Ulster coast had no connection +with the other naval and military operations which immediately followed. + +For on the 14th, while Churchill was travelling in the train to +Bradford, Seely, the Secretary of State for War, was drafting a letter +to Sir Arthur Paget, the Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, informing him of +reports (it was never discovered where the reports, which were without +the smallest foundation, came from) that attempts might be made "in +various parts of Ireland by evil-disposed persons" to raid Government +stores of arms and ammunition, and instructing the General to "take +special precautions" to safeguard the military depots. It was added that +"information shows that Armagh, Omagh, Carrickfergus, and Enniskillen +are insufficiently guarded."[64] It is permissible to wonder, if there +was danger from evil-disposed persons "in various parts of Ireland," +from whom came the information that the places particularly needing +reinforcements were a ring of strategically important towns round the +outskirts of the loyalist counties of Ulster. + +Whatever the source of the alleged "information"--whether it originated +at Mr. Lloyd George's breakfast-table or elsewhere--Seely evidently +thought it alarmingly urgent, for within forty-eight hours he +telegraphed to Paget asking for a reply before 8 a.m. next morning as to +what steps he had taken, and ordering the General to come at once to +London, bringing with him detailed plans. On the 16th Sir A. Paget +telegraphed that he "had taken all available steps"; but, on second +thoughts, he wrote on the 17th saying that there were sufficient troops +at Enniskillen to guard the depot, that he was making a small increase +to the detachment at Carrickfergus, and that, instead of strengthening +the garrisons of Omagh and Armagh, the stores there were being +removed--an operation that would take eight days. He explained his +reason for this departure from instructions to be that such a movement +of troops as had been ordered by the War Office would, "in the present +state of the country, create intense excitement in Ulster and possibly +precipitate a crisis."[65] + +As soon as this communication reached the War Office orders were sent +that the arms and ammunition at Omagh and Armagh, for the safety of +which from evil-disposed persons Seely had been so apprehensive, were +not to be removed, although they had already been packed for transport. +This order was sent on the 18th of March, and on the same day Sir Arthur +Paget arrived in London from Ireland and had a consultation with the +Ulster sub-committee of the Cabinet, and with Sir John French and other +members of the Army Council at the War Office. + +News of this meeting reached the ears of Sir Edward Carson, who was also +aware that a false report was being spread of attempts by Unionists to +influence the Army, and in his speech on the vote of censure on the 19th +he said: "I have never suggested that the Army should not be sent to +Ulster. I have never suggested that it should not do its duty when sent +there. I hope and expect it will." At the same time reports were +circulating in Dublin--did they come from Downing Street?--that the +Government were preparing to take strong measures against the Ulster +Unionist Council, and to arrest the leaders. In allusion to these +reports the Dublin Correspondent of _The Times_ telegraphed on the 18th +of March: "Any man or Government that increases the danger by blundering +or hasty action will accept a terrible responsibility." + +What passed at the interviews which Sir Arthur Paget had with Ministers +on the 18th and 19th has never been disclosed. But it is clear, from the +events which followed, either that an entirely new plan on a much larger +scale was now inaugurated, or that a development now took place which +Churchill and Seely, and perhaps other Ministers also, had contemplated +from the beginning and had concealed behind the pretended insignificance +of precautions to guard depots. It is noteworthy, at all events, that +the measures contemplated happened to be the stationing of troops in +considerable strength in important strategical positions round Ulster, +simultaneously with the despatch of a powerful fleet to within a few +hours of Belfast. + +The orders issued by the War Office, at any rate, indicated something on +a far bigger scale than the original pretext could justify. Paget's fear +of precipitating a crisis was brushed aside, and General Friend, who was +acting for him in Dublin during his absence, was instructed by telegram +to send to the four Ulster towns more than double the number of men that +Paget had deemed would be sufficient to protect the Government stores. +But still more significant was another order given to Friend on the +18th. The Dorset Regiment, quartered in the Victoria Barracks in +Belfast, were to be moved four miles out to Holywood, taking with them +their stores and ammunition, amounting to some thirty tons; and such was +the anxiety of the Government to get the troops out of the city that +they were told to leave their rifles behind, if necessary, after +rendering them useless by removing the bolts.[66] The Government had +vetoed Paget's plan of removing the stores from Omagh and Armagh, +because their real object was to increase the garrisons at those places; +but, as they had no scruple about moving the much larger supply from the +Victoria Barracks through the most intensely Orange quarter of Belfast, +it could hardly be wondered at if such an order, under the +circumstances, was held to give colour to the idea that Ministers wished +to provoke violent opposition to the troops. Not less inconsistent with +the original pretext was the despatch of a battalion to Newry and +Dundalk. At the latter place there was already a brigade of artillery, +with eighteen guns, which would prove a tough nut for "evil-disposed +persons" to crack; and although both towns would be important points to +hold with an army making war on Ulster, they were both in Nationalist +territory where there could be no fear of raids by Unionists. Yet the +urgency was considered so great at the War Office to occupy these places +in strength not later than the 20th that two cruisers were ordered to +Kingstown to take the troops to Dundalk by sea, if there should be +difficulty about land transport. + +Whatever may have been the actual design of Mr. Churchill and Colonel +Seely, who appear to have practically taken the whole management of the +affair into their own hands, the dispositions must have suggested to +anyone with elementary knowledge of military matters that nothing less +than an overpowering attack on Belfast was in contemplation. The +transfer of the troops from Victoria Barracks, where they would have +been useful to support the civil power in case of rioting, to Holywood, +where they would be less serviceable for that purpose but where they +would be in rapid communication by water with the garrison of +Carrickfergus on the opposite shore of the Lough; the ordering of H.M.S. +_Pathfinder_ and _Attentive_ to Belfast Lough, where they were to arrive +"at daybreak on Saturday the 21st instant" with instructions to support +the soldiers if necessary "by guns and search-lights from the +ships[67]"; the secret and rapid garrisoning of strategic points on all +the railways leading to Belfast,--all this pointed, not to the +safeguarding of stores of army boots and rifles, but to operations of an +offensive campaign. + +It was in this light that the Commander-in-Chief in Ireland himself +interpreted his instructions, and, seeing that he had taken the +responsibility of not fully obeying the much more modest orders he had +received in Ireland on the 14th, it is easy to understand that he +thought the steps now to be taken would lead to serious consequences. He +also foresaw that he might have trouble with some of the officers under +his command, for before leaving London he persuaded the Secretary of +State and Sir John French to give the following permission: "Officers +actually domiciled in Ulster would be exempted from taking part in any +operation that might take place. They would be permitted to 'disappear' +[that being the exact phrase used by the War Office], and when all was +over would be allowed to resume their places without their career or +position being affected."[68] + +Having obtained this concession, Sir Arthur Paget returned the same +night to Dublin, where he arrived on the 20th and had a conference with +his general officers. + +He told them of the instructions he had received, which the Government +called "precautionary" and believed "would be carried out without +resistance." The Commander-in-Chief did not share the Government's +optimism. He thought "that the moves would create intense excitement," +that by next day "the country would be ablaze," and that the result +might be "active operations against organised bodies of the Ulster +Volunteer Force under their responsible leaders." With regard to the +permission for officers domiciled in Ulster to "disappear," he informed +his generals that any other officers who were not prepared to carry out +their duty would be dismissed the Service. + +There was, apparently, some misunderstanding as to whether officers +without an Ulster domicile who objected to fight against Ulster were to +say so at once and accept dismissal, or were to wait until they received +some specific order which they felt unable to obey. Many of the officers +understood the General to mean the former of these two alternatives, and +the Colonel of one line regiment gave his officers half an hour to make +up their minds on a question affecting their whole future career; every +one of them objected to going against Ulster, and "nine or ten refused +under any condition" to do so.[69] Another regimental commanding officer +told his subordinates that "steps have been taken in Ulster so that any +aggression must come from the Ulsterites, and they will have to shed the +first blood," on which his comment was: "The idea of provoking Ulster is +hellish."[70] + +In consequence of what he learnt at the conference with his generals on +the morning of the 20th Sir Arthur Paget telegraphed to the War Office: +"Officer Commanding 5th Lancers states that all officers except two, and +one doubtful, are resigning their commissions to-day. I much fear same +conditions in the 16th Lancers. Fear men will refuse to move[71]"; and +later in the day he reported that the "Brigadier and 57 officers, 3rd +Cavalry Brigade, prefer to accept dismissal if ordered north."[72] Next +day he had to add that the Colonel and all the officers of the 4th +Hussars had taken up the same attitude.[73] + +This was very disconcerting news for the War Office, where it had been +taken for granted that very few, if any, officers, except perhaps a few +natives of Ulster, would elect to wreck their careers, if suddenly +confronted with so terrible a choice, rather than take part in +operations against the Ulster Loyalists. Instructions were immediately +wired to Paget in Dublin to "suspend any senior officers who have +tendered their resignations"; to refuse to accept the resignation of +junior officers; and to send General Gough, the Brigadier in command of +the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, and the commanding officers of the two Lancer +regiments and the 4th Hussars, to report themselves promptly at the War +Office after relieving them of their commands. + +Had the War Office made up its mind what to do with General Gough and +the other cavalry officers when they arrived in London? The inference to +be drawn from the correspondence published by the Government makes it +appear probable that the first intention was to punish these officers +severely _pour encourager les autres_. An officer to replace Gough had +actually been appointed and sent to Ireland, though Mr. Asquith denied +in the House of Commons that the offending generals had been dismissed. +But, if that was the intention, it was abandoned. The reason is not +plain; but the probability is that it had been discovered that sympathy +with Gough was widespread in the Army, and that his dismissal would +bring about very numerous resignations. It was said that a large part of +the Staff of the War Office itself would have laid down their +commissions, and that Aldershot would have been denuded of officers.[74] +Colonel Seely himself described it as a "situation of grave peril to the +Army."[75] + +Anyhow, no disciplinary action of any kind was taken. It was decided to +treat the matter as one of "misunderstanding," and when Gough and his +brother officers appeared at the War Office on Monday the 23rd they were +told that it was all a mistake to suppose that the Government had ever +intended warlike operations against Ulster (the orders to the fleet had +been cancelled by wireless on the 21st), and that they might return at +once to their commands, with the assurance that they would not be +required to serve against Ulster Loyalists. General Gough, who before +leaving Ireland had asked Sir A. Paget for a clear definition in writing +of the duties that officers would be expected to perform if they went to +Ulster,[76] thought that in view of the "misunderstanding" it would be +wise to have Colonel Seely's assurance also in black and white. Seely +had to hurry off to a Cabinet Meeting, and in his absence the +Adjutant-General reduced to writing the verbal statement of the +Secretary of State. A very confused story about the subsequent fortunes +of this piece of paper made it the central mystery round which raged +angry debates. This much, however, is not doubtful. Seely went from the +Cabinet to Buckingham Palace; when he returned to Downing Street the +paper was there, but the Cabinet had broken up. He looked at the paper, +saw that it did not accurately reproduce the assurance he had verbally +given to Gough, and with the help of Lord Morley he thereupon added two +paragraphs (which Mr. Balfour designated "the peccant paragraphs") to +make it conform to his promise. The addition so made was the only part +of the document that gave the assurance that the officers would not be +called upon "to crush political opposition to the policy or principles +of the Home Rule Bill." With this paper in his pocket General Gough +returned to his command at the Curragh. + +There the matter might have ended had not some of the facts become +known to Unionist members of the House of Commons, and to the Press. On +Sunday, the 22nd, Mr. Asquith sent a communication to _The Times_ +(published on the 23rd) in which he minimised the whole matter, putting +forward the original pretext of movements of troops solely to protect +Government property--an account at variance with a statement two days +later by Churchill in regard to the reason for naval movements--and on +the 23rd Seely also made a statement in the House of Commons on the same +lines as the Prime Minister's, which ended by saying that all the +movements of troops were completed "and all orders issued have been +punctually and implicitly obeyed." This was an hour or two after his +interview with the generals who had been summoned from Ireland to be +dismissed for refusal to obey orders. + +But Mr. Bonar Law had his own information, which was much fuller than +the Government imagined. A long and heated debate followed Colonel +Seely's statement, and was continued on the two following days, +gradually dragging to light the facts with a much greater profusion of +detail than is necessary for this narrative. On the 24th Mr. L.S. Amery +made a speech which infuriated the Radicals and Labour members, but the +speaker, as was his intention, made them quite as angry with the +Government as with himself. The cause of offence was that the Government +was thought to have allowed itself to be coerced by the soldiers, while +the latter had been allowed to make their obedience to orders contingent +on a bargain struck with the Government. This aspect of the case was +forcibly argued by Mr. J. Ward, the Labour member for Stoke, in a speech +greatly admired by enthusiasts for "democratic" principles. Although Mr. +Ward's invective was mainly directed against the Unionist Opposition, +the latter listened to it with secret pleasure, perceiving that it was +in reality more damaging to the Government than to themselves, since +Ministers were forced into an attitude of defence against their own +usually docile supporters. It may here be mentioned that at a much later +date, when Mr. John Ward, in the light of experience gained by his own +distinguished service as an officer in the Great War, had come to the +conviction that "the possibility of forcing Ulster within the ambit of a +Dublin Parliament has now become unthinkable," he acknowledged that in +1914 the only way by which Mr. Asquith's Home Rule Act could have been +enforced was through and by the power of the Army.[77] + +So much shaken were the Government by these attacks that on the next +day, the 25th of March, Colonel Seely, at the end of a long narrative of +the transaction, announced his resignation from the Government. He had, +he said, unintentionally misled his colleagues by adding without their +knowledge to the paper given to General Gough; the Cabinet as a whole +was quite innocent of the great offence given to democratic sentiment. +This announcement having had the desired effect of relieving the +Ministry as a whole from responsibility for the "peccant paragraphs," +and averting Radical wrath from their heads, the Prime Minister later in +the debate said he was not going to accept Seely's resignation. Yet Mr. +Churchill exhibited a fine frenzy of indignation against Mr. Austen +Chamberlain for describing it as a "put-up job." + +Only a fairly fertile imagination could suggest a transaction to which +the phrase would be more justly applicable. The idea that Seely, in +adding the paragraphs, was tampering in any way with the considered +policy of the Cabinet was absurd, although it served the purpose of +averting a crisis in the House of Commons. He had been in constant and +close communication with Churchill, who had himself been present at the +War Office Conference with Gough, and who had seen the Prime Minister +earlier in company with Sir John French. The whole business had been +discussed at the Cabinet Meeting, and when Seely returned from his +audience of the King he found the Prime Minister, Mr. Churchill, and +Lord Morley still in the Cabinet room. Mr. Asquith said on the 25th in +the House of Commons that no Minister except Seely had seen the added +paragraphs, and almost at the same moment in the House of Lords Lord +Morley was saying that he had helped Seely to draft them. Moreover, +Lord Morley actually took a copy of them, which he read in the House of +Lords, and he included the substance of them in his exposition of the +Government policy in the Upper House. + +Furthermore, General Gough was on his way to Ireland that night, and if +it had been true that the Prime Minister, or any other Minister, +disapproved of what Seely had done, there was no reason why Gough should +not have found a telegram waiting for him at the Curragh in the morning +cancelling Seely's paragraphs and withdrawing the assurance they +contained. No step of that kind was taken, and the Government, while +repudiating in the House of Commons the action for which Seely was +allowed to take the sole responsibility, permitted Gough to retain in +his despatch-box the document signed by the Army Council. + +For it was not only the Secretary of State for War who was involved. The +memorandum had been written by the Adjutant-General, and it bore the +initials of Sir John French and Sir Spencer Ewart as well as Colonel +Seely's. These members of the Army Council knew that the verbal +assurance given by the Secretary of State to Gough had not been +completely embodied in the written memorandum without the paragraph +which had been repudiated after the debate in the Commons on the 24th, +and they were not prepared to go back on their written word, or to be +satisfied by the "put-up job" resignation of their civilian Chief. They +both sent in their resignations; and, as they refused even under +pressure to withdraw them, the Secretary of State had no choice but to +do the same on the 30th of March, this time beyond recall. Mr. Asquith +announced on the same day that he had himself become Secretary of State +for War, and would have to go to Scotland for re-election. + +The facts as here related were only extracted by the most persistent and +laborious cross-examination of the Government, who employed all the +familiar arts of official evasion in order to conceal the truth from the +country. Day after day Ministers were bombarded by batteries of +questions in the House of Commons, in addition to the lengthy debates +that occupied the House for several consecutive days. This pressure +compelled the Prime Minister to produce a White Paper, entitled +"Correspondence relating to Recent Events in the Irish Command."[78] It +was published on the 25th of March, the third day of the continuous +debates, and, although Mr. Asquith said it contained "all the material +documents," it was immediately apparent to members who had closely +studied the admissions that had been dragged from the Ministers chiefly +concerned, that it was very far from doing so. Much the most important +documents had, in fact, been withheld. Suspicion as to the good faith of +the Government was increased when it was found that the Lord Chancellor, +Lord Haldane, had interpolated into the official Report of his speech in +the House of Lords a significant word which transformed his definite +pledge that Ulster would not be coerced, into a mere statement that no +"immediate" coercion was contemplated. + +In the face of such evasion and prevarication it was out of the question +to let the matter drop. On the 22nd of April the Government was forced +to publish a second White Paper,[79] which contained a large number of +highly important documents omitted from the first. But it was evident +that much was still being kept back, and, in particular, that what had +passed between Sir Arthur Paget and his officers at a conference +mentioned in the published correspondence was being carefully concealed. +Mr. Bonar Law demanded a judicial inquiry, where evidence could be taken +on oath. Mr. Asquith refused, saying that an insinuation against the +honour of Ministers could only be properly investigated by the House of +Commons itself, and that a day would be given for a vote of censure if +the leader of the Opposition meant that he could not trust the word of +Ministers of the Crown. Mr. Bonar Law sharply retorted that he "had +already accused the Prime Minister of making a statement which was +false."[80] But even this did not suffice to drive the Government to +face the ordeal of having their own account of the affair at the Curragh +sifted by the sworn evidence of others who knew the facts. They +preferred to take cover under the dutiful cheers of their parliamentary +majority when they repeated their explanations, which had already been +proved to be untrue. + +But the Ulster Unionist Council had, meantime, been making inquiries on +their own account. There was nothing in the least improper, although the +supporters of the Government tried to make out that there was, in the +officers at the Curragh revealing what the Commander-in-Chief had said +to them, so long as they did not communicate anything to the Press. They +were not, and could not be, pledged to secrecy. It thus happened that it +was possible for the Old Town Hall in Belfast to put together a more +complete account of the whole affair than it suited the Government to +reveal to Parliament. On the 17th of April the Standing Committee issued +to the Press a statement giving the main additional facts which a sworn +inquiry would have elicited. It bore the signatures of Lord Londonderry +and Sir Edward Carson, and there can have been few foolhardy enough to +suggest that these were men who would be likely to take such a step +without first satisfying themselves as to the trustworthiness of the +evidence, a point on which the judgment of one of them at all events was +admittedly unrivalled. + +From this statement it appeared that Sir Arthur Paget, so far from +indicating that mere "precautionary measures" for the protection of +Government stores were in contemplation, told his generals that +preparations had been made for the employment of some 25,000 troops in +Ulster, in conjunction with naval operations. The gravity of the plan +was revealed by the General's use of the words "battles" and "the +enemy," and his statement that he would himself be "in the firing line" +at the first "battle." He said that, when some casualties had been +suffered by the troops, he intended to approach "the enemy" with a flag +of truce and demand their surrender, and if this should be refused he +would order an assault on their position. The cavalry, whose pro-Ulster +sentiments must have been well known to the Commander-in-Chief, were +told that they would only be required to prevent the infantry "bumping +into the enemy," or in other words to act as a cavalry screen; that they +would not be called upon to fire on "the enemy"; and that as soon as +the infantry became engaged, they would be withdrawn and sent to Cork, +where "a disturbance would be arranged" to provide a pretext for the +movement. A Military Governor of Belfast was to be appointed, and the +general purpose of the operations was to blockade Ulster by land and +sea, and to provoke the Ulster men to shed the first blood. + +The publication of this statement with the authority of the two Ulster +leaders created a tremendous sensation. But it probably strengthened the +resolution of the Government to refuse at all costs a judicial inquiry, +which they knew would only supply sworn corroboration of the Ulster +Unionist Council's story. In this they were assisted in an unexpected +way. Just when the pressure was at its highest, relief came by the +diversion of attention and interest caused by another startling event in +Ulster, which will be described in the following chapters. + +This Curragh Incident, which caused intense and prolonged excitement in +March 1914, and nearly upset the Asquith Government, had more than +momentary importance in connection with the Ulster Movement. It proved +to demonstration the intense sympathy with the loyalist cause that +pervaded the Army. That sympathy was not, as Radical politicians like +Mr. John Ward believed, an aristocratic sentiment only to be found in +the mess-rooms of smart cavalry regiments. It existed in all branches of +the Service, and among the rank and file as well as the commissioned +ranks. Sir Arthur Paget's telegram reporting to the War Office the +feeling in the 5th and 16th Lancers, said, "Fear men will refuse to +move."[81] The men had not the same facility as the officers in making +their sentiments known at headquarters, but their sympathies were the +same. + +The Government had no excuse for being ignorant of this feeling in the +Army. It had been a matter of notoriety for a long time. Its existence +and its danger had been reported by Lord Wolseley to the Duke of +Cambridge, back in the old days of Gladstonian Home Rule, in a letter +that had been since published. In July 1913 _The Times_ gave the +warning in a leading article that "the crisis, the approach of which +Ministers affect to treat with unconcern, is already causing uneasiness +and apprehension in the public Services, and especially in the Army.... +It is notorious that some officers have already begun to speak of +sending in their papers." Lord Roberts had uttered a significant warning +in the House of Lords not long before the incident at the Curragh. +Colonel Seely himself had been made aware of it in the previous December +when he signed a War Office Memorandum on the subject[82]; and, indeed, +no officer could fail to be aware of it who had ever been quartered in +Ireland. + +Nor was it surprising that this sympathy should manifest itself. No one +is quicker to appreciate the difference between loyalty and disloyalty +than the soldier. There were few regiments in the Army that had not +learnt by experience that the King's uniform was constantly insulted in +Nationalist Ireland, and as invariably welcomed and honoured in Ulster. +In the vote of censure debate on the 19th of March Mr. Cave quoted an +Irish newspaper, which had described the British Army as "the most +immoral and degraded force in Europe," and warned Irishmen that, by +joining it, all they would get was "a red coat, a dishonoured name, a +besmirched character." On the other hand, the very troops who were sent +North from the Curragh against the advice of Sir Arthur Paget, to +provoke "the Ulsterites to shed the first blood," had, as the +Commander-in-Chief reported, "everywhere a good reception."[83] + +The welcoming cheers at Holywood and Carrickfergus and Armagh were +probably a pleasant novelty to men fresh from the Curragh or Fermoy. +Even in Belfast itself the contrast was brought home to troops quartered +in Victoria Barracks, all of whom were well aware that on the death of a +comrade his coffin would have to be borne by a roundabout route to the +cemetery, to avoid the Nationalist quarter of the city where a military +funeral would be exposed to insult. + +Such experiences, as they harden into traditions, sink deep into the +consciousness of an Army and breed sentiments that are not easily +eradicated. Soldiers ought, of course, to have no politics; but when it +appeared that they might be called upon to open fire on those whom they +had always counted "on our side," in order to subject them forcibly to +men who hated the sight of a British flag and were always ready to spit +upon it, human nature asserted itself. And the incident taught the +Government something as to the difficulty they would have in enforcing +the Home Rule Bill in Ulster. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[64] See White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. II. + +[65] See White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. VI. + +[66] See White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. VII. + +[67] White Paper (Cd. 7329), Part II, No. II. + +[68] White Paper (Cd. 7329), Part III. + +[69] See _Parliamentary Debates_, vol. lx, p. 73. + +[70] Ibid., p. 426. + +[71] Cd. 7329, No. XVII. + +[72] Ibid., Nos. XVIII, XX. + +[73] Ibid., Nos. XXII, XXIII. + +[74] See _Parliamentary Debates_, vol. lx, p. 246. + +[75] Ibid., p. 400. + +[76] White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. XX. + +[77] _The Nineteenth Century and After_, January 1921, art. "The Army +and Ireland," by Lieut.-Colonel John Ward, C.B., C.M.G., M.P. + +[78] Cd. 7318. + +[79] Cd. 7329. + +[80] _Parliamentary Debate_, vol. lxi, p. 765. + +[81] White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. XVII. See _ante_, p. 180. + +[82] White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. I. + +[83] Ibid., No. XXVII. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +ARMING THE U.V.F. + + +If the "evil-disposed persons" who so excited the fancy of Colonel Seely +were supposed to be Ulster Loyalists, the whole story was an absurdity +that did no credit to the Government's Intelligence in Ireland; and if +there ever was any "information," such as the War Office alleged, it +must have come from a source totally ignorant of Ulster psychology. +Raids on Government stores were never part of the Ulster programme. The +excitement of the Curragh Incident passed off without causing any sort +of disturbance, and, as we have seen, the troops who were sent North +received everywhere in Ulster a loyal welcome. This was a fine tribute +to the discipline and restraint of the people, and was a further proof +of their confidence in their leaders. + +Those leaders, it happened, were at that very moment taking measures to +place arms in the hands of the U.V.F. without robbing Government depots +or any one else. That method was left to their opponents in Ireland at a +later date, who adopted it on an extensive scale accompanied by +systematic terrorism. The Ulster plan was quite different. All the arms +they obtained were paid for, and their only crime was that they +successfully hoodwinked Mr. Asquith's colleagues and agents. + +Every movement has its Fabius, and also its Hotspur. Both are +needed--the men of prudence and caution, anxious to avoid extreme +courses, slow to commit themselves too far or to burn their boats with +the river behind them; and the impetuous spirits, who chafe at +half-measures, cannot endure temporising, and are impatient for the +order to advance against any odds. Major F.H. Crawford had more of the +temperament of a Hotspur than of a Fabius, but he nevertheless possessed +qualities of patience, reticence, discretion, and coolness which +enabled him to render invaluable service to the Ulster cause in an +enterprise that would certainly have miscarried in the hands of a man +endowed only with impetuosity and reckless courage. If the story of his +adventures in procuring arms for the U.V.F. be ever told in minute +detail, it will present all the features of an exciting novel by Mr. +John Buchan. + +Fred Crawford, the man who followed a family tradition when he signed +the Covenant with his own blood,[84] began life as a premium apprentice +in Harland and Wolf's great ship-building yard, after which he served +for a year as an engineer in the White Star Line, before settling down +to his father's manufacturing business in Belfast. Like so many ardent +Loyalists in Ulster, he came of Liberal stock. He was for years honorary +Secretary of the Reform Club in Belfast. The more staid members of this +highly respectable establishment were not a little startled and +perplexed when it was brought to their attention in 1907 that +advertisements in the name of one "Hugh Matthews," giving the Belfast +Reform Club as his address, had appeared in a number of foreign +newspapers--French, Belgian, Italian, German, and Austrian--inquiring +for "10,000 rifles and one million rounds of small-arm ammunition." The +membership of the Club included no Hugh Matthews; but inquiry showed +that the name covered the identity of the Hon. Secretary; and Crawford, +who sought no concealment in the matter, justified the advertisements by +pointing out that the Liberal Government which had lately come into +power had begun its rule in Ireland by repealing the Act prohibiting the +importation of arms, and that there was therefore nothing illegal in +what he was doing. But he resigned his secretaryship, which he felt +might hamper future transactions of the same kind. The advertisement was +no doubt half bravado and half practical joke; he wanted to see whether +it would attract notice, and if anything would come of it. But it had +also an element of serious purpose. + +Crawford regarded the advent to power of the Liberal Party as ominous, +as indeed all Ulster did, for the Liberal Party was a Home Rule Party; +and he had from his youth been convinced that the day would come when +Ulster would have to carry out Lord Randolph Churchill's injunction. +That being so, he was not the man to tarry till solemn assemblies of +merchants, lawyers, and divines should propound a policy; if there was +to be fighting, Crawford was going to be ready for it, and thought that +preparation for such a contingency could not begin too soon. And the +advertisements were not barren of practical result. There was an +astonishing number of replies; Crawford purchased a few rifles, and +obtained samples of others; and, what was more important, he gained +knowledge of the Continental trade in second-hand firearms, which had +its centre in the free port of Hamburg, and of the men engaged in that +trade. This knowledge he turned to account in 1912 and the two following +years. + +He had been for nearly twenty years an officer of Artillery Militia, and +when the U.V.F. was organised in 1912 he became its Director of Ordnance +on the headquarters staff. He was also a member of the Standing +Committee of the Ulster Unionist Council, where he persistently +advocated preparation for armed resistance long before most of his +colleagues thought such a policy necessary. But early in 1912 he +obtained leave to get samples of procurable firearms, and his +promptitude in acting on it, and in presenting before certain members of +the Committee a collection of gleaming rifles with bayonets fixed, took +away the breath of the more cautious of his colleagues. + +From this time forward Crawford was frequently engaged in this business. +He got into communication with the dealers in arms whose acquaintance he +had made six years before. He went himself to Hamburg, and, after +learning something of the chicanery prevalent in the trade, which it +took all his resourcefulness to overcome, he fell in with an honest Jew +by whose help he succeeded in sending a thousand rifles safely to +Belfast. Other consignments followed from time to time in larger or +smaller quantities, in the transport of which all the devices of +old-time smuggling were put to the test. Crawford bought a schooner, +which for a year or more proved very useful, and, while employing her in +bringing arms to Ulster, he made acquaintance with a skipper of one of +the Antrim Iron Ore Company's coasting steamers, whose name was Agnew, a +fine seaman of the best type produced by the British Mercantile Marine, +who afterwards proved an invaluable ally, to whose loyalty and ability +Crawford and Ulster owed a deep debt of gratitude, as they also did to +Mr. Robert Browne, Managing Director of the Antrim Iron Ore Company, for +placing at their disposal both vessels and seamen from time to time. + +Now and then the goods fell a victim to Custom House vigilance; for +although there was at this time nothing illegal in importing firearms, +it was not considered prudent to carry on the trade openly, which would +certainly have led to prohibition being introduced and enforced; and, +consequently, infringements of shipping regulations had to be risked, +which gave the authorities the right to interfere if they discovered +rifles where zinc plates or musical instruments ought to have been. + +On one occasion a case of arms was shipped on a small steamer from +Glasgow to Portrush, but was not entered in the manifest, so that the +skipper (being a worthy man) knew nothing--officially--of this box which +lay on deck instead of descending into the hold. But two Customs +officials, who noticed it with unsatisfied curiosity, decided, just as +the boat cast off, to make the trip to Portrush. Happily it was a dirty +night, and they, being bad sailors, were constrained to take refuge from +the elements in the Captain's cabin. But when Portrush was reached +search and research proved unavailing to find the mysterious box; the +skipper could find no mention of it in the manifest and thought the +Customs House gentlemen must have been dreaming; they, on the other +hand, threatened to seize the ship if the box did not materialise, and +were told to do so at their peril. But exactly off Ballycastle, which +had been passed while the officials were poorly, there was a float in +the sea attached to a line, which in due course led to the recovery of a +case of valuable property that was none the worse for a few hours' rest +on the bottom of the Moyle. + +Qualities of a different sort were called into play in negotiating the +purchase of machine-guns from Messrs. Vickers & Co., at Woolwich. Here a +strong American accent, combined with the providential circumstance that +Mexico happened to be in the grip of revolutionary civil war, overcame +all difficulties, and Mr. John Washington Graham, U.S.A. (otherwise Fred +H. Crawford of Belfast) played his part so effectively that he did not +fail to finish the deal by extracting a handsome commission for himself, +which found its way subsequently to the coffers of the Ulster Unionist +Council. But he compensated the Company by making a suggestion for +improving the mechanism of the Maxim-gun which the great ordnance +manufacturers permanently adopted without having to pay for any patent +rights. + +Major Crawford was, however, by no means the only person who was at this +time bringing arms and ammunition into Ulster, which, as already +explained, although not illegal, could not be safely done openly on a +large scale. Ammunition in small quantities dribbled into Belfast pretty +constantly, many amateur importers deriving pleasurable excitement from +feeling themselves conspirators, and affording amusement to others by +the tales told of the ingenious expedients resorted to by the smugglers. + +There was a dock porter at Belfast, an intense admirer of Sir Edward +Carson, who was the retailer of one of the best of these stories. He was +always on the look-out for the leader arriving by the Liverpool steamer, +and would allow no one else, if he could help it, to handle the great +man's hand-baggage; and when Carson was not a passenger, any of his +satellites who happened to be travelling came in for vicarious +attention. Thus, it happened on one occasion that the writer, arriving +alone from Liverpool, was hailed from the shore before the boat was made +fast. "Is Sir Edward on board?" A shake of the head brought a look of +pathetic disappointment to the face of the hero-worshipper; but he was +on board before the gangway was down and busy collecting the belongings +of the leader's unworthy substitute. When laden with these and half-way +down the gangway he stopped, and, entirely careless of the fact that he +was obstructing a number of passengers impatient to land, he turned and +whispered--a whisper that might be heard thirty yards off--with a +knowing wink of the eye: + +"We're getting in plenty of stuff now." + +"Yes, yes," was the reply. "Never mind about that now; put those things +on a car." + +But he continued, without budging from the gangway, "Och aye, we're +getting in plenty; but my God, didn't Mrs. Blank o' Dungannon bate all? +Did ye hear about her?" + +"No, I never heard of Mrs. Blank of Dungannon. But do hurry along, my +good man; you're keeping back all the passengers." + +"What! ye never heard o' Mrs. Blank o' Dungannon? Wait now till I tell +ye. Mrs. Blank came off this boat not a fortnight ago, an' as she came +down this gangway I declare to God you'd ha' swore she was within a week +of her time--and divil a ha'porth the matter with her, only cartridges. +An' the fun was that the Custom House boys knowed rightly what it was, +but they dursn't lay a hand on her nor search her, for fear they were +wrong." + +This admiring tribute to the heroic matron of Dungannon--whose real name +was not concealed by the porter--was heard by a number of people, and +probably most of them thought themselves compensated by the story for +the delay it caused them in leaving the steamer. + +By the summer of 1913 several thousands of rifles had been brought into +Ulster; but in May of that year the mishap occurred to which Lord +Roberts referred in his letter to Colonel Hickman on the 4th of June, +when he wrote: "I am sorry to read about the capture of rifles."[85] +Crawford had been obliged to find some place in London for storing the +arms which he was procuring from his friends in Hamburg, and with the +help of Sir William Bull, M.P. for Hammersmith, the yard of an +old-fashioned inn in that district was found where it was believed they +would be safe until means of transporting them to the North of Ireland +could be devised. The inn was taken by a firm calling itself John +Ferguson & Co., the active member of which was Sir William Bull's +brother-in-law, Captain Budden; and the business appeared to consist of +dealing in second-hand scientific instruments and machinery, +curiosities, antique armour and weapons, old furniture, and so forth, +which were brought in very heavy cases and deposited in the yard. For a +time it proved useful, and the Maxims from Woolwich passed safely +through the Hammersmith store. But the London police got wind of the +Hammersmith Armoury, and seized a consignment of between six and seven +thousand excellent Italian rifles. A rusty and little-known Act of +Parliament had to be dug up to provide legal authority for the seizure. +Many sportsmen and others then learnt for the first time that, under the +Gun-barrel Proof Act, 1868, every gun-barrel in England must bear the +Gun-makers' Company's proof-mark showing that its strength has been +tested and approved. As the penalty for being in possession of guns not +so marked was a fine of ÂŁ2 per barrel, to have put in a claim for the +Italian rifles seized at Hammersmith would have involved a payment of +more than ÂŁ12,000, and would have given the Government information as to +the channel through which they had been imported. No move was made, +therefore, so far as the firearms were concerned, but the bayonets +attached to them, for the seizure of which there was no legal +justification, were claimed by Crawford's agent in Hamburg, and +eventually reached Ulster safely by another route. About the same time a +consignment of half a million rounds of small-arm ammunition, which was +discovered by the authorities through faulty packing in cement-bags, was +also confiscated in another part of the country. + +These losses convinced Crawford that a complete change of method must be +adopted if faith was to be kept with the Ulster Volunteers, who were +implicitly trusting their leaders to provide them with weapons to enable +them to make good the Covenant. More than a year before this time he had +told the special Committee dealing with arms, to which he was +immediately responsible, that, in his judgment, the only way of dealing +effectively with the problem was not by getting small quantities +smuggled from time to time by various devices and through disguised +ordinary trade channels, but by bringing off a grand _coup_, as if +running a blockade in time of war. He had crossed the Channel on purpose +to submit this view to Sir Edward Carson and Captain Craig early in +1912, but at that time nothing was done to give effect to it. + +But the seizure of so large a number as six thousand rifles at a time +when the political situation looked like moving towards a crisis in the +near future, made necessary a bolder attempt to procure the necessary +arms. When General Sir George Richardson took command of the U.V.F. in +July 1913 he placed Captain (afterwards Lieut.-Colonel) Wilfrid Bliss +Spender on his staff, and soon afterwards appointed him A.Q.M.G. of the +Forces. Captain Spender's duties comprised the supply of equipment, +arms, and ammunition, the organisation of transport, and the supervision +of communications. He was now requested to confer with Major Fred +Crawford with a view to preparing a scheme for procuring arms and +ammunition, to be submitted to a special sub-committee appointed to deal +with this matter, of which Captain James Craig was chairman. Spender +gave his attention mainly to the difficulties that would attend the +landing and distribution of arms if they reached Ulster in safety; +Crawford said he could undertake to purchase and bring them from a +foreign port. Crawford's proposed _modus operandi_ may be given in his +own words: + + "I would immediately go to Hamburg and see B.S. [the Hebrew dealer + in firearms with whom he had been in communication for some six or + seven years, and whom he had found perfectly honest, and not at all + grasping], and consult him as to what he had to offer. I would + purchase 25,000 to 30,000 rifles, modern weapons if possible, and + not the Italian Vetteli rifles we had been getting, all to take the + same ammunition and fitted with bayonets. I would purchase a + suitable steamer of 600 tons in some foreign port and load her up + with the arms, and either bring her in direct or transfer the cargo + to a local steamer in some estuary or bay on the Scottish coast. I + felt confident, though I knew the difficulties in front of me, + that I could carry it through all right."[86] + +The sub-committee accepted Crawford's proposal, and, when it had been +confirmed by Headquarters Council, he was commissioned to go to Hamburg +to see how the land lay. On arriving there he found that B.S. had still +in store ten thousand Vetteli rifles and a million rounds of ammunition +for them, which he had been holding for Crawford for two years. After a +day or two the dealer laid three alternative proposals before his Ulster +customer: (a) Twenty thousand Vetteli rifles, with bayonets (ammunition +would have to be specially manufactured).(6) Thirty thousand Russian +rifles with bayonets (lacking scabbards) and ammunition, (c) Fifteen +thousand new Austrian, and five thousand German army rifles with +bayonets, both to take standard Mannlicher cartridges. + +The last mentioned of these alternatives was much the most costly, being +double the price of the first and nearly treble that of the second; but +it had great advantages over the other two. Ammunition for the Italian +weapons was only manufactured in Italy, and, if further supplies should +be required, could only be got from that country. The Russian rifles +were perfectly new and unused, but were of an obsolete pattern; they +were single-loaders, and fresh supplies of cartridges would be nearly as +difficult to procure for them as for the Italian. The Austrian and +German patterns were both first-rate; the rifles were up-to-date +clip-loaders, and, what was the most important consideration, ammunition +for them would be easily procurable in the United Kingdom or from +America or Canada. + +But the difference in cost was so great that Crawford returned to +Belfast to explain matters to his Committee, calling in London on his +way to inform Carson and Craig. He strongly urged the acceptance of the +third alternative offer, laying stress, among other considerations, on +the moral effect on men who knew they had in their hands the most modern +weapon with all latest improvements. Carson was content to be guided on +a technical matter of this sort by the judgment of a man whom he knew +to be an expert, and as James Craig, who was in control of the fund +ear-marked for the purchase of arms, also agreed, Crawford had not much +difficulty in persuading the Committee when he reached Belfast, although +at first they were rather staggered by the difference in cost between +the various proposals. + +It was not until the beginning of February 1914 that Crawford returned +to Hamburg to accept this offer, and to make arrangements with B.S. for +carrying out the rest of his scheme for transporting his precious but +dangerous cargo to Ulster. On his way through London he called again on +Carson. + + "I pointed out to Sir Edward, my dear old Chief," says Crawford in + a written account of the interview, "that some of my Committee had + no idea of the seriousness of the undertaking, and, when they did + realise what they were in for, might want to back out of it. I + said, 'Once I cross this time to Hamburg there is no turning back + with me, no matter what the circumstances are so far as my personal + safety is concerned; and no contrary orders from the Committee to + cancel what they have agreed to with me will I obey. I shall carry + out the _coup_ if I lose my life in the attempt. Now, Sir Edward, + you know what I am about to undertake, and the risks those who back + me up must run. Are you willing to back me to the finish in this + undertaking? If you are not, I don't go. But, if you are, I would + go even if I knew I should not return; it is for Ulster and her + freedom I am working, and this alone.' I so well remember that + scene. We were alone; Sir Edward was sitting opposite to me. When I + had finished, his face was stern and grim, and there was a glint in + his eye. He rose to his full height, looking me in the eye; he + advanced to where I was sitting and stared down at me, and shook + his clenched fist in my face, and said in a steady, determined + voice, which thrilled me and which I shall never forget: 'Crawford, + I'll see you through this business, if I should have to go to + prison for it.' I rose from my chair; I held out my hand and said, + 'Sir Edward, that is all I want. I leave to-night; good-bye.'" + +Next day Crawford was in Hamburg. He immediately concluded his +agreement with B.S., and began making arrangements for carrying out the +plan he had outlined to the Committee in Belfast. As will be seen in the +next chapter, he was actually in the middle of this adventure at the +very time when Seely and Churchill were worrying lest "evil-disposed +persons" should raid and rob the scantily stocked Government Stores at +Omagh and Enniskillen. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[84] _Ante_, p. 123. + +[85] _Ante_, p. 161. + +[86] From a manuscript narrative by Colonel F.H. Crawford. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A VOYAGE OF ADVENTURE + + +Although Mr. Lloyd George's message to mankind on New Year's Day, 1914, +was that "Anglo-German relations were far more friendly than for years +past,"[87] and that there was therefore no need to strengthen the +British Navy, it may be doubted, with the knowledge we now possess, +whether the German Government would have been greatly incensed at the +idea of a cargo of firearms finding its way from Hamburg to Ireland in +the spring of that year without the knowledge of the British Government. +But if that were the case Fred Crawford had no reason to suspect it. +German surveillance was always both efficient and obtrusive, and he had +to make his preparations under a vigilance by the authorities which +showed no signs of laxity. Those preparations involved the assembling +and the packing of 20,000 modern rifles, 15,000 of which had to be +brought from a factory in Austria; 10,000 Italian rifles previously +purchased, which B.S. had in store; bayonets for all the firearms; and +upwards of 3,000,000 rounds of small-arm ammunition. The packing of the +arms was a matter to which Crawford gave particular attention. He kept +in mind the circumstances under which he expected them to be landed in +Ulster. Avoidance of confusion and rapidity of handling were of the +first importance. Rifles, bayonets, and ammunition must be not separated +in bulk, requiring to be laboriously reassembled at their destination. +He therefore insisted that parcels should be made up containing five +rifles in each, with bayonets to match, and 100 rounds of ammunition per +rifle, each parcel weighing about 75 lbs. He attached so much importance +to this system of packing that he adhered to it even after discovering +that it would cost about ÂŁ2,000, and would take more than a month to +complete. + +While the work of packing was going on, Crawford, who found he was +exciting the curiosity of the Hamburg police, kept out of sight as much +as possible, and he paid more than one visit to the Committee in +Belfast, leaving the supervision to the skipper and packer, whom he had +found he could trust. In the meantime, by advertisements in the +Scandinavian countries, he was looking out for a suitable steamer to +carry the cargo. For a crew his thoughts turned to his old friend, +Andrew Agnew, skipper in the employment of the Antrim Iron Ore Company. +Happily he was not only able to secure the services of Agnew himself, +but Agnew brought with him his mate and his chief and second engineers. +This was a great gain; for they were not only splendid men at their job, +but were men willing to risk their liberty or their lives for the Ulster +cause. Deck-hands and firemen would be procurable at whatever port a +steamer was to be bought. + +Several vessels were offered in response to Crawford's advertisements, +and on the 16th of March, when the packing of the arms was well +advanced, Crawford, Agnew, and his chief engineer went to Norway to +inspect these steamers. Eventually they selected the s.s. _Fanny_, which +had just returned to Bergen with a cargo of coal from Newcastle. She was +only an eight-knot vessel, but her skipper, a Norwegian, gave a +favourable report of her sea-going qualities and coal consumption, and +Agnew and his engineer were satisfied by their inspection of her. The +deal was quickly completed, and the Captain and his Norwegian crew +willingly consented to remain in charge of the _Fanny_; and, in order to +enable her to sail under the Norwegian flag, as a precaution against +possible confiscation in British waters, it was arranged that the +Captain should be the nominal purchaser, giving Crawford a mortgage for +her full value. + +Then, leaving Agnew to get sufficient stores on board the _Fanny_ for a +three-months' cruise, Crawford returned to Hamburg on the 20th, and +thence to Belfast to report progress. Agnew's orders were to bring the +_Fanny_ in three weeks' time to a rendezvous marked on the chart +between the Danish islands of Langeland and FĂĽnen, where he was to pick +up the cargo of arms, which Crawford would bring in lighters from +Hamburg through the Kiel Canal. + +While Crawford was in Belfast arrangements were made to enable him to +keep in communication with Spender, so that in case of necessity he +could be warned not to approach the Irish coast, but to cruise in the +Baltic till a more favourable opportunity. He was to let Spender know +later where he could be reached with final instructions as to landing +the arms; the rendezvous so agreed upon subsequently was Lough Laxford, +a wild and inaccessible spot on the west coast of Sutherlandshire. +Crawford was warned by B.S. that he was far from confident of a +successful end to their labours at Hamburg. He had never before shipped +anything like so large a number of firearms; and the long process of +packing, and Crawford's own mysterious coming and going, would be +certain to excite suspicion, which would reach the secret agents of the +British Government, and lead either to a protest addressed to the German +authorities, followed by a prohibition on shipping the arms, or to +confiscation by the British authorities when the cargo entered British +territorial waters. + +These fears must have been present to the mind of B.S. when he met +Crawford at the station in Hamburg on the 27th on his return from +Belfast, for the precautions taken to avoid being followed gave their +movements the character of an adventure by one of Stanley Weyman's +heroes of romance. Whether any suspicion had in fact been aroused +remains unknown. Anyhow, the barges were ready laden, with a tug waiting +till the tide should serve about midnight for making a start down the +Elbe, and through the canal to Kiel. The modest sum of ÂŁ10 procured an +order authorising the tug and barges to proceed through the canal +without stopping, and requiring other shipping to let them pass. A black +flag was the signal of this privileged position, which suggested the +"Jolly Roger" to Crawford's thoughts, and gave a sense of insolent +audacity when great liners of ten or fifteen thousand tons were seen +making way for a tug-boat towing a couple of lighters. + +For the success of the enterprise up to this point Crawford was greatly +indebted to the Jew, B.S. From first to last this gentleman "played the +game" with sterling honesty and straightforward dealing that won his +customers' warm admiration. Several times he accepted Crawford's word as +sufficient security when cash was not immediately forthcoming, and in no +instance did he bear out the character traditionally attributed to his +race. + +On arrival at Kiel, Crawford, after a short absence from the tug, was +informed that three men had been inquiring from the lightermen and the +tug's skipper about the nature and destination of the cargo. All such +evidences of curiosity on the subject were rather alarming, but it +turned out that the visitors were probably Mexicans--of what political +party there it would be impossible to guess--whose interest had been +aroused by the rumour, which Crawford had encouraged, that guns were +being shipped to that distracted Republic. Still more alarming was the +arrival on board the tug of a German official in resplendent uniform, +who insisted that he must inspect the cargo. Crawford knew no German, +but the shipping agent who accompanied him produced papers showing that +all formalities had been complied with, and all requisite authorisation +obtained. Neither official papers, however, nor arguments made any +impression on the officer until it occurred to Crawford to produce a +100-marks note, which proved much more persuasive, and sent the official +on his way rejoicing, with expressions of civility on both sides. + +The relief of the Ulsterman when the last of the Kiel forts was left +behind, and he knew that his cargo was clear of Germany, may be +imagined. A night was spent crossing Kiel Bay, and in the morning of the +29th they were close to Langeland, and approaching the rendezvous with +the _Fanny_. She was there waiting, and Agnew, in obedience to orders, +had already painted out her name on bows and stern. The next thing was +to transfer the arms from the lighters to the _Fanny_. Crawford was +apprehensive lest the Danish authorities should take an interest in the +proceedings if the work was carried out in the narrow channel between +the islands, and he proposed, as it was quite calm, to defer operations +till they were further from the shore. But the Norwegian Captain +declared that he had often transhipped cargo at this spot, and that +there was no danger whatever. Nevertheless, Crawford's fears were +realised. Before the work was half finished a Danish Port Officer came +on board, asked what the cargo comprised, and demanded to see the ship's +papers. According to the manifest the _Fanny_ was bound for Iceland with +a general cargo, part of which was to be shipped at Bergen. The Danish +officer then spent half an hour examining the bales, and, although he +did not open any of them, Crawford felt no doubt he knew perfectly the +nature of their contents. Finally he insisted on carrying off the +papers, both of the _Fanny_ and the tug-boat, saying that all the +information must be forwarded to Copenhagen to be dealt with by the +Government authorities, but that the papers would be returned early next +morning. + +One can well believe Crawford when he says that he suffered "mental +agony" that night. After all that he had planned, and all that he had +accomplished by many months of personal energy and resource, he saw +complete and ignominious failure staring him in the face. He realised +the heavy financial loss to the Ulster Loyalists, for his cargo +represented about ÂŁ70,000 of their money; and he realised the bitter +disappointment of their hopes, which was far worse than any loss of +money. He pictured to himself what must happen in the morning--"to have +to follow a torpedo-boat into the naval base and lie there till the +whole Ulster scheme was unravelled and known to the world as a ghastly +failure, and the Province and Sir Edward and all the leaders the +laughing stock of the world"--and the thought of it all plunged him +almost into despair. + +Almost, but not quite. He was not the man to give way to despair. If it +came to the worst he would "put all the foreign crew and their +belongings into the boats and send them off; Agnew and I would arm +ourselves with a bundle of rifles, and cut it open and have 500 rounds +to fight any attempt to board us, and if we slipped this by any chance, +he and I would bring her to England together, he on deck and I in the +engine-room. He knew all about navigation and I knew all about engines, +having been a marine engineer in my youth." + +But a less desperate job called for immediate attention. The men engaged +in transferring the cargo from the barges to the steamer wanted to knock +off work for the night; but the offer of double pay persuaded them to +stick to it, and they worked with such good will that by midnight every +bale was safely below hatches in the _Fanny_. Crawford then instructed +the shipping agent to be off in the tug at break of day, giving him +letters to post which would apprise the Committee in Belfast of what had +happened, and give them the means of communicating with himself +according to previously concerted plans. + +Before morning a change occurred in the weather, which Crawford regarded +as providential. He was gladdened by the sight of a sea churned white by +half a gale, while a mist lay on the water, reducing visibility to about +300 yards. It would be impossible for the Port Officer's motor-boat to +face such a sea, or, if it did, to find the _Fanny_, unless guided by +her fog-whistle. As soon as eight o'clock had passed--the hour by which +the return of the ship's papers had been promised--Crawford weighed +anchor, and crept out of the narrow channel under cover of the fog, only +narrowly escaping going aground on the way among the banks and shallows +that made it impossible to sail before daylight, but eventually the open +sea was safely reached. But the _Fanny_ was now without papers, and in +law was a pirate ship. It was therefore desirable for her to change her +costume. As many hands as possible were turned to the task of giving a +new colour to the funnel and making some other effective alterations in +her appearance, including a new name on her bows and stern. Thus +renovated, and after a delay of some days, caused by trifling mishaps, +she left the Cattegat behind and steered a course for British waters. + +The original plan had been to set a course for Iceland, and, when north +of the Shetlands, to turn to the southward to Lough Laxford, the agreed +rendezvous with Spender. But the incident at Langeland, which had made +the Danish authorities suspect illegal traffic with Iceland, made a +change of plan imperative. Before leaving Danish waters Crawford tried +to communicate this change to Belfast. But, meantime, information had +reached Belfast of certain measures being taken by the Government, and +Spender, hoping to catch Crawford before he left Kiel, went to Dublin to +telegraph from there. In Dublin he was dismayed to read in the +newspapers that a mysterious vessel called the _Fanny_, said to be +carrying arms for Ulster, had been captured by the Danish authorities in +the Baltic. For several days no further news reached Belfast, where it +was assumed that the whole enterprise had failed; and then a code +message informed the Committee that Crawford was in London. + +Spender at once went over to see him, in order to warn him not to bring +the arms to Ireland for the present. He was to take them back to +Hamburg, or throw them overboard, or sink the _Fanny_ and take to her +boats, according to circumstances. But in London, instead of Crawford, +Spender found the Hamburg skipper and packer, who told him of Crawford's +escape from Langeland with the loss of the ship's papers. Spender, +knowing nothing of Crawford's change of plan, and anxious to convey to +him the latest instructions, went off on a wild-goose chase to the +Highlands of Scotland, where he spent the best part of an unhappy week +watching the waves tumbling in Lough Laxford, and looking as anxiously +as Tristan for the expected ship. + +Meantime the _Fanny_ had crossed the North Sea, and Crawford sent Agnew +ashore at Yarmouth on the 7th of April with orders to hurry to Belfast, +where he was to procure another steamer and bring it to a rendezvous at +Lundy Island, in the Bristol Channel. Crawford himself, having +rechristened the _Fanny_ for the second time (this time the _Doreen_), +proceeded down the English Channel, where he had a rather adventurous +cruise in a gale of wind. He kept close to the French coast, to avoid +any unwelcome attentions in British waters, but on the way had an attack +of malaria, which the Captain thought so grave that, no doubt with the +most humane motives, he declared his intention of putting Crawford +ashore at Dunkirk to save his life, a design which no persuasion short +of Crawford's handling of his revolver in true pirate fashion would make +the Norwegian abandon. + +In the heavy seas of the Channel the _Doreen_ could not make more than +four knots, and she was consequently twenty-four hours late for the +rendezvous with Agnew at Lundy, where she arrived on the 11th of April. +The Bristol Channel seemed to swarm with pilot boats eager to be of +service, whose inquisitive and expert eyes were anything but welcome to +the custodian of Ulster's rifles; and to his highly strung imagination +every movement of every trawler appeared to betoken suspicion. And, +indeed, they were not without excuse for curiosity; for, a foreign +steamer whose course seemed indeterminate, now making for Cardiff and +now for St. Ives, observed at one time north-east of Lundy and a few +hours later south of the island--a tramp, in fact, that was obviously +"loitering" with no ascertainable destination, was enough to keep +telescopes to the eyes of Devon pilots and fisher-folk, and to set their +tongues wagging. But there was no help for it. Crawford could not leave +the rendezvous till Agnew arrived, and was forced to wander round Lundy +and up and down the Bristol Channel for two days and nights, until, at 5 +a.m. on Monday morning, the 13th of April, a signal from a passing +steamer, the _Balmerino_, gave the welcome tidings that Agnew was on +board and was proceeding to sea. + +When the two steamers were sufficiently far from Lundy lighthouse and +other prying eyes to make friendly intercourse safe, Agnew came on board +the _Doreen_, bringing with him another North Irish seaman whom he +introduced to Crawford. This man handed to Crawford a paper he had +brought from Belfast. It was typewritten; it bore no address and no +signature; it was no doubt a duplicate of what Spender had taken to the +Highlands, for its purport, as given by Crawford from memory, was to the +following effect: "Owing to great changes since you left, and altered +circumstances, the Committee think it would be unwise to bring the +cargo here at present, and instruct you to proceed to the Baltic and +cruise there for three months, keeping in touch with the Committee, or +else to store the goods at Hamburg till required." + +The "great changes" referred to were the operations that led to the +Curragh incident, the story of which Crawford now learnt from Agnew. The +presence of the fleet at Lamlash, and of destroyers off Carrickfergus, +was enough to make the Committee deem it an inopportune moment for +Crawford to bring his goods to Belfast Lough. But the latter was hardly +in a condition to appreciate the gravity of the situation, and the +indignation which the missive aroused in him is intelligible. After all +he had come through, the ups and downs, dangers and escapes--far more +varied than have been here recorded--the disappointment at being ordered +back was cruel; and in his eyes such instructions were despicably +pusillanimous. The caution that had prompted his instructors to leave +the order unsigned moved him to contempt, and in his wrath he was +confident that "the Chief at any rate had nothing to do with it." He +told the messenger that he did not know who had sent the paper, and did +not want to know, and instructed him to take it back and inform the +senders that, as it bore no signature, no date, no address, and no +official stamp, he declined to recognise it and refused to obey it; and, +further, that unless he received within six days properly authenticated +instructions for delivering his cargo, he would run his ship ashore at +high water in the County Down, and let the Ulstermen salve as much as +they could when the tide ebbed. + +But Crawford determined to make another effort first to accomplish his +task by less desperate methods. He therefore decided to accompany the +messenger back to Belfast. The _Doreen_, late _Fanny_, was too +foreign-looking to pass unchallenged up Belfast Lough, but he believed +that if the cargo could be transhipped to a vessel known to all watchers +on the North Irish coast, a policy of audacity would have a good chance +of success. The s.s. _Balmerino_, which had brought Agnew and the +messenger to Lundy, was such a vessel; her owner, Mr. Sam Kelly, was an +intimate friend of Crawford's; and if he could see Kelly the matter, he +hoped, might be quickly arranged. The reliance which Crawford placed in +Mr. Sam Kelly was fully justified, for the assistance rendered by this +gentleman was essential to the success of the enterprise. He it was who +freely supplied two steamers, with crews and stevedores, thereby +enabling the last part of this adventurous voyage to be carried through; +and the willingness with which Mr. Kelly risked financial loss, and much +besides, placed Ulster under an obligation to him for which he sought no +recompense. + +Crawford accordingly went off in the _Balmerino_, landed in South Wales +on Tuesday, the 14th of April, and hastened by the quickest route to +Belfast. Agnew took charge of the _Doreen_, with instructions to be at +the Tuskar Light, on the Wexford coast, on the following Friday night, +the 17th, and to return there every night until Crawford rejoined him. A +friend of Crawford's, Mr. Richard Cowser, with whom he had a +conversation on the telephone from Dublin, met him at the railway +station in Belfast and told him that he had a motor waiting to take him +to Craigavon, where the Council was expecting him, and that he would see +Mr. Sam Kelly, the owner of the _Balmerino_, there also. This news made +Crawford very angry. He accused his friend of breach of confidence in +letting anyone know that he was coming to Belfast; he declared he would +have nothing to do with the Council after the unsigned orders he had +received at Lundy; and he besought his friend to take his car to +Craigavon and bring back Kelly, repeating his determination to bring in +his cargo, even if he had to run his ship ashore to do so. Mr. Cowser +replied that this would be very disappointing to Sir Edward Carson, who +was waiting for Crawford at Craigavon, having come from London on +purpose for this Council Meeting. "What!" exclaimed Crawford, "is Sir +Edward there? Why did you not say so at once? Where is your car? Let us +waste no time till I see the Chief and report to him." + +That evening of the 14th of April, at Craigavon, was a memorable one for +all who were present at the meeting. Carson invited Crawford to relate +all he had done, and to explain how he proposed to proceed. The latter +did not mince matters in saying what he thought of the Lundy +instructions, which he again declared angrily he intended to disobey. +When he had finished his narrative and his protestations against what he +considered a cowardly policy--a policy that would deprive Ulster of +succour as sorely needed as Derry needed the _Mountjoy_ to break the +boom--Carson put a few questions to him in regard to the feasibility of +his plans. Crawford explained the advantage it would be to transfer the +cargo from the _Fanny_ to a local steamer, which he felt confident he +could bring into Larne, and after the transhipment he would send the +_Fanny_ straight back to the Baltic, where she could settle her account +with the Danish authorities and recover her papers. + +Some members of the Council were sceptical about the possibility of +transhipping the cargo at sea, but Crawford, who had fully discussed it +with Agnew, believed that if favoured by calm weather it could be done. +When Carson, after hearing all that was to be said on both sides in the +long debate between Fabius and Hotspur, finally supported the latter, +the question was decided. There was no split--there never was in these +deliberations in Ulster; those whose judgment was overruled always +supported loyally the policy decided upon. + +Immediate measures were then taken to give effect to the decision. Kelly +knew of a suitable craft, the s.s. _Clydevalley_, for sale at that +moment in Glasgow, which would be in Belfast next morning with a cargo +of coal. This was providential. A collier familiar to every longshoreman +in Belfast Lough, carrying on her usual trade this week, could hardly be +suspected of carrying rifles when she returned next week ostensibly in +the same line of business. It was settled that Crawford should cross to +Glasgow at once and buy her; the steamer, when bought, was to go from +Belfast to Llandudno, where she would pick up Crawford on the sands, and +proceed to keep the rendezvous with Agnew at the Tuskar Light on Friday; +and, after taking over the _Fanny's_ cargo, would then steam boldly up +Belfast Lough and through the Musgrave Channel to the Belfast docks, +where he undertook to arrive on the Friday week, the 24th of April, the +various proposals which named Larne, Bangor, and Donaghadee as ports of +discharge having all been rejected after full discussion. This last +decision was not approved by Crawford, for he and Spender had long +before this time agreed that Larne harbour was the proper place to land +the arms, both because the large number of country roads leading to it +would facilitate rapid distribution, and because it would be more +difficult for the authorities to interfere with the disembarkation there +than at any of the other ports. + +Before parting from the Council Crawford made it quite clear that during +the remainder of the adventure he would recognise no orders of any kind +unless they bore the autograph signature of Sir Edward Carson. On this +understanding he set out for Glasgow, bought the _Clydevalley_, and went +by train to Llandudno to await her arrival. These affairs had left very +little margin of time to spare. The _Clydevalley_ could not be at +Llandudno before the morning of the 17th, and Agnew would be looking for +her at the Tuskar the same evening. As it actually turned out she only +arrived at the Welsh watering-place late that night, and, after picking +up Crawford, who had spent an anxious day on the beach, arrived off the +Wexford coast at daybreak on Saturday, the 18th. Not a sign of the +_Fanny_ was to be seen all that day, or the following night; and when +the skipper of the _Clydevalley_, who had been on the _Balmerino_ and +was privy to the arrangements with Agnew, gave Crawford reason to think +there might have been a misunderstanding as to the rendezvous, Yarmouth +having been also mentioned in that connection, Crawford was in a +condition almost of desperation. + +It was, indeed, a situation to test the nerves, to say nothing of the +temper, of even the most resolute. It was Sunday, and Crawford had +undertaken to be at Copeland Island, at the mouth of Belfast Lough, on +Friday evening for final landing instructions. The precious cargo, which +had passed safely through so many hazards, had vanished and was he knew +not where. He had heard nothing of the _Fanny_ (or _Doreen_) since he +landed at Tenby five days previously. Had she been captured by a +destroyer from Pembroke, or overhauled, pirate as she was without +papers, by Customs officials from Rosslare? Or had Agnew mistaken his +instructions, and risked all the dangers of the English Channel in a +fruitless voyage to Yarmouth, where, even if still undetected, the +_Fanny_ would be too far away to reach Copeland by Friday, unless Agnew +could be communicated with at once? + +There was only one way in which such communication could be managed, and +that way Crawford now took with characteristic promptitude and energy. +The _Clydevalley_ crossed the Irish Sea to Fishguard, where he took +train on Sunday night to London and Yarmouth, having first made +arrangements with the skipper for keeping in touch. But there was no +trace of the _Fanny_ at Yarmouth, and no word from Agnew at the Post +Office. There appeared to be no solution of the problem, and every +precious hour that slipped away made ultimate failure more menacing. But +at two o'clock the outlook entirely changed. A second visit to the Post +Office was rewarded by a telegram in code from Agnew saying all was +well, and that he would be at Holyhead to pick up Crawford on Tuesday +evening. There was just time to catch a London train that arrived in +time for the Irish mail from Euston. On Tuesday morning Crawford was +pacing the breakwater at Holyhead, and a few hours later he was +discussing matters with Agnew in the little cabin of the _Clydevalley_. + +The latter had amply made up for the loss of time caused by some +misunderstanding as to the rendezvous at the Tuskar, for he was able to +show Crawford, to his intense delight, that the cargo had all been +safely and successfully transferred to the hold of the _Clydevalley_ in +a bay on the Welsh coast, mainly at night. Some sixteen transport +labourers from Belfast, willing Ulster hands, had shifted the stuff in +less than half the time taken by Germans at Langeland over the same job. +There was, therefore, nothing more to be done except to steam leisurely +to Copeland, for which there was ample time before Friday evening. The +_Fanny_ had departed to an appointed rendezvous on the Baltic coast of +Denmark. + +It was now the turn of the _Clydevalley_ to yield up her obscure +identity, and to assume an historic name appropriate to the adventure +she was bringing to a triumphant climax--a name of good omen in Ulster +ears. Strips of canvas, 6 feet long, were cut and painted with white +letters on a black ground, and affixed to bows and stern, so that the +men waiting at Copeland might hail the arrival of the _Mountjoy II_. + +Off Copeland Island a small vessel was waiting, which Agnew recognised +as a tender belonging to Messrs. Workman & Clark. The men on board, as +soon as they could make out the name of the approaching vessel, +understood at once, and raised a ringing cheer. Two of them were seen +gesticulating and hailing the _Mountjoy_. Crawford, suspecting fresh +orders to retreat, paid no attention, and told Agnew to hold on his +course; and even when presently he was able to recognise Mr. Cowser and +Mr. Dawson Bates on board the tender, and to hear them shouting that +they had important instructions for him, he still refused to let them +come on board. "If the orders are not signed by Sir Edward Carson," he +shouted back, "you can take them back to where they came from." But the +orders they brought had been signed by the leader, a special messenger +having been sent to London to obtain his signature, and the change of +plan they indicated was, in fact, just what Crawford desired. The bulk +of the arms were to be landed at Larne, the port he had always favoured, +and lesser quantities were to be taken to Bangor and Donaghadee. + +It was 10.30 that night, the 24th of April 1914, when the _Mountjoy II_ +steamed alongside the landing-stage at Larne, where she had been eagerly +awaited for a couple of hours. The voyage of adventure was over. Fred +Crawford, with the able and zealous help of Andrew Agnew, had +accomplished the difficult and dangerous task he had undertaken, and a +service had been rendered to Ulster not unworthy to rank beside the +breaking of the boom across the Foyle by the first and more renowned +_Mountjoy_. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[87] _Annual Register_, 1914, p. 1. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +ON THE BRINK OF CIVIL WAR + + +The arrangements that had been made for the landing and disposal of the +arms when they arrived in port were the work of an extremely efficient +and complete organisation. In the previous summer Captain Spender, it +will be remembered, had been appointed to a position on Sir George +Richardson's staff which included in its duties that of the organisation +of transport. A railway board, a supply board, and a transport board had +been formed, on which leading business men willingly served; every +U.V.F. unit had its horse transport, and in addition a special motor +corps, organised in squadrons, and a special corps of motor-lorries were +formed. + +More than half the owners of motor-cars in Ulster placed their cars at +the disposal of the motor corps, to be used as and when required. The +corps was organised in sections of four cars each, and in squadrons of +seventeen cars each, with motor cyclist despatch-riders; a signalling +corps of despatch-riders and signallers completed the organisation. The +lively interest aroused by the practice and displays of the +last-mentioned corps did much to promote the high standard of +proficiency attained by its "flag-waggers," many of whom were women and +girls. In particular the signalling-station at Bangor gained a +reputation which attracted many English sympathisers with Ulster to pay +it a visit when they came to Belfast for the great Unionist +demonstrations. + +The despatch-riders on motor-cycles made the Ulster Council independent +of the Post Office, which for very good reasons they used as little as +possible. Post-houses were opened at all the most important centres in +Ulster, between which messages were transmitted by despatch-rider or +signal according to the nature of the intervening country. Along the +coast of Down and Antrim the organisation of signals was complete and +effective. The usefulness of the despatch-riders' corps was fully tested +and proved during the Curragh Incident, when news of all that was taking +place at the Curragh was received by this means two or three times a day +at the Old Town Hall in Belfast, where there was much information of +what was going on that was unknown at the Irish Office in London. + +All this organisation was at the disposal of the leaders for handling +the arms brought in the hold of the _Mountjoy II_. The perfection of the +arrangements for the immediate distribution of the rifles and ammunition +among the loyalist population, and the almost miraculous precision with +which they were carried out on that memorable Friday night, extorted the +admiration even of the most inveterate political enemies of Ulster. The +smoothness with which the machinery of organisation worked was only +possible on account of the hearty willingness of all the workers, +combined with the discipline to which they gladly submitted themselves. + +The whole U.V.F. was warned for a trial mobilisation on the evening of +the 24th of April, and the owners of all motor-cars and lorries were +requested to co-operate. Very few either of the Volunteers or the motor +owners knew that anything more than manoeuvres by night for practice +purposes was to take place. All motors from certain specified districts +were ordered to be at Larne by 8 o'clock in the evening; from other +districts the vehicles were to assemble at Bangor and Donaghadee +respectively, at a later hour. All the roads leading to these ports were +patrolled by volunteers, and at every cross-roads over the greater part +of nine counties men of the local battalions were stationed to give +directions to motor-drivers who might not be familiar with the roads. At +certain points these men were provided with reserve supplies of petrol, +and with repairing tools that might be needed in case of breakdown. It +is a remarkable testimony to the zeal of these men for the cause that, +although none of them knew he was taking part in an exciting adventure, +not one, so far as is known, left his post throughout a cold and wet +night, having received orders not to go home till daybreak. And these +were men, it must be remembered, who before putting on the felt hats, +puttees, and bandoliers which constituted their uniform, had already +done a full day's work, and were not to receive a sixpence for their +night's job. + +At the three ports of discharge large forces of volunteers were +concentrated. Sir George Richardson, G.O.C. in C., remained in Belfast +through the night, being kept fully and constantly informed of the +progress of events by signal and motor-cyclist despatch-riders. Captain +James Craig was in charge of the operations at Bangor; at Larne General +Sir William Adair was in command, with Captain Spender as Staff officer. + +The attention of the Customs authorities in Belfast was diverted by a +clever stratagem. A tramp steamer was brought up the Musgrave Channel +after dark, her conduct being as furtive and suspicious as it was +possible to make it appear. At the same time a large wagon was brought +to the docks as if awaiting a load. The skipper of the tramp took an +unconscionable time, by skilful blundering, in bringing his craft to her +moorings. The suspicions of the authorities were successfully aroused; +but every possible hindrance was put in their way when they began to +investigate. The hour was too late: could they not wait till daylight? +No? Well, then, what was their authority? When that was settled, it +appeared that the skipper had mislaid his keys and could not produce the +ship's papers--and so on. By these devices the belief of the officers +that they had caught the offender they were after was increasingly +confirmed every minute, while several hours passed before they were +allowed to realise that they had discovered a mare's-nest. For when at +last they "would stand no more nonsense," and had the hatches opened and +the papers produced, the latter were quite in order, and the +cargo--which they wasted a little additional time in turning +over--contained nothing but coal. + +Meantime the real business was proceeding twenty miles away. All +communications by wire from the three ports were blocked by "earthing" +the wires, so as to cause short circuit. The police and coast-guards +were "peacefully picketed," as trade unionists would call it, in their +various barracks--they were shut in and strongly guarded. No conflict +took place anywhere between the authorities and the volunteers, and the +only casualty of any kind was the unfortunate death of one +coast-guardsman from heart disease at Donaghadee. + +At Larne, where much the largest portion of the _Mountjoy's_ cargo was +landed, a triple cordon of Volunteers surrounded the town and harbour, +and no one without a pass was allowed through. The motors arrived with a +punctuality that was wonderful, considering that many of them had come +from long distances. As the drivers arrived near the town and found +themselves in an apparently endless procession of similar vehicles, +their astonishment and excitement became intense. Only when close to the +harbour did they learn what they were there for, and received +instructions how to proceed. They had more than two hours to wait in +drizzling rain before the _Mountjoy_ appeared round the point of +Islandmagee, although her approach had been made known to Spender by +signal at dusk. There were about five hundred motor vehicles assembled +at Larne alone, and such an invasion of flaring head-lights gave the +inhabitants of the little town unwonted excitement. Practically all the +able-bodied men of the place were either on duty as Volunteers or were +willing workers in the landing of the arms. The women stood at their +doors and gave encouraging greeting to the drivers; many of them ran +improvised canteens, which supplied the workers with welcome +refreshments during the night. + +There was a not unnatural tendency at first on the part of some of the +motor-drivers to look upon the event more in the light of a meet of +hounds than of the gravest possible business, and to hang about +discussing the adventure with the other "sportsmen." But the use of +vigorous language brought them back to recognition of the seriousness of +the work before them, and the discharge of the cargo proceeded hour +after hour with the utmost rapidity and with the regularity of a +well-oiled machine. The cars drew up beside the _Mountjoy_ in an endless +_queue_; each received its quota of bales according to its carrying +capacity, and was despatched on its homeward journey without a moment's +delay. + +The wisdom of Crawford's system of packing was fully vindicated. There +was no confusion, no waiting to bring ammunition from one part of the +ship's hold to match with rifles brought from another, and bayonets from +a third. The packages, as they were carried from the steamer or the +cranes, were counted by checking clerks, and their destination noted as +each car received its load. But even the large number of vehicles +available would have been insufficient for the purpose on hand if each +had been limited to a single load; dumps had therefore been formed at a +number of selected places in the surrounding districts, where the arms +were temporarily deposited so as to allow the cars to return and perform +the same duty several times during the night. + +While the _Mountjoy_ was discharging the Larne consignment on to the +quay, she was at the same time transhipping a smaller quantity into a +motor-boat, moored against her side, which when laden hurried off to +Donaghadee; and she left Larne at 5 in the morning to discharge the last +portion of her cargo at Bangor, which was successfully accomplished in +broad daylight after her arrival there about 7.30. + +Crawford refused to leave the ship at either Larne or Bangor, feeling +himself bound in honour to remain with the crew until they were safe +from arrest by the naval authorities. It was well known in Belfast that +a look-out was being kept for the _Fanny_, which had figured in the +Press as "the mystery ship" ever since the affair at Langeland, and had +several times been reported to have been viewed at all sorts of odd +places on the map, from the Orkneys to Tory Island. Just as Agnew was +casting off from Bangor, when the last bale of arms had gone ashore, a +message from U.V.F. headquarters informed him that a thirty-knot cruiser +was out looking for the _Fanny_. To mislead the coast-guards on shore a +course was immediately set for the Clyde--the very quarter from which a +cruiser coming from Lamlash was to be expected--and when some way out to +sea Crawford cut the cords holding the canvas sheets that bore the name +of the _Mountjoy_, so that within five minutes the filibustering pirate +had again become the staid old collier _Clydevalley_, which for months +past had carried her regular weekly cargo of coal from Scotland to +Belfast. As before at Langeland, so now at Copeland, fog providentially +covered retreat, and through it the _Clydevalley_ made her way +undetected down the Irish Sea. At daybreak next morning Crawford landed +at Rosslare; and Agnew then proceeded along the French and Danish coasts +to the Baltic to the rendezvous with the _Fanny_, in order to bring back +the Ulstermen members of her crew, after which "the mystery ship" was +finally disposed of at Hamburg. + +Sir Edward Carson and Lord Londonderry were both in London on the 24th +of April. At an early hour next morning a telegram was delivered to each +of them, containing the single word "Lion." It was a code message +signifying that the landing of the arms had been carried out without a +hitch. Before long special editions of the newspapers proclaimed the +news to all the world, and as fresh details appeared in every successive +issue during the day the public excitement grew in intensity. Wherever +two or three Unionists were gathered together exultation was the +prevailing mood, and eagerness to send congratulations to friends in +Ulster. + +Soon after breakfast a visitor to Sir Edward Carson found a motor +brougham standing at his door, and on being admitted was told that "Lord +Roberts is with Sir Edward." The great little Field-Marshal, on learning +the news, had lost not a moment in coming to offer his congratulations +to the Ulster leader. "Magnificent!" he exclaimed, on entering the room +and holding out his hand, "magnificent! nothing could have been better +done; it was a piece of organisation that any army in Europe might be +proud of." + +But it was not to be expected that the Government and its supporters +would relish the news. The Radical Press, of course, rang all the +changes of angry vituperation, especially those papers which had been +prominent in ridiculing "Ulster bluff" and "King Carson's wooden guns"; +and they now speculated as to whether Carson could be "convicted of +complicity" in what Mr. Asquith in the House of Commons described as +"this grave and unprecedented outrage." Carson soon set that question at +rest by quietly rising in his place in the House and saying that he took +full responsibility for everything that had been done. The Prime +Minister, amid the frenzied cheers of his followers, assured the House +that "His Majesty's Government will take, without delay, appropriate +steps to vindicate the authority of the law." For a short time there was +some curiosity as to what the appropriate steps would be. None, however, +of any sort were taken; the Government contented itself with sending a +few destroyers to patrol for a short time the coasts of Antrim and Down, +where they were saluted by the Ulster Signalling Stations, and their +officers hospitably entertained on shore by loyalist residents. + +On the 28th of April a further debate on the Curragh Incident took place +in the House of Commons, which was a curious example of the rapid +changes of mood that characterise that Assembly. Most of the speeches +both from the front and back benches were, if possible, even more +bitter, angry, and defiant than usual. But at the close of one of the +bitterest of them all Mr. Churchill read a typewritten passage that was +recognised as a tiny olive-branch held out to Ulster. Carson responded +next day in a conciliatory tone, and the Prime Minister was thought to +suggest a renewal of negotiations in private. For some time nothing came +of this hint; but on the 12th of May Mr. Asquith announced that the +third reading of the Home Rule Bill (for the third successive year, as +required by the Parliament Act before being presented for the signature +of the King) would be taken before Whitsuntide, but that the Government +intended to make another attempt to appease Ulster by introducing "an +amending proposal, in the hope that a settlement by agreement may be +arrived at"; and that the two Bills--the Home Rule Bill and the Bill to +amend it--might become law practically at the same time. But he gave no +hint as to what the "amending proposal" was to be, and the reception of +the announcement by the Opposition did not seem to presage agreement. + +Mr. Bonar Law insisted that the House of Commons ought to be told what +the Amending Bill would propose, before it was asked finally to pass the +Home Rule Bill. But the real fact was, as every member of the House of +Commons fully realised, that Mr. Asquith was not a free agent in this +matter. The Nationalists were not at all pleased at the attempts already +made, trivial as they were, to satisfy Ulster, and Mr. Redmond protested +against the promise of an Amending Bill of any kind. Mr. Asquith could +make no proposal sufficient to allay the hostility of Ulster that would +not alienate the Nationalists, whose support was essential to the +continuance of his Government in office. + +On the same day as this debate in Parliament the result of a by-election +at Grimsby was announced in which the Unionist candidate retained the +seat; a week later the Unionists won a seat in Derbyshire; and two days +afterwards crowned these successes with a resounding victory at Ipswich. +The last-mentioned contest was considered so important that Mr. Lloyd +George and Sir Edward Carson went down to speak the evening before the +poll for their respective sides. Mr. Lloyd George, the Chancellor of the +Exchequer, made his appeal to the cupidity of the constituency, which +was informed that it would gain ÂŁ15,000 a year from his new Budget, in +addition to large sums, of which he gave the figure, for old age +pensions and under the Government's Health Insurance Act.[88] Sir Edward +Carson laid stress on Ulster's determination to resist Home Rule by +force. The Unionist candidate won the seat next day in this essentially +working-class constituency by a substantial majority, although his +Liberal opponent, Mr. Masterman, was a Cabinet Minister trying for the +second time to return to Parliament. Out of seven elections since the +beginning of the session the Government had lost four. + +It happened that the two latest new members took their seats on the 25th +of May, on which date the Home Rule Bill was passed by the House of +Commons on third reading for the last time. The occasion was celebrated +by the Nationalists, not unnaturally, by a great demonstration of +triumph, both in the House itself and outside in Palace Yard. Men on the +other side reflected that the tragedy of civil war had been brought one +stage nearer. + +The reply of Ulster to the passing of the Bill was a series of reviews +of the U.V.F. during the Whitsuntide recess. Carson, Londonderry, Craig, +and most of the other Ulster members attended these parades, which +excited intense enthusiasm through the country, more especially as the +arms brought by the _Mountjoy_ were now seen for the first time in the +hands of the Volunteers. Several battalions were presented with Colours +which had been provided by Lady Londonderry, Lady Massereene, Mrs. +Craig, and other local ladies, and the ceremony included the dedication +of these Colours by the Bishop of Down and the Moderator of the +Presbyterian Church. Many visitors from England witnessed these +displays, and among them were several deputations of Liberal and Labour +working men, who reported on their return that what they had seen had +converted them to sympathy with Ulster.[89] + +After the recess the promised Amending Bill was introduced in the House +of Lords on the 23rd of June by the Marquis of Crewe, who explained that +it embodied Mr. Asquith's proposals of the 9th of March, and that he +invited amendments. Lord Lansdowne at once declared that these +proposals, which had been rejected as inadequate three months ago, were +doubly insufficient now. But the invitation to amend the Bill was +accepted, Lord Londonderry asking the pertinent question whether the +Government would tell Mr. Redmond that they would insist on acceptance +of any amendments made in response to Lord Crewe's invitation--a +question to which no answer was forthcoming. Lord Milner, in the course +of the debate, said the Bill would have to be entirely remodelled, and +he laid stress on the point that if Ulster were coerced to join the rest +of Ireland it would make a united Ireland for ever impossible, and that +the employment of the Army and Navy for the purpose of coercion would +give a shock to the Empire which it would not long survive; to which +Lord Roberts added that such a policy would mean the utter destruction +of the Army, as he had warned the Prime Minister before the incident at +the Curragh. + +On the 8th of July the Bill was amended by substituting the permanent +exclusion of the whole province of Ulster--which Mr. Balfour had named +"the clean cut"--for the proposed county option with a time limit; and +several other alterations of minor importance were also made. The Bill +as amended passed the third reading on the 14th, when Lord Lansdowne +predicted that, whatever might be the fate of the measure and of the +Home Rule Bill which it modified, the one thing certain was that the +idea of coercing Ulster was dead. + +In Ulster itself, meanwhile, the people were bent on making Lord +Lansdowne's certainty doubly sure. Carson went over for the Boyne +celebration on the 12th of July. The frequency of his visits did nothing +to damp the ardour with which his arrival was always hailed by his +followers. The same wonderful scenes, whether at Larne or at the Belfast +docks, were repeated time after time without appearing to grow stale by +repetition. They gave colour to the Radical jeer at "King Carson," for +no royal personage could have been given a more regal reception than was +accorded to "Sir Edward" (as everybody affectionately called him in +Belfast) half a dozen times within a few months. + +This occasion, when he arrived on the 10th by the Liverpool steamer, +accompanied by Mr. Walter Long, was no exception. His route had been +announced in the Press. Countless Union Jacks were displayed in every +village along both shores of the Lough. Every vessel at anchor, +including the gigantic White Star Liner _Britannic_, was dressed; every +fog-horn bellowed a welcome; the multitude of men at work in the great +ship-yards crowded to places commanding a view of the incoming packet, +and waved handkerchiefs and raised cheers for Sir Edward; fellow +passengers jostled each other to get sight of him as he went down the +gangway and to give him a parting cheer from the deck; the dock sheds +were packed with people, many of them bare-headed and bare-footed +women, who pressed close in the hope of touching his hand, or hearing +one of his kindly and humorous greetings. It was the same in the streets +all the way from the docks to the centre of the city, and out through +the working-class district of Ballymacarret to the country beyond, and +in every hamlet on the road to Newtownards and Mount Stewart--people +congregating to give him a cheer as he passed in Lord Londonderry's +motor-car, or pausing in their work on the land to wave a greeting from +fields bordering the road. + +Radical newspapers in England believed--or at any rate tried to make +their readers believe--that the "Northcliffe Press," particularly _The +Times_ and _Daily Mail_, gave an exaggerated account of these +extraordinary demonstrations of welcome to Carson, and of the +impressiveness of the great meetings which he addressed. But the +accounts in Lord Northcliffe's papers did not differ materially from +those in other journals like _The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Express, +The Standard, The Morning Post, The Observer, The Scotsman_, and _The +Spectator_. There was no exaggeration. The special correspondents gave +faithful accounts of what they saw and heard, and no more. Editorial +support was a different matter. Lord Northcliffe's papers were unfailing +in their support of the Ulster cause, as were many other great British +journals; and even when at a later period Lord Northcliffe's attitude on +the general question of Irish government underwent a change that was +profoundly disappointing to Ulstermen, his papers never countenanced the +idea of applying coercion to Ulster. In the years 1911 to 1914 _The +Times_ remained true to the tradition started by John Walter, who, +himself a Liberal, went personally to Belfast in 1886 to inform himself +on the question, then for the first time raised by Gladstone; and, +having done so, supported the loyalist cause in Ireland till his death. +A series of weighty articles in 1913 and 1914 approved and encouraged +the resistance threatened by Ulster to Home Rule, and justified the +measures taken in preparation for it. Whatever may have been the reason +for a different attitude at a later date, Ulster owed a debt of +gratitude to _The Times_ in those troubled years. + +The long-expected crisis appeared to be very close when Carson arrived +in Belfast on the 10th of July, 1914. He had come to attend a meeting of +the Ulster Unionist Council--sitting for the first time as the +Provisional Government. Craig communicated to the Press the previous day +the Preamble and some of the articles of the Constitution of the +Provisional Government, hitherto kept strictly secret, one article being +that the administration would be taken over "in trust for the +Constitution of the United Kingdom," and that "upon the restoration of +direct Imperial Government, the Provisional Government shall cease to +exist." + +At this session on the 10th, the proceedings of which were private, +Carson explained the extreme gravity of the situation now reached. The +Home Rule Bill would become law probably in a few weeks. It was pretty +certain that the Nationalists would not permit the Government to accept +the Amending Bill in the altered form in which it had left the Upper +House. In that case, nothing remained for them in Ulster but to carry +out the policy they had resolved upon long ago, and to make good the +Covenant. After his forty minutes' speech a quiet and business-like +discussion followed. Plenary authority to take any action necessary in +emergency was conferred unanimously on the executive. The course to be +followed in assuming the administration was explained and agreed to, and +when they separated all the members felt that the crisis for which they +had been preparing so long had at last come upon them. There was no +flinching. + +Next day there was a parade of 3,000 U.V.F. at Larne. A distinguished +American who was present said after the march past, "You could destroy +these Volunteers, but you could not conquer them." Carson spoke with +exceptional solemnity to the men, telling them candidly that, "unless +something happens the evidence of which is not visible at present," he +could discern nothing but darkness ahead, and no hope of peace. He ended +by exhorting his followers throughout Ulster to preserve their +self-control and to "commit no act against any individual or against any +man's property which would sully the great name you have already won." + +As usual, his influence was powerful enough to prevent disturbance. The +Government had made extensive military preparations to maintain order on +the 12th of July; but, as a well-known "character" in Belfast expressed +it, "Sir Edward was worth twenty battalions in keeping order." The +anniversary was celebrated everywhere by enormous masses of men in a +state of tense excitement. Lord Londonderry addressed an immense +gathering at Enniskillen; seventy thousand Orangemen marched from +Belfast to Drumbeg to hear Carson, who sounded the same warning note as +at Larne two days before. But nowhere throughout the Province was a +single occurrence reported that called for action by the police. + +When the Ulster leaders returned to London on the 14th they were met by +reports of differences in the Cabinet over the Amending Bill, which was +to be brought before the House of Commons on the following Monday. +Nationalist pressure no doubt dictated the deletion of the amendments +made by the Peers and the restoration of the Bill to its original shape. +A minority of the Cabinet was said to be opposed to this course. Whether +that was true or false, the Prime Minister must by this time have +realised that he had allowed the country to drift to the brink of civil +war, and that some genuine effort must be made to arrive at a peaceable +solution. + +Accordingly on Monday, the 20th, instead of introducing the Amending +Bill, Mr. Asquith announced in the House of Commons that His Majesty the +King, "in view of the grave situation which has arisen, has thought it +right to summon representatives of parties, both British and Irish, to a +conference at Buckingham Palace, with the object of discussing +outstanding issues in relation to the problem of Irish Government." The +Prime Minister added that at the King's suggestion the Speaker, Mr. +James Lowther, would preside over the Conference, which would begin its +proceedings the following day. + +The Liberals, the British Unionists, the Nationalists, and the Ulstermen +were respectively represented at the Buckingham Palace Conference by Mr. +Asquith and Mr. Lloyd George, Lord Lansdowne and Mr. Bonar Law, Mr. +Redmond and Mr. Dillon, Sir Edward Carson and Captain James Craig. The +King opened the Conference in person on the 21st with a speech +recognising the extreme gravity of the situation, and making an +impressive appeal for a peaceful settlement of the question at issue. +His Majesty then withdrew. The Conference deliberated for four days, but +were unable to agree as to what area in Ulster should be excluded from +the jurisdiction of the Parliament in Dublin. On the 24th Mr. Asquith +announced the breakdown of the Conference, and said that in consequence +the Amending Bill would be introduced in the House of Commons on +Thursday, the 30th of July. + +Here was the old deadlock. The last glimmer of hope that civil war might +be averted seemed to be extinguished. Only ten days had elapsed since +Carson had gloomily predicted at Larne that peace was impossible "unless +something happens, the evidence of which is not visible at present." But +that "something" did happen--though it was something infinitely more +dreadful, infinitely more devastating in its consequences, even though +less dishonouring to the nation, than the alternative from which it +saved us. Balanced, as it seemed, on the brink of civil war, Great +Britain and Ireland together toppled over on the other side into the +maelstrom of world-wide war. + +On the 30th of July, when the Amending Bill was to be discussed, the +Prime Minister said that, with the concurrence of Mr. Bonar Law and Sir +Edward Carson, it would be indefinitely postponed, in order that the +country at this grave crisis in the history of the world "should present +a united front and be able to speak and act with the authority of an +undivided nation." To achieve this, all domestic quarrels must be laid +aside, and he promised that "no business of a controversial character" +would be undertaken. + +Thus it happened that the Amending Bill was never seen by the House of +Commons. Four days later the United Kingdom was at war with the greatest +military Empire in the world. The opportunity had come for Ulster to +prove whether her cherished loyalty was a reality or a sham. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[88] _Annual Register_, 1914, p. 110. + +[89] _Annual Register_, 1914, p. 114. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +ULSTER IN THE WAR + + +More than a year before the outbreak of the Great War a writer in _The +Morning Post_, describing the Ulster Volunteers who were then beginning +to attract attention in England, used language which was more accurately +prophetic than he can have realised in May 1913: + + "What these men have been preparing for in Ulster," he wrote, "may + be of value as a military asset in time of national emergency. I + have seen the men at drill, I have seen them on parade, and experts + assure me that in the matter of discipline, physique, and all + things which go to the making of a military force they are worthy + to rank with our regular soldiers. It is an open secret that, once + assured of the maintenance unimpaired of the Union between Great + Britain and Ireland under the Imperial Parliament alone, a vast + proportion of the citizen army of Ulster would cheerfully hold + itself at the disposal of the Imperial Government and volunteer for + service either at home or abroad!"[90] + +The only error in the prediction was that the writer underestimated the +sacrifice Ulster would be willing to make for the Empire. When the +testing time came fifteen months after this appreciation was published +all hope of unimpaired maintenance of the Union had to be sorrowfully +given up, and only those who were in a position to comprehend, with +sympathy, the depth and intensity of the feeling in Ulster on the +subject could realise all that this meant to the people there. Yet, all +the same, their "citizen army" did not hesitate to "hold itself at the +disposal of the Imperial Government, and volunteer for service at home +or abroad." + +In August 1914 the U.V.F., of 100.000 men, was without question the +most efficient force of infantry in the United Kingdom outside the +Regular Army. The medical comb did not seriously thin its ranks; and +although the age test considerably reduced its number, it still left a +body of fine material for the British Army. Some of the best of its +officers, like Captain Arthur O'Neill, M.P., of the Life Guards, and +Lord Castlereagh of the Blues, had to leave the U.V.F. to rejoin the +regiments to which they belonged, or to take up staff appointments at +the front. In spite of such losses there was a strong desire in the +force, which was shared by the political leaders, that it should be kept +intact as far as possible and form a distinct unit for active service, +and efforts were at once made to get the War Office to arrange for this +to be done. Pressure of work at the War Office, and Lord Kitchener's +aversion from anything that he thought savoured of political +considerations in the organisation of the Army, imposed a delay of +several weeks before this was satisfactorily arranged; and the +consequence was that in the first few weeks of the war a large number of +the keenest young men in Ulster enlisted in various regiments before it +was known that an Ulster Division was to be formed out of the U.V.F. + +It was the beginning of September before Carson was in a position to go +to Belfast to announce that such an arrangement had been made with Lord +Kitchener. And when he went he had also the painful duty of telling the +people of Ulster that the Government was going to give them the meanest +recompense for the promptitude with which they had thrown aside all +party purposes in order to assist the Empire. + +When war broke out a "party truce" had been proclaimed. The Unionist +leaders promised their support to the Government in carrying on the war, +and Mr. Asquith pledged the Government to drop all controversial +legislation. The consideration of the Amending Bill had been shelved by +agreement, Mr. Asquith stating that the postponement "must be without +prejudice to the domestic and political position of any party." On this +understanding the Unionist Party supported, almost without so much as a +word of criticism, all the emergency measures proposed by the +Government. Yet on the 10th of August Mr. Asquith astonished the +Unionists by announcing that the promise to take no controversial +business was not to prevent him advising the King to sign the Home Rule +Bill, which had been hung up in the House of Lords by the introduction +of the Amending Bill, and had never been either rejected or passed by +that House. + +Mr. Balfour immediately protested against this conduct as a breach of +faith; but Mr. Redmond's speech on that occasion contained the +explanation of the Government's conduct. The Nationalist leader gave a +strong hint that any help in the war from the southern provinces of +Ireland would depend on whether or not the Home Rule Bill was to become +law at once. Although the personal loyalty of Mr. Redmond was beyond +question, and although he was no doubt sincere when he subsequently +denied that his speech was so intended, it was in reality an application +of the old maxim that England's difficulty is Ireland's opportunity. In +any case, the Cabinet knew that, however unjustly Ulster might be +treated, she could be relied upon to do everything in her power to +further the successful prosecution of the war, and they cynically came +to the conclusion that the best thing to do was to placate those whose +loyalty was less assured. + +This was the unpleasant tale that Sir Edward Carson had to unfold to the +Ulster Unionist Council on the 3rd of September. After explaining how +and why he had consented to the indefinite postponement of the Amending +Bill, he continued: + + "And so, without any condition of any kind, we agreed that the Bill + should be postponed without prejudice to the position of either + party. England's difficulty is not Ulster's opportunity. England's + difficulty is our difficulty; and England's sorrows have always + been, and always will be, our sorrows. I have seen it stated that + the Germans thought they had hit on an opportune moment, owing to + our domestic difficulties, to make their bullying demand against + our country. They little understood for what we were fighting. We + were not fighting to get away from England; we were fighting to + stay with England, and the Power that attempted to lay a hand upon + England, whatever might be our domestic quarrels, would at once + bring us together--as it has brought us together--as one man." + +In order to avoid controversy at such a time, Carson declared he would +say nothing about their opponents. He insisted that, however unworthily +the Government might act in a great national emergency, Ulstermen must +distinguish between the Prime Minister as a party leader and the Prime +Minister as the representative of the whole nation. Their duty was to +"think not of him or his party, but of our country," and they must show +that "we do not seek to purchase terms by selling our patriotism." He +then referred to the pride they all felt in the U.V.F.; how he had +"watched them grow from infancy," through self-sacrificing toil to their +present high efficiency, with the purpose of "allowing us to be put into +no degraded position in the United Kingdom." But under the altered +conditions their duty was clear: + + "Our country and our Empire are in danger. And under these + circumstances, knowing that the very basis of our political faith + is our belief in the greatness of the United Kingdom and of the + Empire, I say to our Volunteers without hesitation, go and help to + save your country. Go and win honour for Ulster and for Ireland. To + every man that goes, or has gone, and not to them only, but to + every Irishman, you and I say, from the bottom of our hearts, 'God + bless you and bring you home safe and victorious.'" + +The arrangements with the War Office for forming a Division from the +Ulster Volunteers were then explained, which would enable the men "to go +as old comrades accustomed to do their military training together." +Carson touched lightly on fears that had been expressed lest political +advantage should be taken by the Government or by the Nationalists of +the conversion of the U.V.F. into a Division of the British Army, which +would leave Ulster defenceless. "We are quite strong enough," he said, +"to take care of ourselves, and so I say to men, so far as they have +confidence and trust in me, that I advise them to go and do their duty +to the country, and we will take care of politics hereafter." He +concluded by moving a resolution, which was unanimously carried by the +Council, urging "all Loyalists who owe allegiance to our cause" to join +the Army at once if qualified for military service. + +From beginning to end of this splendidly patriotic oration no allusion +was made to the Nationalist attitude to the war. Few people in Ulster +had any belief that the spots on the leopard were going to disappear, +even when the Home Rule Bill had been placed on the Statute-book. The +"difficulty" and the "opportunity" would continue in their old +relations. People in Belfast, as elsewhere, did justice to the patriotic +tone of Mr. Redmond's speech in the House of Commons on the 3rd of +August, which made so deep an impression in England; but they believed +him mistaken in attributing to "the democracy of Ireland" a complete +change of sentiment towards England, and their scepticism was more than +justified by subsequent events. + +But they also scrutinised more carefully than Englishmen the precise +words used by the Nationalist leader. Englishmen, both in the House of +Commons and in the country, were carried off their feet in an ecstasy of +joy and wonder at Mr. Redmond's confident offer of loyal help from +Ireland to the Empire in the mighty world conflict. Ireland was to be +"the one bright spot." Ulstermen, on the other hand, did not fail to +observe that the offer was limited to service at home. "I say to the +Government," said Mr. Redmond, "that they may to-morrow withdraw every +one of their troops from Ireland. I say that the coast of Ireland will +be defended from foreign invasion by her armed sons, and for this +purpose armed Nationalist Catholics in the South will be only too glad +to join arms with the armed Protestant Ulstermen in the North." + +These sentences were rapturously applauded in the House of Commons. When +they were read in Ulster the shrewd men of the North asked what danger +threatened the "coast of Ireland"; and whether, supposing there were a +danger, the British Navy would not be a surer defence than the "armed +sons" of Ireland whether from South or North. It was not on the coast +of Ireland but the coast of Flanders that men were needed, and it was +thither that the "armed Protestant Ulstermen" were preparing to go in +thousands. They would not be behind the Catholics of the South in the +spirit of comradeship invoked by Mr. Redmond if they were to stand +shoulder to shoulder under the fire of Prussian batteries; but they +could not wax enthusiastic over the suggestion that, while they went to +France, Mr. Redmond's Nationalist Volunteers should be trained and armed +by the Government to defend the Irish coast--and possibly, later, to +impose their will upon Ulster. + +The organisation and the training of the Ulster Division forms no part +of the present narrative, but it must be stated that after Carson's +speech on the 3rd of September, recruiting went on uninterruptedly and +rapidly, and the whole energies of the local leaders and of the rank and +file were thrown into the work of preparation. Captain James Craig, +promoted to be Lieutenant-Colonel, was appointed Q.M.G. of the Division; +but the arduous duties of this post, in which he tried to do the work of +half a dozen men, brought about a complete breakdown of health some +months later, with the result that, to his deep disappointment, he was +forbidden to go with the Division to France. No one displayed a finer +spirit than his brother, Mr. Charles Craig, M.P. for South Antrim. He +had never done any soldiering, as his brother had in South Africa, and +he was over military age in 1914; but he did not allow either his age, +his military inexperience, or his membership of the House of Commons to +serve as excuse for separating himself from the men with whom he had +learnt the elements of drill in the U.V.F. He obtained a commission as +Captain in the Ulster Division, and went with it to France, where he was +wounded and taken prisoner in the great engagement at Thiepval in the +battle of the Somme, and had to endure all the rigours of captivity in +Germany till the end of the war. There was afterwards not a little +pungent comment among his friends on the fact that, when honours were +descending in showers on the heads of the just and the unjust alike, a +full share of which reached members of Parliament, sometimes for no very +conspicuous merit, no recognition of any kind was awarded to this +gallant Ulster officer, who had set so fine an example and +unostentatiously done so much more than his duty. + +The Government's act of treachery in regard to "controversial business" +was consummated on the 18th of September, when the Home Rule Bill +received the Royal Assent. On the 15th Mr. Asquith put forward his +defence in the House of Commons. In a sentence of mellifluous optimism +that was to be woefully falsified in a not-distant future, he declared +his confidence that the action his Ministry was taking would bring "for +the first time for a hundred years Irish opinion, Irish sentiment, Irish +loyalty, flowing with a strong and a continuous and ever-increasing +stream into the great reservoir of Imperial resources and Imperial +unity." He acknowledged, however, that the Government had pledged itself +not to put the Home Rule Bill on the Statute-book until the Amending +Bill had been disposed of. That promise was not now to be kept; instead +he gave another, which, when the time came, was equally violated, +namely, to introduce the Amending Bill "in the next session of +Parliament, before the Irish Government Bill can possibly come into +operation." Meantime, there was to be a Suspensory Bill to provide that +the Home Rule Bill should remain in abeyance till the end of the war, +and he gave an assurance "which would be in spirit and in substance +completely fulfilled, that the Home Rule Bill will not and cannot come +into operation until Parliament has had the fullest opportunity, by an +Amending Bill, of altering, modifying, or qualifying its provisions in +such a way as to secure the general consent both of Ireland and of the +United Kingdom." The Prime Minister, further, paid a tribute to "the +patriotic and public spirit which had been shown by the Ulster +Volunteers," whose conduct has made "the employment of force, any kind +of force, for what you call the coercion of Ulster, an absolutely +unthinkable thing." + +But a verbal acknowledgment of the public spirit shown by the U.V.F. in +the first month of the war was a paltry recompense for the Government's +breach of faith, as Mr. Bonar Law immediately pointed out in a stinging +rejoinder. The leader of the Opposition concluded his powerful +indictment by saying that such conduct by the Government could not be +allowed to pass without protest, but that at such a moment of national +danger debate in Parliament on this domestic quarrel, forced upon them +by Ministers, was indecent; and that, having made his protest, neither +he nor his party would take further part in that indecency. Thereupon +the whole Unionist Party followed Mr. Bonar Law out of the Chamber. + +But that was not the end of the incident. It had been decided, with Sir +Edward Carson's approval, that "Ulster Day," the second anniversary of +the Covenant, should be celebrated in Ulster by special religious +services. The intention had been to focus attention on the larger +aspects of Imperial instead of local patriotism; but what had just +occurred in Parliament could not be ignored, and it necessitated a +reaffirmation of Ulster's unchanged attitude in the domestic quarrel. +Mr. Bonar Law now determined to accompany Sir Edward Carson to Belfast +to renew and to amplify under these circumstances the pledges of British +Unionists to Ulster. + +The occasion was a memorable one in several respects. On the 17th of +September Sir Edward Carson had been quietly married in the country to +Miss Frewen, and he was accompanied to Belfast a few days later by the +new Lady Carson, who then made acquaintance with Ulster and her +husband's followers for the first time. The scenes that invariably +marked the leader's arrival from England have been already described; +but the presence of his wife led to a more exuberant welcome than ever +on this occasion; and the recent Parliamentary storm, with its sequel in +the visit of the leader of the Unionist Party, contributed further to +the unbounded enthusiasm of the populace. + +There was a meeting of the Council on the morning of the 28th, Ulster +Day, at which Carson told the whole story of the conferences, +negotiations, conversations, and what not, that had been going on up to, +and even since, the outbreak of war, in the course of which he observed +that, if he had committed any fault, "it was that he believed the Prime +Minister." He paid a just tribute to Mr. Bonar Law, whose constancy, +patience, and "resolution to be no party even under these difficult +circumstances to anything that would be throwing over Ulster, were +matters which would be photographed upon his mind to the very end of his +life." + +But while, naturally, resentment at the conduct of the Government found +forcible expression, and the policy that would be pursued "after the +war" was outlined, the keynote of the speeches at this Council Meeting, +and also at the overwhelming demonstration addressed by Mr. Bonar Law in +the Ulster Hall in the evening, was "country before party." As the +Unionist leader truly said: "This is not an anti-Home Rule meeting. That +can wait, and you are strong enough to let it wait with quiet +confidence." But before passing to the great issues raised by the war, +introduced by a telling allusion to the idea that Germany had calculated +on Ulster being a thorn in England's side, Mr. Bonar Law gave the +message to Ulster which he had specially crossed the Channel to deliver +in person. + +He reminded the audience that hitherto the promise of support to Ulster +by the Unionists of Great Britain, given long before at Blenheim, had +been coupled with the condition that, if an appeal were made to the +electorate, the Unionist Party would bow to the verdict of the country. +"But now," he went on, "after the way in which advantage has been taken +of your patriotism, I say to you, and I say it with the full authority +of our party, we give the pledge without any condition." + +During the two days which he spent in Belfast Mr. Bonar Law, and other +visitors from England, paid visits to the training camps at Newcastle +and Ballykinler, where the 1st Brigade of the Ulster Division was +undergoing training for the front. Both now, and for some time to come, +there was a good deal of unworthy political jealousy of the Division, +which showed itself in a tendency to belittle the recruiting figures +from Ulster, and in sneers in the Nationalist Press at the delay in +sending to the front a body of troops whose friends had advertised their +supposed efficiency before the war. These troops were themselves +fretting to get to France; and they believed, rightly or wrongly, that +political intrigue was at work to keep them ingloriously at home, while +other Divisions, lacking their preliminary training, were receiving +preference in the supply of equipment. + +One small circumstance, arising out of the conditions in which +"Kitchener's Army" had to be raised, afforded genuine enjoyment in +Ulster. Men were enlisting far more rapidly than the factories could +provide arms, uniforms, and other equipment. Rifles for teaching the +recruits to drill and manoeuvre were a long way short of requirements. +It was a great joy to the Ulstermen when the War Office borrowed their +much-ridiculed "dummy rifles" and "wooden guns," and took them to +English training camps for use by the "New Army." + +But this volume is not concerned with the conduct of the Great War, nor +is it necessary to enter in detail into the controversy that arose as to +the efforts of the rest of Ireland, in comparison with those of Ulster, +to serve the Empire in the hour of need. It will be sufficient to cite +the testimony of two authorities, neither of whom can be suspected of +bias on the side of Ulster. The chronicler of the _Annual Register_ +records that: + + "In Ulster, as in England, the flow of recruits outran the + provision made for them by the War Office, and by about the middle + of October the Protestant districts had furnished some 21,000, of + which Belfast alone had contributed 7,581, or 305 per 10,000 of the + population--the highest proportion of all the towns in the United + Kingdom."[91] + +The second witness is the democratic orator who took a foremost part in +the House of Commons in denouncing the Curragh officers who resigned +their Commissions rather than march against Ulster. Colonel John Ward, +M.P., writing two years after the war, in which he had not kept his eyes +shut, said: + + "It would be presumptuous for a mere Englishman to praise the + gallantry and patriotism of Scotland, Wales, and Ulster; their + record stands second to none in the annals of the war. The case of + the South of Ireland, her most ardent admirer will admit, is not + as any other in the whole British Empire. To the everlasting credit + of the great leader of the Irish Nationalists, Mr. John Redmond, + his gallant son, and his very lovable brother--together with many + real, great-souled Irish soldiers whose loss we so deeply + deplore--saw the light and followed the only course open to good + men and true. But the patriotism and devotion of the few only show + up in greater and more exaggerated contrast the sullen indifference + of the majority, and the active hostility of the minority, who + would have seen our country and its people overrun and defeated not + only without regret, but with fiendish delight."[92] + +No generous-minded Ulsterman would wish to detract a word from the +tribute paid by Colonel Ward to the Redmond family and other gallant +Catholic Nationalists who stood manfully for the Empire in the day of +trial; but the concluding sentence in the above quotation cannot be +gainsaid. And the pathetic thing was that Mr. Redmond himself never +seems to have understood the true sentiments of the majority of those +who had been his followers before the war. In a speech in the House on +the 15th of September he referred contemptuously to a "little group of +men who never belonged to the National Constitutional party, who were +circulating anti-recruiting handbills and were publishing little +wretched rags once a week or once a month," which were not worth a +moment's notice. + +The near future was to show that these adherents of Sinn Fein were not +so negligible as Mr. Redmond sincerely believed. The real fact was that +his own patriotic attitude at the outbreak of war undermined his +leadership in Ireland. The "separatism" which had always been, as Ulster +never ceased to believe, the true underlying, though not always the +acknowledged, motive power of Irish Nationalism, was beginning again to +assert itself, and to find expression in "handbills" and "wretched +rags." It was discovering other leaders and spokesmen than Mr. Redmond +and his party, whom it was destined before long to sweep utterly away. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[90] _Morning Post_, May 19th, 1913. + +[91] _The Annual Register_, 1914, p. 259. + +[92] "The Army and Ireland," _Nineteenth Century and After_, January +1921, by Lieut.-Colonel John Ward, C.B., C.M.G., M.P. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +NEGOTIATIONS FOR SETTLEMENT + + +The position in which Ulster was now placed was, from the political +point of view, a very anxious one. Had the war not broken out when it +did, there was a very prevalent belief that the Government could not +have avoided a general election either before, or immediately after, the +placing of Home Rule on the Statute-book; and as to the result of such +an election no Unionist had any misgiving. Even if the Government had +remained content to disregard the electorate, it would have been +impossible for them to subject Ulster to a Dublin Parliament. The +organisation there was powerful enough to prevent it, by force if +necessary, and the Curragh Incident had proved that the Army could not +be employed against the Loyalists. + +But the whole outlook had now changed. The war had put off all thought +of a General Election till an indefinite future; the Ulster Volunteers, +and every other wheel in the very effective machinery prepared for +resistance to Home Rule, were now diverted to a wholly different +purpose; and at the same time the hated Bill had become an Act, and the +only alleviation was the promise, for what it might be worth, of an +Amending Bill the scope of which remained undefined. While, therefore, +the Ulster leaders and people threw themselves with all their energy +into the patriotic work to which the war gave the call, the situation so +created at home caused them much uneasiness. + +No one felt it more than Lord Londonderry. Indeed, as the autumn of 1914 +wore on, the despondency he fell into was so marked that his friends +could not avoid disquietude on his personal account in addition to all +the other grounds for anxiety. He and Lady Londonderry, it is true, took +a leading part in all the activities to which the war gave rise +--encouraging recruiting, organising hospitals, and making provision of +every kind for soldiers and their dependents, in Ulster and in the +County of Durham. But when in London in November, Lord Londonderry would +sit moodily at the Carlton Club, speaking to few except intimate +friends, and apparently overcome by depression. He was pessimistic about +the war. His only son was at the front, and he seemed persuaded he would +never return. The affairs of Ulster, to which he had given his whole +heart, looked black; and he went about as if all his purpose in life was +gone. He went with Lady Londonderry to Mount Stewart for Christmas, and +one or two intimate friends who visited him there in January 1915 were +greatly disturbed in mind on his account. But the public in Belfast, who +saw him going in and out of the Ulster Club as usual, did not know +anything was amiss, and were terribly shocked as well as grieved when +they heard of his sudden death at Wynyard on the 8th of February. + +The death of Lord Londonderry was felt by many thousands in Ulster as a +personal bereavement. If he did not arouse the unbounded, and almost +delirious, devotion which none but Sir Edward Carson ever evoked in the +North of Ireland, the deep respect and warm affection felt towards him +by all who knew him, and by great numbers who did not, was a tribute +which his modesty and integrity of character and genial friendliness of +disposition richly deserved. He was faithfully described by Carson +himself to the Ulster Unionist Council several months after his death as +"a great leader, a great and devoted public servant, a great patriot, a +great gentleman, and above all the greatest of great friends." + +Ulster, meantime, had already had a foretaste of the sacrifices the war +was to demand when the Division should go to the front. In November 1914 +Captain the Hon. Arthur O'Neill, M.P. for Mid Antrim, who had gone to +the front with the first expeditionary force, was killed in action in +France. There was a certain sense of sad pride in the reflection that +the first member of the House of Commons to give his life for King and +country was a representative of Ulster; and the constituency which +suffered the loss of a promising young member by the death of this +gallant Life Guardsman consoled itself by electing in his place his +younger brother, Major Hugh O'Neill, then serving in the Ulster +Division, who afterwards proved himself a most valuable member of the +Ulster Parliamentary Party, and eventually became the first Speaker of +the Ulster Parliament created by the Act of 1920. + +Notwithstanding the bitter outbreak of party passion caused by the +Government's action in putting the Home Rule Bill on the Statute-book in +September, the party truce was well maintained throughout the autumn and +winter. And the most striking proof of the transformation wrought by the +war was seen when Mr. Asquith, when constrained to form a truly national +Administration in May 1915, included Sir Edward Carson in his Cabinet +with the office of Attorney-General. Mr. Redmond was at the same time +invited to join the Government, and his refusal to do so when the +British Unionists, the Labour leaders, and the Ulster leaders all +responded to the Prime Minister's appeal to their patriotism, did not +appear in the eyes of Ulstermen to confirm the Nationalist leader's +profession of loyalty to the Empire; though they did him the justice of +believing that he would have accepted office if he had felt free to +follow his own inclination. His inability to do so, and the complaints +of his followers, including Mr. Dillon, at the admission of Carson to +the Cabinet, revealed the incapacity of the Nationalists to rise to a +level above party. + +Carson, however, did not remain very long in the Government. +Disapproving of the policy pursued in relation to our Allies in the +Balkans, he resigned on the 20th of October, 1915. But he had remained +long enough to prove his value in council to the most energetic of his +colleagues in the Cabinet. Men like Mr. Churchill and Mr. Lloyd George, +although they had been the bitterest of Carson's opponents eighteen +months previously, seldom omitted from this time forward to seek his +advice in times of difficulty; and the latter of these two, when things +were going badly with the Allies more than a year later, endeavoured to +persuade Mr. Asquith to include Carson in a Committee of four to be +charged with the entire conduct of the war. + +It was, perhaps, fortunate that the Ulster leader was not a member of +the Government when the rebellion broke out in the South of Ireland at +Easter 1916. For this event suddenly brought to the front again the +whole Home Rule question, which everybody had hoped might be allowed to +sleep till the end of the war; and it would have been a misfortune if +Carson had not then been in a position of independence to play his part +in this new act of the Irish drama. + +The Government had many warnings of what was brewing. But Mr. Birrell, +the Chief Secretary, who in frivolity seemed a contemporary embodiment +of Nero, deemed cheap wit a sufficient reply to all remonstrances, and +had to confess afterwards that he had utterly miscalculated the forces +with which he had to deal. He was completely taken by surprise when, on +the 20th of April, an attempt to land weapons from a German vessel, +escorted by a submarine from which Sir Roger Casement landed in the West +of Ireland, proved that the Irish rebels were in league with the enemy; +and even after this ominous event, he did nothing to provide against the +outbreak that occurred in Dublin four days later. The rising in the +capital, and in several other places in the South of Ireland, was not +got under for a week, during which time more than 170 houses had been +burnt, ÂŁ2,000,000 sterling worth of property destroyed or damaged, and +1,315 casualties had been suffered, of which 304 were fatal. + +The aims of the insurgents were disclosed in a proclamation which +referred to the administration in Ireland as a "long usurpation by a +foreign people and government." It declared that the Irish Republican +Brotherhood--the same organisation that planned and carried out the +Phoenix Park murders in 1882--had now seized the right moment for +"reviving the old traditions of Irish nationhood," and announced that +the new Irish Republic was a sovereign independent State, which was +entitled to claim the allegiance of every Irish man and woman. + +The rebellion was the subject of debates in both Houses of Parliament on +the 10th and 11th of May--Mr. Birrell having in the interval, to use a +phrase of Carlyle's, "taken himself and his incompetence +elsewhere"--when Mr. Dillon, speaking for the Nationalist Party, poured +forth a flood of passionate sympathy with the rebels, declaring that he +was proud of youths who could boast of having slaughtered British +soldiers, and he denounced the Government for suppressing the rising in +"a sea of blood." The actual fact was, that out of a large number of +prisoners taken red-handed in the act of armed rebellion who were +condemned to death after trial by court-martial, the great majority were +reprieved, and thirteen in all were executed. Whether such measures +deserved the frightful description coined by Mr. Dillon's flamboyant +rhetoric everybody can judge for himself, after considering whether in +any other country or at any other period of the world's history, active +assistance of a foreign enemy--for that is what it amounted to--has been +visited with a more lenient retribution. + +On the same day that Mr. Dillon thus justified the whole basis of +Ulster's unchanging attitude towards Nationalism by blurting out his +sympathy with England's enemies, Mr. Asquith announced that he was +himself going to Ireland to investigate matters on the spot. These two +events, Mr. Dillon's speech and the Prime Minister's visit to +Dublin--where he certainly exhibited no stern anger against the rebels, +even if the stories were exaggerated which reported him to have shown +them ostentatious friendliness--went far to transform what had been a +wretched fiasco into a success. Cowed at first by their complete +failure, the rebels found encouragement in the complacency of the Prime +Minister, and the fear or sympathy, whichever it was, of the Nationalist +Party. From that moment they rapidly increased in influence, until they +proved two years later that they had become the predominant power all +over Ireland except in Ulster. + +In Ulster the rebellion was regarded with mixed feelings. The strongest +sentiment was one of horror at the treacherous blow dealt to the Empire +while engaged in a life-and-death struggle with a foreign enemy. But, +was it unpardonably Pharisaic if there was also some self-glorification +in the thought that Ulstermen in this respect were not as other men +were? There was also a prevalent feeling that after what had occurred +they would hear no more of Home Rule, at any rate during the war. It +appeared inconceivable that any sane Government could think of handing +over the control of Ireland in time of war to people who had just proved +their active hostility to Great Britain in so unmistakable a fashion. + +But they were soon undeceived. Mr. Asquith, on his return, told the +House of Commons what he had learnt during his few days' sojourn in +Ireland. His first proposition was that the existing machinery of +Government in Ireland had completely broken down. That was undeniable. +It was the natural fruit of the Birrell regime. Mr. Asquith was himself +responsible for it. But no more strange or illogical conclusion could be +drawn from it than that which Mr. Asquith proceeded to propound. This +was that there was now "a unique opportunity for a new departure for the +settlement of outstanding problems "--which, when translated from +Asquithian into plain English, meant that now was the time for Home +Rule. The pledge to postpone the question till after the war was to be +swept aside, and, instead of building up by sound and sensible +administration what Mr. Birrel's abnegation of government had allowed to +crumble into "breakdown," the rebels were to be rewarded for traffic +with the enemy and destruction of the central parts of Dublin, with +great loss of life, by being allowed to point to the triumphant success +of their activity, which was certain to prove the most effective of all +possible propaganda for their political ideals in Ireland. + +Some regard, however, was still to be paid to the promise of an Amending +Bill. The Prime Minister repeated that no one contemplated the coercion +of Ulster; that an attempt must be made to come to agreement about the +terms on which the Home Rule Act could be brought into immediate +operation; and that the Cabinet had deputed to Mr. Lloyd George the task +of negotiating to this end with both parties in Ireland. Accordingly, +Mr. Lloyd George, then Secretary of State for War, interviewed Sir +Edward Carson on the one hand and Mr. Redmond and Mr. Devlin on the +other, and submitted to them separately the proposals which he said the +Cabinet were prepared to make.[93] + +On the 6th of June Carson explained the Cabinet's proposals at a special +meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council held in private. His task was an +extremely difficult one, for the advice he had to offer was utterly +detestable to himself, and he knew it would be no less so to his +hearers. And the latter, profound as was their trust in him as their +leader, were men of singularly independent judgment and quite capable of +respectfully declining to take any course they did not themselves +approve. Indeed, Carson emphasised the fact that he could not, and had +not attempted to, bind the Council to take the same view of the +situation as himself. At the same time he clearly and frankly stated +what his own opinion was, saying: "I would indeed be a poor leader of a +great movement if I hesitated to express my own views of any proposition +put before you."[94] + +His speech, which took nearly two hours in delivery, was a perfect model +of lucid exposition and convincing argument. He reviewed in close detail +the course of events that had led to the present situation. He +maintained from first to last the highest ground of patriotism. +Mentioning that numerous correspondents had asked why he did not +challenge the Nationalist professions of loyalty two years before at the +beginning of the war, which had since then been so signally falsified, +he answered: + + "Because I had no desire to show a dissentient Ireland to the + Germans. I am glad, even with what has happened, that we played the + game, and if we had to do it again we would play the game. And then + suddenly came the rebellion in Dublin. I cannot find words to + describe my own horror when I heard of it. For I am bound to admit + to you that I was not thinking merely of Ulster; I was thinking of + the war; I was thinking, as I am always thinking, of what will + happen if we are beaten in the war. I was thinking of the + sacrifice of human lives at the front, and in Gallipoli, and at + Kut, when suddenly I heard that the whole thing was interrupted by, + forsooth, an Irish rebellion--by what Mr. Dillon in the House of + Commons called a clean fight! It is not Ulster or Ireland that is + now at stake: it is the British Empire. We have therefore to + consider not merely a local problem, but a great Imperial + problem--how to win the war." + +He then outlined the representations that had been made to him by the +Cabinet as to the injury to the Allied cause resulting from the +unsettled Irish question--the disturbance of good relations with the +United States, whence we were obtaining vast quantities of munitions; +the bad effect of our local differences on opinion in Allied and neutral +countries. He admitted that these evil effects were largely due to false +and hostile propaganda to which the British Government weakly neglected +to provide an antidote; he believed they were grossly exaggerated. But +in time of war they could not contend with their own Government nor be +deaf to its appeals, especially when that Government contained all their +own party leaders, on whose support they had hitherto leaned. + +One of Carson's chief difficulties was to make men grasp the +significance of the fact that Home Rule was now actually established by +Act of Parliament. The point that the Act was on the Statute-book was +constantly lost sight of, with all that it implied. He drove home the +unwelcome truth that simple repeal of that Act was not practical +politics. The only hope for Ulster to escape going under a Parliament in +Dublin lay in the promised Amending Bill. But they had no assurance how +much that Bill, when produced, would do for them. Was it likely, he +asked, to do more than was now offered by the Government? + +He then told the Council what Mr. Lloyd George's proposals were. The +Cabinet offered on the one hand a "clean cut," not indeed of the whole +of Ulster, but of the six most Protestant counties, and on the other to +bring the Home Rule Act, so modified, into immediate operation. He +pointed out that none of them could contemplate using the U.V.F. for +fighting purposes at home after the war; and that, even if such a thing +were thinkable, they could not expect to get more by forcible resistance +to the Act than what was now offered by legislation. + +But to Carson himself, and to all who listened to him that day, the +heartrending question was whether they could suffer a separation to be +made between the Loyalists in the six counties and those in the other +three counties of the Province. It could only be done, Carson declared, +if, after considering all the circumstances of the case as he unfolded +it to them, the delegates from Cavan, Monaghan, and Donegal could make +the self-sacrifice of releasing the other counties from the obligation +to stand or fall together. Carson ended by saying that he did not intend +to take a vote--he "could be no party to having Ulstermen vote one +against the other." What was to be done must be done by agreement, or +not at all. He offered to confer separately with the delegates from the +three omitted counties, and the Council adjourned till the 12th of June +to enable this conference to be held. + +In the interval a large number of the delegates held meetings of their +local associations, most of which passed resolutions in favour of +accepting the Government's proposals. But there was undoubtedly a +widespread feeling that it would be a betrayal of the Loyalists of +Cavan, Monaghan, and Donegal, and even a positive breach of the +Covenant, to accept exclusion from the Home Rule Act for only a portion +of Ulster. This was, it is true, a misunderstanding of the strict +meaning of the Covenant, which had been expressly conditioned so as not +to extend to such unforeseen circumstances as the war had brought +about[95]; but there was a general desire to avoid if possible taking +technical points, and both Carson himself and the Council were ready to +sacrifice the opportunity for a tolerable settlement should the +representatives of the three counties not freely consent to what was +proposed. + +In a spirit of self-sacrifice which deeply touched every member of the +Council, this consent was given. Carson had obtained leave for Lord +Farnham to return from the Army in France to be present at the meeting. +Lord Farnham, as a delegate from Cavan, made a speech at the adjourned +meeting on the 12th which filled his hearers with admiration. That he +was almost heart-broken by the turn events had taken he made no attempt +to conceal; and his distress was shared by those who heard his moving +words. But he showed that he possessed the instinct of statesmanship +which compelled him to recognise, in spite of the powerful pull of +sentiment and self-interest in the opposite direction, that the course +recommended by Carson was the path of wisdom. With breaking voice he +thanked the latter "for the clearness, and the fairness, and the +manliness with which he has put the deplorable situation that has arisen +before us, and for his manly advice as leader "; and he then read a +resolution that had been passed earlier in the day by the delegates of +the three counties, which, after recording a protest against any +settlement excluding them from Ulster, expressed sorrowful acquiescence, +on grounds of the larger patriotism, in whatever decision might be come +to in the matter by their colleagues from the six counties. + +It was the saddest hour the Ulster Unionist Council ever spent. Men not +prone to emotion shed tears. It was the most poignant ordeal the Ulster +leader ever passed through. But it was just one of those occasions when +far-seeing statesmanship demands the ruthless silencing of promptings +that spring from emotion. Many of those who on that terrible 12th of +June were most torn by doubt as to the necessity for the decision +arrived at, realised before long that their leader had never been guided +by surer insight than in the counsel he gave them that day. + +The Resolution adopted by the Council was a lengthy one. After reciting +the unaltered attachment of Ulster to the Union, it placed on record the +appeal that had been made by the Government on patriotic grounds for a +settlement of the Irish difficulty, which the Council did not think it +right at such a time of national emergency to resist; but it was careful +to reserve, in case the negotiations should break down from any other +cause, complete freedom to revert to "opposition to the whole policy of +Home Rule for Ireland." + +Meantime the Nationalist leaders had been submitting Mr. Lloyd George's +proposals to their own people, and on the 10th of June Mr. Redmond made +a speech in Dublin from which it appeared that he was submitting a very +different proposal to that explained by Carson in Belfast. For Mr. +Redmond told his Dublin audience that, while the Home Rule Act was to +come into operation at once, the exclusion of the six counties was to be +only for the period of the war and twelve months afterwards. That would, +of course, have been even less favourable to Ulster than the terms +offered by Mr. Asquith and rejected by Carson in March 1914. Exclusion +for the period of the war meant nothing; it would have been useless to +Ulster; it was no concession whatever; and Carson would have refused, as +he did in 1914, even to submit it to the Unionist Council in Belfast. +Mr. Lloyd George, who must have known this, had told him quite clearly +that there was to be a "definite clean cut," with no suggestion of a +time limit. There was, however, an idea that after the war an Imperial +Conference would be held, at which the whole constitutional relations of +the component nations of the British Empire would be reviewed, and that +the permanent status of Ireland would then come under reconsideration +with the rest. In this sense the arrangement now proposed was spoken of +as "provisional"; but both Mr. Lloyd George and the Prime Minister made +it perfectly plain that the proposed exclusion of the six Ulster +counties from Home Rule could never be reversed except by a fresh Act of +Parliament. + +But when the question was raised by Mr. Redmond in the House of Commons +on the 24th of July, in a speech of marked moderation, he explained that +he had understood the exclusion, like all the rest of the scheme, to be +strictly "provisional," with the consequence that it would come to an +end automatically at the end of the specified period unless prolonged by +new legislation; and he refused to respond to an earnest appeal by Mr. +Asquith not to let slip this opportunity of obtaining, with the consent +of the Unionist Party, immediate Home Rule for the greater part of +Ireland, more especially as Mr. Redmond himself had disclaimed any +desire to bring Ulster within the Home Rule jurisdiction without her own +consent. + +The negotiations for settlement thus fell to the ground, and the bitter +sacrifice which Ulster had brought herself to offer, in response to the +Government's urgent appeal, bore no fruit, unless it was to afford one +more proof of her loyalty to England and the Empire. She was to find +that such proofs were for the most part thrown away, and merely were +used by her enemies, and by some who professed to be her friends, as a +starting-point for demands on her for further concessions. But, although +all British parties in turn did their best to impress upon Ulster that +loyalty did not pay, she never succeeded in learning the lesson +sufficiently to be guided by it in her political conduct. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[93] Mr. Lloyd George's memory was at fault when he said in the House of +Commons on the 7th of February, 1922, that on the occasion referred to +in the text he had seen Sir Edward Carson and Mr. Redmond together. + +[94] The quotations from this speech, which was never published, are +from a report privately taken by the Ulster Unionist Council. + +[95] See _ante_, p. 105. + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE IRISH CONVENTION + + +After the failure of Mr. Lloyd George's negotiations for settlement in +the summer of 1916 the Nationalists practically dropped all pretence of +helping the Government to carry on the war. They were, no doubt, +beginning to realise how completely they were losing hold of the people +of Southern Ireland, and that the only chance of regaining their +vanishing popularity was by an attitude of hostility to the British +Government. + +Frequently during the autumn and winter they raised debates in +Parliament on the demand that the Home Rule Act should immediately come +into operation, and threatened that if this were not done recruits from +Ireland would not be forthcoming, although the need for men was now a +matter of great national urgency. They ignored the fact that Mr. Redmond +was a consenting party to Mr. Asquith's policy of holding Home Rule in +abeyance till after the war, and attempted to explain away their own +loss of influence in Ireland by alleging that the exasperation of the +Irish people at the delay in obtaining "self-government" was the cause +of their alienation from England, and of the growth of Sinn Fein. + +In December 1916 the Asquith Government came to an end, and Mr. Lloyd +George became Prime Minister. He had shown his estimate of Sir Edward +Carson's statesmanship by pressing Mr. Asquith to entrust the entire +conduct of the war to a Committee of four, of whom the Ulster leader +should be one; and, having failed in this attempt to infuse energy and +decision into the counsels of his Chief, he turned him out and formed a +Ministry with Carson in the office of First Lord of the Admiralty, at +that time one of the most vital in the Government. Colonel James Craig +also joined the Ministry as Treasurer of the Household. + +The change of Government did nothing to alter the attitude of the +Nationalists, unless, indeed, the return of Carson to high office added +to the fierceness of their attacks. On the 26th of February 1917--just +when "unrestricted submarine warfare" was bringing the country into its +greatest peril--Mr. Dillon called upon the Government to release +twenty-eight men who had been deported from Ireland, and who were +declared by Mr. Duke, the Chief Secretary, to have been deeply +implicated in the Easter rebellion of the previous year; and a week +later Mr. T.P. O'Connor returned to the charge with another demand for +Home Rule without further ado. + +The debate on Mr. O'Connor's motion on the 7th of March was made +memorable by the speech of Major William Redmond, home on leave from the +trenches in France, whose sincere and impassioned appeal for oblivion of +old historic quarrels between Irish Catholics and Protestants, who were +at that moment fighting and dying side by side in France, made a deep +impression on the House of Commons and the country. And when this +gallant officer fell in action not long afterwards and was carried out +of the firing line by Ulster soldiers, his speech on the 7th of March +was recalled and made the peg on which to hang many adjurations to +Ulster to come into line with their Nationalist fellow-countrymen of the +South. + +Such appeals revealed a curious inability to grasp the realities of the +situation. Men spoke and wrote as if it were something new and wonderful +for Irishmen of the "two nations" to be found fighting side by side in +the British Army--as if the same thing had not been seen in the +Peninsula, in the Crimea, on the Indian frontier, in South Africa, and +in many another fight. Ulstermen, like everybody else who knew Major +Redmond, deplored the loss of a very gallant officer and a very lovable +man. But they could not understand why his death should be made a reason +for a change in their political convictions. When Major Arthur O'Neill, +an Ulster member, was killed in action in 1914, no one had suggested +that Nationalists should on that account turn Unionists. Why, they +wondered, should Unionists any more turn Nationalists because a +Nationalist M.P. had made the same supreme sacrifice? All this +sentimental talk of that time was founded on the misconception that +Ulster's attachment to the Union was the result of personal prejudice +against Catholics of the South, instead of being, as it was, a +deliberate and reasoned conviction as to the best government for +Ireland. + +This distinction was clearly brought out in the same debate by Sir John +Lonsdale, who, when Carson became a member of the Cabinet, had been +elected leader of the Ulster Party in the House of Commons; and an +emphatic pronouncement, which went to the root of the controversy, was +made in reply to the Nationalists by the Prime Minister. In the +north-eastern portion of Ireland, he said: + + "You have a population as hostile to Irish rule as the rest of + Ireland is to British rule, yea, and as ready to rebel against it + as the rest of Ireland is against British rule--as alien in blood, + in religious faith, in traditions, in outlook--as alien from the + rest of Ireland in this respect as the inhabitants of Fife or + Aberdeen. To place them under National rule against their will + would be as glaring an outrage on the principles of liberty and + self-government as the denial of self-government would be for the + rest of Ireland." + +The Government were, therefore, prepared, said Mr. Lloyd George, to +bring in Home Rule immediately for that part of Ireland that wanted it, +but not for the Northern part which did not want it. Mr. Redmond made a +fine display of indignation at this refusal to coerce Ulster; and, in +imitation of the Unionists in 1914, marched out of the House at the head +of his party. Next day he issued a manifesto to men of Irish blood in +the United States and in the Dominions, calling on them to use all means +in their power to exert pressure on the British Government. It was clear +that this sort of thing could not be tolerated in the middle of a war in +which Great Britain was fighting for her life, and at a crisis in it +when her fortunes were far from prosperous. Accordingly, on the 16th of +March Mr. Bonar Law warned the Nationalists that their conduct might +make it necessary to appeal to the country on the ground that they were +obstructing the prosecution of the war. But he also announced that the +Cabinet intended to make one more attempt to arrive at a settlement of +the apparently insoluble problem of Irish government. + +Two months passed before it was made known how this attempt was to be +made. On the 16th of May the Prime Minister addressed a letter in +duplicate to Mr. Redmond and Sir John Lonsdale, representing the two +Irish parties respectively, in which he put forward for their +consideration two alternative methods of procedure, after premising that +the Government felt precluded from proposing during the war any measures +except such as "would be substantially accepted by both sides." + +These alternatives were: _(a)_ a "Bill for the immediate application of +the Home Rule Act to Ireland, but excluding therefrom the six counties +of North-East Ulster," or, _(b)_ a Convention of Irishmen "for the +purpose of drafting a Constitution ... which should secure a just +balance of all the opposing interests." Sir John Lonsdale replied to the +Prime Minister that he would take the Government's first proposal to +Belfast for consideration by the Council; but as Mr. Redmond, on the +other hand, peremptorily refused to have anything to say to it, it +became necessary to fall back on the other alternative, namely the +assembling of an Irish Convention. + +The members chosen to sit in the Convention were to be "representative +men" in Emerson's meaning of the words, but not in the democratic sense +as deriving their authority from direct popular election. Certain +political organisations and parties were each invited to nominate a +certain number; the Churches were represented by their leading clergy; +men occupying public positions, such as chairmen of local authorities, +were given _ex-officio_ seats; and a certain number were nominated by +the Government. The total membership of this variegated assembly was +ninety-five. The Sinn Fein party were invited to join, but refused to +have anything to do with it, declaring that they would consider nothing +short of complete independence for Ireland. The majority of the Irish +people thus stood aloof from the Convention altogether. + +As the purpose for which the Convention was called was quickly lost +sight of by many, and by none more than its Chairman, it is well to +remember what that purpose was. If it had not been for the opposition of +Ulster, the Home Rule Act of 1914 would have been in force for years, +and none of the many attempts at settlement would have been necessary. +The one and only thing required was to reconcile, if possible, the +aspirations of Ulster with those of the rest of Ireland. That was the +purpose, and the only purpose, of the Convention; and in the letter +addressed to Sir John Lonsdale equally with Mr. Redmond, the Prime +Minister distinctly laid it down that unless its conclusions were +accepted "by both sides," nothing could come of it. To leave no shadow +of doubt on this point Mr. Bonar Law, in reply to a specific question, +said that there could be no "substantial agreement" to which Ulster was +not a party. + +It is necessary to emphasise this point, because for such a purpose the +heterogeneous conglomeration of Nationalists of all shades that formed +the great majority of the Convention was worse than useless. The +Convention was in reality a bi-lateral conference, in which one of the +two sides was four times as numerous as the other. Yet much party +capital was subsequently made of the fact that the Nationalist members +agreed upon a scheme of Home Rule--an achievement which had no element +of the miraculous or even of the unexpected about it. + +Notwithstanding that the Sinn Fein party had displayed their contempt +for the Convention, and under the delusion that it would "create an +atmosphere of good-will" for its meeting, the Government released +without condition or reservation all the prisoners concerned in the +Easter rebellion of 1916. It was like playing a penny whistle to +conciliate a cobra. The prisoners, from whose minds nothing was further +than any thought of good-will to England, were received by the populace +in Dublin with a rapturous ovation, their triumphal procession being +headed by Mr. De Valera, who was soon afterwards elected member for East +Clare by a majority of nearly thirty thousand. Four months later, the +Chief Secretary told Parliament that the young men of Southern Ireland, +who had refused to serve in the Army, were being enrolled in preparation +for another rebellion. + +It was only after some hesitation that the Ulster Unionist Council +decided not to hold aloof from the Convention, as the Sinn Feiners did. +Carson accompanied Sir John Lonsdale to Belfast and explained the +explicit pledges by Ministers that participation would not commit them +to anything, that they would not be bound by any majority vote, and that +without their concurrence no legislation was to be founded on any +agreement between the other groups in the Convention; he also urged that +Ulster could not refuse to do what the Government held would be helpful +in the prosecution of the war. + +The invitation to nominate five delegates was therefore accepted; and +when the membership of the Convention was complete there were nineteen +out of ninety-five who could be reckoned as supporters in general of the +Ulster point of view. Among them were the Primate, the Moderator of the +General Assembly, the Duke of Abercorn, the Marquis of Londonderry, Mr. +H.M. Pollock, Chairman of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, one Labour +representative, Mr J. Hanna, and the Lord Mayors of Belfast and Derry. +It was agreed that Mr. H.T. Barrie, member for North Derry, should act +as chairman and leader of the Ulster group, and he discharged this +difficult duty with unfailing tact and ability. + +There was some difficulty in finding a suitable Chairman, for no party +was willing to accept any strong man opposed to their own views, while +an impartial man was not to be found in Ireland. Eventually the choice +fell on Sir Horace Plunkett as a gentleman who, if eagerly supported by +none, was accepted by each group as preferable to a more formidable +opponent. Sir Horace made no pretence of impartiality. Whatever +influence he possessed was used as a partisan of the Nationalists. He +was not, like the Speaker of the House of Commons, a silent guardian of +order; he often harangued the assembly, which, on one occasion at least, +he addressed for over an hour; and he issued manifestos, +_questionnaires_, and letters to members, one of which was sharply +censured as misleading both by Mr. Barrie and the Bishop of Raphoe. + +The procedure adopted was described by the Chairman himself as +"unprecedented." It was not only that, but was unsuitable in the last +degree for the purpose in view. When it is borne in mind what that +purpose was, it is clear that the only business-like method would have +been to invite the Ulster delegates at the outset to formulate their +objections to coming under the Home Rule Act of 1914, and then to see +whether Mr. Redmond could make any concessions which would persuade +Ulster to accept something less than the permanent exclusion of six +counties, which had been their _minimum_ hitherto. + +The procedure actually followed was ludicrously different. The object, +as stated by the chairman, was "to avoid raising contentious issues in +such a way as to divide the Convention on party lines,"[96] which, to +say the least, was a curious method of handling the most contentious +problem in British politics. A fine opportunity was offered to amateur +constitution-mongers. Anyone was allowed to propound a scheme for the +future government of Ireland, which, of course, was an encouragement to +endless wide-ranging debate, with the least conceivable likelihood of +arriving at definite decisions. Neither of the leaders of the two +parties whose agreement was essential if the Convention was to have any +result took the initiative in bringing forward proposals. Mr. Redmond +was invited to do so, but declined. Mr. Barrie had no reason to do so, +because the Ulster scheme for the government of Ireland was the +legislative union. So it was left to individuals with no official +responsibility to set forth their ideas, which became the subject of +protracted debates of a general character. + +It was further arranged that while contentious issues--the only ones +that mattered--should be avoided, any conclusions reached on minor +matters should be purely provisional, and contingent on agreement being +come to ultimately on fundamentals. Month after month was spent in thus +discussing such questions as the powers which an Irish Parliament ought +to wield, while the question whether Ulster was to come into that +Parliament was left to stand over. Committees and sub-committees were +appointed to thresh out these details, and some of them relieved the +tedium by wandering into such interesting by-ways of irrelevancy as +housing and land purchase, all of which, in Gilbertian phrase, "had +nothing to do with the case." + +The Ulster group raised no objection to all this expenditure of time and +energy. For they saw that it was not time wasted. From the standpoint of +the highest national interest it was, indeed, more useful than anything +the Convention could have accomplished by business-like methods. The +summer and autumn of 1917, and the early months of 1918, covered a +terribly critical period of the war. The country was never in greater +peril, and the attitude of the Nationalists in the House of Commons +added to the difficulties of the Government, as Mr. Bonar Law had +complained in March. It was to placate them that the Convention had been +summoned. It was a bone thrown to a snarling dog, and the longer there +was anything to gnaw the longer would the dog keep quiet. The Ulster +delegates understood this perfectly, and, as their chief desire was to +help the Government to get on with the war, they had no wish to curtail +the proceedings of the Convention, although they were never under the +delusion that it could lead to anything in Ireland. + +Having regard to the origin of this strange assembly of Irishmen it +might have been supposed that its ingenuity would be directed to finding +some modification of Mr. Asquith's Home Rule Act which Ulster could +accept. That Act was the point of departure for its investigation, and +the quest was _ex hypothesi_ for some amendment that would not be an +enlargement of the authority to be delegated to the subordinate +Parliament, or any further loosening of the tie with Great Britain. Any +proposal of the latter sort would be in the opposite direction from that +in which the Convention was intended to travel. Yet this is precisely +what was done from the very outset. The Act of 1914 was brushed aside as +beneath contempt; and the Ulster delegates had to listen with amazement +week after week to proposals for giving to the whole of Ireland, +including their own Province, a constitution practically as independent +of Great Britain as that of the Dominions. + +But what astonished the Ulstermen above everything was to find these +extravagant demands of the Nationalists supported by those who were +supposed to be representatives of Southern Unionism, with Lord Midleton, +a prominent member of the Unionist Party in England, at their head. The +only material point on which Lord Midleton differed from the extremists +led by the Bishop of Raphoe was that he wished to limit complete fiscal +autonomy for Ireland by reserving the control of Customs duties to the +Imperial Parliament. Save in this single particular he joined forces +with the Nationalists, and shocked the Unionists of the North by giving +his support to a scheme of Home Rule going beyond anything ever +suggested at Westminster by any Radical from Gladstone to Asquith. + +This question of the financial powers to be exercised by the +hypothetical Irish Parliament occupied the Convention and its committees +for the greater part of its eight months of existence. In January 1918 +Lord Midleton and Mr. Redmond came to an agreement on the subject which +proved the undoing of them both, and produced the only really impressive +scene in the Convention. + +For some time Mr. Redmond had given the impression of being a tired man +who had lost his wonted driving-force. He took little or no part in the +lobbying and canvassing that was constantly going on behind the scenes +in the Convention; he appeared to be losing grip as a leader. But he +cannot be blamed for his anxiety to come to terms with Lord Midleton; +and when he found, no doubt greatly to his surprise, that a Unionist +leader was ready to abandon Unionist principles and to accept Dominion +Home Rule for Ireland, subject to a single reservation on the subject of +Customs, he naturally jumped at it, and assumed that his followers would +do the same. + +But, while Mr. Redmond had been losing ground, the influence of the +Catholic Bishop of Raphoe had been on the increase, and that able and +astute prelate was entirely opposed to the compromise on which Mr. +Redmond and Lord Midleton were agreed. On the evening of the 14th of +January it came to the knowledge of Mr. Redmond that when the question +came up for decision next day, he would find Mr. Devlin, his principal +lieutenant, in league with the ecclesiastics against him. He was +personally too far committed to retrace his steps; to go forward meant +disaster, for it would produce a deep cleavage in the Nationalist ranks; +and, as the state of affairs was generally known to members of the +Convention, the sitting of the following day was anticipated with +unusual interest. + +There was an atmosphere of suppressed excitement when the Chairman took +his seat on the 15th. Mr. Redmond entered a few seconds later and took +his usual place without betraying the slightest sign of disturbed +equanimity. The Bishop of Raphoe strode past him, casting to left and +right swift, challenging glances. Mr. Devlin slipped quietly into his +seat beside the leader he had thrown over, without a word or gesture of +greeting. All over the room small groups of members engaged in whispered +conversation; an air of mysterious expectancy prevailed. The Ulster +members had been threatened that it was to be for them a day of disaster +and dismay--a little isolated group, about to be deserted by friends and +crushed by enemies. The Chairman, in an agitated voice, opened +proceedings by inviting questions. There was no response. A minute or so +of tense pause ensued. Then Mr. Redmond rose, and in a perfectly even +voice and his usual measured diction, stated that he was aware that his +proposal was repudiated by many of his usual followers; that the bishops +were against him, and some leading Nationalists, including Mr. Devlin; +that, while he believed if he persisted he would have a majority, the +result would be to split his party, a thing he wished to avoid; and that +he had therefore decided not to proceed with his amendment, and under +these circumstances felt he could be of no further use to the Convention +in the matter. + +For a minute or two the assembly could not grasp the full significance +of what had happened. Then it broke upon them that this was the fall of +a notable leader, although they did not yet know that it was also the +close of a distinguished career. Mr. Redmond's demeanour throughout +what must have been a painful ordeal was beyond all praise. There was +not a quiver in his voice, nor a hesitation for word or phrase. His +self-possession and dignity and high-bred bearing won the respect and +sympathy of the most strenuous of political opponents, even while they +recognised that the defeat of the Nationalist leader meant relief from +pressure on themselves. Mr. Redmond took no further part in the work of +the Convention; his health was failing, and the members were startled by +the news of his death on the 6th of March. + +Not a single vote was taken in the Convention until the 12th of March, +1918, when it had been sitting for nearly seven months, and two days +later the question which it had been summoned to consider, namely, the +relation of Ulster to the rest of Ireland, was touched for the first +time. The first clause in the Bishop of Raphoe's scheme, establishing a +Home Rule constitution for all Ireland, having been carried with Lord +Midleton's help against the vote of the nineteen representatives of +Ulster, the latter proposed an amendment for the exclusion of the +Province, and were, of course, defeated by the combined forces of +Nationalism and Southern Unionism. + +Thus, on the only issue that really mattered, there was no such +"substantial agreement" as the Government had postulated as essential +before legislation could be undertaken; and on the 5th of April the +Convention came to an end without having achieved any useful result, +except that it gave the Government a breathing space from the Irish +question to get on with the war. + +It served, however, to bring prominently forward two of the Ulster +representatives whose full worth had not till then been sufficiently +appreciated. Mr. H.M. Pollock had, it is true, been a valued adviser of +Sir Edward Carson on questions touching the trade and commerce of +Belfast. But in the Convention he made more than one speech which proved +him to be a financier with a comprehensive grasp of principle, and an +extensive knowledge of the history and the intricate details of the +financial relations between Great Britain and Ireland. + +Lord Londonderry (the 7th Marquis), who during his father's lifetime +had represented an English constituency in the House of Commons and +naturally took no very prominent part in Ulster affairs, although he +made many excellent speeches on Home Rule both in Parliament and on +English platforms, and was Colonel of a regiment of U.V.F., gave proof +at once, on succeeding to the peerage in 1915, that he was desirous of +doing everything in his power to fill his father's place in the Ulster +Movement. He displayed the same readiness to subordinate personal +convenience, and other claims on his time and energy, to the cause so +closely associated historically with his family. But it was his work in +the Convention that first convinced Ulstermen of his capacity as well as +his zeal. Several of Lord Londonderry's speeches, and especially one in +which he made an impromptu reply to Mr. Redmond, impressed the +Convention with his debating power and his general ability; and it gave +the greatest satisfaction in Ulster when it was realised that the son of +the leader whose loss they mourned so deeply was as able as he was +willing to carry on the hereditary tradition of service to the loyalist +cause. + +In another respect, too, the Convention had an indirect influence on the +position in Ulster. When it appeared likely, in January 1918, that a +deadlock would be reached in the Convention, the Prime Minister himself +intervened. A letter to the Chairman was drafted and discussed in the +Cabinet; but the policy which appeared to commend itself to his +colleagues was one that Sir Edward Carson was unable to support, and he +accordingly resigned office on the 21st, and was accompanied into +retirement by Colonel Craig, the other Ulster member of the Ministry. +Sir John Lonsdale, who for many years had been the very efficient +Honorary Secretary and "Whip" of the Ulster Parliamentary Party, and its +leader while Carson was in office, had been raised to the peerage at the +New Year, with the title of Lord Armaghdale, so that the Ulster +leadership was vacant for Carson to resume when he left the Government, +and he was formally re-elected to the position on the 28th of January. +It was fortunate for Ulster that the old helmsman was again free to +take his place at the wheel, for there was still some rough weather +ahead. + +The official Report of the Convention which was issued on the 10th of +April was one of the most extraordinary documents ever published in a +Government Blue Book.[97] It consisted for the most part of a confused +bundle of separate Notes and Reports by a number of different groups and +individuals, and numerous appendices comprising a mass of miscellaneous +memoranda bristling with cross-references. The Chairman was restricted +to providing a bald narrative of the proceedings without any of the +usual critical estimate of the general results attained; but he made up +for this by setting forth his personal opinions in a letter to the Prime +Minister, which, without the sanction of the Convention, he prefixed to +the Report. As it was no easy matter to gain any clear idea from the +Report as to what the Convention had done, its proceedings while in +session having been screened from publicity by drastic censorship of the +Press, many people contented themselves with reading Sir Horace +Plunkett's unauthorised letter to Mr. Lloyd George; and, as it was in +some important respects gravely misleading, it is not surprising that +the truth in regard to the Convention was never properly understood, and +the Ulster Unionist Council had solid justification for its resolution +censuring the Chairman's conduct as "unprecedented and unconstitutional." + +In this personal letter, as was to be expected of a partisan of the +Nationalists, Sir Horace Plunkett laid stress on the fact that Lord +Midleton had "accepted self-government for Ireland "--by which was +meant, of course, not self-government such as Ireland always enjoyed +through her representation, and indeed over-representation, in the +Imperial Parliament, but through separate institutions. But if it had +not been for this support of separate institutions by the Southern +Unionists there would not have been even a colourable pretext for the +assertion of Sir Horace Plunkett that "a larger measure of agreement has +been reached upon the principles and details of Irish self-government +than has ever yet been attained." The really surprising thing was how +little agreement was displayed even among the Nationalists themselves, +who on several important issues were nearly equally divided. + +It was soon seen how little the policy of Lord Midleton was approved by +those whom he was supposed to represent. Although it was exceedingly +difficult to obtain accurate information about what was going on in the +Convention, enough became known in Dublin to cause serious misgiving to +Southern Unionists. The Council of the Irish Unionist Alliance, who had +nominated Lord Midleton as a delegate, asked him to confer with them on +the subject; but he refused. On the 4th of March, 1918, a "Call to +Unionists," a manifesto signed by twenty-four influential Southern +Unionists, appeared in the Press. A Southern Unionist Committee was +formed which before the end of May was able to publish the names of 350 +well-known men in all walks of life who were in accord with the "Call," +and to announce that the supporters of their protest against Lord +Midleton's proceedings numbered upwards of fourteen thousand, of whom +more than two thousand were farmers in the South and West. + +This Committee then took steps to purge the Irish Unionist Alliance by +making it more truly representative of Southern Unionist opinion. A +special meeting of the Council of the organisation on the 24th of +January, 1919, brought on a general engagement between Lord Midleton and +his opponents. The general trend of opinion was disclosed when, after +the defeat of a motion by Lord Midleton for excluding Ulster Unionists +from full membership of the Alliance, Sir Edward Carson was elected one +of its Presidents, and Lord Farnham was chosen Chairman of the Executive +Committee. The Executive Committee was then entirely reconstituted, by +the rejection of every one of Lord Midleton's supporters; and the new +body issued a statement explaining the grounds of dissatisfaction with +Lord Midleton's action in the Convention, and declaring that he had +"lost the confidence of the general body of Southern Unionists." +Thereupon Lord Midleton and a small aristocratic clique associated with +him seceded from the Alliance, and set up a little organisation of their +own. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[96] _Report of the Proceedings of the Irish Convention_ (Cd. 9019), p. +10. + +[97] Cd. 9019. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +NATIONALISTS AND CONSCRIPTION + + +While the Irish Convention was toilfully bringing to a close its eight +months' career of futility, the British Empire was in the grip of the +most terrible ordeal through which it has ever passed. On the 21st of +March, 1918, the assembled Irishmen in Dublin were discussing whether or +not proportional representation should form part of the hypothetical +constitution of Ireland, and on the same day the Germans well-nigh +overwhelmed the 5th Army at the opening of the great offensive campaign +which threatened to break irretrievably the Allied line by the capture +of Amiens. The world held its breath. Englishmen hardly dared to think +of the fate that seemed impending over their country. Irishmen continued +complacently debating the paltry details of the Bishop of Raphoe's +clauses. Irishmen and Englishmen together were being killed or maimed by +scores of thousands in a supreme effort to stay the advance of the Boche +to Paris and the sea. + +It happened that on the very day when the Report of the Convention was +laid on the table of the House of Commons, the Prime Minister made a +statement of profound gravity, beginning with words such as the British +Parliament can never before have been compelled to hear from the lips of +the head of the Government. For the moment, said Mr. Lloyd George, there +was a lull in the storm; but more attacks were to come, and-- + + The "fate of the Empire, the fate of Europe, and the fate of + liberty throughout the world may depend on the success with which + the very last of these attacks is resisted and countered." + +Mr. Asquith struck the same note, urging the House-- + + "With all the earnestness and with all the solemnity of which I am + capable, to realise that never before in the experience of any man + within these walls, or of his fathers and his forefathers, has this + country and all the great traditions and ideals which are embodied + in our history--never has this, the most splendid inheritance ever + bequeathed to a people, been in greater peril, or in more need of + united safeguarding than at this present time." + +Not Demosthenes himself, in his most impassioned appeal to the +Athenians, more fitly matched moving words to urgent occasion than these +two statesmen in the simple, restrained sentences, in which they warned +the Commons of the peril hanging over England. + +But was eloquent persuasion really required at such a moment to still +the voice of faction in the British House of Commons? Let those who +would assume the negative study the official Parliamentary Report of the +debate on the 9th of April, 1918. They will find a record which no loyal +Irishman will ever be able to read without a tingling sense of shame. +The whole body of members, with one exception, listened to the Prime +Minister's grave words in silence touched with awe, feeling that perhaps +they were sitting there on the eve of the greatest tragedy in their +country's history. The single exception was the Nationalist Party. From +those same benches whence arose nineteen years back the never-forgotten +cheers that greeted the tale of British disaster in South Africa, now +came a shower of snarling interruptions that broke persistently into the +Prime Minister's speech, and with angry menace impeded his unfolding of +the Government's proposals for meeting the supreme ordeal of the war. + +What was the reason? It was because Ireland, the greater part of which +had till now successfully shirked its share of privation and sacrifice, +was at last to be asked to take up its corner of the burden. The need +for men to replace casualties at the front was pressing, urgent, +imperative. Many indeed blamed the Government for having delayed too +long in filling the depleted ranks of our splendid armies in France; the +moment had come when another day's delay would have been criminal. As +Mr. Lloyd George pointed out, the battle that was being waged in front +of Amiens "proves that the enemy has definitely decided to seek a +military decision this year, whatever the consequences to himself." The +Germans had just called up a fresh class of recruits calculated to place +more than half a million of efficient young men in the line. The +collapse of Russia had released the vast German armies of the East for +use against England and France. It was under such circumstances that the +Prime Minister proposed + + "to submit to Parliament to-day certain recommendations in order to + assist this country and the Allies to weather the storm. They will + involve," continued Mr. Lloyd George, "extreme sacrifices on the + part of large classes of the population, and nothing would justify + them but the most extreme necessity, and the fact that we are + fighting for all that is essential and most sacred in the national + life." + +The age limit for compulsory military service was to be raised from +forty-two to fifty, and Ireland was to be included under the new +Military Service Bill now introduced. England, Scotland, and Wales had +cheerfully submitted to conscription when first enacted by Mr. Asquith +in 1916, and to all the additional combings of industry and extension of +obligation that had been required in the past two years. Agriculture and +other essential industries were being starved for want of labour, and +men had actually been brought back from the sorely pressed armies to +produce supplies imperatively needed at home. + +But from all this Ireland had hitherto been exempt. To escape the call +of the country a man had only to prove that he was "ordinarily resident +in Ireland"; for conscription did not cross the Irish Sea. From most of +the privations cheerfully borne in Great Britain the Irishman had been +equally free. Food rationing did not trouble him, and, lest he should go +short of accustomed plenty, it was even forbidden to carry a parcel of +butter across the Channel from Ireland. Horse-racing went on as usual. +Emigration had been suspended during the war, so that Ireland was +unusually full of young men who, owing to the unwonted prosperity of the +country resulting from war prices for its produce, were "having the +time of their lives." Mr. Bonar Law, in the debates on the Military +Service Bill, gave reasons for the calculation that there were not far +short of 400,000 young men of military age, and of "Al" physique, in +Ireland available for the Army. + +No wonder that Mr. Lloyd George said it would be impossible to leave +this reservoir of man-power untouched when men of fifty, whose sons were +already with the colours, were to be called up in Great Britain! But the +bare suggestion of doing such a thing raised a hurricane of angry +vituperation and menace from the Nationalists in the House of Commons. +When Mr. Lloyd George, in conciliatory accents, observed that he had no +wish to raise unnecessary controversy, as Heaven knew they had trouble +enough already, "You will get more of it," shouted Mr. Flavin. "You will +have another battle front in Ireland," interjected Mr. Byrne. Mr. +Flavin, getting more and more excited, called out, with reference to the +machinery for enrolment explained by the Prime Minister--"It will never +begin. Ireland will not have it at any price"; and again, a moment +later, "You come across and try to take them." Mr. Devlin was fully as +fierce as these less prominent members of his party, and after many +wrathful interruptions he turned aside the debate into a discussion +about a trumpery report of one of the sub-committees of the Irish +Convention. + +It was truly a sad and shameful scene to be witnessed in the House of +Commons at such a moment. It would have been so even if the contention +of the Nationalists had been reasonably tenable. But it was not. They +maintained that only an Irish Parliament had the right to enforce +conscription in Ireland. But at the beginning of the war they had +accepted the proviso that it should run its course before Home Rule came +into operation. And even if it had been in operation, and a Parliament +had been sitting in Dublin under Mr. Asquith's Act, which the +Nationalists had accepted as a settlement of their demands, that +Parliament would have had nothing to do with the raising of military +forces by conscription or otherwise, this being a duty reserved, as in +every federal or quasi-federal constitution, for the central +legislative authority alone. + +But it was useless to point this out to the infuriated Nationalist +members. Mr. William O'Brien denounced the idea of compelling Irishmen +to bear the same burden as their British fellow-subjects as "a +declaration of war against Ireland"; and he and Mr. Healy joined Mr. +Dillon and his followers in opposing with all their parliamentary skill, +and all their voting power, the extension to Ireland of compulsory +service. Mr. Healy, whose vindictive memory had not forgotten the +Curragh Incident before the war, could not forbear from having an +ungenerous fling at General Gough, who had just been driven back by the +overwhelming numerical superiority of the German attack, and who, at the +moment when Mr. Healy was taunting him in the House of Commons, was +re-forming his gallant 5th Army to resist the enemy's further advance. + +In comparison with this Mr. Healy's stale gibe at "Carson's Army," +however inappropriate to the occasion, was a venial offence. Carson +himself replied in a gentle and conciliatory tone to Mr. Healy's coarse +diatribe. + + "My honourable friend," he said, "talked of Carson's Army. You may, + if you like, call it with contempt Carson's Army. But it has just + gone into action for the fourth time, and many of them have paid + the supreme sacrifice. They have covered themselves with glory, + and, what is more, they have covered Ireland with glory, and they + have left behind sad homes throughout the small hamlets of Ulster, + as I well know, losing three or four sons in many a home." + +On behalf of Ulster Carson gave unhesitating support to the Government. +He and his colleagues from Ulster had always voted against the exemption +of Ireland from the Military Service Acts. It was true, no doubt, as the +Nationalists jeeringly maintained, that conscription was no more desired +in Ulster than in any other part of the United Kingdom. Of course it was +not; it was liked nowhere. But Carson declared that "equality of +sacrifice" was the principle to be acted upon, and Ulster accepted it. +He "would go about hanging his head in shame," if his own part of the +United Kingdom were absolved from sacrifice which the national necessity +imposed on the inhabitants of Great Britain. + +The Bill was carried through by the 16th of April in the teeth of +Nationalist opposition maintained through all its stages. Mr. Bonar Law +announced emphatically that the Government intended to enforce the +compulsory powers in Ireland; but he also said that yet another attempt +was to be made to settle the constitutional question by bringing in "at +an early date" a measure of Home Rule which the Government hoped might +be carried at once and "without violent controversy." + +After the experience of the past this seemed an amazingly sanguine +estimate of the prospects of any proposals that ingenuity could devise. +But what the nature of the measure was to have been was never made +known; for the Bill was still in the hands of a drafting committee when +a dangerous German intrigue in Ireland was discovered; and the +Lord-Lieutenant made a proclamation on the 18th of May announcing that +the Government had information "that certain of the King's subjects in +Ireland had entered into a treasonable communication with the German +enemy, and that strict measures must be taken to put down this German +plot."[98] On the same day one hundred and fifty Sinn Feiners were +arrested, including Mr. De Valera and Mr. Arthur Griffith, and on the +25th a statement was published indicating the connection between this +conspiracy and Casement's designs in 1916. The Government had definitely +ascertained some weeks earlier, and must have known at the very time +when they were promising a new Home Rule Bill, that a plan for landing +arms in Ireland was ripe for execution.[99] Indeed, on the 12th of April +a German agent who had landed in Ireland was arrested, with papers in +his possession showing that De Valera had worked out a detailed +organisation of the rebel army, and expected to be in a position to +muster half a million of trained men.[100] + +Such was the fruit of the Government's infatuation which, under the +delusion of "creating an atmosphere of good-will" for the Convention, +had released a few months previously a number of dangerous men who had +been proved to be in league with the Germans, and who now took advantage +of this clemency to conspire afresh with the foreign enemy. It was not +surprising that Mr. Bonar Law said it was impossible for the Government, +under these circumstances, to proceed with their proposals for a new +Home Rule Bill. + +On the other hand, no sooner was the Military Service Act on the +Statute-book than the Government began to recede from Mr. Bonar Law's +declaration that they would at all costs enforce it in Ireland. They +intimated that if voluntary recruiting improved it might be possible to +dispense with compulsion. But although Mr. Shortt--who succeeded Mr. +Duke as Chief Secretary in May, at the same time as Lord Wimborne was +replaced in the Lord-Lieutenancy by Field-Marshal Lord French--complained +on the 29th of July that the Nationalists had given no help to the +Government in obtaining voluntary recruits in Ireland, and, "instead of +taking Sinn Fein by the throat, had tried to go one better,"[101] the +compulsory powers of the Military Service Act remained a dead letter. + +The fact was that the Nationalists had followed up their fierce +opposition to the Bill by raising a still more fierce agitation in +Ireland against conscription. In this they joined hands with Sinn Fein, +and the whole weight of the Catholic Church was thrown into the same +scale. From the altars of that Church the thunderbolts of ecclesiastical +anathema were loosed against the Government, and--what was more +effective--against any who should obey the call to arms. The Government +gave way before the violence of the storm, and the lesson to be learnt +from their defeat was not thrown away on the rebel party in Ireland. +There was, naturally, widespread indignation in England at the spectacle +of the youth of Ireland taking its ease at home and earning +extravagantly high war-time wages while middle-aged bread-winners in +England were compulsorily called to the colours; but the marvellously +easy-going disposition of Englishmen submitted to the injustice with no +more than a legitimate grumble. + +In June 1918, while this agitation against conscription was at its +height, the hostility of the Nationalists took a new turn. A manifesto, +intended as a justification of their resistance to conscription, was +issued in the form of a letter to Mr. Wilson, President of the United +States, signed by Mr. Dillon, Mr. Devlin, Mr. William O'Brien, Mr. +Healy, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, and some others, including leaders of +Sinn Fein. It was a remarkable document, the authorship of which was +popularly attributed to Mr. T.M. Healy. If it ever came under the eye of +Mr. Wilson, a man of literary taste and judgment, it must have afforded +him a momentary diversion from the cares of his exalted office. A longer +experience than his of diplomatic correspondence would fail to produce +from the pigeon-holes of all the Chanceries a rival to this +extraordinary composition, the ill-arranged paragraphs of which formed +an inextricable jumble of irrelevant material, in which bad logic, bad +history, and barren invective were confusedly intermingled in a torrent +of turgid rhetoric. The extent of its range may be judged from the fact +that Shakespeare's allusions to Joan of Arc were not deemed too remote +from the subject of conscription in Ireland during the Great War to find +a place in this amazing despatch. For the amusement of anyone who may +care to examine so rare a curiosity of English prose, it will be found +in full in the Appendix to this volume, where it may be compared by way +of contrast with the restrained rejoinder sent also to President Wilson +by Sir Edward Carson, the Lord Mayor of Belfast, the Mayor of Derry, and +several loyalist representatives of Labour in Ulster. + +In the Nationalist letter to President Wilson reference was made more +than once to the sympathy that prevailed in Ireland in the eighteenth +century with the American colonists in the War of Independence. The use +made of it was a good example of the way in which a half-truth may, for +argumentative purposes, be more misleading than a complete falsehood. +"To-day, as in the days of George Washington"--so Mr. Wilson was +informed--"nearly half the American forces have been furnished from the +descendants of our banished race." No mention was made of the fact that +the members of the "banished race" in Washington's army were +Presbyterian emigrants from Ulster, who formed almost the entire +population of great districts in the American Colonies at that +time.[102] The late Mr. Whitelaw Reid told an Edinburgh audience in 1911 +that more than half the Presbyterian population of Ulster emigrated to +America between 1730 and 1770, and that at the date of the Revolution +they made more than one-sixth of the population of the Colonies. The +Declaration of Independence itself, he added-- + + "Is sacredly preserved in the handwriting of an Ulsterman, who was + Secretary of Congress. It was publicly read by an Ulsterman, and + first printed by another. Washington's first Cabinet had four + members, of whom one was an Ulsterman."[103] + +It is, of course, true that not all Ulster Presbyterians of that period +were the firm and loyal friends of Great Britain that their descendants +became after a century's experience of the legislative Union. But it is +the latter who best in Ireland can trace kinship with the founders of +the United States, and who are entitled--if any Irishmen are--to base on +that kinship a claim to the sympathy and support of the American people. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[98] _Annual Register_, 1918, p, 87. + +[99] Ibid., p. 88 + +[100] Ibid. + +[101] _Annual Register_, 1918, p. 90. + +[102] See Lecky's _History of England in the Eighteenth Century_, vol. +iv, p. 430. + +[103] See Lecture to the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution by Whitelaw +Reid, reported in _The Scotsman_, November 2nd, 1911. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE ULSTER PARLIAMENT + + +ON the 25th of November, 1918, the Parliament elected in December 1910 +was at last dissolved, a few days after the Armistice with Germany. The +new House of Commons was very different from the old. Seventy-two Sinn +Fein members were returned from Ireland, sweeping away all but half a +dozen of the old Nationalist party; but, in accordance with their fixed +policy, the Sinn Fein members never presented themselves at Westminster +to take the oath and their seats. That quarter of the House of Commons +which for thirty years had been packed with the most fierce and +disciplined of the political parties was therefore now given over to +mild supporters of the Coalition Government, the only remnant of +so-called "constitutional Nationalism" being Mr. T.P. O'Connor, Mr. +Devlin, Captain Redmond, and two or three less prominent companions, who +survived like monuments of a bygone age. + +Ulster Unionists, on the other hand, were greatly strengthened by the +recent Redistribution Act. Sir Edward Carson was elected member for the +great working-class constituency of the Duncairn Division of Belfast, +instead of for Dublin University, which he had so long represented, and +twenty-two ardent supporters accompanied him from Ulster to Westminster. +In the reconstruction of the Government which followed the election, +Carson was pressed to return to office, but declined. Colonel James +Craig, whose war services in connection with the Ulster Division were +rewarded by a baronetcy, became Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry +of Pensions, and the Marquis of Londonderry accepted office as +Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Air Ministry. + +Although the termination of hostilities by the Armistice was not in the +legal sense the "end of the war," it brought it within sight. No one in +January 1919 dreamt that the process of making peace and ratifying the +necessary treaties would drag on for a seemingly interminable length of +time, and it was realised, with grave misgiving in Ulster, that the Home +Rule Act of 1914 would necessarily come into force as soon as peace was +finally declared, while as yet nothing had been done to redeem the +promise of an Amending Bill given by Mr. Asquith, and reiterated by Mr. +Lloyd George. The compact between the latter and the Unionist Party, on +which the Coalition had swept the country, had made it clear that fresh +Irish legislation was to be expected, and the general lines on which it +would be based were laid down; but there was also an intimation that a +settlement must wait till the condition of Ireland should warrant +it.[104] + +The state of Ireland was certainly not such as to make it appear +probable that any sane Government would take the risk of handing over +control of the country immediately to the Sinn Feiners, whom the recent +elections had proved to be in an overwhelming majority in the three +southern provinces. By the law, not of England alone, but of every +civilised State, that party was tainted through and through with high +treason. It had attempted to "succour the King's enemies" in every way +in its power. The Government had in its possession evidence of two +conspiracies, in which, during the late frightful war, these Irishmen +had been in league with the Germans to bring defeat and disaster upon +England and her Allies, and the second of these plots was only made +possible by the misconceived clemency of the Government in releasing +from custody the ring-leaders in the first. + +And these Sinn Fein rebels left the Government no excuse for any +illusion as to their being either chastened or contrite in spirit. +Contemptuously ignoring their election as members of the Imperial +Parliament, where they never put in an appearance because it would +require them to take an oath of allegiance to the Crown, they openly +held a Congress in Dublin in January 1919 where a Declaration of +Independence was read, and a demand made for the evacuation of Ireland +by the forces of the Crown. A "Ministry" was also appointed, which +purported to make itself responsible for administration in Ireland. +Outrages of a daring character became more and more frequent, and gave +evidence of being the work of efficient organisation. + +President Wilson's coinage of the unfortunate and ambiguous expression +"self-determination" made it a catch-penny cry in relation to Ireland; +but, in reply to Mr. Devlin's demand for a recognition of that +"principle," Mr. Lloyd George pointed out that it had been tried in the +Convention, with the result that both Nationalists and Unionists had +been divided among themselves, and he said he despaired of any +settlement in Ireland until Irishmen could agree. Nevertheless, in +October 1919 he appointed a Cabinet Committee, with Mr. Walter Long as +Chairman, to make recommendations for dealing with the question of Irish +Government. + +But murders of soldiers and police had now become so scandalously +frequent that in November a Proclamation was issued suppressing Sinn +Fein and kindred organisations. It did nothing to improve the state of +the country, which grew worse than ever in the last few weeks of the +year. On the 19th of December a carefully planned attempt on the life of +the Lord-Lieutenant, Lord French, proved how complete was the impunity +relied upon by the organised assassins who, calling themselves an Irish +Republican Army, terrorised the country. + +It was in such conditions that, just before the close of the +parliamentary session, the Prime Minister disclosed the intentions of +the Government. He laid down three "basic facts," which he said governed +the situation: (1) Three-fourths of the Irish people were bitterly +hostile, and were at heart rebels against the Crown and Government. (2) +Ulster was a complete contrast, which would make it an outrage to place +her people under the rest of Ireland.[105] (3) No separation from the +Empire could be tolerated, and any attempt to force it would be fought +as the United States had fought against secession. On these +considerations he based the proposals which were to be embodied in +legislation in the next session. Sir Edward Carson, who in the light of +past experience was too wary to take all Mr. Lloyd George's declarations +at their face value, said at once that he could give no support to the +policy outlined by the Prime Minister until he was convinced that the +latter intended to go through with it to the end. + +The Bill to give effect to these proposals (which became the Government +of Ireland Act, 1920) was formally introduced on the 25th of February, +1920, and Carson then went over to Belfast to consult with the Unionist +Council as to the action to be taken by the Ulster members. + +The measure was a long and complicated one of seventy clauses and six +schedules. Its effect, stated briefly, was to set up two Parliaments in +Ireland, one for the six Protestant counties of Ulster and the other for +the rest of Ireland. In principle it was the "clean cut" which had been +several times proposed, except that, instead of retaining Ulster in +legislative union with Great Britain, she was to be endowed with local +institutions of her own in every respect similar to, and commensurate +with, those given to the Parliament in Dublin. In addition, a Council of +Ireland was created, composed of an equal number of members from each of +the two legislatures. This Council was given powers in regard to private +bill legislation, and matters of minor importance affecting both parts +of the island which the two Parliaments might mutually agree to commit +to its administration. Power was given to the two Parliaments to +establish by identical Acts at any time a Parliament for all Ireland to +supersede the Council, and to form a single autonomous constitution for +the whole of Ireland. + +The Council of Ireland occupied a prominent place in the debates on the +Bill. It was held up as a symbol of the "unity of Ireland," and the +authors of the measure were able to point to it as supplying machinery +by which "partition" could be terminated as soon as Irishmen agreed +among themselves in wishing to have a single national Government. It was +not a feature of the Bill that found favour in Ulster; but, as it could +do no harm and provided an argument against those who denounced +"partition," the Ulster members did not think it worth while to oppose +it. + +But when Carson met the Ulster Unionist Council on the 6th of March the +most difficult point he had to deal with was the same that had given so +much trouble in the negotiations of 1916. The Bill defined the area +subject to the "Parliament of Northern Ireland" as the six counties +which the Ulster Council had agreed four years earlier to accept as the +area to be excluded from the Home Rule Act. The question now to be +decided was whether this same area should still be accepted, or an +amendment moved for including in Northern Ireland the other three +counties of the Province of Ulster. The same harrowing experience which +the Council had undergone in 1916 was repeated in an aggravated +form.[106] To separate themselves from fellow loyalists in Monaghan, +Cavan, and Donegal was hateful to every delegate from the other six +counties, and it was heartrending to be compelled to resist another +moving appeal by so valued a friend as Lord Farnham. But the inexorable +index of statistics demonstrated that, although Unionists were in a +majority when geographical Ulster was considered as a unit, yet the +distribution of population made it certain that a separate Parliament +for the whole Province would have a precarious existence, while its +administration of purely Nationalist districts would mean unending +conflict. + +It was, therefore, decided that no proposal for extending the area +should be made by the Ulster members. Carson made it clear in the +debates on the Bill that Ulster had not moved from her old position of +desiring nothing except the Union; that he was still convinced there was +"no alternative to the Union unless separation"; but that, while he +would take no responsibility for a Bill which Ulster did not want, he +and his colleagues would not actively oppose its progress to the +Statute-book. + +It did not, however, receive the Royal Assent until two days before +Christmas, and during all these months the condition of Ireland was one +of increasing anarchy. The Act provided that, if the people of Southern +Ireland refused to work the new Constitution, the administration should +be carried on by a system similar to Crown Colony government. Carson +gave an assurance that in Ulster they would do their best to make the +Act a success, and immediate steps were taken in Belfast to make good +this undertaking. + +To the people of Ulster the Act of 1920, though it involved the +sacrifice of much that they had ardently hoped to preserve, came as a +relief to their worst fears. It was represented as a final settlement, +and finality was what they chiefly desired, if they could get it without +being forced to submit to a Dublin Parliament. The disloyal conduct of +Nationalist Ireland during the war, and the treason and terrorism +organised by Sinn Fein after the war, had widened the already broad gulf +between North and South. The determination never to submit to an +all-Ireland Parliament was more firmly fixed than ever. The Act of 1920, +which repealed Mr. Asquith's Act of 1914, gave Ulster what she had +prepared to fight for, if necessary, before the war. It was the +fulfilment of the Craigavon resolution--to take over the government "of +those districts which they could control."[107] The Parliament of +Northern Ireland established by the Act was in fact the legalisation of +the Ulster Provisional Government of 1913. It placed Ulster in a +position of equality with the South, both politically and economically. +The two Legislatures in Ireland possessed the same powers, and were +subject to an equal reservation of authority to the Imperial Parliament. + +But with the passing of the Act the long and consummate leadership of +Sir Edward Carson came to an end. If he had not succeeded in bringing +the Ulster people into a Promised Land, he had at least conducted an +orderly retreat to a position of safety. The almost miraculous skill +with which he had directed all the operations of a protracted and +harassing campaign, avoiding traps and pitfalls at every step, +foreseeing and providing against countless crises, frustrating with +unfailing adroitness the manoeuvres both of implacable enemies and +treacherous "friends," was fully appreciated by his grateful followers, +who had for years past regarded him with an intensity of personal +devotion seldom given even to the greatest of political leaders. But he +felt that the task of opening a new chapter in the history of Ulster, +and of inaugurating the new institutions now established, was work for +younger hands. Hard as he was pressed to accept the position of first +Prime Minister of Ulster, he firmly persisted in his refusal; and on his +recommendation the man who had been his able and faithful lieutenant +throughout the long Ulster Movement was unanimously chosen to succeed +him in the leadership. + +Sir James Craig did not hesitate to respond to the call, although to do +so he had to resign an important post in the British Government, that of +Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty, with excellent prospects of +further promotion. As soon as the elections in "Northern Ireland," +conducted under the system of Proportional Representation, as provided +by the Act of 1920, were complete, Sir James, whose followers numbered +forty as against a Nationalist and Sinn Fein minority of twelve, was +sent for by the Viceroy and commissioned to form a Ministry. He +immediately set himself to his new and exceedingly difficult duties with +characteristic thoroughness. The whole apparatus of government +administration had to be built up from the foundation. Departments, for +which there was no existing office accommodation or personnel, had to +be called into existence and efficiently organised, and all this +preliminary work had to be undertaken at a time when the territory +subject to the new Government was beset by open and concealed enemies +working havoc with bombs and revolvers, with which the Government had +not yet legal power to cope. + +But Sir James Craig pressed on with the work, undismayed by the +difficulties, and resolved that the Parliament in Belfast should be +opened at the earliest possible date. The Marquis of Londonderry gave a +fresh proof of his Ulster patriotism by resigning his office in the +Imperial Government and accepting the portfolio of Education in Sir +James Craig's Cabinet, and with it the leadership of the Ulster Senate; +in which the Duke of Abercorn also, to the great satisfaction of the +Ulster people, consented to take a seat. Mr. Dawson Bates, the +indefatigable Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council during the whole +of the Ulster Movement, was appointed Minister for Home Affairs, and Mr. +E.M. Archdale became Minister for Agriculture. The first act of the +House of Commons of Northern Ireland was to choose Major Hugh O'Neill as +their Speaker, while the important position of Chairman of Committees +was entrusted to Mr. Thomas Moles, one of the ablest recruits of the +Ulster Parliamentary Party, whom the General Election of 1918 had sent +to Westminster as one of the members for Belfast, and who had given +ample evidence of his capacity both in the Imperial Parliament and on +the Secretarial Staff of the Irish Convention of 1917. + +Meantime, in the South the Act of 1920 was treated with absolute +contempt; no step was taken to hold elections or to form an +Administration, although it must be remembered that the flouted Act +conferred a larger measure of Home Rule than had ever been offered by +previous Bills. Thus by one of those curious ironies that have +continually marked the history of Ireland, the only part of the island +where Home Rule operated was the part that had never desired it, while +the provinces that had demanded Home Rule for generations refused to use +it when it was granted them. + +In Ulster the new order of things was accepted with acquiescence rather +than with enthusiasm. But the warmer emotion was immediately called +forth when it became known that His Majesty the King had decided to open +the Ulster Parliament in person on the 22nd of June, 1921, especially as +it was fully realised that, owing to the anarchical condition of the +country, the King's presence in Belfast would be a characteristic +disregard of personal danger in the discharge of public duty. And when, +on the eve of the royal visit, it was intimated that the Queen had been +graciously pleased to accede to Sir James Craig's request that she +should accompany the King to Belfast, the enthusiasm of the loyal people +of the North rose to fever heat. + +At any time, and under any circumstances, the reigning Sovereign and +his Consort would have been received by a population so noted for its +sentiment of loyalty to the Throne as that of Ulster with demonstrations +of devotion exceeding the ordinary. But the present occasion was felt to +have a very special significance. The opening of Parliament by the King +in State is one of the most ancient and splendid of ceremonial pageants +illustrating the history of British institutions. It was felt in Ulster +that the association of this time-honoured ceremonial with the baptism, +so to speak, of the latest offspring of the Mother of Parliaments +stamped the Royal Seal upon the achievement of Ulster, and gave it a +dignity, prestige, and promise of permanence which might otherwise have +been lacking. No city in the United Kingdom had witnessed so many +extraordinary displays of popular enthusiasm in the last ten years as +Belfast, some of which had left on the minds of observers a firm belief +that such intensity of emotion in a great concourse of people could not +be exceeded. The scene in the streets when the King and Queen drove from +the quay, on the arrival of the royal yacht, to the City Hall, was held +by general consent to equal, since it could not surpass, any of those +great demonstrations of the past in popular fervour. At any rate, +persons of long experience in attendance on the Royal Family gave it as +their opinion in the evening that they had never before seen so +impressive a display of public devotion to the person of the Sovereign. + +Two buildings in Belfast inseparably associated with Ulster's stand for +union, the City Hall and the Ulster Hall, were the scenes of the chief +events of the King's visit. The former, described by one of the English +correspondents as "easily the most magnificent municipal building in the +three Kingdoms,"[108] was placed at the disposal of the Ulster +Government by the Corporation for temporary use as a Parliament House. +The Council Chamber, a fine hall of dignified proportions with a dais +and canopied chair at the upper end, made an appropriate frame for the +ceremony of opening Parliament, and the arrangements both of the +Chamber itself and of the approaches and entrances to it made it a +simple matter to model the procedure as closely as possible on that +followed at Westminster. + +Among the many distinguished people who assembled in the Ulster Capital +for the occasion, there was one notable absentee. Lord Carson of +Duncairn--for this was the title that Sir Edward Carson had assumed on +being appointed a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary a few weeks previously--was +detained in London by judicial duty in the House of Lords; and possibly +reasons of delicacy not difficult to understand restrained him from +making arrangements for absence. But the marked ovation given to Lady +Carson wherever she was recognised in the streets of Belfast showed that +the great leader was not absent from the popular mind at this moment of +vindication of his statesmanship. + +Such an event as that which brought His Majesty to Belfast was naturally +an occasion for bestowing marks of distinction for public service. Sir +James Craig wisely made it also an occasion for letting bygones be +bygones by recommending Lord Pirrie for a step in the Peerage. Among +those who received honours were several whose names have appeared in the +preceding chapters of this book. Mr. William Robert Young, for thirty +years one of the most indefatigable workers for the Unionist cause in +Ulster, and Colonel Wallace, one of the most influential of Carson's +local lieutenants, were made Privy Councillors, as was also Colonel +Percival-Maxwell, who raised and commanded a battalion of the Ulster +Division in the war. Colonel F.H. Crawford and Colonel Spender were +awarded the C.B.E. for services to the nation during the war; but +Ulstermen did not forget services of another sort to the Ulster cause +before the Germans came on the scene.[109] A knighthood was given to Mr. +Dawson Bates, who had exchanged the Secretaryship of the Ulster Unionist +Council for the portfolio of a Cabinet Minister. + +These honours were bestowed by the King in person at an investiture held +in the Ulster Hall in the afternoon. There must have been many present +whose minds went back to some of the most stirring events of Ulster's +domestic history which had been transacted in the same building within +recent years. Did Sir Hamar Greenwood, the Chief Secretary, as he stood +in attendance on the Sovereign in the resplendent uniform of a Privy +Councillor, look in curiosity round the walls which he and Mr. Churchill +had been prohibited from entering on a memorable occasion when they had +to content themselves with an imported tent in a football field instead? +Did Colonel Wallace's thoughts wander back to the scene of wild +enthusiasm in that hall on the evening before the Covenant, when he +presented the ancient Boyne flag to the Ulster leader? Did those who +spontaneously started the National Anthem in the presence of the King +without warrant from the prearranged programme, and made the Queen smile +at the emphasis with which they "confounded politics" and "frustrated +knavish tricks," remember the fervour with which on many a past occasion +the same strains testified to Ulster's loyalty in the midst of +perplexity and apprehension? If these memories crowded in, they must +have added to the sense of relief arising from the conviction that the +ceremony they were now witnessing was the realisation of the policy +propounded by Carson, when he declared that Ulster must always be ruled +either by the Imperial Parliament or by a Government of her own. + +But the moment of all others on that memorable day that must have been +suggestive of such reflections was when the King formally opened the +first Parliament of Northern Ireland in the same building that had +witnessed the signing of the Ulster Covenant. Without the earlier event +the later could not have been. If 1921 could have been fully foreseen in +1912 it might have appeared to many Covenanters as the disappointment of +a cherished ideal. But those who lived to listen to the King's Speech in +the City Hall realised that it was the dissipation of foreboding. +However regarded, it was, as King George himself pronounced, "a +profoundly moving occasion in Irish history." + +The Speech from the Throne in which these words occurred made a deep +impression all over the world, and nowhere more than in Ulster itself. +No people more ardently shared the touchingly expressed desire of the +King that his coming to Ireland might "prove to be the first step +towards an end of strife amongst her people, whatever their race or +creed." So, too, when His Majesty told the Ulster Parliament that he +"felt assured they would do their utmost to make it an instrument of +happiness and good government for all parts of the community which they +represented," the Ulster people believed that the King's confidence in +them would not prove to have been misplaced. + +Happily, no prophetic vision of those things that were shortly to come +to pass broke in to disturb the sense of satisfaction with the haven +that had been reached. The future, with its treachery, its alarms, its +fresh causes of uncertainty and of conflict, was mercifully hidden from +the eyes of the Ulster people when they acclaimed the inauguration of +their Parliament by their King. They accepted responsibility for the +efficient working of institutions thus placed in their keeping by the +highest constitutional Authority in the British Empire, although they +had never asked for them, and still believed that the system they had +been driven to abandon was better than the new; and they opened this +fresh chapter in their history in firm faith that what had received so +striking a token of the Sovereign's sympathy and approval would never be +taken from them except with their own consent. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[104] See Letter from Mr. Lloyd George to Mr. Bonar Law, published in +the Press on November 18th, 1918. + +[105] Precisely twenty-four months later this outrage was committed by +Mr. Lloyd George himself, with the concurrence of Mr. Austen +Chamberlain. + +[106] _Ante_, p. 248. + +[107] See _ante_, p. 51. + +[108] _The Morning Post_, June 23rd, 1921. + +[109] See _ante_, Chapter XVIII. + + + + +APPENDIX A + +NATIONALIST LETTER TO PRESIDENT WILSON + +To THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + +SIR, + +When, a century and a half ago, the American Colonies dared to assert +the ancient principle that the subject should not be taxed without the +consent of his representatives, England strove to crush them. To-day +England threatens to crush the people of Ireland if they do not accept a +tax, not in money but in blood, against the protest of their +representatives. + +During the American Revolution the champions of your liberties appealed +to the Irish Parliament against British aggression, and asked for a +sympathetic judgment on their action. What the verdict was, history +records. + +To-day it is our turn to appeal to the people of America. We seek no +more fitting prelude to that appeal than the terms in which your +forefathers greeted ours: + + "We are desirous of possessing the good opinion of the virtuous and + humane. We are peculiarly desirous of furnishing you with the true + state of our motives and objects, the better to enable you to judge + of our conduct with accuracy, and determine the merits of the + controversy with impartiality and precision." + +If the Irish race had been conscriptable by England in the war against +the United Colonies is it certain that your Republic would to-day +flourish in the enjoyment of its noble Constitution? + +Since then the Irish Parliament has been destroyed, by methods described +by the greatest of British statesmen as those of "black-guardism and +baseness." Ireland, deprived of its protection and overborne by more +than six to one in the British Lower House, and by more than a hundred +to one in the Upper House, is summoned by England to submit to a +hitherto-unheard-of decree against her liberties. + +In the fourth year of a war ostensibly begun for the defence of small +nations, a law conscribing the manhood of Ireland has been passed, in +defiance of the wishes of our people. The British Parliament, which +enacted it, had long outrun its course, being in the eighth year of an +existence constitutionally limited to five. To warrant the coercive +statute, no recourse was had to the electorate of Britain, much less to +that of Ireland. Yet the measure was forced through within a week, +despite the votes of Irish representatives, and under a system of +closure never applied to the debates which established conscription for +Great Britain on a milder basis. + +To repel the calumnies invented to becloud our action, we venture to +address the successors of the belligerents who once appealed to Ireland. +The feelings which inspire America deeply concern our race; so, in the +forefront of our remonstrance, we feel bound to set forth that this +Conscription Act involves for Irishmen questions far larger than any +affecting mere internal politics. They raise a sovereign principle +between a nation that has never abandoned her independent rights, and an +adjacent nation that has persistently sought to strangle them. + +Were Ireland to surrender that principle, she must submit to a usurped +power, condone the fraudulent prostration of her Parliament in 1800, and +abandon all claim to distinct nationality. Deep-seated and far-reaching +are the problems remorselessly aroused by the unthinking and violent +courses taken at Westminster. + +Thus the sudden and unlooked-for departure of British politicians from +their past military procedure towards this island provokes acutely the +fundamental issue of Self-determination. That issue will decide whether +our whole economic, social, and political life must lie at the +uncontrolled disposition of another race whose title to legislate for us +rests on force and fraud alone. + +Ireland is a nation more ancient than England, and is one of the oldest +in Christendom. Its geographical boundaries are clearly defined. It +cherishes its own traditions, history, language, music, and culture. It +throbs with a national consciousness sharpened not only by religious +persecution, but by the violation of its territorial, juristic, and +legislative rights. The authority of which its invaders boasted rests +solely on an alleged Papal Bull. The symbols of attempted conquest are +roofless castles, ruined abbeys, and confiscated cathedrals. + +The title of King of Ireland was first conferred on the English monarch +by a statute of the Parliament held in Ireland in 1542, when only four +of our counties lay under English sway. That title originated in no +English enactment. Neither did the Irish Parliament so originate. Every +military aid granted by that Parliament to English kings was purely +voluntary. Even when the Penal Code denied representation to the +majority of the Irish population, military service was never enforced +against them. + +For generations England claimed control over both legislative and +judicial functions in Ireland, but in 1783 these pretensions were +altogether renounced, and the sovereignty of the Irish Legislature was +solemnly recognised. A memorable British statute declared it-- + + "Established and ascertained for ever, and shall at no time + hereafter be questioned or questionable." + +For this, the spirit evoked by the successful revolt of the United +States of America is to be thanked, and Ireland won no mean return for +the sympathy invited by your Congress. Yet scarcely had George III +signified his Royal Assent to that "scrap of paper," when his Ministers +began to debauch the Irish Parliament. No Catholic had, for over a +century, been allowed to sit within its walls; and only a handful of the +population enjoyed the franchise. In 1800, by shameless bribery, a +majority of corrupt Colonists was procured to embrace the London +subjugation and vote away the existence of their Legislature for +pensions, pelf, and titles. + +The authors of the Act of Union, however, sought to soften its shackles +by limiting the future jurisdiction of the British Parliament. Imposed +on "a reluctant and protesting nation," it was tempered by articles +guaranteeing Ireland against the coarser and more obvious forms of +injustice. To guard against undue taxation, "exemptions and abatements" +were stipulated for; but the "predominant partner" has long since +dishonoured that part of the contract, and the weaker side has no power +to enforce it. No military burdens were provided for, although Britain +framed the terms of the treaty to her own liking. That an obligation to +yield enforced service was thereby undertaken has never hitherto been +asserted. We therefore cannot neglect to support this protest by citing +a main proviso of the Treaty of Union. Before the destruction of the +Irish Parliament no standing army or navy was raised, nor was any +contribution made, except by way of gift, to the British Army or Navy. +No Irish law for the levying of drafts existed; and such a proposal was +deemed unconstitutional. Hence the 8th Article of the Treaty provides +that-- + + "All laws in force at the time of the Union shall remain as now by + law established, subject only to such alterations and regulations + from time to time as circumstances may appear to the Parliament of + the United Kingdom to require." + +Where there was no law establishing military service for Ireland, what +"alteration or regulation" respecting such a law can legally bind? Can +an enactment such as Conscription, affecting the legal and moral rights +of an entire people, be described as an "alteration" or "regulation" +springing from a pre-existing law? Is the Treaty to be construed as +Britain pleases, and always to the prejudice of the weaker side? + +British military statecraft has hitherto rigidly held by a separate +tradition for Ireland. The Territorial military system, created in 1907 +for Great Britain, was not set up in Ireland. The Irish Militia was then +actually disbanded, and the War Office insisted that no Territorial +force to replace it should be embodied. Stranger still, the Volunteer +Acts (Naval or Military) from 1804 to 1900 (some twenty in all) were +never extended to Ireland. In 1880, when a Conservative House of Commons +agreed to tolerate volunteering, the measure was thrown out by the House +of Lords on the plea that Irishmen must not be allowed to learn the use +of arms. + +For, despite the Bill of Rights, the privilege of free citizens to bear +arms in self-defence has been refused to us. The Constitution of America +affirms that right as appertaining to the common people, but the men of +Ireland are forbidden to bear arms in their own defence. Where, then, +lies the basis of the claim that they can be forced to take them up for +the defence of others? + +It will suffice to present such considerations in outline without +disinterring the details of the past misgovernment of our country. Mr. +Gladstone avowed that these were marked by "every horror and every shame +that could disgrace the relations between a strong country and a weak +one." After an orgy of Martial Law the Scottish General, Abercromby, +Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, wrote: "Every crime, every cruelty that +could be committed by Cossacks or Calmucks has been transacted here.... +The abuses of all kinds I found can scarcely be believed or enumerated." +Lord Holland recalls that many people "were sold at so much a head to +the Prussians." + +We shall, therefore, pass by the story of the destruction of our +manufactures, of artificial famines, of the fomentation of uprisings, of +a hundred Coercion Acts, culminating in the perpetual "Act of +Repression" obtained by forgery, which graced Queen Victoria's Jubilee +Year in 1887. In our island the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, the +repression of free speech, gibbetings, shootings, and bayonetings, are +commonplace events. The effects of forced emigration and famine American +generosity has softened; and we do not seek a verdict on the general +merits of a system which enjoys the commendation of no foreigner except +Albert, Prince Consort, who declared that the Irish "were no more worthy +of sympathy than the Poles." + +It is known to you how our population shrank to its present fallen +state. Grants of money for emigration, "especially of families," were +provided even by the Land Act of 1881. Previous Poor Law Acts had +stimulated this "remedy." So late as 1891 a "Congested District" Board +was empowered to "aid emigration," although millions of Irishmen had in +the nineteenth century been evicted from their homes or driven abroad. + +Seventy years ago our population stood at 8,000,000, and, in the normal +ratio of increase, it should to-day amount to 16,000,000. Instead, it +has dwindled to 4,500,000; and it is from this residuum that our manhood +between the ages of eighteen and fifty-one is to be delivered up in such +measure as the strategists of the English War Cabinet may demand. + +To-day, as in the days of George Washington, nearly half the American +forces have been furnished from the descendants of our banished race. If +England could not, during your Revolution, regard that enrolment with +satisfaction, might she not set something now to Ireland's credit from +the racial composition of your Army or Navy? No other small nation has +been so bereft by law of her children, but in vain for Ireland has the +bread of exile been thrown upon the waters. + +Yet, while Self-determination is refused, we are required by law to +bleed to "make the world safe for democracy "--in every country except +our own. Surely this cannot be the meaning of America's message to +mankind glowing from the pen of her illustrious President? + +In the 750 years during which the stranger sway has blighted Ireland her +people have never had occasion to welcome an unselfish or generous deed +at the hands of their rulers. Every so-called "concession" was but the +loosening of a fetter. Every benefit sprang from a manipulation of our +own money by a foreign Treasury denying us an honest audit of accounts. +None was yielded as an act of grace. All were the offspring of +constraint, tumult, or political necessity. Reason and arguments fell on +deaf ears. To England the Union has brought enhanced wealth, population, +power, and importance; to Ireland increased taxation, stunted +industries, swollen emigration, and callous officialism. + +Possessing in this land neither moral nor intellectual pre-eminence, nor +any prestige derived from past merit or present esteem, the British +Executive claims to restrain our liberties, control our fortunes, and +exercise over our people the power of life and death. To obstruct the +recent Home Rule Bill it allowed its favourites to defy its Parliament +without punishment, to import arms from suspect regions with impunity, +to threaten "to break every law" to effectuate their designs to infect +the Army with mutiny and set up a rival Executive backed by military +array to enforce the rule of a caste against the vast majority of the +people. The highest offices of State became the guerdon of the +organisers of rebellion, boastful of aid from Germany. To-day they are +pillars of the Constitution, and the chief instrument of law. The only +laurels lacking to the leaders of the Mutineers are those transplanted +from the field of battle! + +Are we to fight to maintain a system so repugnant, and must Irishmen be +content to remain slaves themselves after freedom for distant lands has +been purchased by their blood? + +Heretofore in every clime, whenever the weak called for a defender, +wherever the flag of liberty was unfurled, that blood freely flowed. +Profiting by Irish sympathy with righteous causes Britain, at the +outbreak of war, attracted to her armies tens of thousands of our youth +ere even the Western Hemisphere had awakened to the wail of "small +nations." + +Irishmen, in their chivalrous eagerness, laid themselves open to the +reproach from some of their brethren of forgetting the woes of their own +land, which had suffered from its rulers, at one time or another, almost +every inhumanity for which Germany is impeached. It was hard to bear the +taunt that the army they were joining was that which held Ireland in +subjection; but fresh bitterness has been added to such reproaches by +what has since taken place. + +Nevertheless, in the face of persistent discouragements, Irish chivalry +remained ardent and aflame in the first years of the war. Tens of +thousands of the children of the Gael have perished in the conflict. +Their bones bleach upon the soil of Flanders or moulder beneath the +waves of Suvla Bay. The slopes of Gallipoli, the sands of Egypt, +Mesopotamia and Judasa afford them sepulture. Mons and Ypres provide +their monuments. Wherever the battle-line extends from the English +Channel to the Persian Gulf their ghostly voices whisper a response to +the roll-call of the guardian-spirits of Liberty. What is their reward? + +The spot on earth they loved best, and the land to which they owed their +first duty, and which they hoped their sacrifices might help to freedom, +lies unredeemed under an age-long thraldom. So, too, would it for ever +lie, were every man and every youth within the shores of Ireland to +immolate himself in England's service, unless the clamour of a dominant +caste be rebuked and stilled. + +Yet proof after proof accumulates that British Cabinets continue to be +towards our country as conscienceless as ever. They deceive frankly +nations throughout the world as to their Irish policy, while withholding +from us even the Act of Home Rule which in 1914 was placed on the +Statute-book. The recent "Convention," which they composed to initiate +reform, was brought to confusion by a letter from the Prime Minister +diminishing his original engagements. + +Such insincere manoeuvres have left an indelible sense of wrong rankling +in the hearts of Ireland. + +Capitulations are observed with French Canadians, with the Maltese, with +the Hindoos, with the Mohammedan Arabs, or the African Boers; but never +has the word of England, in any capital case, been kept towards the +"sister" island. + +The Parliaments of Australia and of South Africa--both of which (unlike +our ancient Legislature) were founded by British enactments--refused to +adopt conscription. This was well known when the law against Ireland was +resolved on. For opposing the application of that law to Irishmen, and +while this appeal to you, sir, was being penned, members of our +Conference have been arrested and deported without trial. It was even +sought to poison the wells of American sympathy by levelling against +them and others an allegation which its authors have failed to submit to +the investigation of any tribunal. + +To overlay malpractice by imputing to its victims perverse or criminal +conduct is the stale but never-failing device of tyranny. + +A claim has also been put forward by the British Foreign Office to +prevent you, Mr. President, as the head of a great allied Republic, from +acquiring first-hand information of the reasons why Ireland has +rejected, and will resist, conscription except in so far as the Military +Governor of Ireland, Field-Marshal Lord French, may be pleased to allow +you to peruse his version of our opinions. + +America's present conflict with Germany obstructs no argument that we +advance. "Liberty and ordered peace" we, too, strive for; and +confidently do we look to you, sir, and to America--whose freedom +Irishmen risked something to establish--to lend ear and weight to the +prayer that another unprovoked wrong against the defenceless may not +stain this sorry century. + +We know that America entered the war because her rights as a neutral, in +respect of ocean navigation, were interfered with, and only then. Yet +America in her strength had a guarantee that in victory she would not be +cheated of that for which she joined in the struggle. Ireland, having no +such strength, has no such guarantee; and experience has taught us that +justice (much less gratitude) is not to be wrung from a hostile +Government. What Ireland is to give, a free Ireland must determine. + +We are sadly aware, from recent proclamations and deportations, of the +efforts of British authorities to inflame prejudice against our country. +We therefore crave allowance briefly to notice the insinuation that the +Irish coasts, with native connivance, could be made a base for the +destruction of American shipping. + +An official statement asserts that: + + "An important feature in every plan was the establishment of + submarine bases in Ireland to menace the shipping of all nations." + +On this it is enough to say that every creek, inlet, or estuary that +indents our shores, and every harbour, mole, or jetty is watchfully +patrolled by British authority. Moreover, Irish vessels, with their +cargoes, crews, and passengers, have suffered in this war +proportionately to those of Britain. + +Another State Paper palliates the deportations by blazoning the descent +of a solitary invader upon a remote island on the 12th of April, +heralded by mysterious warnings from the Admiralty to the Irish Command. +No discussion is permitted of the tryst of this British soldier with the +local coast-guards, of his speedy bent towards a police barrack, and his +subsequent confidences with the London authorities. + +Only one instance exists in history of a project to profane our coasts +by making them a base to launch attacks on international shipping. That +plot was framed, not by native wickedness, but by an English Viceroy, +and the proofs are piled up under his hand in British State Papers. + +For huge bribes were proffered by Lord Falkland, Lord-Lieutenant of +Ireland, to both the Royal Secretary and the Prince of Wales, to obtain +consent for the use of Irish harbours to convenience Turkish and +Algerine pirates in raiding sea-going commerce. The plot is old, but the +plea of "increasing his Majesty's revenues" by which it was commended is +everlasting. Nor will age lessen its significance for the citizens of +that Republic which, amidst the tremors and greed of European diplomacy, +extirpated the traffic of Algerine corsairs ninety years ago. British +experts cherish Lord Falkland's fame as the sire of their most knightly +cavalier, and in their eyes its lustre shines undimmed, though his +Excellency, foiled of marine booty, enriched himself by seizing the +lands of his untried prisoners in Dublin Castle. + +Moving are other retrospects evoked by the present outbreak of malignity +against our nation. The slanders of the hour recall those let loose to +cloak previous deportations in days of panic less ignoble. Then it was +the Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Oliver Plunkett, who was dragged +to London and arraigned for high treason. Poignant memories quicken at +every incident which accompanied his degradation before the Lord Chief +Justice of England. A troop of witnesses was suborned to swear that his +Grace "endeavoured and compassed the King's death," sought to "levy war +in Ireland and introduce a foreign Power," and conspired "to take a view +of all the several ports and places in Ireland where it would be +convenient to land from France." An open trial, indeed, was not denied +him; but with hasty rites he was branded a base and false traitor and +doomed to be hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. That desperate +felon, after prolonged investigation by the Holy See, has lately been +declared a martyr worthy of universal veneration. + +The fathers of the American Revolution were likewise pursued in turn by +the venom of Governments. Could they have been snatched from their homes +and haled to London, what fate would have befallen them? There your +noblest patriots might also have perished amidst scenes of shame, and +their effigies would now bedeck a British chamber of horrors. Nor would +death itself have shielded their reputations from hatchments of +dishonour. For the greatest of Englishmen reviled even the sacred name +of Joan of Arc, the stainless Maid of France, to belittle a fallen foe +and spice a ribald stage-play. + +It is hardly thirty years since every Irish leader was made the victim +of a special Statute of Proscription, and was cited to answer vague +charges before London judges. During 1888 and 1889 a malignant and +unprecedented inquisition was maintained to vilify them, backed by all +the resources of British power. No war then raged to breed alarms, yet +no weapon that perjury or forgery could fashion was left unemployed to +destroy the characters of more than eighty National representatives--some +of whom survive to join in this Address. That plot came to an end amidst +the confusion of their persecutors, but fresh accusations may be daily +contrived and buttressed by the chicanery of State. + +In every generation the Irish nation is challenged to plead to a new +indictment, and to the present summons answer is made before no narrow +forum but to the tribunal of the world. So answering, we commit our +cause, as did America, to "the virtuous and humane," and also more +humbly to the providence of God. + +Well assured are we that you, Mr. President, whose exhortations have +inspired the Small Nations of the world with fortitude to defend to the +last their liberties against oppressors, will not be found among those +who would condemn Ireland for a determination which is irrevocable to +continue steadfastly in the course mapped out for her, no matter what +the odds, by an unexampled unity of National judgment and National +right. + +Given at the Mansion House, Dublin, this 11th day of June, 1918. + +LAURENCE O'NEILL, Lord Mayor of Dublin, +Chairman of a Conference of representative +Irishmen whose names stand hereunder. +JOSEPH DEVLIN, +JOHN DILLON, +MICHAEL JOHNSON, +WILLIAM O'BRIEN (Lab.), +T.M. HEALY, +WILLIAM O'BRIEN, +THOMAS KELLY, and JOHN MACNEILL: + {Acting in the place E. DE + VALERA and A. GRIFFITH, + deported 18th of May, 1918, + to separate prisons in England, + without trial or accusation--communication + with whom has been cut off.} + + + + +APPENDIX B + +UNIONIST LETTER TO PRESIDENT WILSON + +CITY HALL, BELFAST, +_August 1st_, 1918. + +To THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + +SIR, + +A manifesto signed by the leader of the Irish Nationalist Party and +certain other Irish gentlemen has been widely circulated in the United +Kingdom, in the form of a letter purporting to have been addressed to +your Excellency.[110] + +Its purpose appears to be to offer an explanation of, and an excuse for, +the conduct of the Nationalist Party in obstructing the extension to +Ireland of compulsory military service, which the rest of the United +Kingdom has felt compelled to adopt as the necessary means of defeating +the German design to dominate the world. At a time when all the free +democracies of the world have, with whatever reluctance, accepted the +burden of conscription as the only alternative to the destruction of +free institutions and of international justice, it is easily +intelligible that those who maintain Ireland's right to solitary and +privileged exemption from the same obligation should betray their +consciousness that an apologia is required to enable them to escape +condemnation at the bar of civilised, and especially of American, +opinion. But, inasmuch as the document referred to would give to anyone +not intimately familiar with British domestic affairs the impression +that it represents the unanimous opinion of Irishmen, it is important +that your Excellency and the American people should be assured that this +is very far from being the case. + +There is in Ireland a minority, whom we claim to represent, comprising +one-fourth to one-third of the total population of the island, located +mainly, but not exclusively, in the province of Ulster, who dissent +emphatically from the views of Mr. Dillon and his associates. This +minority, through their representatives in Parliament, have maintained +throughout the present war that the same obligations should in all +respects be borne by Ireland as by Great Britain, and it has caused them +as Irishmen a keen sense of shame that their country has not submitted +to this equality of sacrifice. + +Your Excellency does not need to be informed that this question has +become entangled in the ancient controversy concerning the +constitutional status of Ireland in the United Kingdom. This is, +indeed, sufficiently clear from the terms of the Nationalist manifesto +addressed to you, every paragraph of which is coloured by allusion to +bygone history and threadbare political disputes. + +It is not our intention to traverse the same ground. There is in the +manifesto almost no assertion with regard to past events which is not +either a distortion or a misinterpretation of historical fact. But we +consider that this is not the moment for discussing the faults and +follies of the past, still less for rehearsing ancient grievances, +whether well or ill founded, in language of extravagant rhetoric. At a +time when the very existence of civilisation hangs in the balance, all +smaller issues, whatever their merits or however they may affect our +internal political problems, should in our judgment have remained in +abeyance, while the parties interested in their solution should have +joined in whole-hearted co-operation against the common enemy. + +There is, however, one matter to which reference must be made, in order +to make clear the position of the Irish minority whom we represent. The +Nationalist Party have based their claim to American sympathy on the +historic appeal addressed to Irishmen by the British colonists who +fought for independence in America a hundred and fifty years ago. By no +Irishmen was that appeal received with a more lively sympathy than by +the Protestants of Ulster, the ancestors of those for whom we speak +to-day--a fact that was not surprising in view of the circumstance that +more than one-sixth part of the entire colonial population in America at +the time of the Declaration of Independence consisted of emigrants from +Ulster. + +The Ulstermen of to-day, forming as they do the chief industrial +community in Ireland, are as devoted adherents to the cause of +democratic freedom as were their forefathers in the eighteenth century. +But the experience of a century of social and economic progress under +the legislative Union with Great Britain has convinced them that under +no other system of government could more complete liberty be enjoyed by +the Irish people. This, however, is not the occasion for a reasoned +defence of "Unionist" policy. Our sole purpose in referring to the +matter is to show, whatever be the merits of the dispute, that a very +substantial volume of Irish opinion is warmly attached to the existing +Constitution of the United Kingdom, and regards as wholly unwarranted +the theory that our political status affords any sort of parallel to +that of the "small nations" oppressed by alien rule, for whose +emancipation the Allied democracies are fighting in this war. + +The Irish representation in the Imperial Parliament throws a significant +sidelight on this prevalent fiction. Whereas England is only represented +by one member for every 75,000 of population, and Scotland by one for +every 65,000, Ireland has a member for every 42,000 of her people. With +a population below that of Scotland, Ireland has 31 more members in the +House of Commons, and 89 more than she could claim on a basis of +representation strictly proportionate to population in the United +Kingdom. + +Speaking in Dublin on the 1st of July, 1915, the late Mr. John Redmond +gave the following description of the present condition of Ireland, +which offers a striking contrast to the extravagant declamation that +represents that country as downtrodden by a harsh and unsympathetic +system of government: + + "To-day," he said, "the people, broadly speaking, own the soil. + To-day the labourers live in decent habitations. To-day there is + absolute freedom in local government and local taxation of the + country. To-day we have the widest parliamentary and municipal + franchise. The congested districts, the scene of some of the most + awful horrors of the old famine days, have been transformed. The + farms have been enlarged, decent dwellings have been provided, and + a new spirit of hope and independence is to-day among the people. + In towns legislation has been passed facilitating the housing of + the working classes--a piece of legislation far in advance of + anything obtained for the town tenants of England. We have a system + of old-age pensions in Ireland whereby every old man and woman over + seventy is safe from the workhouse and free to spend their last + days in comparative comfort." + +Such are the conditions which, in the eyes of Nationalist politicians, +constitute a tyranny so intolerable as to justify Ireland in repudiating +her fair share in the burden of war against the enemies of civilisation. + +The appeal which the Nationalists make to the principle of +"self-determination" strikes Ulster Protestants as singularly +inappropriate. Mr. Dillon and his co-signatories have been careful not +to inform your Excellency that it was their own opposition that +prevented the question of Irish Government being settled in accordance +with that principle in 1916. The British Government were prepared at +that time to bring the Home Rule Act of 1914 into immediate operation, +if the Nationalists had consented to exclude from its scope the +distinctively Protestant population of the North, who desired to adhere +to the Union. This compromise was rejected by the Nationalist leaders, +whose policy was thus shown to be one of "self-determination" for +themselves, combined with coercive domination over us. + +It is because the British Government, while prepared to concede the +principle of self-determination impartially to both divisions in +Ireland, has declined to drive us forcibly into such subjection that the +Nationalist Party conceive themselves entitled to resist the law of +conscription. And the method by which this resistance has been made +effective is, in our view, not less deplorable than the spirit that +dictated it. The most active opponents of conscription in Ireland are +men who have been twice detected during the war in treasonable traffic +with the enemy, and their most powerful support has been that of +ecclesiastics, who have not scrupled to employ weapons of spiritual +terrorism which have elsewhere in the civilised world fallen out of +political use since the Middle Ages. + +The claim of these men, in league with Germany on the one hand, and with +the forces of clericalism on the other, to resist a law passed by +Parliament as necessary for national defence is, moreover, inconsistent +with any political status short of independent sovereignty--status which +could only be attained by Ireland by an act of secession from the United +Kingdom, such as the American Union averted only by resort to civil war. +In every Federal or other Constitution embracing subordinate +legislatures the raising and control of military forces are matters +reserved for the supreme legislative authority alone, and they are so +reserved for the Imperial Parliament of the United Kingdom in the Home +Rule Act of 1914, the "withholding" of which during the war is +complained of by the Nationalists who have addressed your Excellency. +The contention of these gentlemen that until the internal government of +Ireland is changed in accordance with their demands, Ireland is +justified in resisting the law of Conscription, is one that finds +support in no intelligible theory of political science. + +To us as Irishmen--convinced as we are of the righteousness of the cause +for which we are fighting, and resolved that no sacrifice can be too +great to "make the world safe for democracy"--it is a matter of poignant +regret that the conduct of the Nationalist leaders in refusing to lay +aside matters of domestic dispute, in order to put forth the whole +strength of the country against Germany should have cast a stain on the +good name of Ireland. We have done everything in our power to dissociate +ourselves from their action, and we disclaim responsibility for it at +the bar of posterity and history. + +EDWARD CARSON. +JAMES JOHNSTON, Lord Mayor of Belfast. +H.M. POLLOCK, President Belfast Chamber of Commerce. +R.N. ANDERSON, Mayor of Londonderry, and + President Londonderry Chamber of Commerce. +JOHN M. ANDREWS, Chairman Ulster Unionist Labour Association. +JAMES A. TURKINGTON, Vice-Chairman Ulster + Unionist Labour Association, and Secretary + Power-loom and Allied Trades Friendly + Society, and ex-Secretary Power-loom + Tenters' Trade Union of Ireland. +THOMPSON DONALD, Hon. Secretary Ulster + Unionist Labour Association, and ex-District + Secretary Shipwrights' Association. +HENRY FLEMING, Hon. Secretary Ulster Unionist + Labour Association, Member of Boilermakers' + Iron and Steel Shipbuilders' Society. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[110] See Appendix A. + + + + +INDEX + +Abercorn, James, 2nd Duke of, + at the Belfast Convention, 33; + President of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + illness, 47, 85, 108; + signs the Covenant, 122; + death, 144 +Abercorn, James, 3rd Duke of, 257, 282 +Abercorn, Mary, Duchess of, + President of the Women's Unionist Council, 37 +Adair, Gen. Sir Wm., at Larne, 217 +Afghan Campaign, 161 +Africa, South, War, 18 +Agar-Robartes, Hon. Thomas, + amendment on the Home Rule Bill, 92, 94-97, 132 +Agnew, Capt. Andrew, viii, 193, 202, 210, 213, 214, 220 +Albert Hall, meetings at, 14, 21, 34, 71 +Alexander, Dr., Bishop of Derry, at the Albert Hall, 14 +Allen, C.E., 156 +Allen, W.J., 35 +Althorp, Lord, 138 +Altrincham, election, 155 +Amending Bill, 221, 223, 227; + postponed, 228, 230; + _see_ Home Rule +America, War of Independence, 273 +Amery, L.C.S., + at Belfast, 81; + on the Curragh Incident, 182 +Amiens, threatened capture of, 266 +Anderson, R.N., Mayor of Londonderry, + letter to President Wilson, 273, 296-299 +Andrews, John M., letter to President Wilson, 296-299 +Andrews, Thomas, 33, 35, 48 +Anglo-German relations, 167, 201 +_Annual Register_, viii, 18 note, 21, 54 note, 76, 78 note, 138, + 154 note, 155 note, 157 note, 166 note, 167 note, 169 note, + 170 note, 201 note, 222 note, 223 note, 238, 271 note, 272 note +Archdale, E.M., 35; + Chairman of the Standing Committee, 35; + Minister for Agriculture, 282 +Armagh, military depot, 175, 176 +Armaghdale, Lord, 263; + signs the Covenant, 122: + _see_ Lonsdale +Armistice, the, 275 +Army, British, sympathy with Ulster Loyalists, 187-189 +Arran, Isle of, 175 +Asquith, Rt. Hon. H.H., + on the opposition of Ulster to Home Rule, 1, 2; + at the Albert Hall, 21; + Hull, 24; + Reading, 24; + Bury St. Edmunds, 25; + opinion of Sir E. Carson's speech, 133; + at Ladybank, 154; + Manchester, 166; + policy on the Ulster Question, 167-170; + on the Curragh Incident, 180, 182; + Secretary of State for War, 184; + promises an Amending Bill, 221; + on the landing of arms, 221; + at the Buckingham Palace Conference, 227; + on the postponement of the Amending Bill, 228, 230; + defence of Home Rule Bill, 235; + in Dublin, 244; + on the settlement of the Irish question, 245; + on the national danger, 266 +_Attentive_, H.M.S., 178 +Austrian rifles, 198 + + +Baird, J.D., at Belfast, 81 +Balfour, Rt. Hon. A.J., + at Belfast, 13, 81; + on election tactics, 25; + on exclusion of Ulster, 95; + resigns leadership of the Unionist Party, 60; + how regarded in Ulster, 61; + message from, 115; + the "peccant paragraphs," 181 +Balfour, Lord, of Burleigh, signs the British Covenant, 170 +Ballycastle, 193 +Ballykinler, training camp, 237 +Ballymacarret, 225 +Ballymena, meeting at, 108 +Ballymoney, meeting at, 158 +Ballyroney, meeting at, 108 +_Balmerino_, s.s., 208, 209 +Balmoral, Belfast, meeting at, 79-86, 101 +Bangor, 214, 219 +Barrie, H.T., 257 +Bates, Richard Dawson, Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35, 121; + organises demonstration, 111; + on board a tender, 214; + Minister for Home Affairs, 282; + knighthood, 284 +Bedford, Duke of, + Chairman of the British League for the support of Ulster, 147 +Belfast, 46; + Convention of 1892, 32-34, 109; + meetings at, 52, 78, 157; + services on Ulster Day, 117; + City Hall, 119, 283; + Covenant signed, 119-122; + drill hall, opened, 148; + riots, 151; + review of the Ulster Volunteer Force at, 163; + Customs Authorities, stratagem against, 217; + reception of the King and Queen, 283 +Belfast Lough, 46, 175, 211, 212 +_Belfast Newsletter_, 102 note, 111 +Benn, Sir John, 53 +Beresford, Lord Charles, + at Belfast, 81, 109; + at the Ulster Club, 125; + Liverpool, 127; + member of a Committee of the Provisional Government, 145 +Berwick, 149, 154 +Birrell, Rt. Hon. Augustine, Chief Secretary for Ireland, + on the character of Sinn Feinism, 4; + at Ilfracombe, 54; + on the Home Rule Bill, 96; + the right to fight, 138; + member of a sub-committee on Ulster, 175; + conduct in the Irish rebellion, 243; + character of his administration, 245 +Blenheim, meeting at, 97 +Boyne, the, 2; + battle of, 115; + celebration, 224 +Bradford, 172, 174, 175 +Bristol, 150, 166; + Channel, 208 +_Britannic_, H.M.S., 224 +British Covenant, signing the, 170 +British League for the support of Ulster and the Union, formation, 147 +Browne, Robert, Managing Director of the Antrim Iron Ore Company, 193 +Brunner, Sir John, President of the National Liberal Federation, 167 +Buckingham Palace Conference, 227 +Budden, Captain, 196 +Budget, 19; "The People's," 20 +"Budget League," formed, 20 +Bull, Sir William, 195 +Bury St. Edmunds, 25 +Butcher, Sir J.G., at Belfast, 81 + + +Cambridge, H.R.H. Duke of, 187 +Cambridgeshire, election, 155 +Campbell, James, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, 57, 95, 109 +Canterbury, Dean of, signs the British Covenant, 170 +Carlyle, Thomas, 137 +Carrickfergus, military depot, 175, 176 +Carson, Lady, at Belfast, 236, 284 +Carson, Rt. Hon. Sir Edward, viii; + accepts leadership, 39-41; + political views, 41; + at the Ulster Hall, 42, 108; + at the Ulster Unionist Council meetings, 42, 246-248; + relations with Lord Londonderry, 44, 53; + on the Parliament Bill, 44; + at the Craigavon meeting, 48-51, 210; + character of his speaking, 48; + at the Conference at Belfast, 52; + at Dublin, 54; + Portrush, 55; + refuses leadership of Unionist Party, 60; + meetings in Lancashire, 65; + popularity, 66, 110, 148; + at Belfast, 73, 157, 224-226, 257, 278; + criticism of W. Churchill's speech, 74; + on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, 77; + at the Balmoral meeting, 81, 84; + ovation, 85; + attacks on, 87; + on the Home Rule Bill, 90, 96; + at the Londonderry House Conference, 94; + on the resistance of Ulster, 98, 100; + character of his leadership, 102; + reads the Ulster Covenant, 105; + tour of the Province, 110, 114; + opinion of the Covenant, 111; + presentation to, 115; + speech on the Covenant, 116; + at the service in the Ulster Hall, 118; + at the City Hall, 120-124; + signs the Covenant, 121; + at Liverpool, 127; + on the exclusion of Ulster, 133, 168; + death of his wife, 148; + at opening of drill hall, 148; + in Scotland and England, 149; + at Durham, 153; + Chairman of the Central Authority, 156; + Indemnity Guarantee Fund, 156; + inspection of the Ulster Volunteer Force, 162, 164, 167, 223, 226; + on the time limit for exclusion, 171; + leaves the House of Commons, 173; + on the plot against Ulster, 176; + signs statement on the Curragh Incident, 186; + interview with Major F.H. Crawford, 199, 210; + congratulations from Lord Roberts, 220; + at Ipswich, 222; + at the Buckingham Palace Conference, 227; + on the patriotism of Ulster, 231-233; + tribute to B. Law, 236; + second marriage, 236; + tribute to Lord Londonderry, 241; + appointed Attorney-General, 242; + resignation, 242; + on the Irish rebellion, 246; + appointed First Lord of the Admiralty, 252; + resignation, 263; + re-elected leader of the Ulster Party, 263; + member of the Irish Unionist Alliance, 265; + on the Military Service Bill, 270; + letter to President Wilson, 273, 296-299; + M.P. for Duncairn, 275; + declines office, 275; + on the Government of Ireland Act, 279; + conclusion of his leadership, 280; + Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, 284; + unable to be present at the opening of the Ulster Parliament, 284 +Casement, Sir Roger, 7, 158; + in league with Germany, 243 +Cassel, Felix, at Belfast, 81 +Castlereagh, Viscount, 109, 230; + at Belfast, 81; + signs the Covenant, 121 +Cavan, 248, 279 +Cave, Rt. Hon. George, 188; + at Belfast, 81; + letter to _The Times_, 152 +Cecil, Lord Hugh, at Belfast, 81, 109; + at the Balmoral meeting, 86; + on the resistance of Ulster, 96 +Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. Austen, + candidate for the leadership of the Unionist Party, 60; + message from, 115; + at Skipton, 167; + on the policy of the Government, 168 +Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. Joseph, at Belfast, 13; + views on Home Rule, 16, 128; + tariff policy, 18; + his advice to Sir E. Carson, 167 +Chambers, James, signs the Covenant, 121 +Chichester, Capt. the Hon. A.C., + Commander in the Ulster Volunteer Force, 163 +Childers, Mr. Erskine, on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, 76 +China Expeditionary Force, 161 +Chubb, Sir George Hayter, signs the British Covenant, 170 +Churchill, Mrs., at Belfast, 73 +Churchill, Lord Randolph, at Belfast, 13, 81; + at the Ulster Hall meeting, 30, 40, 62; + saying of, 31, 42; + reception at Larne, 74; + views on Home Rule, 128; + _Life of,_ 138 +Churchill, Rt. Hon. Winston S., at Manchester, 19; + _Life of Lord Randolph Churchill_, 30, 138; + at Dundee, 54, 154; + views on Home Rule, 62; + projected visit to Belfast, 62-69; + letter to Lord Londonderry, 69; + change of plan, 69; + reception at Belfast, 73; + departure from, 74; + on Home Rule, 95; + letters on the Ulster menace, 99; + on the resistance of Ulster, 138, 141; + the policy of exclusion, 152; + at Bradford, 172, 174, 175 +City Hall, Belfast, 119, 283 +Clark, Sir George, 156 +Clogher, Bishop of, signs the Covenant, 122 +_Clydevalley, s.s.,_ 211-213, 220; + renamed, 214 +Coleraine, meeting at, 108, 114 +Comber, 82 +Copeland Island, 212, 214, 220 +_Correspondence relating to Recent Events in the Irish Command_, 185 +Covenant, British, signing the, 170 +Covenant, Ulster, draft, 104; + terms, 105-107; + series of demonstrations, 108-110; + meeting in the Ulster Hall, 114; + signing the, 120-124; + anniversary, 158, 165, 236 +Cowser, Richard, 210, 214 +Craig, Charles, 96, 147; + serves in the war, 234; + taken prisoner, 234 +Craig, James, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + meeting at Craigavon, 46; + gift for organisation, 46; + member of the Commission of Five, 53; + on the resistance of Ulster, 96; + draft of the Covenant, 103; + organises the demonstration, 111; + presentation of a silver key and pen to Sir E. Carson, 115; + Indemnity Guarantee Fund, 156; + at the reviews of the U.V.F., 162, 164, 223; + at Bangor, 217; + at the Buckingham Palace Conference, 228; + appointed Q.M.G. of the Ulster Division, 234; + Treasurer of the Household, 253; + resignation, 263; + baronetcy, 275; + Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions, 275; + Secretary to the Admiralty, 281; + resignation, 281; + Prime Minister of the Northern Parliament, 281 +Craig, John, 103 +Craig, Mrs., presents colours to the U.V.F., 223 +Craigavon, meeting at, 45-51, 80, 105, 149, 210 +Crawford, Colonel F.H., viii; signs the Covenant, 123, 191; + Commander in the U.V.F., 163; +characteristics, 190; career, 191; + Secretary of the Reform Club, 191; + advertises for rifles, 191; + Director of Ordnance, 192; + method of procuring arms, 192-200; + schooner, 192; + agreement with B.S., 197-200; + interview with Sir E. Carson, 199, 210; + voyage in s.s. _Fanny_, 202-210; + conveys arms from Hamburg, 203-213; + attack of malaria, 207; + declines to obey unsigned orders, 209; + at Belfast, 210; + purchases s.s. _Clydevalley_, 211, 212; + lands the arms, 214; + at Rosslare, 220; + awarded the O.B.E., 284 +Crewe, election, 98, 99 +Crewe, Marq. of, 18, 23, 175; + on the Amending Bill, 223 +Cromwell, Oliver, 136 +Crozier, Dr., Archbp. of Armagh, member of Provisional Government, 145 +Crumlin, meeting at, 108 +Curragh Incident, 174-189, 221 +Curzon, Marq., on the Parliament Bill, 44; + the Home Rule Bill, 134; + the loyalty of Ulster, 141 + + +_Daily Express, The_, 225 +_Daily Mail, The_, 225 +_Daily News, The_, 114, 166 +_Daily Telegraph, The_, 111, 225 +D'Arcy, Dr., Primate of All Ireland, 118; + signs the Covenant, 121 +Darlington, 149 +Davis, Jefferson, 137 +Democracy, axiom of, 15 +Derbyshire, election, 222 +Derry, relief of, 13, 85; + meeting at, 108; + election, 144; + riots, 151 +Desborough, Lord, signs the British Covenant, 170 +Devlin, Joseph, 6, 127, 172, 174, 275; + with Mr. W. Churchill in Belfast, 63, 68; + the Irish Convention, 261; + on the Military Service Bill, 269; + letter to President Wilson, 273, 287-295; + demands self-determination, 277 +Devonshire, 8th Duke of, views on Home Rule, 128, 134; + on the resistance of Ulster, 136, 138; + _Life of_, 136 note, 139 note +Dicey, Prof., signs the British Covenant, 170 +Dickson, Scott, at Belfast, 81; + at the Balmoral meeting, 86 +"Die Hards" party, 44 +Dillon, John, 6, 174; + at the Buckingham Palace Conference, 227; + on the Irish Rebellion, 244; + letter to Pres. Wilson, 273, 287-293 +Donaghadee, 214, 219 +Donald, Thompson, letter to Pres. Wilson, 296-299 +Donegal, 248, 279 +_Doreen_, s.s., 207, 210; + at Lundy, 208 +Dorset Regiment, transferred to Holywood, 177, 178 +Dromore, meeting at, 108 +Dublin, insurrection, 4, 243; + Unionist demonstration at, 54; + Nationalist Convention, meeting, 92; + Congress in, 276 +Dufferin and Ava, Dow. Marchioness of, 113 +Duke, Rt. Hon. H.E., Chief Secretary for Ireland, 253 +Duncairn, election, 275 +Dundalk, 178 +Dundee, 54, 154 +Dunleath, Lord, 156 +Durham, Sir E. Carson at, 153 + + +East Fife, 25 +Edinburgh, 24, 101; + Ulstermen sign the Covenant, 123; + meeting at, 149; + Philosophical Institution, lecture at the, 274 +Edward VII, King, death, 23 +Election, General, of 1886, 16; + of 1895, 34; + of Jan. 1910, 21, 22, 42; + of Dec. 1910, 26; + of 1918, 4 +Elections, result of, 99, 155, 222 +Emmet, Robert, 7, 46, 142 +Enniskillen, meeting at, 108, 114; + military depot, 175, 176 +Erne, Earl of, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + at the Craigavon meeting, 47; + signs the Covenant, 122 +Ewart, G.H., President of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, 157 +Ewart, Sir William, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + signs the Covenant, 121 +_Fanny_, s.s., voyage, viii, 202-213; + alterations in her appearance, 206; + rechristened, 207; + transference of the cargo, 213 +Farnham, Lord, at the Ulster Unionist Council meeting, 248, 279; + Irish Unionist Alliance, 265 +Ferguson, John, & Co., 196 +Fiennes, Mr., at Belfast, 73 +Finance Bill, rejected, 19 +Finlay, Sir Robert, at Belfast, 81; + at the Balmoral meeting, 86 +Fishguard, 213 +Flavin, Mr., on the Military Service Bill, 269 +Fleming, Henry, letter to Pres. Wilson, 296-299 +Flood, Henry, patriotism, 7 +Foyle, the, 87, 214 +_Freemason's Journal, The_, 72, 287 +French, F.M., Viscount, member of the Army Council, 176; + resignation, 184; + Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 272; + attempt on his life, 277 +Frewen, Miss, marriage, 236; _see_ Carson +Friend, General, 177 + + +Gambetta, LĂ©on, 9 +George V, King, Conference at Buckingham Palace, 228; + opens the Ulster Parliament, 282, 286; + reception in Belfast, 283 +George, Rt. Hon. D. Lloyd, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Budget, 19; + at Edinburgh, 24; + on the exclusion of Ulster, 152; + Anglo-German relations, 167, 201; + opinion of Sir E. Carson's speech, 168; + plot against Ulster, 174; + at Ipswich, 222; + the Buckingham Palace Conference, 227; + Secretary of State for War, 245; + negotiations for the settlement of the Irish question, 245, 247, 250; + Prime Minister, 252; + on Home Rule, 254; + alternative proposals, 255; + statement on the war, 266, 268; + Military Service Bill, 268; + letter to B. Law, 276 note; + basic facts on the Irish Question, 277; + Government of Ireland Act, 278 +German rifles, 198 +Gibson, T.H., Sec. of Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + resignation, 35 +Gilmour, Captain, at Belfast, 81 +Gladstone, Rt. Hon. W.E., 138; + on the character of the Nationalists, 5; + conversion to Home Rule, 7, 12, 30; + Home Rule Bills, 13, 16, 17; + personality, 17 +Glasgow, 22, 78; + meeting at, 149 +Goschen, Viscount, views on Home Rule, 16, 128 +Goudy, Prof., signs the British Covenant, 170 +Gough, General Sir Hugh, commanding the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, 180; +at the War Office, 181; + return to the Curragh, 181; + driven back by the Germans, 270 +Government of Ireland Act, 51, 278 +Graham, John Washington, 194 +Grattan, Henry, patriotism, 7 +Greenwood, Sir Hamar, at Belfast, 73; + Chief Secretary for Ireland, 285 +Grey, Earl, on the Home Rule Bill, 134 +Grey, Sir Edward, on the Home Rule Bill, 95; + at Berwick, 154 +Griffith, Arthur, arrested, 271; + deported, 295 +Griffith-Boscawen, Sir Arthur, at Belfast, 81 +Grimsby, election, 222 +Guest, Capt. Frederick, at Belfast, 72 +Guinness, Walter, supports exclusion of Ulster, 95 +Gun-barrel Proof Act, 196 + + +Haldane, Viscount, 130, 185 +Halifax, Lord, 136, 141 +Hall, Frank, 121 +Halsbury, Earl of, 151 +Hamburg, Col. Crawford at, 198 +Hamilton, Lord Claud, at Belfast, 81; + Provisional Government, 145 +Hamilton, George C., M.P. for Altrincham, 155 +Hamilton, Gustavus, Governor of Enniskillen, 48 +Hamilton, Marq. of, interest in the Ulster Movement, 109; + signs the Covenant, 122 +Hammersmith Armoury, 195; + seizure of arms at, 196 +Hanna, J., 257 +Harding, Canon, 158 +Harland and Wolff, Messrs., 191 +Harrison, Frederic, on the Ulster Question, 169 +Hartington, Marq. of, views on Home Rule, 16 +Health Insurance Act, 222 +Healy, T.M., 18, 22; + on the Military Service Bill, 270; + letter to Pres. Wilson, 273, 287-295 +Henry, Denis, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35 +Hickman, Colonel Thomas, member of Provisional Government, 145; + career, 160; + letter from Lord Roberts, 161, 195 +Hills, J.W., at Belfast, 81 +Holland, Bernard, + _Life of the Eighth Duke of Devonshire_, 136 note, 139 note +Holywood, 46, 177, 178 +Home Rule, 23-29; + a separatist movement, 7; + memorial against, 155 +Home Rule Bill, 13, 16, 17, 90-97, 131, 133, 149; + political meetings, 97; + under the "guillotine," 131; + in the House of Lords, 134; + rejected, 135; + time limit for exclusion, 171; + passed, 222, 224; + receives the Royal Assent, 235 +Home Rule Bill, Amending Bill, 221, 223, 227, 228, 230 +Hull, Mr. Asquith at, 24 + + +Ilfracombe, 54 +Indemnity Guarantee Fund, subscriptions, 156, 163 +Ipswich, election, 222 +Ireland, two nations, 2, 84; + rebellions, 6; + animosity of rival creeds, 9; + condition, 17, 19, 298; + insurrection, 27; + fiscal autonomy, 76-78; + financial clauses of the Home Rule Bill, 91; + prohibition of the importation of arms, 166; + Easter Rebellion, 243; + exemption from conscription, 268; + German plot in, 271; + agitation against conscription, 272; + anarchy, 279 +Ireland, Council of, 278 +Ireland, Government of, Act, 2, 278-280 +Ireland, Northern, Parliament, 280-282 +Irish Convention, 255-262; + members, 255, 257; + Report, 264, 266 +_Irish News, The_, 114 +Irish Republican Army, system of terrorism, 277 +Irish Republican Brotherhood, 243 +Irish Unionist Alliance, 30, 265; + co-operation with the Ulster Unionist Council, 37 +Islandmagee, 218 +Italian Vetteli rifles, 197, 198, 201 + + +James II, King, 139, 141 +Johnston, James, Lord Mayor of Belfast, + letter to Pres. Wilson, 273, 296-299 + + +Kelly, Sam, 209 +Kelly, Thomas, letter to Pres. Wilson, 287-295 +Kennedy, Sir Robert, member of Provisional Government, 143 +Kettle, Prof. T.M., on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, 76 +Kiel, 204 +Kingstown, cruisers at, 178 +Kipling, Rudyard, "Ulster 1912," 79, 129; + signs the British Covenant, 170 +Kitchener, F.M. Earl, 230, 238 +Kossuth, 136 + + +Labour Party, 22, 26 +Ladybank, Mr. Asquith at, 154 +Lamlash, battleships at, 175 +Lane-Fox, George, at Belfast, 81 +Langeland, 204 +Lansdowne, Marq. of, scheme of reform for the House of Lords, 24; + on the Parliament Bill, 44; + message from, 115; + on the Ulster Question, 169; + the Amending Bill, 223; + at the Buckingham Palace Conference, 227 +Larne, 74, 81, 212, 214 +Law, Rt. Hon. A. Bonar, leader of Unionist Party, 28, 60; + on Home Rule, 28, 131; + at the Albert Hall, 71; + on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, 78; + at the Balmoral meeting, 80-86; + reception at Larne, 81; + his speech, 84; + indictment against the Government, 90, 172, 174, 235; + on the resistance of Ulster, 91, 95, 98; + messages from, 115, 149; + at Wallsend, 154; + Bristol, 166; + on the exclusion of Ulster, 169, 171; + demands inquiry into the Curragh Incident, 185; + on the Amending Bill, 222; + at the Buckingham Palace Conference, 227; + at Belfast, 236; + tribute to, 236; + at the Ulster Hall, 237; + warning to the Nationalists, 255; + on the Military Service Bill, 269, 271 +Lecky, W.E.H., _History of England in the Eighteenth Century_, 274 note +Leeds, meeting at, 149 +Leo XIII, Pope, 8 +Leslie, Shane, _Henry Edward Manning_, 8 note +Liberal Party, policy, 16; + victory in 1906, 18; + majority, 19, 22; + tactics, 20; + number of votes, 22, 26; + defeated in 1895, 34 +Liddell, R.M., 156 +Lincoln, Abraham, 40; + saying of, 15 +Linlithgow, election, 155 +Lisburn, meeting at, 108, 114 +Liverpool, 127 +_Liverpool Daily Courier, The_, extract from, 165 +_Liverpool Daily Post and Mercury,_ 159 note +Llandudno, 212 +Lloyd, Mr. George, at Belfast, 81 +Logue, Cardinal, 10 +London School of Economics, conference at, 76 +Londonderry House, conference at, 92, 94, 147 +Londonderry, Marchioness of, + member of the Ulster Women's Unionist Council, 37; + on the Covenant, 112; + presents colours to the U.V.F., 223; + work in the war, 240 +Londonderry, 6th Marq. of, viii; + on Home Rule, 28; + Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + popularity, 43; + character, 44; + relations with Sir E. Carson, 44, 53; + on the Parliament Bill, 44; + Conference at Belfast, 52; + at the Ulster Hall meeting, 62, 106, 108; + the Ulster Unionist Council meetings, 65, 67; + reply to W. Churchill, 69; + at Belfast, 73; + at the Balmoral meeting, 84; + signs the Covenant, 121; + at the Ulster Club, 125; + Liverpool, 127; + on the House of Lords, 134; + President of the Ulster Unionist Council, 145; + Indemnity Guarantee Fund, 156; + at the reviews of the U.V.F., 164, 223; + on the Curragh Incident, 186; + on the Amending Bill, 223; + at Enniskillen, 227; + despondency, 240; death, 241; + tribute to, 241 +Londonderry, 7th Marq. of, viii; + member of the Irish Convention, 257, 263; + Under-Secretary of State in the Air Ministry, 275; + resignation, 281; + Minister of Education, 281 +Long, Rt. Hon. Walter, 147; + founder of the Union Defence League, 37; + leader of the Irish Unionists, 38; + at the Ulster Hall, 42; + candidate for the leadership of the Unionist Party, 60; + at Belfast, 81, 224; + at the Balmoral meeting, 84, 86; + the Londonderry House conference, 92; + message from, 115; + on the policy of the Government, 170; + signs the British Covenant, 170; + chairman of a Cabinet Committee on the Irish Question, 277 +Lonsdale, Sir John B., member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + Hon. Sec. of the Irish Unionist Party, 39; + signs Covenant, 122; + Indemnity Guarantee Fund, 156; + leader of the Ulster Party, 254; + at Belfast, 257; + raised to the peerage, 263; + _see_ Armaghdale +Lords, House of, + rejection of the Home Rule Bill, 17, 135; + of the Finance Bill, 19, 21; + forced to accept the Parliament Bill, 27; + position under the Parliament Act, 134; + debates on the Home Rule Bill, 134 +Loreburn, Lord, letters to _The Times_, 152, 165 +Lough Laxford, 203, 206, 207 +Lough, Thomas, on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, 76 +Lovat, Lord, signs the British Covenant, 170 +Lowther, Rt. Hon. James, at the Buckingham Palace Conference, 227 +Loyal Orange Institution, 31 +Lundy, 208 +Lyons, W.H.H., 35 + + +Macdonnell, Lord, on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, 76 +Mackinder, H.J., at Belfast, 81 +Macnaghten, Sir Charles, member Provisional Government, 145 +Macnaghten, Lord, Lord of Appeal, 140, 145; + signs the Covenant, 122 +MacNeill, John, letter to Pres. Wilson, 287-295 +Mahan, Admiral, 130 +Maine, Sir H., _Popular Government_, extract from, 14 +Malcolm, Sir Ian, at Belfast, 81 +Manchester, 77, 166; + election, 99 +_Manchester Guardian, The_, 166 +Manning, Cardinal, on Home Rule, 8 +Mary, H.M., Queen, at the opening of the Ulster Parliament, 282; + reception in Belfast, 283 +Massereene, Lady, presents colours to the Ulster Volunteer Force, 223 +Massingham, Mr., 166 +Masterman, Rt. Hon. C.F.G., 170, 222 +Mazzini, 136 +McCalmont, Col. James, Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + Commander of a U.V.F regiment, 163 +McCammon, Mr., 121 +McDowell, Sir Alexander, criticism of the Ulster Covenant, 104 +McMordie, Mr., Lord Mayor of Belfast, + at the service in the Ulster Hall, 118; + receives Sir E. Carson, 120; + at the Ulster Club, 125 +Meath election petition in 1892, 10 +Melbourne, Lord, 136 +Mersey, the, 127 +Midleton, Earl of, at the Irish Convention, 260; + supports Home Rule, 262; + secedes from the Irish Unionist Alliance, 265 +Midlothian, election, 99 +Military Service Act, ii., 268-272 +Milner, Viscount, signs the British Covenant, 170; + on the Amending Bill, 223 +Moles, Thomas, viii; Chairman of Committee in the Northern Parliament, 282 +Molyneux, patriotism, 7 +Monaghan, 248, 279 +Montgomery, B.W.D., Secretary of the Ulster Club, 103 +Montgomery, Dr., 118 +Montgomery, Major-Gen., member of Provisional Government, 145 +Moore, William, Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + on the amendment to the Home Rule Bill, 96; + exclusion of Ulster, 168 +Morley, Viscount, _Life of Gladstone_, 17; + on the resistance of Ulster, 154; + helps Colonel Seely to draft the "peccant paragraphs," 181, 183 +_Morning Post, The_, 79, 225, 229, 283 note +_Motu Proprio_, Vatican decree, 11 +Mount Stewart, 82, 225 +_Mountjoy_, the, 87, 214 +_Mountjoy II_, s.s., cargo landed at Larne, 214, 218 +Moyle, the, 193 +Musgrave Channel, 211, 217 +Musgrave, Henry, 156 + + +_Nation, The_, 158 +National Insurance Bill, 53 +Nationalist Party, in the House of Commons, 22, 26; + attitude on the war, 267; + opposition to conscription, 269-273 +Nationalists, the, compared with the Ulster Unionists, 2; + disloyalty, 4-6; + policy, 6, 78, 141, 142; + ancestry, 8; + demand dissolution of the Union, 14; + attitude on the war, 231, 233, 252; + members of the Irish Convention, 256-262; + letter to Pres. Wilson, 273, 287-295; + demand "self-determination," 291, 298 +Nationality, root of, 2; + plea of 14, 15 +Navy, reduction of, 167, 201 +_Nec Temere_, Vatican decree, 11 +Neild, Herbert, at Belfast, 81 +Newcastle, 149, 153; + training camp, 237 +Newman, Cardinal, 5 +Newry, 177 +Newtownards, 225; + meeting at, 108, 114 +_Nineteenth Century, The_, 183 note, 239 note +Nonconformists, 9; opposition to + Home Rule, 155 +Northcliffe, Viscount, 225 +Norwich, Ulster members at, 150 + + +O'Brien, William, 22; + on the Military Service Bill, 270; + letter to Pres. Wilson, 273, 287-295 +_Observer, The_, 84, 115 note, 225 +O'Connell, Daniel, 7 +O'Connor, T.P., 127, 174, 275; + on Home Rule, 253 +Omagh, military depot, 175, 176 +Omash, Miss, viii +O'Neill, Capt. Hon. Arthur, 230; + killed in the war, 241, 253 +O'Neill, Major Hugh, serves in the war, 242; + Speaker of the Northern Parliament, 282 +O'Neill, Hugh, Earl of Tyrone, 7 +O'Neill, Laurence, Lord Mayor of Dublin, + letter to Pres. Wilson, 273, 287-295 +O'Neill, Hon. R.T., member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35 +Ormsby-Gore, Capt. the Hon. W.G.A., at Belfast, 81 +O'Shea, divorce, 17 + + +Paget, Sir Arthur, Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, + letter from Colonel Seely, 175; + in London, 176; + interviews with Ministers, 177; + instructions from the War Office, 178, 180; + conference with his officers, 179, 185; + on the employment of troops in Ulster, 186 +Parliament, assembled, 23, 131, 167; + dissolved, 23, 275; + adjourned, 99 +Parliament Act, 23, 27, 43-45, 53, 91 +_Parliamentary Debates_, viii, 29 _note,_ 142, 179 note, 181 note, 185 note +Parnell, Charles, saying of, 6; + leader of the Nationalist Party, 6; + downfall, 17 +_Pathfinder_, H.M.S., 178 +_Patriotic_, R.M.S., 128 +Peel, Sir Robert, 138 +Peel, W., at Belfast, 81 +"People's Budget," 20; + rejection, 42 +Percival-Maxwell, Col., Privy Councillor, 284 +Phoenix Park murders, 243 +Pirrie, Lord, unpopularity in Belfast, 63; + peerage conferred, 284 +Pitt, Rt. Hon. William, 15 +Plunkett, Sir Horace, Chairman of the Irish Convention, 257, 261; + letter to Lloyd George, 264 +Pollock, Sir Ernest, at Belfast, 81 +Pollock, H.M., member of the Irish Convention, 257, 262 +Portadown, meeting at, 108, 114 +Portland, Duke of, signs the British Covenant, 170 +Portrush, 55, 193 +Presbyterian Church, General Assembly of the, 155 +Presbyterians, political views, 12 +Preston, George, subscription to the Indemnity Guarantee Fund, 156 +Prisoners, release of, 256 +Protestants, Irish, distrust of Roman Catholics, 9; + dislike of clerical influence, 10 + +Ramsay, Sir W., signs the British Covenant, 170 +Ranfurly, Earl of, organises the Ulster Loyalist Union, 30, 37; + member of the Unionist Council, 35 +Raphoe, Bishop of, member of the Irish Convention, 258, 260-262 +Rawlinson, J.F.P., at Belfast, 81 +Reade, R.H., 35 +Reading, Mr. Asquith at, 24; + election, 155 +Redistribution Act, 275 +Redmond, Capt., 275 +Redmond, John, 174; + on the national movement, 7; + policy, 22; + on Home Rule, 27, 54; + with Mr. W. Churchill in Belfast, 63, 68; + opinion of Sir E. Carson's speech, 133; + protests against Amending Bill, 222; + at Buckingham Palace Conference, 227; + conditional offer of help in the war, 231, 233; + tribute to, 239; + patriotism, 239; + refuses office, 242; + at Dublin, 249; + on the exclusion of Ulster, 250; + manifesto, 254; + at the Irish Convention, 260-262; + death, 262; + on the condition of Ireland, 298 +Redmond, Major W., his speech in the House, 253; + killed in the war, 253 +Reform Club, Belfast, 122, 124, 191 +Reid, Whitelaw, 274 +Renan, E., on the root of nationality, 2 +_Reynolds's Newspaper_, 89 +Richardson, Gen. Sir George, Commander-in-Chief of the U.V.F., 161, 197; + career, 161; + characteristics, 162; + at Belfast, 162, 217; + reviews the U.V.F., 163-165 +Rifles, seized by Government, 161, 195; + purchase of, 198; + packing, 201; + landed in Ulster, 219 +Roberts, F.M. Earl, 130, 188; + letter to Col. Hickman, 161, 195; + signs British Covenant, 170; + congratulations to Sir E. Carson, 220; + on the result of coercing Ulster, 224 +Robertson, Rt. Hon. J.M., Secretary to the Board of Trade, + on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, 76; + at Newcastle, 153 +Rochdale, Unionist Association at, 99 +Roe, Owen, 7 +Roman Catholics, Irish, disloyalty 9; + character of the priest, 10; + methods of enforcing obedience, 10-12 +Rosebery, Earl of, 15, 18; + at Glasgow, 22; + on the characteristics + of the Ulster race, 101 +Rosslare, 220 +Royal Irish Rifles, the 5th, 57 +Russia, collapse of, 268 +Russian rifles, 198 + + +S.B., the Hebrew dealer in firearms, 197; + agreement with Major F.H. Crawford, 197-200; + honesty, 204 +St. Aldwyn, Viscount, on the King's Prerogative, 151 +Salisbury, Marq. of, at Belfast, 13, 81; + message from, 109; + views on Home Rule, 128 +Salvidge, Mr., Alderman of Liverpool, 127, 128; + signs the British Covenant, 170 +Samuel, Mr. Herbert, at Belfast, 54 +Sanderson, Colonel, Chairman of the Ulster Parliamentary Party, 35, 38 +_Saturday Review, The_, extract from, 70 +Sclater, Edward, Secretary of the Unionist Clubs, 53 +Scotland, the Covenant, 103 +_Scotsman, The_, 101, 225, 274 note +Seely, Col. Sec. of State for War, letter to Sir A. Paget, 175; + statement to Gen. Gough, 181; + adds paragraphs, 181, 183; + on the Curragh Incident, 182; + resignation, 183, 184 +Seymour, Adm. Sir E., signs British Covenant, 170 +Sharman-Crawford, Col., member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + of the Commission of Five, 53 +Shaw, Lord, _Letters to Isabel_, 18 note +Shiel Park, meeting at, 128 +Shipyards, observance of Ulster Day, 117 +Shortt, Rt. Hon. E., Chief Secretary for Ireland, 272 +Simon, Sir John, 175 +Sinclair, Rt. Hon. Thomas, at the Ulster Convention, 33; + member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35, 67; + on Home Rule, 38; + member of a Commission, 63; + on the Covenant, 104, 109; + signs it, 121 +Sinn Fein party, refuse to join the Convention, 255; + in league with Germany, 271, 276; + arrests, 271; + members of Parliament, 276, 276; + treason of, 276; + congress in Dublin, 276; outrages, 277 +Sinn Feinism, spirit of, 4 +Skipton, 167 +Smiley, Kerr, 156 +Smith, Rt. Hon. F.E. (Lord Birkenhead), on the policy of Ulster, 97, 98; + on the Covenant, 109; + at the Ulster Club, 125; + at Liverpool, 127; + at the inspection of the U.V.F., 162; + "galloper" to Gen. Sir G. Richardson, 163 +Smith, Mr. Harold, 109 +Solemn League and Covenant, 104; + _see_ Ulster +Somme, battle of the, 234 +_Spectator, The_, 225 +Spender, Col. W. Bliss, U.V.F., 197, 203, 207, 215; + awarded the O.B.E., 284 +_Standard, The_, 70, 118, 225 +_Star, The_, extract from, 89 +Stronge, Sir James, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35 +Stuart-Wortley, Mr., at Belfast, 81 +Submarine warfare, 253 +Suffragists' campaign, 167 +Swift, patriotism, 7 + + +Tariff Reform policy, 18, 19; + controversy, 59, 155, 167 +Templetown, Lord, founds the Unionist Clubs, 30, 31 +Thiepval, battle at, 234 +_Times, The_, 32, 64, 69, 71, 77, 79, 82, 84, 99, 110, 115, 124, 126, + 139, 140, 153, 172, 182, 187, 225; + letters in, 152, 165 +Tirah Expedition, 161 +Tone, Wolfe, 7, 46, 142 +Tramp steamer, diverts suspicion, 217 +Turkington, James A., letter to Pres. Wilson, 296-299 +Tuskar Light, 210, 211 +Tyrone, contingent of Orangemen, 57 + + +Ulster, use of the term, vii; + opposition to Home Rule, 1, 2, 30; + loyalty, 2-4, 33, 63, 139-143, 251; + ancestry, 8; + political views, 12; + landlords and tenants, 12; + mottoes, 13, 33; + reluctant acceptance of a separate constitution, 14; + organisations, 30-38; + policy, 33, 51, 75, 77, 92, 93-100, 133, 136-143; + military drilling, 57; + characteristics of the people, 101; + time limit for exclusion, 171; + plot against, 174; + emigrants in America, 274, 297; + result of the Government of Ireland Act, 280 +Ulster, British League for the support of, formed, 147 +Ulster Club, Belfast, 125 +Ulster, Convention of 1892, 80, 109 +Ulster Covenant, draft, 104; + terms, 105-107; + series of demonstrations, 108-110; + meeting in the Ulster Hall, 114; + signing the, 120-124; + anniversary, 158, 165, 236 +Ulster Day, 165, 236; religious observance, 107, 117 +Ulster Division, 1st Brigade, training, 237; + recruiting, 238 +Ulster Hall, 283; + meetings, 30, 38, 40, 42, 62, 106, 108, 114, 237; + service, 118, 158 +Ulster Loyalist Anti-Repeal Union, 37 +Ulster Loyalist and Patriotic Union, 30 +Ulster Movement, vii, 1 +Ulster Parliament, appointment of Ministers, 281-2; + opened, 282-6 +Ulster Provisional Government, 53, 145, 156, 163; + judiciary, 146; + constitution, 226 +Ulster Unionist Clubs, founded, 30-1 +Ulster Unionist Council, vii, 35; + meetings, 27, 42, 52, 62, 65-67, 106, 145, + 156, 210, 226, 236, 246-249, 279; + members, 35, 36; + co-operation with the Irish Unionist Alliance, 37; + resolution adopted, 68-71; + character, 75; + scheme for the Provisional Government, 145; + statement on the Curragh Incident, 186 +Ulster Unionist Members of Parliament, 38; + tour in Scotland and England, 149 +Ulster Unionists, letter to Pres. Wilson, 273, 296-299 +Ulster Volunteer Force, 58, 113, 137, 160; + Indemnity Guarantee Fund, 156, 163; + growth, 158, 160; + parades, 162, 163-165, 167, 223, 226; + strength, 168; + arming the, 192-200, 223; + organisation, 215; + despatch-riders' corps, 215; + trial mobilisation, 216; + presentation of colours, 223; + volunteer for service in the war, 229; + organisation and training of the Division, 234 +Ulster Women's Unionist Association, work of the, 166 +Ulster Women's Unionist Council, formed, 37; + meeting, 113 +"Ulster 1912," Rudyard Kipling's, 79, 129 +"Ulster's Reward," William Watson's, 129 +Union Defence League, in London, 37 +Unionist Associations of Ireland, joint committee, 37 +Unionist Party, administration, 18, 20; + defeated, 18; + number of votes, 22, 26, 99; + dissensions on Tariff Reform, 69; + members at Belfast, 81 +Unionists, Southern manifesto, 265; + Committee formed, 265; + result of the Government Act, 282 + + +Valera, E. De, M.P. for East Clare, 256; + arrested, 277; deported, 295 +Vatican decrees, 11 +Vickers & Co., Messrs., 194 +Victoria, Queen, 136 + + +Wallace, Col. R.H., member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + member of a Commission, 53; + Grand Master of the Belfast Lodges, 57; + popularity, 57; + career, 57; + applies for leave to drill, 58; + at the Ulster Unionist Council meeting, 67, 72; + presentation of a banner to Sir E. Carson, 115; + Command in the U.V.F., 163, 164; + Privy Councillor, 284 +Wallsend, 154 +Walter, Mr. John, 225 +War, the Great, 27, 228, 266 +War Office, treatment of Gen. Gough, 181 +Ward, Lieut.-Col. John, + on the Curragh Incident, 182; + "The Army and Ireland," 183 note, 238 +Warden, F.W., 72 note +Washington, George, 273, 291 +Watson, Sir William, "Ulster's Reward," 129 +Waziri Expedition, 161 +_Westminster Gazette_, 114; + cartoon, 87 +Whig Revolution of 1688, 31 +White Paper, 175 note, 176 note, 177 note, 178 note, 179 note, + 180 note, 181 note, 185, 187 note, 188 +William III, King, banner, 115 +Willoughby de Broke, Lord, 109 +Wilson, President, + letter from the Nationalists, 273, 287-295; + from the Unionists, 273, 296-299; + phrase of "self-determination," 277 +Wimborne, Lord, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, resignation, 272 +Wolff, G., 35 +Wolseley, Viscount, 187 +Women's Unionist Council, Ulster, + formed, 37; + meeting, 113 +Workman and Clark, Messrs., 214 +Workman, Frank, 157 +Wynyard, Lord Londonderry's death at, 241 + + +Yarmouth, 207 +York, 149 +York, Archbp. of, on the Home Rule Bill, 134 +_Yorkshire Post, The_, 149, 163 +Young, Rt. Hon. John, + member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + at the meeting, 67; + takes part in the campaign, 109; + signs the Covenant, 122 +Young, W.R., + organises the Ulster Loyalist and Patriotic Union, 30, 37; + signs the Covenant, 122; + Privy Councillor, 284 + + +Zhob Valley Field Force, expedition, 161 + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14326 *** diff --git a/14326-h/14326-h.htm b/14326-h/14326-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..920a1ff --- /dev/null +++ b/14326-h/14326-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,12040 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Ulster's Stand For Union, by Ronald McNeill</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + LI {list-style-type: none} + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + } + HR { width: 33%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .note {margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} /* footnote */ + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + .sidenote {width: 20%; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding-left: 1em; font-size: smaller; float: right; clear: right;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + hr.full { width: 100%; } + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + pre {font-size: 8pt;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14326 ***</div> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Ulster's Stand For Union, by Ronald McNeill</h1> +<hr class="full" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h1>ULSTER'S STAND FOR UNION</h1> + +<h2>BY RONALD McNEILL</h2> +<br /> + +<h4>WITH FRONTISPIECE</h4> +<br /> + +<h6>London<br /> +John Murray, Albemarle Street, W.</h6> + +<h5>1922</h5> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<center> +<img src="images/image01.png" width="476" height="568" alt="THE RIGHT HON. SIR EDWARD CARSON, P.C. +(now Lord Carson of Duncairn)." title="" /> +</center> +<h4>THE RIGHT HON. SIR EDWARD CARSON, P.C.</h4> +<h4>(now Lord Carson of Duncairn).</h4> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h4>DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF THE UNIONIST PARTY</h4> +<br /> +<br /> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>PREFACE</h2> +<br /> + +<p>The term "Ulster," except when the context proves the contrary, is used +in this book not in the geographical, but the political meaning of the +word, which is quite as well understood.</p> + +<p>The aim of the book is to present an account of what I have occasionally +in its pages referred to as "the Ulster Movement." The phrase is perhaps +somewhat paradoxical when applied to a political ideal which was the +maintenance of the <i>status quo</i>; but, on the other hand, the steps taken +during a period of years to organise an effective opposition to +interference with the established constitution in Ireland did involve a +movement, and it is with these measures, rather than with the policy +behind them, that the book is concerned.</p> + +<p>Indeed, except for a brief introductory outline of the historical +background of the Ulster standpoint, I have taken for granted, or only +referred incidentally to the reasons for the unconquerable hostility of +the Ulster Protestants to the idea of allowing the government of +Ireland, and especially of themselves, to pass into the control of a +Parliament in Dublin. Those reasons were many and substantial, based +upon considerations both of a practical and a sentimental nature; but I +have not attempted an exposition of them, having limited myself to a +narrative of the events to which they gave rise.</p> + +<p>Having been myself, during the most important part of the period +reviewed, a member of the Standing Committee of the Ulster Unionist +Council, and closely associated with the leaders of the movement, I have +had personal knowledge of practically everything I have had to record. I +have not, however, trusted to unaided memory for any<a name="Page_viii"></a> statement of fact. +It is not, of course, a matter where anything that could be called +research was required; but, in addition to the <i>Parliamentary Reports</i>, +the <i>Annual Register</i>, and similar easily accessible books of reference, +there was a considerable mass of private papers bearing on the subject, +for the use of some of which I am indebted to friends.</p> + +<p>I was permitted to consult the Minute-books of the Ulster Unionist +Council and its Standing Committee, and also verbatim reports made for +the Council of unpublished speeches delivered at private meetings of +those bodies. A large collection of miscellaneous documents accumulated +by the late Lord Londonderry was kindly lent to me by the present +Marquis; and I also have to thank Lord Carson of Duncairn for the use of +letters and other papers in his possession. Colonel F.H. Crawford, +C.B.E., was good enough to place at my disposal a very detailed account +written by himself of the voyage of the <i>Fanny</i>, and the log kept by +Captain Agnew. My friend Mr. Thomas Moles, M.P., took full shorthand +notes of the proceedings of the Irish Convention and the principal +speeches made in it, and he kindly allowed me to use his transcript. And +I should not like to pass over without acknowledgment the help given me +on several occasions by Miss Omash, of the Union Defence League, in +tracing references.</p> + +<p>R. McN.</p> + +<p><i>February 1922.</i></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CONTENTS"></a><h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + +<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td><b>CHAPTER</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>I.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>INTRODUCTION: THE ULSTER STANDPOINT</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>II.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>THE ELECTORATE AND HOME RULE</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>III.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>ORGANISATION AND LEADERSHIP</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>IV.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>THE PARLIAMENT ACT: CRAIGAVON</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>V.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>THE CRAIGAVON POLICY AND THE U.F.V.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>VI.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>MR. CHURCHILL IN BELFAST</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>VII.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>"WHAT ANSWER FROM THE NORTH?"</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>VIII.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>THE EXCLUSION OF ULSTER</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>IX.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>THE EVE OF THE COVENANT</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>X.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>THE SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XI.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>PASSING THE BILL</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XII.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><b>WAS RESISTANCE JUSTIFIABLE?</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XIII.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><b>PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT AND PROPAGANDA</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XIV.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><b>LORD LOREBURN'S LETTER</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XV.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><b>PREPARATIONS AND PROPOSALS</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XVI.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"><b>THE CURRAGH INCIDENT</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XVII.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"><b>ARMING THE U.V.F</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XVIII.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"><b>A VOYAGE OF ADVENTURE</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XIX.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"><b>ON THE BRINK OF CIVIL WAR</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XX.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XX"><b>ULSTER IN THE WAR</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XXI.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI"><b>NEGOTIATIONS FOR SETTLEMENT</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XXII.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII"><b>THE IRISH CONVENTION</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XXIII.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII"><b>NATIONALISTS AND CONSCRIPTION</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XXIV.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV"><b>THE ULSTER PARLIAMENT</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td><b>APPENDIX</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>A.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#APPENDIX_A"><b>NATIONALIST LETTER TO PRESIDENT WILSON</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>B.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#APPENDIX_B"><b>UNIONIST LETTER TO PRESIDENT WILSON</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align='left'><a href="#INDEX"><b>INDEX</b></a></td></tr></table> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<br /> +<h2><a name="Page_1"></a><b>ULSTER'S STAND FOR UNION</b></h2> +<br /> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_I"></a><h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h4>INTRODUCTION: THE ULSTER STANDPOINT +</h4> + +<p>Like all other movements in human affairs, the opposition of the +Northern Protestants of Ireland to the agitation of their Nationalist +fellow-countrymen for Home Rule can only be properly understood by those +who take some pains to get at the true motives, and to appreciate the +spirit, of those who engaged in it. And as it is nowhere more true than +in Ireland that the events of to-day are the outcome of events that +occurred longer ago than yesterday, and that the motives of to-day have +consequently their roots buried somewhat deeply in the past, it is no +easy task for the outside observer to gain the insight requisite for +understanding fairly the conduct of the persons concerned.</p> + +<p>It was Mr. Asquith who very truly said that the Irish question, of which +one of the principal factors is the opposition of Ulster to Home Rule, +"springs from sources that are historic, economic, social, racial, and +religious." It would be a hopeless undertaking to attempt here to probe +to the bottom an origin so complex; but, whether the sympathies of the +reader be for or against the standpoint of the Irish Loyalists, the +actual events which make up what may be called the Ulster Movement would +be wholly unintelligible without some introductory retrospect. Indeed, +to those who set out to judge Irish political conditions without +troubling themselves about anything more ancient than their own memory +can recall, the most fundamental factor of all—the line of cleavage +between Ulster and the rest of the island—- is more than +unintelligible. In the eyes of many it presents itself as an example of +perversity, of "cussedness" on the part of men who <a name="Page_2"></a>insist on magnifying +mere differences of opinion, which would be easily composed by +reasonable people, into obstacles to co-operation which have no reality +behind them.</p> + +<p>Writers and speakers on the Nationalist side deride the idea of "two +nations" in Ireland, calling in evidence many obvious identities of +interest, of sentiment, or of temperament between the inhabitants of the +North and of the South. The Ulsterman no more denies these identities +than the Greek, the Bulgar, and the Serb would deny that there are +features common to all dwellers in the Balkan peninsula; but he is more +deeply conscious of the difference than of the likeness between himself +and the man from Munster or Connaught. His reply to those who denounced +the Irish Government Act of 1920 on the ground that it set up a +"partition of Ireland," is that the Act did not "set up," but only +recognised, the partition which history made long ago, and which wrecked +all attempts to solve the problem of Irish Government that neglected to +take it into account. If there be any force in Renan's saying that the +root of nationality is "the will to live together," the Nationalist cry +of "Ireland a Nation" harmonises ill with the actual conditions of +Ireland north and south of the Boyne. This dividing gulf between the two +populations in Ireland is the result of the same causes as the political +dissension that springs from it, as described by Mr. Asquith in words +quoted above. The tendencies of social and racial origin operate for the +most part subconsciously—though not perhaps less powerfully on that +account; those connected with economic considerations, with religious +creeds, and with events in political history enter directly and +consciously into the formation of convictions which in turn become the +motives for actions.</p> + +<p>In the mind of the average Ulster Unionist the particular point of +contrast between himself and the Nationalist of which he is more +forcibly conscious than of any other, and in which all other +distinguishing traits are merged, is that he is loyal to the British +Crown and the British Flag, whereas the other man is loyal to neither. +Religious intolerance, so far as the Protestants are concerned, of +<a name="Page_3"></a>which so much is heard, is in actual fact mainly traceable to the same +sentiment. It is unfortunately true that the lines of political and of +religious division coincide; but religious dissensions seldom flare up +except at times of political excitement; and, while it is undeniable +that the temper of the creeds more resembles what prevailed in England +in the seventeenth than in the twentieth century, yet when overt +hostility breaks out it is because the creed is taken—and usually taken +rightly—as <i>prima facie</i> evidence of political opinion—political +opinion meaning "loyalty" or "disloyalty," as the case may be. The label +of "loyalist" is that which the Ulsterman cherishes above all others. It +means something definite to him; its special significance is reinforced +by the consciousness of its wearers that they are a minority; it +sustains the feeling that the division between parties is something +deeper and more fundamental than anything that in England is called +difference of opinion. This feeling accounts for much that sometimes +perplexes even the sympathetic English observer, and moves the hostile +partisan to scornful criticism. The ordinary Protestant farmer or +artisan of Ulster is by nature as far as possible removed from the being +who is derisively nicknamed the "noisy patriot" or the "flag-wagging +jingo." If the National Anthem has become a "party tune" in Ireland, it +is not because the loyalist sings it, but because the dis-loyalist shuns +it; and its avoidance at gatherings both political and social where +Nationalists predominate, naturally makes those who value loyalty the +more punctilious in its use. If there is a profuse display of the Union +Jack, it is because it is in Ulster not merely "bunting" for decorative +purposes as in England, but the symbol of a cherished faith.</p> + +<p>There may, perhaps, be some persons, unfamiliar with the Ulster cast of +mind, who find it hard to reconcile this profession of passionate +loyalty with the methods embarked upon in 1912 by the Ulster people. It +is a question upon which there will be something to be said when the +narrative reaches the events of that date. Here it need only be stated +that, in the eyes of Ulstermen at all events, constitutional orthodoxy +is quite a different thing from <a name="Page_4"></a>loyalty, and that true allegiance to +the Sovereign is by them sharply differentiated from passive obedience +to an Act of Parliament.</p> + +<p>The sincerity with which this loyalist creed is held by practically the +entire Protestant population of Ulster cannot be questioned by anyone +who knows the people, however much he may criticise it on other grounds. +And equally sincere is the conviction held by the same people that +disloyalty is, and always has been, the essential characteristic of +Nationalism. The conviction is founded on close personal contact +continued through many generations with the adherents of that political +party, and the tradition thus formed draws more support from authentic +history than many Englishmen are willing to believe. Consequently, when +the General Election of 1918 revealed that the whole of Nationalist +Ireland had gone over with foot, horse, and artillery, with bag and +baggage, from the camp of so-called Constitutional Home Rule, to the +Sinn Feiners who made no pretence that their aim was anything short of +complete independent sovereignty for Ireland, no surprise was felt in +Ulster. It was there realised that nothing had happened beyond the +throwing off of the mask which had been used as a matter of political +tactics to disguise what had always been the real underlying aim, if not +of the parliamentary leaders, at all events of the great mass of +Nationalist opinion throughout the three southern provinces. The whole +population had not with one consent changed their views in the course of +a night; they had merely rallied to support the first leaders whom they +had found prepared to proclaim the true objective. Curiously enough, +this truth was realised by an English politician who was in other +respects conspicuously deficient in insight regarding Ireland. The +Easter insurrection of 1916 in Dublin was only rendered possible by the +negligence or the incompetence of the Chief Secretary; but, in giving +evidence before the Commission appointed to inquire into it, Mr. Birrell +said: "The spirit of what to-day is called Sinn Feinism is mainly +composed of the old hatred and distrust of the British connection ... +always there as the background<a name="Page_5"></a> of Irish politics and character"; and, +after recalling that Cardinal Newman had observed the same state of +feeling in Dublin more than half a century before, Mr. Birrell added +quite truly that "this dislike, hatred, disloyalty (so unintelligible to +many Englishmen) is hard to define but easy to discern, though incapable +of exact measurement from year to year." This disloyal spirit, which +struck Newman, and which Mr. Birrell found easy to discern, was of +course always familiar to Ulstermen as characteristic of "the South and +West," and was their justification for the badge of "loyalist," their +assumption of which English Liberals, knowing nothing of Ireland, held +to be an unjust slur on the Irish majority.</p> + +<p>If this belief in the inherent disloyalty of Nationalist Ireland to the +British Empire did any injustice to individual Nationalist politicians, +they had nobody but themselves to blame for it. Their pronouncements in +America, as well as at home, were scrutinised in Ulster with a care that +Englishmen seldom took the trouble to give them. Nor must it be +forgotten that, up to the date when Mr. Gladstone made Home Rule a plank +in an English party's programme—which, whatever else it did, could not +alter the facts of the case—the same conviction, held in Ulster so +tenaciously, had prevailed almost universally in Great Britain also; and +had been proclaimed by no one so vehemently as by Mr. Gladstone himself, +whose famous declarations that the Nationalists of that day were +"steeped to the lips in treason," and were "marching through rapine to +the dismemberment of the Empire," were not so quickly forgotten in +Ulster as in England, nor so easily passed over as either meaningless or +untrue as soon as they became inconvenient for a political party to +remember. English supporters of Home Rule, when reminded of such +utterances, dismissed with a shrug the "unedifying pastime of unearthing +buried speeches"; and showed equal determination to see nothing in +speeches delivered by Nationalist leaders in America inconsistent with +the purely constitutional demand for "extended self-government."</p> + +<p>Ulster never would consent to bandage her own eyes in <a name="Page_6"></a>similar fashion, +or to plug her ears with wool. The "two voices" of Nationalist leaders, +from Mr. Parnell to Mr. Dillon, were equally audible to her; and, of the +two, she was certain that the true aim of Nationalist policy was +expressed by the one whose tone was disloyal to the British Empire. +Look-out was kept for any change in the direction of moderation, for any +real indication that those who professed to be "constitutional +Nationalists" were any less determined than "the physical force party" +to reach the goal described by Parnell in the famous sentence, "None of +us will be ... satisfied until we have destroyed the last link which +keeps Ireland bound to England."</p> + +<p>No such indication was ever discernible. On the contrary, Parnell's +phrase became a refrain to be heard in many later pronouncements of his +successors, and the policy he thus described was again and again +propounded in after-years on innumerable Nationalist platforms, in +speeches constantly quoted to prove, as was the contention of Ulster +from the first, that Home Rule as understood by English Liberals was no +more than an instalment of the real demand of Nationalists, who, if they +once obtained the "comparative freedom" of an Irish legislature—to +quote the words used by Mr. Devlin at a later date—would then, with +that leverage, "operate by whatever means they should think best to +achieve the great and desirable end" of complete independence of Great +Britain.</p> + +<p>This was an end that could not by any juggling be reconciled with the +Ulsterman's notion of "loyalty." Moreover, whatever knowledge he +possessed of his country's history—and he knows a good deal more, man +for man, than the Englishman—confirmed his deep distrust of those whom, +following the example of John Bright, he always bluntly described as +"the rebel party." He knew something of the rebellions in Ireland in the +seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, and was under no +illusion as to the design for which arms had been taken up in the past. +He knew that that design had not changed with the passing of +generations, although gentler methods of accomplishing it might +sometimes find favour. Indeed, one Nationalist leader himself took +<a name="Page_7"></a>pains, at a comparatively recent date, to remove any excuse there may +ever have been for doubt on this point. Mr. John Redmond was an orator +who selected his words with care, and his appeals to historical +analogies were not made haphazard. When he declared (in a speech in +1901) that, "in its essence, the national movement to-day is the same as +it was in the days of Hugh O'Neill, of Owen Roe, of Emmet, or of Wolfe +Tone," those names, which would have had but a shadowy significance for +a popular audience in England, carried very definite meaning to the ears +of Irishmen, whether Nationalist or Unionist. Mr. Gladstone, in the +fervour of his conversion to Home Rule, was fond of allusions to the +work of Molyneux and Swift, Flood and Grattan; but these were men whose +Irish patriotism never betrayed them into disloyalty to the British +Crown or hostility to the British connection. They were reformers, not +rebels. But it was not with the political ideals of such men that Mr. +Redmond claimed his own to be identical, nor even with that of +O'Connell, the apostle of repeal of the Union, but with the aims of men +who, animated solely by hatred of England, sought to establish the +complete independence of Ireland by force of arms, and in some cases by +calling in (like Roger Casement in our own day) the aid of England's +foreign enemies.</p> + +<p>In the face of appeals like this to the historic imagination of an +impressionable people, it is not surprising that by neither Mr. +Redmond's followers nor by his opponents was much account taken of his +own personal disapproval of extremes both of means and ends. His +opponents in Ulster simply accepted such utterances as confirmation of +what they had known all along from other sources to be the actual facts, +namely, that the Home Rule agitation was "in its essence" a separatist +movement; that its adherents were, as Mr. Redmond himself said on +another occasion, "as much rebels as their fathers were in 1798"; and +that the men of Ulster were, together with some scattered sympathisers +in the other Provinces, the depositaries of the "loyal" tradition.</p> + +<p>The latter could boast of a pedigree as long as that of the rebels. If +Mr. Redmond's followers were to trace <a name="Page_8"></a>their political ancestry, as he +told them, to the great Earl of Tyrone who essayed to overthrow England +with the help of the Spaniard and the Pope, the Ulster Protestants could +claim descent from the men of the Plantation, through generation after +generation of loyalists who had kept the British flag flying in Ireland +in times of stress and danger, when Mr. Redmond's historical heroes were +making England's difficulty Ireland's opportunity.</p> + +<p>There have been, and are, many individual Nationalists, no doubt, +especially among the more educated and thoughtful, to whom it would be +unjust to impute bad faith when they professed that their political +aspirations for Ireland were really limited to obtaining local control +of local affairs, and who resented being called "Separatists," since +their desire was not for separation from Great Britain but for the +"union of hearts," which they believed would grow out of extended +self-government. But the answer of Irish Unionists, especially in +Ulster, has always been that, whatever such "moderate," or +"constitutional" Nationalists might dream, it would be found in +practice, if the experiment were made, that no halting-place could be +found between legislative union and complete separation. Moreover, the +same view was held by men as far as possible removed from the standpoint +of the Ulster Protestant. Cardinal Manning, for example, although an +intimate personal friend of Gladstone, in a letter to Leo XIII, wrote: +"As for myself, Holy Father, allow me to say that I consider a +Parliament in Dublin and a separation to be equivalent to the same +thing. Ireland is not a Colony like Canada, but it is an integral and +vital part of one country."<a name="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1"><sup>[1]</sup></a></p> + +<p>It is improbable that identical lines of reasoning led the Roman +Catholic Cardinal and the Belfast Orangeman and Presbyterian to this +identical conclusion; but a position reached by convergent paths from +such distant points of departure is defensible presumably on grounds +more solid than prejudice or passion. It is unnecessary here to examine +those grounds at length, for the present purpose is not to argue the +Ulster case, but to let the reader know <a name="Page_9"></a>what was, as a matter of fact, +the Ulster point of view, whether that point of view was well or ill +founded.</p> + +<p>But, while the opinion that a Dublin Parliament meant separation was +shared by many who had little else in common with the Ulster +Protestants, the latter stood alone in the intensity of their conviction +that "Home Rule meant Rome Rule." It has already been mentioned that it +is the "disloyalty" attributed rightly or wrongly to the Roman Catholics +as a body that has been, in recent times at all events, the mainspring +of Protestant distrust. But sectarian feeling, everywhere common between +rival creeds, is, of course, by no means absent. Englishmen find it hard +to understand what seems to them the bigoted and senseless animosity of +the rival faiths in Ireland. This is due to the astonishing shortness of +their memory in regard to their own history, and their very limited +outlook on the world outside their own island. If, without looking +further back in their history, they reflected that the "No Popery" +feeling in England in mid-Victorian days was scarcely less intense than +it is in Ulster to-day; or if they realised the extent to which +Gambetta's "Le cléricalisme, voilà l'ennemi" continues still to +influence public life in France, they might be less ready to censure the +Irish Protestant's dislike of priestly interference in affairs outside +the domain of faith and morals. It is indeed remarkable that +Nonconformists, especially in Wales, who within living memory have +displayed their own horror of the much milder form of sacerdotalism to +be found in the Anglican Church, have no sympathy apparently with the +Presbyterian and the Methodist in Ulster when the latter kick against +the encompassing pressure of the Roman Catholic priesthood, not in +educational matters alone, but in all the petty activities of every-day +life.</p> + +<p>Whenever this aspect of the Home Rule controversy was emphasised +Englishmen asked what sort of persecution Irish Protestants had to fear +from a Parliament in Dublin, and appeared to think all such fear +illusory unless evidence could be adduced that the Holy Office was to be +set up at Maynooth, equipped with faggot and thumb-screw. Of persecution +of that sort there never has been, <a name="Page_10"></a>of course, any apprehension in +modern times. Individual Catholics and Protestants live side by side in +Ireland with fully as much amity as elsewhere, but whereas the Catholic +instinctively, and by upbringing, looks to the parish priest as his +director in all affairs of life, the Protestant dislikes and resists +clerical influence as strongly as does the Nonconformist in England and +Wales—and with much better reason. For the latter has never known +clericalism as it exists in a Roman Catholic country where the Church is +wholly unrestrained by the civil power. He has resented what he regards +as Anglican arrogance in regard to educational management or the use of +burying-grounds, but he has never experienced a much more aggressive +clerical temper exercised in all the incidents of daily life—in the +market, the political meeting, the disposition of property, the +amusements of the people, the polling booth, the farm, and the home.</p> + +<p>This involves no condemnation of the Irish priest as an individual or as +a minister of his Church. He is kind-hearted, charitable, and +conscientious; and, except that it does not encourage self-reliance and +enterprise, his influence with his own people is no more open to +criticism than that of any other body of religious ministers. But the +Roman Catholic Church has always made a larger claim than any other on +the obedience of its adherents, and it has always enforced that +obedience whenever it has had the power by methods which, in Protestant +opinion, are extremely objectionable. In theory the claim may be limited +to affairs concerned with faith and morals; but the definition of such +affairs is a very elastic one. Cardinal Logue not many years ago said: +"When political action trenches upon faith or morals or affects +religion, the Vicar of Christ, as the supreme teacher and guardian of +faith and morals, and as the custodian of the immunities of religion, +has, by Divine Right, authority to interfere and to enforce his +decisions." How far this principle is in practice carried beyond the +limits so denned was proved in the famous Meath election petition in +1892, in which the Judge who tried it, himself a devout Catholic, +declared: "The Church became converted for the time being into a vast +political agency, a <a name="Page_11"></a>great moral machine moving with resistless +influence, united action, and a single will. Every priest who was +examined was a canvasser; the canvas was everywhere—on the altar, in +the vestry, on the roads, in the houses." And while an election was in +progress in County Tyrone in 1911 a parish priest announced that any +Catholic who should vote for the Unionist candidate "would be held +responsible at the Day of Judgment." A still more notorious example of +clericalism in secular affairs, within the recollection of Englishmen, +was the veto on the Military Service Act proclaimed from the altars of +the Catholic Churches, which, during the Great War, defeated the +application to Ireland of the compulsory service which England, +Scotland, and Wales accepted as the only alternative to national defeat +and humiliation.</p> + +<p>But these were only conspicuous examples of what the Irish Protestant +sees around him every day of his life. The promulgation in 1908 of the +Vatican decree, <i>Nec Temere</i>, a papal reassertion of the canonical +invalidity of mixed marriages, followed as it was by notorious cases of +the victimisation of Protestant women by the application of its +principles, did not encourage the Protestants to welcome the prospect of +a Catholic Parliament that would have control of the marriage law; nor +did they any more readily welcome the prospect of national education on +purely ecclesiastical lines. Another Vatican decree that was equally +alarming to Protestants was that entitled <i>Motu Proprio</i>, by which any +Catholic layman was <i>ipso facto </i> excommunicated who should have the +temerity to bring a priest into a civil court either as defendant or +witness. Medievalism like this was felt by Ulster Protestants to be +irreconcilable with modern ideas of democratic freedom, and to indicate +a temper that boded ill for any regime which would be subject to its +inspiration. These were matters, it is true,—and there were perhaps +some others of a similar nature—on which it is possible to conceive +more or less satisfactory legislative safeguards being provided; but as +regards the indefinable but innumerable minutiae in which the prevailing +ecclesiastical standpoint creates an atmosphere in which daily life has +to be carried <a name="Page_12"></a>on, no safeguards could be devised, and it was the +realisation of this truth in the light of their own experience that made +the Ulstermen continually close their ears to allurements of that sort.</p> + +<p>The Roman Church is quite consistent, and from its own point of view +praiseworthy, in its assertion of its right, and its duty, to control +the lives and thoughts of men; but this assertion has produced a clash +with the non-ecclesiastical mind in almost every country, where +Catholicism is the dominant religious faith. But in Ireland, unlike +Continental countries, there is no Catholic lay opinion—or almost +none—able to make its voice heard against clerical dictation, and +consequently the Protestants felt convinced, with good reason, that any +legislature in Ireland must take its tone from this pervading mental and +moral atmosphere, and that all its proceedings would necessarily be +tainted by it.</p> + +<p>Prior to 1885 the political complexion of Ulster was in the main +Liberal. The Presbyterians, who formed the majority of the Protestant +population, collateral descendants of the men who emigrated in the +eighteenth century and formed the backbone of Washington's army, and +direct descendants of those who joined the United Irishmen in 1798, were +of a pronounced Liberal type, and their frequently strong disapproval of +Orangeism made any united political action an improbable occurrence. But +the crisis brought about by Gladstone's declaration in favour of Home +Rule instantly swept all sections of Loyalists into a single camp. There +was practically not a Liberal left who did not become Unionist, and, +although a separate organisation of Liberal Unionists was maintained, +the co-operation with Conservatives was so whole-hearted and complete as +almost to amount to fusion from the outset.</p> + +<p>The immediate cessation of class friction was still more remarkable. For +more than a decade the perennial quarrel between landlord and tenant had +been increasing in intensity, and the recent land legislation had +disposed the latter to look upon Gladstone as a deliverer. Their +gratitude was wiped out the moment he hoisted the green flag, while the +labourers enfranchised by the Act of 1884 <a name="Page_13"></a>eagerly enrolled themselves +as the bitterest enemies of his new Irish policy. The unanimity of the +country-side was matched in the towns, and especially in Belfast, where, +with the single exception of a definitely Catholic quarter, employer and +artisan were as whole-heartedly united as were landlord and tenant in +passionate resentment at what they regarded as the betrayal by England's +foremost statesman of England's only friends in Ireland.</p> + +<p>The defeat of the Home Rule Bill of 1886 brought relief from the +immediate strain of anxiety. But it was at once realised that the +encouragement and support given to Irish disloyalty for the first time +by one of the great political parties in Great Britain was a step that +could never be recalled. Henceforth the vigilance required to prevent +being taken unawares, and the untiring organisation necessary for making +effective defence against an attack which, although it had signally +failed at the first onslaught, was certain to be renewed, welded all the +previously diverse social and political elements in Ulster into a single +compact mass, tempered to the maximum power of resistance. There was +room for no other thought in the minds of men who felt as if living in a +beleaguered citadel, whose flag they were bound in honour to keep flying +to the last. The "loyalist" tradition acquired fresh meaning and +strength, and its historical setting took a more conscious hold on the +public mind of Ulster, as men studied afresh the story of the Relief of +Derry or the horrors of 1641. Visits of encouragement from the leaders +of Unionism across the Channel, men like Lord Salisbury, Mr. Balfour, +Mr. Chamberlain, Lord Randolph Churchill, fortified the resolution of a +populace that came more and more to regard themselves as a bulwark of +the Empire, on whom destiny, while conferring on them the honour of +upholding the flag, had imposed the duty of putting into actual practice +the familiar motto of the Orange Lodges—"No surrender."</p> + +<p>From a psychology so bred and nourished sprang a political temper which, +as it hardened with the passing years, appeared to English Home Rulers +to be "stiff-necked," "bigoted," and "intractable." It certainly was <a name="Page_14"></a>a +state of mind very different from those shifting gusts of transient +impression which in England go by the name of public opinion; and, if +these epithets in the mouths of opponents be taken as no more than +synonyms for "uncompromising," they were not undeserved. At a memorable +meeting at the Albert Hall in London on the 22nd of April, 1893, Dr. +Alexander, Bishop of Derry, poet, orator, and divine, declared in an +eloquent passage that was felt to be the exact expression of Ulster +conviction, that the people of Ulster, when exhorted to show confidence +in their southern fellow-countrymen, "could no more be confiding about +its liberty than a pure woman can be confiding about her honour."</p> + +<p>Here was the irreconcilable division. The Nationalist talked of +centuries of "oppression," and demanded the dissolution of the Union in +the name of liberty. The Ulsterman, while far from denying the +misgovernment of former times, knew that it was the fruit of false ideas +which had passed away, and that the Ireland in which he lived enjoyed as +much liberty as any land on earth; and he feared the loss of the true +liberty he had gained if put back under a regime of Nationalist and +Utramontane domination. And so for more than thirty years the people of +Ulster for whom Bishop Alexander spoke made good his words. If in the +end compromise was forced upon them it was not because their standpoint +had changed, and it was only in circumstances which involved no +dishonour, and which preserved them from what they chiefly dreaded, +subjection to a Dublin Parliament inspired by clericalism and disloyalty +to the Empire.</p> + +<p>The development which brought about the change from Ulster's resolute +stand for unimpaired union with Great Britain to her reluctant +acceptance of a separate local constitution for the predominantly +Protestant portion of the Province, presents a deeply interesting +illustration of the truth of a pregnant dictum of Maine's on the working +of democratic institutions.</p> + +<p>"Democracies," he says, "are quite paralysed by the plea of nationality. +There is no more effective way of attacking them than by admitting the +right of the majority <a name="Page_15"></a>to govern, but denying that the majority so +entitled is the particular majority which claims the right."<a name="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2"><sup>[2]</sup></a></p> + +<p>This is precisely what occurred in regard to Ulster's relation to Great +Britain and to the rest of Ireland respectively. The will of the +majority must prevail, certainly. But what majority? Unionists +maintained that only the majority in the United Kingdom could decide, +and that it had never in fact decided in favour of repealing the Act of +Union; Lord Rosebery at one time held that a majority in Great Britain +alone, as the "Predominant Partner," must first give its consent; Irish +Nationalists argued that the majority in Ireland, as a distinct unit, +was the only one that should count. Ulster, whilst agreeing with the +general Unionist position, contended ultimately that her own majority +was as well entitled to be heard in regard to her own fate as the +majority in Ireland as a whole. To the Nationalist claim that Ireland +was a nation she replied that it was either two nations or none, and +that if one of the two had a right to "self-determination," the other +had it equally. Thus the axiom of democracy that government is by the +majority was, as Maine said, "paralysed by the plea of nationality," +since the contending parties appealed to the same principle without +having any common ground as to how it should be applied to the case in +dispute.</p> + +<p>If the Union with Great Britain was to be abrogated, which Pitt had only +established when "a full measure of Home Rule" had produced a bloody +insurrection and Irish collusion with England's external enemies, Ulster +could at all events in the last resort take her stand on Abraham +Lincoln's famous proposition which created West Virginia: "A minority of +a large community who make certain claims for self-government cannot, in +logic or in substance, refuse the same claims to a much larger +proportionate minority among themselves."</p> + +<p>The Loyalists of Ulster were successful in holding this second line, +when the first was no longer tenable; but they only retired from the +first line—the maintenance of the legislative union—after a long and +obstinate defence which it is the purpose of the following pages to +relate.</p> +<a name="Page_16"></a> +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1">[1]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Henry Edward Manning</i>, by Shane Leslie, p. 406.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2">[2]</a><div class="note"><p> Sir S.H. Maine, <i>Popular Government</i>, p. 28.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_II"></a><h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h4>THE ELECTORATE AND HOME RULE</h4> + + +<p>We profess to be a democratic country in which the "will of the people" +is the ultimate authority in determining questions of policy, and the +Liberal Party has been accustomed to regard itself as the most zealous +guardian of democratic principles. Yet there is this curious paradox in +relation to the problem which more than any other taxed British +statesmanship during the thirty-five years immediately following the +enfranchisement of the rural democracy in 1884, that the solution +propounded by the Liberal Party, and inscribed by that party on the +Statute-book in 1914, was more than once emphatically rejected, and has +never been explicitly accepted by the electorate.</p> + +<p>No policy ever submitted to the country was more decisively condemned at +the polls than Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule proposals in the General +Election of 1886. The issue then for the first time submitted to the +people was isolated from all others with a completeness scarcely ever +practicable—a circumstance which rendered the "mandate" to Parliament +to maintain the legislative union exceptionally free from ambiguity. The +party which had brought forward the defeated proposal, although led by a +statesman of unrivalled popularity, authority, and power, was shattered +in the attempt to carry it, and lost the support of numbers of its most +conspicuous adherents, including Chamberlain, Hartington, Goschen, and +John Bright, besides a multitude of its rank and file, who entered into +political partnership with their former opponents in order to withstand +the new departure of their old Chief.</p> + +<p>The years that followed were a period of preparation by both sides for +the next battle. The improvement in the <a name="Page_17"></a>state of Ireland, largely the +result of legislation carried by Lord Salisbury's Government, especially +that which promoted land purchase, encouraged the confidence felt by +Unionists that the British voter would remain staunch to the Union. The +downfall of Parnell in 1890, followed by the break-up of his party, and +by his death in the following year, seemed to make the danger of Home +Rule still more remote. The only disquieting factor was the personality +of Mr. Gladstone, which, the older he grew, exercised a more and more +incalculable influence on the public mind. And there can be no doubt +that it was this personal influence that made him, in spite of his +policy, and not because of it, Prime Minister for the fourth time in +1892. In Great Britain the electors in that year pronounced against Home +Rule again by a considerable majority, and it was only by coalition with +the eighty-three Irish Nationalist Members that Gladstone and his party +were able to scrape up a majority of forty in support of his second Home +Rule Bill. Whether there was any ground for Gladstone's belief that but +for the O'Shea divorce he would have had a three-figure majority in 1892 +is of little consequence, but the fall of his own majority in Midlothian +from 4,000 to below 700, which caused him "intense chagrin,"<a name="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> does not +lend it support. Lord Morley says Gladstone was blamed by some of his +friends for accepting office "depending on a majority not large enough +to coerce the House of Lords"<a name="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4"><sup>[4]</sup></a>; but a more valid ground of censure was +that he was willing to break up the constitution of the United Kingdom, +although a majority of British electors had just refused to sanction +such a thing being done. That Gladstone's colleagues realised full well +the true state of public opinion on the subject, if he himself did not, +was shown by their conduct when the Home Rule Bill, after being carried +through the House of Commons by diminutive majorities, was rejected on +second reading by the Peers. Even their great leader's entreaty could +not persuade them to consent to an appeal to the people<a name="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5"><sup>[5]</sup></a>; and when +they were tripped up over the <a name="Page_18"></a>cordite vote in 1895, after Gladstone had +disappeared from public life, none of them probably were surprised at +the overwhelming vote by which the constituencies endorsed the action of +the House of Lords, and pronounced for the second time in ten years +against granting Home Rule to Ireland.</p> + +<p>If anything except the personal ascendancy of Gladstone contributed to +his small coalition majority in 1892 it was no doubt the confidence of +the electors that the House of Lords could be relied upon to prevent the +passage of a Home Rule Bill. It is worth noting that nearly twenty years +later Lord Crewe acknowledged that the Home Rule Bill of 1893 could not +have stood the test of a General Election or of a Referendum.<a name="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6"><sup>[6]</sup></a></p> + +<p>During the ten years of Unionist Government from 1895 to 1905 the +question of Home Rule slipped into the background. Other issues, such as +those raised by the South African War and Mr. Chamberlain's tariff +policy, engrossed the public mind. English Home Rulers showed a +disposition to hide away, if not to repudiate altogether, the legacy +they had inherited from Gladstone. Lord Rosebery acknowledged the +necessity to convert "the predominant partner," a mission which every +passing year made appear a more hopeless undertaking. At by-elections +Home Rule was scarcely mentioned. In the eyes of average Englishmen the +question was dead and buried, and most people were heartily thankful to +hear no more about it. Mr. T.M. Healy's caustic wit remarked that "Home +Rule was put into cold storage."<a name="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7"><sup>[7]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Then came the great overthrow of the Unionists in 1906. Home Rule, +except by its absence from Liberal election addresses, contributed +nothing at all to that resounding Liberal victory. The battle of +"terminological inexactitudes" rang with cries of Chinese "slavery," +Tariff Reform, Church Schools, Labour Dispute Bills, and so forth; but +on Ireland silence reigned on the platforms of the victors. The event +was to give the successors of Mr. Gladstone a House of Commons in +complete subjection to <a name="Page_19"></a>them. For the first time since 1885 they had a +majority independent of the Nationalists, a majority, if ever there was +one, "large enough to coerce the House of Lords," as they would have +done in 1893, according to Lord Morley, if they had had the power. But +to do that would involve the danger of having again to appeal to the +country, which even at this high tide of Liberal triumph they could not +face with Home Rule as an election cry. So, with the tame acquiescence +of Mr. Redmond and his followers, they spent four years of unparalleled +power without laying a finger on Irish Government, a course which was +rendered easy for them by the fact that, on their own admission, they +had found Ireland in a more peaceful, prosperous, and contented +condition than it had enjoyed for several generations. Occasionally, +indeed, as was necessary to prevent a rupture with the Nationalists, +some perfunctory mention of Home Rule as a <i>desideratum</i> of the future +was made on Ministerial platforms—by Mr. Churchill, for example, at +Manchester in May 1909. But by that date even the contest over Tariff +Reform—which had raged without intermission for six years, and by +rending the Unionist Party had grievously damaged it as an effective +instrument of opposition—had become merged in the more immediately +exciting battle of the Budget, provoked by Mr. Lloyd George's financial +proposals for the current year, and by the possibility that they might +be rejected by the House of Lords. This the House of Lords did, on the +30th of November, 1909, and the Prime Minister at once announced that he +would appeal to the country without delay.</p> + +<p>Such a turn of events was a wonderful windfall for the Irish +Nationalists, beyond what the most sanguine of them can ever have hoped +for. The rejection of a money Bill by the House of Lords raised a +democratic blizzard, the full force of which was directed against the +constitutional power of veto possessed by the hereditary Chamber in +relation not merely to money Bills, but to general legislation. For a +long time the Liberal Party had been threatening that part of the +Constitution without much effect. Sixteen years had passed since Mr. +Gladstone in <a name="Page_20"></a>his last speech in the House of Commons declared that +issue must be joined with the Peers; but the emphatic endorsement by the +constituencies in 1895 of the Lords' action which he had denounced, +followed by ten years of Unionist Government, damped down the ardour of +attack so effectually that, during the four years in which the Liberals +enjoyed unchallengeable power, from 1906 to 1910, they did nothing to +carry out Gladstone's parting injunction. Had they done so at any time +when Home Rule was a living issue in the country an attack on the Lords +would in all probability have proved disastrous to themselves. For there +was not a particle of evidence that the electors of Great Britain had +changed their minds on this subject, and there were great numbers of +voters in the country—those voters, unattached to party, who constitute +"the swing of the pendulum," and decide the issue at General +Elections—who felt free to vote Liberal in 1906 because they believed +Home Rule was practically dead, and if revived would be again given its +<i>quietus</i>, as in 1893, by the House of Lords. But the defeat of the +Budget in November 1909 immediately opened a line of attack wholly +unconnected with Ireland, and over the most favourable ground that could +have been selected for the assault.</p> + +<p>Nothing could have been more skilful than the tactics employed by the +Liberal leaders. Concentrating on the constitutional question raised by +the alleged encroachment of the Lords on the exclusive privilege of the +Commons to grant supply, they tried to excite a hurricane of popular +fury by calling on the electorate to decide between "Peers and People." +The rejected Finance Bill was dubbed "The People's Budget." A "Budget +League" was formed to expatiate through the constituencies on the +democratic character of its provisions, and on the personal and class +selfishness of the Peers in throwing it out. As little as possible was +said about Ireland, and probably not one voter in ten thousand who went +to the poll in January 1910 ever gave a thought to the subject, or +dreamed that he was taking part in reversing the popular verdict of 1886 +and 1895. Afterwards, when it was complained that <a name="Page_21"></a>an election so +conducted had provided no "mandate" for Home Rule, it was found that in +the course of a long speech delivered by Mr. Asquith at the Albert Hall +on the 10th of December there was a sentence in which the Prime Minister +had declared that "the Irish problem could only be solved by a policy +which, while explicitly safeguarding the supreme authority of the +Imperial Parliament, would set up self-government in Ireland in regard +to Irish affairs." The rest of the speech dealt with Tariff Reform and +with the constitutional question of the House of Lords, on which the +public mind was focused throughout the election.</p> + +<p>In the unprecedented deluge of oratory that flooded the country in the +month preceding the elections the Prime Minister's sentence on Ireland +at the Albert Hall passed almost unnoticed in English and Scottish +constituencies, or was quickly lost sight of, like a coin in a +cornstack, under sheaves of rhetoric about the dear loaf and the +intolerable arrogance of hereditary legislators. Here and there a +Unionist candidate did his best to warn a constituency that every +Liberal vote was a vote for Home Rule. He was invariably met with an +impatient retort that he was attempting to raise a bogey to divert +attention from the iniquity of the Lords and the Tariff Reformers. Home +Rule, he was told, was dead and buried.</p> + +<p>On the 19th of January, 1910, when the elections were over in the +boroughs, Mr. Asquith claimed that "the great industrial centres had +mainly declared for Free Trade," and the impartial chronicler of the +<i>Annual Register</i> stated that "the Liberals had fought on Free Trade and +the constitutional issue." The twice-repeated decision of the country +against Home Rule for Ireland was therefore in no sense reversed by the +General Election of January 1910.</p> + +<p>But from the very beginning of the agitation over the Budget and the +action of the House of Lords in relation to it, in the summer of 1909, +the gravity of the situation so created was fully appreciated by both +political parties in Ireland itself. Only the most languid interest was +there taken in the questions which stirred the constitu<a name="Page_22"></a>encies across +the Channel. Neither Nationalist nor Unionist cared anything whatever +for Free Trade; neither of them shed a tear over the rejected Budget. +Indeed, Mr. Lloyd George's new taxes were so unpopular in Ireland that +Mr. Redmond was violently attacked by Mr. William O'Brien and Mr. Healy +for his neglect of obvious Irish interests in supporting the Government. +Mr. Redmond, for his part, made no pretence that his support was given +because he approved of the proposals for which he and his followers gave +their votes in every division. The clauses of the Finance Bill were +trifles in his eyes that did not matter. His gaze was steadily fixed on +the House of Peers, which he saw before him as a huntsman views a fox +with bedraggled brush, reduced to a trot a field or two ahead of the +hounds. That House was, as he described it, "the last obstacle to Home +Rule," and he was determined to do all he could to remove the obstacle. +Lord Rosebery said at Glasgow in September 1909 that he believed +Ministers wanted the House of Lords to reject the Budget. Whether they +did or not, there can be no doubt that Mr. Redmond did, for he knew +that, in that event, the whole strength of the Liberal Party would be +directed to the task of beating down the "last obstacle," and that then +it would be possible to carry Home Rule without the British +constituencies being consulted. It was with this end in view that he +took his party into the lobby in support of a Budget that was detested +in Ireland, and threw the whole weight of his influence in British +constituencies on to the Liberal side in the elections of January 1910.</p> + +<p>But, notwithstanding the torrent of class prejudice and democratic +passion that was stirred up by six weeks of Liberal oratory, the result +of the elections was a serious loss of strength to the Government. The +commanding Liberal majority of 1906 over all parties in the House of +Commons disappeared, and Mr. Asquith and his Cabinet were once more +dependent on a coalition of Labour Members and Nationalists. The +Liberals by themselves had a majority of two only over the Unionists, +who had won over one hundred seats, so that the Nationalists <a name="Page_23"></a>were +easily in a position to enforce their leader's threat to make Mr. +Asquith "toe the line."</p> + +<p>When the Parliament elected in January 1910 assembled disputes arose +between the Government and the Nationalists as to whether priority was +to be given to passing the Budget rejected in the previous session, or +to the Parliament Bill which was to deprive the House of Lords of its +constitutional power to reject legislation passed by the Commons; and +Mr. Redmond expressed his displeasure that "guarantees" had not yet been +obtained from the King, or, in plain language, that a promise had not +been extorted from the Sovereign that he would be prepared to create a +sufficient number of Peers to secure the acceptance of the Parliament +Bill by the Upper House.</p> + +<p>The whole situation was suddenly changed by the death of King Edward in +May 1910. Consideration for the new and inexperienced Sovereign led to +the temporary abandonment of coercion of the Crown, and resort was had +to a Conference of party leaders, with a view to settlement of the +dispute by agreement. But no agreement was arrived at, and the +Conference broke up on the 10th of November. Parliament was again +dissolved in December, "on the assumption," as Lord Crewe stated, "that +the House of Lords would reject the Parliament Bill."</p> + +<p>During the agitation of this troubled autumn preceding the General +Election, the question of Home Rule was not quite so successfully +concealed from view as in the previous year. The Liberals, indeed, +maintained the same tactical reserve on the subject, alike in their +writings and their speeches. The Liberal Press of the period may be +searched in vain for any clear indication that the electors were about +to be asked to decide once more this momentous constitutional question. +Such mention of it as was occasionally to be found in ministerial +speeches seemed designed to convey the idea that, while the door leading +to Home Rule was still formally open, there was no immediate prospect of +its being brought into use. The Prime Minister in particular did +everything in his power to direct the attention of the country to the +same issues as in the preceding January, among which Ireland had <a name="Page_24"></a>had no +place. In presenting the Government's case at Hull on the 25th of +November, he reminded the country that in the January elections the veto +of the Peers was "the dominant issue"; in the intervening months the +Government, he said, had brought forward proposals for dealing with the +veto, and had given the Lords an opportunity to make proposals of their +own; a defeat of the Liberals in the coming elections would bring in +"Protection disguised as Tariff Reform"; but he (Mr. Asquith) preferred +to concentrate his criticism on Lord Lansdowne's "crude and complex +scheme" for Second Chamber reform; he made a passing mention of +"self-government for Ireland" as a policy that would have the sympathy +of the Dominions, but added that "the immediate task was to secure fair +play for Liberal legislation and popular government." And in his +election address Mr. Asquith declared that "the appeal to the country +was almost narrowed to a single issue, and on its determination hung the +whole future of democratic Government."</p> + +<p>This zeal for "popular," or "democratic" government was, however, not +inconsistent apparently with a determination to avoid at all hazards +consulting the will of the people, before doing what the people had +hitherto always refused to sanction. The suggestion had been made +earlier in the autumn that a Referendum, or "Poll of the People" might +be taken on the question of Home Rule. The very idea filled the Liberals +with dismay. Speaking at Edinburgh on the 2nd of December, Mr. Lloyd +George, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, made the curiously naive +admission, for a "democratic" politician, that the Referendum would +amount to "a prohibitive tariff against Liberalism." A few days earlier +at Reading (November 29th) his Chief sought to turn the edge of this +disconcerting proposal by asking whether the Unionists, if returned to +power, would allow Tariff Reform to be settled by the same mode of +appeal to the country; and when Mr. Balfour promptly accepted the +challenge by promising that he would do so Mr. Asquith retreated under +cover of the excuse that no bargain had been intended.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_25"></a>While the Liberal leaders were thus doing all they could to hold down +the lid of the Home Rule Jack-in-the-box, the Unionists were warning the +country that as soon as Mr. Asquith secured a majority his thumb would +release the spring. Speakers from Ulster carried the warning into many +constituencies, but it was noticed that they were constantly met with +the same retort as in January—that Home Rule was a "bogey," or a "red +herring" dragged across the trail of Tariff Reform and the Peers' veto; +and it is a significant indication of the straits to which the +Government afterwards felt themselves driven to find justification for +dealing with so fundamental a question as the repeal of the Union +without the explicit approval of the electorate, that they devised the +strange doctrine that speeches by their opponents provided them with a +mandate for a policy about which they had themselves kept silence, even +although those speeches had been disbelieved and derided on the very +ground that it would be impossible for Ministers to bring forward a +policy they had not laid before the country during the election.</p> + +<p>The extent to which this ministerial reserve was carried was shown by a +question put to Mr. Asquith in his own constituency in East Fife on the +6th of December. Scottish "hecklers" are intelligent and well informed +on current politics, and no one who knows them can imagine one of them +asking the Prime Minister whether he intended to introduce a Home Rule +Bill if Home Rule had been proclaimed as one of the chief items in the +policy of the Government. Mr. Asquith gave an affirmative reply; but the +elections were by this time half over, and in the following week Mr. +Balfour laid stress on the fact that five hundred contests had been +decided before any Minister had mentioned Home Rule. Even after giving +this memorable answer in East Fife Mr. Asquith, speaking at Bury St. +Edmunds on the 12th of December, declared that "the sole issue at that +moment was the supremacy of the people," and he added, in deprecation of +all the talk about Ireland, that "it was sought to confuse this issue by +catechising Ministers on the details of the next Home Rule Bill."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_26"></a>Even if this had been, as it was not, a true description of the +attempts that had been made to extract a frank declaration from the +Government as to their intentions in regard to this vitally important +matter—far more important to hundreds of thousands of people than any +question of Tariff, or of limiting the functions of the Second Chamber +—it was surely a curious doctrine to be propounded by a statesman +zealous to preserve "popular government "! There had been two Home Rule +Bills in the past, differing one from the other in not a few important +respects; discussion had shown that many even of those who supported the +principle of Home Rule objected strongly to this or that proposal for +embodying it in legislation Language had been used by Mr. Asquith +himself, as well as by some of his principal colleagues, which implied +that any future Home Rule Bill would be part of a general scheme of +"devolution," or federation, or "Home Rule All Round"—a solution of the +question favoured by many who hotly opposed separate treatment for +Ireland Yet here was the responsible Minister, in the middle of a +General Election, complaining that the issue was being "confused" by +presumptuous persons who wanted to know what sort of Home Rule, if any, +he had in contemplation in the event of obtaining a majority sufficient +to keep him in power.</p> + +<p>Under such circumstances it would have been a straining of +constitutional principles, and a flagrant violation of the canons of +that "democratic government" of which Mr Asquith had constituted himself +the champion, to pass a Home Rule Bill by means of a majority so +obtained, even if the majority had been one that pointed to a sweeping +turnover of public opinion to the side of the Government The elections +of December 1910, in point of fact, gave no such indication. The +Government gained nothing whatever by the appeal to the country. +Liberals and Unionists came back in almost precisely the same strength +as in the previous Parliament. They balanced each other within a couple +of votes in the new House of Commons, and the Ministry could not have +remained twenty-four hours in office except in coalition with Labour and +the Irish Nationalists.</p><a name="Page_27"></a> + +<p>The Parliament so elected and so constituted was destined not merely to +destroy the effective power of the House of Lords, and to place on the +Statute-book a measure setting up an Irish Parliament in Dublin, but to +be an assembly longer in duration and more memorable in achievement than +any in English history since the Long Parliament. During the eight years +of its reign the Great War was fought and won; the "rebel party" in +Ireland once more, as in the Napoleonic Wars, broke into armed +insurrection in league with the enemies of England; and before it was +dissolved the political parties in Great Britain, heartily supported by +the Loyalists of Ulster, composed the party differences which had raged +with such passion over Home Rule and other domestic issues, and joined +forces in patriotic resistance to the foreign enemy.</p> + +<p>But before this transformation took place nearly four years of agitation +and contest had to run their course. In the first session of the +Parliament, by a violent use of the Royal Prerogative, the Parliament +Bill became law, the Peers accepting the measure under duress of the +threat that some four or five hundred peerages would, if necessary, be +created to form a majority to carry it. It was then no longer possible +for the Upper House to force an appeal to the country on Home Rule, as +it had done in 1893. All that was necessary was for a Bill to be carried +in three successive sessions through the House of Commons, to become +law. "The last obstacle to Home Rule," as Mr. Redmond called it, had +been removed. The Liberal Government had taken a hint from the procedure +of the careful burglar, who poisons the dog before breaking into the +house.</p> + +<p>The significance of the manner in which the Irish question had been kept +out of view of the electorate by the Government and their supporters was +not lost upon the people of Ulster. In January 1911, within a month of +the elections, a meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council was held at +which a comprehensive resolution dealing with the situation that had +arisen was adopted, and published as a manifesto. One of its clauses +was:</p><a name="Page_28"></a> + +<blockquote><p>"The Council has observed with much surprise the singular reticence + as regards Home Rule maintained by a large number of Radical + candidates in England and Scotland during the recent elections, and + especially by the Prime Minister himself, who barely referred to + the subject till almost the close of his own contest. In view of + the consequent fact that Home Rule was not at the late appeal to + the country placed as a clear issue before the electors, it is the + judgment of the Council that the country has given no mandate for + Home Rule, and that any attempt in such circumstances to force + through Parliament a measure enacting it would be for His Majesty's + Ministers a grave, if not criminal, breach of constitutional duty."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The great importance, in relation to the policy subsequently pursued by +Ulster, of the historical fact here made clear—namely, that the "will +of the people" constitutionally expressed in parliamentary elections has +never declared itself in favour of granting Home Rule to Ireland, lies, +first, in the justification it afforded to the preparations for active +resistance to a measure so enacted; and, secondly, in the influence it +had in procuring for Ulster not merely the sympathy but the open support +of the whole Unionist Party in Great Britain. Lord Londonderry, one of +Ulster's most trusted leaders, who afterwards gave the whole weight of +his support to the policy of forcible resistance, admitted in the House +of Lords in 1911, in the debates on the Parliament Bill, that the +verdict of the country, if appealed to, would have to be accepted. The +leader of the Unionist Party, Mr. Bonar Law, made it clear in February +1914, as he had more than once stated before, that the support he and +his party were pledging themselves to give to Ulster in the struggle +then approaching a climax, was entirely due to the fact that the +electorate had never sanctioned the policy of the Government against +which Ulster's resistance was threatened. The chance of success in that +resistance "depended," he said, "upon the sympathy of the British +people, and an election would undoubtedly make a great difference in +that respect"; he denied that Mr. Asquith had a "right to pass any form +of Home Rule without a <a name="Page_29"></a>mandate from the people of this country, which +he has never received"; and he categorically announced that "if you get +the decision of the people we shall obey it." And if, as then appeared +likely, the unconstitutional conduct of the Government should lead to +bloodshed in Ireland, the responsibility, said Mr. Bonar Law, would be +theirs, "because you preferred to face civil war rather than face the +people."<a name="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8"><sup>[8]</sup></a></p> +<a name="Page_30"></a> +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3">[3]</a><div class="note"><p> Morley's <i>Life of Gladstone</i>, in, 492.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4">[4]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., 493.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5">[5]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., 505.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6">[6]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1910, p. 240.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7">[7]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>Letters to Isabel</i>, by Lord Shaw of Dunfermline, p. +130.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8">[8]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Parliamentary Debates</i> (5th Series), vol. I viii, pp. +279-84.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_III"></a><h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h4>ORGANISATION AND LEADERSHIP</h4> + + +<p>From the day when Gladstone first made Home Rule for Ireland the leading +issue in British politics, the Loyalists of Ulster—who, as already +explained, included practically all the Protestant population of the +Province both Conservative and Liberal, besides a small number of +Catholics who had no separatist sympathies—set to work to organise +themselves for effective opposition to the new policy. In the hour of +their dismay over Gladstone's surrender Lord Randolph Churchill, +hurrying from London to encourage and inspirit them, told them in the +Ulster Hall on the 22nd of February, 1886, that "the Loyalists in Ulster +should wait and watch—organise and prepare."<a name="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9"><sup>[9]</sup></a> They followed his +advice. Propaganda among themselves was indeed unnecessary, for no one +required conversion except those who were known to be inconvertible. The +chief work to be done was to send speakers to British constituencies; +and in the decade from 1885 to 1895 Ulster speakers, many of whom were +ministers of the different Protestant Churches, were in request on +English and Scottish platforms.</p> + +<p>A number of organisations were formed for this purpose, some of which, +like the Irish Unionist Alliance, represented Unionist opinion +throughout Ireland, and not in Ulster alone. Others were exclusively +concerned with the northern Province, where from the first the +opposition was naturally more concentrated than elsewhere. In the early +days, the Ulster Loyalist and Patriotic Union, organised by Lord +Ranfurly and Mr. W.R. Young, carried on an active and sustained campaign +in Great Britain, and the Unionist Clubs initiated by Lord Temple<a name="Page_31"></a>town +provided a useful organisation in the smaller country towns, which still +exists as an effective force. The Loyal Orange Institution, founded at +the end of the eighteenth century to commemorate, and to keep alive the +principles of, the Whig Revolution of 1688, had fallen into not +unmerited disrepute prior to 1886. Few men of education or standing +belonged to it, and the lodge meetings and anniversary celebrations had +become little better than occasions for conviviality wholly inconsistent +with the irreproachable formularies of the Order. But its system of +local Lodges, affiliated to a Grand Lodge in each county, supplied the +ready-made framework of an effective organisation. Immediately after the +introduction of Gladstone's first Bill in 1886 it received an immense +accession of strength. Large numbers of country gentlemen, clergymen of +all Protestant denominations, business and professional men, farmers, +and the better class of artisans in Belfast and other towns, joined the +local Lodges, the management of which passed into capable hands; the +character of the Society was thereby completely and rapidly transformed, +and, instead of being a somewhat disreputable and obsolete survival, it +became a highly respectable as well as an exceedingly powerful political +organisation, the whole weight of whose influence has been on the side +of the Union.</p> + +<p>A rallying cry was given to the Ulster Loyalists in the famous phrase +contained in a letter from Lord Randolph Churchill to a correspondent in +May 1886: "Ulster will fight, and Ulster will be right." From this time +forward the idea that resort to physical resistance would be preferable +to submission to a Parliament in Dublin controlled by the "rebel party" +took hold of the popular mind in Ulster, although after the elections of +1886 there was no serious apprehension that the necessity would arise, +until the return to power of Mr. Gladstone at the head of a small +majority in 1892 brought about a fresh crisis.</p> + +<p>The work of organisation was then undertaken with greater energy and +thoroughness than before. It was now that Lord Templetown founded the +Unionist Clubs, which spread in an affiliated network through Ulster, +and <a name="Page_32"></a>proved so valuable that, after falling into neglect during the ten +years of Conservative Government, they were revived at the special +request of the Ulster Unionist Council in December 1910. Nothing, +however, did so much to stimulate organisation and concentration of +effort as the great Convention held in Belfast on the 19th of June 1892, +representing on a democratic basis all the constituencies in Ulster. +Numerous preliminary meetings were arranged for the purpose of electing +the delegates; and of these the Special Correspondent of <i>The Times</i> +wrote:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Nothing has struck me more in the present movement than the + perfect order and regularity with which the preliminary meetings + for the election of delegates has been conducted. From city and + town and village come reports of crowded and enthusiastic + gatherings, all animated by an equal ardour, all marked by the same + spirit of quiet determination. There has been no 'tall talk,' no + over-statement; the speeches have been dignified, sensible, and + practical. One of the most marked features in the meetings has been + the appearance of men who have never before taken part in public + life, who have never till now stood on a public platform. Now for + the first time they have broken with the tranquil traditions of a + lifetime, and have come forward to take their share and their + responsibility in the grave danger which threatens their + country."<a name="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10"><sup>[10]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>There being no building large enough to hold the delegates, numbering +nearly twelve thousand, every one of whom was a registered voter +appointed by the polling districts to attend the Convention, a pavilion, +the largest ever used for a political meeting in the kingdom, was +specially constructed close to the Botanical Gardens in Belfast. It +covered 33,000 square feet, and, owing to the enthusiasm of the workmen +employed on the building, it was erected (at a cost of over £3,000) +within three weeks. It provided seating accommodation for 13,000 people, +but the number who actually gained admittance to the Convention was +nearly 21,000, while outside an assemblage, estimated by the +correspondent of <i>The Times</i> at 300,000, was also addressed by the +principal speakers.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_33"></a>The commencement of the proceedings with prayer, conducted by the +Primate of all Ireland and the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church, set +a precedent which was extensively followed in later years throughout +Ulster, marking the spirit of seriousness which struck numerous +observers as characteristic of the Ulster Movement. The speakers were +men representative of all the varied interests of the Province—- +religious, agricultural, commercial, and industrial—and among them were +two men, Mr. Thomas Sinclair and Mr. Thomas Andrews, who had been +life-long Liberals, but who from this time forward were distinguished +and trusted leaders of Unionist opinion in Ulster. It was Mr. Andrews +who touched a chord that vibrated through the vast audience, making them +leap to their feet, cheering for several minutes. "As a last resource," +he cried, "we will be prepared to defend ourselves." But the climax of +this memorable assembly was reached when the chairman, the Duke of +Abercorn, with upraised arm, and calling on the audience solemnly to +repeat the words one by one after him, gave out what became for the +future the motto and watchword of Ulster loyalty: "We will not have Home +Rule." It was felt that this simple negation constituted a solemn vow +taken by the delegates, both for themselves and for those they +represented—an act of self-dedication to which every loyal man and +woman in Ulster was committed, and from which there could be no turning +back.</p> + +<p>The principal Resolution, adopted unanimously by the Convention, +formulated the grounds on which the people of the Province based their +hostility to the separatist policy of Home Rule; and as frequent +reference was made to it in after-years as an authoritative definition +of Ulster policy, it may be worth while to recall its terms:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"That this Convention, consisting of 11,879 delegates representing + the Unionists of every creed, class, and party throughout Ulster, + appointed at public meetings held in every electoral division of + the Province, hereby solemnly resolves and declares: 'That we + express the devoted loyalty of Ulster Unionists to the Crown and + Constitution of the United Kingdom; that we avow our fixed resolve + <a name="Page_34"></a>to retain unchanged our present position as an integral portion of + the United Kingdom, and protest in the most unequivocal manner + against the passage of any measure that would rob us of our + inheritance in the Imperial Parliament, under the protection of + which our capital has been invested and our homes and rights + safeguarded; that we record our determination to have nothing to do + with a Parliament certain to be controlled by men responsible for + the crime and outrages of the Land League, the dishonesty of the + Plan of Campaign, and the cruelties of boycotting, many of whom + have shown themselves the ready instruments of clerical domination; + that we declare to the people of Great Britain our conviction that + the attempt to set up such a Parliament in Ireland will inevitably + result in disorder, violence, and bloodshed, such as have not been + experienced in this century, and announce our resolve to take no + part in the election or proceedings of such a Parliament, the + authority of which, should it ever be constituted, we shall be + forced to repudiate; that we protest against this great question, + which involves our lives, property, and civil rights, being treated + as a mere side-issue in the impending electoral struggle; that we + appeal to those of our fellow countrymen who have hitherto been in + favour of a separate Parliament to abandon a demand which + hopelessly divides Irishmen, and to unite with us under the + Imperial Legislature in developing the resources and furthering the + best interests of our common country.'"</p></blockquote> + +<p>There can be no doubt that the Ulster Convention of 1892, and the +numerous less imposing demonstrations which followed on both sides of +the Channel and took their tone from it, of which the most notable was +the great meeting at the Albert Hall in London on the 22nd of April, +1893, had much effect in impressing and instructing public opinion, and +thus preparing the way for the smashing defeat of the Liberal Home Rule +Party in the General Election of 1895. After that event vigilance again +relaxed during the ten years of Unionist predominance which followed. +But the organisation was kept intact, and its democratic method of +appointing delegates in every polling district provided a permanent +electoral machinery for the Unionist Party in the constituencies, <a name="Page_35"></a>as +well as the framework for the Ulster Unionist Council, which was brought +into existence in 1905, largely through the efforts of Mr. William +Moore, M.P. for North Armagh. This Council, with its executive Standing +Committee, was thenceforward the acknowledged authority for determining +all questions of Unionist policy in Ulster.</p> + +<p>Its first meeting was held on the 3rd of March, 1905, under the +presidency of Colonel James McCalmont, M.P. for East Antrim. The first +ten members of the Standing Committee were nominated by Colonel +Saunderson, M.P., as chairman of the Ulster Parliamentary Party. They +were, in addition to the chairman himself, the Duke of Abercorn, the +Marquis of Londonderry, the Earl of Erne, the Earl of Ranfurly, Colonel +James McCalmont, M.P., the Hon. R.T. O'Neill, M.P., Mr. G. Wolff, M.P., +Mr. J.B. Lonsdale, M.P., and Mr. William Moore, K.C., M.P. These +nominations were confirmed by a ballot of the members of the Council, +and twenty other members were elected forthwith to form the Standing +Committee. This first Executive Committee of the organisation which for +the next fifteen years directed the policy of Ulster Unionism included +several names that were from this time forward among the most prominent +in the movement. There were the two eminent Liberals, Mr. Thomas +Sinclair and Mr. Thomas Andrews, and Mr. John Young, all three of whom +were members of the Irish Privy Council; Colonel R.H. Wallace, C.B., Mr. +W.H.H. Lyons, and Sir James Stronge, leaders of the Orangemen; Colonel +Sharman-Crawford, Mr. E.M. Archdale, Mr. W.J. Allen, Mr. R.H. Reade, and +Sir William Ewart. Among several "Unionist candidates for Ulster +constituencies" who were at the same meeting co-opted to the Council, we +find the names of Captain James Craig and Mr. Denis Henry, K.C. The Duke +of Abercorn accepted the position of President of the Council, and Mr. +E.M. Archdale was elected chairman of the Standing Committee. Mr. T.H. +Gibson was appointed secretary. In October 1906 the latter resigned his +post owing to failing health, and, on the motion of Mr. William Moore, +M.P., Mr. Richard Dawson Bates, a solicitor practising in Belfast, was +"temporarily"<a name="Page_36"></a> appointed to fill the vacancy. This temporary appointment +was never formally made permanent, but no question in regard to the +secretaryship was ever raised, for Mr. Bates performed the duties year +after year to the complete satisfaction of everyone connected with the +organisation, and in a manner that earned the gratitude of all Ulster +Unionists. The funds at the disposal of the Council in 1906 only enabled +a salary of £100 a year to be paid to the secretary—a salary that was +purely nominal in the case of a professional gentleman of Mr. Bates's +standing; but the spirit in which he took up his duties was seen two +years later, when it was found that out of this salary he had himself +been paying for clerical assistance; and then, of course, this matter +was properly adjusted, which the improved financial position of the +Council happily rendered possible.</p> + +<p>The declared purpose of the Ulster Unionist Council was to form a union +of all local Unionist Associations in Ulster; to keep the latter in +constant touch with their parliamentary representatives; and "to be the +medium of expressing Ulster Unionist opinion as current events may from +time to time require." It consisted at first of not more than 200 +members, of whom 100 represented local Associations, and 50 represented +the Orange Lodges, the remaining 50 being made up of Ulster members of +both Houses of Parliament and of certain "distinguished residents in or +natives of Ulster" to be co-opted by the Council. As time went on the +Council was considerably enlarged, and its representative character +improved. In 1911 the elected membership was raised to 370, and included +representatives of local Associations, Orange Lodges, Unionist Clubs, +and the Derry Apprentice Boys. In 1918 representatives of the Women's +Associations were added, and the total elected membership was increased +to 432. The delegates elected by the various constituent bodies were in +the fullest sense representative men; they were drawn from all classes +of the population; and, by the regularity with which they attended +meetings of the Council whenever business of any importance was to be +transacted, they made it the most effective political organisation in +the United Kingdom.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_37"></a>A campaign of public meetings in England and Scotland conducted jointly +by the Ulster Unionist Council and the Irish Unionist Alliance in 1908 +led to a scheme of co-operation between the two bodies, the one +representing Unionists in the North and the other those in the southern +Provinces, which worked smoothly and effectively. A joint Committee of +the Unionist Associations of Ireland was therefore formed in the same +year, the organisations represented on it being the two already named +and the Ulster Loyalist Anti-Repeal Union. The latter, which in earlier +years had done excellent spade-work under the fostering zeal of Lord +Ranfurly and Mr. William Robert Young, was before 1911 amalgamated with +the Unionist Council, so that all rivalry and overlapping was +thenceforward eliminated from the organisation of Unionism in Ulster. +The Council in the North and the Irish Unionist Alliance in Dublin +worked in complete harmony both with each other and with the Union +Defence League in London, whose operations were carried on under the +direction of its founder, Mr. Walter Long.</p> + +<p>The women of Ulster were scarcely less active than the men in the matter +of organisation. Although, of course, as yet unenfranchised, they took +as a rule a keener interest in political matters—meaning thereby the +one absorbing question of the Union—than their sex in other parts of +the United Kingdom. When critical times for the Union arrived there was, +therefore, no apathy to be overcome by the Protestant women in Ulster. +Early in 1911 the "Ulster Women's Unionist Council" was formed under the +presidency of the Duchess of Abercorn, and very quickly became a most +effective organisation side by side with that of the men. The leading +spirit was the Marchioness of Londonderry, but that it was no +aristocratic affair of titled ladies may be inferred from the fact that +within twelve months of its formation between forty and fifty thousand +members were enrolled. A branch in Mr. Devlin's constituency of West +Belfast, which over four thousand women joined in its first month of +existence, of whom over 80 per cent, were mill-workers and shop-girls in +the district, held a very effective demonstration on the<a name="Page_38"></a> 11th of +January, 1912, at which Mr. Thomas Sinclair, the most universally +respected of Belfast's business men, made one of his many telling +speeches which familiarised the people with the commercial and financial +aspects of Home Rule, as it would be felt in Ulster. The central Women's +Council followed this up with a more imposing gathering in the Ulster +Hall on the 18th, which adopted with intense enthusiasm the declaration: +"We will stand by our husbands, our brothers, and our sons, in whatever +steps they may be forced to take in defending our liberties against the +tyranny of Home Rule."</p> + +<p>Thus before the end of 1911 men and women alike were firmly organised in +Ulster for the support of their loyalist principles. But the most +effective organisation is impotent without leadership. Among the +declared "objects" of the Ulster Unionist Council was that of acting "as +a connecting link between Ulster Unionists and their parliamentary +representatives." In the House of Commons the Ulster Unionist Members, +although they recognised Colonel Edward Saunderson, M.P., as their +leader until his death in 1906, did not during his lifetime, or for some +years afterwards, constitute a separate party or group. When Colonel +Saunderson died the Right Hon. Walter Long, who had held the office of +Chief Secretary in the last year of the Unionist Administration, and who +had been elected for South Dublin in 1906, became leader of the Irish +Unionists—with whom those representing Ulster constituencies were +included. But in the elections of January 1910 Mr. Long was returned for +a London seat, and it therefore became necessary for Irish Unionists to +select another leader.</p> + +<p>By this time the Home Rule question had, as the people of Ulster +perceived, become once more a matter of vital urgency, although, as +explained in the preceding chapter, the electors of Great Britain were +too engrossed by other matters to give it a thought, and the Liberal +Ministers were doing everything in their power to keep it in the +background. The Ulster Members of the House of Commons realised, +therefore, the grave importance of finding a leader of the calibre +necessary for dealing on <a name="Page_39"></a>equal terms with such orators and +Parliamentarians as Mr. Asquith and Mr. John Redmond. They did not +deceive themselves into thinking that such a leader was to be found +among their own number. They could produce several capable speakers, and +men of judgment and good sense; but something more was needed for the +critical times they saw ahead. After careful consideration, they took a +step which in the event proved to be of momentous importance, and of +extreme good fortune, for the enterprise that the immediate future had +in store for them. Mr. J.B. Lonsdale, Member for Mid Armagh, Hon. +Secretary of the Irish Unionist Parliamentary Party, was deputed to +request Sir Edward Carson, K.C., to accept the leadership of the Irish +Unionist party in the House of Commons.</p> + +<p>Several days elapsed before they received an answer; but when it came it +was, happily for Ulster, an acceptance. It is easy to understand Sir +Edward Carson's hesitation before consenting to assume the leadership. +After carrying all before him in the Irish Courts, where he had been Law +Officer of the Crown, he had migrated to London, where he had been +Solicitor-General during the last six years of the Unionist +Administration, and by 1910 had attained a position of supremacy at the +English Bar, with the certain prospect of the highest legal advancement, +and with an extremely lucrative practice, which his family circumstances +made it no light matter for him to sacrifice, but which he knew it would +be impossible for him to retain in conjunction with the political duties +he was now urged to undertake. Although only in his fifty-seventh year, +he was never one of those who feel younger than their age; nor did he +minimise in his own mind the disability caused by his too frequent +physical ailments, which inclined him to shrink from embarking upon +fresh work the extent and nature of which could not be exactly foreseen. +As to ambition, there are few men who ever were less moved by it, but he +could not leave altogether out of consideration his firm +conviction—which ultimately proved to have been ill-founded—that +acceptance of the Ulster leadership would cut him off from all +promotion, whether political or legal.<a name="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11"><sup>[11]</sup></a></p> + +<p><a name="Page_40"></a>Moreover, although for the moment it was the leadership of a +parliamentary group to which he was formally invited, it was obvious +that much more was really involved; the people in Ulster itself needed +guidance in the crisis that was visibly approaching. Ever since Lord +Randolph Churchill, with the concurrence of Lord Salisbury, first +inspired them in 1886 with the spirit of resistance in the last resort +to being placed under a Dublin Parliament, and assured them of British +sympathy and support if driven to that extremity, the determination of +Ulster in this respect was known to all who had any familiarity with the +temper of her people. Any man who undertook to lead them at such a +juncture as had been reached in 1910 must make that determination the +starting-point of his policy. It was a task that would require not only +statesmanship, but political courage of a high order. Lord Randolph +Churchill, in his famous Ulster Hall speech, had said that "no +portentous change such as the repeal of the Union, no change so +gigantic, could be accomplished by the mere passing of a law; the +history of the United States will teach us a different lesson." Ulster +always took her stand on the American precedent, though the exemplar was +Lincoln rather than Washington. But although the scale of operations +was, of course, infinitely smaller, the Ulster leader would, if it came +to the worst, be confronted by certain difficulties from which Abraham +Lincoln was free. He might have to follow the example of the latter in +forcibly resisting secession, but his legal position would be very +different. He might be called upon to resist technically legal +authority, whereas Lincoln had it at his back. To guide and control a +headstrong people, smarting under a sense of betrayal, when entering on +a movement pregnant with these issues, and at the same time to stand up +against a powerful Government on the floor of the House of Commons, was +an enterprise upon which any far-seeing man might well hesitate to +embark.</p> + +<p>Pondering over the invitation conveyed to him in his Chambers in the +Temple, Carson may, therefore, well have asked himself what inducement +there was for him to accept it. He was not an Ulsterman. As a Southerner +<a name="Page_41"></a>he was not familiar with the psychology of the northern Irish; the +sectarian narrowness popularly attributed to them outside their province +was wholly alien to his character; he was as far removed by nature from +a fire-eater as it was possible for man to be; he was not fond of +unnecessary exertion; he preferred the law to politics, and disliked +addressing political assemblies. In Parliament he represented, not a +popular constituency, but the University of Dublin. But, on the other +hand, he was to the innermost core of his nature an Irish Loyalist. His +youthful political sympathies had, indeed, been with the Liberal Party, +but he instantly severed his connection with it when Gladstone joined +hands with Parnell. He had made his name at the Irish Bar as Crown +Prosecutor in the troubled period of Mr. Balfour's Chief Secretaryship, +and this experience had bred in him a hearty detestation of the whining +sentimentality, the tawdry and exaggerated rhetoric, and the +manufactured discontent that found vent in Nationalist politics. A +sincere lover of Ireland, he had too much sound sense to credit the +notion that either the freedom or the prosperity of the country would be +increased by loosening the tie with Great Britain. Although he as yet +knew little of Ulster, he admired her resolute stand for the Union, her +passionate loyalty to the Crown; he watched with disgust the way in +which her defences were being sapped by the Liberal Party in England; +and the thought that such a people were perhaps on the eve of being +driven into subjection to the men whose character he had had so much +opportunity to gauge in the days of the Land League filled him with +indignation.</p> + +<p>If, therefore, he could be of service in helping to avert so great a +wrong Sir Edward Carson came to the conclusion that it would be shirking +a call of duty were he to decline the leadership that had been offered +him. Realising to the full all that it meant for himself—inevitable +sacrifice of income, of ease, of chances of promotion, a burden of +responsibility, a probability of danger—he gave his consent; and the +day he gave it—the 21st of February, 1910—should be marked for all +time as a red-letter day in the Ulster calendar.</p><a name="Page_42"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9">[9]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Lord Randolph Churchill</i>, by the Right Hon. W.S. +Churchill, vol. ii, p. 62.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10">[10]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Times</i>, June 16th, 1892.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11">[11]</a><div class="note"><p> He expressed this conviction to the author in 1911.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_IV"></a><h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h4>THE PARLIAMENT ACT: CRAIGAVON</h4> + + +<p>A good many months were to elapse before the Unionist rank and file in +Ulster were brought into close personal touch with the new leader of the +Irish Unionist Parliamentary Party. The work to be done in 1910 lay +chiefly in London, where the constitutional struggle arising out of the +rejection of the "People's Budget" was raging. But shortly before the +General Election of December a demonstration was held in the Ulster Hall +in Belfast, in the hope of opening the eyes of the English and Scottish +electors to the danger of Home Rule. Mr. Walter Long was the principal +speaker, and Sir Edward Carson, in supporting the resolution, ended his +speech by quoting Lord Randolph Churchill's famous jingling phrase, +"Ulster will fight, and Ulster will be right."</p> + +<p>On the 31st of January, 1911, when the elections were over, he went over +from London to preside at an important meeting of the Ulster Unionist +Council. The Annual Report of the Standing Committee, in welcoming his +succession to Mr. Long in the leadership, spoke of his requiring no +introduction to Ulstermen; and it is true that he had occasionally +spoken at meetings in Belfast, and that his recent speech in the Ulster +Hall had made an excellent impression. But he was not yet a really +familiar figure even in Belfast, while outside the city he was +practically unknown, except of course by repute. That a man of his +sagacity would quickly make his weight felt was never in doubt; but few +at that time can have anticipated the extent to which a stranger—with +an accent proclaiming an origin south of the Boyne—was in a short time +to captivate the hearts, and become literally the idolised leader, of +the Ulster democracy.</p> + +<p>For the latter are a people who certainly do not wear <a name="Page_43"></a>their hearts on +their sleeves for daws to peck at. In the eyes of the more volatile +southern Celts they seem a "dour" people. They are naturally reserved, +laconic of speech, without "gush," far from lavish in compliment, slow +to commit themselves or to give their confidence without good and proved +reason.</p> + +<p>Opportunity for the populace to get into closer touch with the leader +did not, however, come till the autumn. He was unable to attend the +Orange celebration on the 12th of July, when the anniversary, which +preceded by less than a month the "removal of the last obstacle to Home +Rule" by the passing of the Parliament Act, was kept with more than the +usual fervour, and the speeches proved that the gravity of the situation +was fully appreciated. The Marquis of Londonderry, addressing an immense +concourse of Belfast Lodges, stated that it was the first time an +Ex-Viceroy had been present at an Orange gathering, but that he had +deliberately created the precedent owing to his sense of the danger +threatening the Loyalist cause.</p> + +<p>It was the first of innumerable similar actions by which Lord +Londonderry identified himself whole-heartedly with the popular +movement, throwing aside all the conventional restraints of rank and +wealth, and thereby endearing himself to every man and woman in +Protestant Ulster. There was no more familiar figure in the streets of +Belfast. Barefooted street urchins, catching sight of him on the steps +of the Ulster Club, would gather round and, with free-and-easy +familiarity, shout "Three cheers for Londonderry." He knew everybody and +was everybody's friend. There was no aristocratic hauteur or aloofness +about his genial personality. He was in the habit of entertaining the +whole Unionist Council, some five hundred strong, at luncheon or dinner +as the occasion required, when important meetings of the delegates took +place. Distinguished political visitors from England could always be +invited over without thought for their entertainment, since a welcome at +Mount Stewart was never wanting. His financial support of the political +movement was equally open-handed.</p> + +<p>But, helpful as were his hospitality and his subscriptions, <a name="Page_44"></a>it was the +countenance and support of a man who had held high Cabinet office, and +especially the great position of Viceroy of Ireland, that made Lord +Londonderry's full participation an asset of incalculable value to the +cause he espoused. Moreover, while he was always ready to cross the +Channel, even if for a few hours only, when wanted for any conference or +public meeting, never pleading his innumerable social and political +engagements in London or the North of England as an excuse for absence, +his natural modesty of character made it easy for him to act under the +leadership of another. Indeed, he underrated his own abilities; but +there are probably not many men of his prominence and antecedents who, +if similarly placed, would have been able to give, without a trace of +<i>amour-propre,</i> to a leader who had in former years been his own +official subordinate, the consistently loyal backing that Lord +Londonderry gave to Sir Edward Carson.</p> + +<p>But, although there never was the slightest friction between the two +men, a difference of opinion between them on an important point showed +itself within a few months of Carson's acceptance of the leadership. In +July 1911 the excitement over the Parliament Bill reached its climax. +When the Government announced that the King had given his assent to the +creation of whatever number of peerages might be required for carrying +the measure through the Upper House, the party known as "Die Hards" were +for rejecting it and taking the consequences; while against this policy +were ranged Lord Lansdowne, Lord Curzon, and other Unionist leaders, who +advocated the acceptance of the Bill under protest. On the 20th of July +Carson told Lansdowne that in his judgment "the disgrace and ignominy of +surrender on the question far outweighed any temporary advantage" to be +gained by the two years' delay of Home Rule which the Parliament Bill +would secure.<a name="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12"><sup>[12]</sup></a> Lord Londonderry, on the other hand, supported the +view taken by Lord Lansdowne, and he voted with the majority who carried +the Bill on the 10th of August. This step temporarily clouded his +popularity in Ulster, but not many weeks <a name="Page_45"></a>passed before he completely +regained the confidence and affection of the people, and the difference +of opinion never in the smallest degree interrupted the harmony of his +relations with Sir Edward Carson.</p> + +<p>The true position of affairs in relation to Home Rule had not yet been +grasped by the British public. As explained in a former chapter, it had +not been in any real sense an issue in the two General Elections of the +previous year, and throughout the spring and summer of 1911 popular +interest in England and Scotland was still wholly occupied with the +fight between "Peers and People" and the impending blow to the power of +the Second Chamber; and the coronation festivities also helped to divert +attention from the political consequences to which the authors of the +Parliament Bill intended it to lead.</p> + +<p>The first real awakening was brought about by an immense demonstration +held at Craigavon, on the outskirts of Belfast, on the 23rd of +September. The main purpose of this historic gathering was to bring the +populace of Ulster face to face with their new leader, and to give him +an opportunity of making a definite pronouncement of a policy for +Ulster, in view of the entirely novel situation resulting from the +passing of the Parliament Act.</p> + +<p>For that Act made it possible for the first time for the Liberal Home +Rule Party to repeal the Act of Union without an appeal to the country. +It enacted that any Bill which in three successive sessions was passed +without substantial alteration through the House of Commons might be +presented for the Royal Assent without the consent of the Lords; and an +amendment to exclude a Home Rule Bill from its operation had been +successfully resisted by the Government. It also reduced the maximum +legal duration of a Parliament from seven to five years; but the +existing Parliament was still in its first session, and there was +therefore ample time, under the provisions of the new Constitution, to +pass a Home Rule Bill before the next General Election, as the coalition +of parties in favour of Home Rule constituted a substantial majority in +the House of Commons.</p> + +<p>The question, therefore, which the Ulster people had <a name="Page_46"></a>now to decide was +no longer simply how they could bring about the rejection of a Home Rule +Bill by propaganda in the British constituencies, as they had hitherto +done with unfailing success, although that object was still kept in +view, but what course they should adopt if a Home Rule Act should be +placed on the Statute-book without those constituencies being consulted. +Was the day at last approaching when Lord Randolph Churchill's +exhortation must be obeyed? Or were they to be compelled, because the +Cabinet had coerced the Sovereign and tricked the people by straining +the royal prerogative in a manner described by Mr. Balfour as "a gross +violation of constitutional liberty," to submit with resignation to the +government of their country by the "rebel party "—the party controlled +by clerical influence, and boasting of the identity of its aims with +those of Wolfe Tone and Robert Emmet? This was the real problem in the +minds of those who flocked to Craigavon on Saturday, the 23rd of +September, 1911, to hear what proposals Sir Edward Carson had to lay +before his followers.</p> + +<p>Craigavon was the residence of Captain James Craig, Member of Parliament +for East Down. It is a spacious country house standing on a hill above +the road leading from Belfast to Holywood, with a fine view of Belfast +Lough and the distant Antrim coast beyond the estuary. The lawn in front +of the house, sloping steeply to the shore road, forms a sort of natural +amphitheatre offering ideal conditions for out-of-door oratory to an +unlimited audience. At the meeting on the 23rd of September the platform +was erected near the crest of the hill, enabling the vast audience to +spread out fan-wise over the lower levels, where even the most distant +had the speakers clearly in view, even if many of them, owing to the +size of the gathering, were unable to hear the spoken word.</p> + +<p>It was on this occasion that Captain Craig, by the care with which every +minute detail of the arrangements was thought out and provided for, +first gave evidence of his remarkable gift for organisation that was to +prove so invaluable to the Ulster cause in the next few years. The +greater part of the audience arrived in procession, which, <a name="Page_47"></a>starting +from the centre of the city of Belfast, took over two hours to pass a +given point, at the quick march in fours. All the Belfast Orange Lodges, +and representative detachments from the County Grand Lodges, together +with Lord Templetown's Unionist Clubs, and other organisations, +including the Women's Association, took part in the procession. But +immense numbers of people attended the meeting independently; it was +calculated that not less than a hundred thousand were present during the +delivery of Sir Edward Carson's speech, and although there must have +been very many of them who could hear nothing, the complete silence +maintained by all was a remarkable proof—or so it appeared to men +experienced in out-door political demonstrations—of the earnestness of +spirit that prevailed. To some it may appear still more remarkable that, +with such a concourse of people within a couple of miles of Belfast, not +a single policeman was present, and that none was required; no +disturbance of any sort occurred during the day, nor was a single case +of drunkenness observed.</p> + +<p>It had been intended that the Duke of Abercorn, whose inspiring +exhortation as chairman of the Ulster Convention in 1892 had never been +forgotten, should preside over the meeting; but, as he was prevented by +a family bereavement from being present, his place was taken by the Earl +of Erne, Grand Master of the Orange Order. The scene, when he rose to +open the proceedings, was indescribable in its impressiveness. Some +members of the Eighty Club happened to be in Ireland at the time, for +the purpose of "seeing for themselves" in the familiar fashion of such +political tourists; but they did not think it worth while to witness +what Ulster was doing at Craigavon. If they had, they could have made a +report to their political leaders which, had it been truthful, might +have averted some irreparable blunders; for they could hardly have +looked upon that sea of eager faces, or have observed the enthusiasm +that possessed such a host of earnest and resolute men, without revising +the opinion, which they had accepted from Mr. Redmond, that there was +"no Ulster question."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_48"></a>The meeting took the form of according a welcome to Sir Edward Carson +as the new leader of Irish Loyalism, and of Ulster in particular. But +before he rose to speak a significant note had already been sounded. +Lord Erne struck it when he quoted words which were to become very +familiar in Ulster—the letter from Gustavus Hamilton, Governor of +Enniskillen in 1689, to "divers of the nobility and gentry in the +north-east part of Ulster," in which he declared: "We stand upon our +guard, and do resolve by the blessing of God to meet our danger rather +than to await it." And the veteran Liberal, Mr. Thomas Andrews, in +moving the resolution of welcome to the leader, expressed the universal +sentiment of the multitude when he exclaimed, "We will never, never bow +the knee to the disloyal factions led by Mr. John Redmond. We will never +submit to be governed by rebels who acknowledge no law but the laws of +the Land League and illegal societies."</p> + +<p>A great number of Addresses from representative organisations were then +presented to Sir Edward Carson, in many of which the determination to +resist the jurisdiction of a Dublin Parliament was plainly declared. But +such declarations, although they undoubtedly expressed the mind of the +people, were after all in quite general terms. For a quarter of a +century innumerable variations on the theme "Ulster will fight, and +Ulster will be right," had been fiddled on Ulster platforms, so that +there was some excuse for the belief of those who were wholly ignorant +of North Irish character that these utterances were no more than the +commonplaces of Ulster rhetoric. The time had only now come, however, +when their reality could be put to the test. Carson's speech at +Craigavon crystallised them into practical politics.</p> + +<p>Sir Edward Carson's public speaking has always been entirely free from +rhetorical artifice. He seldom made use of metaphor or imagery, or +elaborate periods, or variety of gesture. His language was extremely +simple and straightforward; but his mobile expression—so variable that +his enemies saw in it a suggestion of Mephistopheles, and his friends a +resemblance to Dante—<a name="Page_49"></a>his measured diction, and his skilful use of a +deep-toned voice, gave a remarkable impressiveness to all he said—even, +indeed, to utterances which, if spoken by another, would sometimes have +sounded commonplace or obvious. Sarcasm he could use with effect, and a +telling point was often made by an epigrammatic phrase which delighted +his hearers. And, more than all else, his meaning was never in doubt. In +lucidity of statement he excelled many much greater orators, and was +surpassed by none; and these qualities, added to his unmistakable +sincerity and candour, made him one of the most persuasive of speakers +on the platform, as he was also, of course, in the Law Courts.</p> + +<p>The moment he began to speak at Craigavon the immense multitude who had +come to welcome him felt instinctively the grip of his power. The +contrast to all the previous scene—the cheering, the enthusiasm, the +marching, the singing, the waving of handkerchiefs and flags—was deeply +impressive, when, after a hushed pause of some length, he called +attention without preface to the realities of the situation in a few +simple sentences of slow and almost solemn utterance:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I know full well what the Resolution you have just passed means; I + know what all these Addresses mean; I know the responsibility you + are putting upon me to-day. In your presence I cheerfully accept + it, grave as it is, and I now enter into a compact with you, and + every one of you, and with the help of God you and I joined + together—giving you the best I can, and you giving me all your + strength behind me—we will yet defeat the most nefarious + conspiracy that has ever been hatched against a free people. But I + know full well that this Resolution has a still wider meaning. It + shows me that you realise the gravity of the situation that is + before us, and it shows me that you are here to express your + determination to see this fight out to a finish."</p></blockquote> + +<p>He went on to expose the hollowness of the allegation, then current in +Liberal circles, that Ulster's repugnance to Home Rule was less +uncompromising than it formerly had been. On the contrary, he believed +that "there never was a moment at which men were more resolved than at +<a name="Page_50"></a>the present, with all the force and strength that God has given them, +to maintain the British connection and their rights as citizens of the +United Kingdom." Apart from principle or sentiment, that was an +attitude, he maintained, dictated by practical good sense. He showed how +Ireland had been "advancing in prosperity in an unparalleled measure," +for which he could quote the authority of Mr. Redmond himself, although +the Nationalist leader had omitted to notice that this advance had taken +place under the legislative Union, and, as Carson contended, in +consequence of it. He laid special emphasis on the point, never +forgotten, that the danger in which they stood was due to the +hoodwinking of the British constituencies by Mr. Asquith's Ministry.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Make no mistake; we are going to fight with men who are prepared + to play with loaded dice. They are prepared to destroy their own + Constitution, so that they may pass Home Rule, and they are + prepared to destroy the very elements of constitutional government + by withdrawing the question from the electorate, who on two + previous occasions refused to be a party to it."</p></blockquote> + +<p>He ridiculed the "paper safeguards" which Liberal Ministers tried to +persuade them would amply protect Ulster Protestants under a Dublin +Parliament, giving a vivid picture of the plight they would be in under +a Nationalist administration, which, he declared, meant "a tyranny to +which we never can and never will submit"; and then, in a pregnant +passage, he summarised the Ulster case:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Our demand is a very simple one. We ask for no privileges, but we + are determined that no one shall have privileges over us. We ask + for no special rights, but we claim the same rights from the same + Government as every other part of the United Kingdom. We ask for + nothing more; we will take nothing less. It is our inalienable + right as citizens of the British Empire, and Heaven help the men + who try to take it from us."</p></blockquote> + +<p>It was all no doubt a mere restatement—though an admirably lucid and +forcible restatement—of doctrine with which his hearers had long been +familiar. The great question still awaited an answer—how was effect to +be <a name="Page_51"></a>given to this resolve, now that there was no longer hope of +salvation through the sympathy and support of public opinion in Great +Britain? This was what the eager listeners at Craigavon hoped in hushed +expectancy to hear from their new leader. He did not disappoint them:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Mr. Asquith, the Prime Minister, says that we are not to be + allowed to put our case before the British electorate. Very well. + By that determination he drives you in the ultimate result to rely + upon your own strength, and we must follow all that out to its + logical conclusion.... That involves something more than that we do + not accept Home Rule. We must be prepared, in the event of a Home + Rule Bill passing, with such measures as will carry on for + ourselves the government of those districts of which we have + control. We must be prepared—and time is precious in these + things—the morning Home Rule passes, ourselves to become + responsible for the government of the Protestant Province of + Ulster. We ask your leave at the meeting of the Ulster Unionist + Council, to be held on Monday, there to discuss the matter, and to + set to work, to take care that at no time and at no intervening + interval shall we lack a Government in Ulster, which shall be a + Government either by the Imperial Parliament, or by ourselves."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Here, then, was the first authoritative declaration of a definite policy +to be pursued by Ulster in the circumstances then existing or foreseen, +and it was a policy that was followed with undeviating consistency under +Carson's leadership for the next nine years. To be left under the +government of the Imperial Parliament was the alternative to be +preferred, and was asserted to be an inalienable right; but, if all +their efforts to that end should be defeated, then "a government by +ourselves" was the only change that could be tolerated. Rather than +submit to the jurisdiction of a Nationalist legislature and +administration, they would themselves set up a Government "<i>in those +districts of which they had control</i>." It was because, when the first of +these alternatives had to be sorrowfully abandoned, the second was +offered in the Government of Ireland Act of 1920 that Ulster did not +actively oppose the passing of that statute.</p><a name="Page_52"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12">[12]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1911, p. 175.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_V"></a><h2>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h4>THE CRAIGAVON POLICY AND THE U.F.V.</h4> + + +<p>No time was lost in giving practical shape to the policy outlined at +Craigavon, and in taking steps to give effect to it. On the 25th of +September a meeting of four hundred delegates representing the Ulster +Unionist Council, the County Grand Orange Lodges, and the Unionist +Clubs, was held in Belfast, and, after lengthy discussion in private, +when the only differences of opinion were as to the most effective +methods of proceeding, two resolutions were unanimously adopted and +published. It is noteworthy that, at this early stage in the movement, +out of nearly four hundred popularly elected delegates, numbers of whom +were men holding responsible positions or engaged in commercial +business, not one raised an objection to the policy itself, although its +grave possibilities were thoroughly appreciated by all present. Both +Lord Londonderry, who presided, and Sir Edward Carson left no room for +doubt in that respect; the developments they might be called upon to +face were thoroughly searched and explained, and the fullest opportunity +to draw back was offered to any present who might shrink from going on.</p> + +<p>The first Resolution registered a "call upon our leaders to take any +steps they may consider necessary to resist the establishment of Home +Rule in Ireland, solemnly pledging ourselves that under no conditions +shall we acknowledge any such Government"; and it gave an assurance that +those whom the delegates represented would give the leaders "their +unwavering support in any danger they may be called upon to face." The +second decided that "the time has now come when we consider it our +imperative duty to make arrangements for the provisional government of +Ulster," and for that purpose <a name="Page_53"></a>it went on to appoint a Commission of +five leading local men, namely, Captain James Craig, M.P., Colonel +Sharman Crawford, M.P., the Right Hon. Thomas Sinclair, Colonel R.H. +Wallace, C.B., and Mr. Edward Sclater, Secretary of the Unionist Clubs, +whose duties were <i>(a)</i> "to keep Sir Edward Carson in constant and close +touch with the feeling of Unionist Ulster," and <i>(b)</i> "to take immediate +steps, in consultation with Sir Edward Carson, to frame and submit a +Constitution for a Provisional Government of Ulster, having due regard +to the interests of the Loyalists in other parts of Ireland: the powers +and duration of such Provisional Government to come into operation on +the day of the passage of any Home Rule Bill, to remain in force until +Ulster shall again resume unimpaired her citizenship in the United +Kingdom."</p> + +<p>At the luncheon given by Lord Londonderry after this business +conference, Carson took occasion to refer to a particularly contemptible +slander to which currency had been given some days previously by Sir +John Benn, one of the Eighty Club strolling seekers after truth. It was +perhaps hardly worth while to notice a statement so silly as that the +Ulster leader had been ready a few weeks previously to betray Ulster in +order to save the House of Lords, but Carson did not yet realise the +degree to which he had already won the confidence of his followers; +moreover, the incident proved useful as an opportunity of emphasising +the uninterrupted mutual confidence between Lord Londonderry and +himself, in spite of their divergence of opinion over the Parliament +Bill. It also gave those present a glimpse of their leader's power of +shrivelling meanness with a few caustic drops of scorn.</p> + +<p>The proceedings at Craigavon and at the Conference naturally created a +sensation on both sides of the Channel. They brought the question of +Ireland once more, for the first time since 1895, into the forefront of +British politics. The House of Commons might spend the autumn ploughing +its way through the intricacies of the National Insurance Bill, but +everyone knew that the last and bitterest battle against Home Rule was +now approaching. And, now that the Parliament Act was safely on the +Statute-book,<a name="Page_54"></a> Ministers had no further interest in concealment. During +the elections, from which alone they could procure authority for +legislation of so fundamental a character, Mr. Asquith, as we have seen, +regarded any inquiry as to his intentions as "confusing the issue." But +now that he had the constituencies in his pocket for five years and +nothing further was to be feared from that quarter, his cards were +placed on the table.</p> + +<p>On the 3rd of October Mr. Winston Churchill told his followers at Dundee +that the Government would introduce a Home Rule Bill next session "and +press it forward with all their strength," and he added the +characteristic injunction that "they must not take Sir Edward Carson too +seriously." But that advice did not prevent Mr. Herbert Samuel, another +member of the Cabinet, from putting in an appearance in Belfast four +days later, where he threw himself into a ludicrously unequal combat +with Carson, exerting himself to calm the fears of business men as to +the effect of Home Rule on their prosperity; while, in the same week, +Carson himself, at a great Unionist demonstration in Dublin, described +the growth of Irish prosperity in the last twenty years as "almost a +fairy tale," which would be cut short by Home Rule. On the 19th of the +same month Mr. Birrell, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, in a speech at +Ilfracombe, gave some scraps of meagre information in regard to the +provisions that would be included in the coming Home Rule Bill; and on +the 21st Mr. Redmond announced that the drafting of the Bill was almost +completed, and that the measure would be "satisfactory to Nationalists +both in principle and detail."<a name="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13"><sup>[13]</sup></a></p> + +<p>So the autumn of 1911 wore through—Ministers doling out snippets of +information; members of Parliament and the Press urging them to give +more. The people of Ulster, on the other hand, were not worrying over +details. They did not require to be told that the principle would be +"satisfactory to Nationalists," for they knew that the Government had to +"toe the line"; nor were they in doubt that what was satisfactory to +Nationalists must <a name="Page_55"></a>be unsatisfactory to themselves. What they were +thinking about was not what the Bill would or would not contain, but the +preparations they were making to resist its operation.</p> + +<p>A day or two after Craigavon the leader spoke at a great meeting in +Portrush, after receiving, at every important station he passed <i>en +route</i> from Belfast, enthusiastic addresses expressing confidence in +himself and approval of the Craigavon declaration; and in this speech he +considerably amplified what he had said at Craigavon. After explaining +how the whole outlook had been changed by the Parliament Act, which cut +them off from appeal to the sympathies of Englishmen, he pointed out to +his hearers the only course now open to them, namely, that resolved upon +at Craigavon.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Some people," he continued, "say that I am preaching disorder. No, + in the course I am advising I am preaching order, because I believe + that, unless we are in a position ourselves to take over the + government of those places we are able to control, the people of + Ulster, if let loose without that organisation, and without that + organised determination, might in a foolish moment find themselves + in a condition of antagonism and grips with their foes which I + believe even the present Government would lament. And therefore I + say that the course we recommend—and it has been solemnly adopted + by your four hundred representatives, after mature discussion in + which every man understood what it was he was voting about—is the + only course that I know of that is possible under the circumstances + of this Province which is consistent with the maintenance of law + and order and the prevention of bloodshed."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Superficially, these words may appear boldly paradoxical; but in fact +they were prophetic, for the closest observers of the events of the next +three years, familiar with Irish character and conditions, were in no +doubt whatever that it was the disciplined organisation of the Ulster +Unionists alone that prevented the outbreak of serious disorders in the +North. There was, on the contrary, a diminution even of ordinary crime, +accompanied <a name="Page_56"></a>by a marked improvement in the general demeanour, and +especially in the sobriety, of the people.</p> + +<p>The speaker then touched upon a question which naturally arose out of +the Craigavon policy of resistance to Home Rule. He had been asked, he +said, whether Ulster proposed to fight against the forces of the Crown. +He had already contrasted their own methods with those of the +Nationalists, saying that Ulstermen would never descend to action "from +behind hedges or by maiming cattle, or by boycotting of individuals"; he +now added that they were "not going to fight the Army and the Navy ... +God forbid that any loyal Irishman should ever shoot or think of +shooting the British soldier or sailor. But, believe me, any Government +will ponder long before it dares to shoot a loyal Ulster Protestant, +devoted to his country and loyal to his King."</p> + +<p>In newspaper reports of public meetings, sayings of pith and moment are +often attributed to "A Voice" from the audience. On this occasion, when +Sir Edward Carson referred to the Army and the Navy, "A Voice" cried +"They are on our side." It was the truth, as subsequent events were to +show. It would indeed have been strange had it been otherwise. Men +wearing His Majesty's uniform, who had been quartered at one time in +Belfast or Carrickfergus and at another in Cork or Limerick, could be +under no illusion as to where that uniform was held in respect and where +it was scorned. The certainty that the reality of their own loyalty was +understood by the men who served the King was a sustaining thought to +Ulstermen through these years of trial.</p> + +<p>This Portrush speech cleared the air. It made known the <i>modus +operandi</i>, as Craigavon had made known the policy. Henceforward Ulster +Unionists had a definite idea of what was before them, and they had +already unbounded confidence both in the sagacity and in the courage of +the man who had become their leader.</p> + +<p>The Craigavon meeting led, almost by accident as it were, to a +development the importance of which was hardly foreseen at the time. +Among the processionists who passed through Captain Craig's grounds +there was a <a name="Page_57"></a>contingent of Orangemen from County Tyrone who attracted +general attention by their smart appearance and the orderly precision of +their marching. On inquiry it was learnt that these men had of their own +accord been learning military drill. The spirit of emulation naturally +suggested to others to follow the example of the Tyrone Lodges. It was +soon followed, not by Orangemen alone, but by members of the Unionist +Clubs, very many of whom belonged to no Orange Lodge. Within a few +months drilling—of an elementary kind, it is true—had become popular +in many parts of the country. Colonel R.H. Wallace, C.B., who had served +with distinction in the South African War, where he commanded the 5th +Royal Irish Rifles, was a prominent member of the Orange Institution, in +which he was in 1911 Grand Master of the Belfast Lodges, and Grand +Secretary of the Provincial Grand Orange Lodge of Ulster; and, being a +man of marked ability and widespread popularity, his influence was +powerful and extensive. He was a devoted adherent of Carson, and there +was no keener spirit among the Ulster Loyalist leaders. Colonel Wallace +was among the first to perceive the importance of this military drilling +that was taking place throughout Ulster, and through his leading +position in the Orange Institution his encouragement did much to extend +the practice.</p> + +<p>Having been a lawyer by profession before South Africa called him to +serve his country in arms, Wallace was careful to ascertain how the law +stood with regard to the drilling that was going on. He consulted Mr. +James Campbell (afterwards Lord Chancellor of Ireland), who advised that +any two Justices of the Peace had power to authorise drill and other +military exercises within the area of their jurisdiction on certain +conditions. The terms of the application made by Colonel Wallace himself +to two Belfast magistrates show what the conditions were, and, under the +circumstances of the time, are not without a flavour of humour. The +request stated that Wallace and another officer of the Belfast Grand +Lodge were—</p> + +<p>"Authorised on behalf of the members thereof to apply for lawful +authority to them to hold meetings of the <a name="Page_58"></a>members of the said Lodge and +the Lodges under its jurisdiction for the purpose of training and +drilling themselves and of being trained and drilled to the use of arms, +and for the purpose of practising military exercises, movements, and +evolutions. And we are authorised, on their behalf, to give their +assurance that they desire this authority as faithful subjects of His +Majesty the King, and their undertaking that such authority is sought +and will be used by them only to make them more efficient citizens for +the purpose of maintaining the constitution of the United Kingdom as now +established and protecting their rights and liberties thereunder."</p> + +<p>The <i>bona fides</i> of an application couched in these terms, which +followed well-established precedent, could not be questioned by any +loyal subject of His Majesty. The purpose for which the licence was +requested was stated with literal exactness and without subterfuge. +There was nothing seditious or revolutionary in it, and the desire of +men to make themselves more efficient citizens for maintaining the +established government of their country, and their rights and liberties +under it, was surely not merely innocent of offence, but praiseworthy.</p> + +<p>Such, at all events, was the view taken by numbers of strictly +conscientious holders of the Commission of the Peace throughout Ulster, +with the result that the Ulster Volunteer Force sprang into existence +within a few months without the smallest violation of the law. +Originating in the Orange Lodges and the Unionist Clubs, it soon +enrolled large numbers of men outside both those organisations. Men with +military experience interested themselves in training the volunteers in +their districts; the local bodies were before long drawn into a single +coherent organisation on a territorial basis, which soon gave rise to an +<i>esprit de corps</i> leading to friendly rivalry in efficiency between the +local battalions.</p> + +<p>This Ulster Volunteer Force had as yet no arms in their hands, but, as +the first act of the Liberal Government on coming into power in 1906 had +been to drop the "coercion" Act which prohibited the importation of +firearms into Ireland, there was no reason why, in the course of time, +the U.V.F. should not be fully armed with as complete an <a name="Page_59"></a>avoidance of +illegality as that with which in the meantime they were acquiring some +knowledge of military duties. But for the present they had to be content +with wooden "dummy" rifles with which to learn their drill, an expedient +which, as will be seen later on, excited the derisive mirth of the +English Radical Press.</p> + +<p>The application to the Belfast Justices for leave to drill the Orange +Lodges was dated the 5th of January, 1912. For some months both before +and after that date the formation of new battalions proceeded rapidly, +so that by the summer of 1912 the force was of considerable strength and +decent efficiency; but already in the autumn of 1911 it soon became +apparent that the existence of such a force would give a backing to the +Craigavon policy which nothing else could provide. At Craigavon the +leader of the movement had foreshadowed the possibility of having to +take charge of the government of those districts which the Loyalists +could control. The U.V.F. made such control a practical proposition, and +the consciousness of this throughout Ulster gave a solid reality to the +movement which it must otherwise have lacked.</p> + +<p>The special Commission of Five set to work immediately after the +Craigavon meeting to carry out the task entrusted to them by the +Council. But, as more than two years must elapse before the Home Rule +Bill could become law under the Parliament Act, there was no immediate +urgency in making arrangements for setting up the Provisional Government +resolved upon by the Council on the 25th of September, 1911, and the +outside public heard nothing about what was being done in the matter for +many months to come.</p> + +<p>Meantime the Ulster Loyalists watched with something akin to dismay the +dissensions in the Unionist party in England over the question of Tariff +Reform, which made impossible a united front against the revived attack +on the Union, and woefully weakened the effective force of the +Opposition both in Parliament and the country. Public opinion was +diverted from the one thing that really mattered—had Englishmen been +able to realise it—from an Imperial standpoint, no less than from the +standpoint <a name="Page_60"></a>of Irish Loyalists. On the 8th of November, 1911, mainly in +consequence of these dissensions, Mr. Balfour resigned the leadership of +the Unionist Party. This event was regarded in Ulster as a calamity. Mr. +Balfour was the ablest and most zealous living defender of the Union, +and the great services he had rendered to the country during his +memorable Chief Secretaryship were not forgotten. Ulstermen, in whose +eyes the tariff question was of very subordinate importance, feared that +no one could be found to take command of the Unionist forces comparable +with the Achilles who, as they supposed, was now retiring to his tent.</p> + +<p>What happened in regard to the vacant leadership is well known—how Mr. +Walter Long and Mr. Austen Chamberlain, after presenting themselves for +a day or two as rival candidates, patriotically agreed to stand aside +and give united support to Mr. Bonar Law in order to avoid a division in +the ranks of the party. It is less generally known that Mr. Bonar Law, +before consenting to his name being proposed, wrote and asked Sir Edward +Carson if he would accept the leadership, and that it was only when he +received an emphatic reply in the negative that he assumed the +responsibility himself. If this had been known at the time in Ulster +there can be little doubt that consternation would have been caused by +the refusal of their own leader to place himself at the head of the +whole Unionist Party. It is quite certain that Sir Edward Carson would +have been acceptable to the party meeting at the Carlton Club, for he +was then much better known to the party both in the House of Commons and +in the country than was Mr. Bonar Law, whose great qualities as +parliamentarian and statesman had not yet been revealed; but it is not +less certain that, if his first thought was to be of service to Ulster, +Carson acted wisely in maintaining a position of independence, in which +all his powers could continue to be concentrated on a single aim of +statecraft.</p> + +<p>At all events, the new leader of the Unionist Party was not long in +proving that the Ulster cause had suffered no set-back by the change, +and his constant and courageous <a name="Page_61"></a>backing of the Ulster leader won him +the unstinted admiration and affection of every Irish Loyalist. Mr. +Balfour also soon showed that he was no sulking Achilles; his loyalty to +the Unionist cause was undimmed; he never for a moment acted, as a +meaner man might, as if his successor were a supplanter; and within the +next few months he many times rose from beside Mr. Bonar Law in the +House of Commons to deliver some of the best speeches he ever made on +the question of Irish Government, full of cogent and crushing criticism +of the Home Rule proposals of Mr. Asquith.</p><a name="Page_62"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13">[13]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1911, p. 228.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_VI"></a><h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h4>MR. CHURCHILL IN BELFAST</h4> + + +<p>At the women's meeting at the Ulster Hall on the 18th of January, +1912,<a name="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14"><sup>[14]</sup></a> Lord Londonderry took occasion to recall once more to the +memory of his audience the celebrated speech delivered by Lord Randolph +Churchill in the same building twenty-six years before. That clarion +was, indeed, in no danger of being forgotten; but there happened at that +particular moment to be a very special reason for Ulstermen to remember +it, and the incident which was present in Londonderry's mind—a +Resolution passed by the Standing Committee of the Ulster Unionist +Council two days earlier—proved to be so distinct a turning-point in +the history of Ulster's stand for the Union that it claims more than a +passing mention.</p> + +<p>"Diligence and vigilance should be your watchword, so that the blow, if +it is coming, may not come upon you as a thief in the night, and may not +find you unready and taken by surprise." Such had been Lord Randolph's +warning. It was now learnt, with feelings in which disgust and +indignation were equally mingled, that Lord Randolph's son was bent on +coming to Belfast, not indeed as a thief in the night, but with +challenging audacity, to give his countenance, encouragement, and +support to the adherents of disloyalty whom Lord Randolph had told +Ulster to resist to the death. And not only was he coming to Belfast; he +was coming to the Ulster Hall—to the very building which his father's +oration had, as it were, consecrated to the Unionist cause, and which +had come to be regarded as almost a loyalist shrine.</p> + +<p>It is no doubt difficult for those who are unfamiliar with the +psychology of the North of Ireland to understand the anger which this +projected visit of Mr. Winston<a name="Page_63"></a> Churchill aroused in Belfast. His change +of political allegiance from the party which his father had so +brilliantly served and led, to the party which his father had so +pitilessly chastised, was of course displeasing to Conservatives +everywhere. Politicians who leave their friends to join their opponents +are never popular with those they abandon, and Mr. Winston Churchill was +certainly no exception. But such desertions, after the first burst of +wrath has evaporated, are generally accepted with a philosophic shrug in +what journalists call "political circles" in London, where plenty of +precedents for lapses from party virtue can be quoted. In the provinces, +even in England, resentment dies down less easily, and forgiveness is of +slow growth; but in Ulster, where a political creed is held with a +religious fervour, or, as a hostile critic might put it, with an +intolerance unknown in England, and where the dividing line between +"loyalty" and "disloyalty" is regarded almost as a matter of faith, the +man who passes from the one to the other arouses the same bitterness of +anger and contempt which soldiers feel for a deserter in face of the +enemy.</p> + +<p>To such sentiments there was added, in the case of Mr. Winston +Churchill, a shocked feeling that his appearance in the Ulster Hall as +an emissary of Home Rule would be an act not only of political apostasy +but of filial impiety. The prevailing sentiment in Belfast at the time +was expressed somewhat brutally, perhaps, in the local Press—"he is +coming to dance on his father's coffin." It was an outrage on their +feelings which the people of Belfast could not and would not tolerate. +If Mr. Churchill was determined to flaunt the green flag let him find a +more suitable site than the very citadel in which they had been exhorted +by his father to keep the Union Jack flying to the last.</p> + +<p>If anything could have added to the anger excited by this announcement +it would have been the fact that the Cabinet Minister was to be +accompanied on the platform of the Ulster Hall by Mr. Redmond and Mr. +Devlin, and that Lord Pirrie was to be his chairman. There was no more +unpopular citizen of Belfast than Lord Pirrie; and the reason was neatly +explained to English readers by the<a name="Page_64"></a> Special Correspondent of <i>The +Times</i>. "Lord Pirrie," he wrote, "deserted Unionism about the time the +Liberals acceded to power, and soon afterwards was made a Peer; whether +<i>propter hoc</i> or only <i>post hoc</i> I am quite unable to say, though no +Ulster Unionist has any doubts on the subject."<a name="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15"><sup>[15]</sup></a> But that was not +quite the whole reason. That Lord Pirrie was an example of apostasy +"just for a riband to stick in his coat," was the general belief; but it +was also resented that a man who had amassed, not "a handful of silver," +but an enormous fortune, through a trade created by an eminent Unionist +firm, and under conditions brought about in Belfast by the Union with +Great Britain, should have kicked away the ladder by which he had +climbed from obscurity to wealth and rank. An additional cause of +offence, moreover, was that he was at that time trying to persuade +credulous people in England that there was in Ulster a party of Liberals +and Protestant Home Rulers, of which he posed as leader, although +everyone on the spot knew that the "party" would not fill a tramcar. Of +this party the same Correspondent of <i>The Times</i> very truly said:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Nearly every prominent man in it has received an office or a + decoration—and the fact that, with all the power of patronage in + their hands for the last six years, the Government had been able to + make so small an inroad into the solid square of Ulster Unionism is + a remarkable testimony to the strength of the sentiment which gives + it cohesion."</p></blockquote> + +<p>But a score of individuals in possession of an office equipped with +stamped stationery, and with a titled chairman of fabulous wealth, have +no difficulty in deluding strangers at a distance into the belief that +they are an influential and representative body of men. It was in +furtherance of the scheme for creating this false impression across the +Channel that Lord Pirrie and his so-called "Ulster Liberal Association" +invited Mr. Winston Churchill and the two Nationalist leaders to speak +in the Ulster Hall on the 8th of February, 1912, and that the +<a name="Page_65"></a>announcement of the fixture was made in the Press some three weeks +earlier.</p> + +<p>The Unionist leaders were not long left in ignorance of the public +excitement which this news created in the city. A specially summoned +meeting of the Standing Committee, with Londonderry in the chair, was +held on the 16th of January to consider what action, if any, should be +taken; but it was no simple matter they had to decide, especially in the +absence of their leader, Sir Edward Carson, who was kept in England by +great Unionist meetings which he was addressing in Lancashire.</p> + +<p>The reasons, on the one hand, for doing nothing were obvious enough. No +one, of course, suggested the possibility of preventing Mr. Churchill +coming to Belfast; but could even the Ulster Hall itself, the Loyalist +sanctuary, be preserved from the threatened desecration? It was the +property of the Corporation, and the Unionist political organisation had +no exclusive title to its use. The meeting could only be frustrated by +force in some form, or by a combination of force and stratagem. The +Standing Committee, all men of solid sense and judgment, several of whom +were Privy Councillors, were very fully alive to the objections to any +resort to force in such a matter. They valued freedom of speech as +highly as any Englishman, and they realised the odium that interference +with it might bring both on themselves and their cause; and the last +thing they desired at the present crisis was to alienate public sympathy +in Great Britain. The force of such considerations was felt strongly by +several members, indeed by all, of the Committee, and not least by Lord +Londonderry himself, whose counsel naturally carried great weight.</p> + +<p>But, on the other hand, the danger of a passive attitude was also fully +recognised. It was perfectly well understood that one of the chief +desires of the Liberal Government and its followers at this time was to +make the world believe that Ulster's opposition to Home Rule had +declined in strength in recent years; that there really was a +considerable body of Protestant opinion in agreement with Lord Pirrie, +and prepared to support Home Rule on<a name="Page_66"></a> "Liberal," if not on avowedly +"Nationalist" principles, and that the policy for which Carson, +Londonderry, and the Unionist Council stood was a gigantic piece of +bluff which only required to be exposed to disappear in general +derision.</p> + +<p>From this point of view the Churchill meeting could only be regarded as +a deliberate challenge and provocation to Ulster. It seemed probable +that the First Lord of the Admiralty had been selected for the mission +in preference to any other Minister precisely because he was Lord +Randolph's son. All this bluster about "fight and be right" was +traceable, so Liberal Ministers doubtless reasoned, to that unhappy +speech of "Winston's father"; let Winston go over to the same place and +explain his father away. If he obtained a hearing in the Ulster Hall in +the company of Redmond, Devlin, and Pirrie the legend of Ulster as an +impregnable loyalist stronghold would be wiped out, and Randolph's rant +could be made to appear a foolish joke in comparison with the more +mature and discriminating wisdom of Winston.</p> + +<p>It cannot, of course, be definitely asserted that the situation was thus +weighed deliberately by the Cabinet, or by Mr. Churchill himself. But, +if it was not, they must have been deficient in foresight; for there can +be no doubt, as several writers in the Press perceived, that the +transaction would so have presented itself to the mind of the public; +the psychological result would inure to the benefit of the Home Rulers.</p> + +<p>But there was also another consideration which could not be ignored by +the Standing Committee—namely, the attitude of that important +individual, the "man in the street." Among the innumerable +misrepresentations levelled at the Ulster Movement none was more common +than that it was confined to a handful of lords, landlords, and wealthy +employers of labour; and, as a corollary, that all the trouble was +caused by the perversity of a few individuals, of whom the most guilty +was Sir Edward Carson. The truth was very different. Even at the zenith +of his influence and popularity Sir Edward himself would have been +instantly disowned by the Ulster democracy if he had given away anything +fundamental to <a name="Page_67"></a>the Unionist cause. More than to anything else he owed +his power to his pledge, never violated, that he would never commit his +followers to any irretraceable step without the consent of the Council, +in which they were fully represented on a democratic basis. At the +particular crisis now reached popular feeling could not be safely +disregarded, and it was clearly understood by the Standing Committee +that public excitement over the coming visit of Mr. Churchill was only +being kept within bounds by the belief of the public that their leaders +would not "let them down."</p> + +<p>All these considerations were most carefully balanced at the meeting on +the 16th of January, and there were prolonged deliberations before the +decision was arrived at that some action must be taken to prevent the +Churchill meeting being held in the Ulster Hall, but that no obstacle +could, of course, be made to his speaking in any other building in +Belfast. The further question as to what this action should be was under +discussion when Colonel R.H. Wallace, C.B., Grand Master of the Belfast +Orangemen, and a man of great influence with all classes in the city as +well as in the neighbouring counties, entered the room and told the +Committee that people outside were expecting the Unionist Council to +devise means for stopping the Ulster Hall meeting; that they were quite +resolved to take matters into their own hands if the Council remained +passive; and that, in his judgment, the result in that event would +probably be very serious disorder and bloodshed, and the loss of all +control over the Unionist rank and file by their leaders.</p> + +<p>This information arrived too late to influence the decision on the main +question, but it confirmed its wisdom and set at rest the doubts which +some of the Committee had at first entertained. It was reported at the +time that there had been a dissenting minority consisting of Lord +Londonderry, Mr. Sinclair, and Mr. John Young, the last-mentioned being +a Privy Councillor, a trusted leader of the Presbyterians, and a man of +moderate views whose great influence throughout the north-eastern +counties was due to his high character and the soundness of his +judgment. There was, however, no truth in this report, which<a name="Page_68"></a> +Londonderry publicly contradicted; but it is probable that the +concurrence of the men mentioned, and perhaps of others, was owing to +their well-founded conviction that the course decided upon, however +high-handed it might appear to onlookers at a distance, was in reality +the only means of averting much more deplorable consequences.</p> + +<p>On the following day, January 17th, an immense sensation was created by +the publication of the Resolution which had been unanimously adopted on +the motion of Captain James Craig, M.P. It was:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"That the Standing Committee of the Ulster Unionist Council + observes with astonishment the deliberate challenge thrown down by + Mr. Winston Churchill, Mr. John Redmond, Mr. Joseph Devlin, and + Lord Pirrie in announcing their intention to hold a Home Rule + meeting in the centre of the loyal city of Belfast, and resolves to + take steps to prevent its being held."</p></blockquote> + +<p>There was an immediate outpouring of vituperation by the Ministerial +Press in England, as had been anticipated by the Standing Committee. +Special Correspondents trooped over to Belfast, whence they filled their +papers with telegrams, articles, and interviews, ringing the changes on +the audacity of this unwarranted interference with freedom of speech, +and speculating as to the manner in which the threat, was likely to be +carried out. Scribes of "Open Letters" had a fine opportunity to display +their gift of insolent invective. Cartoonists and caricaturists had a +time of rare enjoyment, and let their pencils run riot. Writers in the +Liberal Press for the most part assumed that Mr. Churchill would bid +defiance to the Ulster Unionist Council; others urged him to do so and +to fulfil his engagement; some, with more prudence, suggested that he +might be extricated from the difficulty without loss of dignity if the +Chief Secretary would prohibit the meeting, as likely to produce a +breach of peace, and it was pointed out that Dublin Castle would +certainly forbid a meeting in Tipperary organised by the Ulster Unionist +Council, with Sir Edward Carson as principal speaker.</p> + +<p>However, on the 25th of January Mr. Churchill addressed a letter, dated +from the Admiralty, to Lord<a name="Page_69"></a> Londonderry at Mount Stewart, in which he +said he was prepared to give up the idea of speaking in the Ulster Hall, +and would arrange for his meeting to be held elsewhere in the city, as +"it was not a point of any importance to him where he spoke in Belfast." +He did not explain why, if that were the case, he had ever made a plan +that so obviously constituted a direct premeditated challenge to Ulster. +Lord Londonderry, in his reply, said that the Ulster Unionist Council +had no intention of interfering with any meeting Mr. Churchill might +arrange "outside the districts which passionately resent your action," +but that, "having regard to the intense state of feeling" which had been +aroused, the Council could accept no responsibility for anything that +might occur during the visit. Mr. Churchill's prudent change of plan +relieved the extreme tension of the situation, and there was much +speculation as to what influence had produced a result so satisfactory +to the Ulster Unionist Council. The truth seems to be that the Council's +Resolution had impaled the Government on the horns of a very awkward +dilemma, completely turning the tables on Ministers, whose design had +been to compel the Belfast Unionists either to adopt, on the one hand, +an attitude of apparent intolerance which would put them in the wrong in +the eyes of the British public, or, on the other, to submit to the +flagrant misrepresentation of their whole position which would be the +outcome of a Nationalist meeting in the Ulster Hall presided over by the +President of the illusory "Ulster Liberal Association," and with Lord +Randolph Churchill's son as the protagonist of Home Rule. The threat to +stop the meeting forced the Government to consider how the First Lord of +the Admiralty and his friends were to be protected and enabled to fulfil +their programme. The Irish Executive, according to the Dublin +Correspondent of <i>The Times</i>, objected to the employment of troops for +this purpose; because—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"If the Belfast Unionists decided to resist the soldiers, bloodshed + and disorder on a large scale must have ensued. If, on the other + hand, they yielded to the <i>force majeure</i> of British bayonets, and + Mr. Churchill was enabled to speak <a name="Page_70"></a>in the Ulster Hall, they would + still have carried their point; they would have proved to the + English people that Home Rule could only be thrust upon Ulster by + an overwhelming employment of military force. The Executive + preferred to depend on the services of a large police force. And + this meant that Mr. Churchill could not speak in the Ulster Hall; + for the Belfast democracy, though it might yield to soldiers, would + certainly offer a fierce resistance to the police. It seemed, + therefore, that the Government's only safe and prudent course was + to prevent Mr. Churchill from trying to speak in that Hall."<a name="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16"><sup>[16]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>The Government, in fact, had been completely out-manoeuvred. They had +given the Ulster Unionist Council an opportunity to show its own +constituents and the outside world that, where the occasion demanded +action, it could act with decision; and they had failed utterly to drive +a wedge between Ulster and the Unionist Party in England and in the +South of Ireland, as they hoped to do by goading Belfast into +illegality. On the other hand, they had aroused some misgiving in the +ranks of their own supporters. A political observer in London reported +that the incident had—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Caused a feeling of considerable apprehension in Radical circles. + The pretence that Ulster does not mean to fight is now almost + abandoned even by the most fanatical Home Rulers."<a name="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17"><sup>[17]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>Unionist journals in Great Britain, almost without exception, applauded +the conduct of the Council, and proved by their comments that they +understood its motive, and sympathised with the feelings of Ulster. <i>The +Saturday Review</i> expressed the general view when it wrote:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"With the indignation of the loyal Ulstermen at this proposal we + are in complete sympathy. Where there is a question of Home Rule, + the Ulster Hall is sacred ground, and to the Ulster mind and, + indeed, to the mind of any calm outsider, there is something both + impudent and impious in the proposal that this temple of Unionism + <a name="Page_71"></a>should be profaned by the son of a man who assisted at its + consecration."<a name="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18"><sup>[18]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>The southern Unionists of Ireland thoroughly appreciated the difficulty +that had confronted their friends in the North, and approved the way it +had been met. This was natural enough, since, as the Dublin +Correspondent of <i>The Times</i> pointed out—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"They understand Ulster's position better than it can be understood + in England. They realise that the provocation has been extreme. + There has been a deliberate conspiracy to persuade the English + people, first, that Ulster is weakening in its opposition to Home + Rule; and, next, that its declared refusal to accept Home Rule in + any form is mere bluff. It became necessary for Ulster to defeat + this conspiracy, and the Ulster Council's Resolution has defeated + it."<a name="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19"><sup>[19]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>A few days later a still more valuable token of sympathy and support +from across the Channel gave fresh encouragement to Ulster. On the 26th +of January Mr. Bonar Law made his first public speech as leader of the +Unionist Party, when he addressed an audience of ten thousand people in +the Albert Hall in London. In the course of a masterly analysis of the +dangers inseparable from Home Rule, he once more drew attention to "the +dishonesty with which the Government hid Home Rule before the election, +and now propose to carry it after the election"; but the passage which +gave the greatest satisfaction in Ulster was that in which, speaking for +the whole Unionist Party—which meant at least half, and probably more +than half, the British nation—Mr. Bonar Law, in reference to the recent +occurrence in Belfast, said:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"We hear a great deal about the intolerance of Ulster. It is easy + to be tolerant for other people. We who represent the Unionist + Party in England and Scotland have supported, and we mean to + support to the end, the loyal minority. We support them not because + we are intolerant, but because their claims are just."</p></blockquote> + +<p><a name="Page_72"></a>Meanwhile, Mr. Churchill's friends were seeking a building in Belfast +where the baffled Minister could hold his meeting on the 8th of +February, and in the course of the search the director of the Belfast +Opera-house was offered a knighthood as well as a large sum of money for +the use of his theatre,<a name="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20"><sup>[20]</sup></a> a fact that possibly explains the statement +made by the London Correspondent of <i>The Freeman's Journal</i> on the 28th +of January, that the Government's Chief Whip and Patronage Secretary was +busying himself with the arrangement.<a name="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21"><sup>[21]</sup></a> Captain Frederick Guest, M.P., +one of the junior whips, arrived in Belfast on the 25th to give +assistance on the spot; but no suitable hall with an auspicious <i>genius +loci</i> could apparently be found, for eventually a marquee was imported +from Scotland and erected on the Celtic football ground, in the +Nationalist quarter of the city.</p> + +<p>The question of maintaining order on the day of the meeting was at the +same time engaging the attention both of the Government in Dublin and +the Unionist Council in Belfast. The former decided to strengthen the +garrison of Belfast by five battalions of infantry and two squadrons of +cavalry, while at the Old Town Hall anxious consultations were held as +to the best means of securing that the soldiers should have nothing to +do. The Unionist leaders had not yet gained the full influence they were +able to exercise later, nor were their followers as disciplined as they +afterwards became. The Orange Lodges were the only section of the +population in any sense under discipline; and this section was a much +smaller proportion of the Unionist rank and file than English Liberals +supposed, who were in the habit of speaking as if "Orangemen" were a +correct cognomen of the whole Protestant population of Ulster. It was, +however, only through the Lodges and the Unionist Clubs that the +Standing Committee could hope to exert influence in keeping the peace. +That Committee, accordingly, passed a Resolution on the 5th of February, +moved by Colonel Wallace, the most influential <a name="Page_73"></a>of the Belfast +Orangemen, which "strongly urged all Unionists," in view of the Ulster +Hall victory, "to abstain from any interference with the meeting at the +Celtic football ground, and to do everything in their power to avoid any +action that might lead to any disturbance."</p> + +<p>The Resolution was circulated to all the Orange Lodges and Unionist +Clubs in Belfast and the neighbouring districts—for it was expected +that some 30,000 or 40,000 people might come into the city from outside +on the day of the meeting—with urgent injunctions to the officers to +bring it to the notice of all members; it was also extensively placarded +on all the hoardings of Belfast. Of even greater importance perhaps, in +the interests of peace, was the decision that Carson and Londonderry +should themselves remain in Belfast on the 8th. This, as <i>The Times </i> +Correspondent in Belfast had the insight to observe, was "the strongest +guarantee of order" that could be given, and there is no doubt that +their appearance, together with Captain Craig, M.P., and Lord +Templetown, on the balcony of the Ulster Club had a calming effect on +the excited crowd that surged round Mr. Churchill's hotel, and served as +a reminder throughout the day of the advice which these leaders had +issued to their adherents.</p> + +<p>The First Lord of the Admiralty was accompanied to Belfast by Mrs. +Churchill, his Secretary, and two Liberal Members of Parliament, Mr. +Fiennes and Mr. Hamar Greenwood—for the last-mentioned of whom fate was +reserving a more intimate connection with Irish trouble than could be +got from a fleeting flirtation with disloyalty in West Belfast. They +were greeted at Larne by a large crowd vociferously cheering Carson, and +singing the National Anthem. A still larger concourse of people, though +it could not be more hostile, awaited Mr. Churchill at the Midland +Station in Belfast and along the route to the Grand Central Hotel. When +he started from the hotel early in the afternoon for the football field +the crowd in Royal Avenue was densely packed and actively demonstrating +its unfavourable opinion of the distinguished visitor; on whom, however, +none desired or attempted to inflict any physical injury, although the +involuntary <a name="Page_74"></a>swaying of so great a mass of men was in danger for a +moment of overturning the motor-car in which he and his wife were +seated.</p> + +<p>The way to the meeting took the Minister from the Unionist to the +Nationalist district and afforded him a practical demonstration of the +gulf between the "two nations" which he and his colleagues were bent +upon treating as one. The moment he crossed the boundary, the booing and +groaning of one area was succeeded by enthusiastic cheers in the other; +grotesque effigies of Redmond and of himself in one street were replaced +by equally unflattering effigies of Londonderry and Carson in the next; +in Royal Avenue both men and women looked like tearing him in pieces, in +Falls Road they thronged so close to shake his hand that "Mr. Hamar +Greenwood found it necessary" (so the <i>Times</i> Correspondent reported) +"to stand on the footboard outside the car and relieve the pressure."</p> + +<p>It was expected that Mr. Churchill would return to his hotel after the +meeting, and there had been no shrinkage in the crowd in the interval, +nor any change in its sentiments. The police decided that it would be +wiser for him to depart by another route. He was therefore taken by back +streets to the Midland terminus, and without waiting for the ordinary +train by which he had arranged to travel, was as hastily as possible +despatched to Larne by a special train before it was generally known +that Royal Avenue and York Street were to see him no more. Mr. Churchill +tells us in his brilliant biography of his father that when Lord +Randolph arrived at Larne in 1886 "he was welcomed like a King." His own +arrival at the same port was anything but regal, and his departure more +resembled that of the "thief in the night," of whom Lord Randolph had +bidden Ulster beware.</p> + +<p>So this memorable pilgrimage ended. Of the speech itself which Mr. +Churchill delivered to some thousands of Nationalists, many of whom were +brought by special train from Dublin, it is unnecessary here to say more +than that Sir Edward Carson described it a few days later as a "speech +full of eloquent platitudes," and that <a name="Page_75"></a>it certainly did little to +satisfy the demand for information about the Home Rule Bill which was to +be produced in the coming session of Parliament.</p> + +<p>The undoubted importance which this visit of Mr. Churchill to Belfast +and its attendant circumstances had in the development of the Ulster +Movement is the justification for treating it in what may appear to be +disproportionate detail. From it dates the first clear realisation even +by hostile critics in England, and probably by Ministers themselves, +that the policy of Ulster as laid down at Craigavon could not be +dismissed with a sneer, although it is true that there were many Home +Rulers who never openly abandoned the pretence that it could. Not less +important was the effect in Ulster itself. The Unionist Council had +proved itself in earnest; it could, and was prepared to, do more than +organise imposing political demonstrations; and so the rank and file +gained confidence in leaders who could act as well as make speeches, and +who had shown themselves in an emergency to be in thorough accord with +popular sentiment; the belief grew that the men who met in the Old Town +Hall would know how to handle any crisis that might arise, would not +timidly shrink from acting as occasion might require, and were quite +able to hold their own with the Government in tactical manoeuvres. This +confidence improved discipline. The Lodges and the Clubs and the general +body of shipyard and other workers had less temptation to take matters +into their own hands; they were content to wait for instructions from +headquarters now that they could trust their leaders to give the +necessary instructions at the proper time.</p> + +<p>The net result, therefore, of an expedition which was designed to expose +the hollowness and the weakness of the Ulster case was to augment the +prestige of the Ulster leaders and the self-confidence of the Ulster +people, and to make both leaders and followers understand better than +before the strength of the position in which they were entrenched.</p><a name="Page_76"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14">[14]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>ante</i>, p. 38.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15">[15]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Times</i>, January 18th, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16">[16]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Times</i>, January 26th, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17">[17]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Standard</i>, January 18th, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18">[18]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Saturday Review</i>, January 27th, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19">[19]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Times</i>, January 20th, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20">[20]</a><div class="note"><p> See Interview with Mr. F.W. Warden in <i>The Standard</i>, +February 8th, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21">[21]</a><div class="note"><p> See Dublin Correspondent's telegram in <i>The Times</i>, +January 29th, 1912.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_VII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h4>"WHAT ANSWER FROM THE NORTH?"</h4> + + +<p>Public curiosity as to the proposals that the coming Home Rule Bill +might contain was not set at rest by Mr. Churchill's oration in Belfast. +The constitution-mongers were hard at work with suggestions. Attempts +were made to conciliate hesitating opinion by representing Irish Home +Rule as a step in the direction of a general federal system for the +United Kingdom, and by tracing an analogy with the constitutions already +granted to the self-governing Dominions. Closely connected with the +federal idea was the question of finance. There was lively speculation +as to what measure of control over taxation the Bill would confer on the +Irish Parliament, and especially whether it would be given the power to +impose duties of Customs and Excise. Home Rulers themselves were sharply +divided on the question. At a conference held at the London School of +Economics on the 10th of January, 1912, Professor T.M. Kettle, Mr. +Erskine Childers, and Mr. Thomas Lough, M.P., declared themselves in +favour of Irish fiscal autonomy, while Lord Macdonnell opposed the idea +as irreconcilable with the fiscal policy of Great Britain.<a name="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22"><sup>[22]</sup></a> The +latter opinion was very forcibly maintained a few weeks later by a +member of the Government with some reputation as an economist. Speaking +to a branch of the United Irish League in London, Mr. J.M. Robertson, +Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, summarily rejected fiscal +autonomy for Ireland, which, he said, "really meant a claim for +separation." "To give fiscal autonomy," he added, "would mean +disintegration of the United<a name="Page_77"></a> Kingdom. Fiscal autonomy for Ireland put +an end altogether to all talk of Federal Home Rule, and he could see no +hope for a Home Rule Bill if it included fiscal autonomy."<a name="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23"><sup>[23]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Although the Secretary to the Board of Trade was probably not in the +confidence of the Cabinet, many people took Mr. Robertson's speech as an +indication of the limits of financial control that the Bill would give +to Ireland. On the same day that it was delivered the Dublin +Correspondent of <i>The Times</i> reported that the demand of the +Nationalists for control of Customs and Excise was rapidly growing, and +that any Bill which withheld it, even if it could scrape through a +National Convention, "would never survive the two succeeding years of +agitation and criticism"; and he agreed with Mr. Robertson that if, on +the other hand, fiscal autonomy should be conceded, it would destroy all +prospect of a settlement on federal lines, and would "establish virtual +separation between Ireland and Great Britain." He predicted that +"Ulster, of course, would resist to the bitter end."<a name="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24"><sup>[24]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Ulster, in point of fact, took but a secondary interest in the question. +Her people were indeed opposed to anything that would enlarge the +separation from England, or emphasise it, and, as they realised, like +the Secretary to the Board of Trade, that fiscal autonomy would have +this effect, they opposed fiscal autonomy; but they cared little about +the thing in itself one way or the other. Nor did they greatly concern +themselves whether Home Rule proceeded on federal lines or any other +lines; nor whether some apt analogy could or could not be found between +Ireland and the Dominions of the Crown thousands of miles oversea. +Having made up their minds that no Dublin Parliament should exercise +jurisdiction over themselves, they did not worry themselves much about +the powers with which such a Parliament might be endowed. It is +noteworthy, however, in view of the importance which the question +afterwards attained, that so early as January 1912 Sir Edward Carson, +speaking in Manchester, maintained that without fiscal autonomy Home +Rule was <a name="Page_78"></a>impossible,<a name="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25"><sup>[25]</sup></a> and that some months later Mr. Bonar Law, in a +speech at Glasgow on the 21st of May, said that if the Unionist Party +were in a position where they had to concede Home Rule to Ireland they +would include fiscal autonomy in the grant.<a name="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26"><sup>[26]</sup></a> These leaders, who, +unlike the Liberal Ministers, had some knowledge of the Irish +temperament, realised from the first the absurdity of Mr. Asquith's +attempt to satisfy the demands of "the rebel party" by offering +something very different from what that party demanded. The Ulster +leader and the leader of the Unionist Party knew as well as anybody that +fiscal autonomy meant "virtual separation between Ireland and Great +Britain," but they also knew that separation was the ultimate aim of +Nationalist policy, and that there could be no finality in the Liberal +compromise; and they no doubt agreed with the forcible language used by +Mr. Balfour in the previous autumn, when he said that "the rotten hybrid +system of a Parliament with municipal duties and a national feeling +seemed to be the dream of political idiots."</p> + +<p>The ferment of speculation as to the Government's intentions continued +during the early weeks of the Parliamentary session, which opened on the +14th of February, but all inquiries by members of the House of Commons +were met by variations on the theme "Wait and See." Unionists, however, +realised that it was not in Parliament, but outside, that the only +effective work could be done, in the hope of forcing a dissolution of +Parliament before the Bill could become law. A vigorous campaign was +conducted throughout the country, especially in Lancashire, and +arrangements were made for a monster demonstration in Belfast, which +should serve both as a counter-blast to the Churchill fiasco, and for +enabling English and Scottish Unionists to test for themselves the +temper of the Ulster resistance. In the belief that the Home Rule Bill +would be introduced before Easter, it was decided to hold this meeting +in the Recess, as Mr. Bonar Law had promised to speak, and a number of +English Members of Parliament wished to be present. At the last moment +<a name="Page_79"></a>the Government announced that the Bill would not be presented till the +11th of April, after Parliament reassembled, and its provisions were +therefore still unknown when the demonstration took place on the 9th in +the Show Ground of the Royal Agricultural Society at Balmoral, a suburb +of Belfast.</p> + +<p>Feeling ran high as the date of the double event approached, and the +indignant sense of wrong that prevailed in Ulster was finely voiced in a +poem, entitled "Ulster 1912," written by Mr. Kipling for the occasion +which appeared in <i>The Morning Post</i> on the day of the Balmoral +demonstration, of which the first and last stanzas were:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"The dark eleventh hour<br /></span> +<span>Draws on, and sees us sold<br /></span> +<span>To every evil Power<br /></span> +<span>We fought against of old.<br /></span> +<span>Rebellion, rapine, hate,<br /></span> +<span>Oppression, wrong, and greed<br /></span> +<span>Are loosed to rule our fate,<br /></span> +<span>By England's act and deed.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Believe, we dare not boast,<br /></span> +<span>Believe, we do not fear—<br /></span> +<span>We stand to pay the cost<br /></span> +<span>In all that men hold dear.<br /></span> +<span>What answer from the North?<br /></span> +<span>One Law, One Land, One Throne.<br /></span> +<span>If England drive us forth<br /></span> +<span>We shall not fall alone!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The preparations for the Unionist leader's coming visit to Belfast had +excited the keenest interest throughout England and Scotland. Coinciding +as it did with the introduction of the Government's Bill, it was +recognised to be the formal countersigning by the whole Unionist Party +of Great Britain of Ulster's proclamation of her determination to resist +her forcible degradation in constitutional status. The same note of +mingled reproach and defiance which sounded in Kipling's verses was +heard in the grave warning addressed by <i>The Times</i> to the country in a +leading article on the morning of the meeting:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Nobody of common judgment and common knowledge of political + movements can honestly doubt the exceptional <a name="Page_80"></a>gravity of the + occasion, and least of all can any such doubt be felt by any who + know the men of Ulster. To make light of the deep-rooted + convictions which fill the minds of those who will listen to Mr. + Bonar Law to-day is a shallow and an idle affectation, or a token + of levity and of ignorance. Enlightened Liberalism may smile at the + beliefs and the passions of the Ulster Protestants, but it was + those same beliefs and passions, in the forefathers of the men who + will gather in Belfast to-day, which saved Ireland for the British + Crown, and freed the cause of civil and religious liberty in these + islands from its last dangerous foes.... It is useless to argue + that they are mistaken. They have reasons, never answered yet, for + believing that they are not mistaken.... Their temper is an + ultimate fact which British statesmen and British citizens have to + face. These men cannot be persuaded to submit to Home Rule. Are + Englishmen and Scotchmen prepared to fasten it upon them by + military force? That is the real Ulster question."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Other great English newspapers wrote in similar strain, and the support +thus given was of the greatest possible encouragement to the Ulster +people, who were thereby assured that their standpoint was not +misunderstood and that the justice of their "loyalist" claims was +appreciated across the Channel.</p> + +<p>Among the numberless popular demonstrations which marked the history of +Ulster's stand against Home Rule, four stand out pre-eminent in the +impressiveness of their size and character. Those who attended the +Ulster Convention of 1892 were persuaded that no political meeting could +ever be more inspiring; but many of them lived to acknowledge that it +was far surpassed at Craigavon in 1911. The Craigavon meeting, though in +some respects as important as any of the series, was, from a spectacular +point of view, much less imposing than the assemblage which listened to +Mr. Bonar Law at Balmoral on Easter Tuesday, 1912; and the latter +occasion, though never surpassed in splendour and magnitude by any +single gathering, was in significance but a prelude to the magnificent +climax reached in the following September on the day when the Covenant +was signed throughout Ulster.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_81"></a>The Balmoral demonstration had, however, one distinctive feature. At it +the Unionist Party of Great Britain met and grasped the hand of Ulster +Loyalism. It gave the leader and a large number of his followers an +opportunity to judge for themselves the strength and sincerity of +Ulster, and at the same time it served to show the Ulstermen the weight +of British opinion ready to back them. Mr. Bonar Law was accompanied to +Belfast by no less than seventy Members of Parliament, representing +English, Scottish, and Welsh constituencies, not a few of whom had +already attained, or afterwards rose to, political distinction. Among +them were Mr. Walter Long, Lord Hugh Cecil, Sir Robert Finlay, Lord +Charles Beresford, Lord Castlereagh, Mr. Amery, Mr. J.D. Baird, Sir +Arthur Griffith-Boscawen, Mr. Ian Malcolm, Lord Claud Hamilton, Mr. J.G. +Butcher, Mr. Ernest Pollock, Mr. George Cave, Mr. Felix Cassel, Mr. +Ormsby-Gore, Mr. Scott Dickson, Mr. W. Peel, Captain Gilmour, Mr. George +Lloyd, Mr. J.W. Hills, Mr. George Lane-Fox, Mr. Stuart-Wortley, Mr. +J.F.P. Rawlinson, Mr. H.J. Mackinder, and Mr. Herbert Nield.</p> + +<p>The reception of the Unionist Leader at Larne on Easter Monday was +wonderful, even to those who knew what a Larne welcome to loyalist +leaders could be, and who recalled the scenes there during the historic +visits of Lord Randolph Churchill, Lord Salisbury, and Mr. Balfour. "If +this is how you treat your friends," said Mr. Bonar Law simply, in reply +to one of the innumerable addresses presented to him, "I am glad I am +not an enemy." Before reaching Belfast he had ample opportunity at every +stopping-place of his train to note the fervour of the populace. "Are +all these people landlords?" he asked (in humorous allusion to the +Liberal legend that Ulster Unionism was manufactured by a few +aristocratic landowners), as he saw every platform thronged with +enthusiastic crowds of men and women, the majority of whom were +evidently of the poorer classes. In Belfast the concourse of people was +so dense in the streets that the motor-car in which Mr. Bonar Law and +Sir Edward Carson sat side by side found it difficult to make its way +<a name="Page_82"></a>to the Reform Club, the headquarters of what had once been Ulster +Liberalism, where an address was presented in which it was stated that +the conduct of the Government "will justify loyal Ulster in resorting to +the most extreme measures in resisting Home Rule." In his reply Mr. +Bonar Law gave them "on behalf of the Unionist Party this +message—though the brunt of the battle will be yours, there will not be +wanting help from 'across the Channel.'" At Comber, where a stop was +made on the way to Mount Stewart, he asked himself how Radical Scotsmen +would like to be treated as the Government were treating Protestant +Ulster. "I know Scotland well," he replied to his own question, "and I +believe that, rather than submit to such fate, the Scottish people would +face a second Bannockburn or a second Flodden."</p> + +<p>These few quotations from the first utterances of Mr. Bonar Law on his +arrival are sufficient to show how complete was the understanding +between him and the Ulster people even before the great demonstration of +the following day. He had, as <i>The Times</i> Correspondent noted, "already +found favour with the Belfast crowd. All the way from Larne by train to +Belfast and through Belfast by motor-car to Newtownards and Mount +Stewart, his progress was a triumph."</p> + +<p>The remarks of the same experienced observer on the eve of the Balmoral +meeting are worth recording, especially as his anticipations were amply +fulfilled.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"To-morrow's demonstration," he telegraphed from Belfast, "both in + numbers and enthusiasm, promises to be the most remarkable ever + seen in Ireland. If expectations are realised the assemblage of men + will be twice as numerous as the whole white population of the + Witwatersrand, whose grievances led to the South African War, and + they will represent a community greater in numbers than the white + population of South Africa as a whole. Unless all the signs are + misleading, it will be the demonstration of a community in the + deadliest earnest. By the Protestant community of Ulster, Home Rule + is regarded as a menace to their faith, to their material + well-being and prosperity, and to their freedom and national + traditions, and thus <a name="Page_83"></a>all the most potent motives which in history + have stirred men to their greatest efforts are here in operation."</p></blockquote> + +<p>No written description, unless by the pen of some gifted imaginative +writer, could convey any true impression of the scenes that were +witnessed the following day in the Show Ground at Balmoral and the roads +leading to it from the heart of the city. The photographs published at +the time give some idea of the apparently unbounded ocean of earnest, +upturned faces, closely packed round the several platforms, and +stretching away far into a dim and distant background; but even they +could not record the impressive stillness of the vast multitude, its +orderliness, which required the presence of not a single policeman, its +spirit of almost religious solemnity which struck every observant +onlooker. No profusion of superlative adjectives can avail to reproduce +such scenes, any more than words, no matter how skilfully chosen, can +convey the tone of a violin in the hands of a master. Even the mere +number of those who took part in the demonstration cannot be guessed +with any real accuracy. There was a procession of men, whose fine +physique and military smartness were noticed by visitors from England, +which was reported to have taken three hours to pass a given point +marching in fours, and was estimated to be not less than 100,000 strong, +while those who went independently to the ground or crowded the route +were reckoned to be at least as many more. The Correspondent of <i>The +Times</i> declared that "it was hardly by hyperbole that Sir Edward Carson +claimed that it was one of the largest assemblies in the history of the +world."</p> + +<p>But the moral effect of such gatherings is not to be gauged by numbers +alone. The demeanour of the people, which no organisation or stage +management could influence, impressed the English journalists and +Members of Parliament even more than the gigantic scale of the +demonstration. There was not a trace of the picnic spirit. There was no +drunkenness, no noisy buffoonery, no unseemly behaviour. The Ulster +habit of combining politics and prayer—which was not departed from at +Balmoral, where the proceedings were opened by the Primate of<a name="Page_84"></a> All +Ireland and the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church—was jeered at by +people who never witnessed an Ulster loyalist meeting; but the Editor of +<i>The Observer</i>, himself a Roman Catholic, remarked with more insight +that "the Protestant mind does not use prayer simply as part of a +parade;" and <i>The Times</i> Correspondent, who has already been more than +once quoted, was struck by the fervour with which at Balmoral "the whole +of the vast gathering joined in singing the 90th Psalm," and he added +the very just comment that "it is the custom in Ulster to mark in this +solemn manner the serious nature of the issue when the Union is the +question, as something different from a question of mere party +politics."</p> + +<p>The spectacular aspect of the demonstration was admirably managed. A +saluting point was so arranged that the procession, on entering the +enclosure, could divide into two columns, one passing each side of a +small pavilion where Mr. Bonar Law, Sir Edward Carson, Lord Londonderry, +and Mr. Walter Long stood to take the salute before proceeding to the +stand which held the principal platform for the delivery of the +speeches. In the centre of the ground was a signalling-tower with a +flagstaff 90 feet high, on which a Union Jack measuring 48 feet by 25 +and said to be the largest ever woven, was broken at the moment when the +Resolution against Home Rule was put to the meeting.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bonar Law, visibly moved by the scene before him, made a speech that +profoundly affected his audience, although it was characteristically +free from rhetorical display. A recent incident in Dublin, where the +sight of the British Flag flying within view of a Nationalist meeting +had been denounced as "an intolerable insult," supplied him, when he +compared it with the spectacle presented by the meeting, with an apt +illustration of the contrast between "the two nations" in Ireland—the +loyal and the disloyal. He told the Ulstermen that he had come to them +as the leader of the Unionist Party to give them the assurance that +"that party regard your cause, not as yours alone, nor as ours alone, +but as the cause of the Empire"; the meeting, which he had expected to +be a great gathering <a name="Page_85"></a>but which far exceeded his expectation, proved +that Ulster's hostility to Home Rule, far from having slackened, as +enemies had alleged, had increased and solidified with the passing +years; they were men "animated by a unity of purpose, by a fixity of +resolution which nothing can shake and which must prove irresistible," +to whom he would apply Cromwell's words to his Ironsides: "You are men +who know what you are fighting for, and love what you know." Then, after +an analysis of the practical evils that Home Rule would engender and the +benefits which legislative union secured, he again emphasised the lack +of mandate for the Government policy. His hearers, he said, "knew the +shameful story": how the Radicals had twice failed to obtain the +sanction of the British people for Home Rule, "and now for the third +time they were trying to carry it not only without the sanction, but +against the will, of the British people."</p> + +<p>The peroration which followed made an irresistible appeal to a people +always mindful of the glories of the relief of Derry. Mr. Bonar Law +warned them that the Ministerial majority in the House of Commons, "now +cemented by £400 a year," could not be broken up, but would have their +own way. He therefore said to them:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"With all solemnity—you must trust in yourselves. Once again you + hold the pass—the pass for the Empire. You are a besieged city. + The timid have left you; your Lundys have betrayed you; but you + have closed your gates. The Government have erected by their + Parliament Act a boom against you to shut you off from the help of + the British people. You will burst that boom. That help will come, + and when the crisis is over men will say to you in words not unlike + those used by Pitt—you have saved yourselves by your exertions and + you will save the Empire by your example."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The overwhelming ovation with which Sir Edward Carson was received upon +taking the president's chair at the chief platform, in the absence +through illness of the Duke of Abercorn, proved that he had already won +the confidence and the affection of the Ulster people to a <a name="Page_86"></a>degree that +seemed to leave little room for growth, although every subsequent +appearance he made among them in the years that lay ahead seemed to add +intensity to their demonstrations of personal devotion. The most +dramatic moment at Balmoral—if for once the word so hackneyed and +misused by journalists may be given its true signification—the most +dramatic moment was when the Ulster leader and the leader of the whole +Unionist Party each grasped the other's hand in view of the assembled +multitude, as though formally ratifying a compact made thus publicly on +the eve of battle. It was the consummation of the purpose of this +assembly of the Unionist hosts on Ulster soil, and gave assurance of +unity of aim and undivided command in the coming struggle.</p> + +<p>Of the other speeches delivered, many of them of a high quality, +especially, perhaps, those of Lord Hugh Cecil, Sir Robert Finlay, and +Mr. Scott Dickson, it is enough to say that they all conveyed the same +message of encouragement to Ulster, the same promise of undeviating +support. One detail, however, deserves mention, because it shows the +direction in which men's thoughts were then moving. Mr. Walter Long, +whose great services to the cause of the Union procured him a welcome +second in warmth to that of no other leader, after thanking Londonderry +and Carson "for the great lead they have given us in recent difficult +weeks "—an allusion to the Churchill incident that was not lost on the +audience—added with a blunt directness characteristic of the speaker: +"If they are going to put Lord Londonderry and Sir Edward Carson into +the dock, they will have to find one large enough to hold the whole +Unionist Party."</p> + +<p>The Balmoral demonstration was recognised on all sides as one of the +chief landmarks in the Ulster Movement. The Craigavon policy was not +only reaffirmed with greater emphasis than before by the people of +Ulster themselves, but it received the deliberate endorsement of the +Unionist Party in England and Scotland. Moreover, as Mr. Long's speech +explicitly promised, and Mr. Bonar Law's speech unmistakably implied, +British support was not to be dependent on Ulster's opposition to Home +Rule being <a name="Page_87"></a>kept within strictly legal limits. Indeed, it had become +increasingly evident that opposition so limited must be impotent, since, +as Mr. Bonar Law pointed out, Ministers and their majority in the House +of Commons were in Mr. Redmond's pocket, and had no choice but to "toe +the line," while the "boom" which they had erected by the Parliament Act +cut off Ulster from access to the British constituencies, unless that +boom could be burst as the boom across the Foyle was broken by the +<i>Mountjoy </i> in 1689. The Unionist leader had warned the Ulstermen that +in these circumstances they must expect nothing from Parliament, but +must trust in themselves. They did not mistake his meaning, and they +were quite ready to take his advice.</p> + +<p>Coming, as it did, two days before the introduction of the Government's +Bill, the Balmoral demonstration profoundly influenced opinion in the +country. The average Englishman, when his political party is in a +minority, damns the Government, shrugs his shoulders, and goes on his +way, not rejoicing indeed, but with apathetic resignation till the +pendulum swings again. He now awoke to the fact that the Ulstermen meant +business. He realised that a political crisis of the first magnitude was +visible on the horizon. The vague talk about "civil war" began to look +as if it might have something in it, and it was evident that the +provisions of the forthcoming Bill, about which there had been so much +eager anticipation, would be of quite secondary importance since neither +the Cabinet nor the House of Commons would have the last word.</p> + +<p>Supporters of the Government in the Press could think of nothing better +to do in these circumstances than to pour out abuse, occasionally varied +by ridicule, on the Unionist leaders, of which Sir Edward Carson came in +for the most generous portion. He was by turns everything that was bad, +dangerous, and absurd, from Mephistopheles to a madman. "F.C.G." +summarised the Balmoral meeting pictorially in a <i>Westminster Gazette</i> +cartoon as a costermonger's donkey-cart in which Carson, Londonderry, +and Bonar Law, refreshed by "Orangeade,"<a name="Page_88"></a> took "an Easter Jaunt in +Ulster," and other caricaturists used their pencils with less humour and +more malice with the same object of belittling the demonstration with +ridicule. But ridicule is not so potent a weapon in England or in Ulster +as it is said to be in France. It did nothing to weaken the Ulster +cause; it even strengthened it in some ways. It was about this time that +hostile writers began to refer to "King Carson," and to represent him as +exercising regal sway over his "subjects" in Ulster. Those "subjects" +were delighted; they took it as a compliment to their leader's position +and power, and did not in the least resent the role assigned to +themselves.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, they did resent very hotly the vulgar insolence often +levelled at their "Sir Edward." He himself was always quite indifferent +to it, sometimes even amused by it. On one occasion, when something +particularly outrageous had appeared with reference to him in some +Radical paper, he delighted a public meeting by solemnly reading the +passage, and when the angry cries of "Shame, shame" had subsided, saying +with a smile: "This sort of thing is only the manure that fertilises my +reputation with you who know me."</p> + +<p>And that was true. If Home Rulers, whether in Ireland or in Great +Britain, ever seriously thought of conciliating Ulster, as Mr. Redmond +professed to desire, they never made a greater mistake than in saying +and writing insulting things about Carson. It only endeared him more and +more to his followers, and it intensified the bitterness of their +feeling against the Nationalists and all their works. An almost equally +short-sighted error on the part of hostile critics was the idea that the +attitude of Ulster as exhibited at Craigavon and Balmoral should be +represented as mere bluster and bluff, to which the only proper reply +was contempt. There never was anything further removed from the truth, +as anyone ought to have known who had the smallest acquaintance with +Irish history or with the character of the race that had supplied the +backbone of Washington's army; but, if there had been at any time an +element of bluff in their attitude, their contemptuous critics took the +surest means of converting <a name="Page_89"></a>it into grim earnestness of purpose. Mr. +Redmond himself was ill-advised enough to set an example in this +respect. In an article published by <i>Reynold's Newspaper</i> in January he +had scoffed at the "stupid, hollow, and unpatriotic bellowings" of the +Loyalists in Belfast. Some few opponents had enough sense to take a +different line in their comments on Balmoral. One article in particular +which appeared in <i>The Star</i> on the day of the demonstration attracted +much attention for this reason.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"We have never yielded," it said, "to the temptation to deride or + to belittle the resistance of Ulster to Home Rule.... The + subjugation of Protestant Ulster by force is one of those things + that do not happen in our politics.... It is, we know, a popular + delusion that Ulster is a braggart whose words are empty bluff. We + are convinced that Ulster means what she says, and that she will + make good every one of her warnings."</p></blockquote> + +<p><i>The Star</i> went on to implore Liberals not to be driven "into an +attitude of bitter hostility to the Ulster Protestants," with whom it +declared they had much in common.</p> + +<p>After Balmoral there was certainly more disposition than before on the +part of Liberal Home Rulers to acknowledge the sincerity of Ulster and +the gravity of the position created by her opposition, and this +disposition showed itself in the debates on the Bill; but, speaking +generally, the warning of <i>The Star</i> was disregarded by its political +adherents, and its neglect contributed not a little to the embitterment +of the controversy.</p><a name="Page_90"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22">[22]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1912, p. 3.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23">[23]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Times</i>, February 3rd, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24">[24]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25">[25]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1912, p. 7.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26">[26]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., p. 126.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_VIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h4>THE EXCLUSION OF ULSTER</h4> + + +<p>Within forty-eight hours of the Balmoral meeting the Prime Minister +moved for leave to introduce the third Home Rule Bill in the House of +Commons. Carson immediately stated the Ulster case in a powerful speech +which left no room for doubt that, while every clause in the Bill would +be contested, it was the setting up of an executive administration +responsible to a Parliament in Dublin—that is to say, the central +principle of the measure—that would be most strenuously opposed.</p> + +<p>There is no occasion here to explain in detail the proposals contained +in Mr. Asquith's Home Rule Bill. They form part of the general history +of the period, and are accessible to all who care to examine them. Our +concern is with the endeavour of Ulster to prevent, if possible, the +passage of the Bill to the Statute-book, and, if that should prove +impracticable, to prevent its enforcement "in those districts of which +they had control." But one or two points that were made in the course of +the debates which occupied Parliament for the rest of the year 1912 +claim a moment's notice in their bearing on the subject in hand.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bonar Law lost no time in fully redeeming the promises he made at +Balmoral. Challenged to repeat in Parliament the charges he had made +against the Government in Ulster, he not only repeated them with +emphasis, but by closely-knit reasoning justified them with chapter and +verse. As to Balmoral, "it really was not like a political +demonstration; it was the expression of the soul of a people." He +declared that "the gulf between the two peoples in Ireland was really +far wider than the gulf between Ireland and Great Britain." He then +dealt <a name="Page_91"></a>specifically with the threatened resistance of Ulster. "These +people in Ulster," he said, "are under no illusion. They know they +cannot fight the British Army. The people of Ulster know that, if the +soldiers receive orders to shoot, it will be their duty to obey. They +will have no ill-will against them for obeying. But they are ready, in +what they believe to be the cause of justice and liberty, to lay down +their lives. How are you going to overcome that resistance? Do +Honourable Members believe that any Prime Minister could give orders to +shoot down men whose only crime is that they refuse to be driven out of +our community and be deprived of the privilege of British citizenship? +The thing is impossible. All your talk about details, the union of +hearts and the rest of it, is a sham. This is a reality. It is a rock, +and on that rock this Bill will inevitably make shipwreck."</p> + +<p>The Unionist leader then made a searching exposure of the traffic and +bargaining between the Cabinet and the Nationalists by which the support +of the latter had been bought for a Budget which they hated, the price +paid being the Premier's improper advice to the Crown, leading to the +mutilation of the Constitution; the acknowledgment in the preamble to +the Parliament Act that an immediate reform of the Second Chamber was a +"debt of honour"; the omission to redeem that debt, which had provided a +new proverb—"Lying as a preamble"; and, finally, the determination to +carry Home Rule after deliberately keeping it out of sight during the +elections. The Prime Minister's "debt of honour must wait until he has +paid his debt of shame"; and the latter debt was being paid by the +proposals they were then debating. If those proposals had been submitted +to the electors, "there would be a difference," said Mr. Bonar Law, +"between the Unionists in England and the Unionists in Ireland. Now +there is none. We can imagine nothing which the Unionists in Ireland can +do which will not be justified against a trick of this kind."</p> + +<p>Dissatisfaction with the financial clauses of the Bill was expressed at +once by the General Council of County Councils in Ireland, a purely +Nationalist body; but <a name="Page_92"></a>on the 23rd of April a Nationalist Convention in +Dublin, under the influence of Mr. Redmond's oratory, accepted the whole +of the Government's proposals with enthusiasm. The first and second +readings of the Bill were duly carried by the normal Government majority +of about a hundred Liberal, Labour, and Irish Nationalist votes, and the +committee stage opened on the 11th of June. On that day an amendment was +down for debate which required the most careful consideration by the +representatives of Ulster, since their attitude now might have an +important bearing on their future policy, and a false step at this stage +might easily prove embarrassing later on. The author of this amendment +was Mr. Agar-Robartes, a Cornish Liberal Member, whose proposal was to +exclude the four counties of Antrim, Derry, Down, and Armagh from the +jurisdiction of the proposed Irish Parliament, a gratifying proof that +Craigavon and Balmoral were bearing fruit.</p> + +<p>A conference of Ulster Members and Peers, and some English Members +closely identified with Irish affairs, of whom Mr. Walter Long was one, +met at Londonderry House before the sitting of the House on the 11th of +June to decide what course to take on this proposal.</p> + +<p>It was not surprising to find that there were sharp differences of +opinion among those present, for there were obvious objections to +supporting the amendment and equally obvious objections to voting +against it. The opposition of Ulster for more than a quarter of a +century had been directed against Home Rule for any part of Ireland and +in any shape or form. No suggestion had ever been made by any of her +spokesmen that the Protestant North, or any part of it, should be dealt +with separately from the rest of the island, although Carson and others +had pointed out that all the arguments in support of Home Rule were +equally valid for treating Ulster as a unit. There were both economic +and administrative difficulties in such a scheme which were sufficiently +obvious, though by no means insuperable; but what weighed far more +heavily in the minds of the Ulster members was the anticipation that +their acceptance of the proposal would <a name="Page_93"></a>probably be represented by +enemies as a desertion of all the Irish Loyalists outside the four +counties named in the amendment, with whom there was in every part of +Ulster the most powerful sentiment of solidarity. The idea of taking any +action apart from these friends and associates, and of adopting a policy +that might seem to imply the abandonment of their opposition to the main +principle of the Bill, was one that could not be entertained except +under the most compelling necessity.</p> + +<p>But, had not that necessity now arisen? The Ulster members had to keep +in view the ultimate policy to which they were already committed. That +policy, as laid down at Craigavon, was to take over, in the event of the +Home Rule Bill being carried, the government "of those districts which +they could control" in trust for the Imperial Parliament, and to resist +by force if necessary the establishment of the Dublin jurisdiction over +those districts. The policy of resistance was always recognised as being +strictly limited in area; no one ever supposed that Ulster could +forcibly resist Home Rule being set up in the south and west. The +likelihood of failure to bring about a dissolution before the Bill +became law had to be faced, and if no General Election took place there +would be no alternative to resistance. If, then, it were decided to vote +against an amendment offering salvation to the four most loyalist +counties, what would be their position if ultimately driven to take up +arms? Except as to a matter of detail concerning the precise area +proposed to be excluded from the Bill, would they not be told that they +were fighting for what they might have had by legislation, and what they +had deliberately refused to accept? And if they so acted, could they +expect not to forfeit the support of the great and growing volume of +public opinion which now sympathised with Ulster? They could not, of +course, secure themselves against malicious misrepresentation of their +motives, but the Ulster members sincerely believed, and many in the +South shared the opinion, that if it came to the worst they could be of +more use to the Southern Unionists outside a Dublin Parliament than as +members of it, where they would be an impotent minority. Moreover, <a name="Page_94"></a>it +was perfectly understood that Ulster was resolved in any case not to +enter a legislature in College Green, and there would, therefore, be no +more "desertion" of Unionists outside the excluded area if the exclusion +were effected by an amendment to the Bill, than if it were the result of +what Mr. Bonar Law had called "trusting to themselves."</p> + +<p>The considerations thus briefly summarised were thoroughly discussed in +all their bearings at the conference at Londonderry House. It was one of +many occasions when Sir Edward Carson's colleagues had an opportunity of +perceiving how his penetrating intellect explored the intricate windings +of a complicated political problem, weighing all the alternatives of +procedure with a clear insight into the appearance that any line of +conduct would present to other and perhaps hostile minds, calculating +like a chess-master move and counter-move far ahead of the present, and, +while adhering undeviatingly to principle, using the judgment of a +consummate strategist to decide upon the action to be taken at any given +moment. He had an astonishing faculty of discarding everything that was +unessential and fastening on the thing that really mattered in any +situation. His strength in counsel lay in the rare combination of these +qualities of the trained lawyer with the gift of intuition, which women +claim as their distinguishing characteristic; and it often extorted from +Nationalists the melancholy admission that if Carson had been on their +side their cause would have triumphed long ago.</p> + +<p>His advice now was that the Agar-Robartes amendment should be supported; +and, although some of those present required a good deal of persuasion, +it was ultimately decided unanimously that this course should be +followed. The wisdom of the decision was never afterwards questioned, +and, indeed, was abundantly confirmed by subsequent events.</p> + +<p>Mr. Agar-Robartes moved his amendment the same afternoon, summarising +his argument in the dictum, denied by Mr. William Redmond, that "Orange +bitters will not mix with Irish whisky." The debate, which <a name="Page_95"></a>lasted three +days, was the most important that took place in committee on the Bill, +for in the course of it the whole Ulster question was exhaustively +discussed. Sir Edward Grey and Mr. Churchill had thrown out hints in the +second reading debate that the Government might do something to meet the +Ulster case. The Prime Minister was now pressed to say what these hints +meant. Had the Government any policy in regard to Ulster? Had they +considered how they could deal with the threatened resistance? Mr. Bonar +Law told the Government that they must know that, if they employed +troops to coerce the Ulster Loyalists, Ministers who gave the order +"would run a greater risk of being lynched in London than the Loyalists +of Ulster would run of being shot in Belfast." Every argument in favour +of Home Rule was, he said, equally cogent against subjecting Ulster to +Home Rule contrary to her own desire. If the South of Ireland objected +to being governed from Westminster, the North of Ireland quite as +strongly objected to being ruled from Dublin. If England, as was +alleged, was incapable of governing Ireland according to Irish ideas, +the Nationalists were fully as incapable of governing the northern +counties according to Ulster ideas. If Ireland, with only one-fifteenth +of the population of the United Kingdom, had a right to choose its own +form of government, by what equity could the same right be denied to +Ulster, with one-fourth of the population of Ireland?</p> + +<p>As had been anticipated at Londonderry House, Mr. Asquith and some of +his followers did their best to drive a wedge between the Ulstermen and +the Southern Unionists, by contending that the former, in supporting the +amendment, were deserting their friends. Mr. Balfour declared in answer +to this that "nothing could relieve Unionists in the rest of Ireland +except the defeat of the measure as a whole"; and a crushing reply was +given by Mr. J.H. Campbell and Mr. Walter Guinness, both of whom were +Unionists from the South of Ireland. Mr. Guinness frankly acknowledged +that "it was the duty of Ulster members to take this opportunity of +trying to secure for their constituents freedom from this iniquitous +measure.<a name="Page_96"></a> It would be merely a dog-in-the-manger policy for those who +lived outside Ulster to grudge relief to their co-religionists merely +because they could not share it. Such self-denial on Ulster's part would +in no way help them (the Southerners) and it would only injure their +compatriots in the North."</p> + +<p>Sir Edward Carson, in supporting the amendment, insisted that "Ulster +was not asking for anything" except to be left within the Imperial +Constitution; she "had not demanded any separate Parliament." He +accepted the "basic principle" of the amendment, but would not be +content with the four counties which alone it proposed to exclude from +the Bill. He only accepted it, however, on two assumptions—first, that +the Bill was to become law; and, second, that it was to be, as Mr. +Asquith had assured them, part of a federal system for the United +Kingdom. If the first steps were being taken to construct a federal +system, there was no precedent for coercing Ulster to form part of a +federal unit which she refused to join. He had been Solicitor-General +when the Act establishing the Commonwealth of Australia was being +discussed, and it never would have passed, he declared, "if every single +clause had not been agreed to by every single one of the communities +concerned." Ministers were always basing their Irish policy on Dominion +analogies, but could anyone, Carson asked, imagine the Imperial +Government sending troops to compel the Transvaal or New South Wales to +come into a federal system against their will?</p> + +<p>The arguments in favour of the amendment were also stated with +uncompromising force by Mr. William Moore, Mr. Charles Craig, and his +brother Captain James Craig, the last-mentioned taking up a challenge +thrown down by Mr. Birrell in a maladroit speech which had expressed +doubt as to the reality of the danger to be apprehended in Ulster. +Captain Craig said they would immediately take steps in Ulster to +convince the Chief Secretary of their sincerity. Lord Hugh Cecil, in an +outspoken speech, greatly to the taste of English Unionists, "had no +hesitation in saying that Ulster would be perfectly right in resisting, +and he hoped she would be successful."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_97"></a>In the division on Mr. Agar-Robartes's amendment the Government +majority fell to sixty-nine, both the "Tellers" being usual supporters +of the Ministry. Mr. F.E. Smith, in a vigorous speech to the Belfast +Orangemen on the 12th of July, declared that "on the part of the +Government the discussion (on Mr. Agar-Robartes's amendment) was a trap. +... The Government hoped that Ulster would decline the amendment in +order that the Coalition might protest to the constituencies: 'We +offered Ulster exclusion and Ulster refused exclusion—where is the +grievance of Ulster? where her justification for armed revolt?'" The +snare was avoided; but the debate was a landmark in the movement, for it +was then that the spokesmen of Ulster for the first time publicly +accepted the idea of separate treatment for themselves as a possible +alternative policy to the integral maintenance of the Union.</p> + +<p>The Government, for their part, made no response to the demand of Bonar +Law and Carson that they should declare their intentions for dealing +with resistance in Ulster. It was clearly more than ever necessary for +the Ulstermen to "trust in themselves." The debates on the Bill occupied +Parliament till the end of the year, and beyond it, and great blocks of +clauses were carried under the guillotine closure without a word of +discussion, although they were packed with constitutional points, many +of which were of the highest moment. Over in Ulster, at the same time, +those preparations were industriously carried forward which Captain +Craig told the House of Commons would be necessary to cure the +scepticism of the Chief Secretary.</p> + +<p>In England and Scotland, also, Unionists did their utmost to make public +opinion realise the gravity of the crisis towards which the country was +drifting under the Wait-and-See Ministry. Never before, probably, had so +many great political meetings been held in any year as were held in +every part of the country in 1912. With the exception of those that took +place in Ireland, the most striking was a monster gathering at Blenheim +on the 27th of July, which was attended by delegates from every Unionist +Association in the United Kingdom.</p><a name="Page_98"></a> + +<p>A notable defeat of the Government in a by-election at Crewe, news of +which reached the meeting while the audience of some fifteen thousand +people was assembling, was an encouraging sign of the trend of opinion +in the country, and added confidence to the note of defiance that +sounded in the speeches of Mr. Bonar Law, Mr. F.E. Smith, and Sir Edward +Carson.</p> + +<p>The Unionist leader repeated, with added emphasis, what he had already +said in the House of Commons, that he could imagine no length of +resistance to which Ulster might go in which he and the overwhelming +majority of the British people would not be ready to give support. He +again said that resistance would be justified only because the people +had not been consulted, and the Government's policy was "part of a +corrupt parliamentary bargain." He refused to acknowledge the right of +the Government "to carry such a Revolution by such means," and as they +appeared to be resolved to do so, Mr. Bonar Law and the party he led +"would use any means to deprive them of the power they had usurped, and +to compel them to face the people they had deceived." Mr. F.E. Smith +expressed the same thought in a more epigrammatic antithesis: "We have +come to a clear issue between the party which says 'We will judge for +the democracy,' and the party which says 'The democracy shall judge +you.'"</p> + +<p>The tremendous enthusiasm evoked by Mr. Bonar Law's pledge of support to +Ulster, and by Sir Edward Carson's announcement that they in Ulster +"would shortly challenge the Government to interfere with them if they +dared, and would with equanimity await the result," was a sufficient +proof, if proof were needed, that the intention of the Ulstermen to +offer forcible resistance to Home Rule had the whole-hearted sympathy +and approval of the entire Unionist party in Great Britain, whose +representatives from every corner of the country were assembled at +Blenheim.</p> + +<p>Liberals hoped and believed that this promise of support for the +"rebellious" attitude of Ulster would alienate British opinion from the +Unionist party. The supporters of the Government in the Press daily +proclaimed that it <a name="Page_99"></a>was doing so. When Parliament adjourned for the +summer recess, at the beginning of what journalists call "the silly +season," Mr. Churchill published two letters to a constituent in +Scotland which were intended to be a crushing indictment both of Ulster +and of her sympathisers in Great Britain. The Ulster menace was in his +eyes nothing but "melodramatic stuff," and he sneeringly suggested that +the Unionist leaders would be "unspeakably shocked and frightened" if +anything came of their "foolish and wicked words." The letter was +lengthy, and contained some telling phrases such as Mr. Churchill has +always been skilful in coining; but the "turgid homily—a mixture of +sophistry, insult, and menace," as <i>The Times</i> not unfairly described +it, was less effective than the terse and simple rejoinder in which Mr. +Bonar Law pointed out that Mr. Churchill's onslaught wounded his +father's memory more deeply than it touched his living opponents, since +Lord Randolph's "incitement" of Ulster was at a time when Ulster could +not be cast out from the Union without the consent of the British +electors.</p> + +<p>Mr. Churchill's epistles to Scottish Liberals started a correspondence +which reverberated through the Press for weeks, breaking the monotony of +the holiday season; but they entirely failed in their purpose, which was +to break the sympathy for Ulster in England and Scotland. In March the +Unionists had won a seat at a by-election in South Manchester; the +victory at Crewe in July, which so cheered the gathering at Blenheim, +was followed by still more striking victories in North-west Manchester +in August, and in Midlothian—Gladstone's old constituency—in +September; and perhaps a not less significant indication of the trend of +opinion so far as the Unionist party was concerned, was given by the +local Unionist Association at Rochdale, which promptly repudiated its +selected candidate who had ventured to protest against the Blenheim +speech of the Unionist leader. In an analysis of electoral statistics +published by <i>The Times</i> on the 24th of August it was shown that, in +thirty-eight contests since the General Election in December 1910, the +Unionists had gained an advantage of more than 32,000 votes over<a name="Page_100"></a> +Liberals. And shortly afterwards, at a dinner in London to three newly +elected Unionists, Mr. Bonar Law pointed out that the results of +by-elections, if realised in the same proportion all over the country, +would have given a substantial Unionist majority in the House of +Commons.</p> + +<p>The Ulster people had, therefore, much to encourage them at a time when +they were preparing the most significant forward step in the movement, +and the most solemn pronouncement of their unfaltering resolution never +to submit to the Dublin Parliament—the signing of the Ulster Covenant. +Their policy of resistance, first propounded at Craigavon, reiterated at +Balmoral, endorsed by British sympathisers at Blenheim, and specifically +defended in Parliament both by Unionist leaders like Mr. Bonar Law and +Mr. Long and by prominent members of the Unionist rank and file like +Lord Hugh Cecil, had won the approval and support of great popular +constituencies in Lancashire and in Scotland, and had alienated no +section of Unionist opinion or of the Unionist Press. It was in no +merely satirical spirit that Carson wrote in August that he was grateful +to Mr. Churchill "for having twice within a few weeks done something to +focus public opinion on the stern realities of the situation in +Ulster."<a name="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27"><sup>[27]</sup></a> For that was the actual result of the "turgid homily." It +proved of real service to the Ulster cause by bringing to light the +complete solidarity of Unionist opinion in its support. That meant, in +the light of the electoral returns, that certainly more than half the +nation sympathised with the measures that were being taken in Ulster, +and that Ulster could well afford to smile at the mockery which English +Home Rulers deemed a sufficient weapon to demolish the "wooden guns" and +the "military play-acting of King Carson's Army."</p> +<a name="Page_101"></a> +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27">[27]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>The Times</i>, August 19th, 1912.</p></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h4>THE EVE OF THE COVENANT</h4> + + +<p>There was one Liberal statesman, formerly the favourite lieutenant of +Gladstone and the closest political ally of Asquith, who was under no +illusion as to the character of the men with whom Asquith was now +provoking a conflict. Speaking in Edinburgh on the 1st of November, +1911, that is, shortly after the Craigavon meeting, Lord Rosebery told +his Scottish audience that "he loved Highlanders and he loved +Lowlanders, but when he came to the branch of their race which had been +grafted on to the Ulster stem he took off his hat with reverence and +awe. They were without exception the toughest, the most dominant, the +most irresistible race that existed in the universe."<a name="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28"><sup>[28]</sup></a></p> + +<p>The kinship of this tough people with the Lowlanders of Scotland, in +character as in blood, was never more signally demonstrated than when +they decided, in one of the most intense crises of their history, to +emulate the example of their Scottish forefathers in binding themselves +together by a solemn League and Covenant to resist what they deemed to +be a tyrannical encroachment on their liberties and rights.</p> + +<p>The most impressive moment at the Balmoral meeting at Easter 1912 was +when the vast assemblage, with uncovered heads, raised their hands and +repeated after Sir Edward Carson words abjuring Home Rule. The incident +suggested to some of the local Unionist leaders that the spirit of +enthusiastic solidarity and determination thus manifested should not be +allowed to evaporate, and the people so animated to disperse to the four +corners of Ulster without any bond of mutual obligation. The idea of an +oath of fidelity to the cause and to each other was<a name="Page_102"></a> mooted, and +appeared to be favoured by many. The leader was consulted. He gave deep, +anxious, and prolonged consideration to the proposal, calculating all +the consequences which, in various possible eventualities, might follow +its adoption. He was not only profoundly conscious of the moral +responsibility which he personally, and his colleagues, would be +undertaking by the contemplated measure; he realised the numerous +practical difficulties there might be in honouring the bond, and he +would have nothing to do with a device which, under the guise of a +solemn covenant, would be nothing more than a verbal manifesto. If the +people were to be invited to sign anything of the sort, it must be a +reality, and he, as leader, must first see his way to make it a reality, +whatever might happen.</p> + +<p>For, although Carson never shrank from responsibility, he never assumed +it with levity, or without full consideration of all that it might +involve. Many a time, especially before he had fully tested for himself +the temper of the Ulster people, he expressed to his intimates his +wonder whether the bulk of his followers sufficiently appreciated the +seriousness of the course they had set out upon. Sometimes in private he +seemed to be hypersensitive as to whether in any particular he was +misleading those who trusted him; he was scrupulously anxious that they +should not be carried away by unreflecting enthusiasm, or by personal +devotion to himself. About the only criticism of his leadership that was +ever made directly to himself by one of the rank and file in Ulster was +that it erred on the side of patience and caution; and this criticism +elicited the sharpest reproof he was ever heard to administer to any of +his followers.<a name="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29"><sup>[29]</sup></a> His expressions of regard, almost amounting to +affection, for the men and women who thronged round him for a touch of +his hand wherever he appeared in the streets might have been ignorantly +set down as the arts of a demagogue had they ever been spoken in public, +but were capable of no such misconstruction when reserved, as they +invariably were, for the ears of his closest associates. The truth is +that <a name="Page_103"></a>no popular leader was ever less of a demagogue than Sir Edward +Carson. He had no "arts" at all—unless indeed complete simplicity is +the highest of all "arts" in one whom great masses of men implicitly +trust. He never sought to gain or augment the confidence of his +followers by concealing facts, minimising difficulties, or overcolouring +expectations.</p> + +<p>It is not surprising, then, that the decision to invite the Ulster +people to bind themselves together by some form of written bond or oath +was one which Carson did not come to hastily. While the matter was still +only being talked about by a few intimate friends, and had not been in +any way formally proposed, Captain James Craig happened to be occupying +himself one day at the Constitutional Club in London with pencil and +paper, making experimental drafts that might do for the proposed +purpose, when he was joined by Mr. B.W.D. Montgomery, Secretary of the +Ulster Club in Belfast, who asked what he was doing. "Trying to draft an +oath for our people at home," replied Craig, "and it's no easy matter to +get at what will suit." "You couldn't do better," said Montgomery, "than +take the old Scotch Covenant. It is a fine old document, full of grand +phrases, and thoroughly characteristic of the Ulster tone of mind at +this day." Thereupon the two men went to the library, where, with the +help of the club librarian, they found a History of Scotland containing +the full text of the celebrated bond of the Covenanters (first drawn up, +by a curious coincidence of names, by John Craig, in 1581), a verbatim +copy of which was made from the book.</p> + +<p>The first idea was to adapt this famous manifesto of militant +Protestantism by making only such abbreviations and alterations as would +render it suitable for the purpose in view. But when it was ultimately +decided to go forward with the proposal, and the task of preparing the +document was entrusted to the Special Commission,<a name="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30"><sup>[30]</sup></a> it was at once +realised that, however strongly the fine old Jacobean language and the +historical associations of the Solemn League and Covenant might appeal +to the imagina<a name="Page_104"></a>tion of a few, it was far too involved and long-winded, +no matter how drastically revised, to serve as an actual working +agreement between men of to-day, or as a rallying-point for a modern +democratic community. What was needed was something quite short and +easily intelligible, setting forth in as few words as possible a purpose +which the least learned could grasp at a glance, and which all who so +desired could sign with full comprehension of what they were doing.</p> + +<p>Mr. Thomas Sinclair, one of the Special Commission, was himself a +draughtsman of exceptional skill, and in a matter of this kind his +advice was always invaluable, and it was under his hand that the Ulster +Covenant, after frequent amendment, took what was, with one important +exception, its final shape. The last revision cut down the draft by more +than one-half; but the portion discarded from the Covenant itself, in +the interest of brevity, was retained as a Resolution of the Ulster +Unionist Council which accompanied the Covenant and served as a sort of +declaratory preamble to it<a name="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31"><sup>[31]</sup></a>. The exception referred to was an +amendment made to meet an objection raised by prominent representatives +of the Presbyterian Church. The Special Commission, realising that the +proposed Covenant ought not to be promulgated without the consent and +approval of the Protestant Churches, submitted the agreed draft to the +authorities of the Church of Ireland and of the Presbyterian, Methodist, +and Congregational Churches. The Moderator, and other leaders of the +Presbyterians, including Mr. (afterwards Sir Alexander) McDowell, a man +endowed with much of the wisdom of the serpent, while supporting without +demur the policy of the Covenant, took exception to its terms in a +single particular. They pointed out that the obligation to be accepted +by the signatories would be, as the text then stood, of unlimited +duration. They objected to undertaking such a responsibility without the +possibility of modifying it to meet the changes which time and +circumstance might bring about; and they insisted that, before they +could advise their congregations to contract so solemn <a name="Page_105"></a>an engagement, +the text of the Covenant must be amended by the introduction of words +limiting its validity to the crisis which then confronted them.</p> + +<p>This was accordingly done. Words were introduced which declared the +pledge to be binding "throughout this our time of threatened calamity," +and its purpose to be the defeat of "the present conspiracy." The +language was as precise, and was as carefully chosen, as the language of +a legal deed; but in an unhappy crisis which arose in 1916, in +circumstances which no one in the world could have foreseen in 1912, +there were some in Ulster who were not only tempted to strain the +interpretation which the Covenant as a whole could legitimately bear, +but who failed to appreciate the significance of the amendments that had +been made in its text at the instance of the Presbyterian Church.<a name="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32"><sup>[32]</sup></a></p> + +<p>When these amendments had been incorporated in the Covenant by the +Special Commission, a meeting of the Standing Committee was convened at +Craigavon on the 19th of September to adopt it for recommendation to the +Council. The Committee, standing in a group outside the door leading +from the arcade at Craigavon to the tennis-lawn, listened while Sir +Edward Carson read the Covenant aloud from a stone step which now bears +an inscription recording the event. Those present showed by their +demeanour that they realised the historic character of the transaction +in which they were taking part, and the weight of responsibility they +were about to assume. But no voice expressed dissent or hesitation. The +Covenant was adopted unanimously and without amendment. Its terms were +as follows:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"ULSTER'S SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT</p> + +<p> "Being convinced in our consciences that Home Rule would be + disastrous to the material well-being of Ulster as well as of the + whole of Ireland, subversive of our civil and religious freedom, + destructive of our citizenship, and perilous to the unity of the + Empire, we, whose names are underwritten, men of Ulster, loyal + subjects of His Gracious<a name="Page_106"></a> Majesty King George V, humbly relying on + the God whom our fathers in days of stress and trial confidently + trusted, do hereby pledge ourselves in solemn Covenant throughout + this our time of threatened calamity to stand by one another in + defending for ourselves and our children our cherished position of + equal citizenship in the United Kingdom, and in using all means + which may be found necessary to defeat the present conspiracy to + set up a Home Rule Parliament in Ireland. And in the event of such + a Parliament being forced upon us we further solemnly and mutually + pledge ourselves to refuse to recognise its authority. In sure + confidence that God will defend the right we hereto subscribe our + names. And further, we individually declare that we have not + already signed this Covenant. God save the King."</p></blockquote> + +<p>On Monday, the 23rd of September, the Ulster Unionist Council, the body +representing the whole loyalist community on an elective and thoroughly +democratic basis, held its annual meeting in the Ulster Hall, the chief +business being the ratification of the Covenant prior to its being +presented for general signature throughout the province on Ulster Day. +Upwards of five hundred delegates attended the meeting, and unanimously +approved the terms of the document recommended for their acceptance by +their Standing Committee. They then adopted, on the motion of Lord +Londonderry, the Resolution which, as already mentioned, had originally +formed part of the draft of the Covenant itself. This Resolution, as +well as the Covenant, was the subject of extensive comment in the +English and Scottish Press. Some opponents of Ulster directed against it +the flippant ridicule which appeared to be their only weapon against a +movement the gravity of which was admitted by Ministers of the Crown; +but, on the whole, the British Press acknowledged the important +enunciation of political principle which it contained. It placed on +record that:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Inasmuch as we, the duly elected delegates and members of the + Ulster Unionist Council, representing all parts of Ulster, are + firmly persuaded that by no law can the right to govern those whom + we represent be bartered <a name="Page_107"></a>away without their consent; that although + the present Government, the services and sacrifices of our race + having been forgotten, may drive us forth from a Constitution which + we have ever loyally upheld, they may not deliver us bound into the + hands of our enemies; and that it is incompetent for any authority, + party, or people to appoint as our rulers a Government dominated by + men disloyal to the Empire and to whom our faith and traditions are + hateful; and inasmuch as we reverently believe that, as in times + past it was given our fathers to save themselves from a like + calamity, so now it may be ordered that our deliverance shall be by + our own hands, to which end it is needful that we be knit together + as one man, each strengthening the other, and none holding back or + counting the cost—therefore we, Loyalists of Ulster, ratify and + confirm the steps so far taken by the Special Commission this day + submitted and explained to us, and we reappoint the Commission to + carry on its work on our behalf as in the past.</p> + +<p> "We enter into the Solemn Covenant appended hereto, and, knowing + the greatness of the issues depending on our faithfulness, we + promise each to the others that, to the uttermost of the strength + and means given us, and not regarding any selfish or private + interest, our substance or our lives, we will make good the said + Covenant; and we now bind ourselves in the steadfast determination + that, whatever may befall, no such domination shall be thrust upon + us, and in the hope that by the blessing of God our Union with + Great Britain, upon which are fixed our affections and trust, may + yet be maintained, and that for ourselves and for our children, for + this Province and for the whole of Ireland, peace, prosperity, and + civil and religious liberty may be secured under the Parliament of + the United Kingdom and of the King whose faithful subjects we are + and will continue all our days."</p></blockquote> + +<p>It had been known for some weeks that it was the intention of the Ulster +Loyalists to dedicate the 28th of September as "Ulster Day," by holding +special religious services, after which they were to "pledge themselves +to a solemn Covenant," the terms of which were not yet published or, +indeed, finally settled. This announcement, which appeared in the Press +on the 17th of August, was <a name="Page_108"></a>hailed in England as an effective reply to +the recent "turgid homily" of Mr. Churchill, but there was really no +connection between them in the intentions of Ulstermen, who had been too +much occupied with their own affairs to pay much attention to the attack +upon them in the Dundee letters. The Ulster Day celebration was to be +preceded by a series of demonstrations in many of the chief centres of +Ulster, at which the purpose of the Covenant was to be explained to the +people by the leader and his colleagues, and a number of English Peers +and Members of Parliament arranged to show their sympathy with the +policy embodied in the Covenant by taking part in the meetings.</p> + +<p>It would not be true to say that the enthusiasm displayed at this great +series of meetings in September eclipsed all that had gone before, for +it would not be possible for human beings greatly to exceed in that +emotion what had been seen at Craigavon and Balmoral; but they exhibited +an equally grave sense of responsibility, and they proved that the same +exaltation of mind, the same determined spirit, that had been displayed +by Loyalists collected in the populous capital of their province, +equally animated the country towns and rural districts.</p> + +<p>The campaign opened at Enniskillen on the 18th of September, where the +leader was escorted by two squadrons of mounted and well-equipped yeomen +from the station to Portora Gate, at which point 40,000 members of +Unionist Clubs drawn from the surrounding agricultural districts marched +past him in military order. During the following nine days +demonstrations were held at Lisburn, Derry, Coleraine, Ballymena, +Dromore, Portadown, Crumlin, Newtownards, and Ballyroney, culminating +with a meeting in the Ulster Hall—loyalist headquarters—on the eve of +the signing of the Covenant on Ulster Day. At six of these meetings, +including, of course, the last, Sir Edward Carson was the principal +speaker, while all the Ulster Unionist Members of Parliament took part +in their several constituencies. Lord Londonderry was naturally +prominent among the speakers, and presided as usual, when the Duke of +Abercorn was prevented by illness from being present, in the Ulster +Hall. Mr. F.E. Smith, who had <a name="Page_109"></a>closely identified himself with the +Ulster Movement, delighting with his fresh and vigorous eloquence the +meetings at Balmoral and Blenheim, as well as the Orange Lodges whom he +had addressed on the 12th of July, crossed the Channel to lend a helping +hand, and spoke at five meetings on the tour. Others who took part—in +addition to local men like Mr. Thomas Sinclair and Mr. John Young, whose +high character always made their appearance on political platforms of +value to the cause they supported—were Lord Charles Beresford, Lord +Salisbury, Mr. James Campbell, Lord Hugh Cecil, Lord Willoughby de +Broke, and Mr. Harold Smith; while the Marquis of Hamilton and Lord +Castlereagh, by the part which they took in the programme, showed their +desire to carry on the traditions which identified the two leading +Ulster families with loyalist principles.</p> + +<p>A single resolution, identical in the simplicity of its terms, was +carried without a dissenting voice at every one of these meetings: "We +hereby reaffirm the resolve of the great Ulster Convention of 1892: 'We +will not have Home Rule.'" These words became so familiar that the +laconic phrase "We won't have it," was on everybody's lips as the Alpha +and Omega of Ulster's attitude, and was sometimes heard with unexpected +abruptness in no very precise context. A ticket-collector, when clipping +the tickets of the party who were starting from Belfast in a saloon for +Enniskillen, made no remark and no sign of recognition till he reached +Carson, when he said almost in a whisper and without a glimmer of a +smile, as he took a clip out of the leader's ticket: "Tell the +station-master at Clones, Sir Edward, that we won't have it." He +doubtless knew that the political views of that misguided official were +of the wrong colour. A conversation overheard in the crowd at +Enniskillen before the speaking began was a curious example of the habit +so characteristic of Ulster—and indeed of other parts of Ireland +also—of thinking of</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Old, unhappy, far-off things, and battles long ago"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>as if they had occurred last week, and were a factor <a name="Page_110"></a>to be taken into +account in the conduct of to-day. The demonstration was in the open air, +and the sunshine was gleaming on the grass of a hill close at hand. "It +'ud be a quare thing," said a peasant to his neighbour in the crowd, "if +the rebels would come out and hould a meetin' agin us on yon hill." +"What matter if they would," was the reply, "wouldn't we let on that we +won't have it? an' if that wouldn't do them, isn't there hundreds o' +King James's men at the bottom o' the lough, an' there's plenty o' room +yet." It was not spoken in jest, but in grim conviction that the issue +of 1689 was the issue of 1912, and that another Newtown Butler might +have to be fought.</p> + +<p>This series of meetings in preparation for the Covenant brought Carson +much more closely in touch with the Loyalists in outlying districts than +he had been hitherto, and when it was over their wild devotion to him +personally equalled what it was in Belfast itself. The appeal made to +the hearts of men as quick as any living to detect and resent humbug or +boastfulness, by the simplicity, uncompromising directness, and courage +of his character was irresistible. He never spoke better than during +this tour of the Province. The Special Correspondent of <i>The Times</i>, who +sent to his paper vivid descriptive articles on each meeting, said in +his account of the meeting at Coleraine that "Sir Edward Carson was +vigorous, fresh, and picturesque. His command over the feelings of his +Ulster audiences is unquestionable, and never a phrase passes his lips +which does not tell." And when the proceedings of the meeting were over, +the same observer "was at the station to witness the 'send-off' of the +leaders, and for ten minutes before the train for Belfast came in the +tumult of the cheers, the thanks, and the farewells never faltered for +an instant."<a name="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33"><sup>[33]</sup></a> Two days later another English commentator declared +that "The Ulster campaign has been conducted up to the present with a +combination of wisdom, ability, and restraint which has delighted all +the Unionists of the province, and exasperated their Radical and +Nationalist enemies. From its opening at Enniskillen <a name="Page_111"></a>not a speech has +been delivered unworthy of a great movement in defence of civil and +religious liberty."<a name="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34"><sup>[34]</sup></a></p> + +<p>It was characteristic of Sir Edward Carson that neither at these +meetings nor at any time did he use his unmatched power of persuasion to +induce his followers to come forward and sign the Covenant. On the +contrary, he rather warned them only to do so after mature reflection +and with full comprehension of the responsibility which signature would +entail. He told the Unionist Council a few days before the memorable +28th of September: "How often have I thought over this Covenant—how +many hours have I spent, before it was published that we would have one, +in counting the cost that may result! How many times have I thought of +what it may mean to all that we care about up here! Does any man believe +that I lightly took this matter in hand without considering with my +colleagues all that it may mean either in the distant or the not too +distant future? No, it is the gravest matter in all the grave matters in +the various offices I have held that I have ever had to consider." And +he went on to advise the delegates, "responsible men from every district +in Ulster, that it is your duty, when you go back to your various +districts, to warn your people who trust you that, in entering into this +solemn obligation, they are entering into a matter which, whatever may +happen in the future, is the most serious matter that has ever +confronted them in the course of their lives."<a name="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35"><sup>[35]</sup></a></p> + +<p>A political campaign such as that of September 1912 could not be a +success, however spontaneous the enthusiasm of the people, however +effective the oratory, unless the arrangements were based on good +organisation. It was by general consent a triumph of organisation, the +credit for which was very largely due to Mr. Richard Dawson Bates, the +Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council. Sir Edward Carson himself very +wisely paid little attention to detail; happily there was no need for +him to do so, for he had beside him in Captain James Craig and Mr. Bates +two men with real genius for organ<a name="Page_112"></a>isation, and indefatigable in +relieving "the chief" of all unnecessary work and worry. Mr. Bates had +all the threads of a complex network of organisation in his hands; he +kept in close touch with leading Unionists in every district; he always +knew what was going on in out-of-the-way corners, and where to turn for +the right man for any particular piece of work. Anyone whose duty it has +been to manage even a single political demonstration on a large scale +knows what numerous details have to be carefully foreseen and provided +for. In Ulster a succession of both outdoor and indoor demonstrations, +seldom if ever equalled in this country in magnitude and complexity of +arrangement, besides an amazing quantity of other miscellaneous work +inseparable from the conduct of a political movement in which crisis +followed crisis with bewildering rapidity, were managed year after year +from Mr. Bates's office in the Old Town Hall with a quiet, +unostentatious efficiency which only those could appreciate who saw the +machine at work and knew the master mechanic behind it. Of this +efficiency the September demonstrations in 1912 were a conspicuous +illustration.</p> + +<p>Nor did the Loyalist women of Ulster lag an inch behind the men either +in organisation or in zeal for the Unionist cause, and their keenness at +every town visited in this September tour was exuberantly displayed. +Women had not yet been enfranchised, of course, and the Ulster women had +shown but little interest in the suffragette agitation which was raging +at this time in England; but they had organised themselves in defence of +the Union very effectively on parallel lines to the men, and if the +latter had needed any stimulus to their enthusiasm they would certainly +have got it from their mothers, sisters, and wives. The Marchioness of +Londonderry threw herself whole-heartedly into the movement. Having +always ably seconded her husband's many political and social activities, +she made no exception in regard to his devotion to Ulster. Lord +Londonderry, she was fond of saying, was an Ulsterman born and bred, and +she was an Ulsterwoman "by adoption and grace." Her energy was +inexhaustible, and her enthusiasm contagious; she used her influence and +<a name="Page_113"></a>her wonderful social gifts unsparingly in the Unionist cause.</p> + +<p>A meeting of the Ulster Women's Unionist Council, of which the Dowager +Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava, widow of the great diplomat, was +president, was held on the 17th of September, the day before the +demonstration at Enniskillen, when a resolution proposed by Lady +Londonderry declaring the determination of Ulster women to stand by +their men in the policy to be embodied in the Covenant, was carried with +immense enthusiasm and without dissent. No women were so vehement in +their support of the Loyalist cause as the factory workers, who were +very numerous in Belfast. Indeed, their zeal, and their manner of +displaying it, seemed sometimes to illustrate a well-known line of +Kipling's, considered by some to be anything but complimentary to the +female sex. Anyhow, there was no divergence of opinion or sympathy +between the two sexes in Ulster on the question of Union or Home Rule; +and the women who everywhere attended the meetings in large numbers were +no idle sightseers—though they were certainly hero-worshippers of the +Ulster leader—but a genuine political force to be taken into account.</p> + +<p>It was during the September campaign that the "wooden guns" and "dummy +rifles" appeared, which excited so much derision in the English Radical +Press, whose editors little dreamed that the day was not far distant +when Mr. Asquith's Government would be glad enough to borrow those same +dummy rifles for training the new levies of Kitchener's Army to fight +the Germans. So far as the Ulstermen were concerned the ridicule of +their quasi-military display and equipment never had any sting in it. +They were conscious of the strength given to their cause by the +discipline and military organisation of the volunteers, even if the +weapons with which they drilled should never be replaced by the real +thing; and many of them had an instinctive belief that their leaders +would see to it that they were effectively armed all in good time. And +so with grim earnestness they recruited the various battalions of +volunteers, gave up their evenings to drilling, provided <a name="Page_114"></a>cyclist corps, +signalling corps, ambulances and nurses; they were proud to receive +their leader with guards of honour at the station, and bodyguards while +he drove through their town or district to the meetings where he spoke. +Few of them probably ever so much as heard of the gibes of <i>The Irish +News</i>, <i>The Daily News</i>, or <i>The Westminster Gazette</i> at the "royal +progresses" of "King Carson"; but they would have been in no way upset +by them if they had, for they were far too much in earnest themselves to +pay heed to the cheap sneers of others. At each one of the September +meetings there was a military setting to the business of the day. At +Enniskillen Carson was conducted by a cavalry escort to the ground where +he was to address the people; at Coleraine, Portadown, and other places +volunteers lined the route and marched in column to and from the +meeting. They were, it is true, but "half-baked" levies, with more zeal +than knowledge of military duties. But competent critics—and there were +many such amongst the visitors—praised their bearing and physique and +the creditable measure of discipline they had already acquired. And it +must be remembered that in September 1912 the Ulster Volunteer Force was +still in its infancy. In the following two years its improvement in +efficiency was very marked; and within three years of the time when its +battalions paraded before Sir Edward Carson, with dummy rifles, and +marched before him to his meetings in Lisburn, Newtownards, Enniskillen, +and Belfast on the eve of the Covenant, those same men had gloriously +fought against the flower of the Prussian Army, and many of them had +fallen in the battle of the Somme.</p> + +<p>The final meeting in the Ulster Hall on Friday the 27th of September was +an impressive climax to the tour. Many English journalists and other +visitors were present, and some of them admitted that, in spite of all +they had heard of what an Ulster Hall meeting was like, they were +astonished by the soul-stirring fervour they witnessed, and especially +by the wonderful spectacle presented at the overflow meeting in the +street outside, which was packed as far as the eye could reach in either +direction with <a name="Page_115"></a>upturned faces, eager to catch the words addressed to +them from a platform erected for the speakers outside an upper window of +the building.<a name="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36"><sup>[36]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Messages of sympathy and approval at this supreme moment were read from +Mr. Bonar Law and Lord Lansdowne, Mr. Long, Mr. Balfour, and Mr. Austen +Chamberlain. Then, after brief speeches by four local Belfast men, one +of whom was a representative of Labour, and while the audience were +waiting eagerly for the speech of their leader, there occurred what <i>The +Times</i> next day described as "two entirely delightful, and, as far as +the crowd was concerned, two entirely unexpected episodes." The first +was the presentation to Sir Edward Carson of a faded yellow silk banner +by Colonel Wallace, Grand Master of the Belfast Orangemen, who explained +that it was the identical banner that had been carried before King +William III at the battle of the Boyne, and was now lent by its owner, a +lineal descendant of the original standard-bearer, to be carried before +Carson to the signing of the Covenant; the second was the presentation +to the leader of a silver key, symbolic of Ulster as "the key of the +situation," and a silver pen wherewith to sign the Covenant on the +morrow, by Captain James Craig. "The two incidents," continued the +Correspondent of <i>The Times</i>, "were followed by the audience with +breathless excitement, and made a remarkably effective prelude to Sir +Edward Carson's speech. Premeditated, no doubt, that incident of the +banner—yet entirely graceful, entirely fitting to the spirit of the +occasion—a plan carried through with the sense of ceremony which +Ulstermen seem to have always at their command in moments of emotion."</p> + +<p>And if ever there was a "moment of emotion" for the Loyalists of +Ulster—those descendants of the Plantation men who had been +deliberately sent to Ireland with a commission from the first sovereign +of a united Britain to uphold British interests, British honour, and the +Reformed Faith across the narrow sea—Loyalists who were conscious <a name="Page_116"></a>that +throughout the generations they had honestly striven to be faithful to +their mission—if ever in their long and stormy history they experienced +a "moment of emotion," it was assuredly on this evening before the +signing of their Covenant.</p> + +<p>The speeches delivered by their leader and others were merely a vent for +that emotion. There was nothing that could be said about their cause +that they did not know already; but all felt that the heart of the +matter was touched—the whole situation, so far as they were concerned, +summed up in a single sentence of Carson's speech: "We will take +deliberately a step forward, not in defiance but in defence; and the +Covenant which we will most willingly sign to-morrow will be a great +step forward, in no spirit of aggression, in no spirit of ascendancy, +but with a full knowledge that, if necessary, you and I—you trusting +me, and I trusting you—will follow out everything that this Covenant +means to the very end, whatever the consequences." Every man and woman +who heard these words was filled with an exalted sense of the solemnity +of the occasion. The mental atmosphere was not that of a political +meeting, but of a religious service—and, in fact, the proceedings had +been opened by prayer, as had become the invariable custom on such +occasions in Ulster. It was felt to be a time of individual preparation +for the <i>Sacramentum</i> of the following day, which Protestant Ulster had +set apart as a day of self-dedication to a cause for which they were +willing to make any sacrifice.</p><a name="Page_117"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28">[28]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Scotsman</i>, November 2nd, 1911.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29">[29]</a><div class="note"><p> See Sir B. Carson's speech in <i>Belfast Newsletter</i>, +September 24th, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30">[30]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>ante</i>, p. 53.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31">[31]</a><div class="note"><p> See p. 106.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32">[32]</a><div class="note"><p> See p. 248.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33">[33]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Times</i>, September 23rd, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34">[34]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Daily Telegraph</i>, September 25th, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35">[35]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Belfast Newsletter</i>, September 24th, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36">[36]</a><div class="note"><p> The article which appeared on the following Sunday in <i>The +Observer</i>, showed how profoundly a distinguished London editor and +writer had been moved by what he saw in Belfast.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_X"></a><h2>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h4>THE SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT</h4> + +<p>Ulster Day, Saturday the 28th of September, 1912, was kept as a day of +religious observance by the Northern Loyalists. So far as the +Protestants of all denominations were concerned, Ulster was a province +at prayer on that memorable Saturday morning. In Belfast, not only the +services which had more or less of an official character—those held in +the Cathedral, in the Ulster Hall, in the Assembly Hall—but those held +in nearly all the places of worship in the city, were crowded with +reverent worshippers. It was the same throughout the country towns and +rural districts—there was hardly a village or hamlet where the parish +church and the Presbyterian and Methodist meeting-houses were not +attended by congregations of unwonted numbers and fervour. Not that +there was any of the religious excitement such as accompanies revivalist +meetings; it was simply that a population, naturally religious-minded, +turned instinctively to divine worship as the fitting expression of +common emotion at a moment of critical gravity in their history. "One +noteworthy feature," commented upon by one of the English newspaper +correspondents in a despatch telegraphed during the day, "is the silence +of the great shipyards. In these vast industrial establishments on both +sides of the river, 25,000 men were at work yesterday performing their +task at the highest possible pressure, for the order-books of both firms +are full of orders. Now there is not the sound of a hammer; all is as +silent as the grave. The splendid craftsmen who build the largest ships +in the world have donned their Sunday clothes, and, with Unionist +buttons on the lapels of their coats, or Orange sashes on their +shoulders, are about to engage on what to them is an even more important +<a name="Page_118"></a>task." He also noticed that although the streets were crowded there was +no excitement, for "the average Ulsterman performs his religious and +political duties with calm sobriety. He has no time to-day for mirth or +merriment, for every minute is devoted to proving that he is still the +same man—devoted to the Empire, to the King, and Constitution."<a name="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37"><sup>[37]</sup></a></p> + +<p>There is at all times in Ulster far less sectarian enmity between the +Episcopal and other Reformed Churches than in England; on Ulster Day the +complete harmony and co-operation between them was a marked feature of +the observances. At the Cathedral in Belfast the preacher was the Bishop +of Down,<a name="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38"><sup>[38]</sup></a> while a Presbyterian minister representing the Moderator of +the General Assembly, and the President of the Methodist College took +part in the conduct of the service. At the Ulster Hall the same unity +was evidenced by a similar co-operation between clergy of the three +denominations, and also at the Assembly Hall (a Presbyterian place of +worship), where Dr. Montgomery, the Moderator, was assisted by a +clergyman of the Church of Ireland representing the Bishop.</p> + +<p>The service in the Ulster Hall was attended by Sir Edward Carson, the +Lord Mayor of Belfast (Mr. McMordie, M.P.), most of the distinguished +visitors from England, and by those Ulster members whose constituencies +were in or near the city; those representing country seats went thither +to attend local services and to sign the Covenant with their own +constituents.</p> + +<p>One small but significant detail in the day's proceedings was much +noticed as a striking indication of the instinctive realisation by the +crowd of the exceptional character of the occasion. Bedford Street, +where the Ulster Hall is, was densely packed with spectators, but when +the leader arrived, instead of the hurricane of cheers that invariably +greeted his appearance in the streets, there was nothing but a general +uncovering of heads and respectful silence. It is true that the people +abundantly compensated themselves for this moment of self-restraint +later on, until in <a name="Page_119"></a>the evening one wondered how human throats could +survive so many hours of continuous strain; but the contrast only made +the more remarkable that almost startling silence before the religious +service began.</p> + +<p>The "sense of ceremony" which <i>The Times</i> Correspondent on another +occasion had declared to be characteristic of Ulstermen "in moments of +emotion," was certainly displayed conspicuously on Ulster Day. Ceremony +at large public functions is naturally cast in a military +mould—marching men, bands of music, display of flags, guards of honour, +and so forth—and although on this occasion there was, it is true, more +than mere decorative significance in the military frame to the picture, +it was an admirably designed and effective spectacle. It is but a few +hundred yards from the Ulster Hall to the City Hall, where the signing +of the Covenant was to take place. When the religious service ended, +about noon, Sir Edward Carson and his colleagues proceeded from one hall +to the other on foot. The Boyne standard, which had been presented to +the leader the previous evening, was borne before him to the City Hall. +He was escorted by a guard consisting of a hundred men from the Orange +Lodges of Belfast and a like number representing the Unionist clubs of +the city. These clubs had also provided a force of 2,500 men, whose +duty, admirably performed throughout the day, was to protect the gardens +and statuary surrounding the City Hall from injury by the crowd, and to +keep a clear way to the Hall for the endless stream of men entering to +sign the Covenant.</p> + +<p>The City Hall in Belfast is a building of which Ulster is justly proud. +It is, indeed, one of the few modern public buildings in the British +Islands in which the most exacting critic of architecture finds nothing +to condemn. Standing in the central site of the city with ample garden +space in front, its noble proportions and beautiful façade and dome fill +the view from the broad thoroughfare of Donegal Place. The main entrance +hall, leading to a fine marble stairway, is circular in shape, +surrounded by a marble colonnade carrying the dome, to which the hall is +open through the full height of the building. It was in this central +space <a name="Page_120"></a>beneath the dome that a round table covered with the Union Jack +was placed for the signing of the Covenant by the Ulster leaders and the +most prominent of their supporters.</p> + +<p>To those Englishmen who have never been able to grasp the Ulster point +of view, and who have, therefore, persisted in regarding the Ulster +Movement as a phase of party politics in the ordinary sense, it must +appear strange and even improper that the City Hall, the official +quarters of the Corporation, should have been put to the use for which +it was lent on Ulster Day, 1912. The vast majority of the citizens, +whose property it was, thought it could be used for no better purpose +than to witness their signatures to a deed securing to them their +birthright in the British Empire.</p> + +<p>At the entrance to the City Hall Sir Edward Carson was received by the +Lord Mayor and members of the Corporation wearing their robes of office, +and by the Harbour Commissioners, the Water Board, and the Poor Law +Guardians, by whom he was accompanied into the hall. The text of +Ulster's Solemn League and Covenant had been printed on sheets with +places for ten signatures on each; the first sheet lay on the table for +Edward Carson to sign.</p> + +<p>No man but a dullard without a spark of imagination could have witnessed +the scene presented at that moment without experiencing a thrill which +he would have found it difficult to describe. The sunshine, sending a +beam through the stained glass of the great window on the stairway, +threw warm tints of colour on the marbles of the columns and the +tesselated floor of the hall, sparkled on the Lord Mayor's chain, lent a +rich glow to the scarlet gowns of the City Fathers, and lit up the red +and the blue and the white of the Imperial flag which draped the table +and which was the symbol of so much that they revered to those who stood +looking on. They were grouped in a semicircle behind the leader as he +stepped forward to sign his name—men of substance, leaders in the +commercial life of a great industrial city, elderly men many of them, +lovers of peace and order; men of mark who had served <a name="Page_121"></a>the Crown, like +Londonderry and Campbell and Beresford; Doctors of Divinity, guides and +teachers of religion, like the Bishop and the Moderator of the General +Assembly; Privy Councillors; members of the Imperial Parliament; +barristers and solicitors, shopkeepers and merchants,—there they all +stood, silent witnesses of what all felt to be one of the deeds that +make history, assembled to set their hands, each in his turn, to an +Instrument which, for good or evil, would influence the destiny of their +race; while behind them through the open door could be seen a vast +forest of human heads, endless as far as eye could reach, every one of +whom was in eager accord with the work in hand, and whose blended +voices, while they waited to perform their own part in the great +transaction, were carried to the ears of those in the hall like the +inarticulate noise of moving waters.</p> + +<p>When Carson had signed the Covenant he handed the silver pen to +Londonderry, and the latter's name was followed in order by the +signatures of the Moderator of the General Assembly, the Lord Bishop of +Down, Connor, and Dromore (afterwards Primate of All Ireland), the Dean +of Belfast (afterwards Bishop of Down), the General Secretary of the +Presbyterian Church, the President of the Methodist Conference, the +ex-Chairman of the Congregational Union, Viscount Castlereagh, and Mr. +James Chambers, M.P. for South Belfast; and the rest of the company, +including the Right Hon. Thomas Sinclair and the veteran Sir William +Ewart, as well as the members of the Corporation and other public +authorities and boards, having attached their signatures to other +sheets, the general public waiting outside were then admitted.</p> + +<p>The arrangements for signature by the general public had fully taxed the +organising ability of the specially appointed Ulster Day Committee, and +their three hon. secretaries, Mr. Dawson Bates, Mr. McCammon, and Mr. +Frank Hall. They made provision for signatures to be received in many +hundreds of localities throughout Ulster, but it was impossible to +estimate closely the numbers that would require accommodation at the +City Hall. Lines of desks, giving a total desk-space of more than a +third of a <a name="Page_122"></a>mile, were placed along both sides of the corridors on the +upper and lower floors of the building, which enabled 540 persons to +sign the Covenant simultaneously. It all worked wonderfully smoothly, +largely because every individual in the multitude outside was anxious to +help in maintaining orderly procedure, and behaved with the greatest +patience and willingness to follow directions. The people were admitted +to the Hall in batches of 400 or 500 at a time, and as there was no +confusion there was no waste of time. All through the afternoon and up +to 11 p.m., when the Hall was closed, there was an unceasing flow of men +eager to become Covenanters. Immense numbers who belonged to the Orange +Lodges, Unionist clubs, or other organised bodies, marched to the Hall +in procession, and those whose route lay through Royal Avenue had an +opportunity, of which they took the fullest advantage, of cheering +Carson, who watched the memorable scene from the balcony of the Reform +Club, the quondam headquarters of Ulster Liberalism.</p> + +<p>Prominent and influential men in the country districts refrained from +coming to Belfast, preferring to sign the Covenant with their neighbours +in their own localities. The Duke of Abercorn, who had been prevented by +failing health from taking an active part in the movement of late, and +whose life unhappily was drawing to a close, signed the Covenant at +Barons Court; his son, the Marquis of Hamilton, M.P. for Derry, attached +his signature in the Maiden City together with the Bishop; another +prelate, the Bishop of Clogher, signed at Enniskillen with the Grand +Master of the Orangemen, Lord Erne; at Armagh, the Primate of All +Ireland, the Dean, and Sir John Lonsdale, M.P. (afterwards Lord +Armaghdale), headed the list of signatures; the Provost of Trinity +College signed in Dublin; and at Ballymena the veteran Presbyterian +Privy Councillor, Mr. John Young, and his son Mr. William Robert Young, +Hon. Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council, and for thirty years one +of the most zealous and active workers for the Loyalist cause, were the +first to sign. But a more notable Covenanter than any of these local +leaders was Lord Macnaghten, one of the most <a name="Page_123"></a>illustrious of English +Judges, whose great position as Lord of Appeal did not deter him from +wholly identifying himself with his native Ulster, by accepting the full +responsibility of the signatories of the Covenant.</p> + +<p>Ulstermen living in other parts of Ireland, and in Great Britain, were +not forgotten. Arrangements were made enabling such to sign the Covenant +in Dublin, London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, +and York. Two curious details may be added, which no reader who is alive +to the picturesqueness of historical associations will deem too trivial +to be worth recording. In Edinburgh a number of Ulstermen signed the +Covenant in the old Greyfriars' Churchyard on the "Covenanters' Stone," +the well-known memorial of the Scottish Covenant of the seventeenth +century; and the other incident was that, among some twenty men who +signed the Covenant in Belfast with their own blood, Major Crawford was +able to claim that he was following a family tradition, inasmuch as a +lineal ancestor had in the same grim fashion emphasised his adherence to +the Solemn League and Covenant in 1638.</p> + +<p>The most careful precautions were taken to ensure that all who signed +were properly entitled to do so, by requiring evidence to be furnished +of their Ulster birth or domicile, and references able to corroborate +it. The declaration in the Covenant itself that the person signing had +not already done so was in order to make sure that none of the +signatures should be duplicates. When the lists were closed—they were +kept open for some days after Ulster Day—they were very carefully +scrutinised by a competent staff at the Old Town Hall, and it is certain +that the numbers as eventually published included no duplicate signature +and none that was not genuine. Precisely the same care was taken in the +case of the Declaration by which, in words similar to the Covenant but +without its pledge for definite action, the women of Ulster associated +themselves with the men "in their uncompromising opposition to the Home +Rule Bill now before Parliament."</p> + +<p>It was not until the 22nd of November that the scrutiny and verification +of the signatures was completed, and the actual numbers published. They +were as follows: In<a name="Page_124"></a> Ulster itself 218,206 men had registered themselves +as Covenanters, and 228,991 women had signed the Declaration; in the +rest of Ireland and in Great Britain 19,162 men and 5,055 women had +signed. Thus, a grand total of 471,414 Ulster men and women gave their +adherence to the policy of which the Ulster Covenant was the solemn +pledge. To every one of these was given a copy of the document printed +on parchment, to be retained as a memento, and in thousands of cottages +throughout Ulster the framed Covenant hangs to-day in an honoured place, +and is the householder's most treasured possession.</p> + +<p>Although the main business of the day was over, so far as Carson and the +other leaders were concerned, when they had signed the Covenant in the +City Hall at noon, every hour, and every minute in the hour, until they +took their departure in the Liverpool packet in the evening, was full of +incident and excitement. The multitude in the streets leading to the +City Hall was so densely packed that they had great difficulty in making +their way to the Reform Club, where they were to be entertained at +lunch. And, as every man and woman in the crowd was desperately anxious +the moment they saw him to get near enough to Carson to shake him by the +hand, the pressure of the swaying mass of humanity was a positive +danger. Happily the behaviour of the people was as exemplary as it was +tumultuously enthusiastic. <i>The Times</i> Special Correspondent thus summed +up his impressions of the scene:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Belfast did all that a city could do for such an occasion. I do + not well see how its behaviour could have been more impressive. The + tirelessness of the crowd—it was that perhaps which struck me + most; and, secondly, the good conduct of the crowd. Belfast had one + of the lowest of its Saturday records for drunkenness and + disorderliness yesterday. I was in the Reform Club between one and + three o'clock. Again and again I went out on the balcony and + watched the streets. I saw the procession of thousands upon + thousands come down Royal Avenue. But this was not the only line of + march, for all Belfast was now converging upon the City Hall, the + arrangements in which must have been elaborate. It was a procession + a descrip<a name="Page_125"></a>tion of which would have been familiar to the Belfast + public, but the like of which is only seen in Ulster."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The tribute here paid to the conduct of the Belfast crowd was well +merited. But in this respect the day of the Covenant was not so +exceptional as it would have been before the beginning of the Ulster +Movement. Before that period neither Belfast nor any part of Ulster +could have been truthfully described as remarkable for its sobriety. But +by the universal testimony of those qualified to judge in such +matters—police, clergy of all denominations, and workers for social +welfare—the political movement had a sobering and steadying influence +on the people, which became more and more noticeable as the movement +developed, and especially as the volunteers grew in numbers and +discipline. The "man in the street" gained a sense of responsibility +from the feeling that he formed one of a great company whom it was his +wish not to discredit, and he found occupation for mind and body which +diminished the temptations of idle hours.</p> + +<p>From the Reform Club Carson, Londonderry, Beresford, and F.E. Smith went +to the Ulster Club, just across the street, where they dined as the +guests of Lord Mayor McMordie before leaving for Liverpool; and it was +outside that dingy building that the enthusiasm of the people reached a +climax. None who witnessed it can ever forget the scene, which the +English newspaper correspondents required all their superlatives to +describe for London readers next day. Those superlatives need not be +served up again here. One or two bald facts will perhaps give to anyone +possessing any faculty of visualisation as clear an idea as they could +get from any number of dithyrambic pages. The distance from the Ulster +Club to the quay where the Liverpool steamer is berthed is ordinarily +less than a ten minutes' walk. The wagonette in which the Ulster leader +and his friends were drawn by human muscles took three minutes short of +an hour to traverse it. It was estimated that into that short space of +street some 70,000 to 100,000 people had managed to jam themselves. +Movement was almost out of the question, yet everyone <a name="Page_126"></a>within reach +tried to press near enough to grasp hands with the occupants of the +carriage. When at last the shed was reached the people could not bear to +let Carson disappear through the gates. <i>The Times</i> Correspondent heard +them shout, "Don't leave us," "You mustn't leave us," and, he added, "It +was seriously meant; it was only when someone pointed out that Sir +Edward Carson had work to do in England for Ulster, that the crowd +finally gave way and made an opening for their hero."<a name="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39"><sup>[39]</sup></a> There had been +speeches from the balcony of the Reform Club in the afternoon; speeches +from the window of the Ulster Club in the evening; speeches outside the +dock gates; speeches from the deck of the steamer before departure; +speeches by Carson, by Londonderry, by F.E. Smith, by Lord Charles +Beresford—and the purport of one and all of them could be summed up in +the familiar phrase, "We won't have it." But this simple theme, +elaborated through all the modulations of varied oratory, was one of +which the Belfast populace was no more capable of becoming weary than is +the music lover of tiring of a recurrent <i>leitmotif</i> in a Wagner opera.</p> + +<p>At last the ship moved off, and speech was no longer possible. It was +replaced by song, "Rule Britannia"; then, as the space to the shore +widened, "Auld Lang Syne"; and finally, when the figures lining the quay +were growing invisible in the darkness, those on board heard thousands +of Loyalists fervently singing "God save the King."</p> +<a name="Page_127"></a> +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37">[37]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Standard</i>, September 30th, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38">[38]</a><div class="note"><p> Dr. D'Arcy, now (1922) Primate of All Ireland.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39">[39]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Times</i>, September 30th, 1912.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h4>PASSING THE BILL</h4> + +<p>No part of Great Britain displayed a more constant and whole-hearted +sympathy with the attitude of Ulster than the city of Liverpool. There +was much in common between Belfast and the great commercial port on the +Mersey. Both were the home of a robust Protestantism, which perhaps was +reinforced by the presence in both of a quarter where Irish Nationalists +predominated. Just as West Belfast gave a seat in Parliament to the most +forceful of the younger Nationalist generation, Mr. Devlin, the Scotland +Division of Liverpool had for a generation been represented by Mr. T.P. +O'Connor, one of the veteran leaders of the Parnellite period. In each +case the whole of the rest of the city was uncompromisingly +Conservative, and among the members for Liverpool at the time was Mr. +F.E. Smith, unquestionably the most brilliant of the rising generation +of Conservatives, who had already conspicuously identified himself with +the Ulster Movement, and was a close friend as well as a political +adherent of Carson. Among local leaders of opinion in Liverpool Alderman +Salvidge exercised a wide and powerful influence on the Unionist side.</p> + +<p>It was in accordance with the fitness of things, therefore, that +Liverpool should have wished to associate itself in no doubtful manner +with the men who had just subscribed to the Covenant on the other side +of the Channel. Having left Belfast amid the wonderful scenes described +in the last chapter, Carson, Londonderry, F.E. Smith, Beresford, and the +rest of the distinguished visitors awoke next morning—if the rollers of +the Irish Sea permitted sleep—in the oily waters of the Mersey, to find +at the landing-stage a crowd that in dimensions and demeanour seemed to +be a duplicate of the one they had left outside the dock gates <a name="Page_128"></a>at +Belfast. Except that the point round which everything had centred in +Belfast, the signing of the Covenant, was of course missing in +Liverpool, the Unionists of Liverpool were not to be outdone by the +Ulstermen themselves in their demonstration of loyalty to the Union.</p> + +<p>The packet that carried the group of leaders across the Channel happened +to be, appropriately enough, the R.M.S. <i>Patriotic</i>. As she steamed +slowly up the river towards Prince's Landing-stage in the chilly +atmosphere of early morning it was at once evident that more than the +members of the deputation who had arranged to present addresses to +Carson were out to welcome him to Liverpool, and when the workers who +thronged the river bank started singing "O God, our help in ages past," +the sound was strangely familiar in ears fresh from Ulster.</p> + +<p>An address from the Unionist working men of Liverpool and district, +presented by Alderman Salvidge, thanked Carson for his "magnificent +efforts to preserve the integrity of the Empire," and assured him that +they, "Unionist workers of the port which is connected with Belfast in +so many ways, stand by Ulster in this great struggle." Scenes of intense +enthusiasm in the streets culminated in a monster demonstration in Shiel +Park, at which it was estimated that close on 200,000 people were +present. In all the speeches delivered and the resolutions adopted +during this memorable Liverpool visit the same note was sounded, of full +approval of the Covenanters and of determination to support them +whatever might befall.</p> + +<p>The events of the last three months, and especially the signing of the +Covenant, had concentrated on Ulster the attention of the whole United +Kingdom, not to speak of America and the British oversea Dominions. This +was not of unmixed advantage to the cause for which Ulster was making so +determined a stand. There was a tendency more and more to regard the +opposition to Irish Home Rule as an Ulster question, and nothing else. +The Unionist protagonists of the earlier, the Gladstonian, period of the +struggle, men like Salisbury, Randolph Churchill, Devonshire, +Chamberlain, and Goschen, had treated it mainly as an Imperial question, +which it certainly was. In their <a name="Page_129"></a>eyes the Irish Loyalists, of whom the +Ulstermen were the most important merely because they happened to be +geographically concentrated, were valuable allies in a contest vital to +the safety and prosperity of the British Empire; but, although the +particular interests of these Loyalists were recognised as possessing a +powerful claim on British sympathy and support, this was a consideration +quite secondary in comparison with the larger aspects of Imperial policy +raised by the demand for Home Rule. It was an unfortunate result of the +prominence into which Ulster was forced after the introduction of Mr. +Asquith's measure that these larger aspects gradually dropped away, and +the defence of the Union came to be identified almost completely in +England and Scotland with support of the Ulster Loyalists. It was to +this aspect of the case that Mr. Kipling gave prominence in the poem +published on the day of the Balmoral meeting,<a name="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40"><sup>[40]</sup></a> although no one was +less prone than he to magnify a "side-show" in Imperial policy; and it +was the same note that again was sounded on the eve of the Covenant by +another distinguished English poet. The general feeling of bewilderment +and indignation that the only part of Ireland which had consistently +upheld the British connection should now be not only thrown over by the +British Government but denounced for its obstinate refusal to co-operate +in a separatist movement, was finely expressed in Mr. William Watson's +challenging poem, "Ulster's Reward," which appeared in <i>The Times</i> a few +days before the signing of the Covenant in Belfast:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"What is the wage the faithful earn?<br /></span> +<span>What is a recompense fair and meet?<br /></span> +<span>Trample their fealty under your feet—<br /></span> +<span>That, is a fitting and just return.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Flout them, buffet them, over them ride,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Fling them aside!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Ulster is ours to mock and spurn,<br /></span> +<span>Ours to spit upon, ours to deride.<br /></span> +<span>And let it be known and blazoned wide<br /></span> +<span>That this is the wage the faithful earn:<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Did she uphold us when others defied?<br /></span> +<span>Then fling her aside.<br /></span><a name="Page_130"></a> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Where on the Earth was the like of it done<br /></span> +<span>In the gaze of the sun?<br /></span> +<span>She had pleaded and prayed to be counted still<br /></span> +<span>As one of our household through good and ill,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And with scorn they replied;<br /></span> +<span>Jeered at her loyalty, trod on her pride,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Spurned her, repulsed her,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Great-hearted Ulster;<br /></span> +<span>Flung her aside."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Appreciating to the full the sympathy and support which their cause +received from leading men of letters in England, it was not the fault of +the Ulstermen themselves that the larger Imperial aspects of the +question thus dropped into the background. They continually strove to +make Englishmen realise that far more was involved than loyal support of +England's only friends in Ireland; they quoted such pronouncements as +Admiral Mahan's that "it is impossible for a military man, or a +statesman with appreciation of military conditions, to look at a map and +not perceive that if the ambition of the Irish Separatists were +realised, it would be even more threatening to the national life of +Britain than the secession of the South was to that of the American +Republic.... An independent Parliament could not safely be trusted even +to avowed friends"; and they showed over and over again, quoting chapter +and verse from Nationalist utterances, and appealing to acknowledged +facts in recent and contemporary history, that it was not to "avowed +friends," but to avowed enemies, that Mr. Asquith was prepared to +concede an independent Parliament.</p> + +<p>But those were the days before the rude awakening from the dream that +the world was to repose for ever in the soft wrappings of universal +peace. Questions of national defence bored Englishmen. The judgment of +the greatest strategical authority of the age weighed less than one of +Lord Haldane's verbose platitudes, and the urgent warnings of Lord +Roberts less than the impudent snub administered to him by an +Under-Secretary. Speakers on public platforms found that sympathy with +Ulster carried a more potent appeal to their audience than any other +they could make on the Irish question, and they naturally therefore +concentrated attention upon it.<a name="Page_131"></a> Liberals, excited alternately to fury +and to ridicule by the proceedings in Belfast, heaped denunciation on +Carson and the Covenant, thereby impelling their opponents to vehement +defence of both; and the result of all this was that before the end of +1912 the sun of Imperial policy which had drawn the homage of earlier +defenders of the Union was almost totally eclipsed by the moon of +Ulster.</p> + +<p>When Parliament reassembled for the autumn session in October the Prime +Minister immediately moved a "guillotine" resolution for allotting time +for the remaining stages of the Home Rule Bill, and, in resisting this +motion, Mr. Bonar Law made one of the most convincing of his many +convincing speeches against the whole policy of the Bill. It stands for +all time as the complete demonstration of a proposition which he argued +over and over again—that Home Rule had never been submitted to the +British electorate, and that that fact alone was full justification for +Ulster's resolve to resist it. It was impossible for any democratic +Minister to refute the contention that even if the principle of the +Government's policy had been as frankly submitted to the electorate as +it had in fact been carefully withheld, it would still remain true that +the intensity of the Ulster opposition was itself a new factor in the +situation upon Which the people were entitled to be consulted. There was +a limit, said Mr. Bonar Law, to the obligation to submit to legally +constituted authority, and that limit was reached "in a free country +when a body of men, whether they call themselves a Cabinet or not, +propose to make a great change like this for which they have never +received the sanction of the people."</p> + +<p>It was, however, thoroughly understood by every member of the House of +Commons that argument, no matter how irrefutable, had no effect on the +situation, which was governed by the simple fact that the life of the +Ministry depended on the good-will of the Nationalist section of the +Coalition, which rigorously demanded the passage of the Bill in the +current session, and feared nothing so much as the judgment of the +English people upon it. Consequently, under the guillotine, great blocks +of the Bill, containing the most far-reaching constitutional issues, +<a name="Page_132"></a>and matters vital to the political and economic structure of the centre +of the British Empire, were passed through the House of Commons by the +ringing of the division bells without a word of discussion, exactly as +they had come from the pen of the official draftsman, and destined under +the exigencies of the Parliament Act procedure to be forced through the +Legislature in the same raw condition in the two following sessions.</p> + +<p>This last-mentioned fact suggested a consideration which weighed heavily +on the minds of the Ulster leaders as the year 1912 drew to a close, and +with it the debates on the Bill in Committee. Had the time come when +they ought to put forward in Parliament an alternative policy to the +absolute rejection of the Bill? They had not yet completely abandoned +hope that Ministers, however reluctantly, might still find it impossible +to stave off an appeal to the country; but the opposite hypothesis was +the more probable. If the Bill became law in its present form they would +have to fall back on the policy disclosed at Craigavon and embodied in +the Covenant. But, although it is true that they had supported Mr. +Agar-Robartes's amendment to exclude certain Ulster counties from the +jurisdiction to be set up in Dublin, the Ulster representatives were +reluctant to make proposals of their own which might be misrepresented +as a desire to compromise their hostility to the principle of Home Rule. +Under the Parliament Act procedure, however, they realised that no +material change would be allowed to be made in the Bill after it first +left the House of Commons, although two years would have to elapse +before it could reach the Statute-book; if they were to propound any +alternative to "No Home Rule" it was, therefore, a case of now or never.</p> + +<p>Having regard to the extreme gravity of the course to be followed in +Ulster in the event of the measure passing into law, it was decided that +the most honest and straightforward thing to do was to put forward at +the juncture now reached a policy for dealing with Ulster separately +from the rest of Ireland. But in fulfilment of the promise, from which +he never deviated, to take no important step <a name="Page_133"></a>without first consulting +his supporters in Ulster, Carson went over to attend a meeting of the +Standing Committee in Belfast on the 13th of December, where he +explained fully the reasons why this policy was recommended by himself +and all his parliamentary colleagues. It was not accepted by the +Standing Committee without considerable discussion, but in the end the +decision was unanimous, and the resolution adopting it laid it down that +"in taking this course the Standing Committee firmly believes the +interests of Unionists in the three other provinces of Ireland will be +best conserved." In order to emphasise that the course resolved upon +implied no compromise of their opposition to the Bill as a whole, Sir +Edward Carson wrote a letter to the Prime Minister during the Christmas +recess, which was published in the Press, and which made this point +clear; and he pressed it home in the House of Commons on the 1st of +January, 1913, when he moved to exclude "the Province of Ulster" from +the operation of the Bill in a speech of wonderfully persuasive +eloquence which deeply impressed the House, and which was truly +described by Mr. Asquith as "very powerful and moving," and by Mr. +Redmond as "serious and solemn."</p> + +<p>Carson's proposal was altogether different from what was subsequently +enacted in 1920. It was consistent with the uninterrupted demand of +Ulster to be let alone, it asked for no special privilege, except the +privilege, which was also claimed as an inalienable right, to remain a +part of the United Kingdom with full representation at Westminster and +nowhere else; it required the creation of no fresh subordinate +constitution raising the difficult question as to the precise area which +its jurisdiction could effectively administer.</p> + +<p>Carson's amendment was, of course, rejected by the Government's +invariably docile majority, and on the 16th of January the Home Rule +Bill passed the third reading in the House of Commons, without the +smallest concession having been made to the Ulster opposition, or the +slightest indication as to how the Government intended to meet the +opposition of a different character which was being organised in the +North of Ireland.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_134"></a>When the Bill went to the Upper House at the end of January the whole +subject was threshed out in a series of exceedingly able speeches; but +the impotence of the Second Chamber under the Parliament Act gave an air +of pathetic unreality to the proceedings, which was neatly epitomised by +Lord Londonderry in the sentence: "The position is, that while the House +of Commons can vote but not speak, the Lords can speak but not vote." +Nevertheless, such speeches as those of the Archbishop of York, Earl +Grey, the Duke of Devonshire, and Lord Londonderry, were not without +effect on opinion outside. Earl Grey, an admitted authority on federal +constitutions, urged that if, as the Government were continually +assuring the country, Home Rule was the first step in the federalisation +of the United Kingdom, there was every reason why Ulster should be a +distinct unit in the federal system. The Archbishop dealt more fully +with the Ulster question. Admitting that he had formerly believed "that +this attitude of Ulster was something of a scarecrow made up out of old +and outworn prejudices," he had now to acknowledge that the men of +Ulster were "of all men the least likely to be 'drugged with the wine of +words,' and were men who of all other men mean and do what they say." +Behind all the glowing eloquence of Mr. Asquith and Mr. Redmond, he +discerned "this figure of Ulster, grim, determined, menacing, which no +eloquence can exorcise and no live statesmanship can ignore." If the +result of this legislation should be actual bloodshed, then, on +whomsoever might rest the responsibility for it, it would mean the +shattering of all the hopes of a united and contented Ireland which it +was the aim of the Bill to create. If Ulster made good her threat of +forcible resistance there was, said the Archbishop, one condition, and +one condition only, on which her coercion could be justified, and that +was that the Government "should have received from the people of this +country an authority clear and explicit" to carry it out.</p> + +<p>But among the numerous striking passages in the debate which occupied +the Peers for four days, none was more telling than Lord Curzon's +picturesque description of how<a name="Page_135"></a> Ulster was to be treated. "You are +compelling Ulster," he said, "to divorce her present husband, to whom +she is not unfaithful, and you compel her to marry someone else whom she +cordially dislikes, with whom she does not want to live; and you do it +because she happens to be rich, and because her new partner has a large +and ravenous offspring to provide for. You are asking rather too much of +human nature."</p> + +<p>That the Home Rule Bill would be rejected on second reading by the Lords +was a foregone conclusion, and it was so rejected by a majority of 257 +on the 31st of January, 1913. The Bill then entered into its period of +gestation under the Parliament Act. The session did not come to an end +until the 7th of March, and the new session began three days afterwards. +It is unnecessary to follow the fortunes of the Bill in Parliament in +1913, for the process was purely mechanical, in order to satisfy the +requirements of the Parliament Act. The preparations for dealing with +the mischief it would work went forward with unflagging energy +elsewhere.</p><a name="Page_136"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40">[40]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>ante</i>, p. 79.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h4>WAS RESISTANCE JUSTIFIABLE?</h4> + + +<p>A story is told of Queen Victoria that in her youthful days, when +studying constitutional history, she once asked Lord Melbourne whether +under any circumstances citizens were justified in resisting legal +authority; to which the old courtier replied: "When asked that question +by a Sovereign of the House of Hanover I feel bound to answer in the +affirmative." If one can imagine a similar question being asked of an +Ulsterman by Mr. Asquith, Mr. Lloyd George, or Sir Edward Grey, in 1912, +the reply would surely have been that such a question asked by a +statesman claiming to be a guardian of Liberal principles and of the +Whig tradition could only be answered in the affirmative. This, at all +events, was the view of the late Duke of Devonshire, who more than any +other statesman of our time could claim to be a representative in his +own person of the Whig tradition handed down from 1688.<a name="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41"><sup>[41]</sup></a> Passive +obedience has, indeed, been preached as a political dogma in the course +of English history, but never by apostles of Liberalism. Forcible +resistance to legally constituted authority, even when it involved +repudiation of existing allegiance, has often, both in our own and in +foreign countries, won the approval and sympathy of English Liberals. A +long line of illustrious names, from Cromwell and Lord Halifax in +England to Kossuth and Mazzini on the Continent, might be quoted in +support of such a proposition if anyone were likely to challenge it.</p> + +<p>When, then, Liberals professed to be unutterably shocked by Ulster's +declared intention to resist Home Rule both actively and passively, they +could not have based their attitude on the principle that under no +circumstances <a name="Page_137"></a>could such resistance be morally justified. Indeed, in +the case in question, there were circumstances that would have made the +condemnation of Ulster by the English Liberal Party not a little +hypocritical if referred to any general ethical principle. For that +party had itself been for a generation in the closest political alliance +with Irishmen whose leader had boasted that they were as much rebels as +their fathers were in 1798, and whose power in Ireland had been built up +by long-sustained and systematic defiance of the law. Yet the same +politicians who had excused, if they had not applauded, the "Plan of +Campaign," and the organised boycotting and cattle-driving which had for +years characterised the agitation for Home Rule, were unspeakably +shocked when Ulster formed a disciplined Volunteer force which never +committed an outrage, and prepared to set up a Provisional Government +rather than be ruled by an assembly of cattle-drivers in Dublin. +Moreover, many of Mr. Asquith's supporters, and one at least of his most +distinguished colleagues in the Cabinet of 1912, had themselves +organised resistance to an Education Act which they disliked but had +been unable to defeat in Parliament.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, it must, of course, be freely admitted that the question +as to what conditions justify resistance to the legal authority in the +State—or rebellion, if the more blunt expression be preferred—is an +exceedingly difficult one to answer. It would sound cynical to say, +though Carlyle hardly shrinks from maintaining, that success, and +success alone, redeems rebellion from wickedness and folly. Yet it would +be difficult to explain on any other principle why posterity has +applauded the Parliamentarians of 1643 and the Whigs of 1688, while +condemning Monmouth and Charles Edward; or why Mr. Gladstone sympathised +with Jefferson Davis when he looked like winning and withdrew that +sympathy when he had lost. But if success is not the test, what is? Is +it the aim of the men who resist? The aim that appears honourable and +heroic to one onlooker appears quite the opposite to another, and so the +test resolves itself into a matter of personal partisanship.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_138"></a>That is probably as near as one can get to a solution of the question. +Those who happen to agree with the purpose for which a rebellion takes +place think the rebels in the right; those who disagree think them in +the wrong. As Mr. Winston Churchill succinctly puts it when commenting +on the strictures passed on his father for "inciting" Ulster to resist +Home Rule, "Constitutional authorities will measure their censures +according to their political opinions." He reminds us, moreover, that +when Lord Randolph was denounced as a "rebel in the skin of a Tory," the +latter "was able to cite the authority of Lord Althorp, Sir Robert Peel, +Mr. Morley, and the Prime Minister (Gladstone) himself, in support of +the contention that circumstances might justify morally, if not +technically, violent resistance and even civil war."<a name="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42"><sup>[42]</sup></a></p> + +<p>To this distinguished catalogue of authorities an Ulster apologist might +have added the name of the Chief Secretary for Ireland in Mr. Asquith's +own Cabinet, who admitted in 1912 that "if the religion of the +Protestants were oppressed or their property despoiled they would be +right to fight<a name="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43"><sup>[43]</sup></a>;" which meant that Mr. Birrell did not condemn +fighting in itself, provided he were allowed to decide when the occasion +for it had arisen. Greater authorities than Mr. Birrell held that the +Ulster case for resistance was a good and valid one as it stood. No +English statesman of the last half-century has deservedly enjoyed a +higher reputation for political probity, combined with sound common +sense, than the eighth Duke of Devonshire. As long ago as 1893, when +this same issue had already been raised in circumstances much less +favourable to Ulster than after the passing of the Parliament Act in +1911, the Duke of Devonshire said:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The people of Ulster believe, rightly or wrongly, that under a + Government responsible to an Imperial Parliament they possess at + present the fullest security which they can possess of their + personal freedom, their liberties, and their right to transact + their own business in their own way. You have no right to offer + them any inferior security to <a name="Page_139"></a>that; and if, after weighing the + character of the Government which it is sought to impose upon them, + they resolve that they are no longer bound to obey a law which does + not give them equal and just protection with their fellow subjects, + who can say—how at all events can the descendants of those who + resisted King James II say, that they have not a right, if they + think fit, to resist, if they think they have the power, the + imposition of a Government put upon them by force?"<a name="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44"><sup>[44]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>All the same, there never was a community on the face of the earth to +whom "rebellion" in any real sense of the word was more hateful than to +the people of Ulster. They traditionally were the champions of "law and +order" in Ireland; they prided themselves above all things on their +"loyalty" to their King and to the British flag. And they never +entertained the idea that the movement which they started at Craigavon +in 1911, and to which they solemnly pledged themselves by their Covenant +in the following year, was in the slightest degree a departure from +their cherished "loyalty"—on the contrary, it was an emphatic assertion +of it. They held firmly, as Mr. Bonar Law and the whole Unionist party +in Great Britain held also, that Mr. Asquith and his Government were +forcing Home Rule upon them by unconstitutional methods. They did not +believe that loyalty in the best sense—loyalty to the Sovereign, to the +Empire, to the majesty of the law—required of them passive obedience to +an Act of Parliament placed by such means on the Statute-book, which +they were convinced, moreover, was wholly repugnant to the great +majority of the British people.</p> + +<p>This aspect of the matter was admirably and soberly presented by <i>The +Times</i> in one of the many weighty articles in which that great journal +gave undeviating support to the Ulster cause.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"A free community cannot justly, or even constitutionally, be + deprived of its privileges or its position in the realm by any + measure that is not stamped with the considered and unquestionable + approval of the great body of electors of the United Kingdom. Any + attempt so to <a name="Page_140"></a>deprive them is a fraud upon their fundamental + rights, which they are justified in resisting, as an act of + violence, by any means in their power. This is elementary doctrine, + borne out by the whole course of English history."<a name="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45"><sup>[45]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>That the position was paradoxical calls for no denial; but the pith of +the paradox lay in the fact that a movement denounced as "rebellious" by +its political opponents was warmly supported not only by large masses, +probably by the majority, of the people of this country, but by numbers +of individuals of the highest character, occupying stations of great +responsibility. Whatever may be thought of men engaged in actual +political conflict, whom some people appear to think capable of any +wickedness, no one can seriously suggest that men like Lord Macnaghten, +like the late and present Primates of Ireland, like the late Provost of +Trinity, like many other sober thinkers who supported Ulster, were men +who would lightly lend themselves to "rebellion," or any other wild and +irresponsible adventure. As <i>The Times</i> very truly observed in a leading +article in 1912:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"We remember no precedent in our domestic history since the + Revolution of 1688 for a movement among citizens, law-abiding by + temperament and habit, which resembles the present movement of the + Ulster Protestants. It is no rabble who have undertaken it. It is + the work of orderly, prosperous, and deeply religious men."<a name="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46"><sup>[46]</sup></a></p></blockquote> +<br /> + +<p>Nor did the paradox end there. If the Ulster Movement was "rebellious," +its purpose was as paradoxical as its circumstances. It had in it no +subversive element. In this respect it stands (so far as the writer's +knowledge goes) without precedent, a solitary instance in the history of +mankind. The world has witnessed rebellions without number, designed to +bring about many different results—to emancipate a people from +oppression, to upset an obnoxious form of Government, to expel or to +restore a rival dynasty, to transfer allegiance from one Sovereign <a name="Page_141"></a>or +one State to another. But has there ever been a "rebellion" the object +of which was to maintain the <i>status quo</i>? Yet that was the sole purpose +of the Ulstermen in all they did from 1911 to 1914. That fact, which +distinguished their movement from every rebellion or revolution in +history, placed them on a far more solid ground of reasonable +justification than the excuse offered by Mr. Churchill for their +bellicose attitude in his father's day. Although he is no doubt right in +saying that "When men are sufficiently in earnest they will back their +words with more than votes," it is a plea that would cover alike the +conduct of Halifax and the other Whigs who resisted the legal authority +of James II, of the Jacobites who fought for his grandson, and of the +contrivers of many another bloody or bloodless Revolution. But there was +nothing revolutionary in the Ulster Movement. It was resistance to the +transfer of a people's allegiance without their consent; to their +forcible expulsion from a Constitution with which they were content and +their forcible inclusion in a Constitution which they detested. This was +the very antithesis of Revolution. English Radical writers and +politicians might argue that no "transfer of allegiance" was +contemplated; but Ulstermen thought they knew better, and the later +development of the Irish question proved how right they were. Even had +they been proved wrong instead of right in their conviction that the +true aim of Irish Nationalism (a term in which Sinn Fein is included) +was essentially separatist, they knew better than Englishmen how little +reality there was in the theory that under the proposed Home Rule their +allegiance would be unaffected and their political <i>status</i> suffer no +degradation. They claimed to occupy a position similar to that of the +North in the American Civil War—with this difference, which, so far as +it went, told in their favour, that whereas Lincoln took up arms to +resist secession, they were prepared to do so to resist expulsion, the +purpose in both cases, however, being to preserve union. The practical +view of the question, as it would appear in the eyes of ordinary men, +was well expressed by Lord Curzon in the House of Lords, when he said:</p><a name="Page_142"></a> + +<blockquote><p>"The people of this country will be very loth to condemn those + whose only disloyalty it will be to have been excessive in their + loyalty to the King. Do not suppose that the people of this country + will call those 'rebels' whose only form of rebellion is to insist + on remaining under the Imperial Parliament."<a name="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47"><sup>[47]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>Of course, men like Sir Edward Carson, Lord Londonderry, Mr. Thomas +Sinclair, and other Ulster leaders were too far-seeing not to realise +that the course they were taking would expose them to the accusation of +having set a bad example which others without the same grounds of +justification might follow in very different circumstances. But this was +a risk they had to shoulder, as have all who are not prepared to +subscribe to the dogma of Passive Obedience without limit. They accepted +it as the less of two evils. But there was something humorous in the +pretence put forward in 1916 and afterwards that the violence to which +the adherents of Sinn Fein had recourse was merely copying Ulster. As if +Irish Nationalism in its extreme form required precedent for +insurrection! Even the leader of "Constitutional Nationalism" himself +had traced his political pedigree to convicted rebels like Tone and +Emmet, and since the date of those heroes there had been at least two +armed risings in Ireland against the British Crown and Government. If +the taunt flung at Ulstermen had been that they had at last thrown +overboard law and order and had stolen the Nationalist policy of active +resistance, there would at least have been superficial plausibility in +it. But when it was suggested or implied that the Ulster example was +actually responsible in any degree whatever for violent outbreaks in the +other provinces, a supercilious smile was the only possible retort from +the lips of representatives of Ulster.</p> + +<p>But what caused them some perplexity was the disposition manifested in +certain quarters in England to look upon the two parties in Ireland in +regard to "rebellion" as "six of one and half a dozen of the other." It +has always, unhappily, been characteristic of a certain type of +Englishman to see no difference between the friends and <a name="Page_143"></a>the enemies of +his country, and, if he has a preference at all, to give it to the +latter. Apart from all other circumstances which in the eyes of +Ulstermen justified them up to the hilt in the policy they pursued, +apart from everything that distinguished them historically and morally +from Irish "rebels," there was the patent and all-important fact that +the motive of their opponents was hostility to England, whereas their +own motive was friendliness and loyalty to England. In that respect they +never wavered. If the course of events had ever led to the employment of +British troops to crush the resistance of Ulster to Home Rule, the +extraordinary spectacle would have been presented to the wondering world +of the King's soldiers shooting down men marching under the British flag +and singing "God save the King."</p> + +<p>It was no doubt because this was very generally understood in England +that the sympathies of large masses of law-loving people were never for +a moment alienated from the men of Ulster by all the striving of their +enemies to brand them as rebels. Constitutional authorities may, as Mr. +Churchill says, "measure their censures according to their political +opinions," but the generality of men, who are not constitutional +authorities, whose political opinions, if they have any, are +fluctuating, and who care little for "juridical niceties," will measure +their censures according to their instinctive sympathies. And the sound +instinct of Englishmen forbade them to blame men who, if rebels in law, +were their firm friends in fact, for taking exceptional and even illegal +measures, when all others failed, to preserve the full unity which they +regarded as the fruit of that friendship.</p><a name="Page_144"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41">[41]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>Life of the Eighth Duke of Devonshire,</i> by Bernard +Holland, ii, pp. 249-51.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42">[42]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Life of Lord Randolph Churchill</i>, vol. ii, p. 65.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43">[43]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1912, p. 82.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44">[44]</a><div class="note"><p> Bernard Holland's <i>Life of the Eighth Duke of Devonshire</i>, +ii, 250.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45">[45]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Times</i>, July 14th, 1913.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46">[46]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., August 22nd, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47">[47]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Parliamentary Debates</i> (House of Lords), July 15th, +1913.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h4>PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT AND PROPAGANDA</h4> + + +<p>By the death of the Duke of Abercorn on the 3rd of January, 1913, the +Ulster Loyalists lost a leader who had for many years occupied a very +special place in their affection and confidence. Owing to failing health +he had been unable to take an active part in the exciting events of the +past two years, but the messages of encouragement and support which were +read from him at Craigavon, Balmoral, and other meetings for organising +resistance, were always received with an enthusiasm which showed, and +was intended to show, that the great part he had played in former years, +and especially his inspiring leadership as Chairman of the Ulster +Convention in 1893, had never been forgotten.</p> + +<p>His death inflicted also, indirectly, another blow which at this +particular moment was galling to loyalists out of all proportion to its +intrinsic importance. The removal to the House of Lords of the Marquis +of Hamilton, the member for Derry city, created a vacancy which was +filled at the ensuing by-election by a Liberal Home Ruler. To lose a +seat anywhere in the north-eastern counties at such a critical time in +the movement was bad enough, but the unfading halo of the historic siege +rested on Derry as on a sanctuary of Protestantism and loyalty, so that +the capture of the "Maiden City" by the enemy wounded loyalist sentiment +far more deeply than the loss of any other constituency. The two parties +had been for some time very nearly evenly balanced there, and every +electioneering art and device, including that of bringing to the poll +voters who had long rested in the cemetery, was practised in Derry with +unfailing zeal and zest by party managers. For some time past trade, +especially ship-building, had been in a state of depression in Derry, +with <a name="Page_145"></a>the result that a good many of the better class of artisans, who +were uniformly Unionist, had gone to Belfast and elsewhere to find work, +leaving the political fortunes of the city at the mercy of the casual +labourer who drifted in from the wilds of Donegal, and who at this +election managed to place the Home Rule candidate in a majority of +fifty-seven.</p> + +<p>It was a matter of course that the late Duke's place as President of the +Ulster Unionist Council should be taken by Lord Londonderry, and it +happened that the annual meeting at which he was formally elected was +held on the same day that witnessed the rejection of the Home Rule Bill +by the House of Lords.</p> + +<p>It was also at this annual meeting (31st January, 1913) that the special +Commission who had been charged to prepare a scheme for the Provisional +Government, presented their draft Report. The work had been done with +great thoroughness and was adopted without substantial alteration by the +Council, but was not made public for several months. The Council itself +was, in the event of the Provisional Government being set up, to +constitute a "Central Authority," and provision was made, with complete +elaboration of detail, for carrying on all the necessary departments of +administration by different Committees and Boards, whose respective +functions were clearly defined. Among those who consented to serve in +these departmental Committees, in addition to the recognised local +leaders in the Ulster Movement, were Dr. Crozier, Archbishop of Armagh, +the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in +Ireland, Lord Charles Beresford, Major-General Montgomery, Colonel +Thomas Hickman, M.P., Lord Claud Hamilton, M.P., Sir Robert Kennedy, +K.C.M.G., and Sir Charles Macnaghten, K.C., son of Lord Macnaghten, the +distinguished Lord of Appeal. Ulster at this time gave a lead on the +question of admitting women to political power, at a time when their +claim to enfranchisement was being strenuously resisted in England, by +including several women in the Provisional Government.</p> + +<p>A most carefully drawn scheme for a separate judiciary <a name="Page_146"></a>in Ulster had +been prepared with the assistance of some of the ablest lawyers in +Ireland. It was in three parts, dealing respectively with (a) the +Supreme Court, (b) the Land Commission, and (c) County Courts; it was +drawn up as an Ordinance, in the usual form of a Parliamentary Bill, and +it is an indication of the spirit in which Ulster was preparing to +resist an Act of Parliament that the Ordinance bore the introductory +heading: "<i>It is Hereby Enacted by the Central Authority in the name of +the King's Most Excellent Majesty that</i>———" Similarly, the form of +"Oath or Declaration of Adherence" to be taken by Judges, Magistrates, +Coroners, and other officers of the Courts, set out in a Schedule to the +Ordinance, was: "I ... of ... being about to serve in the Courts of the +Provisional Government as the Central Authority for His Majesty the +King, etc."</p> + +<p>It will be remembered that the original resolution by which the Council +decided to set up a Provisional Government limited its duration until +Ulster should "again resume unimpaired her citizenship in the United +Kingdom,"<a name="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48"><sup>[48]</sup></a> and at a later date it was explicitly stated that it was +to act as trustee for the Imperial Parliament. All the forms prepared +for use while it remained in being purported to be issued in the name of +the King. And the Resolution adopted by the Unionist Council immediately +after constituting itself the Central Authority of the Provisional +Government, in which the reasons for that policy were recorded, +concluded with the statement that "we, for our part, in the course we +have determined to pursue, are inspired not alone by regard to the true +welfare of our own country, but by devotion to the interests of our +world-wide Empire and loyalty to our beloved King." If this was the +language of rebels, it struck a note that can never before have been +heard in a chorus of disaffection.</p> + +<p>The demonstrations against the Government's policy which had been held +during the last eighteen months, of which some account has been given, +were so impressive that those which followed were inevitably less +remarkable <a name="Page_147"></a>by comparison. They were, too, necessarily to a large +extent, repetitions of what had gone before. There might be, and there +were, plenty of variations on the old theme, but there was no new theme +to introduce. Propaganda to the extent possible with the resources at +the disposal of the Ulster Unionist Council was carried on in the +British constituencies in 1913, the cost being defrayed chiefly through +generous subscriptions collected by the energy and influence of Mr. +Walter Long; but many were beginning to share the opinion of Mr. Charles +Craig, M.P., who scandalised the Radicals by saying at Antrim in March +that, while it was incumbent on Ulstermen to do their best to educate +the electorate, "he believed that, as an argument, ten thousand pounds +spent on rifles would be a thousand times stronger than the same amount +spent on meetings, speeches, and pamphlets."</p> + +<p>On the 27th of March a letter appeared in the London newspapers +announcing the formation of a "British League for the support of Ulster +and the Union," with an office in London. It was signed by a hundred +Peers and 120 Unionist Members of the House of Commons. The manifesto +emphasised the Imperial aspect of the great struggle that was going on, +asserting that it was "quite clear that the men of Ulster are not +fighting only for their own liberties. Ulster will be the field on which +the privileges of the whole nation will be lost or won." A small +executive Committee was appointed, with the Duke of Bedford as Chairman, +and within a few weeks large numbers of people in all parts of the +country joined the new organisation. A conference attended by upwards of +150 honorary agents from all parts of the country was held at +Londonderry House on the 4th of June, where the work of the League was +discussed, and its future policy arranged. Its operations were not +ostentatious, but they were far from being negligible, especially in +connection with later developments of the movement in the following +year. This proof of British support was most encouraging to the people +of Ulster, and the Dublin correspondent of <i>The Times</i> reported that it +gave no less satisfaction to loyalists in other parts of Ireland, among +whom, as the position <a name="Page_148"></a>became more desperate every day, there was "not +the least sign of giving way, of accepting the inevitable."</p> + +<p>Every month that passed in uncertainty as to what fate was reserved for +Ulster, and especially every visit of the leader to Belfast, endeared +him more intensely to his followers, who had long since learnt to give +him their unquestioning trust; and his bereavement by the death of his +wife in April 1913 brought him the profound and affectionate sympathy of +a warm-hearted people, which manifested itself in most moving fashion at +a great meeting a month later on the 16th of May, when, at the opening +of a new drill hall in the most industrial district of Belfast, Sir +Edward exclaimed, in response to a tumultuous reception, "Heaven knows, +my one affection left me is my love of Ireland."</p> + +<p>He took occasion at the same meeting to impress upon his followers the +spirit by which all their actions should be guided, and which always +guided his own. With a significant reference to the purposes for which +the new drill hall might be used, he added, "Always remember—this is +essential—always remember you have no quarrel with individuals. We +welcome and we love every individual Irishman, even though he may be +opposed to us. Our quarrel is with the Government." When the feelings of +masses of men are deeply stirred in political conflict such exhortations +are never superfluous; and there never was a leader who could give them +with better grace than Sir Edward Carson, who himself combined to an +extraordinary degree strength of conviction with entire freedom from +bitterness towards individual opponents.<a name="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49"><sup>[49]</sup></a></p> + +<p>In this same speech he showed that there was no slackening of +determination to pursue to the end the policy of the Covenant. There had +been rumours that the Government were making secret inquiries with a +view to taking legal proceedings, and in allusion to them Carson moved +his audience to one of the most wonderful demonstrations of personal +devotion that even he ever evoked, by saying: "If they want to test the +legality of anything we are<a name="Page_149"></a> doing, let them not attack humble men—I am +responsible for everything, and they know where to find me."</p> + +<p>The Bill was running its course for the second time through Parliament, +a course that was now farcically perfunctory, and Carson returned to +London to repeat in the House of Commons on the 10th of June his defiant +acceptance of responsibility for the Ulster preparations. He was back in +Belfast for the 12th of July celebrations, when 150,000 Orangemen +assembled at Craigavon to hear another speech from their leader full of +confident challenge, and to receive another message of encouragement +from Mr. Bonar Law, who assured them that "whatever steps they might +feel compelled to take, whether they were constitutional, or whether in +the long run they were unconstitutional, they had the whole of the +Unionist Party under his leadership behind them."</p> + +<p>The leader of the Unionist Party had good reason to know that his +message to Ulster was endorsed by his followers. That had been +demonstrated beyond all possibility of doubt during the preceding month. +The Ulster Unionist Members of the House of Commons, with Carson at +their head, had during June made a tour of some of the principal towns +of Scotland and the North of England, receiving a resounding welcome +wherever they went. The usual custom of political meetings, where one or +two prominent speakers have the platform to themselves, was departed +from; the whole parliamentary contingent kept together throughout the +tour as a deputation from Ulster to the constituencies visited, taking +in turn the duty of supporting Carson, who was everywhere the principal +speaker.</p> + +<p>There were wonderful demonstrations at Glasgow and Edinburgh, both in +the streets and the principal halls, proving, as was aptly said by <i>The +Yorkshire Post</i>, that "the cry of the new Covenanters is not unheeded by +the descendants of the old"; and thence they went south, drawing great +cheering crowds to welcome them and to present encouraging addresses at +the railway stations at Berwick, Newcastle, Darlington, and York, to +Leeds, where the two largest buildings in the city were packed to +over<a name="Page_150"></a>flowing with Yorkshiremen eager to see and hear the Ulster leader, +and to show their sympathy with the loyalist cause. Similar scenes were +witnessed at Norwich and Bristol, and the tour left no doubt in the +minds of those who followed it, and who studied the comments of the +Press upon it, that not only was the whole Unionist Party in Great +Britain solidly behind the Ulstermen in their resolve to resist being +subjected to a Parliament in Dublin, but that the general drift of +opinion detached from party was increasingly on the same side.</p><a name="Page_151"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48">[48]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>ante</i>, p. 53.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49">[49]</a><div class="note"><p> But he could be moved to stern indignation by the +treachery of former friends, as he showed in December 1921.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIV"></a><h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h4>LORD LOREBURN'S LETTER</h4> + + +<p>Whatever might be the state of public opinion in England, it was +realised that the Government, if they chose, were in a position to +disregard it; and in Ulster the tension was becoming almost unbearable. +The leaders were apprehensive lest outbreaks of violence should occur, +which they knew would gravely prejudice the movement; and there is no +doubt that it was only the discipline which the rank and file had now +gained, and the extraordinary restraining influence which Carson +exercised, that prevented serious rioting in many places. Incidents like +the attack by Nationalist roughs in Belfast on a carriage conveying +crippled children to a holiday outing on the 31st of May because it was +decorated with Union Jacks might at any moment lead to trouble. There +was some disorder in Belfast in the early hours of the 12th of July; and +an outbreak occurred in August in Derry, always a storm centre, when a +procession was attacked, and a Protestant was shot while watching it +from his own upper window. The incident started rioting, which continued +for several days, and a battalion of troops had to be called in to +restore order.</p> + +<p>Meantime, throughout the summer, while the Government were complacently +carrying their Bill through Parliament for the second time, the Press +was packed with suggestions for averting the crisis which everybody +except the Cabinet recognised as impending.</p> + +<p>It began to be whispered in the clubs and lobbies that the King might +exercise the prerogative of veto, and even men like Lord St. Aldwyn and +the veteran Earl of Halsbury, both of them ex-Cabinet Ministers, +encouraged the idea; but there was no widespread acceptance of the +notion that <a name="Page_152"></a>even in so exceptional a case His Majesty would reject the +advice of his responsible Ministers. But in a letter to <i>The Times</i> on +the 4th of September, Mr. George Cave, K.C., M.P. (afterwards Home +Secretary, and ultimately Lord of Appeal), suggested that the King might +"exercise his undoubted right" to dissolve Parliament before the +beginning of the next session, in order to inform himself as to whether +the policy of his Ministers was endorsed by the people.</p> + +<p>But a much greater sensation was created a few days later by a letter +which appeared in <i>The Times</i> on the 11th of the same month over the +signature of Lord Loreburn. Lord Loreburn had been Lord Chancellor at +the time the Home Rule Bill was first introduced, but had retired from +the Government in June 1912, being replaced on the Woolsack by Lord +Haldane. When the first draft of the Home Rule Bill was under discussion +in the Cabinet in preparation for its introduction in the House of +Commons, two of the younger Ministers, Mr. Lloyd George and Mr. Winston +Churchill, proposed that an attempt should be made to avert the stern +opposition to be expected from Ulster, by treating the northern +Province, or a portion of it, separately from the rest of Ireland. This +proposal was not acceptable to the Cabinet as a whole, and its authors +were roundly rated by Lord Loreburn for so unprincipled a lapse from +orthodox Gladstonian doctrine. What, therefore, must have been the +astonishment of the heretics when they found their mentor, less than two +years later, publicly reproving the Government which he had left for +having got into such a sad mess over the Ulster difficulty! They might +be forgiven some indignation at finding themselves reproved by Lord +Loreburn for faulty statesmanship of which Lord Loreburn was the +principal author.</p> + +<p>Those, however, who had not the same ground for exasperation as Mr. +Lloyd George and Mr. Churchill thought Lord Loreburn's letter very sound +sense. He pointed out that if the Bill were to become law in 1914, as it +stood in September 1913, there would be, if not civil war, at any rate +very serious rioting in the North of Ireland, and when the riots had +been quelled by the Government the spirit <a name="Page_153"></a>that prompted them would +remain. Everybody concerned would suffer from fighting it out to a +finish. The Ex-Chancellor felt bound to assume that "up to the last, +Ministers, who assuredly have not taken leave of their senses, would be +willing to consider proposals for accommodation," and he therefore +suggested that a Conference should be held behind closed doors with a +view to a settlement by consent. If Lord Loreburn had perceived at the +time the draft Bill was before the Cabinet that it was not the Ministers +who proposed separate treatment for Ulster who had "taken leave of their +senses," but those, including himself, who had resisted that proposal, +his wisdom would have been more timely; but it was better late than +never, and his unexpected intervention had a decided influence on +opinion in the country.</p> + +<p>The comment of <i>The Times</i> was very much to the point:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"On the eve of a great political crisis, it may be of national + disaster, a distinguished Liberal statesman makes public confession + of his belief that, as a permanent solution, the Irish policy of + the Government is indefensible."</p></blockquote> + +<p>This letter of the ex-Lord Chancellor gave rise to prolonged discussion +in the Press and on the platform. At Durham, on the 13th of September, +Carson declared that he would welcome a Conference if the question was +how to provide a genuine expansion of self-government, but that, if +Ulster was to be not only expelled from the Union but placed under a +Parliament in Dublin, then "they were going to make Home Rule impossible +by steady and persistent opposition." The Government seemed unable to +agree whether a conciliatory or a defiant attitude was their wiser +policy, though it is true that the latter recommended itself mostly to +the least prominent of its members, such as Mr. J.M. Robertson, +Secretary of the Board of Trade, who in a speech at Newcastle on the +25th of September announced scornfully that Ministers were not going to +turn "King Carson" into "Saint Carson" by prosecuting him, and that "the +Government would know how <a name="Page_154"></a>to deal with him."<a name="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50"><sup>[50]</sup></a> But more important +Ministers were beginning to perceive the unwisdom of this sort of +bluster. Lord Morley, in the House of Lords, denied that he had ever +underrated the Ulster difficulty, and said that for twenty-five years he +had never thought that Ulster was guilty of bluff. Mr. Churchill, at +Dundee, on the 9th of October, no longer talked as he had the previous +year about "not taking Sir Edward Carson too seriously," though he still +appeared to be ignorant of the fact that there was in Ulster anybody +except Orangemen. "The Orange Leaders," he said, "used violent language, +but Liberals should try to understand their position. Their claim for +special consideration, if put forward with sincerity, could not be +ignored by a Government depending on the existing House."<a name="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51"><sup>[51]</sup></a></p> + +<p>The Prime Minister, less assured than his subordinate at the Board of +Trade that "King Carson" was negligible, also displayed a somewhat +chastened spirit at Ladybank on the 25th of October, when he +acknowledged that it was "of supreme importance to the future well-being +of Ireland that the new system should not start with the apparent +triumph of one section over another," and he invited a "free and frank +exchange of views."<a name="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52"><sup>[52]</sup></a> Sir Edward Grey held out another little twig of +olive two days later at Berwick.</p> + +<p>To these overtures, if they deserve the name, Mr. Bonar Law replied in +an address to a gathering of fifteen thousand people at Wallsend on the +29th, in the presence of Sir Edward Carson. Having repeated the Blenheim +pledge, he praised the discipline and restraint shown by the Ulster +people and their leaders, but warned his hearers that the nation was +drifting towards the tragedy of civil war, the responsibility for which +would rest on the Government. He expressed his readiness to respond to +Mr. Asquith's invitation, but pointed out that there were only three +alternatives open to the Government. They must either (1) go on as they +were doing and provoke Ulster to resist—that was madness; (2) they +could consult the electorate, <a name="Page_155"></a>whose decision would be accepted by the +Unionist Party as a whole; or (3) they could try to arrange a settlement +which would at least avert civil war.</p> + +<p>There had been during the past six or eight months an unusual dearth of +by-elections to test public opinion in regard to the Irish policy of the +Government, and it must be borne in mind that the Unionist Party in +Great Britain was still distracted by disputes over the Tariff question, +which in January 1913 had very nearly led to the retirement of Mr. Bonar +Law from the leadership. Nevertheless, in May the Unionists won two +signal victories, one in Cambridgeshire, and one in Cheshire, where the +Altrincham Division sent a staunch friend of Ulster to Parliament in the +person of Mr. George C. Hamilton, who in his maiden speech declared that +he had won the contest entirely on the Ulster Question. Even more +significant, perhaps, were two elections which were fought while the +interchange of party strokes over the Loreburn letter was in progress, +and the results of both were declared on the 8th of November. At +Reading, where the Unionists retained the seat, the Liberal candidate +was constrained by pressure of opinion in the constituency to promise +support for a policy of "separate and generous treatment for Ulster." At +Linlithgow, a Liberal stronghold, where no such promise was forthcoming, +the Liberal majority, in spite of a large Nationalist vote, was reduced +by 1,500 votes as compared with the General Election. There were signs +that Nonconformists, whose great leaders like Spurgeon and Dale had been +hostile to Home Rule in Gladstone's time, were again becoming uneasy +about handing over the Ulster Presbyterians and Methodists to the Roman +hierarchy. A memorial against Home Rule, signed by 131,000 people, which +had been presented to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in +June, had no doubt had some effect on Nonconformist opinion in England, +and it was just about the time when these elections took place that +Carson was described at a large gathering of Nonconformists in London as +"the best embodiment at this moment of the ancient spirit of +Nonconformity."<a name="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53"><sup>[53]</sup></a></p> + +<p><a name="Page_156"></a>Meanwhile the people in Ulster were steadily maturing their plans. The +arrangements already mentioned for setting up a Provisional Government +were confirmed and finally adopted by the Unionist Council in Belfast on +the 24th of September, and the Council by resolution delegated its +powers to the Standing Committee, while the Commission of Five was at +the same time appointed to act as an Executive. Carson, in accepting the +chairmanship of the Central Authority, used the striking phrase, which +precisely epitomised the situation, that "Ulster might be coerced into +submission, but in that case would have to be governed as a conquered +country." The Nationalist retort that the rest of Ireland was now being +so treated, appeared forcible to those Englishmen only who could see no +difference between controlling a disaffected population and chastising a +loyal one.</p> + +<p>At the same meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council on the 24th of +September a guarantee fund was established for providing means to +compensate members of the U.V.F. for any loss or disability they might +suffer as a result of their service, and the widows and dependents of +any who might lose their lives. This was a matter that had caused Carson +anxiety for some time. He was extremely sensitive to the moral +responsibility he would incur towards those who so eagerly followed his +lead, in the event of their suffering loss of life or limb in the +service of Ulster. His proposal that a guarantee fund of a million +sterling should be started, met with a ready response from the Council, +and from the wealthier classes in and about Belfast. The form of +"Indemnity Guarantee" provided for the payment to those entitled to +benefit under it of sums not less than they would have been entitled to +under the Fatal Accidents Act, the Employers' Liability Act, and the +Workman's Compensation Act, as the circumstances of the case might be. +The list was headed by Sir Edward Carson, Lord Londonderry, Captain +Craig, Sir John Lonsdale, Sir George Clark, and Lord Dunleath, with a +subscription of £10,000 each, and their example was followed by Mr. Kerr +Smiley, M.P., Mr. R.M. Liddell, Mr. George Preston, Mr. Henry Musgrave, +Mr. C.E. Allen, <a name="Page_157"></a>and Mr. Frank Workman, who entered their names +severally for the same amount. A quarter of a million sterling was +guaranteed in the room before the Council separated; by the end of a +week it had grown to £387,000; and before the 1st of January, 1914, the +total amount of the Indemnity Guarantee Fund was £1,043,816.</p> + +<p>It gave Carson and the other leaders the greatest possible satisfaction +that the response to this appeal was so prompt and adequate. Not only +was their anxiety relieved in regard to their responsibility to loyal +followers of the rank and file who might become "casualties" in the +movement, but they had been given a striking proof that the business +community of Belfast did not consider its pocket more sacred than its +principles. Moreover, if there had been doubt on that score in anyone's +mind, it was set at rest by a memorable meeting for business men only +held in Belfast on the 3rd of November. Between three and four thousand +leaders of industry and commerce, the majority of whom had never +hitherto taken any active share in political affairs, presided over by +Mr. G.H. Ewart, President of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, gave an +enthusiastic reception to Carson, who told them that he had come more to +consult them as to the commercial aspects of the great political +controversy than to impress his own views on the gathering. It was said +that the men in the hall represented a capital of not less than +£145,000,000 sterling,<a name="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54"><sup>[54]</sup></a> and there can be no doubt that, even if that +were an exaggerated estimate, they were not of a class to whom +revolution, rebellion, or political upheaval could offer an attractive +prospect. Nevertheless, the meeting passed with complete unanimity a +resolution expressing confidence in Carson and approval of everything he +had done, including the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force, and +declaring that they would refuse to pay "all taxes which they could +control" to an Irish Parliament in Dublin. This meeting was very +satisfactory, for it proved that the "captains of industry" were +entirely in accord with the working classes, whose support of the +movement had never been in doubt. It <a name="Page_158"></a>showed that Ulster was solid +behind Carson; and the unanimity was emphasised rather than disturbed by +a little handful of cranks, calling themselves "Protestant Home Rulers," +who met on the 24th of October at the village of Ballymoney "to protest +against the lawless policy of Carsonism." The principal stickler for +propriety of conduct in public life on this occasion was Sir Roger +Casement.</p> + +<p>While the unity and steadfastness—which enemies called obstinacy—of +the Ulster people were being thus made manifest, the public in England +were hearing a good deal about the growth of the Ulster Volunteer Force +in numbers and efficiency. As will be seen later, the anniversary of the +Covenant was celebrated with great military display at the very time +when the newspapers across the Channel were busy discussing Lord +Loreburn's letter, and at a parade service in the Ulster Hall, Canon +Harding, after pronouncing the Benediction, called on the congregation +to raise their right hands and pledge themselves thereby "to follow +wherever Sir Edward Carson shall lead us."</p> + +<p>The events of September 1913—the setting up of the Provisional +Government, the wonderful and instantaneous response to the appeal for +an Indemnity Guarantee Fund, the rapid formation of an effective +volunteer army—were given the fullest publicity in the English Press. +Every newspaper of importance had its special correspondent in Belfast, +whose telegrams filled columns every day, adorned with all the varieties +of sensational headline type. The Radicals were becoming restive. The +idea that Carson was "not to be taken too seriously," had apparently +missed fire. It was the Ministerial affectation of contempt that no one +was taking seriously; in fact, to borrow an expression from current +slang, the "King Carson" stunt was a "wash-out."</p> + +<p><i>The Nation</i> suggested that, instead of being laughed at, the Ulster +leader should be prosecuted, or, at any rate, removed from the Privy +Council, and other Liberal papers feverishly took up the suggestion, +debating whether the indictment should be under the Treason Felony Act +of<a name="Page_159"></a> 1848, the Crimes Act of 1887, or the Unlawful Drilling Act of 1819. +One of them, however, which succeeded in keeping its head, did not +believe that a prosecution would succeed; and, as to the Privy Council, +if Carson's name were removed, what about Londonderry and F.E. Smith, +Walter Long, and Bonar Law? In fact, "it would be difficult to know +where to stop."<a name="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55"><sup>[55]</sup></a> It would have been. The Privy Council would have had +to be reduced to a committee of Radical politicians; and, if Carson had +been prosecuted, room would have had to be found in the dock, not only +for the whole Unionist Party, but for the proprietors and editors of +most of the leading journals. The Government stopped short of that +supreme folly; but their impotence was the measure of the prevailing +sympathy with Ulster.</p> +<a name="Page_160"></a> +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50">[50]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1913, p. 205.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51">[51]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., p. 209.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52">[52]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., p. 220.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53">[53]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1913, p. 225.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54">[54]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1913, p. 225.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55">[55]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Liverpool Daily Post and Mercury</i>, September 22nd, 1913.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XV"></a><h2>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h4>PREPARATIONS AND PROPOSALS</h4> + + +<p>We have seen in a former chapter how the Ulster Volunteer Force +originated. It was never formally established by the act of any +recognised authority, but rather grew spontaneously from the zeal of the +Unionist Clubs and the Orange Lodges to present an effective and +formidable appearance at the demonstrations which marked the progress of +the movement after the meeting at Craigavon in 1911. By the following +summer it had attained considerable numbers and respectable efficiency, +and was becoming organised, without violation of the law, on a +territorial basis under local officers, many of whom had served in the +Army. Early in 1913 the Standing Committee resolved that these units +should be combined into a single force, to be called The Ulster +Volunteer Force, which was to be raised and limited to a strength of +100,000 men, all of whom should be men who had signed the Covenant. When +this organisation took place it became obvious that a serious defect was +the want of a Commander-in-Chief of the whole force, to give it unity +and cohesion. This defect was pressed on the attention of the leaders of +the movement, who then began to look about for a suitable officer of +rank and military experience to take command of the U.V.F. Among English +Members of the House of Commons there was no firmer friend of Ulster +than Colonel Thomas Hickman, C.B., D.S.O., who has been mentioned as one +of those who consented to serve in the Provisional Government. Hickman +had seen a lot of active service, having served with great distinction +in Egypt and the Soudan under Kitchener, and in the South African War. +It was natural to take him into confidence in the search for a general; +and, when he was approached, <a name="Page_161"></a>it was decided that he should consult Lord +Roberts, whose warm sympathy with the Ulster cause was well known to the +leaders of the movement, and whose knowledge of army officers of high +rank was, of course, unequalled. Moreover, the illustrious Field-Marshal +had dropped hints which led those concerned to conjecture that in the +last resort he might not himself be unwilling to lend his matchless +prestige and genius to the loyalist cause in Ireland. The contingency +which might bring about such an accession had not, however, yet arisen, +and might never arise; in the meantime, Lord Roberts gave a ready ear to +Hickman's application, which, after some weeks of delay, he answered in +the following letter, which was at once communicated to Carson and those +in his immediate confidence:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"ENGLEMERE, ASCOT, BERKS.</p> + +<p> "<i>4th June</i>, 1913.</p> + +<p> "DEAR HICKMAN,</p> + +<p> "I have been a long time finding a Senior Officer to help in the + Ulster business, but I think I have got one now. His name is + Lieut.-General Sir George Richardson, K.C.B., c/o Messrs. Henry S. + King & Co., Pall Mall, S.W. He is a retired Indian officer, active + and in good health. He is not an Irishman, but has settled in + Ireland.... Richardson will be in London for about a month, and is + ready to meet you at any time.</p> + +<p> "I am sorry to read about the capture of rifles.</p> + +<p> "Believe me,</p> + +<p> "Yours sincerely,</p> + +<p> "ROBERTS."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The matter was quickly arranged, and within a few weeks Sir George +Richardson had taken up his residence in Belfast, and his duties as +G.O.C. the Ulster Volunteer Force.</p> + +<p>He was a distinguished soldier. He served under Roberts in the Afghan +Campaign of 1879-80; he took part in the Waziri Expedition of 1881, and +the Zhob Valley Field Force operations of 1890. He was in command of a +Flying Column in the Tirah Expedition of 1897-8, and of a Cavalry +Brigade in the China Expeditionary Force in 1900, and had commanded a +Division <a name="Page_162"></a>at Poona for three years before retiring in 1907. He had been +three times mentioned in despatches, besides receiving a brevet and many +medals and clasps. He was at this time sixty-six years of age, but, like +the great soldier who recommended him to Ulster, he was an active little +man both in body and mind, with no symptom of approaching old age.</p> + +<p>General Richardson was not long in making himself popular, not only with +the force under his command, but with all classes in Ulster. There were +unavoidable difficulties in handling troops whose officers had no +statutory powers of discipline, who had inherited no military +traditions, and who formed part of a population conspicuously +independent in character. But Sir George Richardson was as full of tact +as of good humour, and he soon found that the keenness of the officers +and men, to whom dismissal from the U.V.F. would have been the severest +of punishments, more than counterbalanced the difficulties referred to.</p> + +<p>When the new G.O.C. went to Belfast in July, 1913, he found his command +between fifty and sixty thousand strong, with recruits joining every +day. In September a number of parades were held in different localities, +at which the General was accompanied by Sir Edward Carson, Mr. F.E. +Smith, Captain James Craig, and other Members of Parliament. The local +battalions were in many cases commanded by retired or half-pay officers +of the regular army. At all these inspections Carson addressed the men, +many of whom were now seeing their Commander-in-Chief for the first +time, and pointed out that the U.V.F., being now under a single command, +was no longer a mere collection of unrelated units, but an army. At an +inspection at Antrim on the 21st of September, he made a disclosure +which startled the country not a little next day when it appeared in the +headlines of English newspapers. "I tell the Government," he said, "that +we have pledges and promises from some of the greatest generals in the +army, who have given their word that, when the time comes, if it is +necessary, they will come over and help us to keep the old flag flying." +These <a name="Page_163"></a>promises were entirely spontaneous and unsolicited. More than one +of those who made them did fine service to the Empire in the impending +time of trial which none of them foresaw in 1913.</p> + +<p>Of the men inspected on that day, numbering about 5,000, it was said by +the Special Correspondent of <i>The Yorkshire Post</i>, who was present—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"As far as I could detect in a very careful observation, there were + not half a dozen of them unqualified by physique or age to play a + manly part. They reminded me more than anything else—except that + but few of them were beyond the best fighting age—of the finest + class of our National Reserve. There was certainly nothing of the + mock soldier about them. Led by keen, smart-looking officers, they + marched past in quarter column with fine, swinging steps, as if + they had been in training for years. Officers who have had the + teaching of them tell me that the rapidity with which they have + become efficient is greater than has ever come within their + experience in training recruits for either the Territorials or the + Regular Service."<a name="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56"><sup>[56]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>The 24th of September, it will be remembered, was the day when the +formation of the Provisional Government and the Indemnity Fund (with the +subscription of a quarter of a million sterling in two hours) was made +public; on Saturday the 27th, the country parades of Volunteers of the +preceding weeks reached a climax in a grand review in Belfast itself, +when some 15,000 men were drawn up on the same ground where the Balmoral +meeting had been held eighteen months before. They were reviewed by Sir +George Richardson, G.O.C., and it was on this occasion that Mr. F.E. +Smith became famous as "galloper" to the General. The Commanders of the +four regiments on parade—one from each parliamentary division of the +city—comprising fourteen battalions, were: Colonel Wallace, Major F.H. +Crawford, Major McCalmont, M.P., and Captain the Hon. A.C. Chichester. +More than 30,000 sympathetic spectators watched the arrival and the +review of the troops.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_164"></a>Among these spectators were a large number of special military +correspondents of English newspapers, whose impressions of this +memorable event were studied in every part of the United Kingdom on the +following Monday morning. That which appeared in a great Lancashire +journal may be quoted as a fair and dispassionate account of the scene:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"It is quite certain that the review of Volunteers at Balmoral + to-day will go down into history as one of the most extraordinary + events in the annals of these islands. Not since the marshalling of + Cromwell's Puritan army have we had anything approaching a + parallel; but, whereas the Puritans took up arms against a king of + whom they disapproved, the men of Ulster strongly protest their + loyalty to the British Throne. The great crowd which lined the + enclosure was eager, earnest, and sympathetic. It was not a + boisterous crowd. On the contrary, beyond the demonstration + following the call for cheers for the Union there was comparatively + little cheering. The crowd seemed burdened with a heavy sense of + the importance of the occasion. The conduct of the gathering was + serious to the point of positive solemnity.</p> + +<p> "The Volunteers from their own ranks policed the grounds, not a + solitary member of the Royal Irish Constabulary being seen in the + enclosure. The sun shone brilliantly as Colonel Wallace led the men + of the North division into the enclosure. Amidst subdued cheers he + marched them across the field in fours, forming up in quarter + column by the right, facing left. For an hour and a quarter the + procession filed through the gates, the men taking up their + positions with perfect movement and not the faintest suggestion of + confusion. As the men from the West took up their position the + crowd broke into a great cheer. They mustered only two battalions, + but they had come from Mr. Devlin's constituency!</p> + +<p> "As a body the men were magnificent. The hardy sons of toil from + shipyards and factories marched shoulder to shoulder with clergy + and doctors, professional men and clerks. From the saluting base + General Richardson took command, and almost immediately Sir Edward + Carson took up his position on the platform, with Lord Londonderry + and Captain Craig in attendance. Then followed <a name="Page_165"></a>a scene that will + live long in the memories of that vast concourse of people. With + the men standing to 'Attention,' the bands struck up the 'British + Grenadiers,' and the whole division advanced in review order, in + perfect lines and unison.</p> + +<p> "The supreme moment had arrived. The men took off their hats, and + the G.O.C. shouted, 'I call upon the men to give three cheers for + the Union, taking their time from me. Hip, hip——'</p> + +<p> "Well, people who were not there must imagine the rest. Out of the + deafening cheers came the strains of 'Rule, Britannia!' from the + bands; the monster Union Jack was unfurled in the centre of the + ground, and the mighty gathering stood bare-headed to 'God save the + King.' It was solemn, impressive, thrilling."<a name="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57"><sup>[57]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>The following day, Sunday, was "Ulster Day," the first anniversary of +the signing of the Covenant, and it was celebrated in Belfast and many +other places in Ulster by holding special services in all places of +worship, which had the effect of sustaining that spirit of high +seriousness which struck all observers as remarkable in the behaviour of +the people.</p> + +<p>This week, in which occurred the proclamation of the Provisional +Government, the great review of the Belfast Volunteers, and the second +celebration of Ulster Day, was a notable landmark in the movement. The +Press in England and Scotland gave the widest publicity to every +picturesque and impressive detail, and there can be little doubt that +the idea of attempting to arrive at some agreed settlement, started by +Lord Loreburn's letter to <i>The Times</i>, was greatly stimulated by these +fresh and convincing proofs of the grim determination of the Ulster +people.</p> + +<p>At all events, the autumn produced more than the usual plethora of +political meetings addressed by "front bench" politicians on both sides, +each answering each like an antiphonal choir; scraps of olive-branch +were timidly held out, only to be snatched back next day in panic lest +someone had blundered in saying too much; while day by day a clamorous +Liberal Press, to whom Ulster's loyalty <a name="Page_166"></a>to King and Empire was an +unforgivable offence, alternated between execration of Ulster wickedness +and affected ridicule of Ulster bluff. But it was evident that genuine +misgiving was beginning to be felt in responsible Liberal quarters. A +Correspondent of <i>The Manchester Guardian</i> on the 25th of November made +a proposal for special treatment of Ulster; on the 1st of December Mr. +Massingham, in <i>The Daily News</i>, urged that an effort should be made to +conciliate the northern Protestants; and on the 6th Mr. Asquith +displayed a more conciliatory spirit than usual in a speech at +Manchester. A most active campaign of propaganda in England and Scotland +was also carried on during the autumn by Ulster speakers, among whom +women bore their full share. The Ulster Women's Unionist Association +employed 93 voluntary workers, who visited over 90 constituencies in +Great Britain, addressing 230 important meetings. It was reckoned that +not less than 100,000 electors heard the Ulster case from the lips of +earnest Ulster women.</p> + +<p>On the 5th of December two Royal Proclamations were issued by the +Government, prohibiting the importation of arms and ammunition into +Ireland. But during the Christmas holidays the impression gained ground +that the Government contemplated making concessions to Ulster, and +communications in private between the Prime Minister and Sir Edward +Carson did in fact take place at this time. The truth, however, was that +the Government were not their own masters, and, as Mr. Bonar Law bluntly +declared at Bristol on the 15th of January, 1914, they were compelled by +the Nationalists, on whom they depended for existence, to refuse any +genuine concession. In the same speech Mr. Bonar Law replied to the +allegation that Ulster was crying out before she was hurt, by saying +that the American colonies had done the same thing—they had revolted on +a question of principle while suffering was still distant, and for a +cause that in itself was trivial in comparison with that of Ulster.<a name="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58"><sup>[58]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Most of the leaders on both sides were speaking on various platforms in +January. On the 17th Carson, at <a name="Page_167"></a>an inspection of the East Belfast +U.V.F., said he had lately visited Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, and that the +dying statesman, clear-sighted and valiant as ever, had said to him at +parting, "I would fight it out." In the same spirit Mr. Austen +Chamberlain, in a speech at Skipton a fortnight later, ridiculed any +concession that fell short of the exclusion of Ulster from the Irish +Parliament, and asserted that what the policy of the Government amounted +to was that England was to conquer a province and hold it down at the +expense of her friends for the benefit of her enemies.<a name="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59"><sup>[59]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Public attention was, however, not allowed to concentrate wholly on +Ireland. The Radicals, instigated by Sir John Brunner, President of the +National Liberal Federation, were doing their best to prevent the +strengthening of the Navy, the time being opportune for parsimony in Mr. +Lloyd George's opinion because our relations with Germany were "far more +friendly than for years past."<a name="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60"><sup>[60]</sup></a> The militant women suffragists were +carrying on a lively campaign of arson and assault all over the country. +Labour unrest was in a condition of ferment. Land agitation was exciting +the "single-taxers" and other fanatics; and the Tariff question had not +ceased to be a cause of division in the Unionist Party. But, while these +matters were sharing with the Irish problem the attention of the Press +and the public, "conversations" were being held behind the scenes with a +view to averting what everyone now agreed would be a dangerous crisis if +Ulster proved implacable.</p> + +<p>When Parliament met on the 10th of February, 1914, Mr. Asquith referred +to these conversations; but while he congratulated everyone concerned on +the fact that the Press had been successfully kept in the dark for +months regarding them, he had to admit that they had produced no result. +But there were, he said, "schemes and suggestions of settlement in the +air," among them the exclusion of Ulster from the Bill, a proposal on +which he would not at that moment "pronounce, or attempt to pronounce, +any final judgment", and he then announced that, as soon as the +financial business of the year was disposed of, <a name="Page_168"></a>he would bring forward +proposals for the purpose of arriving at an agreement "which will +consult not only the interests but the susceptibilities of all +concerned."</p> + +<p>This appeared to be a notable change of attitude on the part of the +Government; but it was received with not a little suspicion by the +Unionist leaders. Whether or not the change was due, as Mr. William +Moore bluntly asserted, to the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force, +which had now reached its full strength of 100,000 men, the question of +interest was whether the promised proposals would render that force +unnecessary. Mr. Austen Chamberlain asked why the Government's proposals +should be kept bottled up until a date suspiciously near All Fools' Day; +and Sir Edward Carson, in one of the most impressive speeches he ever +made in Parliament, which wrung from Mr. Lloyd George the acknowledgment +that it had "entranced the House," joined Chamberlain in demanding that +the country should not be kept in anxious suspense. The only proper way +of making the proposals known was, he said, by embodying them at once in +a Bill to amend the Home Rule Bill. He confirmed Chamberlain's statement +that nothing short of the exclusion of Ulster would be of the slightest +use. The Covenanters were not men who would have acted as they had done +for the sake of minor details that could be adjusted by "paper +safeguards," they were "fighting for a great principle and a great +ideal," and if their determination to resist was not morally justified +he "did not see how resistance could ever be justified in history at +all." But if the exclusion of Ulster was to be offered, he would +immediately go to Belfast and lay the proposal before his followers. He +did not intend "that Ulster should be a pawn in any political game," and +would not allow himself to be manoeuvred into a position where it could +afterwards be said that Ulster had resorted to arms to secure something +that had been rejected when offered by legislation. The sympathy of +Ulstermen with Loyalists in other parts of Ireland was as deep and +sincere as ever, but no one had ever supposed that Ulster could by force +of arms do more than preserve her own territory from subjection to +Dublin. As for the<a name="Page_169"></a> Nationalists, they would never succeed in coercing +Ulster, but "by showing that good government can come under Home Rule +they might try and win her over to the case of the rest of Ireland." +That was a plan that had never yet been tried.</p> + +<p>The significance of the announcement which Mr. Asquith had now made lay +in the fact that it was an acknowledgment by the Government for the +first time that there was an "Ulster Question" to be dealt with—that +Ulster was not, as had hitherto been the Liberal theory, like any other +minority who must submit to the will of the majority opposed to it, but +a distinct community, conditioned by special circumstances entitling it +to special treatment. The Prime Minister had thus, as Mr. Bonar Law +insisted, "destroyed utterly the whole foundation on which for the last +two years the treatment extended to Ulster in this Bill has been +justified." From that day it became impossible ever again to contend +that Ulster was merely a recalcitrant minority in a larger unity, +without rights of her own.</p> + +<p>The speeches of the Unionist leaders in the House of Commons showed +clearly enough how little faith they had that the Government intended to +do anything that could lead to an agreed settlement. The interval that +passed before the nature of the Government's proposals was made known +increased rather than diminished this distrust. The air was full of +suggestions, the most notable of which was put forward by the veteran +constitutional lawyer, Mr. Frederic Harrison, who proposed that Ulster +should be governed by a separate committee elected by its own +constituencies, with full legislative, administrative, and financial +powers, subject only to the Crown and the Imperial Parliament.<a name="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61"><sup>[61]</sup></a> +Unionists did not believe that the Liberal Cabinet would be allowed by +their Nationalist masters to offer anything so liberal to Ulster; nor +did that Province desire autonomy for itself. They believed that the +chief desire of the Government was not to appease Ulster, but to put her +in a tactically indefensible position. This fear had been expressed by +Lord Lansdowne as long <a name="Page_170"></a>before as the previous October, when he wrote +privately to Carson in reference to Lord Loreburn's suggested Conference +that he suspected the intention of the Government to be "to offer us +terms which they know we cannot accept, and then throw on us the odium +of having obstructed a settlement." Mr. Walter Long had the same +apprehension in March 1914 as to the purpose of Mr. Asquith's unknown +proposals. Both these leaders herein showed insight and prescience, for +not only Mr. Asquith's Government, but also that which succeeded it, had +resort on many subsequent occasions to the manoeuvre suspected by Lord +Lansdowne.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, there were encouraging signs in the country. To the +intense satisfaction of Unionists, Mr. C.F.G. Masterman, who had just +been promoted to the Cabinet, lost his seat in East London when he +sought re-election in February, and a day or two later the Government +suffered another defeat in Scotland. On the 27th of February Lord +Milner, a fearless supporter of the Ulster cause, wrote to Carson that a +British Covenant had been drawn up in support of the Ulster Covenanters, +and that the first signatures, in addition to his own, were those of +Field-Marshal Lord Roberts, Admiral of the Fleet Sir E. Seymour, the +Duke of Portland, Lord Balfour of Burleigh, Lord Desborough, Lord Lovat, +Mr. Rudyard Kipling, Sir W. Ramsay, F.R.S., the Dean of Canterbury, +Professors Dicey and Goudy, Sir George Hayter Chubb, and Mr. Salvidge, +the influential alderman of Liverpool. On the 6th of March Mr. Walter +Long, writing from the office of the Union Defence League, of which he +was President, was able to inform Carson that there was "a rush to sign +the Covenant—we are really almost overpowered." This was supplemented +by a women's Covenant, which, like the men's, "had been numerously and +influentially signed, about 3 or 4 per cent, of the signatories, it was +said, being Liberals."<a name="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62"><sup>[62]</sup></a> Long believed from this and other evidence +that had reached him that "public opinion was now really aroused in the +country," and that the steadfast policy of Ulster had the undoubted +support of the electorate.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_171"></a>Only those who were in the confidence of Mr. Asquith and his colleagues +at the beginning of 1914 can know whether the "proposals" they then made +were ever seriously put forward as an effort towards appeasement. If +they were sincerely meant for such, it implied a degree of ignorance of +the chief factor in the problem with which it is difficult to credit +able Ministers who had been face to face with that problem for years. +They must have supposed that their leading opponents were capable of +saying emphatically one thing and meaning quite another. For the +Unionist leaders had stated over and over again in the most unmistakable +terms, both in the recent debate on the Address, and on innumerable +former occasions, that nothing except the "exclusion of Ulster" could +furnish a basis for negotiation towards settlement.</p> + +<p>And yet, when the Prime Minister at last put his cards on the table on +the 9th of March, in moving the second reading of the Home Rule +Bill—which now entered on its third and last lap under the Parliament +Act—it was found that his much-trumpeted proposals were derisory to the +last degree. The scheme was that which came to be known as county option +with a time limit. Any county in Ulster, including the cities of Belfast +and Derry, was to be given the right to vote itself out of the Home Rule +jurisdiction, on a requisition signed by a specified proportion of its +parliamentary electorate, for a period of six years.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bonar Law said at once, on behalf of the Unionist Party, that apart +from all other objections to the Government scheme, and they were many, +the time limit for exclusion made the whole proposal a mockery. All that +it meant was that when the preparations in Ulster for resistance to Home +Rule had been got rid of—for it would be practically impossible to keep +them in full swing for six years—Ulster should then be compelled to +submit to the very thing to which she refused to submit now. Carson +described the proposal as a "sentence of death with a stay of execution +for six years." He noted with satisfaction indeed the admission of the +principle of exclusion, but expressed his conviction that the time limit +had been introduced merely in order to make it impossible for Ulster <a name="Page_172"></a>to +accept. Ulster wanted the question settled once for all, so that she +might turn her attention from politics to her ordinary business. The +time limit would keep the fever of political agitation at a high +temperature for six years, and at the end of that period forcible +resistance would be as necessary as ever, while in the interval all +administration would be paralysed by the unworkable nature of the system +to be introduced for six years. Although there were other gross blots on +the scheme outlined by the Prime Minister, yet, if the time limit were +dropped, Carson said he would submit it to a convention in Belfast; but +he utterly declined to do so if the time limit was to be retained.</p> + +<p>The debate was adjourned indefinitely, and before it could be resumed +the whole situation was rendered still more grave by the events to be +narrated in the next chapter, and by a menacing speech delivered by Mr. +Churchill at Bradford on the 14th of March. He hinted that, if Ulster +persisted in refusing the offer made by the Prime Minister, which was +the Government's last word, the forces of the Crown would have to be +employed against her; there were, he said, "worse things than bloodshed +even on an extended scale"; and he ended by saying, "Let us go forward +together and put these grave matters to the proof."<a name="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63"><sup>[63]</sup></a> Two days later +Mr. Asquith, in answer to questions in the House of Commons, announced +that no particulars of the Government scheme would be given unless the +principle of the proposals were accepted as a basis of agreement.</p> + +<p>The leader of the Unionist Party replied by moving a vote of censure on +the Government on the 19th of March. Mr. Churchill's Bradford speech, +and one no less defiant by Mr. Devlin the day following it, had charged +with inflammable material the atmosphere in which the debate was +conducted. Sir Edward Carson began his speech by saying that, after +these recent events, "I feel that I ought not to be here, but in +Belfast." There were some sharp passages between him and Churchill, whom +he accused of being anxious to provoke the Ulster people to make an +attack <a name="Page_173"></a>on the soldiers. A highly provocative speech by Mr. Devlin +followed, at the end of which Carson rose and left the House, saying +audibly, "I am off to Belfast." He was accompanied out of the Chamber by +eight Ulster members, and was followed by ringing and sustained cheers +of encouragement and approval from the crowded Unionist benches. It was +a scene which those who witnessed it are not likely to forget.</p> + +<p>The idea of accommodation between the combatant parties was at an end.</p><a name="Page_174"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56">[56]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Yorkshire Post</i>, September 22nd, 1913.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57">[57]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Liverpool Daily Courier</i>, September 29th, 1913.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58">[58]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1914, p. 6.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59">[59]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1914, p. 12.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60">[60]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., p. 1.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61">[61]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Annual Register</i>, 1914, p. 33.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62">[62]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1914, pp. 51-2.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63">[63]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Times</i>, March 16th, 1914.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h4>THE CURRAGH INCIDENT</h4> + + +<p>When Mr. Bonar Law moved the vote of censure on the Government on the +19th of March he had no idea that the Cabinet had secretly taken in hand +an enterprise which, had it been known, would have furnished infinitely +stronger grounds for their impeachment than anything relating to their +"proposals" for amending the Home Rule Bill. It was an enterprise that, +when it did become known, very nearly brought about their fall from +power.</p> + +<p>The whole truth about the famous "Curragh Incident" has never been +ascertained, and the answers given by the Ministers chiefly concerned, +under cross-examination in the House of Commons, were so evasive and in +several instances so contradictory as to make it certain that they were +exceedingly anxious that the truth should be concealed. But when the +available evidence is pieced together it leads almost irresistibly to +the conclusion that in March 1914 the Cabinet, or at any rate some of +the most prominent members of it, decided to make an imposing +demonstration of military force against Ulster, and that they expected, +if they did not hope, that this operation would goad the Ulstermen into +a clash with the forces of the Crown, which, by putting them morally in +the wrong, would deprive them of the popular sympathy they enjoyed in so +large and increasing a measure.</p> + +<p>When Mr. Churchill spoke at Bradford on the 14th of March of "putting +these grave matters to the proof" he was already deeply involved in what +came to be known as "the plot against Ulster," to which his words were +doubtless an allusion. That plot may perhaps have originated at Mr. +Lloyd George's breakfast-table on the 11th, when he entertained Mr. +Redmond, Mr. Dillon, Mr. Devlin, Mr. O'Connor, and the Chief Secretary +for Ireland, Mr.<a name="Page_175"></a> Birrell; for on the same day it was decided to send a +squadron of battleships with attendant cruisers and destroyers from the +coast of Spain to Lamlash, in the Isle of Arran, opposite Belfast Lough; +and a sub-committee of the Cabinet, consisting of Lord Crewe, Mr. +Churchill, Colonel Seely, Mr. Birrell, and Sir John Simon, was appointed +to deal with affairs connected with Ulster. This sub-committee held its +first meeting the following day, and the next was the date of Mr. +Churchill's threatening speech at Bradford, with its reference to the +prospect of bloodshed and of putting grave matters to the proof. Bearing +in mind this sequence of events, it is not easy to credit the contention +of the Government, after the plot had been discovered, that the despatch +of the fleet to the neighbourhood of the Ulster coast had no connection +with the other naval and military operations which immediately followed.</p> + +<p>For on the 14th, while Churchill was travelling in the train to +Bradford, Seely, the Secretary of State for War, was drafting a letter +to Sir Arthur Paget, the Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, informing him of +reports (it was never discovered where the reports, which were without +the smallest foundation, came from) that attempts might be made "in +various parts of Ireland by evil-disposed persons" to raid Government +stores of arms and ammunition, and instructing the General to "take +special precautions" to safeguard the military depots. It was added that +"information shows that Armagh, Omagh, Carrickfergus, and Enniskillen +are insufficiently guarded."<a name="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64"><sup>[64]</sup></a> It is permissible to wonder, if there +was danger from evil-disposed persons "in various parts of Ireland," +from whom came the information that the places particularly needing +reinforcements were a ring of strategically important towns round the +outskirts of the loyalist counties of Ulster.</p> + +<p>Whatever the source of the alleged "information"—whether it originated +at Mr. Lloyd George's breakfast-table or elsewhere—Seely evidently +thought it alarmingly urgent, for within forty-eight hours he +telegraphed to Paget asking for a reply before 8 a.m. next morning as to +<a name="Page_176"></a>what steps he had taken, and ordering the General to come at once to +London, bringing with him detailed plans. On the 16th Sir A. Paget +telegraphed that he "had taken all available steps"; but, on second +thoughts, he wrote on the 17th saying that there were sufficient troops +at Enniskillen to guard the depot, that he was making a small increase +to the detachment at Carrickfergus, and that, instead of strengthening +the garrisons of Omagh and Armagh, the stores there were being +removed—an operation that would take eight days. He explained his +reason for this departure from instructions to be that such a movement +of troops as had been ordered by the War Office would, "in the present +state of the country, create intense excitement in Ulster and possibly +precipitate a crisis."<a name="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65"><sup>[65]</sup></a></p> + +<p>As soon as this communication reached the War Office orders were sent +that the arms and ammunition at Omagh and Armagh, for the safety of +which from evil-disposed persons Seely had been so apprehensive, were +not to be removed, although they had already been packed for transport. +This order was sent on the 18th of March, and on the same day Sir Arthur +Paget arrived in London from Ireland and had a consultation with the +Ulster sub-committee of the Cabinet, and with Sir John French and other +members of the Army Council at the War Office.</p> + +<p>News of this meeting reached the ears of Sir Edward Carson, who was also +aware that a false report was being spread of attempts by Unionists to +influence the Army, and in his speech on the vote of censure on the 19th +he said: "I have never suggested that the Army should not be sent to +Ulster. I have never suggested that it should not do its duty when sent +there. I hope and expect it will." At the same time reports were +circulating in Dublin—did they come from Downing Street?—that the +Government were preparing to take strong measures against the Ulster +Unionist Council, and to arrest the leaders. In allusion to these +reports the Dublin Correspondent of <i>The Times</i> telegraphed on the 18th +of March: "Any man or Government that increases the danger by blundering +or hasty action will accept a terrible responsibility."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_177"></a>What passed at the interviews which Sir Arthur Paget had with Ministers +on the 18th and 19th has never been disclosed. But it is clear, from the +events which followed, either that an entirely new plan on a much larger +scale was now inaugurated, or that a development now took place which +Churchill and Seely, and perhaps other Ministers also, had contemplated +from the beginning and had concealed behind the pretended insignificance +of precautions to guard depots. It is noteworthy, at all events, that +the measures contemplated happened to be the stationing of troops in +considerable strength in important strategical positions round Ulster, +simultaneously with the despatch of a powerful fleet to within a few +hours of Belfast.</p> + +<p>The orders issued by the War Office, at any rate, indicated something on +a far bigger scale than the original pretext could justify. Paget's fear +of precipitating a crisis was brushed aside, and General Friend, who was +acting for him in Dublin during his absence, was instructed by telegram +to send to the four Ulster towns more than double the number of men that +Paget had deemed would be sufficient to protect the Government stores. +But still more significant was another order given to Friend on the +18th. The Dorset Regiment, quartered in the Victoria Barracks in +Belfast, were to be moved four miles out to Holywood, taking with them +their stores and ammunition, amounting to some thirty tons; and such was +the anxiety of the Government to get the troops out of the city that +they were told to leave their rifles behind, if necessary, after +rendering them useless by removing the bolts.<a name="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66"><sup>[66]</sup></a> The Government had +vetoed Paget's plan of removing the stores from Omagh and Armagh, +because their real object was to increase the garrisons at those places; +but, as they had no scruple about moving the much larger supply from the +Victoria Barracks through the most intensely Orange quarter of Belfast, +it could hardly be wondered at if such an order, under the +circumstances, was held to give colour to the idea that Ministers wished +to provoke violent opposition to the troops. Not less inconsistent with +the original pretext was the despatch of a battalion to Newry and<a name="Page_178"></a> +Dundalk. At the latter place there was already a brigade of artillery, +with eighteen guns, which would prove a tough nut for "evil-disposed +persons" to crack; and although both towns would be important points to +hold with an army making war on Ulster, they were both in Nationalist +territory where there could be no fear of raids by Unionists. Yet the +urgency was considered so great at the War Office to occupy these places +in strength not later than the 20th that two cruisers were ordered to +Kingstown to take the troops to Dundalk by sea, if there should be +difficulty about land transport.</p> + +<p>Whatever may have been the actual design of Mr. Churchill and Colonel +Seely, who appear to have practically taken the whole management of the +affair into their own hands, the dispositions must have suggested to +anyone with elementary knowledge of military matters that nothing less +than an overpowering attack on Belfast was in contemplation. The +transfer of the troops from Victoria Barracks, where they would have +been useful to support the civil power in case of rioting, to Holywood, +where they would be less serviceable for that purpose but where they +would be in rapid communication by water with the garrison of +Carrickfergus on the opposite shore of the Lough; the ordering of H.M.S. +<i>Pathfinder</i> and <i>Attentive</i> to Belfast Lough, where they were to arrive +"at daybreak on Saturday the 21st instant" with instructions to support +the soldiers if necessary "by guns and search-lights from the +ships<a name="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67"><sup>[67]</sup></a>"; the secret and rapid garrisoning of strategic points on all +the railways leading to Belfast,—all this pointed, not to the +safeguarding of stores of army boots and rifles, but to operations of an +offensive campaign.</p> + +<p>It was in this light that the Commander-in-Chief in Ireland himself +interpreted his instructions, and, seeing that he had taken the +responsibility of not fully obeying the much more modest orders he had +received in Ireland on the 14th, it is easy to understand that he +thought the steps now to be taken would lead to serious consequences. He +also foresaw that he might have trouble with some of the officers under +his command, for before leaving London he persuaded <a name="Page_179"></a>the Secretary of +State and Sir John French to give the following permission: "Officers +actually domiciled in Ulster would be exempted from taking part in any +operation that might take place. They would be permitted to 'disappear' +[that being the exact phrase used by the War Office], and when all was +over would be allowed to resume their places without their career or +position being affected."<a name="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68"><sup>[68]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Having obtained this concession, Sir Arthur Paget returned the same +night to Dublin, where he arrived on the 20th and had a conference with +his general officers.</p> + +<p>He told them of the instructions he had received, which the Government +called "precautionary" and believed "would be carried out without +resistance." The Commander-in-Chief did not share the Government's +optimism. He thought "that the moves would create intense excitement," +that by next day "the country would be ablaze," and that the result +might be "active operations against organised bodies of the Ulster +Volunteer Force under their responsible leaders." With regard to the +permission for officers domiciled in Ulster to "disappear," he informed +his generals that any other officers who were not prepared to carry out +their duty would be dismissed the Service.</p> + +<p>There was, apparently, some misunderstanding as to whether officers +without an Ulster domicile who objected to fight against Ulster were to +say so at once and accept dismissal, or were to wait until they received +some specific order which they felt unable to obey. Many of the officers +understood the General to mean the former of these two alternatives, and +the Colonel of one line regiment gave his officers half an hour to make +up their minds on a question affecting their whole future career; every +one of them objected to going against Ulster, and "nine or ten refused +under any condition" to do so.<a name="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69"><sup>[69]</sup></a> Another regimental commanding officer +told his subordinates that "steps have been taken in Ulster so that any +aggression must come from the Ulsterites, and they will have to shed the +first blood," on which his comment was: "The idea of provoking Ulster is +hellish."<a name="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70"><sup>[70]</sup></a></p> + +<p><a name="Page_180"></a>In consequence of what he learnt at the conference with his generals on +the morning of the 20th Sir Arthur Paget telegraphed to the War Office: +"Officer Commanding 5th Lancers states that all officers except two, and +one doubtful, are resigning their commissions to-day. I much fear same +conditions in the 16th Lancers. Fear men will refuse to move<a name="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71"><sup>[71]</sup></a>"; and +later in the day he reported that the "Brigadier and 57 officers, 3rd +Cavalry Brigade, prefer to accept dismissal if ordered north."<a name="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72"><sup>[72]</sup></a> Next +day he had to add that the Colonel and all the officers of the 4th +Hussars had taken up the same attitude.<a name="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73"><sup>[73]</sup></a></p> + +<p>This was very disconcerting news for the War Office, where it had been +taken for granted that very few, if any, officers, except perhaps a few +natives of Ulster, would elect to wreck their careers, if suddenly +confronted with so terrible a choice, rather than take part in +operations against the Ulster Loyalists. Instructions were immediately +wired to Paget in Dublin to "suspend any senior officers who have +tendered their resignations"; to refuse to accept the resignation of +junior officers; and to send General Gough, the Brigadier in command of +the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, and the commanding officers of the two Lancer +regiments and the 4th Hussars, to report themselves promptly at the War +Office after relieving them of their commands.</p> + +<p>Had the War Office made up its mind what to do with General Gough and +the other cavalry officers when they arrived in London? The inference to +be drawn from the correspondence published by the Government makes it +appear probable that the first intention was to punish these officers +severely <i>pour encourager les autres</i>. An officer to replace Gough had +actually been appointed and sent to Ireland, though Mr. Asquith denied +in the House of Commons that the offending generals had been dismissed. +But, if that was the intention, it was abandoned. The reason is not +plain; but the probability is that it had been discovered that sympathy +with Gough was widespread in the Army, and that his dismissal would +bring about very numerous resignations. It was said that a large part of +the<a name="Page_181"></a> Staff of the War Office itself would have laid down their +commissions, and that Aldershot would have been denuded of officers.<a name="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74"><sup>[74]</sup></a> +Colonel Seely himself described it as a "situation of grave peril to the +Army."<a name="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75"><sup>[75]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Anyhow, no disciplinary action of any kind was taken. It was decided to +treat the matter as one of "misunderstanding," and when Gough and his +brother officers appeared at the War Office on Monday the 23rd they were +told that it was all a mistake to suppose that the Government had ever +intended warlike operations against Ulster (the orders to the fleet had +been cancelled by wireless on the 21st), and that they might return at +once to their commands, with the assurance that they would not be +required to serve against Ulster Loyalists. General Gough, who before +leaving Ireland had asked Sir A. Paget for a clear definition in writing +of the duties that officers would be expected to perform if they went to +Ulster,<a name="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76"><sup>[76]</sup></a> thought that in view of the "misunderstanding" it would be +wise to have Colonel Seely's assurance also in black and white. Seely +had to hurry off to a Cabinet Meeting, and in his absence the +Adjutant-General reduced to writing the verbal statement of the +Secretary of State. A very confused story about the subsequent fortunes +of this piece of paper made it the central mystery round which raged +angry debates. This much, however, is not doubtful. Seely went from the +Cabinet to Buckingham Palace; when he returned to Downing Street the +paper was there, but the Cabinet had broken up. He looked at the paper, +saw that it did not accurately reproduce the assurance he had verbally +given to Gough, and with the help of Lord Morley he thereupon added two +paragraphs (which Mr. Balfour designated "the peccant paragraphs") to +make it conform to his promise. The addition so made was the only part +of the document that gave the assurance that the officers would not be +called upon "to crush political opposition to the policy or principles +of the Home Rule Bill." With this paper in his pocket General Gough +returned to his command at the Curragh.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_182"></a>There the matter might have ended had not some of the facts become +known to Unionist members of the House of Commons, and to the Press. On +Sunday, the 22nd, Mr. Asquith sent a communication to <i>The Times</i> +(published on the 23rd) in which he minimised the whole matter, putting +forward the original pretext of movements of troops solely to protect +Government property—an account at variance with a statement two days +later by Churchill in regard to the reason for naval movements—and on +the 23rd Seely also made a statement in the House of Commons on the same +lines as the Prime Minister's, which ended by saying that all the +movements of troops were completed "and all orders issued have been +punctually and implicitly obeyed." This was an hour or two after his +interview with the generals who had been summoned from Ireland to be +dismissed for refusal to obey orders.</p> + +<p>But Mr. Bonar Law had his own information, which was much fuller than +the Government imagined. A long and heated debate followed Colonel +Seely's statement, and was continued on the two following days, +gradually dragging to light the facts with a much greater profusion of +detail than is necessary for this narrative. On the 24th Mr. L.S. Amery +made a speech which infuriated the Radicals and Labour members, but the +speaker, as was his intention, made them quite as angry with the +Government as with himself. The cause of offence was that the Government +was thought to have allowed itself to be coerced by the soldiers, while +the latter had been allowed to make their obedience to orders contingent +on a bargain struck with the Government. This aspect of the case was +forcibly argued by Mr. J. Ward, the Labour member for Stoke, in a speech +greatly admired by enthusiasts for "democratic" principles. Although Mr. +Ward's invective was mainly directed against the Unionist Opposition, +the latter listened to it with secret pleasure, perceiving that it was +in reality more damaging to the Government than to themselves, since +Ministers were forced into an attitude of defence against their own +usually docile supporters. It may here be mentioned that at a much later +date, when Mr. John Ward, in the light of experience gained by his own +distinguished <a name="Page_183"></a>service as an officer in the Great War, had come to the +conviction that "the possibility of forcing Ulster within the ambit of a +Dublin Parliament has now become unthinkable," he acknowledged that in +1914 the only way by which Mr. Asquith's Home Rule Act could have been +enforced was through and by the power of the Army.<a name="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77"><sup>[77]</sup></a></p> + +<p>So much shaken were the Government by these attacks that on the next +day, the 25th of March, Colonel Seely, at the end of a long narrative of +the transaction, announced his resignation from the Government. He had, +he said, unintentionally misled his colleagues by adding without their +knowledge to the paper given to General Gough; the Cabinet as a whole +was quite innocent of the great offence given to democratic sentiment. +This announcement having had the desired effect of relieving the +Ministry as a whole from responsibility for the "peccant paragraphs," +and averting Radical wrath from their heads, the Prime Minister later in +the debate said he was not going to accept Seely's resignation. Yet Mr. +Churchill exhibited a fine frenzy of indignation against Mr. Austen +Chamberlain for describing it as a "put-up job."</p> + +<p>Only a fairly fertile imagination could suggest a transaction to which +the phrase would be more justly applicable. The idea that Seely, in +adding the paragraphs, was tampering in any way with the considered +policy of the Cabinet was absurd, although it served the purpose of +averting a crisis in the House of Commons. He had been in constant and +close communication with Churchill, who had himself been present at the +War Office Conference with Gough, and who had seen the Prime Minister +earlier in company with Sir John French. The whole business had been +discussed at the Cabinet Meeting, and when Seely returned from his +audience of the King he found the Prime Minister, Mr. Churchill, and +Lord Morley still in the Cabinet room. Mr. Asquith said on the 25th in +the House of Commons that no Minister except Seely had seen the added +paragraphs, and almost at the same moment in the House of Lords Lord +Morley was saying that he had helped Seely to draft them.<a name="Page_184"></a> Moreover, +Lord Morley actually took a copy of them, which he read in the House of +Lords, and he included the substance of them in his exposition of the +Government policy in the Upper House.</p> + +<p>Furthermore, General Gough was on his way to Ireland that night, and if +it had been true that the Prime Minister, or any other Minister, +disapproved of what Seely had done, there was no reason why Gough should +not have found a telegram waiting for him at the Curragh in the morning +cancelling Seely's paragraphs and withdrawing the assurance they +contained. No step of that kind was taken, and the Government, while +repudiating in the House of Commons the action for which Seely was +allowed to take the sole responsibility, permitted Gough to retain in +his despatch-box the document signed by the Army Council.</p> + +<p>For it was not only the Secretary of State for War who was involved. The +memorandum had been written by the Adjutant-General, and it bore the +initials of Sir John French and Sir Spencer Ewart as well as Colonel +Seely's. These members of the Army Council knew that the verbal +assurance given by the Secretary of State to Gough had not been +completely embodied in the written memorandum without the paragraph +which had been repudiated after the debate in the Commons on the 24th, +and they were not prepared to go back on their written word, or to be +satisfied by the "put-up job" resignation of their civilian Chief. They +both sent in their resignations; and, as they refused even under +pressure to withdraw them, the Secretary of State had no choice but to +do the same on the 30th of March, this time beyond recall. Mr. Asquith +announced on the same day that he had himself become Secretary of State +for War, and would have to go to Scotland for re-election.</p> + +<p>The facts as here related were only extracted by the most persistent and +laborious cross-examination of the Government, who employed all the +familiar arts of official evasion in order to conceal the truth from the +country. Day after day Ministers were bombarded by batteries of +questions in the House of Commons, in addition to the lengthy debates +that occupied the House for several consecutive days. This pressure +compelled the Prime Minister <a name="Page_185"></a>to produce a White Paper, entitled +"Correspondence relating to Recent Events in the Irish Command."<a name="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78"><sup>[78]</sup></a> It +was published on the 25th of March, the third day of the continuous +debates, and, although Mr. Asquith said it contained "all the material +documents," it was immediately apparent to members who had closely +studied the admissions that had been dragged from the Ministers chiefly +concerned, that it was very far from doing so. Much the most important +documents had, in fact, been withheld. Suspicion as to the good faith of +the Government was increased when it was found that the Lord Chancellor, +Lord Haldane, had interpolated into the official Report of his speech in +the House of Lords a significant word which transformed his definite +pledge that Ulster would not be coerced, into a mere statement that no +"immediate" coercion was contemplated.</p> + +<p>In the face of such evasion and prevarication it was out of the question +to let the matter drop. On the 22nd of April the Government was forced +to publish a second White Paper,<a name="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79"><sup>[79]</sup></a> which contained a large number of +highly important documents omitted from the first. But it was evident +that much was still being kept back, and, in particular, that what had +passed between Sir Arthur Paget and his officers at a conference +mentioned in the published correspondence was being carefully concealed. +Mr. Bonar Law demanded a judicial inquiry, where evidence could be taken +on oath. Mr. Asquith refused, saying that an insinuation against the +honour of Ministers could only be properly investigated by the House of +Commons itself, and that a day would be given for a vote of censure if +the leader of the Opposition meant that he could not trust the word of +Ministers of the Crown. Mr. Bonar Law sharply retorted that he "had +already accused the Prime Minister of making a statement which was +false."<a name="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80"><sup>[80]</sup></a> But even this did not suffice to drive the Government to +face the ordeal of having their own account of the affair at the Curragh +sifted by the sworn evidence of others who knew the facts. They +preferred to take cover under the dutiful cheers of <a name="Page_186"></a>their parliamentary +majority when they repeated their explanations, which had already been +proved to be untrue.</p> + +<p>But the Ulster Unionist Council had, meantime, been making inquiries on +their own account. There was nothing in the least improper, although the +supporters of the Government tried to make out that there was, in the +officers at the Curragh revealing what the Commander-in-Chief had said +to them, so long as they did not communicate anything to the Press. They +were not, and could not be, pledged to secrecy. It thus happened that it +was possible for the Old Town Hall in Belfast to put together a more +complete account of the whole affair than it suited the Government to +reveal to Parliament. On the 17th of April the Standing Committee issued +to the Press a statement giving the main additional facts which a sworn +inquiry would have elicited. It bore the signatures of Lord Londonderry +and Sir Edward Carson, and there can have been few foolhardy enough to +suggest that these were men who would be likely to take such a step +without first satisfying themselves as to the trustworthiness of the +evidence, a point on which the judgment of one of them at all events was +admittedly unrivalled.</p> + +<p>From this statement it appeared that Sir Arthur Paget, so far from +indicating that mere "precautionary measures" for the protection of +Government stores were in contemplation, told his generals that +preparations had been made for the employment of some 25,000 troops in +Ulster, in conjunction with naval operations. The gravity of the plan +was revealed by the General's use of the words "battles" and "the +enemy," and his statement that he would himself be "in the firing line" +at the first "battle." He said that, when some casualties had been +suffered by the troops, he intended to approach "the enemy" with a flag +of truce and demand their surrender, and if this should be refused he +would order an assault on their position. The cavalry, whose pro-Ulster +sentiments must have been well known to the Commander-in-Chief, were +told that they would only be required to prevent the infantry "bumping +into the enemy," or in other words to act as a cavalry screen; that they +would not be called upon to fire on "the <a name="Page_187"></a>enemy"; and that as soon as +the infantry became engaged, they would be withdrawn and sent to Cork, +where "a disturbance would be arranged" to provide a pretext for the +movement. A Military Governor of Belfast was to be appointed, and the +general purpose of the operations was to blockade Ulster by land and +sea, and to provoke the Ulster men to shed the first blood.</p> + +<p>The publication of this statement with the authority of the two Ulster +leaders created a tremendous sensation. But it probably strengthened the +resolution of the Government to refuse at all costs a judicial inquiry, +which they knew would only supply sworn corroboration of the Ulster +Unionist Council's story. In this they were assisted in an unexpected +way. Just when the pressure was at its highest, relief came by the +diversion of attention and interest caused by another startling event in +Ulster, which will be described in the following chapters.</p> + +<p>This Curragh Incident, which caused intense and prolonged excitement in +March 1914, and nearly upset the Asquith Government, had more than +momentary importance in connection with the Ulster Movement. It proved +to demonstration the intense sympathy with the loyalist cause that +pervaded the Army. That sympathy was not, as Radical politicians like +Mr. John Ward believed, an aristocratic sentiment only to be found in +the mess-rooms of smart cavalry regiments. It existed in all branches of +the Service, and among the rank and file as well as the commissioned +ranks. Sir Arthur Paget's telegram reporting to the War Office the +feeling in the 5th and 16th Lancers, said, "Fear men will refuse to +move."<a name="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81"><sup>[81]</sup></a> The men had not the same facility as the officers in making +their sentiments known at headquarters, but their sympathies were the +same.</p> + +<p>The Government had no excuse for being ignorant of this feeling in the +Army. It had been a matter of notoriety for a long time. Its existence +and its danger had been reported by Lord Wolseley to the Duke of +Cambridge, back in the old days of Gladstonian Home Rule, in a letter +that had been since published. In July 1913 <i>The Times</i> gave <a name="Page_188"></a>the +warning in a leading article that "the crisis, the approach of which +Ministers affect to treat with unconcern, is already causing uneasiness +and apprehension in the public Services, and especially in the Army.... +It is notorious that some officers have already begun to speak of +sending in their papers." Lord Roberts had uttered a significant warning +in the House of Lords not long before the incident at the Curragh. +Colonel Seely himself had been made aware of it in the previous December +when he signed a War Office Memorandum on the subject<a name="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82"><sup>[82]</sup></a>; and, indeed, +no officer could fail to be aware of it who had ever been quartered in +Ireland.</p> + +<p>Nor was it surprising that this sympathy should manifest itself. No one +is quicker to appreciate the difference between loyalty and disloyalty +than the soldier. There were few regiments in the Army that had not +learnt by experience that the King's uniform was constantly insulted in +Nationalist Ireland, and as invariably welcomed and honoured in Ulster. +In the vote of censure debate on the 19th of March Mr. Cave quoted an +Irish newspaper, which had described the British Army as "the most +immoral and degraded force in Europe," and warned Irishmen that, by +joining it, all they would get was "a red coat, a dishonoured name, a +besmirched character." On the other hand, the very troops who were sent +North from the Curragh against the advice of Sir Arthur Paget, to +provoke "the Ulsterites to shed the first blood," had, as the +Commander-in-Chief reported, "everywhere a good reception."<a name="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83"><sup>[83]</sup></a></p> + +<p>The welcoming cheers at Holywood and Carrickfergus and Armagh were +probably a pleasant novelty to men fresh from the Curragh or Fermoy. +Even in Belfast itself the contrast was brought home to troops quartered +in Victoria Barracks, all of whom were well aware that on the death of a +comrade his coffin would have to be borne by a roundabout route to the +cemetery, to avoid the Nationalist quarter of the city where a military +funeral would be exposed to insult.</p> + +<p>Such experiences, as they harden into traditions, sink deep into the +consciousness of an Army and breed senti<a name="Page_189"></a>ments that are not easily +eradicated. Soldiers ought, of course, to have no politics; but when it +appeared that they might be called upon to open fire on those whom they +had always counted "on our side," in order to subject them forcibly to +men who hated the sight of a British flag and were always ready to spit +upon it, human nature asserted itself. And the incident taught the +Government something as to the difficulty they would have in enforcing +the Home Rule Bill in Ulster.</p><a name="Page_190"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64">[64]</a><div class="note"><p> See White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. II.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65">[65]</a><div class="note"><p> See White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. VI.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66">[66]</a><div class="note"><p> See White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. VII.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67">[67]</a><div class="note"><p> White Paper (Cd. 7329), Part II, No. II.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68">[68]</a><div class="note"><p> White Paper (Cd. 7329), Part III.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69">[69]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>Parliamentary Debates</i>, vol. lx, p. 73.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70">[70]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., p. 426.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71">[71]</a><div class="note"><p> Cd. 7329, No. XVII.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72">[72]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., Nos. XVIII, XX.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73">[73]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., Nos. XXII, XXIII.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74">[74]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>Parliamentary Debates</i>, vol. lx, p. 246.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75">[75]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., p. 400.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76">[76]</a><div class="note"><p> White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. XX.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77">[77]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Nineteenth Century and After</i>, January 1921, art. +"The Army and Ireland," by Lieut.-Colonel John Ward, C.B., C.M.G., M.P.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78">[78]</a><div class="note"><p> Cd. 7318.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79">[79]</a><div class="note"><p> Cd. 7329.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80">[80]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Parliamentary Debate</i>, vol. lxi, p. 765.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81">[81]</a><div class="note"><p> White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. XVII. See <i>ante</i>, p. 180.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82">[82]</a><div class="note"><p> White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. I.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83">[83]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., No. XXVII.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h4>ARMING THE U.V.F.</h4> + + +<p>If the "evil-disposed persons" who so excited the fancy of Colonel Seely +were supposed to be Ulster Loyalists, the whole story was an absurdity +that did no credit to the Government's Intelligence in Ireland; and if +there ever was any "information," such as the War Office alleged, it +must have come from a source totally ignorant of Ulster psychology. +Raids on Government stores were never part of the Ulster programme. The +excitement of the Curragh Incident passed off without causing any sort +of disturbance, and, as we have seen, the troops who were sent North +received everywhere in Ulster a loyal welcome. This was a fine tribute +to the discipline and restraint of the people, and was a further proof +of their confidence in their leaders.</p> + +<p>Those leaders, it happened, were at that very moment taking measures to +place arms in the hands of the U.V.F. without robbing Government depots +or any one else. That method was left to their opponents in Ireland at a +later date, who adopted it on an extensive scale accompanied by +systematic terrorism. The Ulster plan was quite different. All the arms +they obtained were paid for, and their only crime was that they +successfully hoodwinked Mr. Asquith's colleagues and agents.</p> + +<p>Every movement has its Fabius, and also its Hotspur. Both are +needed—the men of prudence and caution, anxious to avoid extreme +courses, slow to commit themselves too far or to burn their boats with +the river behind them; and the impetuous spirits, who chafe at +half-measures, cannot endure temporising, and are impatient for the +order to advance against any odds. Major F.H. Crawford had more of the +temperament of a Hotspur than of a Fabius, but he nevertheless possessed +qualities of patience, re<a name="Page_191"></a>ticence, discretion, and coolness which +enabled him to render invaluable service to the Ulster cause in an +enterprise that would certainly have miscarried in the hands of a man +endowed only with impetuosity and reckless courage. If the story of his +adventures in procuring arms for the U.V.F. be ever told in minute +detail, it will present all the features of an exciting novel by Mr. +John Buchan.</p> + +<p>Fred Crawford, the man who followed a family tradition when he signed +the Covenant with his own blood,<a name="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84"><sup>[84]</sup></a> began life as a premium apprentice +in Harland and Wolf's great ship-building yard, after which he served +for a year as an engineer in the White Star Line, before settling down +to his father's manufacturing business in Belfast. Like so many ardent +Loyalists in Ulster, he came of Liberal stock. He was for years honorary +Secretary of the Reform Club in Belfast. The more staid members of this +highly respectable establishment were not a little startled and +perplexed when it was brought to their attention in 1907 that +advertisements in the name of one "Hugh Matthews," giving the Belfast +Reform Club as his address, had appeared in a number of foreign +newspapers—French, Belgian, Italian, German, and Austrian—inquiring +for "10,000 rifles and one million rounds of small-arm ammunition." The +membership of the Club included no Hugh Matthews; but inquiry showed +that the name covered the identity of the Hon. Secretary; and Crawford, +who sought no concealment in the matter, justified the advertisements by +pointing out that the Liberal Government which had lately come into +power had begun its rule in Ireland by repealing the Act prohibiting the +importation of arms, and that there was therefore nothing illegal in +what he was doing. But he resigned his secretaryship, which he felt +might hamper future transactions of the same kind. The advertisement was +no doubt half bravado and half practical joke; he wanted to see whether +it would attract notice, and if anything would come of it. But it had +also an element of serious purpose.</p> + +<p>Crawford regarded the advent to power of the Liberal Party as ominous, +as indeed all Ulster did, for the Liberal Party was a Home Rule Party; +and he had from his youth <a name="Page_192"></a>been convinced that the day would come when +Ulster would have to carry out Lord Randolph Churchill's injunction. +That being so, he was not the man to tarry till solemn assemblies of +merchants, lawyers, and divines should propound a policy; if there was +to be fighting, Crawford was going to be ready for it, and thought that +preparation for such a contingency could not begin too soon. And the +advertisements were not barren of practical result. There was an +astonishing number of replies; Crawford purchased a few rifles, and +obtained samples of others; and, what was more important, he gained +knowledge of the Continental trade in second-hand firearms, which had +its centre in the free port of Hamburg, and of the men engaged in that +trade. This knowledge he turned to account in 1912 and the two following +years.</p> + +<p>He had been for nearly twenty years an officer of Artillery Militia, and +when the U.V.F. was organised in 1912 he became its Director of Ordnance +on the headquarters staff. He was also a member of the Standing +Committee of the Ulster Unionist Council, where he persistently +advocated preparation for armed resistance long before most of his +colleagues thought such a policy necessary. But early in 1912 he +obtained leave to get samples of procurable firearms, and his +promptitude in acting on it, and in presenting before certain members of +the Committee a collection of gleaming rifles with bayonets fixed, took +away the breath of the more cautious of his colleagues.</p> + +<p>From this time forward Crawford was frequently engaged in this business. +He got into communication with the dealers in arms whose acquaintance he +had made six years before. He went himself to Hamburg, and, after +learning something of the chicanery prevalent in the trade, which it +took all his resourcefulness to overcome, he fell in with an honest Jew +by whose help he succeeded in sending a thousand rifles safely to +Belfast. Other consignments followed from time to time in larger or +smaller quantities, in the transport of which all the devices of +old-time smuggling were put to the test. Crawford bought a schooner, +which for a year or more proved very useful, and, while employing her in +bringing arms to Ulster, he <a name="Page_193"></a>made acquaintance with a skipper of one of +the Antrim Iron Ore Company's coasting steamers, whose name was Agnew, a +fine seaman of the best type produced by the British Mercantile Marine, +who afterwards proved an invaluable ally, to whose loyalty and ability +Crawford and Ulster owed a deep debt of gratitude, as they also did to +Mr. Robert Browne, Managing Director of the Antrim Iron Ore Company, for +placing at their disposal both vessels and seamen from time to time.</p> + +<p>Now and then the goods fell a victim to Custom House vigilance; for +although there was at this time nothing illegal in importing firearms, +it was not considered prudent to carry on the trade openly, which would +certainly have led to prohibition being introduced and enforced; and, +consequently, infringements of shipping regulations had to be risked, +which gave the authorities the right to interfere if they discovered +rifles where zinc plates or musical instruments ought to have been.</p> + +<p>On one occasion a case of arms was shipped on a small steamer from +Glasgow to Portrush, but was not entered in the manifest, so that the +skipper (being a worthy man) knew nothing—officially—of this box which +lay on deck instead of descending into the hold. But two Customs +officials, who noticed it with unsatisfied curiosity, decided, just as +the boat cast off, to make the trip to Portrush. Happily it was a dirty +night, and they, being bad sailors, were constrained to take refuge from +the elements in the Captain's cabin. But when Portrush was reached +search and research proved unavailing to find the mysterious box; the +skipper could find no mention of it in the manifest and thought the +Customs House gentlemen must have been dreaming; they, on the other +hand, threatened to seize the ship if the box did not materialise, and +were told to do so at their peril. But exactly off Ballycastle, which +had been passed while the officials were poorly, there was a float in +the sea attached to a line, which in due course led to the recovery of a +case of valuable property that was none the worse for a few hours' rest +on the bottom of the Moyle.</p> + +<p>Qualities of a different sort were called into play in <a name="Page_194"></a>negotiating the +purchase of machine-guns from Messrs. Vickers & Co., at Woolwich. Here a +strong American accent, combined with the providential circumstance that +Mexico happened to be in the grip of revolutionary civil war, overcame +all difficulties, and Mr. John Washington Graham, U.S.A. (otherwise Fred +H. Crawford of Belfast) played his part so effectively that he did not +fail to finish the deal by extracting a handsome commission for himself, +which found its way subsequently to the coffers of the Ulster Unionist +Council. But he compensated the Company by making a suggestion for +improving the mechanism of the Maxim-gun which the great ordnance +manufacturers permanently adopted without having to pay for any patent +rights.</p> + +<p>Major Crawford was, however, by no means the only person who was at this +time bringing arms and ammunition into Ulster, which, as already +explained, although not illegal, could not be safely done openly on a +large scale. Ammunition in small quantities dribbled into Belfast pretty +constantly, many amateur importers deriving pleasurable excitement from +feeling themselves conspirators, and affording amusement to others by +the tales told of the ingenious expedients resorted to by the smugglers.</p> + +<p>There was a dock porter at Belfast, an intense admirer of Sir Edward +Carson, who was the retailer of one of the best of these stories. He was +always on the look-out for the leader arriving by the Liverpool steamer, +and would allow no one else, if he could help it, to handle the great +man's hand-baggage; and when Carson was not a passenger, any of his +satellites who happened to be travelling came in for vicarious +attention. Thus, it happened on one occasion that the writer, arriving +alone from Liverpool, was hailed from the shore before the boat was made +fast. "Is Sir Edward on board?" A shake of the head brought a look of +pathetic disappointment to the face of the hero-worshipper; but he was +on board before the gangway was down and busy collecting the belongings +of the leader's unworthy substitute. When laden with these and half-way +down the gangway he <a name="Page_195"></a>stopped, and, entirely careless of the fact that he +was obstructing a number of passengers impatient to land, he turned and +whispered—a whisper that might be heard thirty yards off—with a +knowing wink of the eye:</p> + +<p>"We're getting in plenty of stuff now."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," was the reply. "Never mind about that now; put those things +on a car."</p> + +<p>But he continued, without budging from the gangway, "Och aye, we're +getting in plenty; but my God, didn't Mrs. Blank o' Dungannon bate all? +Did ye hear about her?"</p> + +<p>"No, I never heard of Mrs. Blank of Dungannon. But do hurry along, my +good man; you're keeping back all the passengers."</p> + +<p>"What! ye never heard o' Mrs. Blank o' Dungannon? Wait now till I tell +ye. Mrs. Blank came off this boat not a fortnight ago, an' as she came +down this gangway I declare to God you'd ha' swore she was within a week +of her time—and divil a ha'porth the matter with her, only cartridges. +An' the fun was that the Custom House boys knowed rightly what it was, +but they dursn't lay a hand on her nor search her, for fear they were +wrong."</p> + +<p>This admiring tribute to the heroic matron of Dungannon—whose real name +was not concealed by the porter—was heard by a number of people, and +probably most of them thought themselves compensated by the story for +the delay it caused them in leaving the steamer.</p> + +<p>By the summer of 1913 several thousands of rifles had been brought into +Ulster; but in May of that year the mishap occurred to which Lord +Roberts referred in his letter to Colonel Hickman on the 4th of June, +when he wrote: "I am sorry to read about the capture of rifles."<a name="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85"><sup>[85]</sup></a> +Crawford had been obliged to find some place in London for storing the +arms which he was procuring from his friends in Hamburg, and with the +help of Sir William Bull, M.P. for Hammersmith, the yard of an +old-fashioned inn in that district was found where it was believed they +would be safe until means of transporting them to the North of Ireland +could be devised. The inn was taken <a name="Page_196"></a>by a firm calling itself John +Ferguson & Co., the active member of which was Sir William Bull's +brother-in-law, Captain Budden; and the business appeared to consist of +dealing in second-hand scientific instruments and machinery, +curiosities, antique armour and weapons, old furniture, and so forth, +which were brought in very heavy cases and deposited in the yard. For a +time it proved useful, and the Maxims from Woolwich passed safely +through the Hammersmith store. But the London police got wind of the +Hammersmith Armoury, and seized a consignment of between six and seven +thousand excellent Italian rifles. A rusty and little-known Act of +Parliament had to be dug up to provide legal authority for the seizure. +Many sportsmen and others then learnt for the first time that, under the +Gun-barrel Proof Act, 1868, every gun-barrel in England must bear the +Gun-makers' Company's proof-mark showing that its strength has been +tested and approved. As the penalty for being in possession of guns not +so marked was a fine of £2 per barrel, to have put in a claim for the +Italian rifles seized at Hammersmith would have involved a payment of +more than £12,000, and would have given the Government information as to +the channel through which they had been imported. No move was made, +therefore, so far as the firearms were concerned, but the bayonets +attached to them, for the seizure of which there was no legal +justification, were claimed by Crawford's agent in Hamburg, and +eventually reached Ulster safely by another route. About the same time a +consignment of half a million rounds of small-arm ammunition, which was +discovered by the authorities through faulty packing in cement-bags, was +also confiscated in another part of the country.</p> + +<p>These losses convinced Crawford that a complete change of method must be +adopted if faith was to be kept with the Ulster Volunteers, who were +implicitly trusting their leaders to provide them with weapons to enable +them to make good the Covenant. More than a year before this time he had +told the special Committee dealing with arms, to which he was +immediately responsible, that, in his judgment, the only way of dealing +effectively with the <a name="Page_197"></a>problem was not by getting small quantities +smuggled from time to time by various devices and through disguised +ordinary trade channels, but by bringing off a grand <i>coup</i>, as if +running a blockade in time of war. He had crossed the Channel on purpose +to submit this view to Sir Edward Carson and Captain Craig early in +1912, but at that time nothing was done to give effect to it.</p> + +<p>But the seizure of so large a number as six thousand rifles at a time +when the political situation looked like moving towards a crisis in the +near future, made necessary a bolder attempt to procure the necessary +arms. When General Sir George Richardson took command of the U.V.F. in +July 1913 he placed Captain (afterwards Lieut.-Colonel) Wilfrid Bliss +Spender on his staff, and soon afterwards appointed him A.Q.M.G. of the +Forces. Captain Spender's duties comprised the supply of equipment, +arms, and ammunition, the organisation of transport, and the supervision +of communications. He was now requested to confer with Major Fred +Crawford with a view to preparing a scheme for procuring arms and +ammunition, to be submitted to a special sub-committee appointed to deal +with this matter, of which Captain James Craig was chairman. Spender +gave his attention mainly to the difficulties that would attend the +landing and distribution of arms if they reached Ulster in safety; +Crawford said he could undertake to purchase and bring them from a +foreign port. Crawford's proposed <i>modus operandi</i> may be given in his +own words:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I would immediately go to Hamburg and see B.S. [the Hebrew dealer + in firearms with whom he had been in communication for some six or + seven years, and whom he had found perfectly honest, and not at all + grasping], and consult him as to what he had to offer. I would + purchase 25,000 to 30,000 rifles, modern weapons if possible, and + not the Italian Vetteli rifles we had been getting, all to take the + same ammunition and fitted with bayonets. I would purchase a + suitable steamer of 600 tons in some foreign port and load her up + with the arms, and either bring her in direct or transfer the cargo + to a local steamer in some estuary or bay on the Scottish coast. I + felt confident, <a name="Page_198"></a>though I knew the difficulties in front of me, + that I could carry it through all right."<a name="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86"><sup>[86]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>The sub-committee accepted Crawford's proposal, and, when it had been +confirmed by Headquarters Council, he was commissioned to go to Hamburg +to see how the land lay. On arriving there he found that B.S. had still +in store ten thousand Vetteli rifles and a million rounds of ammunition +for them, which he had been holding for Crawford for two years. After a +day or two the dealer laid three alternative proposals before his Ulster +customer: (a) Twenty thousand Vetteli rifles, with bayonets (ammunition +would have to be specially manufactured).(6) Thirty thousand Russian +rifles with bayonets (lacking scabbards) and ammunition, (c) Fifteen +thousand new Austrian, and five thousand German army rifles with +bayonets, both to take standard Mannlicher cartridges.</p> + +<p>The last mentioned of these alternatives was much the most costly, being +double the price of the first and nearly treble that of the second; but +it had great advantages over the other two. Ammunition for the Italian +weapons was only manufactured in Italy, and, if further supplies should +be required, could only be got from that country. The Russian rifles +were perfectly new and unused, but were of an obsolete pattern; they +were single-loaders, and fresh supplies of cartridges would be nearly as +difficult to procure for them as for the Italian. The Austrian and +German patterns were both first-rate; the rifles were up-to-date +clip-loaders, and, what was the most important consideration, ammunition +for them would be easily procurable in the United Kingdom or from +America or Canada.</p> + +<p>But the difference in cost was so great that Crawford returned to +Belfast to explain matters to his Committee, calling in London on his +way to inform Carson and Craig. He strongly urged the acceptance of the +third alternative offer, laying stress, among other considerations, on +the moral effect on men who knew they had in their hands the most modern +weapon with all latest improvements. Carson was content to be guided on +a technical matter of this <a name="Page_199"></a>sort by the judgment of a man whom he knew +to be an expert, and as James Craig, who was in control of the fund +ear-marked for the purchase of arms, also agreed, Crawford had not much +difficulty in persuading the Committee when he reached Belfast, although +at first they were rather staggered by the difference in cost between +the various proposals.</p> + +<p>It was not until the beginning of February 1914 that Crawford returned +to Hamburg to accept this offer, and to make arrangements with B.S. for +carrying out the rest of his scheme for transporting his precious but +dangerous cargo to Ulster. On his way through London he called again on +Carson.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I pointed out to Sir Edward, my dear old Chief," says Crawford in + a written account of the interview, "that some of my Committee had + no idea of the seriousness of the undertaking, and, when they did + realise what they were in for, might want to back out of it. I + said, 'Once I cross this time to Hamburg there is no turning back + with me, no matter what the circumstances are so far as my personal + safety is concerned; and no contrary orders from the Committee to + cancel what they have agreed to with me will I obey. I shall carry + out the <i>coup</i> if I lose my life in the attempt. Now, Sir Edward, + you know what I am about to undertake, and the risks those who back + me up must run. Are you willing to back me to the finish in this + undertaking? If you are not, I don't go. But, if you are, I would + go even if I knew I should not return; it is for Ulster and her + freedom I am working, and this alone.' I so well remember that + scene. We were alone; Sir Edward was sitting opposite to me. When I + had finished, his face was stern and grim, and there was a glint in + his eye. He rose to his full height, looking me in the eye; he + advanced to where I was sitting and stared down at me, and shook + his clenched fist in my face, and said in a steady, determined + voice, which thrilled me and which I shall never forget: 'Crawford, + I'll see you through this business, if I should have to go to + prison for it.' I rose from my chair; I held out my hand and said, + 'Sir Edward, that is all I want. I leave to-night; good-bye.'"</p></blockquote> + +<p>Next day Crawford was in Hamburg. He immediately <a name="Page_200"></a>concluded his +agreement with B.S., and began making arrangements for carrying out the +plan he had outlined to the Committee in Belfast. As will be seen in the +next chapter, he was actually in the middle of this adventure at the +very time when Seely and Churchill were worrying lest "evil-disposed +persons" should raid and rob the scantily stocked Government Stores at +Omagh and Enniskillen.</p><a name="Page_201"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84">[84]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Ante</i>, p. 123.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85">[85]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Ante</i>, p. 161.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86">[86]</a><div class="note"><p> From a manuscript narrative by Colonel F.H. Crawford.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h4>A VOYAGE OF ADVENTURE</h4> + + +<p>Although Mr. Lloyd George's message to mankind on New Year's Day, 1914, +was that "Anglo-German relations were far more friendly than for years +past,"<a name="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87"><sup>[87]</sup></a> and that there was therefore no need to strengthen the +British Navy, it may be doubted, with the knowledge we now possess, +whether the German Government would have been greatly incensed at the +idea of a cargo of firearms finding its way from Hamburg to Ireland in +the spring of that year without the knowledge of the British Government. +But if that were the case Fred Crawford had no reason to suspect it. +German surveillance was always both efficient and obtrusive, and he had +to make his preparations under a vigilance by the authorities which +showed no signs of laxity. Those preparations involved the assembling +and the packing of 20,000 modern rifles, 15,000 of which had to be +brought from a factory in Austria; 10,000 Italian rifles previously +purchased, which B.S. had in store; bayonets for all the firearms; and +upwards of 3,000,000 rounds of small-arm ammunition. The packing of the +arms was a matter to which Crawford gave particular attention. He kept +in mind the circumstances under which he expected them to be landed in +Ulster. Avoidance of confusion and rapidity of handling were of the +first importance. Rifles, bayonets, and ammunition must be not separated +in bulk, requiring to be laboriously reassembled at their destination. +He therefore insisted that parcels should be made up containing five +rifles in each, with bayonets to match, and 100 rounds of ammunition per +rifle, each parcel weighing about 75 lbs. He attached so much importance +to this system of packing that he adhered to it <a name="Page_202"></a>even after discovering +that it would cost about £2,000, and would take more than a month to +complete.</p> + +<p>While the work of packing was going on, Crawford, who found he was +exciting the curiosity of the Hamburg police, kept out of sight as much +as possible, and he paid more than one visit to the Committee in +Belfast, leaving the supervision to the skipper and packer, whom he had +found he could trust. In the meantime, by advertisements in the +Scandinavian countries, he was looking out for a suitable steamer to +carry the cargo. For a crew his thoughts turned to his old friend, +Andrew Agnew, skipper in the employment of the Antrim Iron Ore Company. +Happily he was not only able to secure the services of Agnew himself, +but Agnew brought with him his mate and his chief and second engineers. +This was a great gain; for they were not only splendid men at their job, +but were men willing to risk their liberty or their lives for the Ulster +cause. Deck-hands and firemen would be procurable at whatever port a +steamer was to be bought.</p> + +<p>Several vessels were offered in response to Crawford's advertisements, +and on the 16th of March, when the packing of the arms was well +advanced, Crawford, Agnew, and his chief engineer went to Norway to +inspect these steamers. Eventually they selected the s.s. <i>Fanny</i>, which +had just returned to Bergen with a cargo of coal from Newcastle. She was +only an eight-knot vessel, but her skipper, a Norwegian, gave a +favourable report of her sea-going qualities and coal consumption, and +Agnew and his engineer were satisfied by their inspection of her. The +deal was quickly completed, and the Captain and his Norwegian crew +willingly consented to remain in charge of the <i>Fanny</i>; and, in order to +enable her to sail under the Norwegian flag, as a precaution against +possible confiscation in British waters, it was arranged that the +Captain should be the nominal purchaser, giving Crawford a mortgage for +her full value.</p> + +<p>Then, leaving Agnew to get sufficient stores on board the <i>Fanny</i> for a +three-months' cruise, Crawford returned to Hamburg on the 20th, and +thence to Belfast to report progress. Agnew's orders were to bring the +<i>Fanny</i> in three weeks' time to a rendezvous marked on the chart +<a name="Page_203"></a>between the Danish islands of Langeland and Fünen, where he was to pick +up the cargo of arms, which Crawford would bring in lighters from +Hamburg through the Kiel Canal.</p> + +<p>While Crawford was in Belfast arrangements were made to enable him to +keep in communication with Spender, so that in case of necessity he +could be warned not to approach the Irish coast, but to cruise in the +Baltic till a more favourable opportunity. He was to let Spender know +later where he could be reached with final instructions as to landing +the arms; the rendezvous so agreed upon subsequently was Lough Laxford, +a wild and inaccessible spot on the west coast of Sutherlandshire. +Crawford was warned by B.S. that he was far from confident of a +successful end to their labours at Hamburg. He had never before shipped +anything like so large a number of firearms; and the long process of +packing, and Crawford's own mysterious coming and going, would be +certain to excite suspicion, which would reach the secret agents of the +British Government, and lead either to a protest addressed to the German +authorities, followed by a prohibition on shipping the arms, or to +confiscation by the British authorities when the cargo entered British +territorial waters.</p> + +<p>These fears must have been present to the mind of B.S. when he met +Crawford at the station in Hamburg on the 27th on his return from +Belfast, for the precautions taken to avoid being followed gave their +movements the character of an adventure by one of Stanley Weyman's +heroes of romance. Whether any suspicion had in fact been aroused +remains unknown. Anyhow, the barges were ready laden, with a tug waiting +till the tide should serve about midnight for making a start down the +Elbe, and through the canal to Kiel. The modest sum of £10 procured an +order authorising the tug and barges to proceed through the canal +without stopping, and requiring other shipping to let them pass. A black +flag was the signal of this privileged position, which suggested the +"Jolly Roger" to Crawford's thoughts, and gave a sense of insolent +audacity when great liners of ten or fifteen thousand tons were seen +making way for a tug-boat towing a couple of lighters.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_204"></a>For the success of the enterprise up to this point Crawford was greatly +indebted to the Jew, B.S. From first to last this gentleman "played the +game" with sterling honesty and straightforward dealing that won his +customers' warm admiration. Several times he accepted Crawford's word as +sufficient security when cash was not immediately forthcoming, and in no +instance did he bear out the character traditionally attributed to his +race.</p> + +<p>On arrival at Kiel, Crawford, after a short absence from the tug, was +informed that three men had been inquiring from the lightermen and the +tug's skipper about the nature and destination of the cargo. All such +evidences of curiosity on the subject were rather alarming, but it +turned out that the visitors were probably Mexicans—of what political +party there it would be impossible to guess—whose interest had been +aroused by the rumour, which Crawford had encouraged, that guns were +being shipped to that distracted Republic. Still more alarming was the +arrival on board the tug of a German official in resplendent uniform, +who insisted that he must inspect the cargo. Crawford knew no German, +but the shipping agent who accompanied him produced papers showing that +all formalities had been complied with, and all requisite authorisation +obtained. Neither official papers, however, nor arguments made any +impression on the officer until it occurred to Crawford to produce a +100-marks note, which proved much more persuasive, and sent the official +on his way rejoicing, with expressions of civility on both sides.</p> + +<p>The relief of the Ulsterman when the last of the Kiel forts was left +behind, and he knew that his cargo was clear of Germany, may be +imagined. A night was spent crossing Kiel Bay, and in the morning of the +29th they were close to Langeland, and approaching the rendezvous with +the <i>Fanny</i>. She was there waiting, and Agnew, in obedience to orders, +had already painted out her name on bows and stern. The next thing was +to transfer the arms from the lighters to the <i>Fanny</i>. Crawford was +apprehensive lest the Danish authorities should take an interest in the +proceedings if the work was carried out in the narrow <a name="Page_205"></a>channel between +the islands, and he proposed, as it was quite calm, to defer operations +till they were further from the shore. But the Norwegian Captain +declared that he had often transhipped cargo at this spot, and that +there was no danger whatever. Nevertheless, Crawford's fears were +realised. Before the work was half finished a Danish Port Officer came +on board, asked what the cargo comprised, and demanded to see the ship's +papers. According to the manifest the <i>Fanny</i> was bound for Iceland with +a general cargo, part of which was to be shipped at Bergen. The Danish +officer then spent half an hour examining the bales, and, although he +did not open any of them, Crawford felt no doubt he knew perfectly the +nature of their contents. Finally he insisted on carrying off the +papers, both of the <i>Fanny</i> and the tug-boat, saying that all the +information must be forwarded to Copenhagen to be dealt with by the +Government authorities, but that the papers would be returned early next +morning.</p> + +<p>One can well believe Crawford when he says that he suffered "mental +agony" that night. After all that he had planned, and all that he had +accomplished by many months of personal energy and resource, he saw +complete and ignominious failure staring him in the face. He realised +the heavy financial loss to the Ulster Loyalists, for his cargo +represented about £70,000 of their money; and he realised the bitter +disappointment of their hopes, which was far worse than any loss of +money. He pictured to himself what must happen in the morning—"to have +to follow a torpedo-boat into the naval base and lie there till the +whole Ulster scheme was unravelled and known to the world as a ghastly +failure, and the Province and Sir Edward and all the leaders the +laughing stock of the world"—and the thought of it all plunged him +almost into despair.</p> + +<p>Almost, but not quite. He was not the man to give way to despair. If it +came to the worst he would "put all the foreign crew and their +belongings into the boats and send them off; Agnew and I would arm +ourselves with a bundle of rifles, and cut it open and have 500 rounds +to fight any attempt to board us, and if we slipped this <a name="Page_206"></a>by any chance, +he and I would bring her to England together, he on deck and I in the +engine-room. He knew all about navigation and I knew all about engines, +having been a marine engineer in my youth."</p> + +<p>But a less desperate job called for immediate attention. The men engaged +in transferring the cargo from the barges to the steamer wanted to knock +off work for the night; but the offer of double pay persuaded them to +stick to it, and they worked with such good will that by midnight every +bale was safely below hatches in the <i>Fanny</i>. Crawford then instructed +the shipping agent to be off in the tug at break of day, giving him +letters to post which would apprise the Committee in Belfast of what had +happened, and give them the means of communicating with himself +according to previously concerted plans.</p> + +<p>Before morning a change occurred in the weather, which Crawford regarded +as providential. He was gladdened by the sight of a sea churned white by +half a gale, while a mist lay on the water, reducing visibility to about +300 yards. It would be impossible for the Port Officer's motor-boat to +face such a sea, or, if it did, to find the <i>Fanny</i>, unless guided by +her fog-whistle. As soon as eight o'clock had passed—the hour by which +the return of the ship's papers had been promised—Crawford weighed +anchor, and crept out of the narrow channel under cover of the fog, only +narrowly escaping going aground on the way among the banks and shallows +that made it impossible to sail before daylight, but eventually the open +sea was safely reached. But the <i>Fanny</i> was now without papers, and in +law was a pirate ship. It was therefore desirable for her to change her +costume. As many hands as possible were turned to the task of giving a +new colour to the funnel and making some other effective alterations in +her appearance, including a new name on her bows and stern. Thus +renovated, and after a delay of some days, caused by trifling mishaps, +she left the Cattegat behind and steered a course for British waters.</p> + +<p>The original plan had been to set a course for Iceland, and, when north +of the Shetlands, to turn to the southward to Lough Laxford, the agreed +rendezvous with Spender.<a name="Page_207"></a> But the incident at Langeland, which had made +the Danish authorities suspect illegal traffic with Iceland, made a +change of plan imperative. Before leaving Danish waters Crawford tried +to communicate this change to Belfast. But, meantime, information had +reached Belfast of certain measures being taken by the Government, and +Spender, hoping to catch Crawford before he left Kiel, went to Dublin to +telegraph from there. In Dublin he was dismayed to read in the +newspapers that a mysterious vessel called the <i>Fanny</i>, said to be +carrying arms for Ulster, had been captured by the Danish authorities in +the Baltic. For several days no further news reached Belfast, where it +was assumed that the whole enterprise had failed; and then a code +message informed the Committee that Crawford was in London.</p> + +<p>Spender at once went over to see him, in order to warn him not to bring +the arms to Ireland for the present. He was to take them back to +Hamburg, or throw them overboard, or sink the <i>Fanny</i> and take to her +boats, according to circumstances. But in London, instead of Crawford, +Spender found the Hamburg skipper and packer, who told him of Crawford's +escape from Langeland with the loss of the ship's papers. Spender, +knowing nothing of Crawford's change of plan, and anxious to convey to +him the latest instructions, went off on a wild-goose chase to the +Highlands of Scotland, where he spent the best part of an unhappy week +watching the waves tumbling in Lough Laxford, and looking as anxiously +as Tristan for the expected ship.</p> + +<p>Meantime the <i>Fanny</i> had crossed the North Sea, and Crawford sent Agnew +ashore at Yarmouth on the 7th of April with orders to hurry to Belfast, +where he was to procure another steamer and bring it to a rendezvous at +Lundy Island, in the Bristol Channel. Crawford himself, having +rechristened the <i>Fanny</i> for the second time (this time the <i>Doreen</i>), +proceeded down the English Channel, where he had a rather adventurous +cruise in a gale of wind. He kept close to the French coast, to avoid +any unwelcome attentions in British waters, but on the way had an attack +of malaria, which the Captain thought so <a name="Page_208"></a>grave that, no doubt with the +most humane motives, he declared his intention of putting Crawford +ashore at Dunkirk to save his life, a design which no persuasion short +of Crawford's handling of his revolver in true pirate fashion would make +the Norwegian abandon.</p> + +<p>In the heavy seas of the Channel the <i>Doreen</i> could not make more than +four knots, and she was consequently twenty-four hours late for the +rendezvous with Agnew at Lundy, where she arrived on the 11th of April. +The Bristol Channel seemed to swarm with pilot boats eager to be of +service, whose inquisitive and expert eyes were anything but welcome to +the custodian of Ulster's rifles; and to his highly strung imagination +every movement of every trawler appeared to betoken suspicion. And, +indeed, they were not without excuse for curiosity; for, a foreign +steamer whose course seemed indeterminate, now making for Cardiff and +now for St. Ives, observed at one time north-east of Lundy and a few +hours later south of the island—a tramp, in fact, that was obviously +"loitering" with no ascertainable destination, was enough to keep +telescopes to the eyes of Devon pilots and fisher-folk, and to set their +tongues wagging. But there was no help for it. Crawford could not leave +the rendezvous till Agnew arrived, and was forced to wander round Lundy +and up and down the Bristol Channel for two days and nights, until, at 5 +a.m. on Monday morning, the 13th of April, a signal from a passing +steamer, the <i>Balmerino</i>, gave the welcome tidings that Agnew was on +board and was proceeding to sea.</p> + +<p>When the two steamers were sufficiently far from Lundy lighthouse and +other prying eyes to make friendly intercourse safe, Agnew came on board +the <i>Doreen</i>, bringing with him another North Irish seaman whom he +introduced to Crawford. This man handed to Crawford a paper he had +brought from Belfast. It was typewritten; it bore no address and no +signature; it was no doubt a duplicate of what Spender had taken to the +Highlands, for its purport, as given by Crawford from memory, was to the +following effect: "Owing to great changes since you left, and altered +circumstances, the Committee think it would be <a name="Page_209"></a>unwise to bring the +cargo here at present, and instruct you to proceed to the Baltic and +cruise there for three months, keeping in touch with the Committee, or +else to store the goods at Hamburg till required."</p> + +<p>The "great changes" referred to were the operations that led to the +Curragh incident, the story of which Crawford now learnt from Agnew. The +presence of the fleet at Lamlash, and of destroyers off Carrickfergus, +was enough to make the Committee deem it an inopportune moment for +Crawford to bring his goods to Belfast Lough. But the latter was hardly +in a condition to appreciate the gravity of the situation, and the +indignation which the missive aroused in him is intelligible. After all +he had come through, the ups and downs, dangers and escapes—far more +varied than have been here recorded—the disappointment at being ordered +back was cruel; and in his eyes such instructions were despicably +pusillanimous. The caution that had prompted his instructors to leave +the order unsigned moved him to contempt, and in his wrath he was +confident that "the Chief at any rate had nothing to do with it." He +told the messenger that he did not know who had sent the paper, and did +not want to know, and instructed him to take it back and inform the +senders that, as it bore no signature, no date, no address, and no +official stamp, he declined to recognise it and refused to obey it; and, +further, that unless he received within six days properly authenticated +instructions for delivering his cargo, he would run his ship ashore at +high water in the County Down, and let the Ulstermen salve as much as +they could when the tide ebbed.</p> + +<p>But Crawford determined to make another effort first to accomplish his +task by less desperate methods. He therefore decided to accompany the +messenger back to Belfast. The <i>Doreen</i>, late <i>Fanny</i>, was too +foreign-looking to pass unchallenged up Belfast Lough, but he believed +that if the cargo could be transhipped to a vessel known to all watchers +on the North Irish coast, a policy of audacity would have a good chance +of success. The s.s. <i>Balmerino</i>, which had brought Agnew and the +messenger to Lundy, was such a vessel; her owner, Mr. Sam Kelly, was <a name="Page_210"></a>an +intimate friend of Crawford's; and if he could see Kelly the matter, he +hoped, might be quickly arranged. The reliance which Crawford placed in +Mr. Sam Kelly was fully justified, for the assistance rendered by this +gentleman was essential to the success of the enterprise. He it was who +freely supplied two steamers, with crews and stevedores, thereby +enabling the last part of this adventurous voyage to be carried through; +and the willingness with which Mr. Kelly risked financial loss, and much +besides, placed Ulster under an obligation to him for which he sought no +recompense.</p> + +<p>Crawford accordingly went off in the <i>Balmerino</i>, landed in South Wales +on Tuesday, the 14th of April, and hastened by the quickest route to +Belfast. Agnew took charge of the <i>Doreen</i>, with instructions to be at +the Tuskar Light, on the Wexford coast, on the following Friday night, +the 17th, and to return there every night until Crawford rejoined him. A +friend of Crawford's, Mr. Richard Cowser, with whom he had a +conversation on the telephone from Dublin, met him at the railway +station in Belfast and told him that he had a motor waiting to take him +to Craigavon, where the Council was expecting him, and that he would see +Mr. Sam Kelly, the owner of the <i>Balmerino</i>, there also. This news made +Crawford very angry. He accused his friend of breach of confidence in +letting anyone know that he was coming to Belfast; he declared he would +have nothing to do with the Council after the unsigned orders he had +received at Lundy; and he besought his friend to take his car to +Craigavon and bring back Kelly, repeating his determination to bring in +his cargo, even if he had to run his ship ashore to do so. Mr. Cowser +replied that this would be very disappointing to Sir Edward Carson, who +was waiting for Crawford at Craigavon, having come from London on +purpose for this Council Meeting. "What!" exclaimed Crawford, "is Sir +Edward there? Why did you not say so at once? Where is your car? Let us +waste no time till I see the Chief and report to him."</p> + +<p>That evening of the 14th of April, at Craigavon, was a memorable one for +all who were present at the meeting. Carson invited Crawford to relate +all he had done, and to <a name="Page_211"></a>explain how he proposed to proceed. The latter +did not mince matters in saying what he thought of the Lundy +instructions, which he again declared angrily he intended to disobey. +When he had finished his narrative and his protestations against what he +considered a cowardly policy—a policy that would deprive Ulster of +succour as sorely needed as Derry needed the <i>Mountjoy</i> to break the +boom—Carson put a few questions to him in regard to the feasibility of +his plans. Crawford explained the advantage it would be to transfer the +cargo from the <i>Fanny</i> to a local steamer, which he felt confident he +could bring into Larne, and after the transhipment he would send the +<i>Fanny</i> straight back to the Baltic, where she could settle her account +with the Danish authorities and recover her papers.</p> + +<p>Some members of the Council were sceptical about the possibility of +transhipping the cargo at sea, but Crawford, who had fully discussed it +with Agnew, believed that if favoured by calm weather it could be done. +When Carson, after hearing all that was to be said on both sides in the +long debate between Fabius and Hotspur, finally supported the latter, +the question was decided. There was no split—there never was in these +deliberations in Ulster; those whose judgment was overruled always +supported loyally the policy decided upon.</p> + +<p>Immediate measures were then taken to give effect to the decision. Kelly +knew of a suitable craft, the s.s. <i>Clydevalley</i>, for sale at that +moment in Glasgow, which would be in Belfast next morning with a cargo +of coal. This was providential. A collier familiar to every longshoreman +in Belfast Lough, carrying on her usual trade this week, could hardly be +suspected of carrying rifles when she returned next week ostensibly in +the same line of business. It was settled that Crawford should cross to +Glasgow at once and buy her; the steamer, when bought, was to go from +Belfast to Llandudno, where she would pick up Crawford on the sands, and +proceed to keep the rendezvous with Agnew at the Tuskar Light on Friday; +and, after taking over the <i>Fanny's</i> cargo, would then steam boldly up +Belfast Lough and through the Musgrave Channel to <a name="Page_212"></a>the Belfast docks, +where he undertook to arrive on the Friday week, the 24th of April, the +various proposals which named Larne, Bangor, and Donaghadee as ports of +discharge having all been rejected after full discussion. This last +decision was not approved by Crawford, for he and Spender had long +before this time agreed that Larne harbour was the proper place to land +the arms, both because the large number of country roads leading to it +would facilitate rapid distribution, and because it would be more +difficult for the authorities to interfere with the disembarkation there +than at any of the other ports.</p> + +<p>Before parting from the Council Crawford made it quite clear that during +the remainder of the adventure he would recognise no orders of any kind +unless they bore the autograph signature of Sir Edward Carson. On this +understanding he set out for Glasgow, bought the <i>Clydevalley</i>, and went +by train to Llandudno to await her arrival. These affairs had left very +little margin of time to spare. The <i>Clydevalley</i> could not be at +Llandudno before the morning of the 17th, and Agnew would be looking for +her at the Tuskar the same evening. As it actually turned out she only +arrived at the Welsh watering-place late that night, and, after picking +up Crawford, who had spent an anxious day on the beach, arrived off the +Wexford coast at daybreak on Saturday, the 18th. Not a sign of the +<i>Fanny</i> was to be seen all that day, or the following night; and when +the skipper of the <i>Clydevalley</i>, who had been on the <i>Balmerino</i> and +was privy to the arrangements with Agnew, gave Crawford reason to think +there might have been a misunderstanding as to the rendezvous, Yarmouth +having been also mentioned in that connection, Crawford was in a +condition almost of desperation.</p> + +<p>It was, indeed, a situation to test the nerves, to say nothing of the +temper, of even the most resolute. It was Sunday, and Crawford had +undertaken to be at Copeland Island, at the mouth of Belfast Lough, on +Friday evening for final landing instructions. The precious cargo, which +had passed safely through so many hazards, had vanished and was he knew +not where. He had heard nothing of the <i>Fanny</i> (or <i>Doreen</i>) since he +landed at Tenby five days <a name="Page_213"></a>previously. Had she been captured by a +destroyer from Pembroke, or overhauled, pirate as she was without +papers, by Customs officials from Rosslare? Or had Agnew mistaken his +instructions, and risked all the dangers of the English Channel in a +fruitless voyage to Yarmouth, where, even if still undetected, the +<i>Fanny</i> would be too far away to reach Copeland by Friday, unless Agnew +could be communicated with at once?</p> + +<p>There was only one way in which such communication could be managed, and +that way Crawford now took with characteristic promptitude and energy. +The <i>Clydevalley</i> crossed the Irish Sea to Fishguard, where he took +train on Sunday night to London and Yarmouth, having first made +arrangements with the skipper for keeping in touch. But there was no +trace of the <i>Fanny</i> at Yarmouth, and no word from Agnew at the Post +Office. There appeared to be no solution of the problem, and every +precious hour that slipped away made ultimate failure more menacing. But +at two o'clock the outlook entirely changed. A second visit to the Post +Office was rewarded by a telegram in code from Agnew saying all was +well, and that he would be at Holyhead to pick up Crawford on Tuesday +evening. There was just time to catch a London train that arrived in +time for the Irish mail from Euston. On Tuesday morning Crawford was +pacing the breakwater at Holyhead, and a few hours later he was +discussing matters with Agnew in the little cabin of the <i>Clydevalley</i>.</p> + +<p>The latter had amply made up for the loss of time caused by some +misunderstanding as to the rendezvous at the Tuskar, for he was able to +show Crawford, to his intense delight, that the cargo had all been +safely and successfully transferred to the hold of the <i>Clydevalley</i> in +a bay on the Welsh coast, mainly at night. Some sixteen transport +labourers from Belfast, willing Ulster hands, had shifted the stuff in +less than half the time taken by Germans at Langeland over the same job. +There was, therefore, nothing more to be done except to steam leisurely +to Copeland, for which there was ample time before Friday evening. The +<i>Fanny</i> had departed to an appointed rendezvous on the Baltic coast of +Denmark.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_214"></a>It was now the turn of the <i>Clydevalley</i> to yield up her obscure +identity, and to assume an historic name appropriate to the adventure +she was bringing to a triumphant climax—a name of good omen in Ulster +ears. Strips of canvas, 6 feet long, were cut and painted with white +letters on a black ground, and affixed to bows and stern, so that the +men waiting at Copeland might hail the arrival of the <i>Mountjoy II</i>.</p> + +<p>Off Copeland Island a small vessel was waiting, which Agnew recognised +as a tender belonging to Messrs. Workman & Clark. The men on board, as +soon as they could make out the name of the approaching vessel, +understood at once, and raised a ringing cheer. Two of them were seen +gesticulating and hailing the <i>Mountjoy</i>. Crawford, suspecting fresh +orders to retreat, paid no attention, and told Agnew to hold on his +course; and even when presently he was able to recognise Mr. Cowser and +Mr. Dawson Bates on board the tender, and to hear them shouting that +they had important instructions for him, he still refused to let them +come on board. "If the orders are not signed by Sir Edward Carson," he +shouted back, "you can take them back to where they came from." But the +orders they brought had been signed by the leader, a special messenger +having been sent to London to obtain his signature, and the change of +plan they indicated was, in fact, just what Crawford desired. The bulk +of the arms were to be landed at Larne, the port he had always favoured, +and lesser quantities were to be taken to Bangor and Donaghadee.</p> + +<p>It was 10.30 that night, the 24th of April 1914, when the <i>Mountjoy II</i> +steamed alongside the landing-stage at Larne, where she had been eagerly +awaited for a couple of hours. The voyage of adventure was over. Fred +Crawford, with the able and zealous help of Andrew Agnew, had +accomplished the difficult and dangerous task he had undertaken, and a +service had been rendered to Ulster not unworthy to rank beside the +breaking of the boom across the Foyle by the first and more renowned +<i>Mountjoy</i>.</p><a name="Page_215"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87">[87]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1914, p. 1.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIX"></a><h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h4>ON THE BRINK OF CIVIL WAR</h4> + + +<p>The arrangements that had been made for the landing and disposal of the +arms when they arrived in port were the work of an extremely efficient +and complete organisation. In the previous summer Captain Spender, it +will be remembered, had been appointed to a position on Sir George +Richardson's staff which included in its duties that of the organisation +of transport. A railway board, a supply board, and a transport board had +been formed, on which leading business men willingly served; every +U.V.F. unit had its horse transport, and in addition a special motor +corps, organised in squadrons, and a special corps of motor-lorries were +formed.</p> + +<p>More than half the owners of motor-cars in Ulster placed their cars at +the disposal of the motor corps, to be used as and when required. The +corps was organised in sections of four cars each, and in squadrons of +seventeen cars each, with motor cyclist despatch-riders; a signalling +corps of despatch-riders and signallers completed the organisation. The +lively interest aroused by the practice and displays of the +last-mentioned corps did much to promote the high standard of +proficiency attained by its "flag-waggers," many of whom were women and +girls. In particular the signalling-station at Bangor gained a +reputation which attracted many English sympathisers with Ulster to pay +it a visit when they came to Belfast for the great Unionist +demonstrations.</p> + +<p>The despatch-riders on motor-cycles made the Ulster Council independent +of the Post Office, which for very good reasons they used as little as +possible. Post-houses were opened at all the most important centres in +Ulster, between which messages were transmitted by despatch-rider or +<a name="Page_216"></a>signal according to the nature of the intervening country. Along the +coast of Down and Antrim the organisation of signals was complete and +effective. The usefulness of the despatch-riders' corps was fully tested +and proved during the Curragh Incident, when news of all that was taking +place at the Curragh was received by this means two or three times a day +at the Old Town Hall in Belfast, where there was much information of +what was going on that was unknown at the Irish Office in London.</p> + +<p>All this organisation was at the disposal of the leaders for handling +the arms brought in the hold of the <i>Mountjoy II</i>. The perfection of the +arrangements for the immediate distribution of the rifles and ammunition +among the loyalist population, and the almost miraculous precision with +which they were carried out on that memorable Friday night, extorted the +admiration even of the most inveterate political enemies of Ulster. The +smoothness with which the machinery of organisation worked was only +possible on account of the hearty willingness of all the workers, +combined with the discipline to which they gladly submitted themselves.</p> + +<p>The whole U.V.F. was warned for a trial mobilisation on the evening of +the 24th of April, and the owners of all motor-cars and lorries were +requested to co-operate. Very few either of the Volunteers or the motor +owners knew that anything more than manoeuvres by night for practice +purposes was to take place. All motors from certain specified districts +were ordered to be at Larne by 8 o'clock in the evening; from other +districts the vehicles were to assemble at Bangor and Donaghadee +respectively, at a later hour. All the roads leading to these ports were +patrolled by volunteers, and at every cross-roads over the greater part +of nine counties men of the local battalions were stationed to give +directions to motor-drivers who might not be familiar with the roads. At +certain points these men were provided with reserve supplies of petrol, +and with repairing tools that might be needed in case of breakdown. It +is a remarkable testimony to the zeal of these men for the cause that, +although none of them knew he was taking part in an exciting adventure, +not one, so <a name="Page_217"></a>far as is known, left his post throughout a cold and wet +night, having received orders not to go home till daybreak. And these +were men, it must be remembered, who before putting on the felt hats, +puttees, and bandoliers which constituted their uniform, had already +done a full day's work, and were not to receive a sixpence for their +night's job.</p> + +<p>At the three ports of discharge large forces of volunteers were +concentrated. Sir George Richardson, G.O.C. in C., remained in Belfast +through the night, being kept fully and constantly informed of the +progress of events by signal and motor-cyclist despatch-riders. Captain +James Craig was in charge of the operations at Bangor; at Larne General +Sir William Adair was in command, with Captain Spender as Staff officer.</p> + +<p>The attention of the Customs authorities in Belfast was diverted by a +clever stratagem. A tramp steamer was brought up the Musgrave Channel +after dark, her conduct being as furtive and suspicious as it was +possible to make it appear. At the same time a large wagon was brought +to the docks as if awaiting a load. The skipper of the tramp took an +unconscionable time, by skilful blundering, in bringing his craft to her +moorings. The suspicions of the authorities were successfully aroused; +but every possible hindrance was put in their way when they began to +investigate. The hour was too late: could they not wait till daylight? +No? Well, then, what was their authority? When that was settled, it +appeared that the skipper had mislaid his keys and could not produce the +ship's papers—and so on. By these devices the belief of the officers +that they had caught the offender they were after was increasingly +confirmed every minute, while several hours passed before they were +allowed to realise that they had discovered a mare's-nest. For when at +last they "would stand no more nonsense," and had the hatches opened and +the papers produced, the latter were quite in order, and the +cargo—which they wasted a little additional time in turning +over—contained nothing but coal.</p> + +<p>Meantime the real business was proceeding twenty miles away. All +communications by wire from the three ports <a name="Page_218"></a>were blocked by "earthing" +the wires, so as to cause short circuit. The police and coast-guards +were "peacefully picketed," as trade unionists would call it, in their +various barracks—they were shut in and strongly guarded. No conflict +took place anywhere between the authorities and the volunteers, and the +only casualty of any kind was the unfortunate death of one +coast-guardsman from heart disease at Donaghadee.</p> + +<p>At Larne, where much the largest portion of the <i>Mountjoy's</i> cargo was +landed, a triple cordon of Volunteers surrounded the town and harbour, +and no one without a pass was allowed through. The motors arrived with a +punctuality that was wonderful, considering that many of them had come +from long distances. As the drivers arrived near the town and found +themselves in an apparently endless procession of similar vehicles, +their astonishment and excitement became intense. Only when close to the +harbour did they learn what they were there for, and received +instructions how to proceed. They had more than two hours to wait in +drizzling rain before the <i>Mountjoy</i> appeared round the point of +Islandmagee, although her approach had been made known to Spender by +signal at dusk. There were about five hundred motor vehicles assembled +at Larne alone, and such an invasion of flaring head-lights gave the +inhabitants of the little town unwonted excitement. Practically all the +able-bodied men of the place were either on duty as Volunteers or were +willing workers in the landing of the arms. The women stood at their +doors and gave encouraging greeting to the drivers; many of them ran +improvised canteens, which supplied the workers with welcome +refreshments during the night.</p> + +<p>There was a not unnatural tendency at first on the part of some of the +motor-drivers to look upon the event more in the light of a meet of +hounds than of the gravest possible business, and to hang about +discussing the adventure with the other "sportsmen." But the use of +vigorous language brought them back to recognition of the seriousness of +the work before them, and the discharge of the cargo proceeded hour +after hour with the utmost rapidity and with <a name="Page_219"></a>the regularity of a +well-oiled machine. The cars drew up beside the <i>Mountjoy</i> in an endless +<i>queue</i>; each received its quota of bales according to its carrying +capacity, and was despatched on its homeward journey without a moment's +delay.</p> + +<p>The wisdom of Crawford's system of packing was fully vindicated. There +was no confusion, no waiting to bring ammunition from one part of the +ship's hold to match with rifles brought from another, and bayonets from +a third. The packages, as they were carried from the steamer or the +cranes, were counted by checking clerks, and their destination noted as +each car received its load. But even the large number of vehicles +available would have been insufficient for the purpose on hand if each +had been limited to a single load; dumps had therefore been formed at a +number of selected places in the surrounding districts, where the arms +were temporarily deposited so as to allow the cars to return and perform +the same duty several times during the night.</p> + +<p>While the <i>Mountjoy</i> was discharging the Larne consignment on to the +quay, she was at the same time transhipping a smaller quantity into a +motor-boat, moored against her side, which when laden hurried off to +Donaghadee; and she left Larne at 5 in the morning to discharge the last +portion of her cargo at Bangor, which was successfully accomplished in +broad daylight after her arrival there about 7.30.</p> + +<p>Crawford refused to leave the ship at either Larne or Bangor, feeling +himself bound in honour to remain with the crew until they were safe +from arrest by the naval authorities. It was well known in Belfast that +a look-out was being kept for the <i>Fanny</i>, which had figured in the +Press as "the mystery ship" ever since the affair at Langeland, and had +several times been reported to have been viewed at all sorts of odd +places on the map, from the Orkneys to Tory Island. Just as Agnew was +casting off from Bangor, when the last bale of arms had gone ashore, a +message from U.V.F. headquarters informed him that a thirty-knot cruiser +was out looking for the <i>Fanny</i>. To mislead the coast-guards on shore a +course was immediately <a name="Page_220"></a>set for the Clyde—the very quarter from which a +cruiser coming from Lamlash was to be expected—and when some way out to +sea Crawford cut the cords holding the canvas sheets that bore the name +of the <i>Mountjoy</i>, so that within five minutes the filibustering pirate +had again become the staid old collier <i>Clydevalley</i>, which for months +past had carried her regular weekly cargo of coal from Scotland to +Belfast. As before at Langeland, so now at Copeland, fog providentially +covered retreat, and through it the <i>Clydevalley</i> made her way +undetected down the Irish Sea. At daybreak next morning Crawford landed +at Rosslare; and Agnew then proceeded along the French and Danish coasts +to the Baltic to the rendezvous with the <i>Fanny</i>, in order to bring back +the Ulstermen members of her crew, after which "the mystery ship" was +finally disposed of at Hamburg.</p> + +<p>Sir Edward Carson and Lord Londonderry were both in London on the 24th +of April. At an early hour next morning a telegram was delivered to each +of them, containing the single word "Lion." It was a code message +signifying that the landing of the arms had been carried out without a +hitch. Before long special editions of the newspapers proclaimed the +news to all the world, and as fresh details appeared in every successive +issue during the day the public excitement grew in intensity. Wherever +two or three Unionists were gathered together exultation was the +prevailing mood, and eagerness to send congratulations to friends in +Ulster.</p> + +<p>Soon after breakfast a visitor to Sir Edward Carson found a motor +brougham standing at his door, and on being admitted was told that "Lord +Roberts is with Sir Edward." The great little Field-Marshal, on learning +the news, had lost not a moment in coming to offer his congratulations +to the Ulster leader. "Magnificent!" he exclaimed, on entering the room +and holding out his hand, "magnificent! nothing could have been better +done; it was a piece of organisation that any army in Europe might be +proud of."</p> + +<p>But it was not to be expected that the Government and its supporters +would relish the news. The Radical Press, of course, rang all the +changes of angry vituperation, especially those papers which had been +prominent in ridi<a name="Page_221"></a>culing "Ulster bluff" and "King Carson's wooden guns"; +and they now speculated as to whether Carson could be "convicted of +complicity" in what Mr. Asquith in the House of Commons described as +"this grave and unprecedented outrage." Carson soon set that question at +rest by quietly rising in his place in the House and saying that he took +full responsibility for everything that had been done. The Prime +Minister, amid the frenzied cheers of his followers, assured the House +that "His Majesty's Government will take, without delay, appropriate +steps to vindicate the authority of the law." For a short time there was +some curiosity as to what the appropriate steps would be. None, however, +of any sort were taken; the Government contented itself with sending a +few destroyers to patrol for a short time the coasts of Antrim and Down, +where they were saluted by the Ulster Signalling Stations, and their +officers hospitably entertained on shore by loyalist residents.</p> + +<p>On the 28th of April a further debate on the Curragh Incident took place +in the House of Commons, which was a curious example of the rapid +changes of mood that characterise that Assembly. Most of the speeches +both from the front and back benches were, if possible, even more +bitter, angry, and defiant than usual. But at the close of one of the +bitterest of them all Mr. Churchill read a typewritten passage that was +recognised as a tiny olive-branch held out to Ulster. Carson responded +next day in a conciliatory tone, and the Prime Minister was thought to +suggest a renewal of negotiations in private. For some time nothing came +of this hint; but on the 12th of May Mr. Asquith announced that the +third reading of the Home Rule Bill (for the third successive year, as +required by the Parliament Act before being presented for the signature +of the King) would be taken before Whitsuntide, but that the Government +intended to make another attempt to appease Ulster by introducing "an +amending proposal, in the hope that a settlement by agreement may be +arrived at"; and that the two Bills—the Home Rule Bill and the Bill to +amend it—might become law practically at the same time. But he gave no +hint as to what the "amending <a name="Page_222"></a>proposal" was to be, and the reception of +the announcement by the Opposition did not seem to presage agreement.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bonar Law insisted that the House of Commons ought to be told what +the Amending Bill would propose, before it was asked finally to pass the +Home Rule Bill. But the real fact was, as every member of the House of +Commons fully realised, that Mr. Asquith was not a free agent in this +matter. The Nationalists were not at all pleased at the attempts already +made, trivial as they were, to satisfy Ulster, and Mr. Redmond protested +against the promise of an Amending Bill of any kind. Mr. Asquith could +make no proposal sufficient to allay the hostility of Ulster that would +not alienate the Nationalists, whose support was essential to the +continuance of his Government in office.</p> + +<p>On the same day as this debate in Parliament the result of a by-election +at Grimsby was announced in which the Unionist candidate retained the +seat; a week later the Unionists won a seat in Derbyshire; and two days +afterwards crowned these successes with a resounding victory at Ipswich. +The last-mentioned contest was considered so important that Mr. Lloyd +George and Sir Edward Carson went down to speak the evening before the +poll for their respective sides. Mr. Lloyd George, the Chancellor of the +Exchequer, made his appeal to the cupidity of the constituency, which +was informed that it would gain £15,000 a year from his new Budget, in +addition to large sums, of which he gave the figure, for old age +pensions and under the Government's Health Insurance Act.<a name="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88"><sup>[88]</sup></a> Sir Edward +Carson laid stress on Ulster's determination to resist Home Rule by +force. The Unionist candidate won the seat next day in this essentially +working-class constituency by a substantial majority, although his +Liberal opponent, Mr. Masterman, was a Cabinet Minister trying for the +second time to return to Parliament. Out of seven elections since the +beginning of the session the Government had lost four.</p> + +<p>It happened that the two latest new members took their seats on the 25th +of May, on which date the Home Rule Bill was passed by the House of +Commons on third reading <a name="Page_223"></a>for the last time. The occasion was celebrated +by the Nationalists, not unnaturally, by a great demonstration of +triumph, both in the House itself and outside in Palace Yard. Men on the +other side reflected that the tragedy of civil war had been brought one +stage nearer.</p> + +<p>The reply of Ulster to the passing of the Bill was a series of reviews +of the U.V.F. during the Whitsuntide recess. Carson, Londonderry, Craig, +and most of the other Ulster members attended these parades, which +excited intense enthusiasm through the country, more especially as the +arms brought by the <i>Mountjoy</i> were now seen for the first time in the +hands of the Volunteers. Several battalions were presented with Colours +which had been provided by Lady Londonderry, Lady Massereene, Mrs. +Craig, and other local ladies, and the ceremony included the dedication +of these Colours by the Bishop of Down and the Moderator of the +Presbyterian Church. Many visitors from England witnessed these +displays, and among them were several deputations of Liberal and Labour +working men, who reported on their return that what they had seen had +converted them to sympathy with Ulster.<a name="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89"><sup>[89]</sup></a></p> + +<p>After the recess the promised Amending Bill was introduced in the House +of Lords on the 23rd of June by the Marquis of Crewe, who explained that +it embodied Mr. Asquith's proposals of the 9th of March, and that he +invited amendments. Lord Lansdowne at once declared that these +proposals, which had been rejected as inadequate three months ago, were +doubly insufficient now. But the invitation to amend the Bill was +accepted, Lord Londonderry asking the pertinent question whether the +Government would tell Mr. Redmond that they would insist on acceptance +of any amendments made in response to Lord Crewe's invitation—a +question to which no answer was forthcoming. Lord Milner, in the course +of the debate, said the Bill would have to be entirely remodelled, and +he laid stress on the point that if Ulster were coerced to join the rest +of Ireland it would make a united Ireland for ever impossible, and that +the employment of the Army and Navy for the purpose of coercion would +give a shock to the Empire <a name="Page_224"></a>which it would not long survive; to which +Lord Roberts added that such a policy would mean the utter destruction +of the Army, as he had warned the Prime Minister before the incident at +the Curragh.</p> + +<p>On the 8th of July the Bill was amended by substituting the permanent +exclusion of the whole province of Ulster—which Mr. Balfour had named +"the clean cut"—for the proposed county option with a time limit; and +several other alterations of minor importance were also made. The Bill +as amended passed the third reading on the 14th, when Lord Lansdowne +predicted that, whatever might be the fate of the measure and of the +Home Rule Bill which it modified, the one thing certain was that the +idea of coercing Ulster was dead.</p> + +<p>In Ulster itself, meanwhile, the people were bent on making Lord +Lansdowne's certainty doubly sure. Carson went over for the Boyne +celebration on the 12th of July. The frequency of his visits did nothing +to damp the ardour with which his arrival was always hailed by his +followers. The same wonderful scenes, whether at Larne or at the Belfast +docks, were repeated time after time without appearing to grow stale by +repetition. They gave colour to the Radical jeer at "King Carson," for +no royal personage could have been given a more regal reception than was +accorded to "Sir Edward" (as everybody affectionately called him in +Belfast) half a dozen times within a few months.</p> + +<p>This occasion, when he arrived on the 10th by the Liverpool steamer, +accompanied by Mr. Walter Long, was no exception. His route had been +announced in the Press. Countless Union Jacks were displayed in every +village along both shores of the Lough. Every vessel at anchor, +including the gigantic White Star Liner <i>Britannic</i>, was dressed; every +fog-horn bellowed a welcome; the multitude of men at work in the great +ship-yards crowded to places commanding a view of the incoming packet, +and waved handkerchiefs and raised cheers for Sir Edward; fellow +passengers jostled each other to get sight of him as he went down the +gangway and to give him a parting cheer from the deck; the dock sheds +were packed with people, <a name="Page_225"></a>many of them bare-headed and bare-footed +women, who pressed close in the hope of touching his hand, or hearing +one of his kindly and humorous greetings. It was the same in the streets +all the way from the docks to the centre of the city, and out through +the working-class district of Ballymacarret to the country beyond, and +in every hamlet on the road to Newtownards and Mount Stewart—people +congregating to give him a cheer as he passed in Lord Londonderry's +motor-car, or pausing in their work on the land to wave a greeting from +fields bordering the road.</p> + +<p>Radical newspapers in England believed—or at any rate tried to make +their readers believe—that the "Northcliffe Press," particularly <i>The +Times</i> and <i>Daily Mail</i>, gave an exaggerated account of these +extraordinary demonstrations of welcome to Carson, and of the +impressiveness of the great meetings which he addressed. But the +accounts in Lord Northcliffe's papers did not differ materially from +those in other journals like <i>The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Express, +The Standard, The Morning Post, The Observer, The Scotsman</i>, and <i>The +Spectator</i>. There was no exaggeration. The special correspondents gave +faithful accounts of what they saw and heard, and no more. Editorial +support was a different matter. Lord Northcliffe's papers were unfailing +in their support of the Ulster cause, as were many other great British +journals; and even when at a later period Lord Northcliffe's attitude on +the general question of Irish government underwent a change that was +profoundly disappointing to Ulstermen, his papers never countenanced the +idea of applying coercion to Ulster. In the years 1911 to 1914 <i>The +Times</i> remained true to the tradition started by John Walter, who, +himself a Liberal, went personally to Belfast in 1886 to inform himself +on the question, then for the first time raised by Gladstone; and, +having done so, supported the loyalist cause in Ireland till his death. +A series of weighty articles in 1913 and 1914 approved and encouraged +the resistance threatened by Ulster to Home Rule, and justified the +measures taken in preparation for it. Whatever may have been the reason +for a different attitude at a later date, Ulster owed a debt of +gratitude to <i>The Times</i> in those troubled years.</p><a name="Page_226"></a> + +<p>The long-expected crisis appeared to be very close when Carson arrived +in Belfast on the 10th of July, 1914. He had come to attend a meeting of +the Ulster Unionist Council—sitting for the first time as the +Provisional Government. Craig communicated to the Press the previous day +the Preamble and some of the articles of the Constitution of the +Provisional Government, hitherto kept strictly secret, one article being +that the administration would be taken over "in trust for the +Constitution of the United Kingdom," and that "upon the restoration of +direct Imperial Government, the Provisional Government shall cease to +exist."</p> + +<p>At this session on the 10th, the proceedings of which were private, +Carson explained the extreme gravity of the situation now reached. The +Home Rule Bill would become law probably in a few weeks. It was pretty +certain that the Nationalists would not permit the Government to accept +the Amending Bill in the altered form in which it had left the Upper +House. In that case, nothing remained for them in Ulster but to carry +out the policy they had resolved upon long ago, and to make good the +Covenant. After his forty minutes' speech a quiet and business-like +discussion followed. Plenary authority to take any action necessary in +emergency was conferred unanimously on the executive. The course to be +followed in assuming the administration was explained and agreed to, and +when they separated all the members felt that the crisis for which they +had been preparing so long had at last come upon them. There was no +flinching.</p> + +<p>Next day there was a parade of 3,000 U.V.F. at Larne. A distinguished +American who was present said after the march past, "You could destroy +these Volunteers, but you could not conquer them." Carson spoke with +exceptional solemnity to the men, telling them candidly that, "unless +something happens the evidence of which is not visible at present," he +could discern nothing but darkness ahead, and no hope of peace. He ended +by exhorting his followers throughout Ulster to preserve their +self-control and to "commit no act against any individual or against any +man's property which would sully the great name you have already won."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_227"></a>As usual, his influence was powerful enough to prevent disturbance. The +Government had made extensive military preparations to maintain order on +the 12th of July; but, as a well-known "character" in Belfast expressed +it, "Sir Edward was worth twenty battalions in keeping order." The +anniversary was celebrated everywhere by enormous masses of men in a +state of tense excitement. Lord Londonderry addressed an immense +gathering at Enniskillen; seventy thousand Orangemen marched from +Belfast to Drumbeg to hear Carson, who sounded the same warning note as +at Larne two days before. But nowhere throughout the Province was a +single occurrence reported that called for action by the police.</p> + +<p>When the Ulster leaders returned to London on the 14th they were met by +reports of differences in the Cabinet over the Amending Bill, which was +to be brought before the House of Commons on the following Monday. +Nationalist pressure no doubt dictated the deletion of the amendments +made by the Peers and the restoration of the Bill to its original shape. +A minority of the Cabinet was said to be opposed to this course. Whether +that was true or false, the Prime Minister must by this time have +realised that he had allowed the country to drift to the brink of civil +war, and that some genuine effort must be made to arrive at a peaceable +solution.</p> + +<p>Accordingly on Monday, the 20th, instead of introducing the Amending +Bill, Mr. Asquith announced in the House of Commons that His Majesty the +King, "in view of the grave situation which has arisen, has thought it +right to summon representatives of parties, both British and Irish, to a +conference at Buckingham Palace, with the object of discussing +outstanding issues in relation to the problem of Irish Government." The +Prime Minister added that at the King's suggestion the Speaker, Mr. +James Lowther, would preside over the Conference, which would begin its +proceedings the following day.</p> + +<p>The Liberals, the British Unionists, the Nationalists, and the Ulstermen +were respectively represented at the Buckingham Palace Conference by Mr. +Asquith and Mr. Lloyd George, Lord Lansdowne and Mr. Bonar Law, Mr.<a name="Page_228"></a> +Redmond and Mr. Dillon, Sir Edward Carson and Captain James Craig. The +King opened the Conference in person on the 21st with a speech +recognising the extreme gravity of the situation, and making an +impressive appeal for a peaceful settlement of the question at issue. +His Majesty then withdrew. The Conference deliberated for four days, but +were unable to agree as to what area in Ulster should be excluded from +the jurisdiction of the Parliament in Dublin. On the 24th Mr. Asquith +announced the breakdown of the Conference, and said that in consequence +the Amending Bill would be introduced in the House of Commons on +Thursday, the 30th of July.</p> + +<p>Here was the old deadlock. The last glimmer of hope that civil war might +be averted seemed to be extinguished. Only ten days had elapsed since +Carson had gloomily predicted at Larne that peace was impossible "unless +something happens, the evidence of which is not visible at present." But +that "something" did happen—though it was something infinitely more +dreadful, infinitely more devastating in its consequences, even though +less dishonouring to the nation, than the alternative from which it +saved us. Balanced, as it seemed, on the brink of civil war, Great +Britain and Ireland together toppled over on the other side into the +maelstrom of world-wide war.</p> + +<p>On the 30th of July, when the Amending Bill was to be discussed, the +Prime Minister said that, with the concurrence of Mr. Bonar Law and Sir +Edward Carson, it would be indefinitely postponed, in order that the +country at this grave crisis in the history of the world "should present +a united front and be able to speak and act with the authority of an +undivided nation." To achieve this, all domestic quarrels must be laid +aside, and he promised that "no business of a controversial character" +would be undertaken.</p> + +<p>Thus it happened that the Amending Bill was never seen by the House of +Commons. Four days later the United Kingdom was at war with the greatest +military Empire in the world. The opportunity had come for Ulster to +prove whether her cherished loyalty was a reality or a sham.</p><a name="Page_229"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88">[88]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1914, p. 110.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89">[89]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1914, p. 114.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XX"></a><h2>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<h4>ULSTER IN THE WAR</h4> + + +<p>More than a year before the outbreak of the Great War a writer in <i>The +Morning Post</i>, describing the Ulster Volunteers who were then beginning +to attract attention in England, used language which was more accurately +prophetic than he can have realised in May 1913:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"What these men have been preparing for in Ulster," he wrote, "may + be of value as a military asset in time of national emergency. I + have seen the men at drill, I have seen them on parade, and experts + assure me that in the matter of discipline, physique, and all + things which go to the making of a military force they are worthy + to rank with our regular soldiers. It is an open secret that, once + assured of the maintenance unimpaired of the Union between Great + Britain and Ireland under the Imperial Parliament alone, a vast + proportion of the citizen army of Ulster would cheerfully hold + itself at the disposal of the Imperial Government and volunteer for + service either at home or abroad!"<a name="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90"><sup>[90]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>The only error in the prediction was that the writer underestimated the +sacrifice Ulster would be willing to make for the Empire. When the +testing time came fifteen months after this appreciation was published +all hope of unimpaired maintenance of the Union had to be sorrowfully +given up, and only those who were in a position to comprehend, with +sympathy, the depth and intensity of the feeling in Ulster on the +subject could realise all that this meant to the people there. Yet, all +the same, their "citizen army" did not hesitate to "hold itself at the +disposal of the Imperial Government, and volunteer for service at home +or abroad."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_230"></a>In August 1914 the U.V.F., of 100.000 men, was without question the +most efficient force of infantry in the United Kingdom outside the +Regular Army. The medical comb did not seriously thin its ranks; and +although the age test considerably reduced its number, it still left a +body of fine material for the British Army. Some of the best of its +officers, like Captain Arthur O'Neill, M.P., of the Life Guards, and +Lord Castlereagh of the Blues, had to leave the U.V.F. to rejoin the +regiments to which they belonged, or to take up staff appointments at +the front. In spite of such losses there was a strong desire in the +force, which was shared by the political leaders, that it should be kept +intact as far as possible and form a distinct unit for active service, +and efforts were at once made to get the War Office to arrange for this +to be done. Pressure of work at the War Office, and Lord Kitchener's +aversion from anything that he thought savoured of political +considerations in the organisation of the Army, imposed a delay of +several weeks before this was satisfactorily arranged; and the +consequence was that in the first few weeks of the war a large number of +the keenest young men in Ulster enlisted in various regiments before it +was known that an Ulster Division was to be formed out of the U.V.F.</p> + +<p>It was the beginning of September before Carson was in a position to go +to Belfast to announce that such an arrangement had been made with Lord +Kitchener. And when he went he had also the painful duty of telling the +people of Ulster that the Government was going to give them the meanest +recompense for the promptitude with which they had thrown aside all +party purposes in order to assist the Empire.</p> + +<p>When war broke out a "party truce" had been proclaimed. The Unionist +leaders promised their support to the Government in carrying on the war, +and Mr. Asquith pledged the Government to drop all controversial +legislation. The consideration of the Amending Bill had been shelved by +agreement, Mr. Asquith stating that the postponement "must be without +prejudice to the domestic and political position of any party." On this +understanding the Unionist Party supported, almost without so much as <a name="Page_231"></a>a +word of criticism, all the emergency measures proposed by the +Government. Yet on the 10th of August Mr. Asquith astonished the +Unionists by announcing that the promise to take no controversial +business was not to prevent him advising the King to sign the Home Rule +Bill, which had been hung up in the House of Lords by the introduction +of the Amending Bill, and had never been either rejected or passed by +that House.</p> + +<p>Mr. Balfour immediately protested against this conduct as a breach of +faith; but Mr. Redmond's speech on that occasion contained the +explanation of the Government's conduct. The Nationalist leader gave a +strong hint that any help in the war from the southern provinces of +Ireland would depend on whether or not the Home Rule Bill was to become +law at once. Although the personal loyalty of Mr. Redmond was beyond +question, and although he was no doubt sincere when he subsequently +denied that his speech was so intended, it was in reality an application +of the old maxim that England's difficulty is Ireland's opportunity. In +any case, the Cabinet knew that, however unjustly Ulster might be +treated, she could be relied upon to do everything in her power to +further the successful prosecution of the war, and they cynically came +to the conclusion that the best thing to do was to placate those whose +loyalty was less assured.</p> + +<p>This was the unpleasant tale that Sir Edward Carson had to unfold to the +Ulster Unionist Council on the 3rd of September. After explaining how +and why he had consented to the indefinite postponement of the Amending +Bill, he continued:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"And so, without any condition of any kind, we agreed that the Bill + should be postponed without prejudice to the position of either + party. England's difficulty is not Ulster's opportunity. England's + difficulty is our difficulty; and England's sorrows have always + been, and always will be, our sorrows. I have seen it stated that + the Germans thought they had hit on an opportune moment, owing to + our domestic difficulties, to make their bullying demand against + our country. They little understood for what we were fighting. We + were not fighting to get away from<a name="Page_232"></a> England; we were fighting to + stay with England, and the Power that attempted to lay a hand upon + England, whatever might be our domestic quarrels, would at once + bring us together—as it has brought us together—as one man."</p></blockquote> + +<p>In order to avoid controversy at such a time, Carson declared he would +say nothing about their opponents. He insisted that, however unworthily +the Government might act in a great national emergency, Ulstermen must +distinguish between the Prime Minister as a party leader and the Prime +Minister as the representative of the whole nation. Their duty was to +"think not of him or his party, but of our country," and they must show +that "we do not seek to purchase terms by selling our patriotism." He +then referred to the pride they all felt in the U.V.F.; how he had +"watched them grow from infancy," through self-sacrificing toil to their +present high efficiency, with the purpose of "allowing us to be put into +no degraded position in the United Kingdom." But under the altered +conditions their duty was clear:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Our country and our Empire are in danger. And under these + circumstances, knowing that the very basis of our political faith + is our belief in the greatness of the United Kingdom and of the + Empire, I say to our Volunteers without hesitation, go and help to + save your country. Go and win honour for Ulster and for Ireland. To + every man that goes, or has gone, and not to them only, but to + every Irishman, you and I say, from the bottom of our hearts, 'God + bless you and bring you home safe and victorious.'"</p></blockquote> + +<p>The arrangements with the War Office for forming a Division from the +Ulster Volunteers were then explained, which would enable the men "to go +as old comrades accustomed to do their military training together." +Carson touched lightly on fears that had been expressed lest political +advantage should be taken by the Government or by the Nationalists of +the conversion of the U.V.F. into a Division of the British Army, which +would leave Ulster defenceless. "We are quite strong enough," he said, +"to take care of ourselves, and so I say to men, so far as they <a name="Page_233"></a>have +confidence and trust in me, that I advise them to go and do their duty +to the country, and we will take care of politics hereafter." He +concluded by moving a resolution, which was unanimously carried by the +Council, urging "all Loyalists who owe allegiance to our cause" to join +the Army at once if qualified for military service.</p> + +<p>From beginning to end of this splendidly patriotic oration no allusion +was made to the Nationalist attitude to the war. Few people in Ulster +had any belief that the spots on the leopard were going to disappear, +even when the Home Rule Bill had been placed on the Statute-book. The +"difficulty" and the "opportunity" would continue in their old +relations. People in Belfast, as elsewhere, did justice to the patriotic +tone of Mr. Redmond's speech in the House of Commons on the 3rd of +August, which made so deep an impression in England; but they believed +him mistaken in attributing to "the democracy of Ireland" a complete +change of sentiment towards England, and their scepticism was more than +justified by subsequent events.</p> + +<p>But they also scrutinised more carefully than Englishmen the precise +words used by the Nationalist leader. Englishmen, both in the House of +Commons and in the country, were carried off their feet in an ecstasy of +joy and wonder at Mr. Redmond's confident offer of loyal help from +Ireland to the Empire in the mighty world conflict. Ireland was to be +"the one bright spot." Ulstermen, on the other hand, did not fail to +observe that the offer was limited to service at home. "I say to the +Government," said Mr. Redmond, "that they may to-morrow withdraw every +one of their troops from Ireland. I say that the coast of Ireland will +be defended from foreign invasion by her armed sons, and for this +purpose armed Nationalist Catholics in the South will be only too glad +to join arms with the armed Protestant Ulstermen in the North."</p> + +<p>These sentences were rapturously applauded in the House of Commons. When +they were read in Ulster the shrewd men of the North asked what danger +threatened the "coast of Ireland"; and whether, supposing there were a +danger, the British Navy would not be a surer defence than the "armed +sons" of Ireland whether from South or North.<a name="Page_234"></a> It was not on the coast +of Ireland but the coast of Flanders that men were needed, and it was +thither that the "armed Protestant Ulstermen" were preparing to go in +thousands. They would not be behind the Catholics of the South in the +spirit of comradeship invoked by Mr. Redmond if they were to stand +shoulder to shoulder under the fire of Prussian batteries; but they +could not wax enthusiastic over the suggestion that, while they went to +France, Mr. Redmond's Nationalist Volunteers should be trained and armed +by the Government to defend the Irish coast—and possibly, later, to +impose their will upon Ulster.</p> + +<p>The organisation and the training of the Ulster Division forms no part +of the present narrative, but it must be stated that after Carson's +speech on the 3rd of September, recruiting went on uninterruptedly and +rapidly, and the whole energies of the local leaders and of the rank and +file were thrown into the work of preparation. Captain James Craig, +promoted to be Lieutenant-Colonel, was appointed Q.M.G. of the Division; +but the arduous duties of this post, in which he tried to do the work of +half a dozen men, brought about a complete breakdown of health some +months later, with the result that, to his deep disappointment, he was +forbidden to go with the Division to France. No one displayed a finer +spirit than his brother, Mr. Charles Craig, M.P. for South Antrim. He +had never done any soldiering, as his brother had in South Africa, and +he was over military age in 1914; but he did not allow either his age, +his military inexperience, or his membership of the House of Commons to +serve as excuse for separating himself from the men with whom he had +learnt the elements of drill in the U.V.F. He obtained a commission as +Captain in the Ulster Division, and went with it to France, where he was +wounded and taken prisoner in the great engagement at Thiepval in the +battle of the Somme, and had to endure all the rigours of captivity in +Germany till the end of the war. There was afterwards not a little +pungent comment among his friends on the fact that, when honours were +descending in showers on the heads of the just and the unjust alike, a +full share of which reached members of Parliament, sometimes for no very +conspicuous merit, no <a name="Page_235"></a>recognition of any kind was awarded to this +gallant Ulster officer, who had set so fine an example and +unostentatiously done so much more than his duty.</p> + +<p>The Government's act of treachery in regard to "controversial business" +was consummated on the 18th of September, when the Home Rule Bill +received the Royal Assent. On the 15th Mr. Asquith put forward his +defence in the House of Commons. In a sentence of mellifluous optimism +that was to be woefully falsified in a not-distant future, he declared +his confidence that the action his Ministry was taking would bring "for +the first time for a hundred years Irish opinion, Irish sentiment, Irish +loyalty, flowing with a strong and a continuous and ever-increasing +stream into the great reservoir of Imperial resources and Imperial +unity." He acknowledged, however, that the Government had pledged itself +not to put the Home Rule Bill on the Statute-book until the Amending +Bill had been disposed of. That promise was not now to be kept; instead +he gave another, which, when the time came, was equally violated, +namely, to introduce the Amending Bill "in the next session of +Parliament, before the Irish Government Bill can possibly come into +operation." Meantime, there was to be a Suspensory Bill to provide that +the Home Rule Bill should remain in abeyance till the end of the war, +and he gave an assurance "which would be in spirit and in substance +completely fulfilled, that the Home Rule Bill will not and cannot come +into operation until Parliament has had the fullest opportunity, by an +Amending Bill, of altering, modifying, or qualifying its provisions in +such a way as to secure the general consent both of Ireland and of the +United Kingdom." The Prime Minister, further, paid a tribute to "the +patriotic and public spirit which had been shown by the Ulster +Volunteers," whose conduct has made "the employment of force, any kind +of force, for what you call the coercion of Ulster, an absolutely +unthinkable thing."</p> + +<p>But a verbal acknowledgment of the public spirit shown by the U.V.F. in +the first month of the war was a paltry recompense for the Government's +breach of faith, as Mr. Bonar Law immediately pointed out in a stinging +rejoinder.<a name="Page_236"></a> The leader of the Opposition concluded his powerful +indictment by saying that such conduct by the Government could not be +allowed to pass without protest, but that at such a moment of national +danger debate in Parliament on this domestic quarrel, forced upon them +by Ministers, was indecent; and that, having made his protest, neither +he nor his party would take further part in that indecency. Thereupon +the whole Unionist Party followed Mr. Bonar Law out of the Chamber.</p> + +<p>But that was not the end of the incident. It had been decided, with Sir +Edward Carson's approval, that "Ulster Day," the second anniversary of +the Covenant, should be celebrated in Ulster by special religious +services. The intention had been to focus attention on the larger +aspects of Imperial instead of local patriotism; but what had just +occurred in Parliament could not be ignored, and it necessitated a +reaffirmation of Ulster's unchanged attitude in the domestic quarrel. +Mr. Bonar Law now determined to accompany Sir Edward Carson to Belfast +to renew and to amplify under these circumstances the pledges of British +Unionists to Ulster.</p> + +<p>The occasion was a memorable one in several respects. On the 17th of +September Sir Edward Carson had been quietly married in the country to +Miss Frewen, and he was accompanied to Belfast a few days later by the +new Lady Carson, who then made acquaintance with Ulster and her +husband's followers for the first time. The scenes that invariably +marked the leader's arrival from England have been already described; +but the presence of his wife led to a more exuberant welcome than ever +on this occasion; and the recent Parliamentary storm, with its sequel in +the visit of the leader of the Unionist Party, contributed further to +the unbounded enthusiasm of the populace.</p> + +<p>There was a meeting of the Council on the morning of the 28th, Ulster +Day, at which Carson told the whole story of the conferences, +negotiations, conversations, and what not, that had been going on up to, +and even since, the outbreak of war, in the course of which he observed +that, if he had committed any fault, "it was that he believed the Prime +Minister." He paid a just tribute to Mr. Bonar Law, <a name="Page_237"></a>whose constancy, +patience, and "resolution to be no party even under these difficult +circumstances to anything that would be throwing over Ulster, were +matters which would be photographed upon his mind to the very end of his +life."</p> + +<p>But while, naturally, resentment at the conduct of the Government found +forcible expression, and the policy that would be pursued "after the +war" was outlined, the keynote of the speeches at this Council Meeting, +and also at the overwhelming demonstration addressed by Mr. Bonar Law in +the Ulster Hall in the evening, was "country before party." As the +Unionist leader truly said: "This is not an anti-Home Rule meeting. That +can wait, and you are strong enough to let it wait with quiet +confidence." But before passing to the great issues raised by the war, +introduced by a telling allusion to the idea that Germany had calculated +on Ulster being a thorn in England's side, Mr. Bonar Law gave the +message to Ulster which he had specially crossed the Channel to deliver +in person.</p> + +<p>He reminded the audience that hitherto the promise of support to Ulster +by the Unionists of Great Britain, given long before at Blenheim, had +been coupled with the condition that, if an appeal were made to the +electorate, the Unionist Party would bow to the verdict of the country. +"But now," he went on, "after the way in which advantage has been taken +of your patriotism, I say to you, and I say it with the full authority +of our party, we give the pledge without any condition."</p> + +<p>During the two days which he spent in Belfast Mr. Bonar Law, and other +visitors from England, paid visits to the training camps at Newcastle +and Ballykinler, where the 1st Brigade of the Ulster Division was +undergoing training for the front. Both now, and for some time to come, +there was a good deal of unworthy political jealousy of the Division, +which showed itself in a tendency to belittle the recruiting figures +from Ulster, and in sneers in the Nationalist Press at the delay in +sending to the front a body of troops whose friends had advertised their +supposed efficiency before the war. These troops were themselves +fretting to get to France; and they believed, rightly or <a name="Page_238"></a>wrongly, that +political intrigue was at work to keep them ingloriously at home, while +other Divisions, lacking their preliminary training, were receiving +preference in the supply of equipment.</p> + +<p>One small circumstance, arising out of the conditions in which +"Kitchener's Army" had to be raised, afforded genuine enjoyment in +Ulster. Men were enlisting far more rapidly than the factories could +provide arms, uniforms, and other equipment. Rifles for teaching the +recruits to drill and manoeuvre were a long way short of requirements. +It was a great joy to the Ulstermen when the War Office borrowed their +much-ridiculed "dummy rifles" and "wooden guns," and took them to +English training camps for use by the "New Army."</p> + +<p>But this volume is not concerned with the conduct of the Great War, nor +is it necessary to enter in detail into the controversy that arose as to +the efforts of the rest of Ireland, in comparison with those of Ulster, +to serve the Empire in the hour of need. It will be sufficient to cite +the testimony of two authorities, neither of whom can be suspected of +bias on the side of Ulster. The chronicler of the <i>Annual Register</i> +records that:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"In Ulster, as in England, the flow of recruits outran the + provision made for them by the War Office, and by about the middle + of October the Protestant districts had furnished some 21,000, of + which Belfast alone had contributed 7,581, or 305 per 10,000 of the + population—the highest proportion of all the towns in the United + Kingdom."<a name="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91"><sup>[91]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>The second witness is the democratic orator who took a foremost part in +the House of Commons in denouncing the Curragh officers who resigned +their Commissions rather than march against Ulster. Colonel John Ward, +M.P., writing two years after the war, in which he had not kept his eyes +shut, said:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"It would be presumptuous for a mere Englishman to praise the + gallantry and patriotism of Scotland, Wales, and Ulster; their + record stands second to none in the annals of the war. The case of + the South of Ireland, her most <a name="Page_239"></a>ardent admirer will admit, is not + as any other in the whole British Empire. To the everlasting credit + of the great leader of the Irish Nationalists, Mr. John Redmond, + his gallant son, and his very lovable brother—together with many + real, great-souled Irish soldiers whose loss we so deeply + deplore—saw the light and followed the only course open to good + men and true. But the patriotism and devotion of the few only show + up in greater and more exaggerated contrast the sullen indifference + of the majority, and the active hostility of the minority, who + would have seen our country and its people overrun and defeated not + only without regret, but with fiendish delight."<a name="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92"><sup>[92]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>No generous-minded Ulsterman would wish to detract a word from the +tribute paid by Colonel Ward to the Redmond family and other gallant +Catholic Nationalists who stood manfully for the Empire in the day of +trial; but the concluding sentence in the above quotation cannot be +gainsaid. And the pathetic thing was that Mr. Redmond himself never +seems to have understood the true sentiments of the majority of those +who had been his followers before the war. In a speech in the House on +the 15th of September he referred contemptuously to a "little group of +men who never belonged to the National Constitutional party, who were +circulating anti-recruiting handbills and were publishing little +wretched rags once a week or once a month," which were not worth a +moment's notice.</p> + +<p>The near future was to show that these adherents of Sinn Fein were not +so negligible as Mr. Redmond sincerely believed. The real fact was that +his own patriotic attitude at the outbreak of war undermined his +leadership in Ireland. The "separatism" which had always been, as Ulster +never ceased to believe, the true underlying, though not always the +acknowledged, motive power of Irish Nationalism, was beginning again to +assert itself, and to find expression in "handbills" and "wretched +rags." It was discovering other leaders and spokesmen than Mr. Redmond +and his party, whom it was destined before long to sweep utterly away.</p> +<a name="Page_240"></a> +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90">[90]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Morning Post</i>, May 19th, 1913.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91">[91]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Annual Register</i>, 1914, p. 259.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92">[92]</a><div class="note"><p> "The Army and Ireland," <i>Nineteenth Century and After</i>, +January 1921, by Lieut.-Colonel John Ward, C.B., C.M.G., M.P.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<h4>NEGOTIATIONS FOR SETTLEMENT</h4> + + +<p>The position in which Ulster was now placed was, from the political +point of view, a very anxious one. Had the war not broken out when it +did, there was a very prevalent belief that the Government could not +have avoided a general election either before, or immediately after, the +placing of Home Rule on the Statute-book; and as to the result of such +an election no Unionist had any misgiving. Even if the Government had +remained content to disregard the electorate, it would have been +impossible for them to subject Ulster to a Dublin Parliament. The +organisation there was powerful enough to prevent it, by force if +necessary, and the Curragh Incident had proved that the Army could not +be employed against the Loyalists.</p> + +<p>But the whole outlook had now changed. The war had put off all thought +of a General Election till an indefinite future; the Ulster Volunteers, +and every other wheel in the very effective machinery prepared for +resistance to Home Rule, were now diverted to a wholly different +purpose; and at the same time the hated Bill had become an Act, and the +only alleviation was the promise, for what it might be worth, of an +Amending Bill the scope of which remained undefined. While, therefore, +the Ulster leaders and people threw themselves with all their energy +into the patriotic work to which the war gave the call, the situation so +created at home caused them much uneasiness.</p> + +<p>No one felt it more than Lord Londonderry. Indeed, as the autumn of 1914 +wore on, the despondency he fell into was so marked that his friends +could not avoid disquietude on his personal account in addition to all +the other grounds for anxiety. He and Lady Londonderry, it is true, took +a leading part in all the activities to which the war gave rise<a name="Page_241"></a> +—encouraging recruiting, organising hospitals, and making provision of +every kind for soldiers and their dependents, in Ulster and in the +County of Durham. But when in London in November, Lord Londonderry would +sit moodily at the Carlton Club, speaking to few except intimate +friends, and apparently overcome by depression. He was pessimistic about +the war. His only son was at the front, and he seemed persuaded he would +never return. The affairs of Ulster, to which he had given his whole +heart, looked black; and he went about as if all his purpose in life was +gone. He went with Lady Londonderry to Mount Stewart for Christmas, and +one or two intimate friends who visited him there in January 1915 were +greatly disturbed in mind on his account. But the public in Belfast, who +saw him going in and out of the Ulster Club as usual, did not know +anything was amiss, and were terribly shocked as well as grieved when +they heard of his sudden death at Wynyard on the 8th of February.</p> + +<p>The death of Lord Londonderry was felt by many thousands in Ulster as a +personal bereavement. If he did not arouse the unbounded, and almost +delirious, devotion which none but Sir Edward Carson ever evoked in the +North of Ireland, the deep respect and warm affection felt towards him +by all who knew him, and by great numbers who did not, was a tribute +which his modesty and integrity of character and genial friendliness of +disposition richly deserved. He was faithfully described by Carson +himself to the Ulster Unionist Council several months after his death as +"a great leader, a great and devoted public servant, a great patriot, a +great gentleman, and above all the greatest of great friends."</p> + +<p>Ulster, meantime, had already had a foretaste of the sacrifices the war +was to demand when the Division should go to the front. In November 1914 +Captain the Hon. Arthur O'Neill, M.P. for Mid Antrim, who had gone to +the front with the first expeditionary force, was killed in action in +France. There was a certain sense of sad pride in the reflection that +the first member of the House of Commons to give his life for King and +country was a representative of Ulster; and the constituency which +suffered the loss of <a name="Page_242"></a>a promising young member by the death of this +gallant Life Guardsman consoled itself by electing in his place his +younger brother, Major Hugh O'Neill, then serving in the Ulster +Division, who afterwards proved himself a most valuable member of the +Ulster Parliamentary Party, and eventually became the first Speaker of +the Ulster Parliament created by the Act of 1920.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the bitter outbreak of party passion caused by the +Government's action in putting the Home Rule Bill on the Statute-book in +September, the party truce was well maintained throughout the autumn and +winter. And the most striking proof of the transformation wrought by the +war was seen when Mr. Asquith, when constrained to form a truly national +Administration in May 1915, included Sir Edward Carson in his Cabinet +with the office of Attorney-General. Mr. Redmond was at the same time +invited to join the Government, and his refusal to do so when the +British Unionists, the Labour leaders, and the Ulster leaders all +responded to the Prime Minister's appeal to their patriotism, did not +appear in the eyes of Ulstermen to confirm the Nationalist leader's +profession of loyalty to the Empire; though they did him the justice of +believing that he would have accepted office if he had felt free to +follow his own inclination. His inability to do so, and the complaints +of his followers, including Mr. Dillon, at the admission of Carson to +the Cabinet, revealed the incapacity of the Nationalists to rise to a +level above party.</p> + +<p>Carson, however, did not remain very long in the Government. +Disapproving of the policy pursued in relation to our Allies in the +Balkans, he resigned on the 20th of October, 1915. But he had remained +long enough to prove his value in council to the most energetic of his +colleagues in the Cabinet. Men like Mr. Churchill and Mr. Lloyd George, +although they had been the bitterest of Carson's opponents eighteen +months previously, seldom omitted from this time forward to seek his +advice in times of difficulty; and the latter of these two, when things +were going badly with the Allies more than a year later, endeavoured to +persuade Mr. Asquith to include Carson in a Committee of four to be +charged with the entire conduct of the war.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_243"></a>It was, perhaps, fortunate that the Ulster leader was not a member of +the Government when the rebellion broke out in the South of Ireland at +Easter 1916. For this event suddenly brought to the front again the +whole Home Rule question, which everybody had hoped might be allowed to +sleep till the end of the war; and it would have been a misfortune if +Carson had not then been in a position of independence to play his part +in this new act of the Irish drama.</p> + +<p>The Government had many warnings of what was brewing. But Mr. Birrell, +the Chief Secretary, who in frivolity seemed a contemporary embodiment +of Nero, deemed cheap wit a sufficient reply to all remonstrances, and +had to confess afterwards that he had utterly miscalculated the forces +with which he had to deal. He was completely taken by surprise when, on +the 20th of April, an attempt to land weapons from a German vessel, +escorted by a submarine from which Sir Roger Casement landed in the West +of Ireland, proved that the Irish rebels were in league with the enemy; +and even after this ominous event, he did nothing to provide against the +outbreak that occurred in Dublin four days later. The rising in the +capital, and in several other places in the South of Ireland, was not +got under for a week, during which time more than 170 houses had been +burnt, £2,000,000 sterling worth of property destroyed or damaged, and +1,315 casualties had been suffered, of which 304 were fatal.</p> + +<p>The aims of the insurgents were disclosed in a proclamation which +referred to the administration in Ireland as a "long usurpation by a +foreign people and government." It declared that the Irish Republican +Brotherhood—the same organisation that planned and carried out the +Phoenix Park murders in 1882—had now seized the right moment for +"reviving the old traditions of Irish nationhood," and announced that +the new Irish Republic was a sovereign independent State, which was +entitled to claim the allegiance of every Irish man and woman.</p> + +<p>The rebellion was the subject of debates in both Houses of Parliament on +the 10th and 11th of May—Mr. Birrell having in the interval, to use a +phrase of Carlyle's, "taken <a name="Page_244"></a>himself and his incompetence +elsewhere"—when Mr. Dillon, speaking for the Nationalist Party, poured +forth a flood of passionate sympathy with the rebels, declaring that he +was proud of youths who could boast of having slaughtered British +soldiers, and he denounced the Government for suppressing the rising in +"a sea of blood." The actual fact was, that out of a large number of +prisoners taken red-handed in the act of armed rebellion who were +condemned to death after trial by court-martial, the great majority were +reprieved, and thirteen in all were executed. Whether such measures +deserved the frightful description coined by Mr. Dillon's flamboyant +rhetoric everybody can judge for himself, after considering whether in +any other country or at any other period of the world's history, active +assistance of a foreign enemy—for that is what it amounted to—has been +visited with a more lenient retribution.</p> + +<p>On the same day that Mr. Dillon thus justified the whole basis of +Ulster's unchanging attitude towards Nationalism by blurting out his +sympathy with England's enemies, Mr. Asquith announced that he was +himself going to Ireland to investigate matters on the spot. These two +events, Mr. Dillon's speech and the Prime Minister's visit to +Dublin—where he certainly exhibited no stern anger against the rebels, +even if the stories were exaggerated which reported him to have shown +them ostentatious friendliness—went far to transform what had been a +wretched fiasco into a success. Cowed at first by their complete +failure, the rebels found encouragement in the complacency of the Prime +Minister, and the fear or sympathy, whichever it was, of the Nationalist +Party. From that moment they rapidly increased in influence, until they +proved two years later that they had become the predominant power all +over Ireland except in Ulster.</p> + +<p>In Ulster the rebellion was regarded with mixed feelings. The strongest +sentiment was one of horror at the treacherous blow dealt to the Empire +while engaged in a life-and-death struggle with a foreign enemy. But, +was it unpardonably Pharisaic if there was also some self-glorification +in the thought that Ulstermen in this respect were not as other <a name="Page_245"></a>men +were? There was also a prevalent feeling that after what had occurred +they would hear no more of Home Rule, at any rate during the war. It +appeared inconceivable that any sane Government could think of handing +over the control of Ireland in time of war to people who had just proved +their active hostility to Great Britain in so unmistakable a fashion.</p> + +<p>But they were soon undeceived. Mr. Asquith, on his return, told the +House of Commons what he had learnt during his few days' sojourn in +Ireland. His first proposition was that the existing machinery of +Government in Ireland had completely broken down. That was undeniable. +It was the natural fruit of the Birrell regime. Mr. Asquith was himself +responsible for it. But no more strange or illogical conclusion could be +drawn from it than that which Mr. Asquith proceeded to propound. This +was that there was now "a unique opportunity for a new departure for the +settlement of outstanding problems "—which, when translated from +Asquithian into plain English, meant that now was the time for Home +Rule. The pledge to postpone the question till after the war was to be +swept aside, and, instead of building up by sound and sensible +administration what Mr. Birrel's abnegation of government had allowed to +crumble into "breakdown," the rebels were to be rewarded for traffic +with the enemy and destruction of the central parts of Dublin, with +great loss of life, by being allowed to point to the triumphant success +of their activity, which was certain to prove the most effective of all +possible propaganda for their political ideals in Ireland.</p> + +<p>Some regard, however, was still to be paid to the promise of an Amending +Bill. The Prime Minister repeated that no one contemplated the coercion +of Ulster; that an attempt must be made to come to agreement about the +terms on which the Home Rule Act could be brought into immediate +operation; and that the Cabinet had deputed to Mr. Lloyd George the task +of negotiating to this end with both parties in Ireland. Accordingly, +Mr. Lloyd George, then Secretary of State for War, interviewed Sir +Edward Carson on the one hand and Mr. Redmond and Mr. Devlin on the +<a name="Page_246"></a>other, and submitted to them separately the proposals which he said the +Cabinet were prepared to make.<a name="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93"><sup>[93]</sup></a></p> + +<p>On the 6th of June Carson explained the Cabinet's proposals at a special +meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council held in private. His task was an +extremely difficult one, for the advice he had to offer was utterly +detestable to himself, and he knew it would be no less so to his +hearers. And the latter, profound as was their trust in him as their +leader, were men of singularly independent judgment and quite capable of +respectfully declining to take any course they did not themselves +approve. Indeed, Carson emphasised the fact that he could not, and had +not attempted to, bind the Council to take the same view of the +situation as himself. At the same time he clearly and frankly stated +what his own opinion was, saying: "I would indeed be a poor leader of a +great movement if I hesitated to express my own views of any proposition +put before you."<a name="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94"><sup>[94]</sup></a></p> + +<p>His speech, which took nearly two hours in delivery, was a perfect model +of lucid exposition and convincing argument. He reviewed in close detail +the course of events that had led to the present situation. He +maintained from first to last the highest ground of patriotism. +Mentioning that numerous correspondents had asked why he did not +challenge the Nationalist professions of loyalty two years before at the +beginning of the war, which had since then been so signally falsified, +he answered:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Because I had no desire to show a dissentient Ireland to the + Germans. I am glad, even with what has happened, that we played the + game, and if we had to do it again we would play the game. And then + suddenly came the rebellion in Dublin. I cannot find words to + describe my own horror when I heard of it. For I am bound to admit + to you that I was not thinking merely of Ulster; I was thinking of + the war; I was thinking, as I am always thinking, of what will + happen if we are beaten in the war. I was <a name="Page_247"></a>thinking of the + sacrifice of human lives at the front, and in Gallipoli, and at + Kut, when suddenly I heard that the whole thing was interrupted by, + forsooth, an Irish rebellion—by what Mr. Dillon in the House of + Commons called a clean fight! It is not Ulster or Ireland that is + now at stake: it is the British Empire. We have therefore to + consider not merely a local problem, but a great Imperial + problem—how to win the war."</p></blockquote> + +<p>He then outlined the representations that had been made to him by the +Cabinet as to the injury to the Allied cause resulting from the +unsettled Irish question—the disturbance of good relations with the +United States, whence we were obtaining vast quantities of munitions; +the bad effect of our local differences on opinion in Allied and neutral +countries. He admitted that these evil effects were largely due to false +and hostile propaganda to which the British Government weakly neglected +to provide an antidote; he believed they were grossly exaggerated. But +in time of war they could not contend with their own Government nor be +deaf to its appeals, especially when that Government contained all their +own party leaders, on whose support they had hitherto leaned.</p> + +<p>One of Carson's chief difficulties was to make men grasp the +significance of the fact that Home Rule was now actually established by +Act of Parliament. The point that the Act was on the Statute-book was +constantly lost sight of, with all that it implied. He drove home the +unwelcome truth that simple repeal of that Act was not practical +politics. The only hope for Ulster to escape going under a Parliament in +Dublin lay in the promised Amending Bill. But they had no assurance how +much that Bill, when produced, would do for them. Was it likely, he +asked, to do more than was now offered by the Government?</p> + +<p>He then told the Council what Mr. Lloyd George's proposals were. The +Cabinet offered on the one hand a "clean cut," not indeed of the whole +of Ulster, but of the six most Protestant counties, and on the other to +bring the Home Rule Act, so modified, into immediate operation. He +pointed out that none of them could contemplate using the U.V.F. for +fighting purposes at home after the war; and <a name="Page_248"></a>that, even if such a thing +were thinkable, they could not expect to get more by forcible resistance +to the Act than what was now offered by legislation.</p> + +<p>But to Carson himself, and to all who listened to him that day, the +heartrending question was whether they could suffer a separation to be +made between the Loyalists in the six counties and those in the other +three counties of the Province. It could only be done, Carson declared, +if, after considering all the circumstances of the case as he unfolded +it to them, the delegates from Cavan, Monaghan, and Donegal could make +the self-sacrifice of releasing the other counties from the obligation +to stand or fall together. Carson ended by saying that he did not intend +to take a vote—he "could be no party to having Ulstermen vote one +against the other." What was to be done must be done by agreement, or +not at all. He offered to confer separately with the delegates from the +three omitted counties, and the Council adjourned till the 12th of June +to enable this conference to be held.</p> + +<p>In the interval a large number of the delegates held meetings of their +local associations, most of which passed resolutions in favour of +accepting the Government's proposals. But there was undoubtedly a +widespread feeling that it would be a betrayal of the Loyalists of +Cavan, Monaghan, and Donegal, and even a positive breach of the +Covenant, to accept exclusion from the Home Rule Act for only a portion +of Ulster. This was, it is true, a misunderstanding of the strict +meaning of the Covenant, which had been expressly conditioned so as not +to extend to such unforeseen circumstances as the war had brought +about<a name="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95"><sup>[95]</sup></a>; but there was a general desire to avoid if possible taking +technical points, and both Carson himself and the Council were ready to +sacrifice the opportunity for a tolerable settlement should the +representatives of the three counties not freely consent to what was +proposed.</p> + +<p>In a spirit of self-sacrifice which deeply touched every member of the +Council, this consent was given. Carson had obtained leave for Lord +Farnham to return from the Army in France to be present at the meeting. +Lord<a name="Page_249"></a> Farnham, as a delegate from Cavan, made a speech at the adjourned +meeting on the 12th which filled his hearers with admiration. That he +was almost heart-broken by the turn events had taken he made no attempt +to conceal; and his distress was shared by those who heard his moving +words. But he showed that he possessed the instinct of statesmanship +which compelled him to recognise, in spite of the powerful pull of +sentiment and self-interest in the opposite direction, that the course +recommended by Carson was the path of wisdom. With breaking voice he +thanked the latter "for the clearness, and the fairness, and the +manliness with which he has put the deplorable situation that has arisen +before us, and for his manly advice as leader "; and he then read a +resolution that had been passed earlier in the day by the delegates of +the three counties, which, after recording a protest against any +settlement excluding them from Ulster, expressed sorrowful acquiescence, +on grounds of the larger patriotism, in whatever decision might be come +to in the matter by their colleagues from the six counties.</p> + +<p>It was the saddest hour the Ulster Unionist Council ever spent. Men not +prone to emotion shed tears. It was the most poignant ordeal the Ulster +leader ever passed through. But it was just one of those occasions when +far-seeing statesmanship demands the ruthless silencing of promptings +that spring from emotion. Many of those who on that terrible 12th of +June were most torn by doubt as to the necessity for the decision +arrived at, realised before long that their leader had never been guided +by surer insight than in the counsel he gave them that day.</p> + +<p>The Resolution adopted by the Council was a lengthy one. After reciting +the unaltered attachment of Ulster to the Union, it placed on record the +appeal that had been made by the Government on patriotic grounds for a +settlement of the Irish difficulty, which the Council did not think it +right at such a time of national emergency to resist; but it was careful +to reserve, in case the negotiations should break down from any other +cause, complete freedom to revert to "opposition to the whole policy of +Home Rule for Ireland."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_250"></a>Meantime the Nationalist leaders had been submitting Mr. Lloyd George's +proposals to their own people, and on the 10th of June Mr. Redmond made +a speech in Dublin from which it appeared that he was submitting a very +different proposal to that explained by Carson in Belfast. For Mr. +Redmond told his Dublin audience that, while the Home Rule Act was to +come into operation at once, the exclusion of the six counties was to be +only for the period of the war and twelve months afterwards. That would, +of course, have been even less favourable to Ulster than the terms +offered by Mr. Asquith and rejected by Carson in March 1914. Exclusion +for the period of the war meant nothing; it would have been useless to +Ulster; it was no concession whatever; and Carson would have refused, as +he did in 1914, even to submit it to the Unionist Council in Belfast. +Mr. Lloyd George, who must have known this, had told him quite clearly +that there was to be a "definite clean cut," with no suggestion of a +time limit. There was, however, an idea that after the war an Imperial +Conference would be held, at which the whole constitutional relations of +the component nations of the British Empire would be reviewed, and that +the permanent status of Ireland would then come under reconsideration +with the rest. In this sense the arrangement now proposed was spoken of +as "provisional"; but both Mr. Lloyd George and the Prime Minister made +it perfectly plain that the proposed exclusion of the six Ulster +counties from Home Rule could never be reversed except by a fresh Act of +Parliament.</p> + +<p>But when the question was raised by Mr. Redmond in the House of Commons +on the 24th of July, in a speech of marked moderation, he explained that +he had understood the exclusion, like all the rest of the scheme, to be +strictly "provisional," with the consequence that it would come to an +end automatically at the end of the specified period unless prolonged by +new legislation; and he refused to respond to an earnest appeal by Mr. +Asquith not to let slip this opportunity of obtaining, with the consent +of the Unionist Party, immediate Home Rule for the greater part of +Ireland, more especially as Mr. Redmond himself <a name="Page_251"></a>had disclaimed any +desire to bring Ulster within the Home Rule jurisdiction without her own +consent.</p> + +<p>The negotiations for settlement thus fell to the ground, and the bitter +sacrifice which Ulster had brought herself to offer, in response to the +Government's urgent appeal, bore no fruit, unless it was to afford one +more proof of her loyalty to England and the Empire. She was to find +that such proofs were for the most part thrown away, and merely were +used by her enemies, and by some who professed to be her friends, as a +starting-point for demands on her for further concessions. But, although +all British parties in turn did their best to impress upon Ulster that +loyalty did not pay, she never succeeded in learning the lesson +sufficiently to be guided by it in her political conduct.</p><a name="Page_252"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93">[93]</a><div class="note"><p> Mr. Lloyd George's memory was at fault when he said in the +House of Commons on the 7th of February, 1922, that on the occasion +referred to in the text he had seen Sir Edward Carson and Mr. Redmond +together.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94">[94]</a><div class="note"><p> The quotations from this speech, which was never +published, are from a report privately taken by the Ulster Unionist +Council.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95">[95]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>ante</i>, p. 105.</p></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<h4>THE IRISH CONVENTION</h4> + + +<p>After the failure of Mr. Lloyd George's negotiations for settlement in +the summer of 1916 the Nationalists practically dropped all pretence of +helping the Government to carry on the war. They were, no doubt, +beginning to realise how completely they were losing hold of the people +of Southern Ireland, and that the only chance of regaining their +vanishing popularity was by an attitude of hostility to the British +Government.</p> + +<p>Frequently during the autumn and winter they raised debates in +Parliament on the demand that the Home Rule Act should immediately come +into operation, and threatened that if this were not done recruits from +Ireland would not be forthcoming, although the need for men was now a +matter of great national urgency. They ignored the fact that Mr. Redmond +was a consenting party to Mr. Asquith's policy of holding Home Rule in +abeyance till after the war, and attempted to explain away their own +loss of influence in Ireland by alleging that the exasperation of the +Irish people at the delay in obtaining "self-government" was the cause +of their alienation from England, and of the growth of Sinn Fein.</p> + +<p>In December 1916 the Asquith Government came to an end, and Mr. Lloyd +George became Prime Minister. He had shown his estimate of Sir Edward +Carson's statesmanship by pressing Mr. Asquith to entrust the entire +conduct of the war to a Committee of four, of whom the Ulster leader +should be one; and, having failed in this attempt to infuse energy and +decision into the counsels of his Chief, he turned him out and formed a +Ministry with Carson in the office of First Lord of the Admiralty, at +that time one of the most vital in the Government. Colonel James<a name="Page_253"></a> Craig +also joined the Ministry as Treasurer of the Household.</p> + +<p>The change of Government did nothing to alter the attitude of the +Nationalists, unless, indeed, the return of Carson to high office added +to the fierceness of their attacks. On the 26th of February 1917—just +when "unrestricted submarine warfare" was bringing the country into its +greatest peril—Mr. Dillon called upon the Government to release +twenty-eight men who had been deported from Ireland, and who were +declared by Mr. Duke, the Chief Secretary, to have been deeply +implicated in the Easter rebellion of the previous year; and a week +later Mr. T.P. O'Connor returned to the charge with another demand for +Home Rule without further ado.</p> + +<p>The debate on Mr. O'Connor's motion on the 7th of March was made +memorable by the speech of Major William Redmond, home on leave from the +trenches in France, whose sincere and impassioned appeal for oblivion of +old historic quarrels between Irish Catholics and Protestants, who were +at that moment fighting and dying side by side in France, made a deep +impression on the House of Commons and the country. And when this +gallant officer fell in action not long afterwards and was carried out +of the firing line by Ulster soldiers, his speech on the 7th of March +was recalled and made the peg on which to hang many adjurations to +Ulster to come into line with their Nationalist fellow-countrymen of the +South.</p> + +<p>Such appeals revealed a curious inability to grasp the realities of the +situation. Men spoke and wrote as if it were something new and wonderful +for Irishmen of the "two nations" to be found fighting side by side in +the British Army—as if the same thing had not been seen in the +Peninsula, in the Crimea, on the Indian frontier, in South Africa, and +in many another fight. Ulstermen, like everybody else who knew Major +Redmond, deplored the loss of a very gallant officer and a very lovable +man. But they could not understand why his death should be made a reason +for a change in their political convictions. When Major Arthur O'Neill, +an Ulster member, was killed in action in 1914, no one had suggested +that Nationalists <a name="Page_254"></a>should on that account turn Unionists. Why, they +wondered, should Unionists any more turn Nationalists because a +Nationalist M.P. had made the same supreme sacrifice? All this +sentimental talk of that time was founded on the misconception that +Ulster's attachment to the Union was the result of personal prejudice +against Catholics of the South, instead of being, as it was, a +deliberate and reasoned conviction as to the best government for +Ireland.</p> + +<p>This distinction was clearly brought out in the same debate by Sir John +Lonsdale, who, when Carson became a member of the Cabinet, had been +elected leader of the Ulster Party in the House of Commons; and an +emphatic pronouncement, which went to the root of the controversy, was +made in reply to the Nationalists by the Prime Minister. In the +north-eastern portion of Ireland, he said:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"You have a population as hostile to Irish rule as the rest of + Ireland is to British rule, yea, and as ready to rebel against it + as the rest of Ireland is against British rule—as alien in blood, + in religious faith, in traditions, in outlook—as alien from the + rest of Ireland in this respect as the inhabitants of Fife or + Aberdeen. To place them under National rule against their will + would be as glaring an outrage on the principles of liberty and + self-government as the denial of self-government would be for the + rest of Ireland."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The Government were, therefore, prepared, said Mr. Lloyd George, to +bring in Home Rule immediately for that part of Ireland that wanted it, +but not for the Northern part which did not want it. Mr. Redmond made a +fine display of indignation at this refusal to coerce Ulster; and, in +imitation of the Unionists in 1914, marched out of the House at the head +of his party. Next day he issued a manifesto to men of Irish blood in +the United States and in the Dominions, calling on them to use all means +in their power to exert pressure on the British Government. It was clear +that this sort of thing could not be tolerated in the middle of a war in +which Great Britain was fighting for her life, and at a crisis in it +when her fortunes were far from prosperous. Accordingly, on the 16th of +March Mr. Bonar<a name="Page_255"></a> Law warned the Nationalists that their conduct might +make it necessary to appeal to the country on the ground that they were +obstructing the prosecution of the war. But he also announced that the +Cabinet intended to make one more attempt to arrive at a settlement of +the apparently insoluble problem of Irish government.</p> + +<p>Two months passed before it was made known how this attempt was to be +made. On the 16th of May the Prime Minister addressed a letter in +duplicate to Mr. Redmond and Sir John Lonsdale, representing the two +Irish parties respectively, in which he put forward for their +consideration two alternative methods of procedure, after premising that +the Government felt precluded from proposing during the war any measures +except such as "would be substantially accepted by both sides."</p> + +<p>These alternatives were: <i>(a)</i> a "Bill for the immediate application of +the Home Rule Act to Ireland, but excluding therefrom the six counties +of North-East Ulster," or, <i>(b)</i> a Convention of Irishmen "for the +purpose of drafting a Constitution ... which should secure a just +balance of all the opposing interests." Sir John Lonsdale replied to the +Prime Minister that he would take the Government's first proposal to +Belfast for consideration by the Council; but as Mr. Redmond, on the +other hand, peremptorily refused to have anything to say to it, it +became necessary to fall back on the other alternative, namely the +assembling of an Irish Convention.</p> + +<p>The members chosen to sit in the Convention were to be "representative +men" in Emerson's meaning of the words, but not in the democratic sense +as deriving their authority from direct popular election. Certain +political organisations and parties were each invited to nominate a +certain number; the Churches were represented by their leading clergy; +men occupying public positions, such as chairmen of local authorities, +were given <i>ex-officio</i> seats; and a certain number were nominated by +the Government. The total membership of this variegated assembly was +ninety-five. The Sinn Fein party were invited to join, but refused to +have anything to do with it, declaring that they would consider nothing +short of complete independence for<a name="Page_256"></a> Ireland. The majority of the Irish +people thus stood aloof from the Convention altogether.</p> + +<p>As the purpose for which the Convention was called was quickly lost +sight of by many, and by none more than its Chairman, it is well to +remember what that purpose was. If it had not been for the opposition of +Ulster, the Home Rule Act of 1914 would have been in force for years, +and none of the many attempts at settlement would have been necessary. +The one and only thing required was to reconcile, if possible, the +aspirations of Ulster with those of the rest of Ireland. That was the +purpose, and the only purpose, of the Convention; and in the letter +addressed to Sir John Lonsdale equally with Mr. Redmond, the Prime +Minister distinctly laid it down that unless its conclusions were +accepted "by both sides," nothing could come of it. To leave no shadow +of doubt on this point Mr. Bonar Law, in reply to a specific question, +said that there could be no "substantial agreement" to which Ulster was +not a party.</p> + +<p>It is necessary to emphasise this point, because for such a purpose the +heterogeneous conglomeration of Nationalists of all shades that formed +the great majority of the Convention was worse than useless. The +Convention was in reality a bi-lateral conference, in which one of the +two sides was four times as numerous as the other. Yet much party +capital was subsequently made of the fact that the Nationalist members +agreed upon a scheme of Home Rule—an achievement which had no element +of the miraculous or even of the unexpected about it.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding that the Sinn Fein party had displayed their contempt +for the Convention, and under the delusion that it would "create an +atmosphere of good-will" for its meeting, the Government released +without condition or reservation all the prisoners concerned in the +Easter rebellion of 1916. It was like playing a penny whistle to +conciliate a cobra. The prisoners, from whose minds nothing was further +than any thought of good-will to England, were received by the populace +in Dublin with a rapturous ovation, their triumphal procession being +headed by Mr. De Valera, who was soon afterwards elected member for East +Clare by a majority of nearly thirty thousand.<a name="Page_257"></a> Four months later, the +Chief Secretary told Parliament that the young men of Southern Ireland, +who had refused to serve in the Army, were being enrolled in preparation +for another rebellion.</p> + +<p>It was only after some hesitation that the Ulster Unionist Council +decided not to hold aloof from the Convention, as the Sinn Feiners did. +Carson accompanied Sir John Lonsdale to Belfast and explained the +explicit pledges by Ministers that participation would not commit them +to anything, that they would not be bound by any majority vote, and that +without their concurrence no legislation was to be founded on any +agreement between the other groups in the Convention; he also urged that +Ulster could not refuse to do what the Government held would be helpful +in the prosecution of the war.</p> + +<p>The invitation to nominate five delegates was therefore accepted; and +when the membership of the Convention was complete there were nineteen +out of ninety-five who could be reckoned as supporters in general of the +Ulster point of view. Among them were the Primate, the Moderator of the +General Assembly, the Duke of Abercorn, the Marquis of Londonderry, Mr. +H.M. Pollock, Chairman of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, one Labour +representative, Mr J. Hanna, and the Lord Mayors of Belfast and Derry. +It was agreed that Mr. H.T. Barrie, member for North Derry, should act +as chairman and leader of the Ulster group, and he discharged this +difficult duty with unfailing tact and ability.</p> + +<p>There was some difficulty in finding a suitable Chairman, for no party +was willing to accept any strong man opposed to their own views, while +an impartial man was not to be found in Ireland. Eventually the choice +fell on Sir Horace Plunkett as a gentleman who, if eagerly supported by +none, was accepted by each group as preferable to a more formidable +opponent. Sir Horace made no pretence of impartiality. Whatever +influence he possessed was used as a partisan of the Nationalists. He +was not, like the Speaker of the House of Commons, a silent guardian of +order; he often harangued the assembly, which, on one occasion at least, +he addressed for over an hour; and <a name="Page_258"></a>he issued manifestos, +<i>questionnaires</i>, and letters to members, one of which was sharply +censured as misleading both by Mr. Barrie and the Bishop of Raphoe.</p> + +<p>The procedure adopted was described by the Chairman himself as +"unprecedented." It was not only that, but was unsuitable in the last +degree for the purpose in view. When it is borne in mind what that +purpose was, it is clear that the only business-like method would have +been to invite the Ulster delegates at the outset to formulate their +objections to coming under the Home Rule Act of 1914, and then to see +whether Mr. Redmond could make any concessions which would persuade +Ulster to accept something less than the permanent exclusion of six +counties, which had been their <i>minimum</i> hitherto.</p> + +<p>The procedure actually followed was ludicrously different. The object, +as stated by the chairman, was "to avoid raising contentious issues in +such a way as to divide the Convention on party lines,"<a name="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96"><sup>[96]</sup></a> which, to +say the least, was a curious method of handling the most contentious +problem in British politics. A fine opportunity was offered to amateur +constitution-mongers. Anyone was allowed to propound a scheme for the +future government of Ireland, which, of course, was an encouragement to +endless wide-ranging debate, with the least conceivable likelihood of +arriving at definite decisions. Neither of the leaders of the two +parties whose agreement was essential if the Convention was to have any +result took the initiative in bringing forward proposals. Mr. Redmond +was invited to do so, but declined. Mr. Barrie had no reason to do so, +because the Ulster scheme for the government of Ireland was the +legislative union. So it was left to individuals with no official +responsibility to set forth their ideas, which became the subject of +protracted debates of a general character.</p> + +<p>It was further arranged that while contentious issues—the only ones +that mattered—should be avoided, any conclusions reached on minor +matters should be purely provisional, and contingent on agreement being +come to ultimately on fundamentals. Month after month was spent in thus +discussing such questions as the powers which <a name="Page_259"></a>an Irish Parliament ought +to wield, while the question whether Ulster was to come into that +Parliament was left to stand over. Committees and sub-committees were +appointed to thresh out these details, and some of them relieved the +tedium by wandering into such interesting by-ways of irrelevancy as +housing and land purchase, all of which, in Gilbertian phrase, "had +nothing to do with the case."</p> + +<p>The Ulster group raised no objection to all this expenditure of time and +energy. For they saw that it was not time wasted. From the standpoint of +the highest national interest it was, indeed, more useful than anything +the Convention could have accomplished by business-like methods. The +summer and autumn of 1917, and the early months of 1918, covered a +terribly critical period of the war. The country was never in greater +peril, and the attitude of the Nationalists in the House of Commons +added to the difficulties of the Government, as Mr. Bonar Law had +complained in March. It was to placate them that the Convention had been +summoned. It was a bone thrown to a snarling dog, and the longer there +was anything to gnaw the longer would the dog keep quiet. The Ulster +delegates understood this perfectly, and, as their chief desire was to +help the Government to get on with the war, they had no wish to curtail +the proceedings of the Convention, although they were never under the +delusion that it could lead to anything in Ireland.</p> + +<p>Having regard to the origin of this strange assembly of Irishmen it +might have been supposed that its ingenuity would be directed to finding +some modification of Mr. Asquith's Home Rule Act which Ulster could +accept. That Act was the point of departure for its investigation, and +the quest was <i>ex hypothesi</i> for some amendment that would not be an +enlargement of the authority to be delegated to the subordinate +Parliament, or any further loosening of the tie with Great Britain. Any +proposal of the latter sort would be in the opposite direction from that +in which the Convention was intended to travel. Yet this is precisely +what was done from the very outset. The Act of 1914 was brushed aside as +beneath contempt; and the Ulster delegates had to listen with amazement +week after week <a name="Page_260"></a>to proposals for giving to the whole of Ireland, +including their own Province, a constitution practically as independent +of Great Britain as that of the Dominions.</p> + +<p>But what astonished the Ulstermen above everything was to find these +extravagant demands of the Nationalists supported by those who were +supposed to be representatives of Southern Unionism, with Lord Midleton, +a prominent member of the Unionist Party in England, at their head. The +only material point on which Lord Midleton differed from the extremists +led by the Bishop of Raphoe was that he wished to limit complete fiscal +autonomy for Ireland by reserving the control of Customs duties to the +Imperial Parliament. Save in this single particular he joined forces +with the Nationalists, and shocked the Unionists of the North by giving +his support to a scheme of Home Rule going beyond anything ever +suggested at Westminster by any Radical from Gladstone to Asquith.</p> + +<p>This question of the financial powers to be exercised by the +hypothetical Irish Parliament occupied the Convention and its committees +for the greater part of its eight months of existence. In January 1918 +Lord Midleton and Mr. Redmond came to an agreement on the subject which +proved the undoing of them both, and produced the only really impressive +scene in the Convention.</p> + +<p>For some time Mr. Redmond had given the impression of being a tired man +who had lost his wonted driving-force. He took little or no part in the +lobbying and canvassing that was constantly going on behind the scenes +in the Convention; he appeared to be losing grip as a leader. But he +cannot be blamed for his anxiety to come to terms with Lord Midleton; +and when he found, no doubt greatly to his surprise, that a Unionist +leader was ready to abandon Unionist principles and to accept Dominion +Home Rule for Ireland, subject to a single reservation on the subject of +Customs, he naturally jumped at it, and assumed that his followers would +do the same.</p> + +<p>But, while Mr. Redmond had been losing ground, the influence of the +Catholic Bishop of Raphoe had been on the increase, and that able and +astute prelate was entirely opposed to the compromise on which Mr. +Redmond and<a name="Page_261"></a> Lord Midleton were agreed. On the evening of the 14th of +January it came to the knowledge of Mr. Redmond that when the question +came up for decision next day, he would find Mr. Devlin, his principal +lieutenant, in league with the ecclesiastics against him. He was +personally too far committed to retrace his steps; to go forward meant +disaster, for it would produce a deep cleavage in the Nationalist ranks; +and, as the state of affairs was generally known to members of the +Convention, the sitting of the following day was anticipated with +unusual interest.</p> + +<p>There was an atmosphere of suppressed excitement when the Chairman took +his seat on the 15th. Mr. Redmond entered a few seconds later and took +his usual place without betraying the slightest sign of disturbed +equanimity. The Bishop of Raphoe strode past him, casting to left and +right swift, challenging glances. Mr. Devlin slipped quietly into his +seat beside the leader he had thrown over, without a word or gesture of +greeting. All over the room small groups of members engaged in whispered +conversation; an air of mysterious expectancy prevailed. The Ulster +members had been threatened that it was to be for them a day of disaster +and dismay—a little isolated group, about to be deserted by friends and +crushed by enemies. The Chairman, in an agitated voice, opened +proceedings by inviting questions. There was no response. A minute or so +of tense pause ensued. Then Mr. Redmond rose, and in a perfectly even +voice and his usual measured diction, stated that he was aware that his +proposal was repudiated by many of his usual followers; that the bishops +were against him, and some leading Nationalists, including Mr. Devlin; +that, while he believed if he persisted he would have a majority, the +result would be to split his party, a thing he wished to avoid; and that +he had therefore decided not to proceed with his amendment, and under +these circumstances felt he could be of no further use to the Convention +in the matter.</p> + +<p>For a minute or two the assembly could not grasp the full significance +of what had happened. Then it broke upon them that this was the fall of +a notable leader, although they did not yet know that it was also the +close <a name="Page_262"></a>of a distinguished career. Mr. Redmond's demeanour throughout +what must have been a painful ordeal was beyond all praise. There was +not a quiver in his voice, nor a hesitation for word or phrase. His +self-possession and dignity and high-bred bearing won the respect and +sympathy of the most strenuous of political opponents, even while they +recognised that the defeat of the Nationalist leader meant relief from +pressure on themselves. Mr. Redmond took no further part in the work of +the Convention; his health was failing, and the members were startled by +the news of his death on the 6th of March.</p> + +<p>Not a single vote was taken in the Convention until the 12th of March, +1918, when it had been sitting for nearly seven months, and two days +later the question which it had been summoned to consider, namely, the +relation of Ulster to the rest of Ireland, was touched for the first +time. The first clause in the Bishop of Raphoe's scheme, establishing a +Home Rule constitution for all Ireland, having been carried with Lord +Midleton's help against the vote of the nineteen representatives of +Ulster, the latter proposed an amendment for the exclusion of the +Province, and were, of course, defeated by the combined forces of +Nationalism and Southern Unionism.</p> + +<p>Thus, on the only issue that really mattered, there was no such +"substantial agreement" as the Government had postulated as essential +before legislation could be undertaken; and on the 5th of April the +Convention came to an end without having achieved any useful result, +except that it gave the Government a breathing space from the Irish +question to get on with the war.</p> + +<p>It served, however, to bring prominently forward two of the Ulster +representatives whose full worth had not till then been sufficiently +appreciated. Mr. H.M. Pollock had, it is true, been a valued adviser of +Sir Edward Carson on questions touching the trade and commerce of +Belfast. But in the Convention he made more than one speech which proved +him to be a financier with a comprehensive grasp of principle, and an +extensive knowledge of the history and the intricate details of the +financial relations between Great Britain and Ireland.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_263"></a>Lord Londonderry (the 7th Marquis), who during his father's lifetime +had represented an English constituency in the House of Commons and +naturally took no very prominent part in Ulster affairs, although he +made many excellent speeches on Home Rule both in Parliament and on +English platforms, and was Colonel of a regiment of U.V.F., gave proof +at once, on succeeding to the peerage in 1915, that he was desirous of +doing everything in his power to fill his father's place in the Ulster +Movement. He displayed the same readiness to subordinate personal +convenience, and other claims on his time and energy, to the cause so +closely associated historically with his family. But it was his work in +the Convention that first convinced Ulstermen of his capacity as well as +his zeal. Several of Lord Londonderry's speeches, and especially one in +which he made an impromptu reply to Mr. Redmond, impressed the +Convention with his debating power and his general ability; and it gave +the greatest satisfaction in Ulster when it was realised that the son of +the leader whose loss they mourned so deeply was as able as he was +willing to carry on the hereditary tradition of service to the loyalist +cause.</p> + +<p>In another respect, too, the Convention had an indirect influence on the +position in Ulster. When it appeared likely, in January 1918, that a +deadlock would be reached in the Convention, the Prime Minister himself +intervened. A letter to the Chairman was drafted and discussed in the +Cabinet; but the policy which appeared to commend itself to his +colleagues was one that Sir Edward Carson was unable to support, and he +accordingly resigned office on the 21st, and was accompanied into +retirement by Colonel Craig, the other Ulster member of the Ministry. +Sir John Lonsdale, who for many years had been the very efficient +Honorary Secretary and "Whip" of the Ulster Parliamentary Party, and its +leader while Carson was in office, had been raised to the peerage at the +New Year, with the title of Lord Armaghdale, so that the Ulster +leadership was vacant for Carson to resume when he left the Government, +and he was formally re-elected to the position on the 28th of January. +It was fortunate for Ulster that the old <a name="Page_264"></a>helmsman was again free to +take his place at the wheel, for there was still some rough weather +ahead.</p> + +<p>The official Report of the Convention which was issued on the 10th of +April was one of the most extraordinary documents ever published in a +Government Blue Book.<a name="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97"><sup>[97]</sup></a> It consisted for the most part of a confused +bundle of separate Notes and Reports by a number of different groups and +individuals, and numerous appendices comprising a mass of miscellaneous +memoranda bristling with cross-references. The Chairman was restricted +to providing a bald narrative of the proceedings without any of the +usual critical estimate of the general results attained; but he made up +for this by setting forth his personal opinions in a letter to the Prime +Minister, which, without the sanction of the Convention, he prefixed to +the Report. As it was no easy matter to gain any clear idea from the +Report as to what the Convention had done, its proceedings while in +session having been screened from publicity by drastic censorship of the +Press, many people contented themselves with reading Sir Horace +Plunkett's unauthorised letter to Mr. Lloyd George; and, as it was in +some important respects gravely misleading, it is not surprising that +the truth in regard to the Convention was never properly understood, and +the Ulster Unionist Council had solid justification for its resolution +censuring the Chairman's conduct as "unprecedented and unconstitutional."</p> + +<p>In this personal letter, as was to be expected of a partisan of the +Nationalists, Sir Horace Plunkett laid stress on the fact that Lord +Midleton had "accepted self-government for Ireland "—by which was +meant, of course, not self-government such as Ireland always enjoyed +through her representation, and indeed over-representation, in the +Imperial Parliament, but through separate institutions. But if it had +not been for this support of separate institutions by the Southern +Unionists there would not have been even a colourable pretext for the +assertion of Sir Horace Plunkett that "a larger measure of agreement has +been reached upon the principles and details of Irish self-government +than has ever yet been attained." The really <a name="Page_265"></a>surprising thing was how +little agreement was displayed even among the Nationalists themselves, +who on several important issues were nearly equally divided.</p> + +<p>It was soon seen how little the policy of Lord Midleton was approved by +those whom he was supposed to represent. Although it was exceedingly +difficult to obtain accurate information about what was going on in the +Convention, enough became known in Dublin to cause serious misgiving to +Southern Unionists. The Council of the Irish Unionist Alliance, who had +nominated Lord Midleton as a delegate, asked him to confer with them on +the subject; but he refused. On the 4th of March, 1918, a "Call to +Unionists," a manifesto signed by twenty-four influential Southern +Unionists, appeared in the Press. A Southern Unionist Committee was +formed which before the end of May was able to publish the names of 350 +well-known men in all walks of life who were in accord with the "Call," +and to announce that the supporters of their protest against Lord +Midleton's proceedings numbered upwards of fourteen thousand, of whom +more than two thousand were farmers in the South and West.</p> + +<p>This Committee then took steps to purge the Irish Unionist Alliance by +making it more truly representative of Southern Unionist opinion. A +special meeting of the Council of the organisation on the 24th of +January, 1919, brought on a general engagement between Lord Midleton and +his opponents. The general trend of opinion was disclosed when, after +the defeat of a motion by Lord Midleton for excluding Ulster Unionists +from full membership of the Alliance, Sir Edward Carson was elected one +of its Presidents, and Lord Farnham was chosen Chairman of the Executive +Committee. The Executive Committee was then entirely reconstituted, by +the rejection of every one of Lord Midleton's supporters; and the new +body issued a statement explaining the grounds of dissatisfaction with +Lord Midleton's action in the Convention, and declaring that he had +"lost the confidence of the general body of Southern Unionists." +Thereupon Lord Midleton and a small aristocratic clique associated with +him seceded from the Alliance, and set up a little organisation of their +own.</p><a name="Page_266"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96">[96]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Report of the Proceedings of the Irish Convention</i> (Cd. +9019), p. 10.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97">[97]</a><div class="note"><p> Cd. 9019.</p></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> + +<h4>NATIONALISTS AND CONSCRIPTION</h4> + + +<p>While the Irish Convention was toilfully bringing to a close its eight +months' career of futility, the British Empire was in the grip of the +most terrible ordeal through which it has ever passed. On the 21st of +March, 1918, the assembled Irishmen in Dublin were discussing whether or +not proportional representation should form part of the hypothetical +constitution of Ireland, and on the same day the Germans well-nigh +overwhelmed the 5th Army at the opening of the great offensive campaign +which threatened to break irretrievably the Allied line by the capture +of Amiens. The world held its breath. Englishmen hardly dared to think +of the fate that seemed impending over their country. Irishmen continued +complacently debating the paltry details of the Bishop of Raphoe's +clauses. Irishmen and Englishmen together were being killed or maimed by +scores of thousands in a supreme effort to stay the advance of the Boche +to Paris and the sea.</p> + +<p>It happened that on the very day when the Report of the Convention was +laid on the table of the House of Commons, the Prime Minister made a +statement of profound gravity, beginning with words such as the British +Parliament can never before have been compelled to hear from the lips of +the head of the Government. For the moment, said Mr. Lloyd George, there +was a lull in the storm; but more attacks were to come, and—</p> + +<blockquote><p>The "fate of the Empire, the fate of Europe, and the fate of + liberty throughout the world may depend on the success with which + the very last of these attacks is resisted and countered."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Mr. Asquith struck the same note, urging the House—</p><a name="Page_267"></a> + +<blockquote><p>"With all the earnestness and with all the solemnity of which I am + capable, to realise that never before in the experience of any man + within these walls, or of his fathers and his forefathers, has this + country and all the great traditions and ideals which are embodied + in our history—never has this, the most splendid inheritance ever + bequeathed to a people, been in greater peril, or in more need of + united safeguarding than at this present time."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Not Demosthenes himself, in his most impassioned appeal to the +Athenians, more fitly matched moving words to urgent occasion than these +two statesmen in the simple, restrained sentences, in which they warned +the Commons of the peril hanging over England.</p> + +<p>But was eloquent persuasion really required at such a moment to still +the voice of faction in the British House of Commons? Let those who +would assume the negative study the official Parliamentary Report of the +debate on the 9th of April, 1918. They will find a record which no loyal +Irishman will ever be able to read without a tingling sense of shame. +The whole body of members, with one exception, listened to the Prime +Minister's grave words in silence touched with awe, feeling that perhaps +they were sitting there on the eve of the greatest tragedy in their +country's history. The single exception was the Nationalist Party. From +those same benches whence arose nineteen years back the never-forgotten +cheers that greeted the tale of British disaster in South Africa, now +came a shower of snarling interruptions that broke persistently into the +Prime Minister's speech, and with angry menace impeded his unfolding of +the Government's proposals for meeting the supreme ordeal of the war.</p> + +<p>What was the reason? It was because Ireland, the greater part of which +had till now successfully shirked its share of privation and sacrifice, +was at last to be asked to take up its corner of the burden. The need +for men to replace casualties at the front was pressing, urgent, +imperative. Many indeed blamed the Government for having delayed too +long in filling the depleted ranks of our splendid armies in France; the +moment had come when another day's delay would have been criminal. As +Mr. Lloyd<a name="Page_268"></a> George pointed out, the battle that was being waged in front +of Amiens "proves that the enemy has definitely decided to seek a +military decision this year, whatever the consequences to himself." The +Germans had just called up a fresh class of recruits calculated to place +more than half a million of efficient young men in the line. The +collapse of Russia had released the vast German armies of the East for +use against England and France. It was under such circumstances that the +Prime Minister proposed</p> + +<blockquote><p>"to submit to Parliament to-day certain recommendations in order to + assist this country and the Allies to weather the storm. They will + involve," continued Mr. Lloyd George, "extreme sacrifices on the + part of large classes of the population, and nothing would justify + them but the most extreme necessity, and the fact that we are + fighting for all that is essential and most sacred in the national + life."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The age limit for compulsory military service was to be raised from +forty-two to fifty, and Ireland was to be included under the new +Military Service Bill now introduced. England, Scotland, and Wales had +cheerfully submitted to conscription when first enacted by Mr. Asquith +in 1916, and to all the additional combings of industry and extension of +obligation that had been required in the past two years. Agriculture and +other essential industries were being starved for want of labour, and +men had actually been brought back from the sorely pressed armies to +produce supplies imperatively needed at home.</p> + +<p>But from all this Ireland had hitherto been exempt. To escape the call +of the country a man had only to prove that he was "ordinarily resident +in Ireland"; for conscription did not cross the Irish Sea. From most of +the privations cheerfully borne in Great Britain the Irishman had been +equally free. Food rationing did not trouble him, and, lest he should go +short of accustomed plenty, it was even forbidden to carry a parcel of +butter across the Channel from Ireland. Horse-racing went on as usual. +Emigration had been suspended during the war, so that Ireland was +unusually full of young men who, owing to the unwonted prosperity of the +country resulting from war <a name="Page_269"></a>prices for its produce, were "having the +time of their lives." Mr. Bonar Law, in the debates on the Military +Service Bill, gave reasons for the calculation that there were not far +short of 400,000 young men of military age, and of "Al" physique, in +Ireland available for the Army.</p> + +<p>No wonder that Mr. Lloyd George said it would be impossible to leave +this reservoir of man-power untouched when men of fifty, whose sons were +already with the colours, were to be called up in Great Britain! But the +bare suggestion of doing such a thing raised a hurricane of angry +vituperation and menace from the Nationalists in the House of Commons. +When Mr. Lloyd George, in conciliatory accents, observed that he had no +wish to raise unnecessary controversy, as Heaven knew they had trouble +enough already, "You will get more of it," shouted Mr. Flavin. "You will +have another battle front in Ireland," interjected Mr. Byrne. Mr. +Flavin, getting more and more excited, called out, with reference to the +machinery for enrolment explained by the Prime Minister—"It will never +begin. Ireland will not have it at any price"; and again, a moment +later, "You come across and try to take them." Mr. Devlin was fully as +fierce as these less prominent members of his party, and after many +wrathful interruptions he turned aside the debate into a discussion +about a trumpery report of one of the sub-committees of the Irish +Convention.</p> + +<p>It was truly a sad and shameful scene to be witnessed in the House of +Commons at such a moment. It would have been so even if the contention +of the Nationalists had been reasonably tenable. But it was not. They +maintained that only an Irish Parliament had the right to enforce +conscription in Ireland. But at the beginning of the war they had +accepted the proviso that it should run its course before Home Rule came +into operation. And even if it had been in operation, and a Parliament +had been sitting in Dublin under Mr. Asquith's Act, which the +Nationalists had accepted as a settlement of their demands, that +Parliament would have had nothing to do with the raising of military +forces by conscription or otherwise, this being a duty reserved, as in +every federal or quasi-<a name="Page_270"></a>federal constitution, for the central +legislative authority alone.</p> + +<p>But it was useless to point this out to the infuriated Nationalist +members. Mr. William O'Brien denounced the idea of compelling Irishmen +to bear the same burden as their British fellow-subjects as "a +declaration of war against Ireland"; and he and Mr. Healy joined Mr. +Dillon and his followers in opposing with all their parliamentary skill, +and all their voting power, the extension to Ireland of compulsory +service. Mr. Healy, whose vindictive memory had not forgotten the +Curragh Incident before the war, could not forbear from having an +ungenerous fling at General Gough, who had just been driven back by the +overwhelming numerical superiority of the German attack, and who, at the +moment when Mr. Healy was taunting him in the House of Commons, was +re-forming his gallant 5th Army to resist the enemy's further advance.</p> + +<p>In comparison with this Mr. Healy's stale gibe at "Carson's Army," +however inappropriate to the occasion, was a venial offence. Carson +himself replied in a gentle and conciliatory tone to Mr. Healy's coarse +diatribe.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"My honourable friend," he said, "talked of Carson's Army. You may, + if you like, call it with contempt Carson's Army. But it has just + gone into action for the fourth time, and many of them have paid + the supreme sacrifice. They have covered themselves with glory, + and, what is more, they have covered Ireland with glory, and they + have left behind sad homes throughout the small hamlets of Ulster, + as I well know, losing three or four sons in many a home."</p></blockquote> + +<p>On behalf of Ulster Carson gave unhesitating support to the Government. +He and his colleagues from Ulster had always voted against the exemption +of Ireland from the Military Service Acts. It was true, no doubt, as the +Nationalists jeeringly maintained, that conscription was no more desired +in Ulster than in any other part of the United Kingdom. Of course it was +not; it was liked nowhere. But Carson declared that "equality of +sacrifice" was the principle to be acted upon, and Ulster <a name="Page_271"></a>accepted it. +He "would go about hanging his head in shame," if his own part of the +United Kingdom were absolved from sacrifice which the national necessity +imposed on the inhabitants of Great Britain.</p> + +<p>The Bill was carried through by the 16th of April in the teeth of +Nationalist opposition maintained through all its stages. Mr. Bonar Law +announced emphatically that the Government intended to enforce the +compulsory powers in Ireland; but he also said that yet another attempt +was to be made to settle the constitutional question by bringing in "at +an early date" a measure of Home Rule which the Government hoped might +be carried at once and "without violent controversy."</p> + +<p>After the experience of the past this seemed an amazingly sanguine +estimate of the prospects of any proposals that ingenuity could devise. +But what the nature of the measure was to have been was never made +known; for the Bill was still in the hands of a drafting committee when +a dangerous German intrigue in Ireland was discovered; and the +Lord-Lieutenant made a proclamation on the 18th of May announcing that +the Government had information "that certain of the King's subjects in +Ireland had entered into a treasonable communication with the German +enemy, and that strict measures must be taken to put down this German +plot."<a name="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98"><sup>[98]</sup></a> On the same day one hundred and fifty Sinn Feiners were +arrested, including Mr. De Valera and Mr. Arthur Griffith, and on the +25th a statement was published indicating the connection between this +conspiracy and Casement's designs in 1916. The Government had definitely +ascertained some weeks earlier, and must have known at the very time +when they were promising a new Home Rule Bill, that a plan for landing +arms in Ireland was ripe for execution.<a name="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99"><sup>[99]</sup></a> Indeed, on the 12th of April +a German agent who had landed in Ireland was arrested, with papers in +his possession showing that De Valera had worked out a detailed +organisation of the rebel army, and expected to be in a position to +muster half a million of trained men.<a name="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100"><sup>[100]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Such was the fruit of the Government's infatuation which, <a name="Page_272"></a>under the +delusion of "creating an atmosphere of good-will" for the Convention, +had released a few months previously a number of dangerous men who had +been proved to be in league with the Germans, and who now took advantage +of this clemency to conspire afresh with the foreign enemy. It was not +surprising that Mr. Bonar Law said it was impossible for the Government, +under these circumstances, to proceed with their proposals for a new +Home Rule Bill.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, no sooner was the Military Service Act on the +Statute-book than the Government began to recede from Mr. Bonar Law's +declaration that they would at all costs enforce it in Ireland. They +intimated that if voluntary recruiting improved it might be possible to +dispense with compulsion. But although Mr. Shortt—who succeeded Mr. +Duke as Chief Secretary in May, at the same time as Lord Wimborne was +replaced in the Lord-Lieutenancy by Field-Marshal Lord French—complained +on the 29th of July that the Nationalists had given no help to the +Government in obtaining voluntary recruits in Ireland, and, "instead of +taking Sinn Fein by the throat, had tried to go one better,"<a name="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101"><sup>[101]</sup></a> the +compulsory powers of the Military Service Act remained a dead letter.</p> + +<p>The fact was that the Nationalists had followed up their fierce +opposition to the Bill by raising a still more fierce agitation in +Ireland against conscription. In this they joined hands with Sinn Fein, +and the whole weight of the Catholic Church was thrown into the same +scale. From the altars of that Church the thunderbolts of ecclesiastical +anathema were loosed against the Government, and—what was more +effective—against any who should obey the call to arms. The Government +gave way before the violence of the storm, and the lesson to be learnt +from their defeat was not thrown away on the rebel party in Ireland. +There was, naturally, widespread indignation in England at the spectacle +of the youth of Ireland taking its ease at home and earning +extravagantly high war-time wages while middle-aged bread-winners in +England were compulsorily called to the colours; but the marvellously +easy-<a name="Page_273"></a>going disposition of Englishmen submitted to the injustice with no +more than a legitimate grumble.</p> + +<p>In June 1918, while this agitation against conscription was at its +height, the hostility of the Nationalists took a new turn. A manifesto, +intended as a justification of their resistance to conscription, was +issued in the form of a letter to Mr. Wilson, President of the United +States, signed by Mr. Dillon, Mr. Devlin, Mr. William O'Brien, Mr. +Healy, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, and some others, including leaders of +Sinn Fein. It was a remarkable document, the authorship of which was +popularly attributed to Mr. T.M. Healy. If it ever came under the eye of +Mr. Wilson, a man of literary taste and judgment, it must have afforded +him a momentary diversion from the cares of his exalted office. A longer +experience than his of diplomatic correspondence would fail to produce +from the pigeon-holes of all the Chanceries a rival to this +extraordinary composition, the ill-arranged paragraphs of which formed +an inextricable jumble of irrelevant material, in which bad logic, bad +history, and barren invective were confusedly intermingled in a torrent +of turgid rhetoric. The extent of its range may be judged from the fact +that Shakespeare's allusions to Joan of Arc were not deemed too remote +from the subject of conscription in Ireland during the Great War to find +a place in this amazing despatch. For the amusement of anyone who may +care to examine so rare a curiosity of English prose, it will be found +in full in the Appendix to this volume, where it may be compared by way +of contrast with the restrained rejoinder sent also to President Wilson +by Sir Edward Carson, the Lord Mayor of Belfast, the Mayor of Derry, and +several loyalist representatives of Labour in Ulster.</p> + +<p>In the Nationalist letter to President Wilson reference was made more +than once to the sympathy that prevailed in Ireland in the eighteenth +century with the American colonists in the War of Independence. The use +made of it was a good example of the way in which a half-truth may, for +argumentative purposes, be more misleading than a complete falsehood. +"To-day, as in the days of George Washington"—so Mr. Wilson was +informed—"nearly half <a name="Page_274"></a>the American forces have been furnished from the +descendants of our banished race." No mention was made of the fact that +the members of the "banished race" in Washington's army were +Presbyterian emigrants from Ulster, who formed almost the entire +population of great districts in the American Colonies at that +time.<a name="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102"><sup>[102]</sup></a> The late Mr. Whitelaw Reid told an Edinburgh audience in 1911 +that more than half the Presbyterian population of Ulster emigrated to +America between 1730 and 1770, and that at the date of the Revolution +they made more than one-sixth of the population of the Colonies. The +Declaration of Independence itself, he added—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Is sacredly preserved in the handwriting of an Ulsterman, who was + Secretary of Congress. It was publicly read by an Ulsterman, and + first printed by another. Washington's first Cabinet had four + members, of whom one was an Ulsterman."<a name="FNanchor_103_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103_103"><sup>[103]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>It is, of course, true that not all Ulster Presbyterians of that period +were the firm and loyal friends of Great Britain that their descendants +became after a century's experience of the legislative Union. But it is +the latter who best in Ireland can trace kinship with the founders of +the United States, and who are entitled—if any Irishmen are—to base on +that kinship a claim to the sympathy and support of the American people.</p> +<br /><a name="Page_275"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98">[98]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1918, p, 87.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99">[99]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., p. 88</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100">[100]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101">[101]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1918, p. 90.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102">[102]</a><div class="note"><p> See Lecky's <i>History of England in the Eighteenth +Century</i>, vol. iv, p. 430.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_103_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103_103">[103]</a><div class="note"><p> See Lecture to the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution by +Whitelaw Reid, reported in <i>The Scotsman</i>, November 2nd, 1911.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXIV</h2> + +<h4>THE ULSTER PARLIAMENT</h4> + + +<p>ON the 25th of November, 1918, the Parliament elected in December 1910 +was at last dissolved, a few days after the Armistice with Germany. The +new House of Commons was very different from the old. Seventy-two Sinn +Fein members were returned from Ireland, sweeping away all but half a +dozen of the old Nationalist party; but, in accordance with their fixed +policy, the Sinn Fein members never presented themselves at Westminster +to take the oath and their seats. That quarter of the House of Commons +which for thirty years had been packed with the most fierce and +disciplined of the political parties was therefore now given over to +mild supporters of the Coalition Government, the only remnant of +so-called "constitutional Nationalism" being Mr. T.P. O'Connor, Mr. +Devlin, Captain Redmond, and two or three less prominent companions, who +survived like monuments of a bygone age.</p> + +<p>Ulster Unionists, on the other hand, were greatly strengthened by the +recent Redistribution Act. Sir Edward Carson was elected member for the +great working-class constituency of the Duncairn Division of Belfast, +instead of for Dublin University, which he had so long represented, and +twenty-two ardent supporters accompanied him from Ulster to Westminster. +In the reconstruction of the Government which followed the election, +Carson was pressed to return to office, but declined. Colonel James +Craig, whose war services in connection with the Ulster Division were +rewarded by a baronetcy, became Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry +of Pensions, and the Marquis of Londonderry accepted office as +Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Air Ministry.</p> + +<p>Although the termination of hostilities by the Armistice <a name="Page_276"></a>was not in the +legal sense the "end of the war," it brought it within sight. No one in +January 1919 dreamt that the process of making peace and ratifying the +necessary treaties would drag on for a seemingly interminable length of +time, and it was realised, with grave misgiving in Ulster, that the Home +Rule Act of 1914 would necessarily come into force as soon as peace was +finally declared, while as yet nothing had been done to redeem the +promise of an Amending Bill given by Mr. Asquith, and reiterated by Mr. +Lloyd George. The compact between the latter and the Unionist Party, on +which the Coalition had swept the country, had made it clear that fresh +Irish legislation was to be expected, and the general lines on which it +would be based were laid down; but there was also an intimation that a +settlement must wait till the condition of Ireland should warrant +it.<a name="FNanchor_104_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104_104"><sup>[104]</sup></a></p> + +<p>The state of Ireland was certainly not such as to make it appear +probable that any sane Government would take the risk of handing over +control of the country immediately to the Sinn Feiners, whom the recent +elections had proved to be in an overwhelming majority in the three +southern provinces. By the law, not of England alone, but of every +civilised State, that party was tainted through and through with high +treason. It had attempted to "succour the King's enemies" in every way +in its power. The Government had in its possession evidence of two +conspiracies, in which, during the late frightful war, these Irishmen +had been in league with the Germans to bring defeat and disaster upon +England and her Allies, and the second of these plots was only made +possible by the misconceived clemency of the Government in releasing +from custody the ring-leaders in the first.</p> + +<p>And these Sinn Fein rebels left the Government no excuse for any +illusion as to their being either chastened or contrite in spirit. +Contemptuously ignoring their election as members of the Imperial +Parliament, where they never put in an appearance because it would +require them to take an oath of allegiance to the Crown, they openly +held a Congress in Dublin in January 1919 where a Declaration <a name="Page_277"></a>of +Independence was read, and a demand made for the evacuation of Ireland +by the forces of the Crown. A "Ministry" was also appointed, which +purported to make itself responsible for administration in Ireland. +Outrages of a daring character became more and more frequent, and gave +evidence of being the work of efficient organisation.</p> + +<p>President Wilson's coinage of the unfortunate and ambiguous expression +"self-determination" made it a catch-penny cry in relation to Ireland; +but, in reply to Mr. Devlin's demand for a recognition of that +"principle," Mr. Lloyd George pointed out that it had been tried in the +Convention, with the result that both Nationalists and Unionists had +been divided among themselves, and he said he despaired of any +settlement in Ireland until Irishmen could agree. Nevertheless, in +October 1919 he appointed a Cabinet Committee, with Mr. Walter Long as +Chairman, to make recommendations for dealing with the question of Irish +Government.</p> + +<p>But murders of soldiers and police had now become so scandalously +frequent that in November a Proclamation was issued suppressing Sinn +Fein and kindred organisations. It did nothing to improve the state of +the country, which grew worse than ever in the last few weeks of the +year. On the 19th of December a carefully planned attempt on the life of +the Lord-Lieutenant, Lord French, proved how complete was the impunity +relied upon by the organised assassins who, calling themselves an Irish +Republican Army, terrorised the country.</p> + +<p>It was in such conditions that, just before the close of the +parliamentary session, the Prime Minister disclosed the intentions of +the Government. He laid down three "basic facts," which he said governed +the situation: (1) Three-fourths of the Irish people were bitterly +hostile, and were at heart rebels against the Crown and Government. (2) +Ulster was a complete contrast, which would make it an outrage to place +her people under the rest of Ireland.<a name="FNanchor_105_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105_105"><sup>[105]</sup></a> (3) No separation from the +Empire could be tolerated, and any attempt to force it would be fought +as the United States<a name="Page_278"></a> had fought against secession. On these +considerations he based the proposals which were to be embodied in +legislation in the next session. Sir Edward Carson, who in the light of +past experience was too wary to take all Mr. Lloyd George's declarations +at their face value, said at once that he could give no support to the +policy outlined by the Prime Minister until he was convinced that the +latter intended to go through with it to the end.</p> + +<p>The Bill to give effect to these proposals (which became the Government +of Ireland Act, 1920) was formally introduced on the 25th of February, +1920, and Carson then went over to Belfast to consult with the Unionist +Council as to the action to be taken by the Ulster members.</p> + +<p>The measure was a long and complicated one of seventy clauses and six +schedules. Its effect, stated briefly, was to set up two Parliaments in +Ireland, one for the six Protestant counties of Ulster and the other for +the rest of Ireland. In principle it was the "clean cut" which had been +several times proposed, except that, instead of retaining Ulster in +legislative union with Great Britain, she was to be endowed with local +institutions of her own in every respect similar to, and commensurate +with, those given to the Parliament in Dublin. In addition, a Council of +Ireland was created, composed of an equal number of members from each of +the two legislatures. This Council was given powers in regard to private +bill legislation, and matters of minor importance affecting both parts +of the island which the two Parliaments might mutually agree to commit +to its administration. Power was given to the two Parliaments to +establish by identical Acts at any time a Parliament for all Ireland to +supersede the Council, and to form a single autonomous constitution for +the whole of Ireland.</p> + +<p>The Council of Ireland occupied a prominent place in the debates on the +Bill. It was held up as a symbol of the "unity of Ireland," and the +authors of the measure were able to point to it as supplying machinery +by which "partition" could be terminated as soon as Irishmen agreed +among themselves in wishing to have a single national Government. It was +not a feature of the Bill that found favour in Ulster; but, as it could +do no harm and <a name="Page_279"></a>provided an argument against those who denounced +"partition," the Ulster members did not think it worth while to oppose +it.</p> + +<p>But when Carson met the Ulster Unionist Council on the 6th of March the +most difficult point he had to deal with was the same that had given so +much trouble in the negotiations of 1916. The Bill defined the area +subject to the "Parliament of Northern Ireland" as the six counties +which the Ulster Council had agreed four years earlier to accept as the +area to be excluded from the Home Rule Act. The question now to be +decided was whether this same area should still be accepted, or an +amendment moved for including in Northern Ireland the other three +counties of the Province of Ulster. The same harrowing experience which +the Council had undergone in 1916 was repeated in an aggravated +form.<a name="FNanchor_106_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_106_106"><sup>[106]</sup></a> To separate themselves from fellow loyalists in Monaghan, +Cavan, and Donegal was hateful to every delegate from the other six +counties, and it was heartrending to be compelled to resist another +moving appeal by so valued a friend as Lord Farnham. But the inexorable +index of statistics demonstrated that, although Unionists were in a +majority when geographical Ulster was considered as a unit, yet the +distribution of population made it certain that a separate Parliament +for the whole Province would have a precarious existence, while its +administration of purely Nationalist districts would mean unending +conflict.</p> + +<p>It was, therefore, decided that no proposal for extending the area +should be made by the Ulster members. Carson made it clear in the +debates on the Bill that Ulster had not moved from her old position of +desiring nothing except the Union; that he was still convinced there was +"no alternative to the Union unless separation"; but that, while he +would take no responsibility for a Bill which Ulster did not want, he +and his colleagues would not actively oppose its progress to the +Statute-book.</p> + +<p>It did not, however, receive the Royal Assent until two days before +Christmas, and during all these months the condition of Ireland was one +of increasing anarchy. The<a name="Page_280"></a> Act provided that, if the people of Southern +Ireland refused to work the new Constitution, the administration should +be carried on by a system similar to Crown Colony government. Carson +gave an assurance that in Ulster they would do their best to make the +Act a success, and immediate steps were taken in Belfast to make good +this undertaking.</p> + +<p>To the people of Ulster the Act of 1920, though it involved the +sacrifice of much that they had ardently hoped to preserve, came as a +relief to their worst fears. It was represented as a final settlement, +and finality was what they chiefly desired, if they could get it without +being forced to submit to a Dublin Parliament. The disloyal conduct of +Nationalist Ireland during the war, and the treason and terrorism +organised by Sinn Fein after the war, had widened the already broad gulf +between North and South. The determination never to submit to an +all-Ireland Parliament was more firmly fixed than ever. The Act of 1920, +which repealed Mr. Asquith's Act of 1914, gave Ulster what she had +prepared to fight for, if necessary, before the war. It was the +fulfilment of the Craigavon resolution—to take over the government "of +those districts which they could control."<a name="FNanchor_107_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_107_107"><sup>[107]</sup></a> The Parliament of +Northern Ireland established by the Act was in fact the legalisation of +the Ulster Provisional Government of 1913. It placed Ulster in a +position of equality with the South, both politically and economically. +The two Legislatures in Ireland possessed the same powers, and were +subject to an equal reservation of authority to the Imperial Parliament.</p> + +<p>But with the passing of the Act the long and consummate leadership of +Sir Edward Carson came to an end. If he had not succeeded in bringing +the Ulster people into a Promised Land, he had at least conducted an +orderly retreat to a position of safety. The almost miraculous skill +with which he had directed all the operations of a protracted and +harassing campaign, avoiding traps and pitfalls at every step, +foreseeing and providing against countless crises, frustrating with +unfailing adroitness the manoeuvres both of implacable enemies and +treacherous<a name="Page_281"></a> "friends," was fully appreciated by his grateful followers, +who had for years past regarded him with an intensity of personal +devotion seldom given even to the greatest of political leaders. But he +felt that the task of opening a new chapter in the history of Ulster, +and of inaugurating the new institutions now established, was work for +younger hands. Hard as he was pressed to accept the position of first +Prime Minister of Ulster, he firmly persisted in his refusal; and on his +recommendation the man who had been his able and faithful lieutenant +throughout the long Ulster Movement was unanimously chosen to succeed +him in the leadership.</p> + +<p>Sir James Craig did not hesitate to respond to the call, although to do +so he had to resign an important post in the British Government, that of +Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty, with excellent prospects of +further promotion. As soon as the elections in "Northern Ireland," +conducted under the system of Proportional Representation, as provided +by the Act of 1920, were complete, Sir James, whose followers numbered +forty as against a Nationalist and Sinn Fein minority of twelve, was +sent for by the Viceroy and commissioned to form a Ministry. He +immediately set himself to his new and exceedingly difficult duties with +characteristic thoroughness. The whole apparatus of government +administration had to be built up from the foundation. Departments, for +which there was no existing office accommodation or personnel, had to +be called into existence and efficiently organised, and all this +preliminary work had to be undertaken at a time when the territory +subject to the new Government was beset by open and concealed enemies +working havoc with bombs and revolvers, with which the Government had +not yet legal power to cope.</p> + +<p>But Sir James Craig pressed on with the work, undismayed by the +difficulties, and resolved that the Parliament in Belfast should be +opened at the earliest possible date. The Marquis of Londonderry gave a +fresh proof of his Ulster patriotism by resigning his office in the +Imperial Government and accepting the portfolio of Education in Sir +James Craig's Cabinet, and with it the leadership of the<a name="Page_282"></a> Ulster Senate; +in which the Duke of Abercorn also, to the great satisfaction of the +Ulster people, consented to take a seat. Mr. Dawson Bates, the +indefatigable Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council during the whole +of the Ulster Movement, was appointed Minister for Home Affairs, and Mr. +E.M. Archdale became Minister for Agriculture. The first act of the +House of Commons of Northern Ireland was to choose Major Hugh O'Neill as +their Speaker, while the important position of Chairman of Committees +was entrusted to Mr. Thomas Moles, one of the ablest recruits of the +Ulster Parliamentary Party, whom the General Election of 1918 had sent +to Westminster as one of the members for Belfast, and who had given +ample evidence of his capacity both in the Imperial Parliament and on +the Secretarial Staff of the Irish Convention of 1917.</p> + +<p>Meantime, in the South the Act of 1920 was treated with absolute +contempt; no step was taken to hold elections or to form an +Administration, although it must be remembered that the flouted Act +conferred a larger measure of Home Rule than had ever been offered by +previous Bills. Thus by one of those curious ironies that have +continually marked the history of Ireland, the only part of the island +where Home Rule operated was the part that had never desired it, while +the provinces that had demanded Home Rule for generations refused to use +it when it was granted them.</p> + +<p>In Ulster the new order of things was accepted with acquiescence rather +than with enthusiasm. But the warmer emotion was immediately called +forth when it became known that His Majesty the King had decided to open +the Ulster Parliament in person on the 22nd of June, 1921, especially as +it was fully realised that, owing to the anarchical condition of the +country, the King's presence in Belfast would be a characteristic +disregard of personal danger in the discharge of public duty. And when, +on the eve of the royal visit, it was intimated that the Queen had been +graciously pleased to accede to Sir James Craig's request that she +should accompany the King to Belfast, the enthusiasm of the loyal people +of the North rose to fever heat.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_283"></a>At any time, and under any circumstances, the reigning Sovereign and +his Consort would have been received by a population so noted for its +sentiment of loyalty to the Throne as that of Ulster with demonstrations +of devotion exceeding the ordinary. But the present occasion was felt to +have a very special significance. The opening of Parliament by the King +in State is one of the most ancient and splendid of ceremonial pageants +illustrating the history of British institutions. It was felt in Ulster +that the association of this time-honoured ceremonial with the baptism, +so to speak, of the latest offspring of the Mother of Parliaments +stamped the Royal Seal upon the achievement of Ulster, and gave it a +dignity, prestige, and promise of permanence which might otherwise have +been lacking. No city in the United Kingdom had witnessed so many +extraordinary displays of popular enthusiasm in the last ten years as +Belfast, some of which had left on the minds of observers a firm belief +that such intensity of emotion in a great concourse of people could not +be exceeded. The scene in the streets when the King and Queen drove from +the quay, on the arrival of the royal yacht, to the City Hall, was held +by general consent to equal, since it could not surpass, any of those +great demonstrations of the past in popular fervour. At any rate, +persons of long experience in attendance on the Royal Family gave it as +their opinion in the evening that they had never before seen so +impressive a display of public devotion to the person of the Sovereign.</p> + +<p>Two buildings in Belfast inseparably associated with Ulster's stand for +union, the City Hall and the Ulster Hall, were the scenes of the chief +events of the King's visit. The former, described by one of the English +correspondents as "easily the most magnificent municipal building in the +three Kingdoms,"<a name="FNanchor_108_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_108_108"><sup>[108]</sup></a> was placed at the disposal of the Ulster +Government by the Corporation for temporary use as a Parliament House. +The Council Chamber, a fine hall of dignified proportions with a dais +and canopied chair at the upper end, made an appropriate frame for the +ceremony of opening Parliament, and the arrangements both of the<a name="Page_284"></a> +Chamber itself and of the approaches and entrances to it made it a +simple matter to model the procedure as closely as possible on that +followed at Westminster.</p> + +<p>Among the many distinguished people who assembled in the Ulster Capital +for the occasion, there was one notable absentee. Lord Carson of +Duncairn—for this was the title that Sir Edward Carson had assumed on +being appointed a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary a few weeks previously—was +detained in London by judicial duty in the House of Lords; and possibly +reasons of delicacy not difficult to understand restrained him from +making arrangements for absence. But the marked ovation given to Lady +Carson wherever she was recognised in the streets of Belfast showed that +the great leader was not absent from the popular mind at this moment of +vindication of his statesmanship.</p> + +<p>Such an event as that which brought His Majesty to Belfast was naturally +an occasion for bestowing marks of distinction for public service. Sir +James Craig wisely made it also an occasion for letting bygones be +bygones by recommending Lord Pirrie for a step in the Peerage. Among +those who received honours were several whose names have appeared in the +preceding chapters of this book. Mr. William Robert Young, for thirty +years one of the most indefatigable workers for the Unionist cause in +Ulster, and Colonel Wallace, one of the most influential of Carson's +local lieutenants, were made Privy Councillors, as was also Colonel +Percival-Maxwell, who raised and commanded a battalion of the Ulster +Division in the war. Colonel F.H. Crawford and Colonel Spender were +awarded the C.B.E. for services to the nation during the war; but +Ulstermen did not forget services of another sort to the Ulster cause +before the Germans came on the scene.<a name="FNanchor_109_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_109_109"><sup>[109]</sup></a> A knighthood was given to Mr. +Dawson Bates, who had exchanged the Secretaryship of the Ulster Unionist +Council for the portfolio of a Cabinet Minister.</p> + +<p>These honours were bestowed by the King in person at an investiture held +in the Ulster Hall in the afternoon. There must have been many present +whose minds went <a name="Page_285"></a>back to some of the most stirring events of Ulster's +domestic history which had been transacted in the same building within +recent years. Did Sir Hamar Greenwood, the Chief Secretary, as he stood +in attendance on the Sovereign in the resplendent uniform of a Privy +Councillor, look in curiosity round the walls which he and Mr. Churchill +had been prohibited from entering on a memorable occasion when they had +to content themselves with an imported tent in a football field instead? +Did Colonel Wallace's thoughts wander back to the scene of wild +enthusiasm in that hall on the evening before the Covenant, when he +presented the ancient Boyne flag to the Ulster leader? Did those who +spontaneously started the National Anthem in the presence of the King +without warrant from the prearranged programme, and made the Queen smile +at the emphasis with which they "confounded politics" and "frustrated +knavish tricks," remember the fervour with which on many a past occasion +the same strains testified to Ulster's loyalty in the midst of +perplexity and apprehension? If these memories crowded in, they must +have added to the sense of relief arising from the conviction that the +ceremony they were now witnessing was the realisation of the policy +propounded by Carson, when he declared that Ulster must always be ruled +either by the Imperial Parliament or by a Government of her own.</p> + +<p>But the moment of all others on that memorable day that must have been +suggestive of such reflections was when the King formally opened the +first Parliament of Northern Ireland in the same building that had +witnessed the signing of the Ulster Covenant. Without the earlier event +the later could not have been. If 1921 could have been fully foreseen in +1912 it might have appeared to many Covenanters as the disappointment of +a cherished ideal. But those who lived to listen to the King's Speech in +the City Hall realised that it was the dissipation of foreboding. +However regarded, it was, as King George himself pronounced, "a +profoundly moving occasion in Irish history."</p> + +<p>The Speech from the Throne in which these words occurred made a deep +impression all over the world, and nowhere more than in Ulster itself. +No people more <a name="Page_286"></a>ardently shared the touchingly expressed desire of the +King that his coming to Ireland might "prove to be the first step +towards an end of strife amongst her people, whatever their race or +creed." So, too, when His Majesty told the Ulster Parliament that he +"felt assured they would do their utmost to make it an instrument of +happiness and good government for all parts of the community which they +represented," the Ulster people believed that the King's confidence in +them would not prove to have been misplaced.</p> + +<p>Happily, no prophetic vision of those things that were shortly to come +to pass broke in to disturb the sense of satisfaction with the haven +that had been reached. The future, with its treachery, its alarms, its +fresh causes of uncertainty and of conflict, was mercifully hidden from +the eyes of the Ulster people when they acclaimed the inauguration of +their Parliament by their King. They accepted responsibility for the +efficient working of institutions thus placed in their keeping by the +highest constitutional Authority in the British Empire, although they +had never asked for them, and still believed that the system they had +been driven to abandon was better than the new; and they opened this +fresh chapter in their history in firm faith that what had received so +striking a token of the Sovereign's sympathy and approval would never be +taken from them except with their own consent.</p><a name="Page_287"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_104_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104_104">[104]</a><div class="note"><p> See Letter from Mr. Lloyd George to Mr. Bonar Law, +published in the Press on November 18th, 1918.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_105_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105_105">[105]</a><div class="note"><p> Precisely twenty-four months later this outrage was +committed by Mr. Lloyd George himself, with the concurrence of Mr. +Austen Chamberlain.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_106_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_106_106">[106]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Ante</i>, p. 248.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_107_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_107_107">[107]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>ante</i>, p. 51.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_108_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_108_108">[108]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Morning Post</i>, June 23rd, 1921.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_109_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_109_109">[109]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>ante</i>, Chapter XVIII.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="APPENDIX_A"></a><h2>APPENDIX A</h2> + +<h3>NATIONALIST LETTER TO PRESIDENT WILSON</h3> + +<h4>To THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</h4> + +<p>SIR,</p> + +<p>When, a century and a half ago, the American Colonies dared to assert +the ancient principle that the subject should not be taxed without the +consent of his representatives, England strove to crush them. To-day +England threatens to crush the people of Ireland if they do not accept a +tax, not in money but in blood, against the protest of their +representatives.</p> + +<p>During the American Revolution the champions of your liberties appealed +to the Irish Parliament against British aggression, and asked for a +sympathetic judgment on their action. What the verdict was, history +records.</p> + +<p>To-day it is our turn to appeal to the people of America. We seek no +more fitting prelude to that appeal than the terms in which your +forefathers greeted ours:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"We are desirous of possessing the good opinion of the virtuous and + humane. We are peculiarly desirous of furnishing you with the true + state of our motives and objects, the better to enable you to judge + of our conduct with accuracy, and determine the merits of the + controversy with impartiality and precision."</p></blockquote> + +<p>If the Irish race had been conscriptable by England in the war against +the United Colonies is it certain that your Republic would to-day +flourish in the enjoyment of its noble Constitution?</p> + +<p>Since then the Irish Parliament has been destroyed, by methods described +by the greatest of British statesmen as those of "black-guardism and +baseness." Ireland, deprived of its protection and overborne by more +than six to one in the British Lower House, and by more than a hundred +to one in the Upper House, is summoned by England to submit to a +hitherto-unheard-of decree against her liberties.</p> + +<p>In the fourth year of a war ostensibly begun for the defence of small +nations, a law conscribing the manhood of Ireland has been passed, in +defiance of the wishes of our people. The British Parlia<a name="Page_288"></a>ment, which +enacted it, had long outrun its course, being in the eighth year of an +existence constitutionally limited to five. To warrant the coercive +statute, no recourse was had to the electorate of Britain, much less to +that of Ireland. Yet the measure was forced through within a week, +despite the votes of Irish representatives, and under a system of +closure never applied to the debates which established conscription for +Great Britain on a milder basis.</p> + +<p>To repel the calumnies invented to becloud our action, we venture to +address the successors of the belligerents who once appealed to Ireland. +The feelings which inspire America deeply concern our race; so, in the +forefront of our remonstrance, we feel bound to set forth that this +Conscription Act involves for Irishmen questions far larger than any +affecting mere internal politics. They raise a sovereign principle +between a nation that has never abandoned her independent rights, and an +adjacent nation that has persistently sought to strangle them.</p> + +<p>Were Ireland to surrender that principle, she must submit to a usurped +power, condone the fraudulent prostration of her Parliament in 1800, and +abandon all claim to distinct nationality. Deep-seated and far-reaching +are the problems remorselessly aroused by the unthinking and violent +courses taken at Westminster.</p> + +<p>Thus the sudden and unlooked-for departure of British politicians from +their past military procedure towards this island provokes acutely the +fundamental issue of Self-determination. That issue will decide whether +our whole economic, social, and political life must lie at the +uncontrolled disposition of another race whose title to legislate for us +rests on force and fraud alone.</p> + +<p>Ireland is a nation more ancient than England, and is one of the oldest +in Christendom. Its geographical boundaries are clearly defined. It +cherishes its own traditions, history, language, music, and culture. It +throbs with a national consciousness sharpened not only by religious +persecution, but by the violation of its territorial, juristic, and +legislative rights. The authority of which its invaders boasted rests +solely on an alleged Papal Bull. The symbols of attempted conquest are +roofless castles, ruined abbeys, and confiscated cathedrals.</p> + +<p>The title of King of Ireland was first conferred on the English monarch +by a statute of the Parliament held in Ireland in 1542, when only four +of our counties lay under English sway. That title originated in no +English enactment. Neither did the Irish Parliament so originate. Every +military aid granted by that Parliament to English kings was purely +voluntary. Even when the Penal Code denied representation to the +majority of the Irish population, military service was never enforced +against them.</p> + +<p>For generations England claimed control over both legislative and +judicial functions in Ireland, but in 1783 these pretensions were +altogether renounced, and the sovereignty of the Irish Legislature was +solemnly recognised. A memorable British statute declared it—</p><a name="Page_289"></a> + +<blockquote><p>"Established and ascertained for ever, and shall at no time + hereafter be questioned or questionable."</p></blockquote> + +<p>For this, the spirit evoked by the successful revolt of the United +States of America is to be thanked, and Ireland won no mean return for +the sympathy invited by your Congress. Yet scarcely had George III +signified his Royal Assent to that "scrap of paper," when his Ministers +began to debauch the Irish Parliament. No Catholic had, for over a +century, been allowed to sit within its walls; and only a handful of the +population enjoyed the franchise. In 1800, by shameless bribery, a +majority of corrupt Colonists was procured to embrace the London +subjugation and vote away the existence of their Legislature for +pensions, pelf, and titles.</p> + +<p>The authors of the Act of Union, however, sought to soften its shackles +by limiting the future jurisdiction of the British Parliament. Imposed +on "a reluctant and protesting nation," it was tempered by articles +guaranteeing Ireland against the coarser and more obvious forms of +injustice. To guard against undue taxation, "exemptions and abatements" +were stipulated for; but the "predominant partner" has long since +dishonoured that part of the contract, and the weaker side has no power +to enforce it. No military burdens were provided for, although Britain +framed the terms of the treaty to her own liking. That an obligation to +yield enforced service was thereby undertaken has never hitherto been +asserted. We therefore cannot neglect to support this protest by citing +a main proviso of the Treaty of Union. Before the destruction of the +Irish Parliament no standing army or navy was raised, nor was any +contribution made, except by way of gift, to the British Army or Navy. +No Irish law for the levying of drafts existed; and such a proposal was +deemed unconstitutional. Hence the 8th Article of the Treaty provides +that—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"All laws in force at the time of the Union shall remain as now by + law established, subject only to such alterations and regulations + from time to time as circumstances may appear to the Parliament of + the United Kingdom to require."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Where there was no law establishing military service for Ireland, what +"alteration or regulation" respecting such a law can legally bind? Can +an enactment such as Conscription, affecting the legal and moral rights +of an entire people, be described as an "alteration" or "regulation" +springing from a pre-existing law? Is the Treaty to be construed as +Britain pleases, and always to the prejudice of the weaker side?</p> + +<p>British military statecraft has hitherto rigidly held by a separate +tradition for Ireland. The Territorial military system, created in 1907 +for Great Britain, was not set up in Ireland. The Irish Militia was then +actually disbanded, and the War Office insisted that no<a name="Page_290"></a> Territorial +force to replace it should be embodied. Stranger still, the Volunteer +Acts (Naval or Military) from 1804 to 1900 (some twenty in all) were +never extended to Ireland. In 1880, when a Conservative House of Commons +agreed to tolerate volunteering, the measure was thrown out by the House +of Lords on the plea that Irishmen must not be allowed to learn the use +of arms.</p> + +<p>For, despite the Bill of Rights, the privilege of free citizens to bear +arms in self-defence has been refused to us. The Constitution of America +affirms that right as appertaining to the common people, but the men of +Ireland are forbidden to bear arms in their own defence. Where, then, +lies the basis of the claim that they can be forced to take them up for +the defence of others?</p> + +<p>It will suffice to present such considerations in outline without +disinterring the details of the past misgovernment of our country. Mr. +Gladstone avowed that these were marked by "every horror and every shame +that could disgrace the relations between a strong country and a weak +one." After an orgy of Martial Law the Scottish General, Abercromby, +Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, wrote: "Every crime, every cruelty that +could be committed by Cossacks or Calmucks has been transacted here.... +The abuses of all kinds I found can scarcely be believed or enumerated." +Lord Holland recalls that many people "were sold at so much a head to +the Prussians."</p> + +<p>We shall, therefore, pass by the story of the destruction of our +manufactures, of artificial famines, of the fomentation of uprisings, of +a hundred Coercion Acts, culminating in the perpetual "Act of +Repression" obtained by forgery, which graced Queen Victoria's Jubilee +Year in 1887. In our island the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, the +repression of free speech, gibbetings, shootings, and bayonetings, are +commonplace events. The effects of forced emigration and famine American +generosity has softened; and we do not seek a verdict on the general +merits of a system which enjoys the commendation of no foreigner except +Albert, Prince Consort, who declared that the Irish "were no more worthy +of sympathy than the Poles."</p> + +<p>It is known to you how our population shrank to its present fallen +state. Grants of money for emigration, "especially of families," were +provided even by the Land Act of 1881. Previous Poor Law Acts had +stimulated this "remedy." So late as 1891 a "Congested District" Board +was empowered to "aid emigration," although millions of Irishmen had in +the nineteenth century been evicted from their homes or driven abroad.</p> + +<p>Seventy years ago our population stood at 8,000,000, and, in the normal +ratio of increase, it should to-day amount to 16,000,000. Instead, it +has dwindled to 4,500,000; and it is from this residuum that our manhood +between the ages of eighteen and fifty-one is to be delivered up in such +measure as the strategists of the English War Cabinet may demand.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_291"></a>To-day, as in the days of George Washington, nearly half the American +forces have been furnished from the descendants of our banished race. If +England could not, during your Revolution, regard that enrolment with +satisfaction, might she not set something now to Ireland's credit from +the racial composition of your Army or Navy? No other small nation has +been so bereft by law of her children, but in vain for Ireland has the +bread of exile been thrown upon the waters.</p> + +<p>Yet, while Self-determination is refused, we are required by law to +bleed to "make the world safe for democracy "—in every country except +our own. Surely this cannot be the meaning of America's message to +mankind glowing from the pen of her illustrious President?</p> + +<p>In the 750 years during which the stranger sway has blighted Ireland her +people have never had occasion to welcome an unselfish or generous deed +at the hands of their rulers. Every so-called "concession" was but the +loosening of a fetter. Every benefit sprang from a manipulation of our +own money by a foreign Treasury denying us an honest audit of accounts. +None was yielded as an act of grace. All were the offspring of +constraint, tumult, or political necessity. Reason and arguments fell on +deaf ears. To England the Union has brought enhanced wealth, population, +power, and importance; to Ireland increased taxation, stunted +industries, swollen emigration, and callous officialism.</p> + +<p>Possessing in this land neither moral nor intellectual pre-eminence, nor +any prestige derived from past merit or present esteem, the British +Executive claims to restrain our liberties, control our fortunes, and +exercise over our people the power of life and death. To obstruct the +recent Home Rule Bill it allowed its favourites to defy its Parliament +without punishment, to import arms from suspect regions with impunity, +to threaten "to break every law" to effectuate their designs to infect +the Army with mutiny and set up a rival Executive backed by military +array to enforce the rule of a caste against the vast majority of the +people. The highest offices of State became the guerdon of the +organisers of rebellion, boastful of aid from Germany. To-day they are +pillars of the Constitution, and the chief instrument of law. The only +laurels lacking to the leaders of the Mutineers are those transplanted +from the field of battle!</p> + +<p>Are we to fight to maintain a system so repugnant, and must Irishmen be +content to remain slaves themselves after freedom for distant lands has +been purchased by their blood?</p> + +<p>Heretofore in every clime, whenever the weak called for a defender, +wherever the flag of liberty was unfurled, that blood freely flowed. +Profiting by Irish sympathy with righteous causes Britain, at the +outbreak of war, attracted to her armies tens of thousands of our youth +ere even the Western Hemisphere had awakened to the wail of "small +nations."</p> + +<p>Irishmen, in their chivalrous eagerness, laid themselves open to <a name="Page_292"></a>the +reproach from some of their brethren of forgetting the woes of their own +land, which had suffered from its rulers, at one time or another, almost +every inhumanity for which Germany is impeached. It was hard to bear the +taunt that the army they were joining was that which held Ireland in +subjection; but fresh bitterness has been added to such reproaches by +what has since taken place.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, in the face of persistent discouragements, Irish chivalry +remained ardent and aflame in the first years of the war. Tens of +thousands of the children of the Gael have perished in the conflict. +Their bones bleach upon the soil of Flanders or moulder beneath the +waves of Suvla Bay. The slopes of Gallipoli, the sands of Egypt, +Mesopotamia and Judasa afford them sepulture. Mons and Ypres provide +their monuments. Wherever the battle-line extends from the English +Channel to the Persian Gulf their ghostly voices whisper a response to +the roll-call of the guardian-spirits of Liberty. What is their reward?</p> + +<p>The spot on earth they loved best, and the land to which they owed their +first duty, and which they hoped their sacrifices might help to freedom, +lies unredeemed under an age-long thraldom. So, too, would it for ever +lie, were every man and every youth within the shores of Ireland to +immolate himself in England's service, unless the clamour of a dominant +caste be rebuked and stilled.</p> + +<p>Yet proof after proof accumulates that British Cabinets continue to be +towards our country as conscienceless as ever. They deceive frankly +nations throughout the world as to their Irish policy, while withholding +from us even the Act of Home Rule which in 1914 was placed on the +Statute-book. The recent "Convention," which they composed to initiate +reform, was brought to confusion by a letter from the Prime Minister +diminishing his original engagements.</p> + +<p>Such insincere manoeuvres have left an indelible sense of wrong rankling +in the hearts of Ireland.</p> + +<p>Capitulations are observed with French Canadians, with the Maltese, with +the Hindoos, with the Mohammedan Arabs, or the African Boers; but never +has the word of England, in any capital case, been kept towards the +"sister" island.</p> + +<p>The Parliaments of Australia and of South Africa—both of which (unlike +our ancient Legislature) were founded by British enactments—refused to +adopt conscription. This was well known when the law against Ireland was +resolved on. For opposing the application of that law to Irishmen, and +while this appeal to you, sir, was being penned, members of our +Conference have been arrested and deported without trial. It was even +sought to poison the wells of American sympathy by levelling against +them and others an allegation which its authors have failed to submit to +the investigation of any tribunal.</p> + +<p>To overlay malpractice by imputing to its victims perverse or criminal +conduct is the stale but never-failing device of tyranny.</p> + +<p>A claim has also been put forward by the British Foreign Office <a name="Page_293"></a>to +prevent you, Mr. President, as the head of a great allied Republic, from +acquiring first-hand information of the reasons why Ireland has +rejected, and will resist, conscription except in so far as the Military +Governor of Ireland, Field-Marshal Lord French, may be pleased to allow +you to peruse his version of our opinions.</p> + +<p>America's present conflict with Germany obstructs no argument that we +advance. "Liberty and ordered peace" we, too, strive for; and +confidently do we look to you, sir, and to America—whose freedom +Irishmen risked something to establish—to lend ear and weight to the +prayer that another unprovoked wrong against the defenceless may not +stain this sorry century.</p> + +<p>We know that America entered the war because her rights as a neutral, in +respect of ocean navigation, were interfered with, and only then. Yet +America in her strength had a guarantee that in victory she would not be +cheated of that for which she joined in the struggle. Ireland, having no +such strength, has no such guarantee; and experience has taught us that +justice (much less gratitude) is not to be wrung from a hostile +Government. What Ireland is to give, a free Ireland must determine.</p> + +<p>We are sadly aware, from recent proclamations and deportations, of the +efforts of British authorities to inflame prejudice against our country. +We therefore crave allowance briefly to notice the insinuation that the +Irish coasts, with native connivance, could be made a base for the +destruction of American shipping.</p> + +<p>An official statement asserts that:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"An important feature in every plan was the establishment of + submarine bases in Ireland to menace the shipping of all nations."</p></blockquote> + +<p>On this it is enough to say that every creek, inlet, or estuary that +indents our shores, and every harbour, mole, or jetty is watchfully +patrolled by British authority. Moreover, Irish vessels, with their +cargoes, crews, and passengers, have suffered in this war +proportionately to those of Britain.</p> + +<p>Another State Paper palliates the deportations by blazoning the descent +of a solitary invader upon a remote island on the 12th of April, +heralded by mysterious warnings from the Admiralty to the Irish Command. +No discussion is permitted of the tryst of this British soldier with the +local coast-guards, of his speedy bent towards a police barrack, and his +subsequent confidences with the London authorities.</p> + +<p>Only one instance exists in history of a project to profane our coasts +by making them a base to launch attacks on international shipping. That +plot was framed, not by native wickedness, but by an English Viceroy, +and the proofs are piled up under his hand in British State Papers.</p> + +<p>For huge bribes were proffered by Lord Falkland, Lord-Lieutenant of +Ireland, to both the Royal Secretary and the Prince of Wales, <a name="Page_294"></a>to obtain +consent for the use of Irish harbours to convenience Turkish and +Algerine pirates in raiding sea-going commerce. The plot is old, but the +plea of "increasing his Majesty's revenues" by which it was commended is +everlasting. Nor will age lessen its significance for the citizens of +that Republic which, amidst the tremors and greed of European diplomacy, +extirpated the traffic of Algerine corsairs ninety years ago. British +experts cherish Lord Falkland's fame as the sire of their most knightly +cavalier, and in their eyes its lustre shines undimmed, though his +Excellency, foiled of marine booty, enriched himself by seizing the +lands of his untried prisoners in Dublin Castle.</p> + +<p>Moving are other retrospects evoked by the present outbreak of malignity +against our nation. The slanders of the hour recall those let loose to +cloak previous deportations in days of panic less ignoble. Then it was +the Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Oliver Plunkett, who was dragged +to London and arraigned for high treason. Poignant memories quicken at +every incident which accompanied his degradation before the Lord Chief +Justice of England. A troop of witnesses was suborned to swear that his +Grace "endeavoured and compassed the King's death," sought to "levy war +in Ireland and introduce a foreign Power," and conspired "to take a view +of all the several ports and places in Ireland where it would be +convenient to land from France." An open trial, indeed, was not denied +him; but with hasty rites he was branded a base and false traitor and +doomed to be hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. That desperate +felon, after prolonged investigation by the Holy See, has lately been +declared a martyr worthy of universal veneration.</p> + +<p>The fathers of the American Revolution were likewise pursued in turn by +the venom of Governments. Could they have been snatched from their homes +and haled to London, what fate would have befallen them? There your +noblest patriots might also have perished amidst scenes of shame, and +their effigies would now bedeck a British chamber of horrors. Nor would +death itself have shielded their reputations from hatchments of +dishonour. For the greatest of Englishmen reviled even the sacred name +of Joan of Arc, the stainless Maid of France, to belittle a fallen foe +and spice a ribald stage-play.</p> + +<p>It is hardly thirty years since every Irish leader was made the victim +of a special Statute of Proscription, and was cited to answer vague +charges before London judges. During 1888 and 1889 a malignant and +unprecedented inquisition was maintained to vilify them, backed by all +the resources of British power. No war then raged to breed alarms, yet +no weapon that perjury or forgery could fashion was left unemployed to +destroy the characters of more than eighty National +representatives—some of whom survive to join in this Address. That plot +came to an end amidst the confusion of their persecutors, but fresh +accusations may be daily contrived and buttressed by the chicanery of +State.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_295"></a>In every generation the Irish nation is challenged to plead to a new +indictment, and to the present summons answer is made before no narrow +forum but to the tribunal of the world. So answering, we commit our +cause, as did America, to "the virtuous and humane," and also more +humbly to the providence of God.</p> + +<p>Well assured are we that you, Mr. President, whose exhortations have +inspired the Small Nations of the world with fortitude to defend to the +last their liberties against oppressors, will not be found among those +who would condemn Ireland for a determination which is irrevocable to +continue steadfastly in the course mapped out for her, no matter what +the odds, by an unexampled unity of National judgment and National +right.</p> + +<p>Given at the Mansion House, Dublin, this 11th day of June, 1918.</p> + +LAURENCE O'NEILL, Lord Mayor of Dublin,<br /> +Chairman of a Conference of representative +Irishmen whose names stand hereunder.<br /> +JOSEPH DEVLIN,<br /> +JOHN DILLON,<br /> +MICHAEL JOHNSON,<br /> +WILLIAM O'BRIEN (Lab.),<br /> +T.M. HEALY,<br /> +WILLIAM O'BRIEN,<br /> +THOMAS KELLY, and JOHN MACNEILL:<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">{Acting in the place E. DE +VALERA and A. GRIFFITH, +deported 18th of May, 1918, +to separate prisons in England, +without trial or accusation—communication +with whom has been cut off.}</span> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="Page_296"></a><a name="APPENDIX_B"></a><h2>APPENDIX B</h2> + +<h3>UNIONIST LETTER TO PRESIDENT WILSON</h3> + +CITY HALL, BELFAST,<br /> +<i>August 1st</i>, 1918.<br /> + +<h4>To THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</h4> + +<p>SIR,</p> + +<p>A manifesto signed by the leader of the Irish Nationalist Party and +certain other Irish gentlemen has been widely circulated in the United +Kingdom, in the form of a letter purporting to have been addressed to +your Excellency.<a name="FNanchor_110_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_110_110"><sup>[110]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Its purpose appears to be to offer an explanation of, and an excuse for, +the conduct of the Nationalist Party in obstructing the extension to +Ireland of compulsory military service, which the rest of the United +Kingdom has felt compelled to adopt as the necessary means of defeating +the German design to dominate the world. At a time when all the free +democracies of the world have, with whatever reluctance, accepted the +burden of conscription as the only alternative to the destruction of +free institutions and of international justice, it is easily +intelligible that those who maintain Ireland's right to solitary and +privileged exemption from the same obligation should betray their +consciousness that an apologia is required to enable them to escape +condemnation at the bar of civilised, and especially of American, +opinion. But, inasmuch as the document referred to would give to anyone +not intimately familiar with British domestic affairs the impression +that it represents the unanimous opinion of Irishmen, it is important +that your Excellency and the American people should be assured that this +is very far from being the case.</p> + +<p>There is in Ireland a minority, whom we claim to represent, comprising +one-fourth to one-third of the total population of the island, located +mainly, but not exclusively, in the province of Ulster, who dissent +emphatically from the views of Mr. Dillon and his associates. This +minority, through their representatives in Parliament, have maintained +throughout the present war that the same obligations should in all +respects be borne by Ireland as by Great Britain, and it has caused them +as Irishmen a keen sense of shame that their country has not submitted +to this equality of sacrifice.</p> + +<p>Your Excellency does not need to be informed that this question has +become entangled in the ancient controversy concerning the +<a name="Page_297"></a>constitutional status of Ireland in the United Kingdom. This is, +indeed, sufficiently clear from the terms of the Nationalist manifesto +addressed to you, every paragraph of which is coloured by allusion to +bygone history and threadbare political disputes.</p> + +<p>It is not our intention to traverse the same ground. There is in the +manifesto almost no assertion with regard to past events which is not +either a distortion or a misinterpretation of historical fact. But we +consider that this is not the moment for discussing the faults and +follies of the past, still less for rehearsing ancient grievances, +whether well or ill founded, in language of extravagant rhetoric. At a +time when the very existence of civilisation hangs in the balance, all +smaller issues, whatever their merits or however they may affect our +internal political problems, should in our judgment have remained in +abeyance, while the parties interested in their solution should have +joined in whole-hearted co-operation against the common enemy.</p> + +<p>There is, however, one matter to which reference must be made, in order +to make clear the position of the Irish minority whom we represent. The +Nationalist Party have based their claim to American sympathy on the +historic appeal addressed to Irishmen by the British colonists who +fought for independence in America a hundred and fifty years ago. By no +Irishmen was that appeal received with a more lively sympathy than by +the Protestants of Ulster, the ancestors of those for whom we speak +to-day—a fact that was not surprising in view of the circumstance that +more than one-sixth part of the entire colonial population in America at +the time of the Declaration of Independence consisted of emigrants from +Ulster.</p> + +<p>The Ulstermen of to-day, forming as they do the chief industrial +community in Ireland, are as devoted adherents to the cause of +democratic freedom as were their forefathers in the eighteenth century. +But the experience of a century of social and economic progress under +the legislative Union with Great Britain has convinced them that under +no other system of government could more complete liberty be enjoyed by +the Irish people. This, however, is not the occasion for a reasoned +defence of "Unionist" policy. Our sole purpose in referring to the +matter is to show, whatever be the merits of the dispute, that a very +substantial volume of Irish opinion is warmly attached to the existing +Constitution of the United Kingdom, and regards as wholly unwarranted +the theory that our political status affords any sort of parallel to +that of the "small nations" oppressed by alien rule, for whose +emancipation the Allied democracies are fighting in this war.</p> + +<p>The Irish representation in the Imperial Parliament throws a significant +sidelight on this prevalent fiction. Whereas England is only represented +by one member for every 75,000 of population, and Scotland by one for +every 65,000, Ireland has a member for every 42,000 of her people. With +a population below that of Scotland,<a name="Page_298"></a> Ireland has 31 more members in the +House of Commons, and 89 more than she could claim on a basis of +representation strictly proportionate to population in the United +Kingdom.</p> + +<p>Speaking in Dublin on the 1st of July, 1915, the late Mr. John Redmond +gave the following description of the present condition of Ireland, +which offers a striking contrast to the extravagant declamation that +represents that country as downtrodden by a harsh and unsympathetic +system of government:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"To-day," he said, "the people, broadly speaking, own the soil. + To-day the labourers live in decent habitations. To-day there is + absolute freedom in local government and local taxation of the + country. To-day we have the widest parliamentary and municipal + franchise. The congested districts, the scene of some of the most + awful horrors of the old famine days, have been transformed. The + farms have been enlarged, decent dwellings have been provided, and + a new spirit of hope and independence is to-day among the people. + In towns legislation has been passed facilitating the housing of + the working classes—a piece of legislation far in advance of + anything obtained for the town tenants of England. We have a system + of old-age pensions in Ireland whereby every old man and woman over + seventy is safe from the workhouse and free to spend their last + days in comparative comfort."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Such are the conditions which, in the eyes of Nationalist politicians, +constitute a tyranny so intolerable as to justify Ireland in repudiating +her fair share in the burden of war against the enemies of civilisation.</p> + +<p>The appeal which the Nationalists make to the principle of +"self-determination" strikes Ulster Protestants as singularly +inappropriate. Mr. Dillon and his co-signatories have been careful not +to inform your Excellency that it was their own opposition that +prevented the question of Irish Government being settled in accordance +with that principle in 1916. The British Government were prepared at +that time to bring the Home Rule Act of 1914 into immediate operation, +if the Nationalists had consented to exclude from its scope the +distinctively Protestant population of the North, who desired to adhere +to the Union. This compromise was rejected by the Nationalist leaders, +whose policy was thus shown to be one of "self-determination" for +themselves, combined with coercive domination over us.</p> + +<p>It is because the British Government, while prepared to concede the +principle of self-determination impartially to both divisions in +Ireland, has declined to drive us forcibly into such subjection that the +Nationalist Party conceive themselves entitled to resist the law of +conscription. And the method by which this resistance has been made +effective is, in our view, not less deplorable than the spirit that +dictated it. The most active opponents of conscription in Ireland are +men who have been twice detected during the war in treasonable traffic +with the enemy, and their most powerful support has been that of +ecclesiastics, who have not scrupled to employ <a name="Page_299"></a>weapons of spiritual +terrorism which have elsewhere in the civilised world fallen out of +political use since the Middle Ages.</p> + +<p>The claim of these men, in league with Germany on the one hand, and with +the forces of clericalism on the other, to resist a law passed by +Parliament as necessary for national defence is, moreover, inconsistent +with any political status short of independent sovereignty—status which +could only be attained by Ireland by an act of secession from the United +Kingdom, such as the American Union averted only by resort to civil war. +In every Federal or other Constitution embracing subordinate +legislatures the raising and control of military forces are matters +reserved for the supreme legislative authority alone, and they are so +reserved for the Imperial Parliament of the United Kingdom in the Home +Rule Act of 1914, the "withholding" of which during the war is +complained of by the Nationalists who have addressed your Excellency. +The contention of these gentlemen that until the internal government of +Ireland is changed in accordance with their demands, Ireland is +justified in resisting the law of Conscription, is one that finds +support in no intelligible theory of political science.</p> + +<p>To us as Irishmen—convinced as we are of the righteousness of the cause +for which we are fighting, and resolved that no sacrifice can be too +great to "make the world safe for democracy"—it is a matter of poignant +regret that the conduct of the Nationalist leaders in refusing to lay +aside matters of domestic dispute, in order to put forth the whole +strength of the country against Germany should have cast a stain on the +good name of Ireland. We have done everything in our power to dissociate +ourselves from their action, and we disclaim responsibility for it at +the bar of posterity and history.</p> + +EDWARD CARSON.<br /> +JAMES JOHNSTON, Lord Mayor of Belfast.<br /> +H.M. POLLOCK, President Belfast Chamber of Commerce.<br /> +R.N. ANDERSON, Mayor of Londonderry, and +President Londonderry Chamber of Commerce.<br /> +JOHN M. ANDREWS, Chairman Ulster Unionist Labour Association.<br /> +JAMES A. TURKINGTON, Vice-Chairman Ulster Unionist Labour Association, and Secretary +Power-loom and Allied Trades Friendly +Society, and ex-Secretary Power-loom +Tenters' Trade Union of Ireland.<br /> +THOMPSON DONALD, Hon. Secretary Ulster +Unionist Labour Association, and ex-District +Secretary Shipwrights' Association.<br /> +HENRY FLEMING, Hon. Secretary Ulster Unionist +Labour Association, Member of Boilermakers' +Iron and Steel Shipbuilders' Society.<br /><a name="Page_300"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_110_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_110_110">[110]</a><div class="note"><p> See Appendix A.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="INDEX"></a><h2>INDEX</h2> + +<ul><li>Abercorn, James, 2nd Duke of,</li> +<li><ul><li>at the Belfast Convention, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>;</li> +<li>President of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li>illness, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>;</li> +<li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>;</li> +<li>death, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Abercorn, James, 3rd Duke of, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a></li> +<li>Abercorn, Mary, Duchess of,</li> +<li><ul><li>President of the Women's Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Adair, Gen. Sir Wm., at Larne, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a></li> +<li>Afghan Campaign, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a></li> +<li>Africa, South, War, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a></li> +<li>Agar-Robartes, Hon. Thomas,</li> +<li><ul><li>amendment on the Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>-<a href='#Page_97'>97</a>, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Agnew, Capt. Andrew, <a href="#Page_viii">viii</a>, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a>, <a href='#Page_202'>202</a>, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a>, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a></li> +<li>Albert Hall, meetings at, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a>, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a></li> +<li>Alexander, Dr., Bishop of Derry, at the Albert Hall, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a></li> +<li>Allen, C.E., <a href='#Page_156'>156</a></li> +<li>Allen, W.J., <a href='#Page_35'>35</a></li> +<li>Althorp, Lord, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a></li> +<li>Altrincham, election, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a></li> +<li>Amending Bill, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>postponed, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a>, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a>;</li> +<li><i>see</i> Home Rule</li></ul></li> + +<li>America, War of Independence, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a></li> +<li>Amery, L.C.S.,</li> +<li><ul><li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li> +<li>on the Curragh Incident, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Amiens, threatened capture of, <a href='#Page_266'>266</a></li> +<li>Anderson, R.N., Mayor of Londonderry,</li> +<li><ul><li>letter to President Wilson, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>-<a href='#Page_299'>299</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Andrews, John M., letter to President Wilson, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>-<a href='#Page_299'>299</a></li> +<li>Andrews, Thomas, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a></li> +<li>Anglo-German relations, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a></li> +<li><i>Annual Register</i>, <a href="#Page_viii">viii</a>, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>, + <a href='#Page_154'>154</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a><i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a> <i>note</i>, + <a href='#Page_170'>170</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_238'>238</a>, <a href='#Page_271'>271</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_272'>272</a> <i>note</i></li> +<li>Archdale, E.M., <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Chairman of the Standing Committee, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li>Minister for Agriculture, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Armagh, military depot, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a></li> +<li>Armaghdale, Lord, <a href='#Page_263'>263</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>:</li> +<li><i>see</i> Lonsdale</li></ul></li> + +<li>Armistice, the, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a></li> +<li>Army, British, sympathy with Ulster Loyalists, <a href='#Page_187'>187</a>-<a href='#Page_189'>189</a></li> +<li>Arran, Isle of, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a></li> +<li>Asquith, Rt. Hon. H.H.,</li> +<li><ul><li>on the opposition of Ulster to Home Rule, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a>, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>;</li> +<li>at the Albert Hall, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>;</li> +<li>Hull, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>;</li> +<li>Reading, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>;</li> +<li>Bury St. Edmunds, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>;</li> +<li>opinion of Sir E. Carson's speech, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>;</li> +<li>at Ladybank, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>;</li> +<li>Manchester, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>;</li> +<li>policy on the Ulster Question, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>-<a href='#Page_170'>170</a>;</li> +<li>on the Curragh Incident, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>;</li> +<li>Secretary of State for War, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a>;</li> +<li>promises an Amending Bill, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>;</li> +<li>on the landing of arms, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>;</li> +<li>at the Buckingham Palace Conference, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>;</li> +<li>on the postponement of the Amending Bill, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a>, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a>;</li> +<li>defence of Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_235'>235</a>;</li> +<li>in Dublin, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>;</li> +<li>on the settlement of the Irish question, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a>;</li> +<li>on the national danger, <a href='#Page_266'>266</a></li></ul></li> + +<li><i>Attentive</i>, H.M.S., <a href='#Page_178'>178</a></li> +<li>Austrian rifles, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Baird, J.D., at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Balfour, Rt. Hon. A.J.,</li> +<li><ul><li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li> +<li>on election tactics, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>;</li> +<li>on exclusion of Ulster, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>;</li> +<li>resigns leadership of the Unionist Party, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>;</li> +<li>how regarded in Ulster, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>;</li> +<li>message from, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>;</li> +<li>the "peccant paragraphs," <a href='#Page_181'>181</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Balfour, Lord, of Burleigh, signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>Ballycastle, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a></li> +<li>Ballykinler, training camp, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a></li> +<li>Ballymacarret, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> +<li>Ballymena, meeting at, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a></li> +<li>Ballymoney, meeting at, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a></li> +<li>Ballyroney, meeting at, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a></li> +<li><i>Balmerino</i>, s.s., <a href='#Page_208'>208</a>, <a href='#Page_209'>209</a></li> +<li>Balmoral, Belfast, meeting at, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>-<a href='#Page_86'>86</a>, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a></li> +<li>Bangor, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>, <a href='#Page_219'>219</a></li> +<li>Barrie, H.T., <a href='#Page_257'>257</a></li> +<li>Bates, Richard Dawson, Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>organises demonstration, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>;</li> +<li>on board a tender, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>;</li> +<li>Minister for Home Affairs, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a>;</li> +<li>knighthood, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Bedford, Duke of, Chairman of the British League for the support of Ulster, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a></li> +<li>Belfast, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Convention of 1892, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>-<a href='#Page_34'>34</a>, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>;</li> +<li>meetings at, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a>;</li> +<li>services on Ulster Day, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>;</li> +<li>City Hall, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a>;</li> +<li>Covenant signed, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>-<a href='#Page_122'>122</a>;</li> +<li>drill hall, opened, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>;</li> +<li>riots, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>;</li> +<li>review of the Ulster Volunteer Force at, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>;</li> +<li>Customs Authorities, stratagem against, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a>;</li> +<li>reception of the King and Queen, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Belfast Lough, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a></li> +<li><i>Belfast Newsletter</i>, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a></li> +<li>Benn, Sir John, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a></li> +<li>Beresford, Lord Charles,</li> +<li><ul><li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>;</li> +<li>at the Ulster Club, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>;</li> +<li>Liverpool, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>;</li> +<li>member of a Committee of the Provisional Government, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Berwick, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a></li> +<li>Birrell, Rt. Hon. Augustine, Chief Secretary for Ireland,</li> +<li><ul><li>on the character of Sinn Feinism, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>;</li> +<li>at Ilfracombe, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>;</li> +<li>on the Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>;</li> +<li>the right to fight, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>;</li> +<li>member of a sub-committee on Ulster, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>;</li> +<li>conduct in the Irish rebellion, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>;</li> +<li>character of his administration, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Blenheim, meeting at, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a></li> +<li>Boyne, the, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>battle of, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>;</li> +<li>celebration, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Bradford, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a></li> +<li>Bristol, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>;</li> +<li>Channel, <a href='#Page_208'>208</a></li> +<li><i>Britannic</i>, H.M.S., <a href='#Page_224'>224</a></li> +<li>British Covenant, signing the, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>British League for the support of Ulster and the Union, formation, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a></li> +<li>Browne, Robert, Managing Director of the Antrim Iron Ore Company, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a></li> +<li>Brunner, Sir John, President of the National Liberal Federation, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a></li> +<li>Buckingham Palace Conference, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a></li> +<li>Budden, Captain, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a></li> +<li>Budget, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>; "The People's," <a href='#Page_20'>20</a></li> +<li>"Budget League," formed, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a></li> +<li>Bull, Sir William, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a></li> +<li>Bury St. Edmunds, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a></li> +<li>Butcher, Sir J.G., at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Cambridge, H.R.H. Duke of, <a href='#Page_187'>187</a></li> +<li>Cambridgeshire, election, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a></li> +<li>Campbell, James, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a></li> +<li>Canterbury, Dean of, signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>Carlyle, Thomas, <a href='#Page_137'>137</a></li> +<li>Carrickfergus, military depot, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a></li> +<li>Carson, Lady, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li> +<li>Carson, Rt. Hon. Sir Edward, <a href="#Page_viii">viii</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>accepts leadership, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>-<a href='#Page_41'>41</a>;</li> +<li>political views, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a>;</li> +<li>at the Ulster Hall, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>;</li> +<li>at the Ulster Unionist Council meetings, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>, <a href='#Page_246'>246</a>-<a href='#Page_248'>248</a>;</li> +<li>relations with Lord Londonderry, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>;</li> +<li>on the Parliament Bill, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>;</li> +<li>at the Craigavon meeting, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>-<a href='#Page_51'>51</a>, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>;</li> +<li>character of his speaking, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>;</li> +<li>at the Conference at Belfast, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>;</li> +<li>at Dublin, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>;</li> +<li>Portrush, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a>;</li> +<li>refuses leadership of Unionist Party, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>;</li> +<li>meetings in Lancashire, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a>;</li> +<li>popularity, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a>, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>;</li> +<li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a>, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a>-<a href='#Page_226'>226</a>, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a>;</li> +<li>criticism of W. Churchill's speech, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>;</li> +<li>on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>;</li> +<li>at the Balmoral meeting, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>;</li> +<li>ovation, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>;</li> +<li>attacks on, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>;</li> +<li>on the Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>;</li> +<li>at the Londonderry House Conference, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>;</li> +<li>on the resistance of Ulster, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>;</li> +<li>character of his leadership, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>;</li> +<li>reads the Ulster Covenant, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>;</li> +<li>tour of the Province, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>;</li> +<li>opinion of the Covenant, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>;</li> +<li>presentation to, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>;</li> +<li>speech on the Covenant, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>;</li> +<li>at the service in the Ulster Hall, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>;</li> +<li>at the City Hall, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>-<a href='#Page_124'>124</a>;</li> +<li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>;</li> +<li>at Liverpool, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>;</li> +<li>on the exclusion of Ulster, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>;</li> +<li>death of his wife, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>;</li> +<li>at opening of drill hall, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>;</li> +<li>in Scotland and England, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>;</li> +<li>at Durham, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a>;</li> +<li>Chairman of the Central Authority, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>;</li> +<li>Indemnity Guarantee Fund, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>;</li> +<li>inspection of the Ulster Volunteer Force, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>, <a href='#Page_226'>226</a>;</li> +<li>on the time limit for exclusion, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a>;</li> +<li>leaves the House of Commons, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a>;</li> +<li>on the plot against Ulster, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a>;</li> +<li>signs statement on the Curragh Incident, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a>;</li> +<li>interview with Major F.H. Crawford, <a href='#Page_199'>199</a>, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>;</li> +<li>congratulations from Lord Roberts, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a>;</li> +<li>at Ipswich, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>;</li> +<li>at the Buckingham Palace Conference, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>;</li> +<li>on the patriotism of Ulster, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>-<a href='#Page_233'>233</a>;</li> +<li>tribute to B. Law, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>;</li> +<li>second marriage, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>;</li> +<li>tribute to Lord Londonderry, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>;</li> +<li>appointed Attorney-General, <a href='#Page_242'>242</a>;</li> +<li>resignation, <a href='#Page_242'>242</a>;</li> +<li>on the Irish rebellion, <a href='#Page_246'>246</a>;</li> +<li>appointed First Lord of the Admiralty, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>;</li> +<li>resignation, <a href='#Page_263'>263</a>;</li> +<li>re-elected leader of the Ulster Party, <a href='#Page_263'>263</a>;</li> +<li>member of the Irish Unionist Alliance, <a href='#Page_265'>265</a>;</li> +<li>on the Military Service Bill, <a href='#Page_270'>270</a>;</li> +<li>letter to President Wilson, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>-<a href='#Page_299'>299</a>;</li> +<li>M.P. for Duncairn, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>;</li> +<li>declines office, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>;</li> +<li>on the Government of Ireland Act, <a href='#Page_279'>279</a>;</li> +<li>conclusion of his leadership, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a>;</li> +<li>Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a>;</li> +<li>unable to be present at the opening of the Ulster Parliament, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Casement, Sir Roger, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>in league with Germany, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Cassel, Felix, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Castlereagh, Viscount, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li> +<li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Cavan, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a>, <a href='#Page_279'>279</a></li> +<li>Cave, Rt. Hon. George, <a href='#Page_188'>188</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li> +<li>letter to <i>The Times</i>, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Cecil, Lord Hugh, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at the Balmoral meeting, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>;</li> +<li>on the resistance of Ulster, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. Austen,</li> +<li><ul><li>candidate for the leadership of the Unionist Party, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>;</li> +<li>message from, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>;</li> +<li>at Skipton, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>;</li> +<li>on the policy of the Government, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. Joseph, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>views on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>;</li> +<li>tariff policy, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>;</li> +<li>his advice to Sir E. Carson, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Chambers, James, signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a></li> +<li>Chichester, Capt. the Hon. A.C.,</li> +<li>Commander in the Ulster Volunteer Force, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a></li> +<li>Childers, Mr. Erskine, on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a></li> +<li>China Expeditionary Force, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a></li> +<li>Chubb, Sir George Hayter, signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>Churchill, Mrs., at Belfast, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a></li> +<li>Churchill, Lord Randolph, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at the Ulster Hall meeting, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>;</li> +<li>saying of, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>;</li> +<li>reception at Larne, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>;</li> +<li>views on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>;</li> +<li><i>Life of,</i> <a href='#Page_138'>138</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Churchill, Rt. Hon. Winston S., at Manchester, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li><i>Life of Lord Randolph Churchill</i>, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>;</li> +<li>at Dundee, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>;</li> +<li>views on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>;</li> +<li>projected visit to Belfast, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>-<a href='#Page_69'>69</a>;</li> +<li>letter to Lord Londonderry, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>;</li> +<li>change of plan, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>;</li> +<li>reception at Belfast, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>;</li> +<li>departure from, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>;</li> +<li>on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>;</li> +<li>letters on the Ulster menace, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>;</li> +<li>on the resistance of Ulster, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>;</li> +<li>the policy of exclusion, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>;</li> +<li>at Bradford, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>City Hall, Belfast, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a></li> +<li>Clark, Sir George, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a></li> +<li>Clogher, Bishop of, signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a></li> +<li><i>Clydevalley, s.s.,</i> <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>-<a href='#Page_213'>213</a>, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>renamed, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Coleraine, meeting at, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a></li> +<li>Comber, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a></li> +<li>Copeland Island, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a>, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a></li> +<li><i>Correspondence relating to Recent Events in the Irish Command</i>, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a></li> +<li>Covenant, British, signing the, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>Covenant, Ulster, draft, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>terms, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>-<a href='#Page_107'>107</a>;</li> +<li>series of demonstrations, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>-<a href='#Page_110'>110</a>;</li> +<li>meeting in the Ulster Hall, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>;</li> +<li>signing the, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>-<a href='#Page_124'>124</a>;</li> +<li>anniversary, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a>, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Cowser, Richard, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a></li> +<li>Craig, Charles, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>serves in the war, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a>;</li> +<li>taken prisoner, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Craig, James, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>meeting at Craigavon, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>;</li> +<li>gift for organisation, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>;</li> +<li>member of the Commission of Five, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>;</li> +<li>on the resistance of Ulster, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>;</li> +<li>draft of the Covenant, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a>;</li> +<li>organises the demonstration, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>;</li> +<li>presentation of a silver key and pen to Sir E. Carson, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>;</li> +<li>Indemnity Guarantee Fund, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>;</li> +<li>at the reviews of the U.V.F., <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>;</li> +<li>at Bangor, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a>;</li> +<li>at the Buckingham Palace Conference, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a>;</li> +<li>appointed Q.M.G. of the Ulster Division, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a>;</li> +<li>Treasurer of the Household, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a>;</li> +<li>resignation, <a href='#Page_263'>263</a>;</li> +<li>baronetcy, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>;</li> +<li>Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>;</li> +<li>Secretary to the Admiralty, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a>;</li> +<li>resignation, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a>;</li> +<li>Prime Minister of the Northern Parliament, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Craig, John, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a></li> +<li>Craig, Mrs., presents colours to the U.V.F., <a href='#Page_223'>223</a></li> +<li>Craigavon, meeting at, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>-<a href='#Page_51'>51</a>, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a></li> +<li>Crawford, Colonel F.H., <a href="#Page_viii">viii</a>;</li> +<li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Commander in the U.V.F., <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>;</li> +<li>characteristics, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a>; career, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a>;</li> +<li>Secretary of the Reform Club, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a>;</li> +<li>advertises for rifles, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a>;</li> +<li>Director of Ordnance, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>;</li> +<li>method of procuring arms, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>-<a href='#Page_200'>200</a>;</li> +<li>schooner, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>;</li> +<li>agreement with B.S., <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>-<a href='#Page_200'>200</a>;</li> +<li>interview with Sir E. Carson, <a href='#Page_199'>199</a>, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>;</li> +<li>voyage in s.s. <i>Fanny</i>, <a href='#Page_202'>202</a>-<a href='#Page_210'>210</a>;</li> +<li>conveys arms from Hamburg, <a href='#Page_203'>203</a>-<a href='#Page_213'>213</a>;</li> +<li>attack of malaria, <a href='#Page_207'>207</a>;</li> +<li>declines to obey unsigned orders, <a href='#Page_209'>209</a>;</li> +<li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>;</li> +<li>purchases s.s. <i>Clydevalley</i>, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a>;</li> +<li>lands the arms, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>;</li> +<li>at Rosslare, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a>;</li> +<li>awarded the O.B.E., <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Crewe, election, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a></li> +<li>Crewe, Marq. of, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on the Amending Bill, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Cromwell, Oliver, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a></li> +<li>Crozier, Dr., Archbp. of Armagh, member of Provisional Government, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a></li> +<li>Crumlin, meeting at, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a></li> +<li>Curragh Incident, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>-<a href='#Page_189'>189</a>, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a></li> +<li>Curzon, Marq., on the Parliament Bill, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>the Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>;</li> +<li>the loyalty of Ulster, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a></li></ul></li></ul> + + + + +<ul><li><i>Daily Express, The</i>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> +<li><i>Daily Mail, The</i>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> +<li><i>Daily News, The</i>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a></li> +<li><i>Daily Telegraph, The</i>, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> +<li>D'Arcy, Dr., Primate of All Ireland, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Darlington, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a></li> +<li>Davis, Jefferson, <a href='#Page_137'>137</a></li> +<li>Democracy, axiom of, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a></li> +<li>Derbyshire, election, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a></li> +<li>Derry, relief of, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>meeting at, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>;</li> +<li>election, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a>;</li> +<li>riots, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Desborough, Lord, signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>Devlin, Joseph, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>with Mr. W. Churchill in Belfast, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>;</li> +<li>the Irish Convention, <a href='#Page_261'>261</a>;</li> +<li>on the Military Service Bill, <a href='#Page_269'>269</a>;</li> +<li>letter to President Wilson, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>-<a href='#Page_295'>295</a>;</li> +<li>demands self-determination, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Devonshire, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>th Duke of, views on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on the resistance of Ulster, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>;</li> +<li><i>Life of</i>, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a> <i>note</i></li></ul></li> + +<li>Dicey, Prof., signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>Dickson, Scott, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at the Balmoral meeting, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a></li> +<li>"Die Hards" party, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Dillon, John, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at the Buckingham Palace Conference, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>;</li> +<li>on the Irish Rebellion, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>;</li> +<li>letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>-<a href='#Page_293'>293</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Donaghadee, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>, <a href='#Page_219'>219</a></li> +<li>Donald, Thompson, letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>-<a href='#Page_299'>299</a></li> +<li>Donegal, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a>, <a href='#Page_279'>279</a></li> +<li><i>Doreen</i>, s.s., <a href='#Page_207'>207</a>, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at Lundy, <a href='#Page_208'>208</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Dorset Regiment, transferred to Holywood, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a>, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a></li> +<li>Dromore, meeting at, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a></li> +<li>Dublin, insurrection, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Unionist demonstration at, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>;</li> +<li>Nationalist Convention, meeting, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>;</li> +<li>Congress in, <a href='#Page_276'>276</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Dufferin and Ava, Dow. Marchioness of, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a></li> +<li>Duke, Rt. Hon. H.E., Chief Secretary for Ireland, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a></li> +<li>Duncairn, election, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a></li> +<li>Dundalk, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a></li> +<li>Dundee, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a></li> +<li>Dunleath, Lord, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a></li> +<li>Durham, Sir E. Carson at, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>East Fife, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a></li> +<li>Edinburgh, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Ulstermen sign the Covenant, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>;</li> +<li>meeting at, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>;</li> +<li>Philosophical Institution, lecture at the, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Edward VII, King, death, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a></li> +<li>Election, General, of 1886, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>of 1895, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a>;</li> +<li>of Jan. 1910, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>;</li> +<li>of Dec. 1910, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>;</li> +<li>of 1918, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Elections, result of, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a></li> +<li>Emmet, Robert, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a></li> +<li>Enniskillen, meeting at, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>military depot, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Erne, Earl of, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at the Craigavon meeting, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>;</li> +<li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ewart, G.H., President of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a></li> +<li>Ewart, Sir William, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a></li></ul></li></ul> + + +<ul><li><i>Fanny</i>, s.s., voyage, <a href="#Page_viii">viii</a>, <a href='#Page_202'>202</a>-<a href='#Page_213'>213</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>alterations in her appearance, <a href='#Page_206'>206</a>;</li> +<li>rechristened, <a href='#Page_207'>207</a>;</li> +<li>transference of the cargo, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Farnham, Lord, at the Ulster Unionist Council meeting, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a>, <a href='#Page_279'>279</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Irish Unionist Alliance, <a href='#Page_265'>265</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ferguson, John, & Co., <a href='#Page_196'>196</a></li> +<li>Fiennes, Mr., at Belfast, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a></li> +<li>Finance Bill, rejected, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a></li> +<li>Finlay, Sir Robert, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at the Balmoral meeting, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Fishguard, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a></li> +<li>Flavin, Mr., on the Military Service Bill, <a href='#Page_269'>269</a></li> +<li>Fleming, Henry, letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>-<a href='#Page_299'>299</a></li> +<li>Flood, Henry, patriotism, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a></li> +<li>Foyle, the, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a></li> +<li><i>Freemason's Journal, The</i>, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a></li> +<li>French, F.M., Viscount, member of the Army Council, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>resignation, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a>;</li> +<li>Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, <a href='#Page_272'>272</a>;</li> +<li>attempt on his life, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Frewen, Miss, marriage, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>; <i>see</i> Carson</li> +<li>Friend, General, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Gambetta, Léon, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a></li> +<li>George V, King, Conference at Buckingham Palace, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>opens the Ulster Parliament, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a>, <a href='#Page_286'>286</a>;</li> +<li>reception in Belfast, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>George, Rt. Hon. D. Lloyd, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Budget, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at Edinburgh, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>;</li> +<li>on the exclusion of Ulster, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>;</li> +<li>Anglo-German relations, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a>;</li> +<li>opinion of Sir E. Carson's speech, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>;</li> +<li>plot against Ulster, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>;</li> +<li>at Ipswich, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>;</li> +<li>the Buckingham Palace Conference, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>;</li> +<li>Secretary of State for War, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a>;</li> +<li>negotiations for the settlement of the Irish question, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a>, <a href='#Page_247'>247</a>, <a href='#Page_250'>250</a>;</li> +<li>Prime Minister, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>;</li> +<li>on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_254'>254</a>;</li> +<li>alternative proposals, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a>;</li> +<li>statement on the war, <a href='#Page_266'>266</a>, <a href='#Page_268'>268</a>;</li> +<li>Military Service Bill, <a href='#Page_268'>268</a>;</li> +<li>letter to B. Law, <a href='#Page_276'>276</a> <i>note</i>;</li> +<li>basic facts on the Irish Question, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a>;</li> +<li>Government of Ireland Act, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a></li></ul></li> +<li>German rifles, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a></li> +<li>Gibson, T.H., Sec. of Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>resignation, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Gilmour, Captain, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Gladstone, Rt. Hon. W.E., <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on the character of the Nationalists, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>;</li> +<li>conversion to Home Rule, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>;</li> +<li>Home Rule Bills, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>;</li> +<li>personality, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Glasgow, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>meeting at, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Goschen, Viscount, views on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a></li> +<li>Goudy, Prof., signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>Gough, General Sir Hugh, commanding the <a href='#Page_3'>3</a>rd Cavalry Brigade, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at the War Office, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>;</li> +<li>return to the Curragh, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>;</li> +<li>driven back by the Germans, <a href='#Page_270'>270</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Government of Ireland Act, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a></li> +<li>Graham, John Washington, <a href='#Page_194'>194</a></li> +<li>Grattan, Henry, patriotism, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a></li> +<li>Greenwood, Sir Hamar, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Chief Secretary for Ireland, <a href='#Page_285'>285</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Grey, Earl, on the Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a></li> +<li>Grey, Sir Edward, on the Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at Berwick, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Griffith, Arthur, arrested, <a href='#Page_271'>271</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>deported, <a href='#Page_295'>295</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Griffith-Boscawen, Sir Arthur, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Grimsby, election, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a></li> +<li>Guest, Capt. Frederick, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a></li> +<li>Guinness, Walter, supports exclusion of Ulster, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a></li> +<li>Gun-barrel Proof Act, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Haldane, Viscount, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a></li> +<li>Halifax, Lord, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a></li> +<li>Hall, Frank, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a></li> +<li>Halsbury, Earl of, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a></li> +<li>Hamburg, Col. Crawford at, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a></li> +<li>Hamilton, Lord Claud, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Provisional Government, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Hamilton, George C., M.P. for Altrincham, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a></li> +<li>Hamilton, Gustavus, Governor of Enniskillen, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a></li> +<li>Hamilton, Marq. of, interest in the Ulster Movement, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Hammersmith Armoury, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>seizure of arms at, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Hanna, J., <a href='#Page_257'>257</a></li> +<li>Harding, Canon, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a></li> +<li>Harland and Wolff, Messrs., <a href='#Page_191'>191</a></li> +<li>Harrison, Frederic, on the Ulster Question, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a></li> +<li>Hartington, Marq. of, views on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a></li> +<li>Health Insurance Act, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a></li> +<li>Healy, T.M., <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on the Military Service Bill, <a href='#Page_270'>270</a>;</li> +<li>letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>-<a href='#Page_295'>295</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Henry, Denis, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a></li> +<li>Hickman, Colonel Thomas, member of Provisional Government, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>career, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>;</li> +<li>letter from Lord Roberts, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Hills, J.W., at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Holland, Bernard, <i>Life of the Eighth Duke of Devonshire</i>, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a> <i>note</i></li> +<li>Holywood, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a>, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a></li> +<li>Home Rule, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>-<a href='#Page_29'>29</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>a separatist movement, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>;</li> +<li>memorial against, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>-<a href='#Page_97'>97</a>, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>political meetings, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>;</li> +<li>under the "guillotine," <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>;</li> +<li>in the House of Lords, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>;</li> +<li>rejected, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>;</li> +<li>time limit for exclusion, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a>;</li> +<li>passed, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a>;</li> +<li>receives the Royal Assent, <a href='#Page_235'>235</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Home Rule Bill, Amending Bill, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a>, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a></li> +<li>Hull, Mr. Asquith at, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Ilfracombe, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a></li> +<li>Indemnity Guarantee Fund, subscriptions, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a></li> +<li>Ipswich, election, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a></li> +<li>Ireland, two nations, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>rebellions, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>;</li> +<li>animosity of rival creeds, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>;</li> +<li>condition, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a>;</li> +<li>insurrection, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>;</li> +<li>fiscal autonomy, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>-<a href='#Page_78'>78</a>;</li> +<li>financial clauses of the Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>;</li> +<li>prohibition of the importation of arms, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>;</li> +<li>Easter Rebellion, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>;</li> +<li>exemption from conscription, <a href='#Page_268'>268</a>;</li> +<li>German plot in, <a href='#Page_271'>271</a>;</li> +<li>agitation against conscription, <a href='#Page_272'>272</a>;</li> +<li>anarchy, <a href='#Page_279'>279</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ireland, Council of, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a></li> +<li>Ireland, Government of, Act, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a>-<a href='#Page_280'>280</a></li> +<li>Ireland, Northern, Parliament, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a>-<a href='#Page_282'>282</a></li> +<li>Irish Convention, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a>-<a href='#Page_262'>262</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>members, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a>, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>;</li> +<li>Report, <a href='#Page_264'>264</a>, <a href='#Page_266'>266</a></li></ul></li> + +<li><i>Irish News, The</i>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a></li> +<li>Irish Republican Army, system of terrorism, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a></li> +<li>Irish Republican Brotherhood, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a></li> +<li>Irish Unionist Alliance, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_265'>265</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>co-operation with the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Islandmagee, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a></li> +<li>Italian Vetteli rifles, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a>, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>James II, King, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a>, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a></li> +<li>Johnston, James, Lord Mayor of Belfast, letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>-<a href='#Page_299'>299</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul><li>Kelly, Sam, <a href='#Page_209'>209</a></li> +<li>Kelly, Thomas, letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>-<a href='#Page_295'>295</a></li> +<li>Kennedy, Sir Robert, member of Provisional Government, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a></li> +<li>Kettle, Prof. T.M., on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a></li> +<li>Kiel, <a href='#Page_204'>204</a></li> +<li>Kingstown, cruisers at, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a></li> +<li>Kipling, Rudyard, "Ulster 1912," <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Kitchener, F.M. Earl, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a>, <a href='#Page_238'>238</a></li> +<li>Kossuth, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Labour Party, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a></li> +<li>Ladybank, Mr. Asquith at, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a></li> +<li>Lamlash, battleships at, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a></li> +<li>Lane-Fox, George, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Langeland, <a href='#Page_204'>204</a></li> +<li>Lansdowne, Marq. of, scheme of reform for the House of Lords, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on the Parliament Bill, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>;</li> +<li>message from, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>;</li> +<li>on the Ulster Question, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a>;</li> +<li>the Amending Bill, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>;</li> +<li>at the Buckingham Palace Conference, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Larne, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a>, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a></li> +<li>Law, Rt. Hon. A. Bonar, leader of Unionist Party, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>;</li> +<li>at the Albert Hall, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>;</li> +<li>on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>;</li> +<li>at the Balmoral meeting, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>-<a href='#Page_86'>86</a>;</li> +<li>reception at Larne, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li> +<li>his speech, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>;</li> +<li>indictment against the Government, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>, <a href='#Page_235'>235</a>;</li> +<li>on the resistance of Ulster, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>;</li> +<li>messages from, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>;</li> +<li>at Wallsend, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>;</li> +<li>Bristol, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>;</li> +<li>on the exclusion of Ulster, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a>, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a>;</li> +<li>demands inquiry into the Curragh Incident, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a>;</li> +<li>on the Amending Bill, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>;</li> +<li>at the Buckingham Palace Conference, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>;</li> +<li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>;</li> +<li>tribute to, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>;</li> +<li>at the Ulster Hall, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a>;</li> +<li>warning to the Nationalists, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a>;</li> +<li>on the Military Service Bill, <a href='#Page_269'>269</a>, <a href='#Page_271'>271</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Lecky, W.E.H., <i>History of England in the Eighteenth Century</i>, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a> <i>note</i></li> +<li>Leeds, meeting at, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a></li> +<li>Leo XIII, Pope, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a></li> +<li>Leslie, Shane, <i>Henry Edward Manning</i>, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a> <i>note</i></li> +<li>Liberal Party, policy, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>victory in 1906, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>;</li> +<li>majority, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>;</li> +<li>tactics, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>;</li> +<li>number of votes, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>;</li> +<li>defeated in 1895, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Liddell, R.M., <a href='#Page_156'>156</a></li> +<li>Lincoln, Abraham, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>saying of, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Linlithgow, election, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a></li> +<li>Lisburn, meeting at, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a></li> +<li>Liverpool, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a></li> +<li><i>Liverpool Daily Courier, The</i>, extract from, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a></li> +<li><i>Liverpool Daily Post and Mercury,</i> <a href='#Page_159'>159</a> <i>note</i></li> +<li>Llandudno, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a></li> +<li>Lloyd, Mr. George, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Logue, Cardinal, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a></li> +<li>London School of Economics, conference at, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a></li> +<li>Londonderry House, conference at, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a></li> +<li>Londonderry, Marchioness of,</li> +<li><ul><li>member of the Ulster Women's Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>;</li> +<li>on the Covenant, <a href='#Page_112'>112</a>;</li> +<li>presents colours to the U.V.F., <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>;</li> +<li>work in the war, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Londonderry, 6th Marq. of, <a href="#Page_viii">viii</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>;</li> +<li>Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li>popularity, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a>;</li> +<li>character, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>;</li> +<li>relations with Sir E. Carson, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>;</li> +<li>on the Parliament Bill, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>;</li> +<li>Conference at Belfast, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>;</li> +<li>at the Ulster Hall meeting, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>;</li> +<li>the Ulster Unionist Council meetings, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a>, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>;</li> +<li>reply to W. Churchill, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>;</li> +<li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>;</li> +<li>at the Balmoral meeting, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>;</li> +<li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>;</li> +<li>at the Ulster Club, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>;</li> +<li>Liverpool, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>;</li> +<li>on the House of Lords, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>;</li> +<li>President of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>;</li> +<li>Indemnity Guarantee Fund, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>;</li> +<li>at the reviews of the U.V.F., <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>;</li> +<li>on the Curragh Incident, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a>;</li> +<li>on the Amending Bill, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>;</li> +<li>at Enniskillen, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>;</li> +<li>despondency, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>;</li> +<li>death, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>;</li> +<li>tribute to, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a></li></ul></li> +<li>Londonderry, 7th Marq. of, <a href="#Page_viii">viii</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>member of the Irish Convention, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>, <a href='#Page_263'>263</a>;</li> +<li>Under-Secretary of State in the Air Ministry, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>;</li> +<li>resignation, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a>;</li> +<li>Minister of Education, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Long, Rt. Hon. Walter, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>founder of the Union Defence League, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>;</li> +<li>leader of the Irish Unionists, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>;</li> +<li>at the Ulster Hall, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>;</li> +<li>candidate for the leadership of the Unionist Party, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>;</li> +<li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a>;</li> +<li>at the Balmoral meeting, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>;</li> +<li>the Londonderry House conference, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>;</li> +<li>message from, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>;</li> +<li>on the policy of the Government, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a>;</li> +<li>signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a>;</li> +<li>chairman of a Cabinet Committee on the Irish Question, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Lonsdale, Sir John B., member of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Hon. Sec. of the Irish Unionist Party, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>;</li> +<li>signs Covenant, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>;</li> +<li>Indemnity Guarantee Fund, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>;</li> +<li>leader of the Ulster Party, <a href='#Page_254'>254</a>;</li> +<li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>;</li> +<li>raised to the peerage, <a href='#Page_263'>263</a>;</li> +<li><i>see</i> Armaghdale</li></ul></li> + +<li>Lords, House of,</li> +<li><ul><li>rejection of the Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>;</li> +<li>of the Finance Bill, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>;</li> +<li>forced to accept the Parliament Bill, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>;</li> +<li>position under the Parliament Act, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>;</li> +<li>debates on the Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Loreburn, Lord, letters to <i>The Times</i>, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a></li> +<li>Lough Laxford, <a href='#Page_203'>203</a>, <a href='#Page_206'>206</a>, <a href='#Page_207'>207</a></li> +<li>Lough, Thomas, on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a></li> +<li>Lovat, Lord, signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>Lowther, Rt. Hon. James, at the Buckingham Palace Conference, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a></li> +<li>Loyal Orange Institution, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a></li> +<li>Lundy, <a href='#Page_208'>208</a></li> +<li>Lyons, W.H.H., <a href='#Page_35'>35</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Macdonnell, Lord, on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a></li> +<li>Mackinder, H.J., at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Macnaghten, Sir Charles, member Provisional Government, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a></li> +<li>Macnaghten, Lord, Lord of Appeal, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>MacNeill, John, letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>-<a href='#Page_295'>295</a></li> +<li>Mahan, Admiral, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a></li> +<li>Maine, Sir H., <i>Popular Government</i>, extract from, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a></li> +<li>Malcolm, Sir Ian, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Manchester, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>election, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a></li></ul></li> + +<li><i>Manchester Guardian, The</i>, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a></li> +<li>Manning, Cardinal, on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a></li> +<li>Mary, H.M., Queen, at the opening of the Ulster Parliament, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>reception in Belfast, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Massereene, Lady, presents colours to the Ulster Volunteer Force, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a></li> +<li>Massingham, Mr., <a href='#Page_166'>166</a></li> +<li>Masterman, Rt. Hon. C.F.G., <a href='#Page_170'>170</a>, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a></li> +<li>Mazzini, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a></li> +<li>McCalmont, Col. James, Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Commander of a U.V.F regiment, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>McCammon, Mr., <a href='#Page_121'>121</a></li> +<li>McDowell, Sir Alexander, criticism of the Ulster Covenant, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a></li> +<li>McMordie, Mr., Lord Mayor of Belfast,</li> +<li><ul><li>at the service in the Ulster Hall, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>;</li> +<li>receives Sir E. Carson, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>;</li> +<li>at the Ulster Club, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Meath election petition in 1892, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a></li> +<li>Melbourne, Lord, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a></li> +<li>Mersey, the, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a></li> +<li>Midleton, Earl of, at the Irish Convention, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>supports Home Rule, <a href='#Page_262'>262</a>;</li> +<li>secedes from the Irish Unionist Alliance, <a href='#Page_265'>265</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Midlothian, election, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a></li> +<li>Military Service Act, ii., <a href='#Page_268'>268</a>-<a href='#Page_272'>272</a></li> +<li>Milner, Viscount, signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on the Amending Bill, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Moles, Thomas, <a href="#Page_viii">viii</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Chairman of Committee in the Northern Parliament, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a></li></ul></li> +<li>Molyneux, patriotism, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a></li> +<li>Monaghan, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a>, <a href='#Page_279'>279</a></li> +<li>Montgomery, B.W.D., Secretary of the Ulster Club, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a></li> +<li>Montgomery, Dr., <a href='#Page_118'>118</a></li> +<li>Montgomery, Major-Gen., member of Provisional Government, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a></li> +<li>Moore, William, Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on the amendment to the Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>;</li> +<li>exclusion of Ulster, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Morley, Viscount, <i>Life of Gladstone</i>, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on the resistance of Ulster, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>;</li> +<li>helps Colonel Seely to draft the "peccant paragraphs," <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a></li> +<li><i>Morning Post, The</i>, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a>, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a> <i>note</i></li></ul> +</li> +<li><i>Motu Proprio</i>, Vatican decree, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a></li> +<li>Mount Stewart, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> +<li><i>Mountjoy</i>, the, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a></li> +<li><i>Mountjoy II</i>, s.s., cargo landed at Larne, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a></li> +<li>Moyle, the, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a></li> +<li>Musgrave Channel, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a></li> +<li>Musgrave, Henry, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li><i>Nation, The</i>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a></li> +<li>National Insurance Bill, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a></li> +<li>Nationalist Party, in the House of Commons, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>attitude on the war, <a href='#Page_267'>267</a>;</li> +<li>opposition to conscription, <a href='#Page_269'>269</a>-<a href='#Page_273'>273</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Nationalists, the, compared with the Ulster Unionists, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>disloyalty, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>-<a href='#Page_6'>6</a>;</li> +<li>policy, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a>;</li> +<li>ancestry, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>;</li> +<li>demand dissolution of the Union, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>;</li> +<li>attitude on the war, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>, <a href='#Page_233'>233</a>, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>;</li> +<li>members of the Irish Convention, <a href='#Page_256'>256</a>-<a href='#Page_262'>262</a>;</li> +<li>letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>-<a href='#Page_295'>295</a>;</li> +<li>demand "self-determination," <a href='#Page_291'>291</a>, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Nationality, root of, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>plea of <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Navy, reduction of, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a></li> +<li><i>Nec Temere</i>, Vatican decree, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a></li> +<li>Neild, Herbert, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Newcastle, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>training camp, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Newman, Cardinal, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a></li> +<li>Newry, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a></li> +<li>Newtownards, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>meeting at, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a></li></ul></li> + +<li><i>Nineteenth Century, The</i>, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a> <i>note</i></li> +<li>Nonconformists, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>opposition to Home Rule, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Northcliffe, Viscount, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> +<li>Norwich, Ulster members at, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>O'Brien, William, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on the Military Service Bill, <a href='#Page_270'>270</a>;</li> +<li>letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>-<a href='#Page_295'>295</a></li></ul></li> + +<li><i>Observer, The</i>, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> +<li>O'Connell, Daniel, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a></li> +<li>O'Connor, T.P., <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Omagh, military depot, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a></li> +<li>Omash, Miss, <a href="#Page_viii">viii</a></li> +<li>O'Neill, Capt. Hon. Arthur, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>killed in the war, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>O'Neill, Major Hugh, serves in the war, <a href='#Page_242'>242</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Speaker of the Northern Parliament, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>O'Neill, Hugh, Earl of Tyrone, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a></li> +<li>O'Neill, Laurence, Lord Mayor of Dublin,</li> +<li><ul><li>letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>-<a href='#Page_295'>295</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>O'Neill, Hon. R.T., member of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a></li> +<li>Ormsby-Gore, Capt. the Hon. W.G.A., at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>O'Shea, divorce, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Paget, Sir Arthur, Commander-in-Chief in Ireland,</li> +<li><ul><li>letter from Colonel Seely, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>;</li> +<li>in London, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a>;</li> +<li>interviews with Ministers, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a>;</li> +<li>instructions from the War Office, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>;</li> +<li>conference with his officers, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a>;</li> +<li>on the employment of troops in Ulster, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Parliament, assembled, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>dissolved, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>;</li> +<li>adjourned, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Parliament Act, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a>-<a href='#Page_45'>45</a>, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a></li> +<li><i>Parliamentary Debates</i>, <a href="#Page_viii">viii</a>, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a> <i>note,</i> <a href='#Page_142'>142</a>, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a> <i>note</i></li> +<li>Parnell, Charles, saying of, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>leader of the Nationalist Party, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>;</li> +<li>downfall, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a></li></ul></li> + +<li><i>Pathfinder</i>, H.M.S., <a href='#Page_178'>178</a></li> +<li><i>Patriotic</i>, R.M.S., <a href='#Page_128'>128</a></li> +<li>Peel, Sir Robert, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a></li> +<li>Peel, W., at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>"People's Budget," <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>rejection, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Percival-Maxwell, Col., Privy Councillor, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li> +<li>Phoenix Park murders, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a></li> +<li>Pirrie, Lord, unpopularity in Belfast, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>peerage conferred, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Pitt, Rt. Hon. William, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a></li> +<li>Plunkett, Sir Horace, Chairman of the Irish Convention, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>, <a href='#Page_261'>261</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>letter to Lloyd George, <a href='#Page_264'>264</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Pollock, Sir Ernest, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Pollock, H.M., member of the Irish Convention, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>, <a href='#Page_262'>262</a></li> +<li>Portadown, meeting at, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a></li> +<li>Portland, Duke of, signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>Portrush, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a>, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a></li> +<li>Presbyterian Church, General Assembly of the, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a></li> +<li>Presbyterians, political views, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a></li> +<li>Preston, George, subscription to the Indemnity Guarantee Fund, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a></li> +<li>Prisoners, release of, <a href='#Page_256'>256</a></li> +<li>Protestants, Irish, distrust of Roman Catholics, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>dislike of clerical influence, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a></li></ul></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Ramsay, Sir W., signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>Ranfurly, Earl of, organises the Ulster Loyalist Union, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>member of the Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Raphoe, Bishop of, member of the Irish Convention, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a>, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a>-<a href='#Page_262'>262</a></li> +<li>Rawlinson, J.F.P., at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Reade, R.H., <a href='#Page_35'>35</a></li> +<li>Reading, Mr. Asquith at, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>election, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Redistribution Act, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a></li> +<li>Redmond, Capt., <a href='#Page_275'>275</a></li> +<li>Redmond, John, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on the national movement, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>;</li> +<li>policy, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>;</li> +<li>on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>;</li> +<li>with Mr. W. Churchill in Belfast, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>;</li> +<li>opinion of Sir E. Carson's speech, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>;</li> +<li>protests against Amending Bill, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>;</li> +<li>at Buckingham Palace Conference, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>;</li> +<li>conditional offer of help in the war, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>, <a href='#Page_233'>233</a>;</li> +<li>tribute to, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a>;</li> +<li>patriotism, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a>;</li> +<li>refuses office, <a href='#Page_242'>242</a>;</li> +<li>at Dublin, <a href='#Page_249'>249</a>;</li> +<li>on the exclusion of Ulster, <a href='#Page_250'>250</a>;</li> +<li>manifesto, <a href='#Page_254'>254</a>;</li> +<li>at the Irish Convention, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a>-<a href='#Page_262'>262</a>;</li> +<li>death, <a href='#Page_262'>262</a>;</li> +<li>on the condition of Ireland, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Redmond, Major W., his speech in the House, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>killed in the war, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Reform Club, Belfast, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a></li> +<li>Reid, Whitelaw, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a></li> +<li>Renan, E., on the root of nationality, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a></li> +<li><i>Reynolds's Newspaper</i>, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a></li> +<li>Richardson, Gen. Sir George, Commander-in-Chief of the U.V.F., <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>career, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>;</li> +<li>characteristics, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>;</li> +<li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a>;</li> +<li>reviews the U.V.F., <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>-<a href='#Page_165'>165</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Rifles, seized by Government, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>purchase of, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a>;</li> +<li>packing, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a>;</li> +<li>landed in Ulster, <a href='#Page_219'>219</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Roberts, F.M. Earl, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>, <a href='#Page_188'>188</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>letter to Col. Hickman, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a>;</li> +<li>signs British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a>;</li> +<li>congratulations to Sir E. Carson, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a>;</li> +<li>on the result of coercing Ulster, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Robertson, Rt. Hon. J.M., Secretary to the Board of Trade,</li> +<li><ul><li>on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>;</li> +<li>at Newcastle, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Rochdale, Unionist Association at, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a></li> +<li>Roe, Owen, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a></li> +<li>Roman Catholics, Irish, disloyalty <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>character of the priest, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a>;</li> +<li>methods of enforcing obedience, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a>-<a href='#Page_12'>12</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Rosebery, Earl of, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at Glasgow, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>;</li> +<li>on the characteristics</li> +<li>of the Ulster race, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Rosslare, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a></li> +<li>Royal Irish Rifles, the <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>th, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a></li> +<li>Russia, collapse of, <a href='#Page_268'>268</a></li> +<li>Russian rifles, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>S.B., the Hebrew dealer in firearms, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>agreement with Major F.H. Crawford, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>-<a href='#Page_200'>200</a>;</li> +<li>honesty, <a href='#Page_204'>204</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>St. Aldwyn, Viscount, on the King's Prerogative, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a></li> +<li>Salisbury, Marq. of, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>message from, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>;</li> +<li>views on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Salvidge, Mr., Alderman of Liverpool, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Samuel, Mr. Herbert, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a></li> +<li>Sanderson, Colonel, Chairman of the Ulster Parliamentary Party, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a></li> +<li><i>Saturday Review, The</i>, extract from, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a></li> +<li>Sclater, Edward, Secretary of the Unionist Clubs, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a></li> +<li>Scotland, the Covenant, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a></li> +<li><i>Scotsman, The</i>, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a> <i>note</i></li> +<li>Seely, Col. Sec. of State for War, letter to Sir A. Paget, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>statement to Gen. Gough, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>;</li> +<li>adds paragraphs, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>;</li> +<li>on the Curragh Incident, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>;</li> +<li>resignation, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Seymour, Adm. Sir E., signs British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>Sharman-Crawford, Col., member of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>of the Commission of Five, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Shaw, Lord, <i>Letters to Isabel</i>, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a> <i>note</i></li> +<li>Shiel Park, meeting at, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a></li> +<li>Shipyards, observance of Ulster Day, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a></li> +<li>Shortt, Rt. Hon. E., Chief Secretary for Ireland, <a href='#Page_272'>272</a></li> +<li>Simon, Sir John, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a></li> +<li>Sinclair, Rt. Hon. Thomas, at the Ulster Convention, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>member of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>;</li> +<li>on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>;</li> +<li>member of a Commission, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>;</li> +<li>on the Covenant, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>;</li> +<li>signs it, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Sinn Fein party, refuse to join the Convention, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>in league with Germany, <a href='#Page_271'>271</a>, <a href='#Page_276'>276</a>;</li> +<li>arrests, <a href='#Page_271'>271</a>;</li> +<li>members of Parliament, <a href='#Page_276'>276</a>, <a href='#Page_276'>276</a>;</li> +<li>treason of, <a href='#Page_276'>276</a>;</li> +<li>congress in Dublin, <a href='#Page_276'>276</a>; outrages, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Sinn Feinism, spirit of, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a></li> +<li>Skipton, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a></li> +<li>Smiley, Kerr, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a></li> +<li>Smith, Rt. Hon. F.E. (Lord Birkenhead), on the policy of Ulster, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on the Covenant, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>;</li> +<li>at the Ulster Club, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>;</li> +<li>at Liverpool, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>;</li> +<li>at the inspection of the U.V.F., <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>;</li> +<li>"galloper" to Gen. Sir G. Richardson, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Smith, Mr. Harold, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a></li> +<li>Solemn League and Covenant, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li><i>see</i> Ulster</li></ul></li> + +<li>Somme, battle of the, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a></li> +<li><i>Spectator, The</i>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> +<li>Spender, Col. W. Bliss, U.V.F., <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>, <a href='#Page_203'>203</a>, <a href='#Page_207'>207</a>, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>awarded the O.B.E., <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li></ul></li> + +<li><i>Standard, The</i>, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a>, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> +<li><i>Star, The</i>, extract from, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a></li> +<li>Stronge, Sir James, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a></li> +<li>Stuart-Wortley, Mr., at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Submarine warfare, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a></li> +<li>Suffragists' campaign, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a></li> +<li>Swift, patriotism, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Tariff Reform policy, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>controversy, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Templetown, Lord, founds the Unionist Clubs, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a></li> +<li>Thiepval, battle at, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a></li> +<li><i>Times, The</i>, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>, <a href='#Page_64'>64</a>, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>,139, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a>, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a>, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>, <a href='#Page_187'>187</a>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>letters in, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Tirah Expedition, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a></li> +<li>Tone, Wolfe, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a></li> +<li>Tramp steamer, diverts suspicion, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a></li> +<li>Turkington, James A., letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>-<a href='#Page_299'>299</a></li> +<li>Tuskar Light, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a></li> +<li>Tyrone, contingent of Orangemen, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Ulster, use of the term, vii;</li> +<li><ul><li>opposition to Home Rule, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a>, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>;</li> +<li>loyalty, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>-<a href='#Page_4'>4</a>, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a>-<a href='#Page_143'>143</a>, <a href='#Page_251'>251</a>;</li> +<li>ancestry, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>;</li> +<li>political views, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>;</li> +<li>landlords and tenants, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>;</li> +<li>mottoes, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>;</li> +<li>reluctant acceptance of a separate constitution, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>;</li> +<li>organisations, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>-<a href='#Page_38'>38</a>;</li> +<li>policy, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>-<a href='#Page_100'>100</a>, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>-<a href='#Page_143'>143</a>;</li> +<li>military drilling, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>;</li> +<li>characteristics of the people, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>;</li> +<li>time limit for exclusion, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a>;</li> +<li>plot against, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>;</li> +<li>emigrants in America, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a>, <a href='#Page_297'>297</a>;</li> +<li>result of the Government of Ireland Act, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ulster, British League for the support of, formed, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a></li> +<li>Ulster Club, Belfast, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a></li> +<li>Ulster, Convention of 1892, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a></li> +<li>Ulster Covenant, draft, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>terms, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>-<a href='#Page_107'>107</a>;</li> +<li>series of demonstrations, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>-<a href='#Page_110'>110</a>;</li> +<li>meeting in the Ulster Hall, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>;</li> +<li>signing the, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>-<a href='#Page_124'>124</a>;</li> +<li>anniversary, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a>, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ulster Day, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a>, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>; religious observance, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a></li> +<li>Ulster Division, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a>st Brigade, training, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>recruiting, <a href='#Page_238'>238</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ulster Hall, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>meetings, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a>;</li> +<li>service, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ulster Loyalist Anti-Repeal Union, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a></li> +<li>Ulster Loyalist and Patriotic Union, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a></li> +<li>Ulster Movement, vii, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a></li> +<li>Ulster Parliament, appointment of Ministers, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a>-<a href='#Page_2'>2</a>;</li> +<li>opened, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a>-<a href='#Page_6'>6</a></li> +<li>Ulster Provisional Government, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>judiciary, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a>;</li> +<li>constitution, <a href='#Page_226'>226</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ulster Unionist Clubs, founded, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>-<a href='#Page_1'>1</a></li> +<li>Ulster Unionist Council, vii, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>meetings, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a>-<a href='#Page_67'>67</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>, <a href='#Page_226'>226</a>, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>, <a href='#Page_246'>246</a>-<a href='#Page_249'>249</a>, <a href='#Page_279'>279</a>;</li> +<li>members, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>, <a href='#Page_36'>36</a>;</li> +<li>co-operation with the Irish Unionist Alliance, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>;</li> +<li>resolution adopted, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>-<a href='#Page_71'>71</a>;</li> +<li>character, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>;</li> +<li>scheme for the Provisional Government, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>;</li> +<li>statement on the Curragh Incident, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ulster Unionist Members of Parliament, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>tour in Scotland and England, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ulster Unionists, letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>-<a href='#Page_299'>299</a></li> +<li>Ulster Volunteer Force, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a>, <a href='#Page_137'>137</a>, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Indemnity Guarantee Fund, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>;</li> +<li>growth, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>;</li> +<li>parades, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>-<a href='#Page_165'>165</a>, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>, <a href='#Page_226'>226</a>;</li> +<li>strength, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>;</li> +<li>arming the, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>-<a href='#Page_200'>200</a>, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>;</li> +<li>organisation, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>;</li> +<li>despatch-riders' corps, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>;</li> +<li>trial mobilisation, <a href='#Page_216'>216</a>;</li> +<li>presentation of colours, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>;</li> +<li>volunteer for service in the war, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a>;</li> +<li>organisation and training of the Division, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ulster Women's Unionist Association, work of the, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a></li> +<li>Ulster Women's Unionist Council, formed, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>meeting, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>"Ulster 1912," Rudyard Kipling's, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a></li> +<li>"Ulster's Reward," William Watson's, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a></li> +<li>Union Defence League, in London, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a></li> +<li>Unionist Associations of Ireland, joint committee, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a></li> +<li>Unionist Party, administration, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>defeated, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>;</li> +<li>number of votes, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>;</li> +<li>dissensions on Tariff Reform, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>;</li> +<li>members at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Unionists, Southern manifesto, <a href='#Page_265'>265</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Committee formed, <a href='#Page_265'>265</a>;</li> +<li>result of the Government Act, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a></li></ul></li></ul> + + + + +<ul><li>Valera, E. De, M.P. for East Clare, <a href='#Page_256'>256</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>arrested, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a>;</li> +<li>deported, <a href='#Page_295'>295</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Vatican decrees, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a></li> +<li>Vickers & Co., Messrs., <a href='#Page_194'>194</a></li> +<li>Victoria, Queen, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Wallace, Col. R.H., member of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>member of a Commission, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>;</li> +<li>Grand Master of the Belfast Lodges, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>;</li> +<li>popularity, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>;</li> +<li>career, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>;</li> +<li>applies for leave to drill, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>;</li> +<li>at the Ulster Unionist Council meeting, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>;</li> +<li>presentation of a banner to Sir E. Carson, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>;</li> +<li>Command in the U.V.F., <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>;</li> +<li>Privy Councillor, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Wallsend, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a></li> +<li>Walter, Mr. John, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> +<li>War, the Great, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a>, <a href='#Page_266'>266</a></li> +<li>War Office, treatment of Gen. Gough, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a></li> +<li>Ward, Lieut.-Col. John,</li> +<li><ul><li>on the Curragh Incident, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>;</li> +<li>"The Army and Ireland," <a href='#Page_183'>183</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_238'>238</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Warden, F.W., <a href='#Page_72'>72</a> <i>note</i></li> +<li>Washington, George, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_291'>291</a></li> +<li>Watson, Sir William, "Ulster's Reward," <a href='#Page_129'>129</a></li> +<li>Waziri Expedition, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a></li> +<li><i>Westminster Gazette</i>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>cartoon, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Whig Revolution of 1688, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a></li> +<li>White Paper, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a> <i>note</i>,180 <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a>, <a href='#Page_187'>187</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_188'>188</a></li> +<li>William III, King, banner, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a></li> +<li>Willoughby de Broke, Lord, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a></li> +<li>Wilson, President,</li> +<li><ul><li>letter from the Nationalists, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>-<a href='#Page_295'>295</a>;</li> +<li>from the Unionists, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>-<a href='#Page_299'>299</a>;</li> +<li>phrase of "self-determination," <a href='#Page_277'>277</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Wimborne, Lord, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, resignation, <a href='#Page_272'>272</a></li> +<li>Wolff, G., <a href='#Page_35'>35</a></li> +<li>Wolseley, Viscount, <a href='#Page_187'>187</a></li> +<li>Women's Unionist Council, Ulster,</li> +<li><ul><li>formed, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>;</li> +<li>meeting, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Workman and Clark, Messrs., <a href='#Page_214'>214</a></li> +<li>Workman, Frank, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a></li> +<li>Wynyard, Lord Londonderry's death at, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Yarmouth, <a href='#Page_207'>207</a></li> +<li>York, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a></li> +<li>York, Archbp. of, on the Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a></li> +<li><i>Yorkshire Post, The</i>, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a></li> +<li>Young, Rt. Hon. John,</li> +<li><ul><li>member of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li>at the meeting, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>;</li> +<li>takes part in the campaign, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>;</li> +<li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Young, W.R.,</li> +<li><ul><li>organises the Ulster Loyalist and Patriotic Union, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>;</li> +<li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>;</li> +<li>Privy Councillor, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li></ul></li></ul> + + + + +<ul><li>Zhob Valley Field Force, expedition, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a></li></ul> + +<br /> +<br /> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14326 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/14326-h/images/image01.png b/14326-h/images/image01.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ad734f5 --- /dev/null +++ b/14326-h/images/image01.png diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4ef86ed --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #14326 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14326) diff --git a/old/14326-8.txt b/old/14326-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a740403 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14326-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12209 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Ulster's Stand For Union, by Ronald McNeill + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Ulster's Stand For Union + +Author: Ronald McNeill + +Release Date: December 11, 2004 [eBook #14326] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ULSTER'S STAND FOR UNION*** + + +E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, Susan Skinner, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +ULSTER'S STAND FOR UNION + +by + +RONALD McNEILL + +With Frontispiece + +London +John Murray, +Albemarle Street, W. + +1922 + + + + + + + +DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF THE UNIONIST PARTY + + + + +PREFACE + + +The term "Ulster," except when the context proves the contrary, is used +in this book not in the geographical, but the political meaning of the +word, which is quite as well understood. + +The aim of the book is to present an account of what I have occasionally +in its pages referred to as "the Ulster Movement." The phrase is perhaps +somewhat paradoxical when applied to a political ideal which was the +maintenance of the _status quo_; but, on the other hand, the steps taken +during a period of years to organise an effective opposition to +interference with the established constitution in Ireland did involve a +movement, and it is with these measures, rather than with the policy +behind them, that the book is concerned. + +Indeed, except for a brief introductory outline of the historical +background of the Ulster standpoint, I have taken for granted, or only +referred incidentally to the reasons for the unconquerable hostility of +the Ulster Protestants to the idea of allowing the government of +Ireland, and especially of themselves, to pass into the control of a +Parliament in Dublin. Those reasons were many and substantial, based +upon considerations both of a practical and a sentimental nature; but I +have not attempted an exposition of them, having limited myself to a +narrative of the events to which they gave rise. + +Having been myself, during the most important part of the period +reviewed, a member of the Standing Committee of the Ulster Unionist +Council, and closely associated with the leaders of the movement, I have +had personal knowledge of practically everything I have had to record. I +have not, however, trusted to unaided memory for any statement of fact. +It is not, of course, a matter where anything that could be called +research was required; but, in addition to the _Parliamentary Reports_, +the _Annual Register_, and similar easily accessible books of reference, +there was a considerable mass of private papers bearing on the subject, +for the use of some of which I am indebted to friends. + +I was permitted to consult the Minute-books of the Ulster Unionist +Council and its Standing Committee, and also verbatim reports made for +the Council of unpublished speeches delivered at private meetings of +those bodies. A large collection of miscellaneous documents accumulated +by the late Lord Londonderry was kindly lent to me by the present +Marquis; and I also have to thank Lord Carson of Duncairn for the use of +letters and other papers in his possession. Colonel F.H. Crawford, +C.B.E., was good enough to place at my disposal a very detailed account +written by himself of the voyage of the _Fanny_, and the log kept by +Captain Agnew. My friend Mr. Thomas Moles, M.P., took full shorthand +notes of the proceedings of the Irish Convention and the principal +speeches made in it, and he kindly allowed me to use his transcript. And +I should not like to pass over without acknowledgment the help given me +on several occasions by Miss Omash, of the Union Defence League, in +tracing references. + +R. McN. + +February 1922. + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + + I. INTRODUCTION: THE ULSTER STANDPOINT + + II. THE ELECTORATE AND HOME RULE + + III. ORGANISATION AND LEADERSHIP + + IV. THE PARLIAMENT ACT: CRAIGAVON + + V. THE CRAIGAVON POLICY AND THE U.F.V. + + VI. MR. CHURCHILL IN BELFAST + + VII. "WHAT ANSWER FROM THE NORTH?" + + VIII. THE EXCLUSION OF ULSTER + + IX. THE EVE OF THE COVENANT + + X. THE SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT + + XI. PASSING THE BILL + + XII. WAS RESISTANCE JUSTIFIABLE? + + XIII. PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT AND PROPAGANDA + + XIV. LORD LOREBURN'S LETTER + + XV. PREPARATIONS AND PROPOSALS + + XVI. THE CURRAGH INCIDENT + + XVII. ARMING THE U.V.F. + +XVIII. A VOYAGE OF ADVENTURE + + XIX. ON THE BRINK OF CIVIL WAR + + XX. ULSTER IN THE WAR + + XXI. NEGOTIATIONS FOR SETTLEMENT + + XXII. THE IRISH CONVENTION + +XXIII. NATIONALISTS AND CONSCRIPTION + + XXIV. THE ULSTER PARLIAMENT + +APPENDIX + + +A. NATIONALIST LETTER TO PRESIDENT WILSON + +B. UNIONIST LETTER TO PRESIDENT WILSON + +INDEX + + + + +ULSTER'S STAND FOR UNION + + + + +CHAPTER I + +INTRODUCTION: THE ULSTER STANDPOINT + + +Like all other movements in human affairs, the opposition of the +Northern Protestants of Ireland to the agitation of their Nationalist +fellow-countrymen for Home Rule can only be properly understood by those +who take some pains to get at the true motives, and to appreciate the +spirit, of those who engaged in it. And as it is nowhere more true than +in Ireland that the events of to-day are the outcome of events that +occurred longer ago than yesterday, and that the motives of to-day have +consequently their roots buried somewhat deeply in the past, it is no +easy task for the outside observer to gain the insight requisite for +understanding fairly the conduct of the persons concerned. + +It was Mr. Asquith who very truly said that the Irish question, of which +one of the principal factors is the opposition of Ulster to Home Rule, +"springs from sources that are historic, economic, social, racial, and +religious." It would be a hopeless undertaking to attempt here to probe +to the bottom an origin so complex; but, whether the sympathies of the +reader be for or against the standpoint of the Irish Loyalists, the +actual events which make up what may be called the Ulster Movement would +be wholly unintelligible without some introductory retrospect. Indeed, +to those who set out to judge Irish political conditions without +troubling themselves about anything more ancient than their own memory +can recall, the most fundamental factor of all--the line of cleavage +between Ulster and the rest of the island--- is more than +unintelligible. In the eyes of many it presents itself as an example of +perversity, of "cussedness" on the part of men who insist on magnifying +mere differences of opinion, which would be easily composed by +reasonable people, into obstacles to co-operation which have no reality +behind them. + +Writers and speakers on the Nationalist side deride the idea of "two +nations" in Ireland, calling in evidence many obvious identities of +interest, of sentiment, or of temperament between the inhabitants of the +North and of the South. The Ulsterman no more denies these identities +than the Greek, the Bulgar, and the Serb would deny that there are +features common to all dwellers in the Balkan peninsula; but he is more +deeply conscious of the difference than of the likeness between himself +and the man from Munster or Connaught. His reply to those who denounced +the Irish Government Act of 1920 on the ground that it set up a +"partition of Ireland," is that the Act did not "set up," but only +recognised, the partition which history made long ago, and which wrecked +all attempts to solve the problem of Irish Government that neglected to +take it into account. If there be any force in Renan's saying that the +root of nationality is "the will to live together," the Nationalist cry +of "Ireland a Nation" harmonises ill with the actual conditions of +Ireland north and south of the Boyne. This dividing gulf between the two +populations in Ireland is the result of the same causes as the political +dissension that springs from it, as described by Mr. Asquith in words +quoted above. The tendencies of social and racial origin operate for the +most part subconsciously--though not perhaps less powerfully on that +account; those connected with economic considerations, with religious +creeds, and with events in political history enter directly and +consciously into the formation of convictions which in turn become the +motives for actions. + +In the mind of the average Ulster Unionist the particular point of +contrast between himself and the Nationalist of which he is more +forcibly conscious than of any other, and in which all other +distinguishing traits are merged, is that he is loyal to the British +Crown and the British Flag, whereas the other man is loyal to neither. +Religious intolerance, so far as the Protestants are concerned, of +which so much is heard, is in actual fact mainly traceable to the same +sentiment. It is unfortunately true that the lines of political and of +religious division coincide; but religious dissensions seldom flare up +except at times of political excitement; and, while it is undeniable +that the temper of the creeds more resembles what prevailed in England +in the seventeenth than in the twentieth century, yet when overt +hostility breaks out it is because the creed is taken--and usually taken +rightly--as _prima facie_ evidence of political opinion--political +opinion meaning "loyalty" or "disloyalty," as the case may be. The label +of "loyalist" is that which the Ulsterman cherishes above all others. It +means something definite to him; its special significance is reinforced +by the consciousness of its wearers that they are a minority; it +sustains the feeling that the division between parties is something +deeper and more fundamental than anything that in England is called +difference of opinion. This feeling accounts for much that sometimes +perplexes even the sympathetic English observer, and moves the hostile +partisan to scornful criticism. The ordinary Protestant farmer or +artisan of Ulster is by nature as far as possible removed from the being +who is derisively nicknamed the "noisy patriot" or the "flag-wagging +jingo." If the National Anthem has become a "party tune" in Ireland, it +is not because the loyalist sings it, but because the dis-loyalist shuns +it; and its avoidance at gatherings both political and social where +Nationalists predominate, naturally makes those who value loyalty the +more punctilious in its use. If there is a profuse display of the Union +Jack, it is because it is in Ulster not merely "bunting" for decorative +purposes as in England, but the symbol of a cherished faith. + +There may, perhaps, be some persons, unfamiliar with the Ulster cast of +mind, who find it hard to reconcile this profession of passionate +loyalty with the methods embarked upon in 1912 by the Ulster people. It +is a question upon which there will be something to be said when the +narrative reaches the events of that date. Here it need only be stated +that, in the eyes of Ulstermen at all events, constitutional orthodoxy +is quite a different thing from loyalty, and that true allegiance to +the Sovereign is by them sharply differentiated from passive obedience +to an Act of Parliament. + +The sincerity with which this loyalist creed is held by practically the +entire Protestant population of Ulster cannot be questioned by anyone +who knows the people, however much he may criticise it on other grounds. +And equally sincere is the conviction held by the same people that +disloyalty is, and always has been, the essential characteristic of +Nationalism. The conviction is founded on close personal contact +continued through many generations with the adherents of that political +party, and the tradition thus formed draws more support from authentic +history than many Englishmen are willing to believe. Consequently, when +the General Election of 1918 revealed that the whole of Nationalist +Ireland had gone over with foot, horse, and artillery, with bag and +baggage, from the camp of so-called Constitutional Home Rule, to the +Sinn Feiners who made no pretence that their aim was anything short of +complete independent sovereignty for Ireland, no surprise was felt in +Ulster. It was there realised that nothing had happened beyond the +throwing off of the mask which had been used as a matter of political +tactics to disguise what had always been the real underlying aim, if not +of the parliamentary leaders, at all events of the great mass of +Nationalist opinion throughout the three southern provinces. The whole +population had not with one consent changed their views in the course of +a night; they had merely rallied to support the first leaders whom they +had found prepared to proclaim the true objective. Curiously enough, +this truth was realised by an English politician who was in other +respects conspicuously deficient in insight regarding Ireland. The +Easter insurrection of 1916 in Dublin was only rendered possible by the +negligence or the incompetence of the Chief Secretary; but, in giving +evidence before the Commission appointed to inquire into it, Mr. Birrell +said: "The spirit of what to-day is called Sinn Feinism is mainly +composed of the old hatred and distrust of the British connection ... +always there as the background of Irish politics and character"; and, +after recalling that Cardinal Newman had observed the same state of +feeling in Dublin more than half a century before, Mr. Birrell added +quite truly that "this dislike, hatred, disloyalty (so unintelligible to +many Englishmen) is hard to define but easy to discern, though incapable +of exact measurement from year to year." This disloyal spirit, which +struck Newman, and which Mr. Birrell found easy to discern, was of +course always familiar to Ulstermen as characteristic of "the South and +West," and was their justification for the badge of "loyalist," their +assumption of which English Liberals, knowing nothing of Ireland, held +to be an unjust slur on the Irish majority. + +If this belief in the inherent disloyalty of Nationalist Ireland to the +British Empire did any injustice to individual Nationalist politicians, +they had nobody but themselves to blame for it. Their pronouncements in +America, as well as at home, were scrutinised in Ulster with a care that +Englishmen seldom took the trouble to give them. Nor must it be +forgotten that, up to the date when Mr. Gladstone made Home Rule a plank +in an English party's programme--which, whatever else it did, could not +alter the facts of the case--the same conviction, held in Ulster so +tenaciously, had prevailed almost universally in Great Britain also; and +had been proclaimed by no one so vehemently as by Mr. Gladstone himself, +whose famous declarations that the Nationalists of that day were +"steeped to the lips in treason," and were "marching through rapine to +the dismemberment of the Empire," were not so quickly forgotten in +Ulster as in England, nor so easily passed over as either meaningless or +untrue as soon as they became inconvenient for a political party to +remember. English supporters of Home Rule, when reminded of such +utterances, dismissed with a shrug the "unedifying pastime of unearthing +buried speeches"; and showed equal determination to see nothing in +speeches delivered by Nationalist leaders in America inconsistent with +the purely constitutional demand for "extended self-government." + +Ulster never would consent to bandage her own eyes in similar fashion, +or to plug her ears with wool. The "two voices" of Nationalist leaders, +from Mr. Parnell to Mr. Dillon, were equally audible to her; and, of the +two, she was certain that the true aim of Nationalist policy was +expressed by the one whose tone was disloyal to the British Empire. +Look-out was kept for any change in the direction of moderation, for any +real indication that those who professed to be "constitutional +Nationalists" were any less determined than "the physical force party" +to reach the goal described by Parnell in the famous sentence, "None of +us will be ... satisfied until we have destroyed the last link which +keeps Ireland bound to England." + +No such indication was ever discernible. On the contrary, Parnell's +phrase became a refrain to be heard in many later pronouncements of his +successors, and the policy he thus described was again and again +propounded in after-years on innumerable Nationalist platforms, in +speeches constantly quoted to prove, as was the contention of Ulster +from the first, that Home Rule as understood by English Liberals was no +more than an instalment of the real demand of Nationalists, who, if they +once obtained the "comparative freedom" of an Irish legislature--to +quote the words used by Mr. Devlin at a later date--would then, with +that leverage, "operate by whatever means they should think best to +achieve the great and desirable end" of complete independence of Great +Britain. + +This was an end that could not by any juggling be reconciled with the +Ulsterman's notion of "loyalty." Moreover, whatever knowledge he +possessed of his country's history--and he knows a good deal more, man +for man, than the Englishman--confirmed his deep distrust of those whom, +following the example of John Bright, he always bluntly described as +"the rebel party." He knew something of the rebellions in Ireland in the +seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, and was under no +illusion as to the design for which arms had been taken up in the past. +He knew that that design had not changed with the passing of +generations, although gentler methods of accomplishing it might +sometimes find favour. Indeed, one Nationalist leader himself took +pains, at a comparatively recent date, to remove any excuse there may +ever have been for doubt on this point. Mr. John Redmond was an orator +who selected his words with care, and his appeals to historical +analogies were not made haphazard. When he declared (in a speech in +1901) that, "in its essence, the national movement to-day is the same as +it was in the days of Hugh O'Neill, of Owen Roe, of Emmet, or of Wolfe +Tone," those names, which would have had but a shadowy significance for +a popular audience in England, carried very definite meaning to the ears +of Irishmen, whether Nationalist or Unionist. Mr. Gladstone, in the +fervour of his conversion to Home Rule, was fond of allusions to the +work of Molyneux and Swift, Flood and Grattan; but these were men whose +Irish patriotism never betrayed them into disloyalty to the British +Crown or hostility to the British connection. They were reformers, not +rebels. But it was not with the political ideals of such men that Mr. +Redmond claimed his own to be identical, nor even with that of +O'Connell, the apostle of repeal of the Union, but with the aims of men +who, animated solely by hatred of England, sought to establish the +complete independence of Ireland by force of arms, and in some cases by +calling in (like Roger Casement in our own day) the aid of England's +foreign enemies. + +In the face of appeals like this to the historic imagination of an +impressionable people, it is not surprising that by neither Mr. +Redmond's followers nor by his opponents was much account taken of his +own personal disapproval of extremes both of means and ends. His +opponents in Ulster simply accepted such utterances as confirmation of +what they had known all along from other sources to be the actual facts, +namely, that the Home Rule agitation was "in its essence" a separatist +movement; that its adherents were, as Mr. Redmond himself said on +another occasion, "as much rebels as their fathers were in 1798"; and +that the men of Ulster were, together with some scattered sympathisers +in the other Provinces, the depositaries of the "loyal" tradition. + +The latter could boast of a pedigree as long as that of the rebels. If +Mr. Redmond's followers were to trace their political ancestry, as he +told them, to the great Earl of Tyrone who essayed to overthrow England +with the help of the Spaniard and the Pope, the Ulster Protestants could +claim descent from the men of the Plantation, through generation after +generation of loyalists who had kept the British flag flying in Ireland +in times of stress and danger, when Mr. Redmond's historical heroes were +making England's difficulty Ireland's opportunity. + +There have been, and are, many individual Nationalists, no doubt, +especially among the more educated and thoughtful, to whom it would be +unjust to impute bad faith when they professed that their political +aspirations for Ireland were really limited to obtaining local control +of local affairs, and who resented being called "Separatists," since +their desire was not for separation from Great Britain but for the +"union of hearts," which they believed would grow out of extended +self-government. But the answer of Irish Unionists, especially in +Ulster, has always been that, whatever such "moderate," or +"constitutional" Nationalists might dream, it would be found in +practice, if the experiment were made, that no halting-place could be +found between legislative union and complete separation. Moreover, the +same view was held by men as far as possible removed from the standpoint +of the Ulster Protestant. Cardinal Manning, for example, although an +intimate personal friend of Gladstone, in a letter to Leo XIII, wrote: +"As for myself, Holy Father, allow me to say that I consider a +Parliament in Dublin and a separation to be equivalent to the same +thing. Ireland is not a Colony like Canada, but it is an integral and +vital part of one country."[1] + +It is improbable that identical lines of reasoning led the Roman +Catholic Cardinal and the Belfast Orangeman and Presbyterian to this +identical conclusion; but a position reached by convergent paths from +such distant points of departure is defensible presumably on grounds +more solid than prejudice or passion. It is unnecessary here to examine +those grounds at length, for the present purpose is not to argue the +Ulster case, but to let the reader know what was, as a matter of fact, +the Ulster point of view, whether that point of view was well or ill +founded. + +But, while the opinion that a Dublin Parliament meant separation was +shared by many who had little else in common with the Ulster +Protestants, the latter stood alone in the intensity of their conviction +that "Home Rule meant Rome Rule." It has already been mentioned that it +is the "disloyalty" attributed rightly or wrongly to the Roman Catholics +as a body that has been, in recent times at all events, the mainspring +of Protestant distrust. But sectarian feeling, everywhere common between +rival creeds, is, of course, by no means absent. Englishmen find it hard +to understand what seems to them the bigoted and senseless animosity of +the rival faiths in Ireland. This is due to the astonishing shortness of +their memory in regard to their own history, and their very limited +outlook on the world outside their own island. If, without looking +further back in their history, they reflected that the "No Popery" +feeling in England in mid-Victorian days was scarcely less intense than +it is in Ulster to-day; or if they realised the extent to which +Gambetta's "Le cléricalisme, voilŕ l'ennemi" continues still to +influence public life in France, they might be less ready to censure the +Irish Protestant's dislike of priestly interference in affairs outside +the domain of faith and morals. It is indeed remarkable that +Nonconformists, especially in Wales, who within living memory have +displayed their own horror of the much milder form of sacerdotalism to +be found in the Anglican Church, have no sympathy apparently with the +Presbyterian and the Methodist in Ulster when the latter kick against +the encompassing pressure of the Roman Catholic priesthood, not in +educational matters alone, but in all the petty activities of every-day +life. + +Whenever this aspect of the Home Rule controversy was emphasised +Englishmen asked what sort of persecution Irish Protestants had to fear +from a Parliament in Dublin, and appeared to think all such fear +illusory unless evidence could be adduced that the Holy Office was to be +set up at Maynooth, equipped with faggot and thumb-screw. Of persecution +of that sort there never has been, of course, any apprehension in +modern times. Individual Catholics and Protestants live side by side in +Ireland with fully as much amity as elsewhere, but whereas the Catholic +instinctively, and by upbringing, looks to the parish priest as his +director in all affairs of life, the Protestant dislikes and resists +clerical influence as strongly as does the Nonconformist in England and +Wales--and with much better reason. For the latter has never known +clericalism as it exists in a Roman Catholic country where the Church is +wholly unrestrained by the civil power. He has resented what he regards +as Anglican arrogance in regard to educational management or the use of +burying-grounds, but he has never experienced a much more aggressive +clerical temper exercised in all the incidents of daily life--in the +market, the political meeting, the disposition of property, the +amusements of the people, the polling booth, the farm, and the home. + +This involves no condemnation of the Irish priest as an individual or as +a minister of his Church. He is kind-hearted, charitable, and +conscientious; and, except that it does not encourage self-reliance and +enterprise, his influence with his own people is no more open to +criticism than that of any other body of religious ministers. But the +Roman Catholic Church has always made a larger claim than any other on +the obedience of its adherents, and it has always enforced that +obedience whenever it has had the power by methods which, in Protestant +opinion, are extremely objectionable. In theory the claim may be limited +to affairs concerned with faith and morals; but the definition of such +affairs is a very elastic one. Cardinal Logue not many years ago said: +"When political action trenches upon faith or morals or affects +religion, the Vicar of Christ, as the supreme teacher and guardian of +faith and morals, and as the custodian of the immunities of religion, +has, by Divine Right, authority to interfere and to enforce his +decisions." How far this principle is in practice carried beyond the +limits so denned was proved in the famous Meath election petition in +1892, in which the Judge who tried it, himself a devout Catholic, +declared: "The Church became converted for the time being into a vast +political agency, a great moral machine moving with resistless +influence, united action, and a single will. Every priest who was +examined was a canvasser; the canvas was everywhere--on the altar, in +the vestry, on the roads, in the houses." And while an election was in +progress in County Tyrone in 1911 a parish priest announced that any +Catholic who should vote for the Unionist candidate "would be held +responsible at the Day of Judgment." A still more notorious example of +clericalism in secular affairs, within the recollection of Englishmen, +was the veto on the Military Service Act proclaimed from the altars of +the Catholic Churches, which, during the Great War, defeated the +application to Ireland of the compulsory service which England, +Scotland, and Wales accepted as the only alternative to national defeat +and humiliation. + +But these were only conspicuous examples of what the Irish Protestant +sees around him every day of his life. The promulgation in 1908 of the +Vatican decree, _Nec Temere_, a papal reassertion of the canonical +invalidity of mixed marriages, followed as it was by notorious cases of +the victimisation of Protestant women by the application of its +principles, did not encourage the Protestants to welcome the prospect of +a Catholic Parliament that would have control of the marriage law; nor +did they any more readily welcome the prospect of national education on +purely ecclesiastical lines. Another Vatican decree that was equally +alarming to Protestants was that entitled _Motu Proprio_, by which any +Catholic layman was _ipso facto_ excommunicated who should have the +temerity to bring a priest into a civil court either as defendant or +witness. Medievalism like this was felt by Ulster Protestants to be +irreconcilable with modern ideas of democratic freedom, and to indicate +a temper that boded ill for any regime which would be subject to its +inspiration. These were matters, it is true,--and there were perhaps +some others of a similar nature--on which it is possible to conceive +more or less satisfactory legislative safeguards being provided; but as +regards the indefinable but innumerable minutiae in which the prevailing +ecclesiastical standpoint creates an atmosphere in which daily life has +to be carried on, no safeguards could be devised, and it was the +realisation of this truth in the light of their own experience that made +the Ulstermen continually close their ears to allurements of that sort. + +The Roman Church is quite consistent, and from its own point of view +praiseworthy, in its assertion of its right, and its duty, to control +the lives and thoughts of men; but this assertion has produced a clash +with the non-ecclesiastical mind in almost every country, where +Catholicism is the dominant religious faith. But in Ireland, unlike +Continental countries, there is no Catholic lay opinion--or almost +none--able to make its voice heard against clerical dictation, and +consequently the Protestants felt convinced, with good reason, that any +legislature in Ireland must take its tone from this pervading mental and +moral atmosphere, and that all its proceedings would necessarily be +tainted by it. + +Prior to 1885 the political complexion of Ulster was in the main +Liberal. The Presbyterians, who formed the majority of the Protestant +population, collateral descendants of the men who emigrated in the +eighteenth century and formed the backbone of Washington's army, and +direct descendants of those who joined the United Irishmen in 1798, were +of a pronounced Liberal type, and their frequently strong disapproval of +Orangeism made any united political action an improbable occurrence. But +the crisis brought about by Gladstone's declaration in favour of Home +Rule instantly swept all sections of Loyalists into a single camp. There +was practically not a Liberal left who did not become Unionist, and, +although a separate organisation of Liberal Unionists was maintained, +the co-operation with Conservatives was so whole-hearted and complete as +almost to amount to fusion from the outset. + +The immediate cessation of class friction was still more remarkable. For +more than a decade the perennial quarrel between landlord and tenant had +been increasing in intensity, and the recent land legislation had +disposed the latter to look upon Gladstone as a deliverer. Their +gratitude was wiped out the moment he hoisted the green flag, while the +labourers enfranchised by the Act of 1884 eagerly enrolled themselves +as the bitterest enemies of his new Irish policy. The unanimity of the +country-side was matched in the towns, and especially in Belfast, where, +with the single exception of a definitely Catholic quarter, employer and +artisan were as whole-heartedly united as were landlord and tenant in +passionate resentment at what they regarded as the betrayal by England's +foremost statesman of England's only friends in Ireland. + +The defeat of the Home Rule Bill of 1886 brought relief from the +immediate strain of anxiety. But it was at once realised that the +encouragement and support given to Irish disloyalty for the first time +by one of the great political parties in Great Britain was a step that +could never be recalled. Henceforth the vigilance required to prevent +being taken unawares, and the untiring organisation necessary for making +effective defence against an attack which, although it had signally +failed at the first onslaught, was certain to be renewed, welded all the +previously diverse social and political elements in Ulster into a single +compact mass, tempered to the maximum power of resistance. There was +room for no other thought in the minds of men who felt as if living in a +beleaguered citadel, whose flag they were bound in honour to keep flying +to the last. The "loyalist" tradition acquired fresh meaning and +strength, and its historical setting took a more conscious hold on the +public mind of Ulster, as men studied afresh the story of the Relief of +Derry or the horrors of 1641. Visits of encouragement from the leaders +of Unionism across the Channel, men like Lord Salisbury, Mr. Balfour, +Mr. Chamberlain, Lord Randolph Churchill, fortified the resolution of a +populace that came more and more to regard themselves as a bulwark of +the Empire, on whom destiny, while conferring on them the honour of +upholding the flag, had imposed the duty of putting into actual practice +the familiar motto of the Orange Lodges--"No surrender." + +From a psychology so bred and nourished sprang a political temper which, +as it hardened with the passing years, appeared to English Home Rulers +to be "stiff-necked," "bigoted," and "intractable." It certainly was a +state of mind very different from those shifting gusts of transient +impression which in England go by the name of public opinion; and, if +these epithets in the mouths of opponents be taken as no more than +synonyms for "uncompromising," they were not undeserved. At a memorable +meeting at the Albert Hall in London on the 22nd of April, 1893, Dr. +Alexander, Bishop of Derry, poet, orator, and divine, declared in an +eloquent passage that was felt to be the exact expression of Ulster +conviction, that the people of Ulster, when exhorted to show confidence +in their southern fellow-countrymen, "could no more be confiding about +its liberty than a pure woman can be confiding about her honour." + +Here was the irreconcilable division. The Nationalist talked of +centuries of "oppression," and demanded the dissolution of the Union in +the name of liberty. The Ulsterman, while far from denying the +misgovernment of former times, knew that it was the fruit of false ideas +which had passed away, and that the Ireland in which he lived enjoyed as +much liberty as any land on earth; and he feared the loss of the true +liberty he had gained if put back under a regime of Nationalist and +Utramontane domination. And so for more than thirty years the people of +Ulster for whom Bishop Alexander spoke made good his words. If in the +end compromise was forced upon them it was not because their standpoint +had changed, and it was only in circumstances which involved no +dishonour, and which preserved them from what they chiefly dreaded, +subjection to a Dublin Parliament inspired by clericalism and disloyalty +to the Empire. + +The development which brought about the change from Ulster's resolute +stand for unimpaired union with Great Britain to her reluctant +acceptance of a separate local constitution for the predominantly +Protestant portion of the Province, presents a deeply interesting +illustration of the truth of a pregnant dictum of Maine's on the working +of democratic institutions. + +"Democracies," he says, "are quite paralysed by the plea of nationality. +There is no more effective way of attacking them than by admitting the +right of the majority to govern, but denying that the majority so +entitled is the particular majority which claims the right."[2] + +This is precisely what occurred in regard to Ulster's relation to Great +Britain and to the rest of Ireland respectively. The will of the +majority must prevail, certainly. But what majority? Unionists +maintained that only the majority in the United Kingdom could decide, +and that it had never in fact decided in favour of repealing the Act of +Union; Lord Rosebery at one time held that a majority in Great Britain +alone, as the "Predominant Partner," must first give its consent; Irish +Nationalists argued that the majority in Ireland, as a distinct unit, +was the only one that should count. Ulster, whilst agreeing with the +general Unionist position, contended ultimately that her own majority +was as well entitled to be heard in regard to her own fate as the +majority in Ireland as a whole. To the Nationalist claim that Ireland +was a nation she replied that it was either two nations or none, and +that if one of the two had a right to "self-determination," the other +had it equally. Thus the axiom of democracy that government is by the +majority was, as Maine said, "paralysed by the plea of nationality," +since the contending parties appealed to the same principle without +having any common ground as to how it should be applied to the case in +dispute. + +If the Union with Great Britain was to be abrogated, which Pitt had only +established when "a full measure of Home Rule" had produced a bloody +insurrection and Irish collusion with England's external enemies, Ulster +could at all events in the last resort take her stand on Abraham +Lincoln's famous proposition which created West Virginia: "A minority of +a large community who make certain claims for self-government cannot, in +logic or in substance, refuse the same claims to a much larger +proportionate minority among themselves." + +The Loyalists of Ulster were successful in holding this second line, +when the first was no longer tenable; but they only retired from the +first line--the maintenance of the legislative union--after a long and +obstinate defence which it is the purpose of the following pages to +relate. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _Henry Edward Manning_, by Shane Leslie, p. 406. + +[2] Sir S.H. Maine, _Popular Government_, p. 28. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE ELECTORATE AND HOME RULE + + +We profess to be a democratic country in which the "will of the people" +is the ultimate authority in determining questions of policy, and the +Liberal Party has been accustomed to regard itself as the most zealous +guardian of democratic principles. Yet there is this curious paradox in +relation to the problem which more than any other taxed British +statesmanship during the thirty-five years immediately following the +enfranchisement of the rural democracy in 1884, that the solution +propounded by the Liberal Party, and inscribed by that party on the +Statute-book in 1914, was more than once emphatically rejected, and has +never been explicitly accepted by the electorate. + +No policy ever submitted to the country was more decisively condemned at +the polls than Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule proposals in the General +Election of 1886. The issue then for the first time submitted to the +people was isolated from all others with a completeness scarcely ever +practicable--a circumstance which rendered the "mandate" to Parliament +to maintain the legislative union exceptionally free from ambiguity. The +party which had brought forward the defeated proposal, although led by a +statesman of unrivalled popularity, authority, and power, was shattered +in the attempt to carry it, and lost the support of numbers of its most +conspicuous adherents, including Chamberlain, Hartington, Goschen, and +John Bright, besides a multitude of its rank and file, who entered into +political partnership with their former opponents in order to withstand +the new departure of their old Chief. + +The years that followed were a period of preparation by both sides for +the next battle. The improvement in the state of Ireland, largely the +result of legislation carried by Lord Salisbury's Government, especially +that which promoted land purchase, encouraged the confidence felt by +Unionists that the British voter would remain staunch to the Union. The +downfall of Parnell in 1890, followed by the break-up of his party, and +by his death in the following year, seemed to make the danger of Home +Rule still more remote. The only disquieting factor was the personality +of Mr. Gladstone, which, the older he grew, exercised a more and more +incalculable influence on the public mind. And there can be no doubt +that it was this personal influence that made him, in spite of his +policy, and not because of it, Prime Minister for the fourth time in +1892. In Great Britain the electors in that year pronounced against Home +Rule again by a considerable majority, and it was only by coalition with +the eighty-three Irish Nationalist Members that Gladstone and his party +were able to scrape up a majority of forty in support of his second Home +Rule Bill. Whether there was any ground for Gladstone's belief that but +for the O'Shea divorce he would have had a three-figure majority in 1892 +is of little consequence, but the fall of his own majority in Midlothian +from 4,000 to below 700, which caused him "intense chagrin,"[3] does not +lend it support. Lord Morley says Gladstone was blamed by some of his +friends for accepting office "depending on a majority not large enough +to coerce the House of Lords"[4]; but a more valid ground of censure was +that he was willing to break up the constitution of the United Kingdom, +although a majority of British electors had just refused to sanction +such a thing being done. That Gladstone's colleagues realised full well +the true state of public opinion on the subject, if he himself did not, +was shown by their conduct when the Home Rule Bill, after being carried +through the House of Commons by diminutive majorities, was rejected on +second reading by the Peers. Even their great leader's entreaty could +not persuade them to consent to an appeal to the people[5]; and when +they were tripped up over the cordite vote in 1895, after Gladstone had +disappeared from public life, none of them probably were surprised at +the overwhelming vote by which the constituencies endorsed the action of +the House of Lords, and pronounced for the second time in ten years +against granting Home Rule to Ireland. + +If anything except the personal ascendancy of Gladstone contributed to +his small coalition majority in 1892 it was no doubt the confidence of +the electors that the House of Lords could be relied upon to prevent the +passage of a Home Rule Bill. It is worth noting that nearly twenty years +later Lord Crewe acknowledged that the Home Rule Bill of 1893 could not +have stood the test of a General Election or of a Referendum.[6] + +During the ten years of Unionist Government from 1895 to 1905 the +question of Home Rule slipped into the background. Other issues, such as +those raised by the South African War and Mr. Chamberlain's tariff +policy, engrossed the public mind. English Home Rulers showed a +disposition to hide away, if not to repudiate altogether, the legacy +they had inherited from Gladstone. Lord Rosebery acknowledged the +necessity to convert "the predominant partner," a mission which every +passing year made appear a more hopeless undertaking. At by-elections +Home Rule was scarcely mentioned. In the eyes of average Englishmen the +question was dead and buried, and most people were heartily thankful to +hear no more about it. Mr. T.M. Healy's caustic wit remarked that "Home +Rule was put into cold storage."[7] + +Then came the great overthrow of the Unionists in 1906. Home Rule, +except by its absence from Liberal election addresses, contributed +nothing at all to that resounding Liberal victory. The battle of +"terminological inexactitudes" rang with cries of Chinese "slavery," +Tariff Reform, Church Schools, Labour Dispute Bills, and so forth; but +on Ireland silence reigned on the platforms of the victors. The event +was to give the successors of Mr. Gladstone a House of Commons in +complete subjection to them. For the first time since 1885 they had a +majority independent of the Nationalists, a majority, if ever there was +one, "large enough to coerce the House of Lords," as they would have +done in 1893, according to Lord Morley, if they had had the power. But +to do that would involve the danger of having again to appeal to the +country, which even at this high tide of Liberal triumph they could not +face with Home Rule as an election cry. So, with the tame acquiescence +of Mr. Redmond and his followers, they spent four years of unparalleled +power without laying a finger on Irish Government, a course which was +rendered easy for them by the fact that, on their own admission, they +had found Ireland in a more peaceful, prosperous, and contented +condition than it had enjoyed for several generations. Occasionally, +indeed, as was necessary to prevent a rupture with the Nationalists, +some perfunctory mention of Home Rule as a _desideratum_ of the future +was made on Ministerial platforms--by Mr. Churchill, for example, at +Manchester in May 1909. But by that date even the contest over Tariff +Reform--which had raged without intermission for six years, and by +rending the Unionist Party had grievously damaged it as an effective +instrument of opposition--had become merged in the more immediately +exciting battle of the Budget, provoked by Mr. Lloyd George's financial +proposals for the current year, and by the possibility that they might +be rejected by the House of Lords. This the House of Lords did, on the +30th of November, 1909, and the Prime Minister at once announced that he +would appeal to the country without delay. + +Such a turn of events was a wonderful windfall for the Irish +Nationalists, beyond what the most sanguine of them can ever have hoped +for. The rejection of a money Bill by the House of Lords raised a +democratic blizzard, the full force of which was directed against the +constitutional power of veto possessed by the hereditary Chamber in +relation not merely to money Bills, but to general legislation. For a +long time the Liberal Party had been threatening that part of the +Constitution without much effect. Sixteen years had passed since Mr. +Gladstone in his last speech in the House of Commons declared that +issue must be joined with the Peers; but the emphatic endorsement by the +constituencies in 1895 of the Lords' action which he had denounced, +followed by ten years of Unionist Government, damped down the ardour of +attack so effectually that, during the four years in which the Liberals +enjoyed unchallengeable power, from 1906 to 1910, they did nothing to +carry out Gladstone's parting injunction. Had they done so at any time +when Home Rule was a living issue in the country an attack on the Lords +would in all probability have proved disastrous to themselves. For there +was not a particle of evidence that the electors of Great Britain had +changed their minds on this subject, and there were great numbers of +voters in the country--those voters, unattached to party, who constitute +"the swing of the pendulum," and decide the issue at General +Elections--who felt free to vote Liberal in 1906 because they believed +Home Rule was practically dead, and if revived would be again given its +_quietus_, as in 1893, by the House of Lords. But the defeat of the +Budget in November 1909 immediately opened a line of attack wholly +unconnected with Ireland, and over the most favourable ground that could +have been selected for the assault. + +Nothing could have been more skilful than the tactics employed by the +Liberal leaders. Concentrating on the constitutional question raised by +the alleged encroachment of the Lords on the exclusive privilege of the +Commons to grant supply, they tried to excite a hurricane of popular +fury by calling on the electorate to decide between "Peers and People." +The rejected Finance Bill was dubbed "The People's Budget." A "Budget +League" was formed to expatiate through the constituencies on the +democratic character of its provisions, and on the personal and class +selfishness of the Peers in throwing it out. As little as possible was +said about Ireland, and probably not one voter in ten thousand who went +to the poll in January 1910 ever gave a thought to the subject, or +dreamed that he was taking part in reversing the popular verdict of 1886 +and 1895. Afterwards, when it was complained that an election so +conducted had provided no "mandate" for Home Rule, it was found that in +the course of a long speech delivered by Mr. Asquith at the Albert Hall +on the 10th of December there was a sentence in which the Prime Minister +had declared that "the Irish problem could only be solved by a policy +which, while explicitly safeguarding the supreme authority of the +Imperial Parliament, would set up self-government in Ireland in regard +to Irish affairs." The rest of the speech dealt with Tariff Reform and +with the constitutional question of the House of Lords, on which the +public mind was focused throughout the election. + +In the unprecedented deluge of oratory that flooded the country in the +month preceding the elections the Prime Minister's sentence on Ireland +at the Albert Hall passed almost unnoticed in English and Scottish +constituencies, or was quickly lost sight of, like a coin in a +cornstack, under sheaves of rhetoric about the dear loaf and the +intolerable arrogance of hereditary legislators. Here and there a +Unionist candidate did his best to warn a constituency that every +Liberal vote was a vote for Home Rule. He was invariably met with an +impatient retort that he was attempting to raise a bogey to divert +attention from the iniquity of the Lords and the Tariff Reformers. Home +Rule, he was told, was dead and buried. + +On the 19th of January, 1910, when the elections were over in the +boroughs, Mr. Asquith claimed that "the great industrial centres had +mainly declared for Free Trade," and the impartial chronicler of the +_Annual Register_ stated that "the Liberals had fought on Free Trade and +the constitutional issue." The twice-repeated decision of the country +against Home Rule for Ireland was therefore in no sense reversed by the +General Election of January 1910. + +But from the very beginning of the agitation over the Budget and the +action of the House of Lords in relation to it, in the summer of 1909, +the gravity of the situation so created was fully appreciated by both +political parties in Ireland itself. Only the most languid interest was +there taken in the questions which stirred the constituencies across +the Channel. Neither Nationalist nor Unionist cared anything whatever +for Free Trade; neither of them shed a tear over the rejected Budget. +Indeed, Mr. Lloyd George's new taxes were so unpopular in Ireland that +Mr. Redmond was violently attacked by Mr. William O'Brien and Mr. Healy +for his neglect of obvious Irish interests in supporting the Government. +Mr. Redmond, for his part, made no pretence that his support was given +because he approved of the proposals for which he and his followers gave +their votes in every division. The clauses of the Finance Bill were +trifles in his eyes that did not matter. His gaze was steadily fixed on +the House of Peers, which he saw before him as a huntsman views a fox +with bedraggled brush, reduced to a trot a field or two ahead of the +hounds. That House was, as he described it, "the last obstacle to Home +Rule," and he was determined to do all he could to remove the obstacle. +Lord Rosebery said at Glasgow in September 1909 that he believed +Ministers wanted the House of Lords to reject the Budget. Whether they +did or not, there can be no doubt that Mr. Redmond did, for he knew +that, in that event, the whole strength of the Liberal Party would be +directed to the task of beating down the "last obstacle," and that then +it would be possible to carry Home Rule without the British +constituencies being consulted. It was with this end in view that he +took his party into the lobby in support of a Budget that was detested +in Ireland, and threw the whole weight of his influence in British +constituencies on to the Liberal side in the elections of January 1910. + +But, notwithstanding the torrent of class prejudice and democratic +passion that was stirred up by six weeks of Liberal oratory, the result +of the elections was a serious loss of strength to the Government. The +commanding Liberal majority of 1906 over all parties in the House of +Commons disappeared, and Mr. Asquith and his Cabinet were once more +dependent on a coalition of Labour Members and Nationalists. The +Liberals by themselves had a majority of two only over the Unionists, +who had won over one hundred seats, so that the Nationalists were +easily in a position to enforce their leader's threat to make Mr. +Asquith "toe the line." + +When the Parliament elected in January 1910 assembled disputes arose +between the Government and the Nationalists as to whether priority was +to be given to passing the Budget rejected in the previous session, or +to the Parliament Bill which was to deprive the House of Lords of its +constitutional power to reject legislation passed by the Commons; and +Mr. Redmond expressed his displeasure that "guarantees" had not yet been +obtained from the King, or, in plain language, that a promise had not +been extorted from the Sovereign that he would be prepared to create a +sufficient number of Peers to secure the acceptance of the Parliament +Bill by the Upper House. + +The whole situation was suddenly changed by the death of King Edward in +May 1910. Consideration for the new and inexperienced Sovereign led to +the temporary abandonment of coercion of the Crown, and resort was had +to a Conference of party leaders, with a view to settlement of the +dispute by agreement. But no agreement was arrived at, and the +Conference broke up on the 10th of November. Parliament was again +dissolved in December, "on the assumption," as Lord Crewe stated, "that +the House of Lords would reject the Parliament Bill." + +During the agitation of this troubled autumn preceding the General +Election, the question of Home Rule was not quite so successfully +concealed from view as in the previous year. The Liberals, indeed, +maintained the same tactical reserve on the subject, alike in their +writings and their speeches. The Liberal Press of the period may be +searched in vain for any clear indication that the electors were about +to be asked to decide once more this momentous constitutional question. +Such mention of it as was occasionally to be found in ministerial +speeches seemed designed to convey the idea that, while the door leading +to Home Rule was still formally open, there was no immediate prospect of +its being brought into use. The Prime Minister in particular did +everything in his power to direct the attention of the country to the +same issues as in the preceding January, among which Ireland had had no +place. In presenting the Government's case at Hull on the 25th of +November, he reminded the country that in the January elections the veto +of the Peers was "the dominant issue"; in the intervening months the +Government, he said, had brought forward proposals for dealing with the +veto, and had given the Lords an opportunity to make proposals of their +own; a defeat of the Liberals in the coming elections would bring in +"Protection disguised as Tariff Reform"; but he (Mr. Asquith) preferred +to concentrate his criticism on Lord Lansdowne's "crude and complex +scheme" for Second Chamber reform; he made a passing mention of +"self-government for Ireland" as a policy that would have the sympathy +of the Dominions, but added that "the immediate task was to secure fair +play for Liberal legislation and popular government." And in his +election address Mr. Asquith declared that "the appeal to the country +was almost narrowed to a single issue, and on its determination hung the +whole future of democratic Government." + +This zeal for "popular," or "democratic" government was, however, not +inconsistent apparently with a determination to avoid at all hazards +consulting the will of the people, before doing what the people had +hitherto always refused to sanction. The suggestion had been made +earlier in the autumn that a Referendum, or "Poll of the People" might +be taken on the question of Home Rule. The very idea filled the Liberals +with dismay. Speaking at Edinburgh on the 2nd of December, Mr. Lloyd +George, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, made the curiously naive +admission, for a "democratic" politician, that the Referendum would +amount to "a prohibitive tariff against Liberalism." A few days earlier +at Reading (November 29th) his Chief sought to turn the edge of this +disconcerting proposal by asking whether the Unionists, if returned to +power, would allow Tariff Reform to be settled by the same mode of +appeal to the country; and when Mr. Balfour promptly accepted the +challenge by promising that he would do so Mr. Asquith retreated under +cover of the excuse that no bargain had been intended. + +While the Liberal leaders were thus doing all they could to hold down +the lid of the Home Rule Jack-in-the-box, the Unionists were warning the +country that as soon as Mr. Asquith secured a majority his thumb would +release the spring. Speakers from Ulster carried the warning into many +constituencies, but it was noticed that they were constantly met with +the same retort as in January--that Home Rule was a "bogey," or a "red +herring" dragged across the trail of Tariff Reform and the Peers' veto; +and it is a significant indication of the straits to which the +Government afterwards felt themselves driven to find justification for +dealing with so fundamental a question as the repeal of the Union +without the explicit approval of the electorate, that they devised the +strange doctrine that speeches by their opponents provided them with a +mandate for a policy about which they had themselves kept silence, even +although those speeches had been disbelieved and derided on the very +ground that it would be impossible for Ministers to bring forward a +policy they had not laid before the country during the election. + +The extent to which this ministerial reserve was carried was shown by a +question put to Mr. Asquith in his own constituency in East Fife on the +6th of December. Scottish "hecklers" are intelligent and well informed +on current politics, and no one who knows them can imagine one of them +asking the Prime Minister whether he intended to introduce a Home Rule +Bill if Home Rule had been proclaimed as one of the chief items in the +policy of the Government. Mr. Asquith gave an affirmative reply; but the +elections were by this time half over, and in the following week Mr. +Balfour laid stress on the fact that five hundred contests had been +decided before any Minister had mentioned Home Rule. Even after giving +this memorable answer in East Fife Mr. Asquith, speaking at Bury St. +Edmunds on the 12th of December, declared that "the sole issue at that +moment was the supremacy of the people," and he added, in deprecation of +all the talk about Ireland, that "it was sought to confuse this issue by +catechising Ministers on the details of the next Home Rule Bill." + +Even if this had been, as it was not, a true description of the +attempts that had been made to extract a frank declaration from the +Government as to their intentions in regard to this vitally important +matter--far more important to hundreds of thousands of people than any +question of Tariff, or of limiting the functions of the Second Chamber +--it was surely a curious doctrine to be propounded by a statesman +zealous to preserve "popular government "! There had been two Home Rule +Bills in the past, differing one from the other in not a few important +respects; discussion had shown that many even of those who supported the +principle of Home Rule objected strongly to this or that proposal for +embodying it in legislation Language had been used by Mr. Asquith +himself, as well as by some of his principal colleagues, which implied +that any future Home Rule Bill would be part of a general scheme of +"devolution," or federation, or "Home Rule All Round"--a solution of the +question favoured by many who hotly opposed separate treatment for +Ireland Yet here was the responsible Minister, in the middle of a +General Election, complaining that the issue was being "confused" by +presumptuous persons who wanted to know what sort of Home Rule, if any, +he had in contemplation in the event of obtaining a majority sufficient +to keep him in power. + +Under such circumstances it would have been a straining of +constitutional principles, and a flagrant violation of the canons of +that "democratic government" of which Mr Asquith had constituted himself +the champion, to pass a Home Rule Bill by means of a majority so +obtained, even if the majority had been one that pointed to a sweeping +turnover of public opinion to the side of the Government The elections +of December 1910, in point of fact, gave no such indication. The +Government gained nothing whatever by the appeal to the country. +Liberals and Unionists came back in almost precisely the same strength +as in the previous Parliament. They balanced each other within a couple +of votes in the new House of Commons, and the Ministry could not have +remained twenty-four hours in office except in coalition with Labour and +the Irish Nationalists. + +The Parliament so elected and so constituted was destined not merely to +destroy the effective power of the House of Lords, and to place on the +Statute-book a measure setting up an Irish Parliament in Dublin, but to +be an assembly longer in duration and more memorable in achievement than +any in English history since the Long Parliament. During the eight years +of its reign the Great War was fought and won; the "rebel party" in +Ireland once more, as in the Napoleonic Wars, broke into armed +insurrection in league with the enemies of England; and before it was +dissolved the political parties in Great Britain, heartily supported by +the Loyalists of Ulster, composed the party differences which had raged +with such passion over Home Rule and other domestic issues, and joined +forces in patriotic resistance to the foreign enemy. + +But before this transformation took place nearly four years of agitation +and contest had to run their course. In the first session of the +Parliament, by a violent use of the Royal Prerogative, the Parliament +Bill became law, the Peers accepting the measure under duress of the +threat that some four or five hundred peerages would, if necessary, be +created to form a majority to carry it. It was then no longer possible +for the Upper House to force an appeal to the country on Home Rule, as +it had done in 1893. All that was necessary was for a Bill to be carried +in three successive sessions through the House of Commons, to become +law. "The last obstacle to Home Rule," as Mr. Redmond called it, had +been removed. The Liberal Government had taken a hint from the procedure +of the careful burglar, who poisons the dog before breaking into the +house. + +The significance of the manner in which the Irish question had been kept +out of view of the electorate by the Government and their supporters was +not lost upon the people of Ulster. In January 1911, within a month of +the elections, a meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council was held at +which a comprehensive resolution dealing with the situation that had +arisen was adopted, and published as a manifesto. One of its clauses +was: + + "The Council has observed with much surprise the singular reticence + as regards Home Rule maintained by a large number of Radical + candidates in England and Scotland during the recent elections, and + especially by the Prime Minister himself, who barely referred to + the subject till almost the close of his own contest. In view of + the consequent fact that Home Rule was not at the late appeal to + the country placed as a clear issue before the electors, it is the + judgment of the Council that the country has given no mandate for + Home Rule, and that any attempt in such circumstances to force + through Parliament a measure enacting it would be for His Majesty's + Ministers a grave, if not criminal, breach of constitutional duty." + +The great importance, in relation to the policy subsequently pursued by +Ulster, of the historical fact here made clear--namely, that the "will +of the people" constitutionally expressed in parliamentary elections has +never declared itself in favour of granting Home Rule to Ireland, lies, +first, in the justification it afforded to the preparations for active +resistance to a measure so enacted; and, secondly, in the influence it +had in procuring for Ulster not merely the sympathy but the open support +of the whole Unionist Party in Great Britain. Lord Londonderry, one of +Ulster's most trusted leaders, who afterwards gave the whole weight of +his support to the policy of forcible resistance, admitted in the House +of Lords in 1911, in the debates on the Parliament Bill, that the +verdict of the country, if appealed to, would have to be accepted. The +leader of the Unionist Party, Mr. Bonar Law, made it clear in February +1914, as he had more than once stated before, that the support he and +his party were pledging themselves to give to Ulster in the struggle +then approaching a climax, was entirely due to the fact that the +electorate had never sanctioned the policy of the Government against +which Ulster's resistance was threatened. The chance of success in that +resistance "depended," he said, "upon the sympathy of the British +people, and an election would undoubtedly make a great difference in +that respect"; he denied that Mr. Asquith had a "right to pass any form +of Home Rule without a mandate from the people of this country, which +he has never received"; and he categorically announced that "if you get +the decision of the people we shall obey it." And if, as then appeared +likely, the unconstitutional conduct of the Government should lead to +bloodshed in Ireland, the responsibility, said Mr. Bonar Law, would be +theirs, "because you preferred to face civil war rather than face the +people."[8] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] Morley's _Life of Gladstone_, in, 492. + +[4] Ibid., 493. + +[5] Ibid., 505. + +[6] _Annual Register_, 1910, p. 240. + +[7] See _Letters to Isabel_, by Lord Shaw of Dunfermline, p. 130. + +[8] _Parliamentary Debates_ (5th Series), vol. I viii, pp. 279-84. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +ORGANISATION AND LEADERSHIP + + +From the day when Gladstone first made Home Rule for Ireland the leading +issue in British politics, the Loyalists of Ulster--who, as already +explained, included practically all the Protestant population of the +Province both Conservative and Liberal, besides a small number of +Catholics who had no separatist sympathies--set to work to organise +themselves for effective opposition to the new policy. In the hour of +their dismay over Gladstone's surrender Lord Randolph Churchill, +hurrying from London to encourage and inspirit them, told them in the +Ulster Hall on the 22nd of February, 1886, that "the Loyalists in Ulster +should wait and watch--organise and prepare."[9] They followed his +advice. Propaganda among themselves was indeed unnecessary, for no one +required conversion except those who were known to be inconvertible. The +chief work to be done was to send speakers to British constituencies; +and in the decade from 1885 to 1895 Ulster speakers, many of whom were +ministers of the different Protestant Churches, were in request on +English and Scottish platforms. + +A number of organisations were formed for this purpose, some of which, +like the Irish Unionist Alliance, represented Unionist opinion +throughout Ireland, and not in Ulster alone. Others were exclusively +concerned with the northern Province, where from the first the +opposition was naturally more concentrated than elsewhere. In the early +days, the Ulster Loyalist and Patriotic Union, organised by Lord +Ranfurly and Mr. W.R. Young, carried on an active and sustained campaign +in Great Britain, and the Unionist Clubs initiated by Lord Templetown +provided a useful organisation in the smaller country towns, which still +exists as an effective force. The Loyal Orange Institution, founded at +the end of the eighteenth century to commemorate, and to keep alive the +principles of, the Whig Revolution of 1688, had fallen into not +unmerited disrepute prior to 1886. Few men of education or standing +belonged to it, and the lodge meetings and anniversary celebrations had +become little better than occasions for conviviality wholly inconsistent +with the irreproachable formularies of the Order. But its system of +local Lodges, affiliated to a Grand Lodge in each county, supplied the +ready-made framework of an effective organisation. Immediately after the +introduction of Gladstone's first Bill in 1886 it received an immense +accession of strength. Large numbers of country gentlemen, clergymen of +all Protestant denominations, business and professional men, farmers, +and the better class of artisans in Belfast and other towns, joined the +local Lodges, the management of which passed into capable hands; the +character of the Society was thereby completely and rapidly transformed, +and, instead of being a somewhat disreputable and obsolete survival, it +became a highly respectable as well as an exceedingly powerful political +organisation, the whole weight of whose influence has been on the side +of the Union. + +A rallying cry was given to the Ulster Loyalists in the famous phrase +contained in a letter from Lord Randolph Churchill to a correspondent in +May 1886: "Ulster will fight, and Ulster will be right." From this time +forward the idea that resort to physical resistance would be preferable +to submission to a Parliament in Dublin controlled by the "rebel party" +took hold of the popular mind in Ulster, although after the elections of +1886 there was no serious apprehension that the necessity would arise, +until the return to power of Mr. Gladstone at the head of a small +majority in 1892 brought about a fresh crisis. + +The work of organisation was then undertaken with greater energy and +thoroughness than before. It was now that Lord Templetown founded the +Unionist Clubs, which spread in an affiliated network through Ulster, +and proved so valuable that, after falling into neglect during the ten +years of Conservative Government, they were revived at the special +request of the Ulster Unionist Council in December 1910. Nothing, +however, did so much to stimulate organisation and concentration of +effort as the great Convention held in Belfast on the 19th of June 1892, +representing on a democratic basis all the constituencies in Ulster. +Numerous preliminary meetings were arranged for the purpose of electing +the delegates; and of these the Special Correspondent of _The Times_ +wrote: + + "Nothing has struck me more in the present movement than the + perfect order and regularity with which the preliminary meetings + for the election of delegates has been conducted. From city and + town and village come reports of crowded and enthusiastic + gatherings, all animated by an equal ardour, all marked by the same + spirit of quiet determination. There has been no 'tall talk,' no + over-statement; the speeches have been dignified, sensible, and + practical. One of the most marked features in the meetings has been + the appearance of men who have never before taken part in public + life, who have never till now stood on a public platform. Now for + the first time they have broken with the tranquil traditions of a + lifetime, and have come forward to take their share and their + responsibility in the grave danger which threatens their + country."[10] + +There being no building large enough to hold the delegates, numbering +nearly twelve thousand, every one of whom was a registered voter +appointed by the polling districts to attend the Convention, a pavilion, +the largest ever used for a political meeting in the kingdom, was +specially constructed close to the Botanical Gardens in Belfast. It +covered 33,000 square feet, and, owing to the enthusiasm of the workmen +employed on the building, it was erected (at a cost of over Ł3,000) +within three weeks. It provided seating accommodation for 13,000 people, +but the number who actually gained admittance to the Convention was +nearly 21,000, while outside an assemblage, estimated by the +correspondent of _The Times_ at 300,000, was also addressed by the +principal speakers. + +The commencement of the proceedings with prayer, conducted by the +Primate of all Ireland and the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church, set +a precedent which was extensively followed in later years throughout +Ulster, marking the spirit of seriousness which struck numerous +observers as characteristic of the Ulster Movement. The speakers were +men representative of all the varied interests of the Province--- +religious, agricultural, commercial, and industrial--and among them were +two men, Mr. Thomas Sinclair and Mr. Thomas Andrews, who had been +life-long Liberals, but who from this time forward were distinguished +and trusted leaders of Unionist opinion in Ulster. It was Mr. Andrews +who touched a chord that vibrated through the vast audience, making them +leap to their feet, cheering for several minutes. "As a last resource," +he cried, "we will be prepared to defend ourselves." But the climax of +this memorable assembly was reached when the chairman, the Duke of +Abercorn, with upraised arm, and calling on the audience solemnly to +repeat the words one by one after him, gave out what became for the +future the motto and watchword of Ulster loyalty: "We will not have Home +Rule." It was felt that this simple negation constituted a solemn vow +taken by the delegates, both for themselves and for those they +represented--an act of self-dedication to which every loyal man and +woman in Ulster was committed, and from which there could be no turning +back. + +The principal Resolution, adopted unanimously by the Convention, +formulated the grounds on which the people of the Province based their +hostility to the separatist policy of Home Rule; and as frequent +reference was made to it in after-years as an authoritative definition +of Ulster policy, it may be worth while to recall its terms: + + "That this Convention, consisting of 11,879 delegates representing + the Unionists of every creed, class, and party throughout Ulster, + appointed at public meetings held in every electoral division of + the Province, hereby solemnly resolves and declares: 'That we + express the devoted loyalty of Ulster Unionists to the Crown and + Constitution of the United Kingdom; that we avow our fixed resolve + to retain unchanged our present position as an integral portion of + the United Kingdom, and protest in the most unequivocal manner + against the passage of any measure that would rob us of our + inheritance in the Imperial Parliament, under the protection of + which our capital has been invested and our homes and rights + safeguarded; that we record our determination to have nothing to do + with a Parliament certain to be controlled by men responsible for + the crime and outrages of the Land League, the dishonesty of the + Plan of Campaign, and the cruelties of boycotting, many of whom + have shown themselves the ready instruments of clerical domination; + that we declare to the people of Great Britain our conviction that + the attempt to set up such a Parliament in Ireland will inevitably + result in disorder, violence, and bloodshed, such as have not been + experienced in this century, and announce our resolve to take no + part in the election or proceedings of such a Parliament, the + authority of which, should it ever be constituted, we shall be + forced to repudiate; that we protest against this great question, + which involves our lives, property, and civil rights, being treated + as a mere side-issue in the impending electoral struggle; that we + appeal to those of our fellow countrymen who have hitherto been in + favour of a separate Parliament to abandon a demand which + hopelessly divides Irishmen, and to unite with us under the + Imperial Legislature in developing the resources and furthering the + best interests of our common country.'" + +There can be no doubt that the Ulster Convention of 1892, and the +numerous less imposing demonstrations which followed on both sides of +the Channel and took their tone from it, of which the most notable was +the great meeting at the Albert Hall in London on the 22nd of April, +1893, had much effect in impressing and instructing public opinion, and +thus preparing the way for the smashing defeat of the Liberal Home Rule +Party in the General Election of 1895. After that event vigilance again +relaxed during the ten years of Unionist predominance which followed. +But the organisation was kept intact, and its democratic method of +appointing delegates in every polling district provided a permanent +electoral machinery for the Unionist Party in the constituencies, as +well as the framework for the Ulster Unionist Council, which was brought +into existence in 1905, largely through the efforts of Mr. William +Moore, M.P. for North Armagh. This Council, with its executive Standing +Committee, was thenceforward the acknowledged authority for determining +all questions of Unionist policy in Ulster. + +Its first meeting was held on the 3rd of March, 1905, under the +presidency of Colonel James McCalmont, M.P. for East Antrim. The first +ten members of the Standing Committee were nominated by Colonel +Saunderson, M.P., as chairman of the Ulster Parliamentary Party. They +were, in addition to the chairman himself, the Duke of Abercorn, the +Marquis of Londonderry, the Earl of Erne, the Earl of Ranfurly, Colonel +James McCalmont, M.P., the Hon. R.T. O'Neill, M.P., Mr. G. Wolff, M.P., +Mr. J.B. Lonsdale, M.P., and Mr. William Moore, K.C., M.P. These +nominations were confirmed by a ballot of the members of the Council, +and twenty other members were elected forthwith to form the Standing +Committee. This first Executive Committee of the organisation which for +the next fifteen years directed the policy of Ulster Unionism included +several names that were from this time forward among the most prominent +in the movement. There were the two eminent Liberals, Mr. Thomas +Sinclair and Mr. Thomas Andrews, and Mr. John Young, all three of whom +were members of the Irish Privy Council; Colonel R.H. Wallace, C.B., Mr. +W.H.H. Lyons, and Sir James Stronge, leaders of the Orangemen; Colonel +Sharman-Crawford, Mr. E.M. Archdale, Mr. W.J. Allen, Mr. R.H. Reade, and +Sir William Ewart. Among several "Unionist candidates for Ulster +constituencies" who were at the same meeting co-opted to the Council, we +find the names of Captain James Craig and Mr. Denis Henry, K.C. The Duke +of Abercorn accepted the position of President of the Council, and Mr. +E.M. Archdale was elected chairman of the Standing Committee. Mr. T.H. +Gibson was appointed secretary. In October 1906 the latter resigned his +post owing to failing health, and, on the motion of Mr. William Moore, +M.P., Mr. Richard Dawson Bates, a solicitor practising in Belfast, was +"temporarily" appointed to fill the vacancy. This temporary appointment +was never formally made permanent, but no question in regard to the +secretaryship was ever raised, for Mr. Bates performed the duties year +after year to the complete satisfaction of everyone connected with the +organisation, and in a manner that earned the gratitude of all Ulster +Unionists. The funds at the disposal of the Council in 1906 only enabled +a salary of Ł100 a year to be paid to the secretary--a salary that was +purely nominal in the case of a professional gentleman of Mr. Bates's +standing; but the spirit in which he took up his duties was seen two +years later, when it was found that out of this salary he had himself +been paying for clerical assistance; and then, of course, this matter +was properly adjusted, which the improved financial position of the +Council happily rendered possible. + +The declared purpose of the Ulster Unionist Council was to form a union +of all local Unionist Associations in Ulster; to keep the latter in +constant touch with their parliamentary representatives; and "to be the +medium of expressing Ulster Unionist opinion as current events may from +time to time require." It consisted at first of not more than 200 +members, of whom 100 represented local Associations, and 50 represented +the Orange Lodges, the remaining 50 being made up of Ulster members of +both Houses of Parliament and of certain "distinguished residents in or +natives of Ulster" to be co-opted by the Council. As time went on the +Council was considerably enlarged, and its representative character +improved. In 1911 the elected membership was raised to 370, and included +representatives of local Associations, Orange Lodges, Unionist Clubs, +and the Derry Apprentice Boys. In 1918 representatives of the Women's +Associations were added, and the total elected membership was increased +to 432. The delegates elected by the various constituent bodies were in +the fullest sense representative men; they were drawn from all classes +of the population; and, by the regularity with which they attended +meetings of the Council whenever business of any importance was to be +transacted, they made it the most effective political organisation in +the United Kingdom. + +A campaign of public meetings in England and Scotland conducted jointly +by the Ulster Unionist Council and the Irish Unionist Alliance in 1908 +led to a scheme of co-operation between the two bodies, the one +representing Unionists in the North and the other those in the southern +Provinces, which worked smoothly and effectively. A joint Committee of +the Unionist Associations of Ireland was therefore formed in the same +year, the organisations represented on it being the two already named +and the Ulster Loyalist Anti-Repeal Union. The latter, which in earlier +years had done excellent spade-work under the fostering zeal of Lord +Ranfurly and Mr. William Robert Young, was before 1911 amalgamated with +the Unionist Council, so that all rivalry and overlapping was +thenceforward eliminated from the organisation of Unionism in Ulster. +The Council in the North and the Irish Unionist Alliance in Dublin +worked in complete harmony both with each other and with the Union +Defence League in London, whose operations were carried on under the +direction of its founder, Mr. Walter Long. + +The women of Ulster were scarcely less active than the men in the matter +of organisation. Although, of course, as yet unenfranchised, they took +as a rule a keener interest in political matters--meaning thereby the +one absorbing question of the Union--than their sex in other parts of +the United Kingdom. When critical times for the Union arrived there was, +therefore, no apathy to be overcome by the Protestant women in Ulster. +Early in 1911 the "Ulster Women's Unionist Council" was formed under the +presidency of the Duchess of Abercorn, and very quickly became a most +effective organisation side by side with that of the men. The leading +spirit was the Marchioness of Londonderry, but that it was no +aristocratic affair of titled ladies may be inferred from the fact that +within twelve months of its formation between forty and fifty thousand +members were enrolled. A branch in Mr. Devlin's constituency of West +Belfast, which over four thousand women joined in its first month of +existence, of whom over 80 per cent, were mill-workers and shop-girls in +the district, held a very effective demonstration on the 11th of +January, 1912, at which Mr. Thomas Sinclair, the most universally +respected of Belfast's business men, made one of his many telling +speeches which familiarised the people with the commercial and financial +aspects of Home Rule, as it would be felt in Ulster. The central Women's +Council followed this up with a more imposing gathering in the Ulster +Hall on the 18th, which adopted with intense enthusiasm the declaration: +"We will stand by our husbands, our brothers, and our sons, in whatever +steps they may be forced to take in defending our liberties against the +tyranny of Home Rule." + +Thus before the end of 1911 men and women alike were firmly organised in +Ulster for the support of their loyalist principles. But the most +effective organisation is impotent without leadership. Among the +declared "objects" of the Ulster Unionist Council was that of acting "as +a connecting link between Ulster Unionists and their parliamentary +representatives." In the House of Commons the Ulster Unionist Members, +although they recognised Colonel Edward Saunderson, M.P., as their +leader until his death in 1906, did not during his lifetime, or for some +years afterwards, constitute a separate party or group. When Colonel +Saunderson died the Right Hon. Walter Long, who had held the office of +Chief Secretary in the last year of the Unionist Administration, and who +had been elected for South Dublin in 1906, became leader of the Irish +Unionists--with whom those representing Ulster constituencies were +included. But in the elections of January 1910 Mr. Long was returned for +a London seat, and it therefore became necessary for Irish Unionists to +select another leader. + +By this time the Home Rule question had, as the people of Ulster +perceived, become once more a matter of vital urgency, although, as +explained in the preceding chapter, the electors of Great Britain were +too engrossed by other matters to give it a thought, and the Liberal +Ministers were doing everything in their power to keep it in the +background. The Ulster Members of the House of Commons realised, +therefore, the grave importance of finding a leader of the calibre +necessary for dealing on equal terms with such orators and +Parliamentarians as Mr. Asquith and Mr. John Redmond. They did not +deceive themselves into thinking that such a leader was to be found +among their own number. They could produce several capable speakers, and +men of judgment and good sense; but something more was needed for the +critical times they saw ahead. After careful consideration, they took a +step which in the event proved to be of momentous importance, and of +extreme good fortune, for the enterprise that the immediate future had +in store for them. Mr. J.B. Lonsdale, Member for Mid Armagh, Hon. +Secretary of the Irish Unionist Parliamentary Party, was deputed to +request Sir Edward Carson, K.C., to accept the leadership of the Irish +Unionist party in the House of Commons. + +Several days elapsed before they received an answer; but when it came it +was, happily for Ulster, an acceptance. It is easy to understand Sir +Edward Carson's hesitation before consenting to assume the leadership. +After carrying all before him in the Irish Courts, where he had been Law +Officer of the Crown, he had migrated to London, where he had been +Solicitor-General during the last six years of the Unionist +Administration, and by 1910 had attained a position of supremacy at the +English Bar, with the certain prospect of the highest legal advancement, +and with an extremely lucrative practice, which his family circumstances +made it no light matter for him to sacrifice, but which he knew it would +be impossible for him to retain in conjunction with the political duties +he was now urged to undertake. Although only in his fifty-seventh year, +he was never one of those who feel younger than their age; nor did he +minimise in his own mind the disability caused by his too frequent +physical ailments, which inclined him to shrink from embarking upon +fresh work the extent and nature of which could not be exactly foreseen. +As to ambition, there are few men who ever were less moved by it, but he +could not leave altogether out of consideration his firm +conviction--which ultimately proved to have been ill-founded--that +acceptance of the Ulster leadership would cut him off from all +promotion, whether political or legal.[11] + +Moreover, although for the moment it was the leadership of a +parliamentary group to which he was formally invited, it was obvious +that much more was really involved; the people in Ulster itself needed +guidance in the crisis that was visibly approaching. Ever since Lord +Randolph Churchill, with the concurrence of Lord Salisbury, first +inspired them in 1886 with the spirit of resistance in the last resort +to being placed under a Dublin Parliament, and assured them of British +sympathy and support if driven to that extremity, the determination of +Ulster in this respect was known to all who had any familiarity with the +temper of her people. Any man who undertook to lead them at such a +juncture as had been reached in 1910 must make that determination the +starting-point of his policy. It was a task that would require not only +statesmanship, but political courage of a high order. Lord Randolph +Churchill, in his famous Ulster Hall speech, had said that "no +portentous change such as the repeal of the Union, no change so +gigantic, could be accomplished by the mere passing of a law; the +history of the United States will teach us a different lesson." Ulster +always took her stand on the American precedent, though the exemplar was +Lincoln rather than Washington. But although the scale of operations +was, of course, infinitely smaller, the Ulster leader would, if it came +to the worst, be confronted by certain difficulties from which Abraham +Lincoln was free. He might have to follow the example of the latter in +forcibly resisting secession, but his legal position would be very +different. He might be called upon to resist technically legal +authority, whereas Lincoln had it at his back. To guide and control a +headstrong people, smarting under a sense of betrayal, when entering on +a movement pregnant with these issues, and at the same time to stand up +against a powerful Government on the floor of the House of Commons, was +an enterprise upon which any far-seeing man might well hesitate to +embark. + +Pondering over the invitation conveyed to him in his Chambers in the +Temple, Carson may, therefore, well have asked himself what inducement +there was for him to accept it. He was not an Ulsterman. As a Southerner +he was not familiar with the psychology of the northern Irish; the +sectarian narrowness popularly attributed to them outside their province +was wholly alien to his character; he was as far removed by nature from +a fire-eater as it was possible for man to be; he was not fond of +unnecessary exertion; he preferred the law to politics, and disliked +addressing political assemblies. In Parliament he represented, not a +popular constituency, but the University of Dublin. But, on the other +hand, he was to the innermost core of his nature an Irish Loyalist. His +youthful political sympathies had, indeed, been with the Liberal Party, +but he instantly severed his connection with it when Gladstone joined +hands with Parnell. He had made his name at the Irish Bar as Crown +Prosecutor in the troubled period of Mr. Balfour's Chief Secretaryship, +and this experience had bred in him a hearty detestation of the whining +sentimentality, the tawdry and exaggerated rhetoric, and the +manufactured discontent that found vent in Nationalist politics. A +sincere lover of Ireland, he had too much sound sense to credit the +notion that either the freedom or the prosperity of the country would be +increased by loosening the tie with Great Britain. Although he as yet +knew little of Ulster, he admired her resolute stand for the Union, her +passionate loyalty to the Crown; he watched with disgust the way in +which her defences were being sapped by the Liberal Party in England; +and the thought that such a people were perhaps on the eve of being +driven into subjection to the men whose character he had had so much +opportunity to gauge in the days of the Land League filled him with +indignation. + +If, therefore, he could be of service in helping to avert so great a +wrong Sir Edward Carson came to the conclusion that it would be shirking +a call of duty were he to decline the leadership that had been offered +him. Realising to the full all that it meant for himself--inevitable +sacrifice of income, of ease, of chances of promotion, a burden of +responsibility, a probability of danger--he gave his consent; and the +day he gave it--the 21st of February, 1910--should be marked for all +time as a red-letter day in the Ulster calendar. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[9] _Lord Randolph Churchill_, by the Right Hon. W.S. Churchill, vol. +ii, p. 62. + +[10] _The Times_, June 16th, 1892. + +[11] He expressed this conviction to the author in 1911. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE PARLIAMENT ACT: CRAIGAVON + + +A good many months were to elapse before the Unionist rank and file in +Ulster were brought into close personal touch with the new leader of the +Irish Unionist Parliamentary Party. The work to be done in 1910 lay +chiefly in London, where the constitutional struggle arising out of the +rejection of the "People's Budget" was raging. But shortly before the +General Election of December a demonstration was held in the Ulster Hall +in Belfast, in the hope of opening the eyes of the English and Scottish +electors to the danger of Home Rule. Mr. Walter Long was the principal +speaker, and Sir Edward Carson, in supporting the resolution, ended his +speech by quoting Lord Randolph Churchill's famous jingling phrase, +"Ulster will fight, and Ulster will be right." + +On the 31st of January, 1911, when the elections were over, he went over +from London to preside at an important meeting of the Ulster Unionist +Council. The Annual Report of the Standing Committee, in welcoming his +succession to Mr. Long in the leadership, spoke of his requiring no +introduction to Ulstermen; and it is true that he had occasionally +spoken at meetings in Belfast, and that his recent speech in the Ulster +Hall had made an excellent impression. But he was not yet a really +familiar figure even in Belfast, while outside the city he was +practically unknown, except of course by repute. That a man of his +sagacity would quickly make his weight felt was never in doubt; but few +at that time can have anticipated the extent to which a stranger--with +an accent proclaiming an origin south of the Boyne--was in a short time +to captivate the hearts, and become literally the idolised leader, of +the Ulster democracy. + +For the latter are a people who certainly do not wear their hearts on +their sleeves for daws to peck at. In the eyes of the more volatile +southern Celts they seem a "dour" people. They are naturally reserved, +laconic of speech, without "gush," far from lavish in compliment, slow +to commit themselves or to give their confidence without good and proved +reason. + +Opportunity for the populace to get into closer touch with the leader +did not, however, come till the autumn. He was unable to attend the +Orange celebration on the 12th of July, when the anniversary, which +preceded by less than a month the "removal of the last obstacle to Home +Rule" by the passing of the Parliament Act, was kept with more than the +usual fervour, and the speeches proved that the gravity of the situation +was fully appreciated. The Marquis of Londonderry, addressing an immense +concourse of Belfast Lodges, stated that it was the first time an +Ex-Viceroy had been present at an Orange gathering, but that he had +deliberately created the precedent owing to his sense of the danger +threatening the Loyalist cause. + +It was the first of innumerable similar actions by which Lord +Londonderry identified himself whole-heartedly with the popular +movement, throwing aside all the conventional restraints of rank and +wealth, and thereby endearing himself to every man and woman in +Protestant Ulster. There was no more familiar figure in the streets of +Belfast. Barefooted street urchins, catching sight of him on the steps +of the Ulster Club, would gather round and, with free-and-easy +familiarity, shout "Three cheers for Londonderry." He knew everybody and +was everybody's friend. There was no aristocratic hauteur or aloofness +about his genial personality. He was in the habit of entertaining the +whole Unionist Council, some five hundred strong, at luncheon or dinner +as the occasion required, when important meetings of the delegates took +place. Distinguished political visitors from England could always be +invited over without thought for their entertainment, since a welcome at +Mount Stewart was never wanting. His financial support of the political +movement was equally open-handed. + +But, helpful as were his hospitality and his subscriptions, it was the +countenance and support of a man who had held high Cabinet office, and +especially the great position of Viceroy of Ireland, that made Lord +Londonderry's full participation an asset of incalculable value to the +cause he espoused. Moreover, while he was always ready to cross the +Channel, even if for a few hours only, when wanted for any conference or +public meeting, never pleading his innumerable social and political +engagements in London or the North of England as an excuse for absence, +his natural modesty of character made it easy for him to act under the +leadership of another. Indeed, he underrated his own abilities; but +there are probably not many men of his prominence and antecedents who, +if similarly placed, would have been able to give, without a trace of +_amour-propre,_ to a leader who had in former years been his own +official subordinate, the consistently loyal backing that Lord +Londonderry gave to Sir Edward Carson. + +But, although there never was the slightest friction between the two +men, a difference of opinion between them on an important point showed +itself within a few months of Carson's acceptance of the leadership. In +July 1911 the excitement over the Parliament Bill reached its climax. +When the Government announced that the King had given his assent to the +creation of whatever number of peerages might be required for carrying +the measure through the Upper House, the party known as "Die Hards" were +for rejecting it and taking the consequences; while against this policy +were ranged Lord Lansdowne, Lord Curzon, and other Unionist leaders, who +advocated the acceptance of the Bill under protest. On the 20th of July +Carson told Lansdowne that in his judgment "the disgrace and ignominy of +surrender on the question far outweighed any temporary advantage" to be +gained by the two years' delay of Home Rule which the Parliament Bill +would secure.[12] Lord Londonderry, on the other hand, supported the +view taken by Lord Lansdowne, and he voted with the majority who carried +the Bill on the 10th of August. This step temporarily clouded his +popularity in Ulster, but not many weeks passed before he completely +regained the confidence and affection of the people, and the difference +of opinion never in the smallest degree interrupted the harmony of his +relations with Sir Edward Carson. + +The true position of affairs in relation to Home Rule had not yet been +grasped by the British public. As explained in a former chapter, it had +not been in any real sense an issue in the two General Elections of the +previous year, and throughout the spring and summer of 1911 popular +interest in England and Scotland was still wholly occupied with the +fight between "Peers and People" and the impending blow to the power of +the Second Chamber; and the coronation festivities also helped to divert +attention from the political consequences to which the authors of the +Parliament Bill intended it to lead. + +The first real awakening was brought about by an immense demonstration +held at Craigavon, on the outskirts of Belfast, on the 23rd of +September. The main purpose of this historic gathering was to bring the +populace of Ulster face to face with their new leader, and to give him +an opportunity of making a definite pronouncement of a policy for +Ulster, in view of the entirely novel situation resulting from the +passing of the Parliament Act. + +For that Act made it possible for the first time for the Liberal Home +Rule Party to repeal the Act of Union without an appeal to the country. +It enacted that any Bill which in three successive sessions was passed +without substantial alteration through the House of Commons might be +presented for the Royal Assent without the consent of the Lords; and an +amendment to exclude a Home Rule Bill from its operation had been +successfully resisted by the Government. It also reduced the maximum +legal duration of a Parliament from seven to five years; but the +existing Parliament was still in its first session, and there was +therefore ample time, under the provisions of the new Constitution, to +pass a Home Rule Bill before the next General Election, as the coalition +of parties in favour of Home Rule constituted a substantial majority in +the House of Commons. + +The question, therefore, which the Ulster people had now to decide was +no longer simply how they could bring about the rejection of a Home Rule +Bill by propaganda in the British constituencies, as they had hitherto +done with unfailing success, although that object was still kept in +view, but what course they should adopt if a Home Rule Act should be +placed on the Statute-book without those constituencies being consulted. +Was the day at last approaching when Lord Randolph Churchill's +exhortation must be obeyed? Or were they to be compelled, because the +Cabinet had coerced the Sovereign and tricked the people by straining +the royal prerogative in a manner described by Mr. Balfour as "a gross +violation of constitutional liberty," to submit with resignation to the +government of their country by the "rebel party "--the party controlled +by clerical influence, and boasting of the identity of its aims with +those of Wolfe Tone and Robert Emmet? This was the real problem in the +minds of those who flocked to Craigavon on Saturday, the 23rd of +September, 1911, to hear what proposals Sir Edward Carson had to lay +before his followers. + +Craigavon was the residence of Captain James Craig, Member of Parliament +for East Down. It is a spacious country house standing on a hill above +the road leading from Belfast to Holywood, with a fine view of Belfast +Lough and the distant Antrim coast beyond the estuary. The lawn in front +of the house, sloping steeply to the shore road, forms a sort of natural +amphitheatre offering ideal conditions for out-of-door oratory to an +unlimited audience. At the meeting on the 23rd of September the platform +was erected near the crest of the hill, enabling the vast audience to +spread out fan-wise over the lower levels, where even the most distant +had the speakers clearly in view, even if many of them, owing to the +size of the gathering, were unable to hear the spoken word. + +It was on this occasion that Captain Craig, by the care with which every +minute detail of the arrangements was thought out and provided for, +first gave evidence of his remarkable gift for organisation that was to +prove so invaluable to the Ulster cause in the next few years. The +greater part of the audience arrived in procession, which, starting +from the centre of the city of Belfast, took over two hours to pass a +given point, at the quick march in fours. All the Belfast Orange Lodges, +and representative detachments from the County Grand Lodges, together +with Lord Templetown's Unionist Clubs, and other organisations, +including the Women's Association, took part in the procession. But +immense numbers of people attended the meeting independently; it was +calculated that not less than a hundred thousand were present during the +delivery of Sir Edward Carson's speech, and although there must have +been very many of them who could hear nothing, the complete silence +maintained by all was a remarkable proof--or so it appeared to men +experienced in out-door political demonstrations--of the earnestness of +spirit that prevailed. To some it may appear still more remarkable that, +with such a concourse of people within a couple of miles of Belfast, not +a single policeman was present, and that none was required; no +disturbance of any sort occurred during the day, nor was a single case +of drunkenness observed. + +It had been intended that the Duke of Abercorn, whose inspiring +exhortation as chairman of the Ulster Convention in 1892 had never been +forgotten, should preside over the meeting; but, as he was prevented by +a family bereavement from being present, his place was taken by the Earl +of Erne, Grand Master of the Orange Order. The scene, when he rose to +open the proceedings, was indescribable in its impressiveness. Some +members of the Eighty Club happened to be in Ireland at the time, for +the purpose of "seeing for themselves" in the familiar fashion of such +political tourists; but they did not think it worth while to witness +what Ulster was doing at Craigavon. If they had, they could have made a +report to their political leaders which, had it been truthful, might +have averted some irreparable blunders; for they could hardly have +looked upon that sea of eager faces, or have observed the enthusiasm +that possessed such a host of earnest and resolute men, without revising +the opinion, which they had accepted from Mr. Redmond, that there was +"no Ulster question." + +The meeting took the form of according a welcome to Sir Edward Carson +as the new leader of Irish Loyalism, and of Ulster in particular. But +before he rose to speak a significant note had already been sounded. +Lord Erne struck it when he quoted words which were to become very +familiar in Ulster--the letter from Gustavus Hamilton, Governor of +Enniskillen in 1689, to "divers of the nobility and gentry in the +north-east part of Ulster," in which he declared: "We stand upon our +guard, and do resolve by the blessing of God to meet our danger rather +than to await it." And the veteran Liberal, Mr. Thomas Andrews, in +moving the resolution of welcome to the leader, expressed the universal +sentiment of the multitude when he exclaimed, "We will never, never bow +the knee to the disloyal factions led by Mr. John Redmond. We will never +submit to be governed by rebels who acknowledge no law but the laws of +the Land League and illegal societies." + +A great number of Addresses from representative organisations were then +presented to Sir Edward Carson, in many of which the determination to +resist the jurisdiction of a Dublin Parliament was plainly declared. But +such declarations, although they undoubtedly expressed the mind of the +people, were after all in quite general terms. For a quarter of a +century innumerable variations on the theme "Ulster will fight, and +Ulster will be right," had been fiddled on Ulster platforms, so that +there was some excuse for the belief of those who were wholly ignorant +of North Irish character that these utterances were no more than the +commonplaces of Ulster rhetoric. The time had only now come, however, +when their reality could be put to the test. Carson's speech at +Craigavon crystallised them into practical politics. + +Sir Edward Carson's public speaking has always been entirely free from +rhetorical artifice. He seldom made use of metaphor or imagery, or +elaborate periods, or variety of gesture. His language was extremely +simple and straightforward; but his mobile expression--so variable that +his enemies saw in it a suggestion of Mephistopheles, and his friends a +resemblance to Dante--his measured diction, and his skilful use of a +deep-toned voice, gave a remarkable impressiveness to all he said--even, +indeed, to utterances which, if spoken by another, would sometimes have +sounded commonplace or obvious. Sarcasm he could use with effect, and a +telling point was often made by an epigrammatic phrase which delighted +his hearers. And, more than all else, his meaning was never in doubt. In +lucidity of statement he excelled many much greater orators, and was +surpassed by none; and these qualities, added to his unmistakable +sincerity and candour, made him one of the most persuasive of speakers +on the platform, as he was also, of course, in the Law Courts. + +The moment he began to speak at Craigavon the immense multitude who had +come to welcome him felt instinctively the grip of his power. The +contrast to all the previous scene--the cheering, the enthusiasm, the +marching, the singing, the waving of handkerchiefs and flags--was deeply +impressive, when, after a hushed pause of some length, he called +attention without preface to the realities of the situation in a few +simple sentences of slow and almost solemn utterance: + + "I know full well what the Resolution you have just passed means; I + know what all these Addresses mean; I know the responsibility you + are putting upon me to-day. In your presence I cheerfully accept + it, grave as it is, and I now enter into a compact with you, and + every one of you, and with the help of God you and I joined + together--giving you the best I can, and you giving me all your + strength behind me--we will yet defeat the most nefarious + conspiracy that has ever been hatched against a free people. But I + know full well that this Resolution has a still wider meaning. It + shows me that you realise the gravity of the situation that is + before us, and it shows me that you are here to express your + determination to see this fight out to a finish." + +He went on to expose the hollowness of the allegation, then current in +Liberal circles, that Ulster's repugnance to Home Rule was less +uncompromising than it formerly had been. On the contrary, he believed +that "there never was a moment at which men were more resolved than at +the present, with all the force and strength that God has given them, +to maintain the British connection and their rights as citizens of the +United Kingdom." Apart from principle or sentiment, that was an +attitude, he maintained, dictated by practical good sense. He showed how +Ireland had been "advancing in prosperity in an unparalleled measure," +for which he could quote the authority of Mr. Redmond himself, although +the Nationalist leader had omitted to notice that this advance had taken +place under the legislative Union, and, as Carson contended, in +consequence of it. He laid special emphasis on the point, never +forgotten, that the danger in which they stood was due to the +hoodwinking of the British constituencies by Mr. Asquith's Ministry. + + "Make no mistake; we are going to fight with men who are prepared + to play with loaded dice. They are prepared to destroy their own + Constitution, so that they may pass Home Rule, and they are + prepared to destroy the very elements of constitutional government + by withdrawing the question from the electorate, who on two + previous occasions refused to be a party to it." + +He ridiculed the "paper safeguards" which Liberal Ministers tried to +persuade them would amply protect Ulster Protestants under a Dublin +Parliament, giving a vivid picture of the plight they would be in under +a Nationalist administration, which, he declared, meant "a tyranny to +which we never can and never will submit"; and then, in a pregnant +passage, he summarised the Ulster case: + + "Our demand is a very simple one. We ask for no privileges, but we + are determined that no one shall have privileges over us. We ask + for no special rights, but we claim the same rights from the same + Government as every other part of the United Kingdom. We ask for + nothing more; we will take nothing less. It is our inalienable + right as citizens of the British Empire, and Heaven help the men + who try to take it from us." + +It was all no doubt a mere restatement--though an admirably lucid and +forcible restatement--of doctrine with which his hearers had long been +familiar. The great question still awaited an answer--how was effect to +be given to this resolve, now that there was no longer hope of +salvation through the sympathy and support of public opinion in Great +Britain? This was what the eager listeners at Craigavon hoped in hushed +expectancy to hear from their new leader. He did not disappoint them: + + "Mr. Asquith, the Prime Minister, says that we are not to be + allowed to put our case before the British electorate. Very well. + By that determination he drives you in the ultimate result to rely + upon your own strength, and we must follow all that out to its + logical conclusion.... That involves something more than that we do + not accept Home Rule. We must be prepared, in the event of a Home + Rule Bill passing, with such measures as will carry on for + ourselves the government of those districts of which we have + control. We must be prepared--and time is precious in these + things--the morning Home Rule passes, ourselves to become + responsible for the government of the Protestant Province of + Ulster. We ask your leave at the meeting of the Ulster Unionist + Council, to be held on Monday, there to discuss the matter, and to + set to work, to take care that at no time and at no intervening + interval shall we lack a Government in Ulster, which shall be a + Government either by the Imperial Parliament, or by ourselves." + +Here, then, was the first authoritative declaration of a definite policy +to be pursued by Ulster in the circumstances then existing or foreseen, +and it was a policy that was followed with undeviating consistency under +Carson's leadership for the next nine years. To be left under the +government of the Imperial Parliament was the alternative to be +preferred, and was asserted to be an inalienable right; but, if all +their efforts to that end should be defeated, then "a government by +ourselves" was the only change that could be tolerated. Rather than +submit to the jurisdiction of a Nationalist legislature and +administration, they would themselves set up a Government "_in those +districts of which they had control_." It was because, when the first of +these alternatives had to be sorrowfully abandoned, the second was +offered in the Government of Ireland Act of 1920 that Ulster did not +actively oppose the passing of that statute. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[12] _Annual Register_, 1911, p. 175. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE CRAIGAVON POLICY AND THE U.F.V. + + +No time was lost in giving practical shape to the policy outlined at +Craigavon, and in taking steps to give effect to it. On the 25th of +September a meeting of four hundred delegates representing the Ulster +Unionist Council, the County Grand Orange Lodges, and the Unionist +Clubs, was held in Belfast, and, after lengthy discussion in private, +when the only differences of opinion were as to the most effective +methods of proceeding, two resolutions were unanimously adopted and +published. It is noteworthy that, at this early stage in the movement, +out of nearly four hundred popularly elected delegates, numbers of whom +were men holding responsible positions or engaged in commercial +business, not one raised an objection to the policy itself, although its +grave possibilities were thoroughly appreciated by all present. Both +Lord Londonderry, who presided, and Sir Edward Carson left no room for +doubt in that respect; the developments they might be called upon to +face were thoroughly searched and explained, and the fullest opportunity +to draw back was offered to any present who might shrink from going on. + +The first Resolution registered a "call upon our leaders to take any +steps they may consider necessary to resist the establishment of Home +Rule in Ireland, solemnly pledging ourselves that under no conditions +shall we acknowledge any such Government"; and it gave an assurance that +those whom the delegates represented would give the leaders "their +unwavering support in any danger they may be called upon to face." The +second decided that "the time has now come when we consider it our +imperative duty to make arrangements for the provisional government of +Ulster," and for that purpose it went on to appoint a Commission of +five leading local men, namely, Captain James Craig, M.P., Colonel +Sharman Crawford, M.P., the Right Hon. Thomas Sinclair, Colonel R.H. +Wallace, C.B., and Mr. Edward Sclater, Secretary of the Unionist Clubs, +whose duties were _(a)_ "to keep Sir Edward Carson in constant and close +touch with the feeling of Unionist Ulster," and _(b)_ "to take immediate +steps, in consultation with Sir Edward Carson, to frame and submit a +Constitution for a Provisional Government of Ulster, having due regard +to the interests of the Loyalists in other parts of Ireland: the powers +and duration of such Provisional Government to come into operation on +the day of the passage of any Home Rule Bill, to remain in force until +Ulster shall again resume unimpaired her citizenship in the United +Kingdom." + +At the luncheon given by Lord Londonderry after this business +conference, Carson took occasion to refer to a particularly contemptible +slander to which currency had been given some days previously by Sir +John Benn, one of the Eighty Club strolling seekers after truth. It was +perhaps hardly worth while to notice a statement so silly as that the +Ulster leader had been ready a few weeks previously to betray Ulster in +order to save the House of Lords, but Carson did not yet realise the +degree to which he had already won the confidence of his followers; +moreover, the incident proved useful as an opportunity of emphasising +the uninterrupted mutual confidence between Lord Londonderry and +himself, in spite of their divergence of opinion over the Parliament +Bill. It also gave those present a glimpse of their leader's power of +shrivelling meanness with a few caustic drops of scorn. + +The proceedings at Craigavon and at the Conference naturally created a +sensation on both sides of the Channel. They brought the question of +Ireland once more, for the first time since 1895, into the forefront of +British politics. The House of Commons might spend the autumn ploughing +its way through the intricacies of the National Insurance Bill, but +everyone knew that the last and bitterest battle against Home Rule was +now approaching. And, now that the Parliament Act was safely on the +Statute-book, Ministers had no further interest in concealment. During +the elections, from which alone they could procure authority for +legislation of so fundamental a character, Mr. Asquith, as we have seen, +regarded any inquiry as to his intentions as "confusing the issue." But +now that he had the constituencies in his pocket for five years and +nothing further was to be feared from that quarter, his cards were +placed on the table. + +On the 3rd of October Mr. Winston Churchill told his followers at Dundee +that the Government would introduce a Home Rule Bill next session "and +press it forward with all their strength," and he added the +characteristic injunction that "they must not take Sir Edward Carson too +seriously." But that advice did not prevent Mr. Herbert Samuel, another +member of the Cabinet, from putting in an appearance in Belfast four +days later, where he threw himself into a ludicrously unequal combat +with Carson, exerting himself to calm the fears of business men as to +the effect of Home Rule on their prosperity; while, in the same week, +Carson himself, at a great Unionist demonstration in Dublin, described +the growth of Irish prosperity in the last twenty years as "almost a +fairy tale," which would be cut short by Home Rule. On the 19th of the +same month Mr. Birrell, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, in a speech at +Ilfracombe, gave some scraps of meagre information in regard to the +provisions that would be included in the coming Home Rule Bill; and on +the 21st Mr. Redmond announced that the drafting of the Bill was almost +completed, and that the measure would be "satisfactory to Nationalists +both in principle and detail."[13] + +So the autumn of 1911 wore through--Ministers doling out snippets of +information; members of Parliament and the Press urging them to give +more. The people of Ulster, on the other hand, were not worrying over +details. They did not require to be told that the principle would be +"satisfactory to Nationalists," for they knew that the Government had to +"toe the line"; nor were they in doubt that what was satisfactory to +Nationalists must be unsatisfactory to themselves. What they were +thinking about was not what the Bill would or would not contain, but the +preparations they were making to resist its operation. + +A day or two after Craigavon the leader spoke at a great meeting in +Portrush, after receiving, at every important station he passed _en +route_ from Belfast, enthusiastic addresses expressing confidence in +himself and approval of the Craigavon declaration; and in this speech he +considerably amplified what he had said at Craigavon. After explaining +how the whole outlook had been changed by the Parliament Act, which cut +them off from appeal to the sympathies of Englishmen, he pointed out to +his hearers the only course now open to them, namely, that resolved upon +at Craigavon. + + "Some people," he continued, "say that I am preaching disorder. No, + in the course I am advising I am preaching order, because I believe + that, unless we are in a position ourselves to take over the + government of those places we are able to control, the people of + Ulster, if let loose without that organisation, and without that + organised determination, might in a foolish moment find themselves + in a condition of antagonism and grips with their foes which I + believe even the present Government would lament. And therefore I + say that the course we recommend--and it has been solemnly adopted + by your four hundred representatives, after mature discussion in + which every man understood what it was he was voting about--is the + only course that I know of that is possible under the circumstances + of this Province which is consistent with the maintenance of law + and order and the prevention of bloodshed." + +Superficially, these words may appear boldly paradoxical; but in fact +they were prophetic, for the closest observers of the events of the next +three years, familiar with Irish character and conditions, were in no +doubt whatever that it was the disciplined organisation of the Ulster +Unionists alone that prevented the outbreak of serious disorders in the +North. There was, on the contrary, a diminution even of ordinary crime, +accompanied by a marked improvement in the general demeanour, and +especially in the sobriety, of the people. + +The speaker then touched upon a question which naturally arose out of +the Craigavon policy of resistance to Home Rule. He had been asked, he +said, whether Ulster proposed to fight against the forces of the Crown. +He had already contrasted their own methods with those of the +Nationalists, saying that Ulstermen would never descend to action "from +behind hedges or by maiming cattle, or by boycotting of individuals"; he +now added that they were "not going to fight the Army and the Navy ... +God forbid that any loyal Irishman should ever shoot or think of +shooting the British soldier or sailor. But, believe me, any Government +will ponder long before it dares to shoot a loyal Ulster Protestant, +devoted to his country and loyal to his King." + +In newspaper reports of public meetings, sayings of pith and moment are +often attributed to "A Voice" from the audience. On this occasion, when +Sir Edward Carson referred to the Army and the Navy, "A Voice" cried +"They are on our side." It was the truth, as subsequent events were to +show. It would indeed have been strange had it been otherwise. Men +wearing His Majesty's uniform, who had been quartered at one time in +Belfast or Carrickfergus and at another in Cork or Limerick, could be +under no illusion as to where that uniform was held in respect and where +it was scorned. The certainty that the reality of their own loyalty was +understood by the men who served the King was a sustaining thought to +Ulstermen through these years of trial. + +This Portrush speech cleared the air. It made known the _modus +operandi_, as Craigavon had made known the policy. Henceforward Ulster +Unionists had a definite idea of what was before them, and they had +already unbounded confidence both in the sagacity and in the courage of +the man who had become their leader. + +The Craigavon meeting led, almost by accident as it were, to a +development the importance of which was hardly foreseen at the time. +Among the processionists who passed through Captain Craig's grounds +there was a contingent of Orangemen from County Tyrone who attracted +general attention by their smart appearance and the orderly precision of +their marching. On inquiry it was learnt that these men had of their own +accord been learning military drill. The spirit of emulation naturally +suggested to others to follow the example of the Tyrone Lodges. It was +soon followed, not by Orangemen alone, but by members of the Unionist +Clubs, very many of whom belonged to no Orange Lodge. Within a few +months drilling--of an elementary kind, it is true--had become popular +in many parts of the country. Colonel R.H. Wallace, C.B., who had served +with distinction in the South African War, where he commanded the 5th +Royal Irish Rifles, was a prominent member of the Orange Institution, in +which he was in 1911 Grand Master of the Belfast Lodges, and Grand +Secretary of the Provincial Grand Orange Lodge of Ulster; and, being a +man of marked ability and widespread popularity, his influence was +powerful and extensive. He was a devoted adherent of Carson, and there +was no keener spirit among the Ulster Loyalist leaders. Colonel Wallace +was among the first to perceive the importance of this military drilling +that was taking place throughout Ulster, and through his leading +position in the Orange Institution his encouragement did much to extend +the practice. + +Having been a lawyer by profession before South Africa called him to +serve his country in arms, Wallace was careful to ascertain how the law +stood with regard to the drilling that was going on. He consulted Mr. +James Campbell (afterwards Lord Chancellor of Ireland), who advised that +any two Justices of the Peace had power to authorise drill and other +military exercises within the area of their jurisdiction on certain +conditions. The terms of the application made by Colonel Wallace himself +to two Belfast magistrates show what the conditions were, and, under the +circumstances of the time, are not without a flavour of humour. The +request stated that Wallace and another officer of the Belfast Grand +Lodge were-- + +"Authorised on behalf of the members thereof to apply for lawful +authority to them to hold meetings of the members of the said Lodge and +the Lodges under its jurisdiction for the purpose of training and +drilling themselves and of being trained and drilled to the use of arms, +and for the purpose of practising military exercises, movements, and +evolutions. And we are authorised, on their behalf, to give their +assurance that they desire this authority as faithful subjects of His +Majesty the King, and their undertaking that such authority is sought +and will be used by them only to make them more efficient citizens for +the purpose of maintaining the constitution of the United Kingdom as now +established and protecting their rights and liberties thereunder." + +The _bona fides_ of an application couched in these terms, which +followed well-established precedent, could not be questioned by any +loyal subject of His Majesty. The purpose for which the licence was +requested was stated with literal exactness and without subterfuge. +There was nothing seditious or revolutionary in it, and the desire of +men to make themselves more efficient citizens for maintaining the +established government of their country, and their rights and liberties +under it, was surely not merely innocent of offence, but praiseworthy. + +Such, at all events, was the view taken by numbers of strictly +conscientious holders of the Commission of the Peace throughout Ulster, +with the result that the Ulster Volunteer Force sprang into existence +within a few months without the smallest violation of the law. +Originating in the Orange Lodges and the Unionist Clubs, it soon +enrolled large numbers of men outside both those organisations. Men with +military experience interested themselves in training the volunteers in +their districts; the local bodies were before long drawn into a single +coherent organisation on a territorial basis, which soon gave rise to an +_esprit de corps_ leading to friendly rivalry in efficiency between the +local battalions. + +This Ulster Volunteer Force had as yet no arms in their hands, but, as +the first act of the Liberal Government on coming into power in 1906 had +been to drop the "coercion" Act which prohibited the importation of +firearms into Ireland, there was no reason why, in the course of time, +the U.V.F. should not be fully armed with as complete an avoidance of +illegality as that with which in the meantime they were acquiring some +knowledge of military duties. But for the present they had to be content +with wooden "dummy" rifles with which to learn their drill, an expedient +which, as will be seen later on, excited the derisive mirth of the +English Radical Press. + +The application to the Belfast Justices for leave to drill the Orange +Lodges was dated the 5th of January, 1912. For some months both before +and after that date the formation of new battalions proceeded rapidly, +so that by the summer of 1912 the force was of considerable strength and +decent efficiency; but already in the autumn of 1911 it soon became +apparent that the existence of such a force would give a backing to the +Craigavon policy which nothing else could provide. At Craigavon the +leader of the movement had foreshadowed the possibility of having to +take charge of the government of those districts which the Loyalists +could control. The U.V.F. made such control a practical proposition, and +the consciousness of this throughout Ulster gave a solid reality to the +movement which it must otherwise have lacked. + +The special Commission of Five set to work immediately after the +Craigavon meeting to carry out the task entrusted to them by the +Council. But, as more than two years must elapse before the Home Rule +Bill could become law under the Parliament Act, there was no immediate +urgency in making arrangements for setting up the Provisional Government +resolved upon by the Council on the 25th of September, 1911, and the +outside public heard nothing about what was being done in the matter for +many months to come. + +Meantime the Ulster Loyalists watched with something akin to dismay the +dissensions in the Unionist party in England over the question of Tariff +Reform, which made impossible a united front against the revived attack +on the Union, and woefully weakened the effective force of the +Opposition both in Parliament and the country. Public opinion was +diverted from the one thing that really mattered--had Englishmen been +able to realise it--from an Imperial standpoint, no less than from the +standpoint of Irish Loyalists. On the 8th of November, 1911, mainly in +consequence of these dissensions, Mr. Balfour resigned the leadership of +the Unionist Party. This event was regarded in Ulster as a calamity. Mr. +Balfour was the ablest and most zealous living defender of the Union, +and the great services he had rendered to the country during his +memorable Chief Secretaryship were not forgotten. Ulstermen, in whose +eyes the tariff question was of very subordinate importance, feared that +no one could be found to take command of the Unionist forces comparable +with the Achilles who, as they supposed, was now retiring to his tent. + +What happened in regard to the vacant leadership is well known--how Mr. +Walter Long and Mr. Austen Chamberlain, after presenting themselves for +a day or two as rival candidates, patriotically agreed to stand aside +and give united support to Mr. Bonar Law in order to avoid a division in +the ranks of the party. It is less generally known that Mr. Bonar Law, +before consenting to his name being proposed, wrote and asked Sir Edward +Carson if he would accept the leadership, and that it was only when he +received an emphatic reply in the negative that he assumed the +responsibility himself. If this had been known at the time in Ulster +there can be little doubt that consternation would have been caused by +the refusal of their own leader to place himself at the head of the +whole Unionist Party. It is quite certain that Sir Edward Carson would +have been acceptable to the party meeting at the Carlton Club, for he +was then much better known to the party both in the House of Commons and +in the country than was Mr. Bonar Law, whose great qualities as +parliamentarian and statesman had not yet been revealed; but it is not +less certain that, if his first thought was to be of service to Ulster, +Carson acted wisely in maintaining a position of independence, in which +all his powers could continue to be concentrated on a single aim of +statecraft. + +At all events, the new leader of the Unionist Party was not long in +proving that the Ulster cause had suffered no set-back by the change, +and his constant and courageous backing of the Ulster leader won him +the unstinted admiration and affection of every Irish Loyalist. Mr. +Balfour also soon showed that he was no sulking Achilles; his loyalty to +the Unionist cause was undimmed; he never for a moment acted, as a +meaner man might, as if his successor were a supplanter; and within the +next few months he many times rose from beside Mr. Bonar Law in the +House of Commons to deliver some of the best speeches he ever made on +the question of Irish Government, full of cogent and crushing criticism +of the Home Rule proposals of Mr. Asquith. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[13] _Annual Register_, 1911, p. 228. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +MR. CHURCHILL IN BELFAST + + +At the women's meeting at the Ulster Hall on the 18th of January, +1912,[14] Lord Londonderry took occasion to recall once more to the +memory of his audience the celebrated speech delivered by Lord Randolph +Churchill in the same building twenty-six years before. That clarion +was, indeed, in no danger of being forgotten; but there happened at that +particular moment to be a very special reason for Ulstermen to remember +it, and the incident which was present in Londonderry's mind--a +Resolution passed by the Standing Committee of the Ulster Unionist +Council two days earlier--proved to be so distinct a turning-point in +the history of Ulster's stand for the Union that it claims more than a +passing mention. + +"Diligence and vigilance should be your watchword, so that the blow, if +it is coming, may not come upon you as a thief in the night, and may not +find you unready and taken by surprise." Such had been Lord Randolph's +warning. It was now learnt, with feelings in which disgust and +indignation were equally mingled, that Lord Randolph's son was bent on +coming to Belfast, not indeed as a thief in the night, but with +challenging audacity, to give his countenance, encouragement, and +support to the adherents of disloyalty whom Lord Randolph had told +Ulster to resist to the death. And not only was he coming to Belfast; he +was coming to the Ulster Hall--to the very building which his father's +oration had, as it were, consecrated to the Unionist cause, and which +had come to be regarded as almost a loyalist shrine. + +It is no doubt difficult for those who are unfamiliar with the +psychology of the North of Ireland to understand the anger which this +projected visit of Mr. Winston Churchill aroused in Belfast. His change +of political allegiance from the party which his father had so +brilliantly served and led, to the party which his father had so +pitilessly chastised, was of course displeasing to Conservatives +everywhere. Politicians who leave their friends to join their opponents +are never popular with those they abandon, and Mr. Winston Churchill was +certainly no exception. But such desertions, after the first burst of +wrath has evaporated, are generally accepted with a philosophic shrug in +what journalists call "political circles" in London, where plenty of +precedents for lapses from party virtue can be quoted. In the provinces, +even in England, resentment dies down less easily, and forgiveness is of +slow growth; but in Ulster, where a political creed is held with a +religious fervour, or, as a hostile critic might put it, with an +intolerance unknown in England, and where the dividing line between +"loyalty" and "disloyalty" is regarded almost as a matter of faith, the +man who passes from the one to the other arouses the same bitterness of +anger and contempt which soldiers feel for a deserter in face of the +enemy. + +To such sentiments there was added, in the case of Mr. Winston +Churchill, a shocked feeling that his appearance in the Ulster Hall as +an emissary of Home Rule would be an act not only of political apostasy +but of filial impiety. The prevailing sentiment in Belfast at the time +was expressed somewhat brutally, perhaps, in the local Press--"he is +coming to dance on his father's coffin." It was an outrage on their +feelings which the people of Belfast could not and would not tolerate. +If Mr. Churchill was determined to flaunt the green flag let him find a +more suitable site than the very citadel in which they had been exhorted +by his father to keep the Union Jack flying to the last. + +If anything could have added to the anger excited by this announcement +it would have been the fact that the Cabinet Minister was to be +accompanied on the platform of the Ulster Hall by Mr. Redmond and Mr. +Devlin, and that Lord Pirrie was to be his chairman. There was no more +unpopular citizen of Belfast than Lord Pirrie; and the reason was neatly +explained to English readers by the Special Correspondent of _The +Times_. "Lord Pirrie," he wrote, "deserted Unionism about the time the +Liberals acceded to power, and soon afterwards was made a Peer; whether +_propter hoc_ or only _post hoc_ I am quite unable to say, though no +Ulster Unionist has any doubts on the subject."[15] But that was not +quite the whole reason. That Lord Pirrie was an example of apostasy +"just for a riband to stick in his coat," was the general belief; but it +was also resented that a man who had amassed, not "a handful of silver," +but an enormous fortune, through a trade created by an eminent Unionist +firm, and under conditions brought about in Belfast by the Union with +Great Britain, should have kicked away the ladder by which he had +climbed from obscurity to wealth and rank. An additional cause of +offence, moreover, was that he was at that time trying to persuade +credulous people in England that there was in Ulster a party of Liberals +and Protestant Home Rulers, of which he posed as leader, although +everyone on the spot knew that the "party" would not fill a tramcar. Of +this party the same Correspondent of _The Times_ very truly said: + + "Nearly every prominent man in it has received an office or a + decoration--and the fact that, with all the power of patronage in + their hands for the last six years, the Government had been able to + make so small an inroad into the solid square of Ulster Unionism is + a remarkable testimony to the strength of the sentiment which gives + it cohesion." + +But a score of individuals in possession of an office equipped with +stamped stationery, and with a titled chairman of fabulous wealth, have +no difficulty in deluding strangers at a distance into the belief that +they are an influential and representative body of men. It was in +furtherance of the scheme for creating this false impression across the +Channel that Lord Pirrie and his so-called "Ulster Liberal Association" +invited Mr. Winston Churchill and the two Nationalist leaders to speak +in the Ulster Hall on the 8th of February, 1912, and that the +announcement of the fixture was made in the Press some three weeks +earlier. + +The Unionist leaders were not long left in ignorance of the public +excitement which this news created in the city. A specially summoned +meeting of the Standing Committee, with Londonderry in the chair, was +held on the 16th of January to consider what action, if any, should be +taken; but it was no simple matter they had to decide, especially in the +absence of their leader, Sir Edward Carson, who was kept in England by +great Unionist meetings which he was addressing in Lancashire. + +The reasons, on the one hand, for doing nothing were obvious enough. No +one, of course, suggested the possibility of preventing Mr. Churchill +coming to Belfast; but could even the Ulster Hall itself, the Loyalist +sanctuary, be preserved from the threatened desecration? It was the +property of the Corporation, and the Unionist political organisation had +no exclusive title to its use. The meeting could only be frustrated by +force in some form, or by a combination of force and stratagem. The +Standing Committee, all men of solid sense and judgment, several of whom +were Privy Councillors, were very fully alive to the objections to any +resort to force in such a matter. They valued freedom of speech as +highly as any Englishman, and they realised the odium that interference +with it might bring both on themselves and their cause; and the last +thing they desired at the present crisis was to alienate public sympathy +in Great Britain. The force of such considerations was felt strongly by +several members, indeed by all, of the Committee, and not least by Lord +Londonderry himself, whose counsel naturally carried great weight. + +But, on the other hand, the danger of a passive attitude was also fully +recognised. It was perfectly well understood that one of the chief +desires of the Liberal Government and its followers at this time was to +make the world believe that Ulster's opposition to Home Rule had +declined in strength in recent years; that there really was a +considerable body of Protestant opinion in agreement with Lord Pirrie, +and prepared to support Home Rule on "Liberal," if not on avowedly +"Nationalist" principles, and that the policy for which Carson, +Londonderry, and the Unionist Council stood was a gigantic piece of +bluff which only required to be exposed to disappear in general +derision. + +From this point of view the Churchill meeting could only be regarded as +a deliberate challenge and provocation to Ulster. It seemed probable +that the First Lord of the Admiralty had been selected for the mission +in preference to any other Minister precisely because he was Lord +Randolph's son. All this bluster about "fight and be right" was +traceable, so Liberal Ministers doubtless reasoned, to that unhappy +speech of "Winston's father"; let Winston go over to the same place and +explain his father away. If he obtained a hearing in the Ulster Hall in +the company of Redmond, Devlin, and Pirrie the legend of Ulster as an +impregnable loyalist stronghold would be wiped out, and Randolph's rant +could be made to appear a foolish joke in comparison with the more +mature and discriminating wisdom of Winston. + +It cannot, of course, be definitely asserted that the situation was thus +weighed deliberately by the Cabinet, or by Mr. Churchill himself. But, +if it was not, they must have been deficient in foresight; for there can +be no doubt, as several writers in the Press perceived, that the +transaction would so have presented itself to the mind of the public; +the psychological result would inure to the benefit of the Home Rulers. + +But there was also another consideration which could not be ignored by +the Standing Committee--namely, the attitude of that important +individual, the "man in the street." Among the innumerable +misrepresentations levelled at the Ulster Movement none was more common +than that it was confined to a handful of lords, landlords, and wealthy +employers of labour; and, as a corollary, that all the trouble was +caused by the perversity of a few individuals, of whom the most guilty +was Sir Edward Carson. The truth was very different. Even at the zenith +of his influence and popularity Sir Edward himself would have been +instantly disowned by the Ulster democracy if he had given away anything +fundamental to the Unionist cause. More than to anything else he owed +his power to his pledge, never violated, that he would never commit his +followers to any irretraceable step without the consent of the Council, +in which they were fully represented on a democratic basis. At the +particular crisis now reached popular feeling could not be safely +disregarded, and it was clearly understood by the Standing Committee +that public excitement over the coming visit of Mr. Churchill was only +being kept within bounds by the belief of the public that their leaders +would not "let them down." + +All these considerations were most carefully balanced at the meeting on +the 16th of January, and there were prolonged deliberations before the +decision was arrived at that some action must be taken to prevent the +Churchill meeting being held in the Ulster Hall, but that no obstacle +could, of course, be made to his speaking in any other building in +Belfast. The further question as to what this action should be was under +discussion when Colonel R.H. Wallace, C.B., Grand Master of the Belfast +Orangemen, and a man of great influence with all classes in the city as +well as in the neighbouring counties, entered the room and told the +Committee that people outside were expecting the Unionist Council to +devise means for stopping the Ulster Hall meeting; that they were quite +resolved to take matters into their own hands if the Council remained +passive; and that, in his judgment, the result in that event would +probably be very serious disorder and bloodshed, and the loss of all +control over the Unionist rank and file by their leaders. + +This information arrived too late to influence the decision on the main +question, but it confirmed its wisdom and set at rest the doubts which +some of the Committee had at first entertained. It was reported at the +time that there had been a dissenting minority consisting of Lord +Londonderry, Mr. Sinclair, and Mr. John Young, the last-mentioned being +a Privy Councillor, a trusted leader of the Presbyterians, and a man of +moderate views whose great influence throughout the north-eastern +counties was due to his high character and the soundness of his +judgment. There was, however, no truth in this report, which +Londonderry publicly contradicted; but it is probable that the +concurrence of the men mentioned, and perhaps of others, was owing to +their well-founded conviction that the course decided upon, however +high-handed it might appear to onlookers at a distance, was in reality +the only means of averting much more deplorable consequences. + +On the following day, January 17th, an immense sensation was created by +the publication of the Resolution which had been unanimously adopted on +the motion of Captain James Craig, M.P. It was: + + "That the Standing Committee of the Ulster Unionist Council + observes with astonishment the deliberate challenge thrown down by + Mr. Winston Churchill, Mr. John Redmond, Mr. Joseph Devlin, and + Lord Pirrie in announcing their intention to hold a Home Rule + meeting in the centre of the loyal city of Belfast, and resolves to + take steps to prevent its being held." + +There was an immediate outpouring of vituperation by the Ministerial +Press in England, as had been anticipated by the Standing Committee. +Special Correspondents trooped over to Belfast, whence they filled their +papers with telegrams, articles, and interviews, ringing the changes on +the audacity of this unwarranted interference with freedom of speech, +and speculating as to the manner in which the threat, was likely to be +carried out. Scribes of "Open Letters" had a fine opportunity to display +their gift of insolent invective. Cartoonists and caricaturists had a +time of rare enjoyment, and let their pencils run riot. Writers in the +Liberal Press for the most part assumed that Mr. Churchill would bid +defiance to the Ulster Unionist Council; others urged him to do so and +to fulfil his engagement; some, with more prudence, suggested that he +might be extricated from the difficulty without loss of dignity if the +Chief Secretary would prohibit the meeting, as likely to produce a +breach of peace, and it was pointed out that Dublin Castle would +certainly forbid a meeting in Tipperary organised by the Ulster Unionist +Council, with Sir Edward Carson as principal speaker. + +However, on the 25th of January Mr. Churchill addressed a letter, dated +from the Admiralty, to Lord Londonderry at Mount Stewart, in which he +said he was prepared to give up the idea of speaking in the Ulster Hall, +and would arrange for his meeting to be held elsewhere in the city, as +"it was not a point of any importance to him where he spoke in Belfast." +He did not explain why, if that were the case, he had ever made a plan +that so obviously constituted a direct premeditated challenge to Ulster. +Lord Londonderry, in his reply, said that the Ulster Unionist Council +had no intention of interfering with any meeting Mr. Churchill might +arrange "outside the districts which passionately resent your action," +but that, "having regard to the intense state of feeling" which had been +aroused, the Council could accept no responsibility for anything that +might occur during the visit. Mr. Churchill's prudent change of plan +relieved the extreme tension of the situation, and there was much +speculation as to what influence had produced a result so satisfactory +to the Ulster Unionist Council. The truth seems to be that the Council's +Resolution had impaled the Government on the horns of a very awkward +dilemma, completely turning the tables on Ministers, whose design had +been to compel the Belfast Unionists either to adopt, on the one hand, +an attitude of apparent intolerance which would put them in the wrong in +the eyes of the British public, or, on the other, to submit to the +flagrant misrepresentation of their whole position which would be the +outcome of a Nationalist meeting in the Ulster Hall presided over by the +President of the illusory "Ulster Liberal Association," and with Lord +Randolph Churchill's son as the protagonist of Home Rule. The threat to +stop the meeting forced the Government to consider how the First Lord of +the Admiralty and his friends were to be protected and enabled to fulfil +their programme. The Irish Executive, according to the Dublin +Correspondent of _The Times_, objected to the employment of troops for +this purpose; because-- + + "If the Belfast Unionists decided to resist the soldiers, bloodshed + and disorder on a large scale must have ensued. If, on the other + hand, they yielded to the _force majeure_ of British bayonets, and + Mr. Churchill was enabled to speak in the Ulster Hall, they would + still have carried their point; they would have proved to the + English people that Home Rule could only be thrust upon Ulster by + an overwhelming employment of military force. The Executive + preferred to depend on the services of a large police force. And + this meant that Mr. Churchill could not speak in the Ulster Hall; + for the Belfast democracy, though it might yield to soldiers, would + certainly offer a fierce resistance to the police. It seemed, + therefore, that the Government's only safe and prudent course was + to prevent Mr. Churchill from trying to speak in that Hall."[16] + +The Government, in fact, had been completely out-manoeuvred. They had +given the Ulster Unionist Council an opportunity to show its own +constituents and the outside world that, where the occasion demanded +action, it could act with decision; and they had failed utterly to drive +a wedge between Ulster and the Unionist Party in England and in the +South of Ireland, as they hoped to do by goading Belfast into +illegality. On the other hand, they had aroused some misgiving in the +ranks of their own supporters. A political observer in London reported +that the incident had-- + + "Caused a feeling of considerable apprehension in Radical circles. + The pretence that Ulster does not mean to fight is now almost + abandoned even by the most fanatical Home Rulers."[17] + +Unionist journals in Great Britain, almost without exception, applauded +the conduct of the Council, and proved by their comments that they +understood its motive, and sympathised with the feelings of Ulster. _The +Saturday Review_ expressed the general view when it wrote: + + "With the indignation of the loyal Ulstermen at this proposal we + are in complete sympathy. Where there is a question of Home Rule, + the Ulster Hall is sacred ground, and to the Ulster mind and, + indeed, to the mind of any calm outsider, there is something both + impudent and impious in the proposal that this temple of Unionism + should be profaned by the son of a man who assisted at its + consecration."[18] + +The southern Unionists of Ireland thoroughly appreciated the difficulty +that had confronted their friends in the North, and approved the way it +had been met. This was natural enough, since, as the Dublin +Correspondent of _The Times_ pointed out-- + + "They understand Ulster's position better than it can be understood + in England. They realise that the provocation has been extreme. + There has been a deliberate conspiracy to persuade the English + people, first, that Ulster is weakening in its opposition to Home + Rule; and, next, that its declared refusal to accept Home Rule in + any form is mere bluff. It became necessary for Ulster to defeat + this conspiracy, and the Ulster Council's Resolution has defeated + it."[19] + +A few days later a still more valuable token of sympathy and support +from across the Channel gave fresh encouragement to Ulster. On the 26th +of January Mr. Bonar Law made his first public speech as leader of the +Unionist Party, when he addressed an audience of ten thousand people in +the Albert Hall in London. In the course of a masterly analysis of the +dangers inseparable from Home Rule, he once more drew attention to "the +dishonesty with which the Government hid Home Rule before the election, +and now propose to carry it after the election"; but the passage which +gave the greatest satisfaction in Ulster was that in which, speaking for +the whole Unionist Party--which meant at least half, and probably more +than half, the British nation--Mr. Bonar Law, in reference to the recent +occurrence in Belfast, said: + + "We hear a great deal about the intolerance of Ulster. It is easy + to be tolerant for other people. We who represent the Unionist + Party in England and Scotland have supported, and we mean to + support to the end, the loyal minority. We support them not because + we are intolerant, but because their claims are just." + +Meanwhile, Mr. Churchill's friends were seeking a building in Belfast +where the baffled Minister could hold his meeting on the 8th of +February, and in the course of the search the director of the Belfast +Opera-house was offered a knighthood as well as a large sum of money for +the use of his theatre,[20] a fact that possibly explains the statement +made by the London Correspondent of _The Freeman's Journal_ on the 28th +of January, that the Government's Chief Whip and Patronage Secretary was +busying himself with the arrangement.[21] Captain Frederick Guest, M.P., +one of the junior whips, arrived in Belfast on the 25th to give +assistance on the spot; but no suitable hall with an auspicious _genius +loci_ could apparently be found, for eventually a marquee was imported +from Scotland and erected on the Celtic football ground, in the +Nationalist quarter of the city. + +The question of maintaining order on the day of the meeting was at the +same time engaging the attention both of the Government in Dublin and +the Unionist Council in Belfast. The former decided to strengthen the +garrison of Belfast by five battalions of infantry and two squadrons of +cavalry, while at the Old Town Hall anxious consultations were held as +to the best means of securing that the soldiers should have nothing to +do. The Unionist leaders had not yet gained the full influence they were +able to exercise later, nor were their followers as disciplined as they +afterwards became. The Orange Lodges were the only section of the +population in any sense under discipline; and this section was a much +smaller proportion of the Unionist rank and file than English Liberals +supposed, who were in the habit of speaking as if "Orangemen" were a +correct cognomen of the whole Protestant population of Ulster. It was, +however, only through the Lodges and the Unionist Clubs that the +Standing Committee could hope to exert influence in keeping the peace. +That Committee, accordingly, passed a Resolution on the 5th of February, +moved by Colonel Wallace, the most influential of the Belfast +Orangemen, which "strongly urged all Unionists," in view of the Ulster +Hall victory, "to abstain from any interference with the meeting at the +Celtic football ground, and to do everything in their power to avoid any +action that might lead to any disturbance." + +The Resolution was circulated to all the Orange Lodges and Unionist +Clubs in Belfast and the neighbouring districts--for it was expected +that some 30,000 or 40,000 people might come into the city from outside +on the day of the meeting--with urgent injunctions to the officers to +bring it to the notice of all members; it was also extensively placarded +on all the hoardings of Belfast. Of even greater importance perhaps, in +the interests of peace, was the decision that Carson and Londonderry +should themselves remain in Belfast on the 8th. This, as _The Times_ +Correspondent in Belfast had the insight to observe, was "the strongest +guarantee of order" that could be given, and there is no doubt that +their appearance, together with Captain Craig, M.P., and Lord +Templetown, on the balcony of the Ulster Club had a calming effect on +the excited crowd that surged round Mr. Churchill's hotel, and served as +a reminder throughout the day of the advice which these leaders had +issued to their adherents. + +The First Lord of the Admiralty was accompanied to Belfast by Mrs. +Churchill, his Secretary, and two Liberal Members of Parliament, Mr. +Fiennes and Mr. Hamar Greenwood--for the last-mentioned of whom fate was +reserving a more intimate connection with Irish trouble than could be +got from a fleeting flirtation with disloyalty in West Belfast. They +were greeted at Larne by a large crowd vociferously cheering Carson, and +singing the National Anthem. A still larger concourse of people, though +it could not be more hostile, awaited Mr. Churchill at the Midland +Station in Belfast and along the route to the Grand Central Hotel. When +he started from the hotel early in the afternoon for the football field +the crowd in Royal Avenue was densely packed and actively demonstrating +its unfavourable opinion of the distinguished visitor; on whom, however, +none desired or attempted to inflict any physical injury, although the +involuntary swaying of so great a mass of men was in danger for a +moment of overturning the motor-car in which he and his wife were +seated. + +The way to the meeting took the Minister from the Unionist to the +Nationalist district and afforded him a practical demonstration of the +gulf between the "two nations" which he and his colleagues were bent +upon treating as one. The moment he crossed the boundary, the booing and +groaning of one area was succeeded by enthusiastic cheers in the other; +grotesque effigies of Redmond and of himself in one street were replaced +by equally unflattering effigies of Londonderry and Carson in the next; +in Royal Avenue both men and women looked like tearing him in pieces, in +Falls Road they thronged so close to shake his hand that "Mr. Hamar +Greenwood found it necessary" (so the _Times_ Correspondent reported) +"to stand on the footboard outside the car and relieve the pressure." + +It was expected that Mr. Churchill would return to his hotel after the +meeting, and there had been no shrinkage in the crowd in the interval, +nor any change in its sentiments. The police decided that it would be +wiser for him to depart by another route. He was therefore taken by back +streets to the Midland terminus, and without waiting for the ordinary +train by which he had arranged to travel, was as hastily as possible +despatched to Larne by a special train before it was generally known +that Royal Avenue and York Street were to see him no more. Mr. Churchill +tells us in his brilliant biography of his father that when Lord +Randolph arrived at Larne in 1886 "he was welcomed like a King." His own +arrival at the same port was anything but regal, and his departure more +resembled that of the "thief in the night," of whom Lord Randolph had +bidden Ulster beware. + +So this memorable pilgrimage ended. Of the speech itself which Mr. +Churchill delivered to some thousands of Nationalists, many of whom were +brought by special train from Dublin, it is unnecessary here to say more +than that Sir Edward Carson described it a few days later as a "speech +full of eloquent platitudes," and that it certainly did little to +satisfy the demand for information about the Home Rule Bill which was to +be produced in the coming session of Parliament. + +The undoubted importance which this visit of Mr. Churchill to Belfast +and its attendant circumstances had in the development of the Ulster +Movement is the justification for treating it in what may appear to be +disproportionate detail. From it dates the first clear realisation even +by hostile critics in England, and probably by Ministers themselves, +that the policy of Ulster as laid down at Craigavon could not be +dismissed with a sneer, although it is true that there were many Home +Rulers who never openly abandoned the pretence that it could. Not less +important was the effect in Ulster itself. The Unionist Council had +proved itself in earnest; it could, and was prepared to, do more than +organise imposing political demonstrations; and so the rank and file +gained confidence in leaders who could act as well as make speeches, and +who had shown themselves in an emergency to be in thorough accord with +popular sentiment; the belief grew that the men who met in the Old Town +Hall would know how to handle any crisis that might arise, would not +timidly shrink from acting as occasion might require, and were quite +able to hold their own with the Government in tactical manoeuvres. This +confidence improved discipline. The Lodges and the Clubs and the general +body of shipyard and other workers had less temptation to take matters +into their own hands; they were content to wait for instructions from +headquarters now that they could trust their leaders to give the +necessary instructions at the proper time. + +The net result, therefore, of an expedition which was designed to expose +the hollowness and the weakness of the Ulster case was to augment the +prestige of the Ulster leaders and the self-confidence of the Ulster +people, and to make both leaders and followers understand better than +before the strength of the position in which they were entrenched. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[14] See _ante_, p. 38. + +[15] _The Times_, January 18th, 1912. + +[16] _The Times_, January 26th, 1912. + +[17] _The Standard_, January 18th, 1912. + +[18] _The Saturday Review_, January 27th, 1912. + +[19] _The Times_, January 20th, 1912. + +[20] See Interview with Mr. F.W. Warden in _The Standard_, February 8th, +1912. + +[21] See Dublin Correspondent's telegram in _The Times_, January 29th, +1912. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +"WHAT ANSWER FROM THE NORTH?" + + +Public curiosity as to the proposals that the coming Home Rule Bill +might contain was not set at rest by Mr. Churchill's oration in Belfast. +The constitution-mongers were hard at work with suggestions. Attempts +were made to conciliate hesitating opinion by representing Irish Home +Rule as a step in the direction of a general federal system for the +United Kingdom, and by tracing an analogy with the constitutions already +granted to the self-governing Dominions. Closely connected with the +federal idea was the question of finance. There was lively speculation +as to what measure of control over taxation the Bill would confer on the +Irish Parliament, and especially whether it would be given the power to +impose duties of Customs and Excise. Home Rulers themselves were sharply +divided on the question. At a conference held at the London School of +Economics on the 10th of January, 1912, Professor T.M. Kettle, Mr. +Erskine Childers, and Mr. Thomas Lough, M.P., declared themselves in +favour of Irish fiscal autonomy, while Lord Macdonnell opposed the idea +as irreconcilable with the fiscal policy of Great Britain.[22] The +latter opinion was very forcibly maintained a few weeks later by a +member of the Government with some reputation as an economist. Speaking +to a branch of the United Irish League in London, Mr. J.M. Robertson, +Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, summarily rejected fiscal +autonomy for Ireland, which, he said, "really meant a claim for +separation." "To give fiscal autonomy," he added, "would mean +disintegration of the United Kingdom. Fiscal autonomy for Ireland put +an end altogether to all talk of Federal Home Rule, and he could see no +hope for a Home Rule Bill if it included fiscal autonomy."[23] + +Although the Secretary to the Board of Trade was probably not in the +confidence of the Cabinet, many people took Mr. Robertson's speech as an +indication of the limits of financial control that the Bill would give +to Ireland. On the same day that it was delivered the Dublin +Correspondent of _The Times_ reported that the demand of the +Nationalists for control of Customs and Excise was rapidly growing, and +that any Bill which withheld it, even if it could scrape through a +National Convention, "would never survive the two succeeding years of +agitation and criticism"; and he agreed with Mr. Robertson that if, on +the other hand, fiscal autonomy should be conceded, it would destroy all +prospect of a settlement on federal lines, and would "establish virtual +separation between Ireland and Great Britain." He predicted that +"Ulster, of course, would resist to the bitter end."[24] + +Ulster, in point of fact, took but a secondary interest in the question. +Her people were indeed opposed to anything that would enlarge the +separation from England, or emphasise it, and, as they realised, like +the Secretary to the Board of Trade, that fiscal autonomy would have +this effect, they opposed fiscal autonomy; but they cared little about +the thing in itself one way or the other. Nor did they greatly concern +themselves whether Home Rule proceeded on federal lines or any other +lines; nor whether some apt analogy could or could not be found between +Ireland and the Dominions of the Crown thousands of miles oversea. +Having made up their minds that no Dublin Parliament should exercise +jurisdiction over themselves, they did not worry themselves much about +the powers with which such a Parliament might be endowed. It is +noteworthy, however, in view of the importance which the question +afterwards attained, that so early as January 1912 Sir Edward Carson, +speaking in Manchester, maintained that without fiscal autonomy Home +Rule was impossible,[25] and that some months later Mr. Bonar Law, in a +speech at Glasgow on the 21st of May, said that if the Unionist Party +were in a position where they had to concede Home Rule to Ireland they +would include fiscal autonomy in the grant.[26] These leaders, who, +unlike the Liberal Ministers, had some knowledge of the Irish +temperament, realised from the first the absurdity of Mr. Asquith's +attempt to satisfy the demands of "the rebel party" by offering +something very different from what that party demanded. The Ulster +leader and the leader of the Unionist Party knew as well as anybody that +fiscal autonomy meant "virtual separation between Ireland and Great +Britain," but they also knew that separation was the ultimate aim of +Nationalist policy, and that there could be no finality in the Liberal +compromise; and they no doubt agreed with the forcible language used by +Mr. Balfour in the previous autumn, when he said that "the rotten hybrid +system of a Parliament with municipal duties and a national feeling +seemed to be the dream of political idiots." + +The ferment of speculation as to the Government's intentions continued +during the early weeks of the Parliamentary session, which opened on the +14th of February, but all inquiries by members of the House of Commons +were met by variations on the theme "Wait and See." Unionists, however, +realised that it was not in Parliament, but outside, that the only +effective work could be done, in the hope of forcing a dissolution of +Parliament before the Bill could become law. A vigorous campaign was +conducted throughout the country, especially in Lancashire, and +arrangements were made for a monster demonstration in Belfast, which +should serve both as a counter-blast to the Churchill fiasco, and for +enabling English and Scottish Unionists to test for themselves the +temper of the Ulster resistance. In the belief that the Home Rule Bill +would be introduced before Easter, it was decided to hold this meeting +in the Recess, as Mr. Bonar Law had promised to speak, and a number of +English Members of Parliament wished to be present. At the last moment +the Government announced that the Bill would not be presented till the +11th of April, after Parliament reassembled, and its provisions were +therefore still unknown when the demonstration took place on the 9th in +the Show Ground of the Royal Agricultural Society at Balmoral, a suburb +of Belfast. + +Feeling ran high as the date of the double event approached, and the +indignant sense of wrong that prevailed in Ulster was finely voiced in a +poem, entitled "Ulster 1912," written by Mr. Kipling for the occasion +which appeared in _The Morning Post_ on the day of the Balmoral +demonstration, of which the first and last stanzas were: + + "The dark eleventh hour + Draws on, and sees us sold + To every evil Power + We fought against of old. + Rebellion, rapine, hate, + Oppression, wrong, and greed + Are loosed to rule our fate, + By England's act and deed. + + "Believe, we dare not boast, + Believe, we do not fear-- + We stand to pay the cost + In all that men hold dear. + What answer from the North? + One Law, One Land, One Throne. + If England drive us forth + We shall not fall alone!" + +The preparations for the Unionist leader's coming visit to Belfast had +excited the keenest interest throughout England and Scotland. Coinciding +as it did with the introduction of the Government's Bill, it was +recognised to be the formal countersigning by the whole Unionist Party +of Great Britain of Ulster's proclamation of her determination to resist +her forcible degradation in constitutional status. The same note of +mingled reproach and defiance which sounded in Kipling's verses was +heard in the grave warning addressed by _The Times_ to the country in a +leading article on the morning of the meeting: + + "Nobody of common judgment and common knowledge of political + movements can honestly doubt the exceptional gravity of the + occasion, and least of all can any such doubt be felt by any who + know the men of Ulster. To make light of the deep-rooted + convictions which fill the minds of those who will listen to Mr. + Bonar Law to-day is a shallow and an idle affectation, or a token + of levity and of ignorance. Enlightened Liberalism may smile at the + beliefs and the passions of the Ulster Protestants, but it was + those same beliefs and passions, in the forefathers of the men who + will gather in Belfast to-day, which saved Ireland for the British + Crown, and freed the cause of civil and religious liberty in these + islands from its last dangerous foes.... It is useless to argue + that they are mistaken. They have reasons, never answered yet, for + believing that they are not mistaken.... Their temper is an + ultimate fact which British statesmen and British citizens have to + face. These men cannot be persuaded to submit to Home Rule. Are + Englishmen and Scotchmen prepared to fasten it upon them by + military force? That is the real Ulster question." + +Other great English newspapers wrote in similar strain, and the support +thus given was of the greatest possible encouragement to the Ulster +people, who were thereby assured that their standpoint was not +misunderstood and that the justice of their "loyalist" claims was +appreciated across the Channel. + +Among the numberless popular demonstrations which marked the history of +Ulster's stand against Home Rule, four stand out pre-eminent in the +impressiveness of their size and character. Those who attended the +Ulster Convention of 1892 were persuaded that no political meeting could +ever be more inspiring; but many of them lived to acknowledge that it +was far surpassed at Craigavon in 1911. The Craigavon meeting, though in +some respects as important as any of the series, was, from a spectacular +point of view, much less imposing than the assemblage which listened to +Mr. Bonar Law at Balmoral on Easter Tuesday, 1912; and the latter +occasion, though never surpassed in splendour and magnitude by any +single gathering, was in significance but a prelude to the magnificent +climax reached in the following September on the day when the Covenant +was signed throughout Ulster. + +The Balmoral demonstration had, however, one distinctive feature. At it +the Unionist Party of Great Britain met and grasped the hand of Ulster +Loyalism. It gave the leader and a large number of his followers an +opportunity to judge for themselves the strength and sincerity of +Ulster, and at the same time it served to show the Ulstermen the weight +of British opinion ready to back them. Mr. Bonar Law was accompanied to +Belfast by no less than seventy Members of Parliament, representing +English, Scottish, and Welsh constituencies, not a few of whom had +already attained, or afterwards rose to, political distinction. Among +them were Mr. Walter Long, Lord Hugh Cecil, Sir Robert Finlay, Lord +Charles Beresford, Lord Castlereagh, Mr. Amery, Mr. J.D. Baird, Sir +Arthur Griffith-Boscawen, Mr. Ian Malcolm, Lord Claud Hamilton, Mr. J.G. +Butcher, Mr. Ernest Pollock, Mr. George Cave, Mr. Felix Cassel, Mr. +Ormsby-Gore, Mr. Scott Dickson, Mr. W. Peel, Captain Gilmour, Mr. George +Lloyd, Mr. J.W. Hills, Mr. George Lane-Fox, Mr. Stuart-Wortley, Mr. +J.F.P. Rawlinson, Mr. H.J. Mackinder, and Mr. Herbert Nield. + +The reception of the Unionist Leader at Larne on Easter Monday was +wonderful, even to those who knew what a Larne welcome to loyalist +leaders could be, and who recalled the scenes there during the historic +visits of Lord Randolph Churchill, Lord Salisbury, and Mr. Balfour. "If +this is how you treat your friends," said Mr. Bonar Law simply, in reply +to one of the innumerable addresses presented to him, "I am glad I am +not an enemy." Before reaching Belfast he had ample opportunity at every +stopping-place of his train to note the fervour of the populace. "Are +all these people landlords?" he asked (in humorous allusion to the +Liberal legend that Ulster Unionism was manufactured by a few +aristocratic landowners), as he saw every platform thronged with +enthusiastic crowds of men and women, the majority of whom were +evidently of the poorer classes. In Belfast the concourse of people was +so dense in the streets that the motor-car in which Mr. Bonar Law and +Sir Edward Carson sat side by side found it difficult to make its way +to the Reform Club, the headquarters of what had once been Ulster +Liberalism, where an address was presented in which it was stated that +the conduct of the Government "will justify loyal Ulster in resorting to +the most extreme measures in resisting Home Rule." In his reply Mr. +Bonar Law gave them "on behalf of the Unionist Party this +message--though the brunt of the battle will be yours, there will not be +wanting help from 'across the Channel.'" At Comber, where a stop was +made on the way to Mount Stewart, he asked himself how Radical Scotsmen +would like to be treated as the Government were treating Protestant +Ulster. "I know Scotland well," he replied to his own question, "and I +believe that, rather than submit to such fate, the Scottish people would +face a second Bannockburn or a second Flodden." + +These few quotations from the first utterances of Mr. Bonar Law on his +arrival are sufficient to show how complete was the understanding +between him and the Ulster people even before the great demonstration of +the following day. He had, as _The Times_ Correspondent noted, "already +found favour with the Belfast crowd. All the way from Larne by train to +Belfast and through Belfast by motor-car to Newtownards and Mount +Stewart, his progress was a triumph." + +The remarks of the same experienced observer on the eve of the Balmoral +meeting are worth recording, especially as his anticipations were amply +fulfilled. + + "To-morrow's demonstration," he telegraphed from Belfast, "both in + numbers and enthusiasm, promises to be the most remarkable ever + seen in Ireland. If expectations are realised the assemblage of men + will be twice as numerous as the whole white population of the + Witwatersrand, whose grievances led to the South African War, and + they will represent a community greater in numbers than the white + population of South Africa as a whole. Unless all the signs are + misleading, it will be the demonstration of a community in the + deadliest earnest. By the Protestant community of Ulster, Home Rule + is regarded as a menace to their faith, to their material + well-being and prosperity, and to their freedom and national + traditions, and thus all the most potent motives which in history + have stirred men to their greatest efforts are here in operation." + +No written description, unless by the pen of some gifted imaginative +writer, could convey any true impression of the scenes that were +witnessed the following day in the Show Ground at Balmoral and the roads +leading to it from the heart of the city. The photographs published at +the time give some idea of the apparently unbounded ocean of earnest, +upturned faces, closely packed round the several platforms, and +stretching away far into a dim and distant background; but even they +could not record the impressive stillness of the vast multitude, its +orderliness, which required the presence of not a single policeman, its +spirit of almost religious solemnity which struck every observant +onlooker. No profusion of superlative adjectives can avail to reproduce +such scenes, any more than words, no matter how skilfully chosen, can +convey the tone of a violin in the hands of a master. Even the mere +number of those who took part in the demonstration cannot be guessed +with any real accuracy. There was a procession of men, whose fine +physique and military smartness were noticed by visitors from England, +which was reported to have taken three hours to pass a given point +marching in fours, and was estimated to be not less than 100,000 strong, +while those who went independently to the ground or crowded the route +were reckoned to be at least as many more. The Correspondent of _The +Times_ declared that "it was hardly by hyperbole that Sir Edward Carson +claimed that it was one of the largest assemblies in the history of the +world." + +But the moral effect of such gatherings is not to be gauged by numbers +alone. The demeanour of the people, which no organisation or stage +management could influence, impressed the English journalists and +Members of Parliament even more than the gigantic scale of the +demonstration. There was not a trace of the picnic spirit. There was no +drunkenness, no noisy buffoonery, no unseemly behaviour. The Ulster +habit of combining politics and prayer--which was not departed from at +Balmoral, where the proceedings were opened by the Primate of All +Ireland and the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church--was jeered at by +people who never witnessed an Ulster loyalist meeting; but the Editor of +_The Observer_, himself a Roman Catholic, remarked with more insight +that "the Protestant mind does not use prayer simply as part of a +parade;" and _The Times_ Correspondent, who has already been more than +once quoted, was struck by the fervour with which at Balmoral "the whole +of the vast gathering joined in singing the 90th Psalm," and he added +the very just comment that "it is the custom in Ulster to mark in this +solemn manner the serious nature of the issue when the Union is the +question, as something different from a question of mere party +politics." + +The spectacular aspect of the demonstration was admirably managed. A +saluting point was so arranged that the procession, on entering the +enclosure, could divide into two columns, one passing each side of a +small pavilion where Mr. Bonar Law, Sir Edward Carson, Lord Londonderry, +and Mr. Walter Long stood to take the salute before proceeding to the +stand which held the principal platform for the delivery of the +speeches. In the centre of the ground was a signalling-tower with a +flagstaff 90 feet high, on which a Union Jack measuring 48 feet by 25 +and said to be the largest ever woven, was broken at the moment when the +Resolution against Home Rule was put to the meeting. + +Mr. Bonar Law, visibly moved by the scene before him, made a speech that +profoundly affected his audience, although it was characteristically +free from rhetorical display. A recent incident in Dublin, where the +sight of the British Flag flying within view of a Nationalist meeting +had been denounced as "an intolerable insult," supplied him, when he +compared it with the spectacle presented by the meeting, with an apt +illustration of the contrast between "the two nations" in Ireland--the +loyal and the disloyal. He told the Ulstermen that he had come to them +as the leader of the Unionist Party to give them the assurance that +"that party regard your cause, not as yours alone, nor as ours alone, +but as the cause of the Empire"; the meeting, which he had expected to +be a great gathering but which far exceeded his expectation, proved +that Ulster's hostility to Home Rule, far from having slackened, as +enemies had alleged, had increased and solidified with the passing +years; they were men "animated by a unity of purpose, by a fixity of +resolution which nothing can shake and which must prove irresistible," +to whom he would apply Cromwell's words to his Ironsides: "You are men +who know what you are fighting for, and love what you know." Then, after +an analysis of the practical evils that Home Rule would engender and the +benefits which legislative union secured, he again emphasised the lack +of mandate for the Government policy. His hearers, he said, "knew the +shameful story": how the Radicals had twice failed to obtain the +sanction of the British people for Home Rule, "and now for the third +time they were trying to carry it not only without the sanction, but +against the will, of the British people." + +The peroration which followed made an irresistible appeal to a people +always mindful of the glories of the relief of Derry. Mr. Bonar Law +warned them that the Ministerial majority in the House of Commons, "now +cemented by Ł400 a year," could not be broken up, but would have their +own way. He therefore said to them: + + "With all solemnity--you must trust in yourselves. Once again you + hold the pass--the pass for the Empire. You are a besieged city. + The timid have left you; your Lundys have betrayed you; but you + have closed your gates. The Government have erected by their + Parliament Act a boom against you to shut you off from the help of + the British people. You will burst that boom. That help will come, + and when the crisis is over men will say to you in words not unlike + those used by Pitt--you have saved yourselves by your exertions and + you will save the Empire by your example." + +The overwhelming ovation with which Sir Edward Carson was received upon +taking the president's chair at the chief platform, in the absence +through illness of the Duke of Abercorn, proved that he had already won +the confidence and the affection of the Ulster people to a degree that +seemed to leave little room for growth, although every subsequent +appearance he made among them in the years that lay ahead seemed to add +intensity to their demonstrations of personal devotion. The most +dramatic moment at Balmoral--if for once the word so hackneyed and +misused by journalists may be given its true signification--the most +dramatic moment was when the Ulster leader and the leader of the whole +Unionist Party each grasped the other's hand in view of the assembled +multitude, as though formally ratifying a compact made thus publicly on +the eve of battle. It was the consummation of the purpose of this +assembly of the Unionist hosts on Ulster soil, and gave assurance of +unity of aim and undivided command in the coming struggle. + +Of the other speeches delivered, many of them of a high quality, +especially, perhaps, those of Lord Hugh Cecil, Sir Robert Finlay, and +Mr. Scott Dickson, it is enough to say that they all conveyed the same +message of encouragement to Ulster, the same promise of undeviating +support. One detail, however, deserves mention, because it shows the +direction in which men's thoughts were then moving. Mr. Walter Long, +whose great services to the cause of the Union procured him a welcome +second in warmth to that of no other leader, after thanking Londonderry +and Carson "for the great lead they have given us in recent difficult +weeks "--an allusion to the Churchill incident that was not lost on the +audience--added with a blunt directness characteristic of the speaker: +"If they are going to put Lord Londonderry and Sir Edward Carson into +the dock, they will have to find one large enough to hold the whole +Unionist Party." + +The Balmoral demonstration was recognised on all sides as one of the +chief landmarks in the Ulster Movement. The Craigavon policy was not +only reaffirmed with greater emphasis than before by the people of +Ulster themselves, but it received the deliberate endorsement of the +Unionist Party in England and Scotland. Moreover, as Mr. Long's speech +explicitly promised, and Mr. Bonar Law's speech unmistakably implied, +British support was not to be dependent on Ulster's opposition to Home +Rule being kept within strictly legal limits. Indeed, it had become +increasingly evident that opposition so limited must be impotent, since, +as Mr. Bonar Law pointed out, Ministers and their majority in the House +of Commons were in Mr. Redmond's pocket, and had no choice but to "toe +the line," while the "boom" which they had erected by the Parliament Act +cut off Ulster from access to the British constituencies, unless that +boom could be burst as the boom across the Foyle was broken by the +_Mountjoy_ in 1689. The Unionist leader had warned the Ulstermen that +in these circumstances they must expect nothing from Parliament, but +must trust in themselves. They did not mistake his meaning, and they +were quite ready to take his advice. + +Coming, as it did, two days before the introduction of the Government's +Bill, the Balmoral demonstration profoundly influenced opinion in the +country. The average Englishman, when his political party is in a +minority, damns the Government, shrugs his shoulders, and goes on his +way, not rejoicing indeed, but with apathetic resignation till the +pendulum swings again. He now awoke to the fact that the Ulstermen meant +business. He realised that a political crisis of the first magnitude was +visible on the horizon. The vague talk about "civil war" began to look +as if it might have something in it, and it was evident that the +provisions of the forthcoming Bill, about which there had been so much +eager anticipation, would be of quite secondary importance since neither +the Cabinet nor the House of Commons would have the last word. + +Supporters of the Government in the Press could think of nothing better +to do in these circumstances than to pour out abuse, occasionally varied +by ridicule, on the Unionist leaders, of which Sir Edward Carson came in +for the most generous portion. He was by turns everything that was bad, +dangerous, and absurd, from Mephistopheles to a madman. "F.C.G." +summarised the Balmoral meeting pictorially in a _Westminster Gazette_ +cartoon as a costermonger's donkey-cart in which Carson, Londonderry, +and Bonar Law, refreshed by "Orangeade," took "an Easter Jaunt in +Ulster," and other caricaturists used their pencils with less humour and +more malice with the same object of belittling the demonstration with +ridicule. But ridicule is not so potent a weapon in England or in Ulster +as it is said to be in France. It did nothing to weaken the Ulster +cause; it even strengthened it in some ways. It was about this time that +hostile writers began to refer to "King Carson," and to represent him as +exercising regal sway over his "subjects" in Ulster. Those "subjects" +were delighted; they took it as a compliment to their leader's position +and power, and did not in the least resent the role assigned to +themselves. + +On the other hand, they did resent very hotly the vulgar insolence often +levelled at their "Sir Edward." He himself was always quite indifferent +to it, sometimes even amused by it. On one occasion, when something +particularly outrageous had appeared with reference to him in some +Radical paper, he delighted a public meeting by solemnly reading the +passage, and when the angry cries of "Shame, shame" had subsided, saying +with a smile: "This sort of thing is only the manure that fertilises my +reputation with you who know me." + +And that was true. If Home Rulers, whether in Ireland or in Great +Britain, ever seriously thought of conciliating Ulster, as Mr. Redmond +professed to desire, they never made a greater mistake than in saying +and writing insulting things about Carson. It only endeared him more and +more to his followers, and it intensified the bitterness of their +feeling against the Nationalists and all their works. An almost equally +short-sighted error on the part of hostile critics was the idea that the +attitude of Ulster as exhibited at Craigavon and Balmoral should be +represented as mere bluster and bluff, to which the only proper reply +was contempt. There never was anything further removed from the truth, +as anyone ought to have known who had the smallest acquaintance with +Irish history or with the character of the race that had supplied the +backbone of Washington's army; but, if there had been at any time an +element of bluff in their attitude, their contemptuous critics took the +surest means of converting it into grim earnestness of purpose. Mr. +Redmond himself was ill-advised enough to set an example in this +respect. In an article published by _Reynold's Newspaper_ in January he +had scoffed at the "stupid, hollow, and unpatriotic bellowings" of the +Loyalists in Belfast. Some few opponents had enough sense to take a +different line in their comments on Balmoral. One article in particular +which appeared in _The Star_ on the day of the demonstration attracted +much attention for this reason. + + "We have never yielded," it said, "to the temptation to deride or + to belittle the resistance of Ulster to Home Rule.... The + subjugation of Protestant Ulster by force is one of those things + that do not happen in our politics.... It is, we know, a popular + delusion that Ulster is a braggart whose words are empty bluff. We + are convinced that Ulster means what she says, and that she will + make good every one of her warnings." + +_The Star_ went on to implore Liberals not to be driven "into an +attitude of bitter hostility to the Ulster Protestants," with whom it +declared they had much in common. + +After Balmoral there was certainly more disposition than before on the +part of Liberal Home Rulers to acknowledge the sincerity of Ulster and +the gravity of the position created by her opposition, and this +disposition showed itself in the debates on the Bill; but, speaking +generally, the warning of _The Star_ was disregarded by its political +adherents, and its neglect contributed not a little to the embitterment +of the controversy. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[22] _Annual Register_, 1912, p. 3. + +[23] _The Times_, February 3rd, 1912. + +[24] Ibid. + +[25] _Annual Register_, 1912, p. 7. + +[26] Ibid., p. 126. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE EXCLUSION OF ULSTER + + +Within forty-eight hours of the Balmoral meeting the Prime Minister +moved for leave to introduce the third Home Rule Bill in the House of +Commons. Carson immediately stated the Ulster case in a powerful speech +which left no room for doubt that, while every clause in the Bill would +be contested, it was the setting up of an executive administration +responsible to a Parliament in Dublin--that is to say, the central +principle of the measure--that would be most strenuously opposed. + +There is no occasion here to explain in detail the proposals contained +in Mr. Asquith's Home Rule Bill. They form part of the general history +of the period, and are accessible to all who care to examine them. Our +concern is with the endeavour of Ulster to prevent, if possible, the +passage of the Bill to the Statute-book, and, if that should prove +impracticable, to prevent its enforcement "in those districts of which +they had control." But one or two points that were made in the course of +the debates which occupied Parliament for the rest of the year 1912 +claim a moment's notice in their bearing on the subject in hand. + +Mr. Bonar Law lost no time in fully redeeming the promises he made at +Balmoral. Challenged to repeat in Parliament the charges he had made +against the Government in Ulster, he not only repeated them with +emphasis, but by closely-knit reasoning justified them with chapter and +verse. As to Balmoral, "it really was not like a political +demonstration; it was the expression of the soul of a people." He +declared that "the gulf between the two peoples in Ireland was really +far wider than the gulf between Ireland and Great Britain." He then +dealt specifically with the threatened resistance of Ulster. "These +people in Ulster," he said, "are under no illusion. They know they +cannot fight the British Army. The people of Ulster know that, if the +soldiers receive orders to shoot, it will be their duty to obey. They +will have no ill-will against them for obeying. But they are ready, in +what they believe to be the cause of justice and liberty, to lay down +their lives. How are you going to overcome that resistance? Do +Honourable Members believe that any Prime Minister could give orders to +shoot down men whose only crime is that they refuse to be driven out of +our community and be deprived of the privilege of British citizenship? +The thing is impossible. All your talk about details, the union of +hearts and the rest of it, is a sham. This is a reality. It is a rock, +and on that rock this Bill will inevitably make shipwreck." + +The Unionist leader then made a searching exposure of the traffic and +bargaining between the Cabinet and the Nationalists by which the support +of the latter had been bought for a Budget which they hated, the price +paid being the Premier's improper advice to the Crown, leading to the +mutilation of the Constitution; the acknowledgment in the preamble to +the Parliament Act that an immediate reform of the Second Chamber was a +"debt of honour"; the omission to redeem that debt, which had provided a +new proverb--"Lying as a preamble"; and, finally, the determination to +carry Home Rule after deliberately keeping it out of sight during the +elections. The Prime Minister's "debt of honour must wait until he has +paid his debt of shame"; and the latter debt was being paid by the +proposals they were then debating. If those proposals had been submitted +to the electors, "there would be a difference," said Mr. Bonar Law, +"between the Unionists in England and the Unionists in Ireland. Now +there is none. We can imagine nothing which the Unionists in Ireland can +do which will not be justified against a trick of this kind." + +Dissatisfaction with the financial clauses of the Bill was expressed at +once by the General Council of County Councils in Ireland, a purely +Nationalist body; but on the 23rd of April a Nationalist Convention in +Dublin, under the influence of Mr. Redmond's oratory, accepted the whole +of the Government's proposals with enthusiasm. The first and second +readings of the Bill were duly carried by the normal Government majority +of about a hundred Liberal, Labour, and Irish Nationalist votes, and the +committee stage opened on the 11th of June. On that day an amendment was +down for debate which required the most careful consideration by the +representatives of Ulster, since their attitude now might have an +important bearing on their future policy, and a false step at this stage +might easily prove embarrassing later on. The author of this amendment +was Mr. Agar-Robartes, a Cornish Liberal Member, whose proposal was to +exclude the four counties of Antrim, Derry, Down, and Armagh from the +jurisdiction of the proposed Irish Parliament, a gratifying proof that +Craigavon and Balmoral were bearing fruit. + +A conference of Ulster Members and Peers, and some English Members +closely identified with Irish affairs, of whom Mr. Walter Long was one, +met at Londonderry House before the sitting of the House on the 11th of +June to decide what course to take on this proposal. + +It was not surprising to find that there were sharp differences of +opinion among those present, for there were obvious objections to +supporting the amendment and equally obvious objections to voting +against it. The opposition of Ulster for more than a quarter of a +century had been directed against Home Rule for any part of Ireland and +in any shape or form. No suggestion had ever been made by any of her +spokesmen that the Protestant North, or any part of it, should be dealt +with separately from the rest of the island, although Carson and others +had pointed out that all the arguments in support of Home Rule were +equally valid for treating Ulster as a unit. There were both economic +and administrative difficulties in such a scheme which were sufficiently +obvious, though by no means insuperable; but what weighed far more +heavily in the minds of the Ulster members was the anticipation that +their acceptance of the proposal would probably be represented by +enemies as a desertion of all the Irish Loyalists outside the four +counties named in the amendment, with whom there was in every part of +Ulster the most powerful sentiment of solidarity. The idea of taking any +action apart from these friends and associates, and of adopting a policy +that might seem to imply the abandonment of their opposition to the main +principle of the Bill, was one that could not be entertained except +under the most compelling necessity. + +But, had not that necessity now arisen? The Ulster members had to keep +in view the ultimate policy to which they were already committed. That +policy, as laid down at Craigavon, was to take over, in the event of the +Home Rule Bill being carried, the government "of those districts which +they could control" in trust for the Imperial Parliament, and to resist +by force if necessary the establishment of the Dublin jurisdiction over +those districts. The policy of resistance was always recognised as being +strictly limited in area; no one ever supposed that Ulster could +forcibly resist Home Rule being set up in the south and west. The +likelihood of failure to bring about a dissolution before the Bill +became law had to be faced, and if no General Election took place there +would be no alternative to resistance. If, then, it were decided to vote +against an amendment offering salvation to the four most loyalist +counties, what would be their position if ultimately driven to take up +arms? Except as to a matter of detail concerning the precise area +proposed to be excluded from the Bill, would they not be told that they +were fighting for what they might have had by legislation, and what they +had deliberately refused to accept? And if they so acted, could they +expect not to forfeit the support of the great and growing volume of +public opinion which now sympathised with Ulster? They could not, of +course, secure themselves against malicious misrepresentation of their +motives, but the Ulster members sincerely believed, and many in the +South shared the opinion, that if it came to the worst they could be of +more use to the Southern Unionists outside a Dublin Parliament than as +members of it, where they would be an impotent minority. Moreover, it +was perfectly understood that Ulster was resolved in any case not to +enter a legislature in College Green, and there would, therefore, be no +more "desertion" of Unionists outside the excluded area if the exclusion +were effected by an amendment to the Bill, than if it were the result of +what Mr. Bonar Law had called "trusting to themselves." + +The considerations thus briefly summarised were thoroughly discussed in +all their bearings at the conference at Londonderry House. It was one of +many occasions when Sir Edward Carson's colleagues had an opportunity of +perceiving how his penetrating intellect explored the intricate windings +of a complicated political problem, weighing all the alternatives of +procedure with a clear insight into the appearance that any line of +conduct would present to other and perhaps hostile minds, calculating +like a chess-master move and counter-move far ahead of the present, and, +while adhering undeviatingly to principle, using the judgment of a +consummate strategist to decide upon the action to be taken at any given +moment. He had an astonishing faculty of discarding everything that was +unessential and fastening on the thing that really mattered in any +situation. His strength in counsel lay in the rare combination of these +qualities of the trained lawyer with the gift of intuition, which women +claim as their distinguishing characteristic; and it often extorted from +Nationalists the melancholy admission that if Carson had been on their +side their cause would have triumphed long ago. + +His advice now was that the Agar-Robartes amendment should be supported; +and, although some of those present required a good deal of persuasion, +it was ultimately decided unanimously that this course should be +followed. The wisdom of the decision was never afterwards questioned, +and, indeed, was abundantly confirmed by subsequent events. + +Mr. Agar-Robartes moved his amendment the same afternoon, summarising +his argument in the dictum, denied by Mr. William Redmond, that "Orange +bitters will not mix with Irish whisky." The debate, which lasted three +days, was the most important that took place in committee on the Bill, +for in the course of it the whole Ulster question was exhaustively +discussed. Sir Edward Grey and Mr. Churchill had thrown out hints in the +second reading debate that the Government might do something to meet the +Ulster case. The Prime Minister was now pressed to say what these hints +meant. Had the Government any policy in regard to Ulster? Had they +considered how they could deal with the threatened resistance? Mr. Bonar +Law told the Government that they must know that, if they employed +troops to coerce the Ulster Loyalists, Ministers who gave the order +"would run a greater risk of being lynched in London than the Loyalists +of Ulster would run of being shot in Belfast." Every argument in favour +of Home Rule was, he said, equally cogent against subjecting Ulster to +Home Rule contrary to her own desire. If the South of Ireland objected +to being governed from Westminster, the North of Ireland quite as +strongly objected to being ruled from Dublin. If England, as was +alleged, was incapable of governing Ireland according to Irish ideas, +the Nationalists were fully as incapable of governing the northern +counties according to Ulster ideas. If Ireland, with only one-fifteenth +of the population of the United Kingdom, had a right to choose its own +form of government, by what equity could the same right be denied to +Ulster, with one-fourth of the population of Ireland? + +As had been anticipated at Londonderry House, Mr. Asquith and some of +his followers did their best to drive a wedge between the Ulstermen and +the Southern Unionists, by contending that the former, in supporting the +amendment, were deserting their friends. Mr. Balfour declared in answer +to this that "nothing could relieve Unionists in the rest of Ireland +except the defeat of the measure as a whole"; and a crushing reply was +given by Mr. J.H. Campbell and Mr. Walter Guinness, both of whom were +Unionists from the South of Ireland. Mr. Guinness frankly acknowledged +that "it was the duty of Ulster members to take this opportunity of +trying to secure for their constituents freedom from this iniquitous +measure. It would be merely a dog-in-the-manger policy for those who +lived outside Ulster to grudge relief to their co-religionists merely +because they could not share it. Such self-denial on Ulster's part would +in no way help them (the Southerners) and it would only injure their +compatriots in the North." + +Sir Edward Carson, in supporting the amendment, insisted that "Ulster +was not asking for anything" except to be left within the Imperial +Constitution; she "had not demanded any separate Parliament." He +accepted the "basic principle" of the amendment, but would not be +content with the four counties which alone it proposed to exclude from +the Bill. He only accepted it, however, on two assumptions--first, that +the Bill was to become law; and, second, that it was to be, as Mr. +Asquith had assured them, part of a federal system for the United +Kingdom. If the first steps were being taken to construct a federal +system, there was no precedent for coercing Ulster to form part of a +federal unit which she refused to join. He had been Solicitor-General +when the Act establishing the Commonwealth of Australia was being +discussed, and it never would have passed, he declared, "if every single +clause had not been agreed to by every single one of the communities +concerned." Ministers were always basing their Irish policy on Dominion +analogies, but could anyone, Carson asked, imagine the Imperial +Government sending troops to compel the Transvaal or New South Wales to +come into a federal system against their will? + +The arguments in favour of the amendment were also stated with +uncompromising force by Mr. William Moore, Mr. Charles Craig, and his +brother Captain James Craig, the last-mentioned taking up a challenge +thrown down by Mr. Birrell in a maladroit speech which had expressed +doubt as to the reality of the danger to be apprehended in Ulster. +Captain Craig said they would immediately take steps in Ulster to +convince the Chief Secretary of their sincerity. Lord Hugh Cecil, in an +outspoken speech, greatly to the taste of English Unionists, "had no +hesitation in saying that Ulster would be perfectly right in resisting, +and he hoped she would be successful." + +In the division on Mr. Agar-Robartes's amendment the Government +majority fell to sixty-nine, both the "Tellers" being usual supporters +of the Ministry. Mr. F.E. Smith, in a vigorous speech to the Belfast +Orangemen on the 12th of July, declared that "on the part of the +Government the discussion (on Mr. Agar-Robartes's amendment) was a trap. +... The Government hoped that Ulster would decline the amendment in +order that the Coalition might protest to the constituencies: 'We +offered Ulster exclusion and Ulster refused exclusion--where is the +grievance of Ulster? where her justification for armed revolt?'" The +snare was avoided; but the debate was a landmark in the movement, for it +was then that the spokesmen of Ulster for the first time publicly +accepted the idea of separate treatment for themselves as a possible +alternative policy to the integral maintenance of the Union. + +The Government, for their part, made no response to the demand of Bonar +Law and Carson that they should declare their intentions for dealing +with resistance in Ulster. It was clearly more than ever necessary for +the Ulstermen to "trust in themselves." The debates on the Bill occupied +Parliament till the end of the year, and beyond it, and great blocks of +clauses were carried under the guillotine closure without a word of +discussion, although they were packed with constitutional points, many +of which were of the highest moment. Over in Ulster, at the same time, +those preparations were industriously carried forward which Captain +Craig told the House of Commons would be necessary to cure the +scepticism of the Chief Secretary. + +In England and Scotland, also, Unionists did their utmost to make public +opinion realise the gravity of the crisis towards which the country was +drifting under the Wait-and-See Ministry. Never before, probably, had so +many great political meetings been held in any year as were held in +every part of the country in 1912. With the exception of those that took +place in Ireland, the most striking was a monster gathering at Blenheim +on the 27th of July, which was attended by delegates from every Unionist +Association in the United Kingdom. + +A notable defeat of the Government in a by-election at Crewe, news of +which reached the meeting while the audience of some fifteen thousand +people was assembling, was an encouraging sign of the trend of opinion +in the country, and added confidence to the note of defiance that +sounded in the speeches of Mr. Bonar Law, Mr. F.E. Smith, and Sir Edward +Carson. + +The Unionist leader repeated, with added emphasis, what he had already +said in the House of Commons, that he could imagine no length of +resistance to which Ulster might go in which he and the overwhelming +majority of the British people would not be ready to give support. He +again said that resistance would be justified only because the people +had not been consulted, and the Government's policy was "part of a +corrupt parliamentary bargain." He refused to acknowledge the right of +the Government "to carry such a Revolution by such means," and as they +appeared to be resolved to do so, Mr. Bonar Law and the party he led +"would use any means to deprive them of the power they had usurped, and +to compel them to face the people they had deceived." Mr. F.E. Smith +expressed the same thought in a more epigrammatic antithesis: "We have +come to a clear issue between the party which says 'We will judge for +the democracy,' and the party which says 'The democracy shall judge +you.'" + +The tremendous enthusiasm evoked by Mr. Bonar Law's pledge of support to +Ulster, and by Sir Edward Carson's announcement that they in Ulster +"would shortly challenge the Government to interfere with them if they +dared, and would with equanimity await the result," was a sufficient +proof, if proof were needed, that the intention of the Ulstermen to +offer forcible resistance to Home Rule had the whole-hearted sympathy +and approval of the entire Unionist party in Great Britain, whose +representatives from every corner of the country were assembled at +Blenheim. + +Liberals hoped and believed that this promise of support for the +"rebellious" attitude of Ulster would alienate British opinion from the +Unionist party. The supporters of the Government in the Press daily +proclaimed that it was doing so. When Parliament adjourned for the +summer recess, at the beginning of what journalists call "the silly +season," Mr. Churchill published two letters to a constituent in +Scotland which were intended to be a crushing indictment both of Ulster +and of her sympathisers in Great Britain. The Ulster menace was in his +eyes nothing but "melodramatic stuff," and he sneeringly suggested that +the Unionist leaders would be "unspeakably shocked and frightened" if +anything came of their "foolish and wicked words." The letter was +lengthy, and contained some telling phrases such as Mr. Churchill has +always been skilful in coining; but the "turgid homily--a mixture of +sophistry, insult, and menace," as _The Times_ not unfairly described +it, was less effective than the terse and simple rejoinder in which Mr. +Bonar Law pointed out that Mr. Churchill's onslaught wounded his +father's memory more deeply than it touched his living opponents, since +Lord Randolph's "incitement" of Ulster was at a time when Ulster could +not be cast out from the Union without the consent of the British +electors. + +Mr. Churchill's epistles to Scottish Liberals started a correspondence +which reverberated through the Press for weeks, breaking the monotony of +the holiday season; but they entirely failed in their purpose, which was +to break the sympathy for Ulster in England and Scotland. In March the +Unionists had won a seat at a by-election in South Manchester; the +victory at Crewe in July, which so cheered the gathering at Blenheim, +was followed by still more striking victories in North-west Manchester +in August, and in Midlothian--Gladstone's old constituency--in +September; and perhaps a not less significant indication of the trend of +opinion so far as the Unionist party was concerned, was given by the +local Unionist Association at Rochdale, which promptly repudiated its +selected candidate who had ventured to protest against the Blenheim +speech of the Unionist leader. In an analysis of electoral statistics +published by _The Times_ on the 24th of August it was shown that, in +thirty-eight contests since the General Election in December 1910, the +Unionists had gained an advantage of more than 32,000 votes over +Liberals. And shortly afterwards, at a dinner in London to three newly +elected Unionists, Mr. Bonar Law pointed out that the results of +by-elections, if realised in the same proportion all over the country, +would have given a substantial Unionist majority in the House of +Commons. + +The Ulster people had, therefore, much to encourage them at a time when +they were preparing the most significant forward step in the movement, +and the most solemn pronouncement of their unfaltering resolution never +to submit to the Dublin Parliament--the signing of the Ulster Covenant. +Their policy of resistance, first propounded at Craigavon, reiterated at +Balmoral, endorsed by British sympathisers at Blenheim, and specifically +defended in Parliament both by Unionist leaders like Mr. Bonar Law and +Mr. Long and by prominent members of the Unionist rank and file like +Lord Hugh Cecil, had won the approval and support of great popular +constituencies in Lancashire and in Scotland, and had alienated no +section of Unionist opinion or of the Unionist Press. It was in no +merely satirical spirit that Carson wrote in August that he was grateful +to Mr. Churchill "for having twice within a few weeks done something to +focus public opinion on the stern realities of the situation in +Ulster."[27] For that was the actual result of the "turgid homily." It +proved of real service to the Ulster cause by bringing to light the +complete solidarity of Unionist opinion in its support. That meant, in +the light of the electoral returns, that certainly more than half the +nation sympathised with the measures that were being taken in Ulster, +and that Ulster could well afford to smile at the mockery which English +Home Rulers deemed a sufficient weapon to demolish the "wooden guns" and +the "military play-acting of King Carson's Army." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[27] See _The Times_, August 19th, 1912. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE EVE OF THE COVENANT + + +There was one Liberal statesman, formerly the favourite lieutenant of +Gladstone and the closest political ally of Asquith, who was under no +illusion as to the character of the men with whom Asquith was now +provoking a conflict. Speaking in Edinburgh on the 1st of November, +1911, that is, shortly after the Craigavon meeting, Lord Rosebery told +his Scottish audience that "he loved Highlanders and he loved +Lowlanders, but when he came to the branch of their race which had been +grafted on to the Ulster stem he took off his hat with reverence and +awe. They were without exception the toughest, the most dominant, the +most irresistible race that existed in the universe."[28] + +The kinship of this tough people with the Lowlanders of Scotland, in +character as in blood, was never more signally demonstrated than when +they decided, in one of the most intense crises of their history, to +emulate the example of their Scottish forefathers in binding themselves +together by a solemn League and Covenant to resist what they deemed to +be a tyrannical encroachment on their liberties and rights. + +The most impressive moment at the Balmoral meeting at Easter 1912 was +when the vast assemblage, with uncovered heads, raised their hands and +repeated after Sir Edward Carson words abjuring Home Rule. The incident +suggested to some of the local Unionist leaders that the spirit of +enthusiastic solidarity and determination thus manifested should not be +allowed to evaporate, and the people so animated to disperse to the four +corners of Ulster without any bond of mutual obligation. The idea of an +oath of fidelity to the cause and to each other was mooted, and +appeared to be favoured by many. The leader was consulted. He gave deep, +anxious, and prolonged consideration to the proposal, calculating all +the consequences which, in various possible eventualities, might follow +its adoption. He was not only profoundly conscious of the moral +responsibility which he personally, and his colleagues, would be +undertaking by the contemplated measure; he realised the numerous +practical difficulties there might be in honouring the bond, and he +would have nothing to do with a device which, under the guise of a +solemn covenant, would be nothing more than a verbal manifesto. If the +people were to be invited to sign anything of the sort, it must be a +reality, and he, as leader, must first see his way to make it a reality, +whatever might happen. + +For, although Carson never shrank from responsibility, he never assumed +it with levity, or without full consideration of all that it might +involve. Many a time, especially before he had fully tested for himself +the temper of the Ulster people, he expressed to his intimates his +wonder whether the bulk of his followers sufficiently appreciated the +seriousness of the course they had set out upon. Sometimes in private he +seemed to be hypersensitive as to whether in any particular he was +misleading those who trusted him; he was scrupulously anxious that they +should not be carried away by unreflecting enthusiasm, or by personal +devotion to himself. About the only criticism of his leadership that was +ever made directly to himself by one of the rank and file in Ulster was +that it erred on the side of patience and caution; and this criticism +elicited the sharpest reproof he was ever heard to administer to any of +his followers.[29] His expressions of regard, almost amounting to +affection, for the men and women who thronged round him for a touch of +his hand wherever he appeared in the streets might have been ignorantly +set down as the arts of a demagogue had they ever been spoken in public, +but were capable of no such misconstruction when reserved, as they +invariably were, for the ears of his closest associates. The truth is +that no popular leader was ever less of a demagogue than Sir Edward +Carson. He had no "arts" at all--unless indeed complete simplicity is +the highest of all "arts" in one whom great masses of men implicitly +trust. He never sought to gain or augment the confidence of his +followers by concealing facts, minimising difficulties, or overcolouring +expectations. + +It is not surprising, then, that the decision to invite the Ulster +people to bind themselves together by some form of written bond or oath +was one which Carson did not come to hastily. While the matter was still +only being talked about by a few intimate friends, and had not been in +any way formally proposed, Captain James Craig happened to be occupying +himself one day at the Constitutional Club in London with pencil and +paper, making experimental drafts that might do for the proposed +purpose, when he was joined by Mr. B.W.D. Montgomery, Secretary of the +Ulster Club in Belfast, who asked what he was doing. "Trying to draft an +oath for our people at home," replied Craig, "and it's no easy matter to +get at what will suit." "You couldn't do better," said Montgomery, "than +take the old Scotch Covenant. It is a fine old document, full of grand +phrases, and thoroughly characteristic of the Ulster tone of mind at +this day." Thereupon the two men went to the library, where, with the +help of the club librarian, they found a History of Scotland containing +the full text of the celebrated bond of the Covenanters (first drawn up, +by a curious coincidence of names, by John Craig, in 1581), a verbatim +copy of which was made from the book. + +The first idea was to adapt this famous manifesto of militant +Protestantism by making only such abbreviations and alterations as would +render it suitable for the purpose in view. But when it was ultimately +decided to go forward with the proposal, and the task of preparing the +document was entrusted to the Special Commission,[30] it was at once +realised that, however strongly the fine old Jacobean language and the +historical associations of the Solemn League and Covenant might appeal +to the imagination of a few, it was far too involved and long-winded, +no matter how drastically revised, to serve as an actual working +agreement between men of to-day, or as a rallying-point for a modern +democratic community. What was needed was something quite short and +easily intelligible, setting forth in as few words as possible a purpose +which the least learned could grasp at a glance, and which all who so +desired could sign with full comprehension of what they were doing. + +Mr. Thomas Sinclair, one of the Special Commission, was himself a +draughtsman of exceptional skill, and in a matter of this kind his +advice was always invaluable, and it was under his hand that the Ulster +Covenant, after frequent amendment, took what was, with one important +exception, its final shape. The last revision cut down the draft by more +than one-half; but the portion discarded from the Covenant itself, in +the interest of brevity, was retained as a Resolution of the Ulster +Unionist Council which accompanied the Covenant and served as a sort of +declaratory preamble to it[31]. The exception referred to was an +amendment made to meet an objection raised by prominent representatives +of the Presbyterian Church. The Special Commission, realising that the +proposed Covenant ought not to be promulgated without the consent and +approval of the Protestant Churches, submitted the agreed draft to the +authorities of the Church of Ireland and of the Presbyterian, Methodist, +and Congregational Churches. The Moderator, and other leaders of the +Presbyterians, including Mr. (afterwards Sir Alexander) McDowell, a man +endowed with much of the wisdom of the serpent, while supporting without +demur the policy of the Covenant, took exception to its terms in a +single particular. They pointed out that the obligation to be accepted +by the signatories would be, as the text then stood, of unlimited +duration. They objected to undertaking such a responsibility without the +possibility of modifying it to meet the changes which time and +circumstance might bring about; and they insisted that, before they +could advise their congregations to contract so solemn an engagement, +the text of the Covenant must be amended by the introduction of words +limiting its validity to the crisis which then confronted them. + +This was accordingly done. Words were introduced which declared the +pledge to be binding "throughout this our time of threatened calamity," +and its purpose to be the defeat of "the present conspiracy." The +language was as precise, and was as carefully chosen, as the language of +a legal deed; but in an unhappy crisis which arose in 1916, in +circumstances which no one in the world could have foreseen in 1912, +there were some in Ulster who were not only tempted to strain the +interpretation which the Covenant as a whole could legitimately bear, +but who failed to appreciate the significance of the amendments that had +been made in its text at the instance of the Presbyterian Church.[32] + +When these amendments had been incorporated in the Covenant by the +Special Commission, a meeting of the Standing Committee was convened at +Craigavon on the 19th of September to adopt it for recommendation to the +Council. The Committee, standing in a group outside the door leading +from the arcade at Craigavon to the tennis-lawn, listened while Sir +Edward Carson read the Covenant aloud from a stone step which now bears +an inscription recording the event. Those present showed by their +demeanour that they realised the historic character of the transaction +in which they were taking part, and the weight of responsibility they +were about to assume. But no voice expressed dissent or hesitation. The +Covenant was adopted unanimously and without amendment. Its terms were +as follows: + + "ULSTER'S SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT + + "Being convinced in our consciences that Home Rule would be + disastrous to the material well-being of Ulster as well as of the + whole of Ireland, subversive of our civil and religious freedom, + destructive of our citizenship, and perilous to the unity of the + Empire, we, whose names are underwritten, men of Ulster, loyal + subjects of His Gracious Majesty King George V, humbly relying on + the God whom our fathers in days of stress and trial confidently + trusted, do hereby pledge ourselves in solemn Covenant throughout + this our time of threatened calamity to stand by one another in + defending for ourselves and our children our cherished position of + equal citizenship in the United Kingdom, and in using all means + which may be found necessary to defeat the present conspiracy to + set up a Home Rule Parliament in Ireland. And in the event of such + a Parliament being forced upon us we further solemnly and mutually + pledge ourselves to refuse to recognise its authority. In sure + confidence that God will defend the right we hereto subscribe our + names. And further, we individually declare that we have not + already signed this Covenant. God save the King." + +On Monday, the 23rd of September, the Ulster Unionist Council, the body +representing the whole loyalist community on an elective and thoroughly +democratic basis, held its annual meeting in the Ulster Hall, the chief +business being the ratification of the Covenant prior to its being +presented for general signature throughout the province on Ulster Day. +Upwards of five hundred delegates attended the meeting, and unanimously +approved the terms of the document recommended for their acceptance by +their Standing Committee. They then adopted, on the motion of Lord +Londonderry, the Resolution which, as already mentioned, had originally +formed part of the draft of the Covenant itself. This Resolution, as +well as the Covenant, was the subject of extensive comment in the +English and Scottish Press. Some opponents of Ulster directed against it +the flippant ridicule which appeared to be their only weapon against a +movement the gravity of which was admitted by Ministers of the Crown; +but, on the whole, the British Press acknowledged the important +enunciation of political principle which it contained. It placed on +record that: + + "Inasmuch as we, the duly elected delegates and members of the + Ulster Unionist Council, representing all parts of Ulster, are + firmly persuaded that by no law can the right to govern those whom + we represent be bartered away without their consent; that although + the present Government, the services and sacrifices of our race + having been forgotten, may drive us forth from a Constitution which + we have ever loyally upheld, they may not deliver us bound into the + hands of our enemies; and that it is incompetent for any authority, + party, or people to appoint as our rulers a Government dominated by + men disloyal to the Empire and to whom our faith and traditions are + hateful; and inasmuch as we reverently believe that, as in times + past it was given our fathers to save themselves from a like + calamity, so now it may be ordered that our deliverance shall be by + our own hands, to which end it is needful that we be knit together + as one man, each strengthening the other, and none holding back or + counting the cost--therefore we, Loyalists of Ulster, ratify and + confirm the steps so far taken by the Special Commission this day + submitted and explained to us, and we reappoint the Commission to + carry on its work on our behalf as in the past. + + "We enter into the Solemn Covenant appended hereto, and, knowing + the greatness of the issues depending on our faithfulness, we + promise each to the others that, to the uttermost of the strength + and means given us, and not regarding any selfish or private + interest, our substance or our lives, we will make good the said + Covenant; and we now bind ourselves in the steadfast determination + that, whatever may befall, no such domination shall be thrust upon + us, and in the hope that by the blessing of God our Union with + Great Britain, upon which are fixed our affections and trust, may + yet be maintained, and that for ourselves and for our children, for + this Province and for the whole of Ireland, peace, prosperity, and + civil and religious liberty may be secured under the Parliament of + the United Kingdom and of the King whose faithful subjects we are + and will continue all our days." + +It had been known for some weeks that it was the intention of the Ulster +Loyalists to dedicate the 28th of September as "Ulster Day," by holding +special religious services, after which they were to "pledge themselves +to a solemn Covenant," the terms of which were not yet published or, +indeed, finally settled. This announcement, which appeared in the Press +on the 17th of August, was hailed in England as an effective reply to +the recent "turgid homily" of Mr. Churchill, but there was really no +connection between them in the intentions of Ulstermen, who had been too +much occupied with their own affairs to pay much attention to the attack +upon them in the Dundee letters. The Ulster Day celebration was to be +preceded by a series of demonstrations in many of the chief centres of +Ulster, at which the purpose of the Covenant was to be explained to the +people by the leader and his colleagues, and a number of English Peers +and Members of Parliament arranged to show their sympathy with the +policy embodied in the Covenant by taking part in the meetings. + +It would not be true to say that the enthusiasm displayed at this great +series of meetings in September eclipsed all that had gone before, for +it would not be possible for human beings greatly to exceed in that +emotion what had been seen at Craigavon and Balmoral; but they exhibited +an equally grave sense of responsibility, and they proved that the same +exaltation of mind, the same determined spirit, that had been displayed +by Loyalists collected in the populous capital of their province, +equally animated the country towns and rural districts. + +The campaign opened at Enniskillen on the 18th of September, where the +leader was escorted by two squadrons of mounted and well-equipped yeomen +from the station to Portora Gate, at which point 40,000 members of +Unionist Clubs drawn from the surrounding agricultural districts marched +past him in military order. During the following nine days +demonstrations were held at Lisburn, Derry, Coleraine, Ballymena, +Dromore, Portadown, Crumlin, Newtownards, and Ballyroney, culminating +with a meeting in the Ulster Hall--loyalist headquarters--on the eve of +the signing of the Covenant on Ulster Day. At six of these meetings, +including, of course, the last, Sir Edward Carson was the principal +speaker, while all the Ulster Unionist Members of Parliament took part +in their several constituencies. Lord Londonderry was naturally +prominent among the speakers, and presided as usual, when the Duke of +Abercorn was prevented by illness from being present, in the Ulster +Hall. Mr. F.E. Smith, who had closely identified himself with the +Ulster Movement, delighting with his fresh and vigorous eloquence the +meetings at Balmoral and Blenheim, as well as the Orange Lodges whom he +had addressed on the 12th of July, crossed the Channel to lend a helping +hand, and spoke at five meetings on the tour. Others who took part--in +addition to local men like Mr. Thomas Sinclair and Mr. John Young, whose +high character always made their appearance on political platforms of +value to the cause they supported--were Lord Charles Beresford, Lord +Salisbury, Mr. James Campbell, Lord Hugh Cecil, Lord Willoughby de +Broke, and Mr. Harold Smith; while the Marquis of Hamilton and Lord +Castlereagh, by the part which they took in the programme, showed their +desire to carry on the traditions which identified the two leading +Ulster families with loyalist principles. + +A single resolution, identical in the simplicity of its terms, was +carried without a dissenting voice at every one of these meetings: "We +hereby reaffirm the resolve of the great Ulster Convention of 1892: 'We +will not have Home Rule.'" These words became so familiar that the +laconic phrase "We won't have it," was on everybody's lips as the Alpha +and Omega of Ulster's attitude, and was sometimes heard with unexpected +abruptness in no very precise context. A ticket-collector, when clipping +the tickets of the party who were starting from Belfast in a saloon for +Enniskillen, made no remark and no sign of recognition till he reached +Carson, when he said almost in a whisper and without a glimmer of a +smile, as he took a clip out of the leader's ticket: "Tell the +station-master at Clones, Sir Edward, that we won't have it." He +doubtless knew that the political views of that misguided official were +of the wrong colour. A conversation overheard in the crowd at +Enniskillen before the speaking began was a curious example of the habit +so characteristic of Ulster--and indeed of other parts of Ireland +also--of thinking of + + "Old, unhappy, far-off things, and battles long ago" + +as if they had occurred last week, and were a factor to be taken into +account in the conduct of to-day. The demonstration was in the open air, +and the sunshine was gleaming on the grass of a hill close at hand. "It +'ud be a quare thing," said a peasant to his neighbour in the crowd, "if +the rebels would come out and hould a meetin' agin us on yon hill." +"What matter if they would," was the reply, "wouldn't we let on that we +won't have it? an' if that wouldn't do them, isn't there hundreds o' +King James's men at the bottom o' the lough, an' there's plenty o' room +yet." It was not spoken in jest, but in grim conviction that the issue +of 1689 was the issue of 1912, and that another Newtown Butler might +have to be fought. + +This series of meetings in preparation for the Covenant brought Carson +much more closely in touch with the Loyalists in outlying districts than +he had been hitherto, and when it was over their wild devotion to him +personally equalled what it was in Belfast itself. The appeal made to +the hearts of men as quick as any living to detect and resent humbug or +boastfulness, by the simplicity, uncompromising directness, and courage +of his character was irresistible. He never spoke better than during +this tour of the Province. The Special Correspondent of _The Times_, who +sent to his paper vivid descriptive articles on each meeting, said in +his account of the meeting at Coleraine that "Sir Edward Carson was +vigorous, fresh, and picturesque. His command over the feelings of his +Ulster audiences is unquestionable, and never a phrase passes his lips +which does not tell." And when the proceedings of the meeting were over, +the same observer "was at the station to witness the 'send-off' of the +leaders, and for ten minutes before the train for Belfast came in the +tumult of the cheers, the thanks, and the farewells never faltered for +an instant."[33] Two days later another English commentator declared +that "The Ulster campaign has been conducted up to the present with a +combination of wisdom, ability, and restraint which has delighted all +the Unionists of the province, and exasperated their Radical and +Nationalist enemies. From its opening at Enniskillen not a speech has +been delivered unworthy of a great movement in defence of civil and +religious liberty."[34] + +It was characteristic of Sir Edward Carson that neither at these +meetings nor at any time did he use his unmatched power of persuasion to +induce his followers to come forward and sign the Covenant. On the +contrary, he rather warned them only to do so after mature reflection +and with full comprehension of the responsibility which signature would +entail. He told the Unionist Council a few days before the memorable +28th of September: "How often have I thought over this Covenant--how +many hours have I spent, before it was published that we would have one, +in counting the cost that may result! How many times have I thought of +what it may mean to all that we care about up here! Does any man believe +that I lightly took this matter in hand without considering with my +colleagues all that it may mean either in the distant or the not too +distant future? No, it is the gravest matter in all the grave matters in +the various offices I have held that I have ever had to consider." And +he went on to advise the delegates, "responsible men from every district +in Ulster, that it is your duty, when you go back to your various +districts, to warn your people who trust you that, in entering into this +solemn obligation, they are entering into a matter which, whatever may +happen in the future, is the most serious matter that has ever +confronted them in the course of their lives."[35] + +A political campaign such as that of September 1912 could not be a +success, however spontaneous the enthusiasm of the people, however +effective the oratory, unless the arrangements were based on good +organisation. It was by general consent a triumph of organisation, the +credit for which was very largely due to Mr. Richard Dawson Bates, the +Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council. Sir Edward Carson himself very +wisely paid little attention to detail; happily there was no need for +him to do so, for he had beside him in Captain James Craig and Mr. Bates +two men with real genius for organisation, and indefatigable in +relieving "the chief" of all unnecessary work and worry. Mr. Bates had +all the threads of a complex network of organisation in his hands; he +kept in close touch with leading Unionists in every district; he always +knew what was going on in out-of-the-way corners, and where to turn for +the right man for any particular piece of work. Anyone whose duty it has +been to manage even a single political demonstration on a large scale +knows what numerous details have to be carefully foreseen and provided +for. In Ulster a succession of both outdoor and indoor demonstrations, +seldom if ever equalled in this country in magnitude and complexity of +arrangement, besides an amazing quantity of other miscellaneous work +inseparable from the conduct of a political movement in which crisis +followed crisis with bewildering rapidity, were managed year after year +from Mr. Bates's office in the Old Town Hall with a quiet, +unostentatious efficiency which only those could appreciate who saw the +machine at work and knew the master mechanic behind it. Of this +efficiency the September demonstrations in 1912 were a conspicuous +illustration. + +Nor did the Loyalist women of Ulster lag an inch behind the men either +in organisation or in zeal for the Unionist cause, and their keenness at +every town visited in this September tour was exuberantly displayed. +Women had not yet been enfranchised, of course, and the Ulster women had +shown but little interest in the suffragette agitation which was raging +at this time in England; but they had organised themselves in defence of +the Union very effectively on parallel lines to the men, and if the +latter had needed any stimulus to their enthusiasm they would certainly +have got it from their mothers, sisters, and wives. The Marchioness of +Londonderry threw herself whole-heartedly into the movement. Having +always ably seconded her husband's many political and social activities, +she made no exception in regard to his devotion to Ulster. Lord +Londonderry, she was fond of saying, was an Ulsterman born and bred, and +she was an Ulsterwoman "by adoption and grace." Her energy was +inexhaustible, and her enthusiasm contagious; she used her influence and +her wonderful social gifts unsparingly in the Unionist cause. + +A meeting of the Ulster Women's Unionist Council, of which the Dowager +Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava, widow of the great diplomat, was +president, was held on the 17th of September, the day before the +demonstration at Enniskillen, when a resolution proposed by Lady +Londonderry declaring the determination of Ulster women to stand by +their men in the policy to be embodied in the Covenant, was carried with +immense enthusiasm and without dissent. No women were so vehement in +their support of the Loyalist cause as the factory workers, who were +very numerous in Belfast. Indeed, their zeal, and their manner of +displaying it, seemed sometimes to illustrate a well-known line of +Kipling's, considered by some to be anything but complimentary to the +female sex. Anyhow, there was no divergence of opinion or sympathy +between the two sexes in Ulster on the question of Union or Home Rule; +and the women who everywhere attended the meetings in large numbers were +no idle sightseers--though they were certainly hero-worshippers of the +Ulster leader--but a genuine political force to be taken into account. + +It was during the September campaign that the "wooden guns" and "dummy +rifles" appeared, which excited so much derision in the English Radical +Press, whose editors little dreamed that the day was not far distant +when Mr. Asquith's Government would be glad enough to borrow those same +dummy rifles for training the new levies of Kitchener's Army to fight +the Germans. So far as the Ulstermen were concerned the ridicule of +their quasi-military display and equipment never had any sting in it. +They were conscious of the strength given to their cause by the +discipline and military organisation of the volunteers, even if the +weapons with which they drilled should never be replaced by the real +thing; and many of them had an instinctive belief that their leaders +would see to it that they were effectively armed all in good time. And +so with grim earnestness they recruited the various battalions of +volunteers, gave up their evenings to drilling, provided cyclist corps, +signalling corps, ambulances and nurses; they were proud to receive +their leader with guards of honour at the station, and bodyguards while +he drove through their town or district to the meetings where he spoke. +Few of them probably ever so much as heard of the gibes of _The Irish +News_, _The Daily News_, or _The Westminster Gazette_ at the "royal +progresses" of "King Carson"; but they would have been in no way upset +by them if they had, for they were far too much in earnest themselves to +pay heed to the cheap sneers of others. At each one of the September +meetings there was a military setting to the business of the day. At +Enniskillen Carson was conducted by a cavalry escort to the ground where +he was to address the people; at Coleraine, Portadown, and other places +volunteers lined the route and marched in column to and from the +meeting. They were, it is true, but "half-baked" levies, with more zeal +than knowledge of military duties. But competent critics--and there were +many such amongst the visitors--praised their bearing and physique and +the creditable measure of discipline they had already acquired. And it +must be remembered that in September 1912 the Ulster Volunteer Force was +still in its infancy. In the following two years its improvement in +efficiency was very marked; and within three years of the time when its +battalions paraded before Sir Edward Carson, with dummy rifles, and +marched before him to his meetings in Lisburn, Newtownards, Enniskillen, +and Belfast on the eve of the Covenant, those same men had gloriously +fought against the flower of the Prussian Army, and many of them had +fallen in the battle of the Somme. + +The final meeting in the Ulster Hall on Friday the 27th of September was +an impressive climax to the tour. Many English journalists and other +visitors were present, and some of them admitted that, in spite of all +they had heard of what an Ulster Hall meeting was like, they were +astonished by the soul-stirring fervour they witnessed, and especially +by the wonderful spectacle presented at the overflow meeting in the +street outside, which was packed as far as the eye could reach in either +direction with upturned faces, eager to catch the words addressed to +them from a platform erected for the speakers outside an upper window of +the building.[36] + +Messages of sympathy and approval at this supreme moment were read from +Mr. Bonar Law and Lord Lansdowne, Mr. Long, Mr. Balfour, and Mr. Austen +Chamberlain. Then, after brief speeches by four local Belfast men, one +of whom was a representative of Labour, and while the audience were +waiting eagerly for the speech of their leader, there occurred what _The +Times_ next day described as "two entirely delightful, and, as far as +the crowd was concerned, two entirely unexpected episodes." The first +was the presentation to Sir Edward Carson of a faded yellow silk banner +by Colonel Wallace, Grand Master of the Belfast Orangemen, who explained +that it was the identical banner that had been carried before King +William III at the battle of the Boyne, and was now lent by its owner, a +lineal descendant of the original standard-bearer, to be carried before +Carson to the signing of the Covenant; the second was the presentation +to the leader of a silver key, symbolic of Ulster as "the key of the +situation," and a silver pen wherewith to sign the Covenant on the +morrow, by Captain James Craig. "The two incidents," continued the +Correspondent of _The Times_, "were followed by the audience with +breathless excitement, and made a remarkably effective prelude to Sir +Edward Carson's speech. Premeditated, no doubt, that incident of the +banner--yet entirely graceful, entirely fitting to the spirit of the +occasion--a plan carried through with the sense of ceremony which +Ulstermen seem to have always at their command in moments of emotion." + +And if ever there was a "moment of emotion" for the Loyalists of +Ulster--those descendants of the Plantation men who had been +deliberately sent to Ireland with a commission from the first sovereign +of a united Britain to uphold British interests, British honour, and the +Reformed Faith across the narrow sea--Loyalists who were conscious that +throughout the generations they had honestly striven to be faithful to +their mission--if ever in their long and stormy history they experienced +a "moment of emotion," it was assuredly on this evening before the +signing of their Covenant. + +The speeches delivered by their leader and others were merely a vent for +that emotion. There was nothing that could be said about their cause +that they did not know already; but all felt that the heart of the +matter was touched--the whole situation, so far as they were concerned, +summed up in a single sentence of Carson's speech: "We will take +deliberately a step forward, not in defiance but in defence; and the +Covenant which we will most willingly sign to-morrow will be a great +step forward, in no spirit of aggression, in no spirit of ascendancy, +but with a full knowledge that, if necessary, you and I--you trusting +me, and I trusting you--will follow out everything that this Covenant +means to the very end, whatever the consequences." Every man and woman +who heard these words was filled with an exalted sense of the solemnity +of the occasion. The mental atmosphere was not that of a political +meeting, but of a religious service--and, in fact, the proceedings had +been opened by prayer, as had become the invariable custom on such +occasions in Ulster. It was felt to be a time of individual preparation +for the _Sacramentum_ of the following day, which Protestant Ulster had +set apart as a day of self-dedication to a cause for which they were +willing to make any sacrifice. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[28] _The Scotsman_, November 2nd, 1911. + +[29] See Sir B. Carson's speech in _Belfast Newsletter_, September 24th, +1912. + +[30] See _ante_, p. 53. + +[31] See p. 106. + +[32] See p. 248. + +[33] _The Times_, September 23rd, 1912. + +[34] _The Daily Telegraph_, September 25th, 1912. + +[35] _Belfast Newsletter_, September 24th, 1912. + +[36] The article which appeared on the following Sunday in _The +Observer_, showed how profoundly a distinguished London editor and +writer had been moved by what he saw in Belfast. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT + +Ulster Day, Saturday the 28th of September, 1912, was kept as a day of +religious observance by the Northern Loyalists. So far as the +Protestants of all denominations were concerned, Ulster was a province +at prayer on that memorable Saturday morning. In Belfast, not only the +services which had more or less of an official character--those held in +the Cathedral, in the Ulster Hall, in the Assembly Hall--but those held +in nearly all the places of worship in the city, were crowded with +reverent worshippers. It was the same throughout the country towns and +rural districts--there was hardly a village or hamlet where the parish +church and the Presbyterian and Methodist meeting-houses were not +attended by congregations of unwonted numbers and fervour. Not that +there was any of the religious excitement such as accompanies revivalist +meetings; it was simply that a population, naturally religious-minded, +turned instinctively to divine worship as the fitting expression of +common emotion at a moment of critical gravity in their history. "One +noteworthy feature," commented upon by one of the English newspaper +correspondents in a despatch telegraphed during the day, "is the silence +of the great shipyards. In these vast industrial establishments on both +sides of the river, 25,000 men were at work yesterday performing their +task at the highest possible pressure, for the order-books of both firms +are full of orders. Now there is not the sound of a hammer; all is as +silent as the grave. The splendid craftsmen who build the largest ships +in the world have donned their Sunday clothes, and, with Unionist +buttons on the lapels of their coats, or Orange sashes on their +shoulders, are about to engage on what to them is an even more important +task." He also noticed that although the streets were crowded there was +no excitement, for "the average Ulsterman performs his religious and +political duties with calm sobriety. He has no time to-day for mirth or +merriment, for every minute is devoted to proving that he is still the +same man--devoted to the Empire, to the King, and Constitution."[37] + +There is at all times in Ulster far less sectarian enmity between the +Episcopal and other Reformed Churches than in England; on Ulster Day the +complete harmony and co-operation between them was a marked feature of +the observances. At the Cathedral in Belfast the preacher was the Bishop +of Down,[38] while a Presbyterian minister representing the Moderator of +the General Assembly, and the President of the Methodist College took +part in the conduct of the service. At the Ulster Hall the same unity +was evidenced by a similar co-operation between clergy of the three +denominations, and also at the Assembly Hall (a Presbyterian place of +worship), where Dr. Montgomery, the Moderator, was assisted by a +clergyman of the Church of Ireland representing the Bishop. + +The service in the Ulster Hall was attended by Sir Edward Carson, the +Lord Mayor of Belfast (Mr. McMordie, M.P.), most of the distinguished +visitors from England, and by those Ulster members whose constituencies +were in or near the city; those representing country seats went thither +to attend local services and to sign the Covenant with their own +constituents. + +One small but significant detail in the day's proceedings was much +noticed as a striking indication of the instinctive realisation by the +crowd of the exceptional character of the occasion. Bedford Street, +where the Ulster Hall is, was densely packed with spectators, but when +the leader arrived, instead of the hurricane of cheers that invariably +greeted his appearance in the streets, there was nothing but a general +uncovering of heads and respectful silence. It is true that the people +abundantly compensated themselves for this moment of self-restraint +later on, until in the evening one wondered how human throats could +survive so many hours of continuous strain; but the contrast only made +the more remarkable that almost startling silence before the religious +service began. + +The "sense of ceremony" which _The Times_ Correspondent on another +occasion had declared to be characteristic of Ulstermen "in moments of +emotion," was certainly displayed conspicuously on Ulster Day. Ceremony +at large public functions is naturally cast in a military +mould--marching men, bands of music, display of flags, guards of honour, +and so forth--and although on this occasion there was, it is true, more +than mere decorative significance in the military frame to the picture, +it was an admirably designed and effective spectacle. It is but a few +hundred yards from the Ulster Hall to the City Hall, where the signing +of the Covenant was to take place. When the religious service ended, +about noon, Sir Edward Carson and his colleagues proceeded from one hall +to the other on foot. The Boyne standard, which had been presented to +the leader the previous evening, was borne before him to the City Hall. +He was escorted by a guard consisting of a hundred men from the Orange +Lodges of Belfast and a like number representing the Unionist clubs of +the city. These clubs had also provided a force of 2,500 men, whose +duty, admirably performed throughout the day, was to protect the gardens +and statuary surrounding the City Hall from injury by the crowd, and to +keep a clear way to the Hall for the endless stream of men entering to +sign the Covenant. + +The City Hall in Belfast is a building of which Ulster is justly proud. +It is, indeed, one of the few modern public buildings in the British +Islands in which the most exacting critic of architecture finds nothing +to condemn. Standing in the central site of the city with ample garden +space in front, its noble proportions and beautiful façade and dome fill +the view from the broad thoroughfare of Donegal Place. The main entrance +hall, leading to a fine marble stairway, is circular in shape, +surrounded by a marble colonnade carrying the dome, to which the hall is +open through the full height of the building. It was in this central +space beneath the dome that a round table covered with the Union Jack +was placed for the signing of the Covenant by the Ulster leaders and the +most prominent of their supporters. + +To those Englishmen who have never been able to grasp the Ulster point +of view, and who have, therefore, persisted in regarding the Ulster +Movement as a phase of party politics in the ordinary sense, it must +appear strange and even improper that the City Hall, the official +quarters of the Corporation, should have been put to the use for which +it was lent on Ulster Day, 1912. The vast majority of the citizens, +whose property it was, thought it could be used for no better purpose +than to witness their signatures to a deed securing to them their +birthright in the British Empire. + +At the entrance to the City Hall Sir Edward Carson was received by the +Lord Mayor and members of the Corporation wearing their robes of office, +and by the Harbour Commissioners, the Water Board, and the Poor Law +Guardians, by whom he was accompanied into the hall. The text of +Ulster's Solemn League and Covenant had been printed on sheets with +places for ten signatures on each; the first sheet lay on the table for +Edward Carson to sign. + +No man but a dullard without a spark of imagination could have witnessed +the scene presented at that moment without experiencing a thrill which +he would have found it difficult to describe. The sunshine, sending a +beam through the stained glass of the great window on the stairway, +threw warm tints of colour on the marbles of the columns and the +tesselated floor of the hall, sparkled on the Lord Mayor's chain, lent a +rich glow to the scarlet gowns of the City Fathers, and lit up the red +and the blue and the white of the Imperial flag which draped the table +and which was the symbol of so much that they revered to those who stood +looking on. They were grouped in a semicircle behind the leader as he +stepped forward to sign his name--men of substance, leaders in the +commercial life of a great industrial city, elderly men many of them, +lovers of peace and order; men of mark who had served the Crown, like +Londonderry and Campbell and Beresford; Doctors of Divinity, guides and +teachers of religion, like the Bishop and the Moderator of the General +Assembly; Privy Councillors; members of the Imperial Parliament; +barristers and solicitors, shopkeepers and merchants,--there they all +stood, silent witnesses of what all felt to be one of the deeds that +make history, assembled to set their hands, each in his turn, to an +Instrument which, for good or evil, would influence the destiny of their +race; while behind them through the open door could be seen a vast +forest of human heads, endless as far as eye could reach, every one of +whom was in eager accord with the work in hand, and whose blended +voices, while they waited to perform their own part in the great +transaction, were carried to the ears of those in the hall like the +inarticulate noise of moving waters. + +When Carson had signed the Covenant he handed the silver pen to +Londonderry, and the latter's name was followed in order by the +signatures of the Moderator of the General Assembly, the Lord Bishop of +Down, Connor, and Dromore (afterwards Primate of All Ireland), the Dean +of Belfast (afterwards Bishop of Down), the General Secretary of the +Presbyterian Church, the President of the Methodist Conference, the +ex-Chairman of the Congregational Union, Viscount Castlereagh, and Mr. +James Chambers, M.P. for South Belfast; and the rest of the company, +including the Right Hon. Thomas Sinclair and the veteran Sir William +Ewart, as well as the members of the Corporation and other public +authorities and boards, having attached their signatures to other +sheets, the general public waiting outside were then admitted. + +The arrangements for signature by the general public had fully taxed the +organising ability of the specially appointed Ulster Day Committee, and +their three hon. secretaries, Mr. Dawson Bates, Mr. McCammon, and Mr. +Frank Hall. They made provision for signatures to be received in many +hundreds of localities throughout Ulster, but it was impossible to +estimate closely the numbers that would require accommodation at the +City Hall. Lines of desks, giving a total desk-space of more than a +third of a mile, were placed along both sides of the corridors on the +upper and lower floors of the building, which enabled 540 persons to +sign the Covenant simultaneously. It all worked wonderfully smoothly, +largely because every individual in the multitude outside was anxious to +help in maintaining orderly procedure, and behaved with the greatest +patience and willingness to follow directions. The people were admitted +to the Hall in batches of 400 or 500 at a time, and as there was no +confusion there was no waste of time. All through the afternoon and up +to 11 p.m., when the Hall was closed, there was an unceasing flow of men +eager to become Covenanters. Immense numbers who belonged to the Orange +Lodges, Unionist clubs, or other organised bodies, marched to the Hall +in procession, and those whose route lay through Royal Avenue had an +opportunity, of which they took the fullest advantage, of cheering +Carson, who watched the memorable scene from the balcony of the Reform +Club, the quondam headquarters of Ulster Liberalism. + +Prominent and influential men in the country districts refrained from +coming to Belfast, preferring to sign the Covenant with their neighbours +in their own localities. The Duke of Abercorn, who had been prevented by +failing health from taking an active part in the movement of late, and +whose life unhappily was drawing to a close, signed the Covenant at +Barons Court; his son, the Marquis of Hamilton, M.P. for Derry, attached +his signature in the Maiden City together with the Bishop; another +prelate, the Bishop of Clogher, signed at Enniskillen with the Grand +Master of the Orangemen, Lord Erne; at Armagh, the Primate of All +Ireland, the Dean, and Sir John Lonsdale, M.P. (afterwards Lord +Armaghdale), headed the list of signatures; the Provost of Trinity +College signed in Dublin; and at Ballymena the veteran Presbyterian +Privy Councillor, Mr. John Young, and his son Mr. William Robert Young, +Hon. Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council, and for thirty years one +of the most zealous and active workers for the Loyalist cause, were the +first to sign. But a more notable Covenanter than any of these local +leaders was Lord Macnaghten, one of the most illustrious of English +Judges, whose great position as Lord of Appeal did not deter him from +wholly identifying himself with his native Ulster, by accepting the full +responsibility of the signatories of the Covenant. + +Ulstermen living in other parts of Ireland, and in Great Britain, were +not forgotten. Arrangements were made enabling such to sign the Covenant +in Dublin, London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, +and York. Two curious details may be added, which no reader who is alive +to the picturesqueness of historical associations will deem too trivial +to be worth recording. In Edinburgh a number of Ulstermen signed the +Covenant in the old Greyfriars' Churchyard on the "Covenanters' Stone," +the well-known memorial of the Scottish Covenant of the seventeenth +century; and the other incident was that, among some twenty men who +signed the Covenant in Belfast with their own blood, Major Crawford was +able to claim that he was following a family tradition, inasmuch as a +lineal ancestor had in the same grim fashion emphasised his adherence to +the Solemn League and Covenant in 1638. + +The most careful precautions were taken to ensure that all who signed +were properly entitled to do so, by requiring evidence to be furnished +of their Ulster birth or domicile, and references able to corroborate +it. The declaration in the Covenant itself that the person signing had +not already done so was in order to make sure that none of the +signatures should be duplicates. When the lists were closed--they were +kept open for some days after Ulster Day--they were very carefully +scrutinised by a competent staff at the Old Town Hall, and it is certain +that the numbers as eventually published included no duplicate signature +and none that was not genuine. Precisely the same care was taken in the +case of the Declaration by which, in words similar to the Covenant but +without its pledge for definite action, the women of Ulster associated +themselves with the men "in their uncompromising opposition to the Home +Rule Bill now before Parliament." + +It was not until the 22nd of November that the scrutiny and verification +of the signatures was completed, and the actual numbers published. They +were as follows: In Ulster itself 218,206 men had registered themselves +as Covenanters, and 228,991 women had signed the Declaration; in the +rest of Ireland and in Great Britain 19,162 men and 5,055 women had +signed. Thus, a grand total of 471,414 Ulster men and women gave their +adherence to the policy of which the Ulster Covenant was the solemn +pledge. To every one of these was given a copy of the document printed +on parchment, to be retained as a memento, and in thousands of cottages +throughout Ulster the framed Covenant hangs to-day in an honoured place, +and is the householder's most treasured possession. + +Although the main business of the day was over, so far as Carson and the +other leaders were concerned, when they had signed the Covenant in the +City Hall at noon, every hour, and every minute in the hour, until they +took their departure in the Liverpool packet in the evening, was full of +incident and excitement. The multitude in the streets leading to the +City Hall was so densely packed that they had great difficulty in making +their way to the Reform Club, where they were to be entertained at +lunch. And, as every man and woman in the crowd was desperately anxious +the moment they saw him to get near enough to Carson to shake him by the +hand, the pressure of the swaying mass of humanity was a positive +danger. Happily the behaviour of the people was as exemplary as it was +tumultuously enthusiastic. _The Times_ Special Correspondent thus summed +up his impressions of the scene: + + "Belfast did all that a city could do for such an occasion. I do + not well see how its behaviour could have been more impressive. The + tirelessness of the crowd--it was that perhaps which struck me + most; and, secondly, the good conduct of the crowd. Belfast had one + of the lowest of its Saturday records for drunkenness and + disorderliness yesterday. I was in the Reform Club between one and + three o'clock. Again and again I went out on the balcony and + watched the streets. I saw the procession of thousands upon + thousands come down Royal Avenue. But this was not the only line of + march, for all Belfast was now converging upon the City Hall, the + arrangements in which must have been elaborate. It was a procession + a description of which would have been familiar to the Belfast + public, but the like of which is only seen in Ulster." + +The tribute here paid to the conduct of the Belfast crowd was well +merited. But in this respect the day of the Covenant was not so +exceptional as it would have been before the beginning of the Ulster +Movement. Before that period neither Belfast nor any part of Ulster +could have been truthfully described as remarkable for its sobriety. But +by the universal testimony of those qualified to judge in such +matters--police, clergy of all denominations, and workers for social +welfare--the political movement had a sobering and steadying influence +on the people, which became more and more noticeable as the movement +developed, and especially as the volunteers grew in numbers and +discipline. The "man in the street" gained a sense of responsibility +from the feeling that he formed one of a great company whom it was his +wish not to discredit, and he found occupation for mind and body which +diminished the temptations of idle hours. + +From the Reform Club Carson, Londonderry, Beresford, and F.E. Smith went +to the Ulster Club, just across the street, where they dined as the +guests of Lord Mayor McMordie before leaving for Liverpool; and it was +outside that dingy building that the enthusiasm of the people reached a +climax. None who witnessed it can ever forget the scene, which the +English newspaper correspondents required all their superlatives to +describe for London readers next day. Those superlatives need not be +served up again here. One or two bald facts will perhaps give to anyone +possessing any faculty of visualisation as clear an idea as they could +get from any number of dithyrambic pages. The distance from the Ulster +Club to the quay where the Liverpool steamer is berthed is ordinarily +less than a ten minutes' walk. The wagonette in which the Ulster leader +and his friends were drawn by human muscles took three minutes short of +an hour to traverse it. It was estimated that into that short space of +street some 70,000 to 100,000 people had managed to jam themselves. +Movement was almost out of the question, yet everyone within reach +tried to press near enough to grasp hands with the occupants of the +carriage. When at last the shed was reached the people could not bear to +let Carson disappear through the gates. _The Times_ Correspondent heard +them shout, "Don't leave us," "You mustn't leave us," and, he added, "It +was seriously meant; it was only when someone pointed out that Sir +Edward Carson had work to do in England for Ulster, that the crowd +finally gave way and made an opening for their hero."[39] There had been +speeches from the balcony of the Reform Club in the afternoon; speeches +from the window of the Ulster Club in the evening; speeches outside the +dock gates; speeches from the deck of the steamer before departure; +speeches by Carson, by Londonderry, by F.E. Smith, by Lord Charles +Beresford--and the purport of one and all of them could be summed up in +the familiar phrase, "We won't have it." But this simple theme, +elaborated through all the modulations of varied oratory, was one of +which the Belfast populace was no more capable of becoming weary than is +the music lover of tiring of a recurrent _leitmotif_ in a Wagner opera. + +At last the ship moved off, and speech was no longer possible. It was +replaced by song, "Rule Britannia"; then, as the space to the shore +widened, "Auld Lang Syne"; and finally, when the figures lining the quay +were growing invisible in the darkness, those on board heard thousands +of Loyalists fervently singing "God save the King." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[37] _The Standard_, September 30th, 1912. + +[38] Dr. D'Arcy, now (1922) Primate of All Ireland. + +[39] _The Times_, September 30th, 1912. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +PASSING THE BILL + +No part of Great Britain displayed a more constant and whole-hearted +sympathy with the attitude of Ulster than the city of Liverpool. There +was much in common between Belfast and the great commercial port on the +Mersey. Both were the home of a robust Protestantism, which perhaps was +reinforced by the presence in both of a quarter where Irish Nationalists +predominated. Just as West Belfast gave a seat in Parliament to the most +forceful of the younger Nationalist generation, Mr. Devlin, the Scotland +Division of Liverpool had for a generation been represented by Mr. T.P. +O'Connor, one of the veteran leaders of the Parnellite period. In each +case the whole of the rest of the city was uncompromisingly +Conservative, and among the members for Liverpool at the time was Mr. +F.E. Smith, unquestionably the most brilliant of the rising generation +of Conservatives, who had already conspicuously identified himself with +the Ulster Movement, and was a close friend as well as a political +adherent of Carson. Among local leaders of opinion in Liverpool Alderman +Salvidge exercised a wide and powerful influence on the Unionist side. + +It was in accordance with the fitness of things, therefore, that +Liverpool should have wished to associate itself in no doubtful manner +with the men who had just subscribed to the Covenant on the other side +of the Channel. Having left Belfast amid the wonderful scenes described +in the last chapter, Carson, Londonderry, F.E. Smith, Beresford, and the +rest of the distinguished visitors awoke next morning--if the rollers of +the Irish Sea permitted sleep--in the oily waters of the Mersey, to find +at the landing-stage a crowd that in dimensions and demeanour seemed to +be a duplicate of the one they had left outside the dock gates at +Belfast. Except that the point round which everything had centred in +Belfast, the signing of the Covenant, was of course missing in +Liverpool, the Unionists of Liverpool were not to be outdone by the +Ulstermen themselves in their demonstration of loyalty to the Union. + +The packet that carried the group of leaders across the Channel happened +to be, appropriately enough, the R.M.S. _Patriotic_. As she steamed +slowly up the river towards Prince's Landing-stage in the chilly +atmosphere of early morning it was at once evident that more than the +members of the deputation who had arranged to present addresses to +Carson were out to welcome him to Liverpool, and when the workers who +thronged the river bank started singing "O God, our help in ages past," +the sound was strangely familiar in ears fresh from Ulster. + +An address from the Unionist working men of Liverpool and district, +presented by Alderman Salvidge, thanked Carson for his "magnificent +efforts to preserve the integrity of the Empire," and assured him that +they, "Unionist workers of the port which is connected with Belfast in +so many ways, stand by Ulster in this great struggle." Scenes of intense +enthusiasm in the streets culminated in a monster demonstration in Shiel +Park, at which it was estimated that close on 200,000 people were +present. In all the speeches delivered and the resolutions adopted +during this memorable Liverpool visit the same note was sounded, of full +approval of the Covenanters and of determination to support them +whatever might befall. + +The events of the last three months, and especially the signing of the +Covenant, had concentrated on Ulster the attention of the whole United +Kingdom, not to speak of America and the British oversea Dominions. This +was not of unmixed advantage to the cause for which Ulster was making so +determined a stand. There was a tendency more and more to regard the +opposition to Irish Home Rule as an Ulster question, and nothing else. +The Unionist protagonists of the earlier, the Gladstonian, period of the +struggle, men like Salisbury, Randolph Churchill, Devonshire, +Chamberlain, and Goschen, had treated it mainly as an Imperial question, +which it certainly was. In their eyes the Irish Loyalists, of whom the +Ulstermen were the most important merely because they happened to be +geographically concentrated, were valuable allies in a contest vital to +the safety and prosperity of the British Empire; but, although the +particular interests of these Loyalists were recognised as possessing a +powerful claim on British sympathy and support, this was a consideration +quite secondary in comparison with the larger aspects of Imperial policy +raised by the demand for Home Rule. It was an unfortunate result of the +prominence into which Ulster was forced after the introduction of Mr. +Asquith's measure that these larger aspects gradually dropped away, and +the defence of the Union came to be identified almost completely in +England and Scotland with support of the Ulster Loyalists. It was to +this aspect of the case that Mr. Kipling gave prominence in the poem +published on the day of the Balmoral meeting,[40] although no one was +less prone than he to magnify a "side-show" in Imperial policy; and it +was the same note that again was sounded on the eve of the Covenant by +another distinguished English poet. The general feeling of bewilderment +and indignation that the only part of Ireland which had consistently +upheld the British connection should now be not only thrown over by the +British Government but denounced for its obstinate refusal to co-operate +in a separatist movement, was finely expressed in Mr. William Watson's +challenging poem, "Ulster's Reward," which appeared in _The Times_ a few +days before the signing of the Covenant in Belfast: + + "What is the wage the faithful earn? + What is a recompense fair and meet? + Trample their fealty under your feet-- + That, is a fitting and just return. + Flout them, buffet them, over them ride, + Fling them aside! + + "Ulster is ours to mock and spurn, + Ours to spit upon, ours to deride. + And let it be known and blazoned wide + That this is the wage the faithful earn: + Did she uphold us when others defied? + Then fling her aside. + + "Where on the Earth was the like of it done + In the gaze of the sun? + She had pleaded and prayed to be counted still + As one of our household through good and ill, + And with scorn they replied; + Jeered at her loyalty, trod on her pride, + Spurned her, repulsed her, + Great-hearted Ulster; + Flung her aside." + +Appreciating to the full the sympathy and support which their cause +received from leading men of letters in England, it was not the fault of +the Ulstermen themselves that the larger Imperial aspects of the +question thus dropped into the background. They continually strove to +make Englishmen realise that far more was involved than loyal support of +England's only friends in Ireland; they quoted such pronouncements as +Admiral Mahan's that "it is impossible for a military man, or a +statesman with appreciation of military conditions, to look at a map and +not perceive that if the ambition of the Irish Separatists were +realised, it would be even more threatening to the national life of +Britain than the secession of the South was to that of the American +Republic.... An independent Parliament could not safely be trusted even +to avowed friends"; and they showed over and over again, quoting chapter +and verse from Nationalist utterances, and appealing to acknowledged +facts in recent and contemporary history, that it was not to "avowed +friends," but to avowed enemies, that Mr. Asquith was prepared to +concede an independent Parliament. + +But those were the days before the rude awakening from the dream that +the world was to repose for ever in the soft wrappings of universal +peace. Questions of national defence bored Englishmen. The judgment of +the greatest strategical authority of the age weighed less than one of +Lord Haldane's verbose platitudes, and the urgent warnings of Lord +Roberts less than the impudent snub administered to him by an +Under-Secretary. Speakers on public platforms found that sympathy with +Ulster carried a more potent appeal to their audience than any other +they could make on the Irish question, and they naturally therefore +concentrated attention upon it. Liberals, excited alternately to fury +and to ridicule by the proceedings in Belfast, heaped denunciation on +Carson and the Covenant, thereby impelling their opponents to vehement +defence of both; and the result of all this was that before the end of +1912 the sun of Imperial policy which had drawn the homage of earlier +defenders of the Union was almost totally eclipsed by the moon of +Ulster. + +When Parliament reassembled for the autumn session in October the Prime +Minister immediately moved a "guillotine" resolution for allotting time +for the remaining stages of the Home Rule Bill, and, in resisting this +motion, Mr. Bonar Law made one of the most convincing of his many +convincing speeches against the whole policy of the Bill. It stands for +all time as the complete demonstration of a proposition which he argued +over and over again--that Home Rule had never been submitted to the +British electorate, and that that fact alone was full justification for +Ulster's resolve to resist it. It was impossible for any democratic +Minister to refute the contention that even if the principle of the +Government's policy had been as frankly submitted to the electorate as +it had in fact been carefully withheld, it would still remain true that +the intensity of the Ulster opposition was itself a new factor in the +situation upon Which the people were entitled to be consulted. There was +a limit, said Mr. Bonar Law, to the obligation to submit to legally +constituted authority, and that limit was reached "in a free country +when a body of men, whether they call themselves a Cabinet or not, +propose to make a great change like this for which they have never +received the sanction of the people." + +It was, however, thoroughly understood by every member of the House of +Commons that argument, no matter how irrefutable, had no effect on the +situation, which was governed by the simple fact that the life of the +Ministry depended on the good-will of the Nationalist section of the +Coalition, which rigorously demanded the passage of the Bill in the +current session, and feared nothing so much as the judgment of the +English people upon it. Consequently, under the guillotine, great blocks +of the Bill, containing the most far-reaching constitutional issues, +and matters vital to the political and economic structure of the centre +of the British Empire, were passed through the House of Commons by the +ringing of the division bells without a word of discussion, exactly as +they had come from the pen of the official draftsman, and destined under +the exigencies of the Parliament Act procedure to be forced through the +Legislature in the same raw condition in the two following sessions. + +This last-mentioned fact suggested a consideration which weighed heavily +on the minds of the Ulster leaders as the year 1912 drew to a close, and +with it the debates on the Bill in Committee. Had the time come when +they ought to put forward in Parliament an alternative policy to the +absolute rejection of the Bill? They had not yet completely abandoned +hope that Ministers, however reluctantly, might still find it impossible +to stave off an appeal to the country; but the opposite hypothesis was +the more probable. If the Bill became law in its present form they would +have to fall back on the policy disclosed at Craigavon and embodied in +the Covenant. But, although it is true that they had supported Mr. +Agar-Robartes's amendment to exclude certain Ulster counties from the +jurisdiction to be set up in Dublin, the Ulster representatives were +reluctant to make proposals of their own which might be misrepresented +as a desire to compromise their hostility to the principle of Home Rule. +Under the Parliament Act procedure, however, they realised that no +material change would be allowed to be made in the Bill after it first +left the House of Commons, although two years would have to elapse +before it could reach the Statute-book; if they were to propound any +alternative to "No Home Rule" it was, therefore, a case of now or never. + +Having regard to the extreme gravity of the course to be followed in +Ulster in the event of the measure passing into law, it was decided that +the most honest and straightforward thing to do was to put forward at +the juncture now reached a policy for dealing with Ulster separately +from the rest of Ireland. But in fulfilment of the promise, from which +he never deviated, to take no important step without first consulting +his supporters in Ulster, Carson went over to attend a meeting of the +Standing Committee in Belfast on the 13th of December, where he +explained fully the reasons why this policy was recommended by himself +and all his parliamentary colleagues. It was not accepted by the +Standing Committee without considerable discussion, but in the end the +decision was unanimous, and the resolution adopting it laid it down that +"in taking this course the Standing Committee firmly believes the +interests of Unionists in the three other provinces of Ireland will be +best conserved." In order to emphasise that the course resolved upon +implied no compromise of their opposition to the Bill as a whole, Sir +Edward Carson wrote a letter to the Prime Minister during the Christmas +recess, which was published in the Press, and which made this point +clear; and he pressed it home in the House of Commons on the 1st of +January, 1913, when he moved to exclude "the Province of Ulster" from +the operation of the Bill in a speech of wonderfully persuasive +eloquence which deeply impressed the House, and which was truly +described by Mr. Asquith as "very powerful and moving," and by Mr. +Redmond as "serious and solemn." + +Carson's proposal was altogether different from what was subsequently +enacted in 1920. It was consistent with the uninterrupted demand of +Ulster to be let alone, it asked for no special privilege, except the +privilege, which was also claimed as an inalienable right, to remain a +part of the United Kingdom with full representation at Westminster and +nowhere else; it required the creation of no fresh subordinate +constitution raising the difficult question as to the precise area which +its jurisdiction could effectively administer. + +Carson's amendment was, of course, rejected by the Government's +invariably docile majority, and on the 16th of January the Home Rule +Bill passed the third reading in the House of Commons, without the +smallest concession having been made to the Ulster opposition, or the +slightest indication as to how the Government intended to meet the +opposition of a different character which was being organised in the +North of Ireland. + +When the Bill went to the Upper House at the end of January the whole +subject was threshed out in a series of exceedingly able speeches; but +the impotence of the Second Chamber under the Parliament Act gave an air +of pathetic unreality to the proceedings, which was neatly epitomised by +Lord Londonderry in the sentence: "The position is, that while the House +of Commons can vote but not speak, the Lords can speak but not vote." +Nevertheless, such speeches as those of the Archbishop of York, Earl +Grey, the Duke of Devonshire, and Lord Londonderry, were not without +effect on opinion outside. Earl Grey, an admitted authority on federal +constitutions, urged that if, as the Government were continually +assuring the country, Home Rule was the first step in the federalisation +of the United Kingdom, there was every reason why Ulster should be a +distinct unit in the federal system. The Archbishop dealt more fully +with the Ulster question. Admitting that he had formerly believed "that +this attitude of Ulster was something of a scarecrow made up out of old +and outworn prejudices," he had now to acknowledge that the men of +Ulster were "of all men the least likely to be 'drugged with the wine of +words,' and were men who of all other men mean and do what they say." +Behind all the glowing eloquence of Mr. Asquith and Mr. Redmond, he +discerned "this figure of Ulster, grim, determined, menacing, which no +eloquence can exorcise and no live statesmanship can ignore." If the +result of this legislation should be actual bloodshed, then, on +whomsoever might rest the responsibility for it, it would mean the +shattering of all the hopes of a united and contented Ireland which it +was the aim of the Bill to create. If Ulster made good her threat of +forcible resistance there was, said the Archbishop, one condition, and +one condition only, on which her coercion could be justified, and that +was that the Government "should have received from the people of this +country an authority clear and explicit" to carry it out. + +But among the numerous striking passages in the debate which occupied +the Peers for four days, none was more telling than Lord Curzon's +picturesque description of how Ulster was to be treated. "You are +compelling Ulster," he said, "to divorce her present husband, to whom +she is not unfaithful, and you compel her to marry someone else whom she +cordially dislikes, with whom she does not want to live; and you do it +because she happens to be rich, and because her new partner has a large +and ravenous offspring to provide for. You are asking rather too much of +human nature." + +That the Home Rule Bill would be rejected on second reading by the Lords +was a foregone conclusion, and it was so rejected by a majority of 257 +on the 31st of January, 1913. The Bill then entered into its period of +gestation under the Parliament Act. The session did not come to an end +until the 7th of March, and the new session began three days afterwards. +It is unnecessary to follow the fortunes of the Bill in Parliament in +1913, for the process was purely mechanical, in order to satisfy the +requirements of the Parliament Act. The preparations for dealing with +the mischief it would work went forward with unflagging energy +elsewhere. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[40] See _ante_, p. 79. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +WAS RESISTANCE JUSTIFIABLE? + + +A story is told of Queen Victoria that in her youthful days, when +studying constitutional history, she once asked Lord Melbourne whether +under any circumstances citizens were justified in resisting legal +authority; to which the old courtier replied: "When asked that question +by a Sovereign of the House of Hanover I feel bound to answer in the +affirmative." If one can imagine a similar question being asked of an +Ulsterman by Mr. Asquith, Mr. Lloyd George, or Sir Edward Grey, in 1912, +the reply would surely have been that such a question asked by a +statesman claiming to be a guardian of Liberal principles and of the +Whig tradition could only be answered in the affirmative. This, at all +events, was the view of the late Duke of Devonshire, who more than any +other statesman of our time could claim to be a representative in his +own person of the Whig tradition handed down from 1688.[41] Passive +obedience has, indeed, been preached as a political dogma in the course +of English history, but never by apostles of Liberalism. Forcible +resistance to legally constituted authority, even when it involved +repudiation of existing allegiance, has often, both in our own and in +foreign countries, won the approval and sympathy of English Liberals. A +long line of illustrious names, from Cromwell and Lord Halifax in +England to Kossuth and Mazzini on the Continent, might be quoted in +support of such a proposition if anyone were likely to challenge it. + +When, then, Liberals professed to be unutterably shocked by Ulster's +declared intention to resist Home Rule both actively and passively, they +could not have based their attitude on the principle that under no +circumstances could such resistance be morally justified. Indeed, in +the case in question, there were circumstances that would have made the +condemnation of Ulster by the English Liberal Party not a little +hypocritical if referred to any general ethical principle. For that +party had itself been for a generation in the closest political alliance +with Irishmen whose leader had boasted that they were as much rebels as +their fathers were in 1798, and whose power in Ireland had been built up +by long-sustained and systematic defiance of the law. Yet the same +politicians who had excused, if they had not applauded, the "Plan of +Campaign," and the organised boycotting and cattle-driving which had for +years characterised the agitation for Home Rule, were unspeakably +shocked when Ulster formed a disciplined Volunteer force which never +committed an outrage, and prepared to set up a Provisional Government +rather than be ruled by an assembly of cattle-drivers in Dublin. +Moreover, many of Mr. Asquith's supporters, and one at least of his most +distinguished colleagues in the Cabinet of 1912, had themselves +organised resistance to an Education Act which they disliked but had +been unable to defeat in Parliament. + +Nevertheless, it must, of course, be freely admitted that the question +as to what conditions justify resistance to the legal authority in the +State--or rebellion, if the more blunt expression be preferred--is an +exceedingly difficult one to answer. It would sound cynical to say, +though Carlyle hardly shrinks from maintaining, that success, and +success alone, redeems rebellion from wickedness and folly. Yet it would +be difficult to explain on any other principle why posterity has +applauded the Parliamentarians of 1643 and the Whigs of 1688, while +condemning Monmouth and Charles Edward; or why Mr. Gladstone sympathised +with Jefferson Davis when he looked like winning and withdrew that +sympathy when he had lost. But if success is not the test, what is? Is +it the aim of the men who resist? The aim that appears honourable and +heroic to one onlooker appears quite the opposite to another, and so the +test resolves itself into a matter of personal partisanship. + +That is probably as near as one can get to a solution of the question. +Those who happen to agree with the purpose for which a rebellion takes +place think the rebels in the right; those who disagree think them in +the wrong. As Mr. Winston Churchill succinctly puts it when commenting +on the strictures passed on his father for "inciting" Ulster to resist +Home Rule, "Constitutional authorities will measure their censures +according to their political opinions." He reminds us, moreover, that +when Lord Randolph was denounced as a "rebel in the skin of a Tory," the +latter "was able to cite the authority of Lord Althorp, Sir Robert Peel, +Mr. Morley, and the Prime Minister (Gladstone) himself, in support of +the contention that circumstances might justify morally, if not +technically, violent resistance and even civil war."[42] + +To this distinguished catalogue of authorities an Ulster apologist might +have added the name of the Chief Secretary for Ireland in Mr. Asquith's +own Cabinet, who admitted in 1912 that "if the religion of the +Protestants were oppressed or their property despoiled they would be +right to fight[43];" which meant that Mr. Birrell did not condemn +fighting in itself, provided he were allowed to decide when the occasion +for it had arisen. Greater authorities than Mr. Birrell held that the +Ulster case for resistance was a good and valid one as it stood. No +English statesman of the last half-century has deservedly enjoyed a +higher reputation for political probity, combined with sound common +sense, than the eighth Duke of Devonshire. As long ago as 1893, when +this same issue had already been raised in circumstances much less +favourable to Ulster than after the passing of the Parliament Act in +1911, the Duke of Devonshire said: + + "The people of Ulster believe, rightly or wrongly, that under a + Government responsible to an Imperial Parliament they possess at + present the fullest security which they can possess of their + personal freedom, their liberties, and their right to transact + their own business in their own way. You have no right to offer + them any inferior security to that; and if, after weighing the + character of the Government which it is sought to impose upon them, + they resolve that they are no longer bound to obey a law which does + not give them equal and just protection with their fellow subjects, + who can say--how at all events can the descendants of those who + resisted King James II say, that they have not a right, if they + think fit, to resist, if they think they have the power, the + imposition of a Government put upon them by force?"[44] + +All the same, there never was a community on the face of the earth to +whom "rebellion" in any real sense of the word was more hateful than to +the people of Ulster. They traditionally were the champions of "law and +order" in Ireland; they prided themselves above all things on their +"loyalty" to their King and to the British flag. And they never +entertained the idea that the movement which they started at Craigavon +in 1911, and to which they solemnly pledged themselves by their Covenant +in the following year, was in the slightest degree a departure from +their cherished "loyalty"--on the contrary, it was an emphatic assertion +of it. They held firmly, as Mr. Bonar Law and the whole Unionist party +in Great Britain held also, that Mr. Asquith and his Government were +forcing Home Rule upon them by unconstitutional methods. They did not +believe that loyalty in the best sense--loyalty to the Sovereign, to the +Empire, to the majesty of the law--required of them passive obedience to +an Act of Parliament placed by such means on the Statute-book, which +they were convinced, moreover, was wholly repugnant to the great +majority of the British people. + +This aspect of the matter was admirably and soberly presented by _The +Times_ in one of the many weighty articles in which that great journal +gave undeviating support to the Ulster cause. + + "A free community cannot justly, or even constitutionally, be + deprived of its privileges or its position in the realm by any + measure that is not stamped with the considered and unquestionable + approval of the great body of electors of the United Kingdom. Any + attempt so to deprive them is a fraud upon their fundamental + rights, which they are justified in resisting, as an act of + violence, by any means in their power. This is elementary doctrine, + borne out by the whole course of English history."[45] + +That the position was paradoxical calls for no denial; but the pith of +the paradox lay in the fact that a movement denounced as "rebellious" by +its political opponents was warmly supported not only by large masses, +probably by the majority, of the people of this country, but by numbers +of individuals of the highest character, occupying stations of great +responsibility. Whatever may be thought of men engaged in actual +political conflict, whom some people appear to think capable of any +wickedness, no one can seriously suggest that men like Lord Macnaghten, +like the late and present Primates of Ireland, like the late Provost of +Trinity, like many other sober thinkers who supported Ulster, were men +who would lightly lend themselves to "rebellion," or any other wild and +irresponsible adventure. As _The Times_ very truly observed in a leading +article in 1912: + + "We remember no precedent in our domestic history since the + Revolution of 1688 for a movement among citizens, law-abiding by + temperament and habit, which resembles the present movement of the + Ulster Protestants. It is no rabble who have undertaken it. It is + the work of orderly, prosperous, and deeply religious men."[46] + + +Nor did the paradox end there. If the Ulster Movement was "rebellious," +its purpose was as paradoxical as its circumstances. It had in it no +subversive element. In this respect it stands (so far as the writer's +knowledge goes) without precedent, a solitary instance in the history of +mankind. The world has witnessed rebellions without number, designed to +bring about many different results--to emancipate a people from +oppression, to upset an obnoxious form of Government, to expel or to +restore a rival dynasty, to transfer allegiance from one Sovereign or +one State to another. But has there ever been a "rebellion" the object +of which was to maintain the _status quo_? Yet that was the sole purpose +of the Ulstermen in all they did from 1911 to 1914. That fact, which +distinguished their movement from every rebellion or revolution in +history, placed them on a far more solid ground of reasonable +justification than the excuse offered by Mr. Churchill for their +bellicose attitude in his father's day. Although he is no doubt right in +saying that "When men are sufficiently in earnest they will back their +words with more than votes," it is a plea that would cover alike the +conduct of Halifax and the other Whigs who resisted the legal authority +of James II, of the Jacobites who fought for his grandson, and of the +contrivers of many another bloody or bloodless Revolution. But there was +nothing revolutionary in the Ulster Movement. It was resistance to the +transfer of a people's allegiance without their consent; to their +forcible expulsion from a Constitution with which they were content and +their forcible inclusion in a Constitution which they detested. This was +the very antithesis of Revolution. English Radical writers and +politicians might argue that no "transfer of allegiance" was +contemplated; but Ulstermen thought they knew better, and the later +development of the Irish question proved how right they were. Even had +they been proved wrong instead of right in their conviction that the +true aim of Irish Nationalism (a term in which Sinn Fein is included) +was essentially separatist, they knew better than Englishmen how little +reality there was in the theory that under the proposed Home Rule their +allegiance would be unaffected and their political _status_ suffer no +degradation. They claimed to occupy a position similar to that of the +North in the American Civil War--with this difference, which, so far as +it went, told in their favour, that whereas Lincoln took up arms to +resist secession, they were prepared to do so to resist expulsion, the +purpose in both cases, however, being to preserve union. The practical +view of the question, as it would appear in the eyes of ordinary men, +was well expressed by Lord Curzon in the House of Lords, when he said: + + "The people of this country will be very loth to condemn those + whose only disloyalty it will be to have been excessive in their + loyalty to the King. Do not suppose that the people of this country + will call those 'rebels' whose only form of rebellion is to insist + on remaining under the Imperial Parliament."[47] + +Of course, men like Sir Edward Carson, Lord Londonderry, Mr. Thomas +Sinclair, and other Ulster leaders were too far-seeing not to realise +that the course they were taking would expose them to the accusation of +having set a bad example which others without the same grounds of +justification might follow in very different circumstances. But this was +a risk they had to shoulder, as have all who are not prepared to +subscribe to the dogma of Passive Obedience without limit. They accepted +it as the less of two evils. But there was something humorous in the +pretence put forward in 1916 and afterwards that the violence to which +the adherents of Sinn Fein had recourse was merely copying Ulster. As if +Irish Nationalism in its extreme form required precedent for +insurrection! Even the leader of "Constitutional Nationalism" himself +had traced his political pedigree to convicted rebels like Tone and +Emmet, and since the date of those heroes there had been at least two +armed risings in Ireland against the British Crown and Government. If +the taunt flung at Ulstermen had been that they had at last thrown +overboard law and order and had stolen the Nationalist policy of active +resistance, there would at least have been superficial plausibility in +it. But when it was suggested or implied that the Ulster example was +actually responsible in any degree whatever for violent outbreaks in the +other provinces, a supercilious smile was the only possible retort from +the lips of representatives of Ulster. + +But what caused them some perplexity was the disposition manifested in +certain quarters in England to look upon the two parties in Ireland in +regard to "rebellion" as "six of one and half a dozen of the other." It +has always, unhappily, been characteristic of a certain type of +Englishman to see no difference between the friends and the enemies of +his country, and, if he has a preference at all, to give it to the +latter. Apart from all other circumstances which in the eyes of +Ulstermen justified them up to the hilt in the policy they pursued, +apart from everything that distinguished them historically and morally +from Irish "rebels," there was the patent and all-important fact that +the motive of their opponents was hostility to England, whereas their +own motive was friendliness and loyalty to England. In that respect they +never wavered. If the course of events had ever led to the employment of +British troops to crush the resistance of Ulster to Home Rule, the +extraordinary spectacle would have been presented to the wondering world +of the King's soldiers shooting down men marching under the British flag +and singing "God save the King." + +It was no doubt because this was very generally understood in England +that the sympathies of large masses of law-loving people were never for +a moment alienated from the men of Ulster by all the striving of their +enemies to brand them as rebels. Constitutional authorities may, as Mr. +Churchill says, "measure their censures according to their political +opinions," but the generality of men, who are not constitutional +authorities, whose political opinions, if they have any, are +fluctuating, and who care little for "juridical niceties," will measure +their censures according to their instinctive sympathies. And the sound +instinct of Englishmen forbade them to blame men who, if rebels in law, +were their firm friends in fact, for taking exceptional and even illegal +measures, when all others failed, to preserve the full unity which they +regarded as the fruit of that friendship. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[41] See _Life of the Eighth Duke of Devonshire,_ by Bernard Holland, +ii, pp. 249-51. + +[42] _Life of Lord Randolph Churchill_, vol. ii, p. 65. + +[43] _Annual Register_, 1912, p. 82. + +[44] Bernard Holland's _Life of the Eighth Duke of Devonshire_, ii, 250. + +[45] _The Times_, July 14th, 1913. + +[46] Ibid., August 22nd, 1912. + +[47] _Parliamentary Debates_ (House of Lords), July 15th, 1913. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT AND PROPAGANDA + + +By the death of the Duke of Abercorn on the 3rd of January, 1913, the +Ulster Loyalists lost a leader who had for many years occupied a very +special place in their affection and confidence. Owing to failing health +he had been unable to take an active part in the exciting events of the +past two years, but the messages of encouragement and support which were +read from him at Craigavon, Balmoral, and other meetings for organising +resistance, were always received with an enthusiasm which showed, and +was intended to show, that the great part he had played in former years, +and especially his inspiring leadership as Chairman of the Ulster +Convention in 1893, had never been forgotten. + +His death inflicted also, indirectly, another blow which at this +particular moment was galling to loyalists out of all proportion to its +intrinsic importance. The removal to the House of Lords of the Marquis +of Hamilton, the member for Derry city, created a vacancy which was +filled at the ensuing by-election by a Liberal Home Ruler. To lose a +seat anywhere in the north-eastern counties at such a critical time in +the movement was bad enough, but the unfading halo of the historic siege +rested on Derry as on a sanctuary of Protestantism and loyalty, so that +the capture of the "Maiden City" by the enemy wounded loyalist sentiment +far more deeply than the loss of any other constituency. The two parties +had been for some time very nearly evenly balanced there, and every +electioneering art and device, including that of bringing to the poll +voters who had long rested in the cemetery, was practised in Derry with +unfailing zeal and zest by party managers. For some time past trade, +especially ship-building, had been in a state of depression in Derry, +with the result that a good many of the better class of artisans, who +were uniformly Unionist, had gone to Belfast and elsewhere to find work, +leaving the political fortunes of the city at the mercy of the casual +labourer who drifted in from the wilds of Donegal, and who at this +election managed to place the Home Rule candidate in a majority of +fifty-seven. + +It was a matter of course that the late Duke's place as President of the +Ulster Unionist Council should be taken by Lord Londonderry, and it +happened that the annual meeting at which he was formally elected was +held on the same day that witnessed the rejection of the Home Rule Bill +by the House of Lords. + +It was also at this annual meeting (31st January, 1913) that the special +Commission who had been charged to prepare a scheme for the Provisional +Government, presented their draft Report. The work had been done with +great thoroughness and was adopted without substantial alteration by the +Council, but was not made public for several months. The Council itself +was, in the event of the Provisional Government being set up, to +constitute a "Central Authority," and provision was made, with complete +elaboration of detail, for carrying on all the necessary departments of +administration by different Committees and Boards, whose respective +functions were clearly defined. Among those who consented to serve in +these departmental Committees, in addition to the recognised local +leaders in the Ulster Movement, were Dr. Crozier, Archbishop of Armagh, +the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in +Ireland, Lord Charles Beresford, Major-General Montgomery, Colonel +Thomas Hickman, M.P., Lord Claud Hamilton, M.P., Sir Robert Kennedy, +K.C.M.G., and Sir Charles Macnaghten, K.C., son of Lord Macnaghten, the +distinguished Lord of Appeal. Ulster at this time gave a lead on the +question of admitting women to political power, at a time when their +claim to enfranchisement was being strenuously resisted in England, by +including several women in the Provisional Government. + +A most carefully drawn scheme for a separate judiciary in Ulster had +been prepared with the assistance of some of the ablest lawyers in +Ireland. It was in three parts, dealing respectively with (a) the +Supreme Court, (b) the Land Commission, and (c) County Courts; it was +drawn up as an Ordinance, in the usual form of a Parliamentary Bill, and +it is an indication of the spirit in which Ulster was preparing to +resist an Act of Parliament that the Ordinance bore the introductory +heading: "_It is Hereby Enacted by the Central Authority in the name of +the King's Most Excellent Majesty that_------" Similarly, the form of +"Oath or Declaration of Adherence" to be taken by Judges, Magistrates, +Coroners, and other officers of the Courts, set out in a Schedule to the +Ordinance, was: "I ... of ... being about to serve in the Courts of the +Provisional Government as the Central Authority for His Majesty the +King, etc." + +It will be remembered that the original resolution by which the Council +decided to set up a Provisional Government limited its duration until +Ulster should "again resume unimpaired her citizenship in the United +Kingdom,"[48] and at a later date it was explicitly stated that it was +to act as trustee for the Imperial Parliament. All the forms prepared +for use while it remained in being purported to be issued in the name of +the King. And the Resolution adopted by the Unionist Council immediately +after constituting itself the Central Authority of the Provisional +Government, in which the reasons for that policy were recorded, +concluded with the statement that "we, for our part, in the course we +have determined to pursue, are inspired not alone by regard to the true +welfare of our own country, but by devotion to the interests of our +world-wide Empire and loyalty to our beloved King." If this was the +language of rebels, it struck a note that can never before have been +heard in a chorus of disaffection. + +The demonstrations against the Government's policy which had been held +during the last eighteen months, of which some account has been given, +were so impressive that those which followed were inevitably less +remarkable by comparison. They were, too, necessarily to a large +extent, repetitions of what had gone before. There might be, and there +were, plenty of variations on the old theme, but there was no new theme +to introduce. Propaganda to the extent possible with the resources at +the disposal of the Ulster Unionist Council was carried on in the +British constituencies in 1913, the cost being defrayed chiefly through +generous subscriptions collected by the energy and influence of Mr. +Walter Long; but many were beginning to share the opinion of Mr. Charles +Craig, M.P., who scandalised the Radicals by saying at Antrim in March +that, while it was incumbent on Ulstermen to do their best to educate +the electorate, "he believed that, as an argument, ten thousand pounds +spent on rifles would be a thousand times stronger than the same amount +spent on meetings, speeches, and pamphlets." + +On the 27th of March a letter appeared in the London newspapers +announcing the formation of a "British League for the support of Ulster +and the Union," with an office in London. It was signed by a hundred +Peers and 120 Unionist Members of the House of Commons. The manifesto +emphasised the Imperial aspect of the great struggle that was going on, +asserting that it was "quite clear that the men of Ulster are not +fighting only for their own liberties. Ulster will be the field on which +the privileges of the whole nation will be lost or won." A small +executive Committee was appointed, with the Duke of Bedford as Chairman, +and within a few weeks large numbers of people in all parts of the +country joined the new organisation. A conference attended by upwards of +150 honorary agents from all parts of the country was held at +Londonderry House on the 4th of June, where the work of the League was +discussed, and its future policy arranged. Its operations were not +ostentatious, but they were far from being negligible, especially in +connection with later developments of the movement in the following +year. This proof of British support was most encouraging to the people +of Ulster, and the Dublin correspondent of _The Times_ reported that it +gave no less satisfaction to loyalists in other parts of Ireland, among +whom, as the position became more desperate every day, there was "not +the least sign of giving way, of accepting the inevitable." + +Every month that passed in uncertainty as to what fate was reserved for +Ulster, and especially every visit of the leader to Belfast, endeared +him more intensely to his followers, who had long since learnt to give +him their unquestioning trust; and his bereavement by the death of his +wife in April 1913 brought him the profound and affectionate sympathy of +a warm-hearted people, which manifested itself in most moving fashion at +a great meeting a month later on the 16th of May, when, at the opening +of a new drill hall in the most industrial district of Belfast, Sir +Edward exclaimed, in response to a tumultuous reception, "Heaven knows, +my one affection left me is my love of Ireland." + +He took occasion at the same meeting to impress upon his followers the +spirit by which all their actions should be guided, and which always +guided his own. With a significant reference to the purposes for which +the new drill hall might be used, he added, "Always remember--this is +essential--always remember you have no quarrel with individuals. We +welcome and we love every individual Irishman, even though he may be +opposed to us. Our quarrel is with the Government." When the feelings of +masses of men are deeply stirred in political conflict such exhortations +are never superfluous; and there never was a leader who could give them +with better grace than Sir Edward Carson, who himself combined to an +extraordinary degree strength of conviction with entire freedom from +bitterness towards individual opponents.[49] + +In this same speech he showed that there was no slackening of +determination to pursue to the end the policy of the Covenant. There had +been rumours that the Government were making secret inquiries with a +view to taking legal proceedings, and in allusion to them Carson moved +his audience to one of the most wonderful demonstrations of personal +devotion that even he ever evoked, by saying: "If they want to test the +legality of anything we are doing, let them not attack humble men--I am +responsible for everything, and they know where to find me." + +The Bill was running its course for the second time through Parliament, +a course that was now farcically perfunctory, and Carson returned to +London to repeat in the House of Commons on the 10th of June his defiant +acceptance of responsibility for the Ulster preparations. He was back in +Belfast for the 12th of July celebrations, when 150,000 Orangemen +assembled at Craigavon to hear another speech from their leader full of +confident challenge, and to receive another message of encouragement +from Mr. Bonar Law, who assured them that "whatever steps they might +feel compelled to take, whether they were constitutional, or whether in +the long run they were unconstitutional, they had the whole of the +Unionist Party under his leadership behind them." + +The leader of the Unionist Party had good reason to know that his +message to Ulster was endorsed by his followers. That had been +demonstrated beyond all possibility of doubt during the preceding month. +The Ulster Unionist Members of the House of Commons, with Carson at +their head, had during June made a tour of some of the principal towns +of Scotland and the North of England, receiving a resounding welcome +wherever they went. The usual custom of political meetings, where one or +two prominent speakers have the platform to themselves, was departed +from; the whole parliamentary contingent kept together throughout the +tour as a deputation from Ulster to the constituencies visited, taking +in turn the duty of supporting Carson, who was everywhere the principal +speaker. + +There were wonderful demonstrations at Glasgow and Edinburgh, both in +the streets and the principal halls, proving, as was aptly said by _The +Yorkshire Post_, that "the cry of the new Covenanters is not unheeded by +the descendants of the old"; and thence they went south, drawing great +cheering crowds to welcome them and to present encouraging addresses at +the railway stations at Berwick, Newcastle, Darlington, and York, to +Leeds, where the two largest buildings in the city were packed to +overflowing with Yorkshiremen eager to see and hear the Ulster leader, +and to show their sympathy with the loyalist cause. Similar scenes were +witnessed at Norwich and Bristol, and the tour left no doubt in the +minds of those who followed it, and who studied the comments of the +Press upon it, that not only was the whole Unionist Party in Great +Britain solidly behind the Ulstermen in their resolve to resist being +subjected to a Parliament in Dublin, but that the general drift of +opinion detached from party was increasingly on the same side. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[48] See _ante_, p. 53. + +[49] But he could be moved to stern indignation by the treachery of +former friends, as he showed in December 1921. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +LORD LOREBURN'S LETTER + + +Whatever might be the state of public opinion in England, it was +realised that the Government, if they chose, were in a position to +disregard it; and in Ulster the tension was becoming almost unbearable. +The leaders were apprehensive lest outbreaks of violence should occur, +which they knew would gravely prejudice the movement; and there is no +doubt that it was only the discipline which the rank and file had now +gained, and the extraordinary restraining influence which Carson +exercised, that prevented serious rioting in many places. Incidents like +the attack by Nationalist roughs in Belfast on a carriage conveying +crippled children to a holiday outing on the 31st of May because it was +decorated with Union Jacks might at any moment lead to trouble. There +was some disorder in Belfast in the early hours of the 12th of July; and +an outbreak occurred in August in Derry, always a storm centre, when a +procession was attacked, and a Protestant was shot while watching it +from his own upper window. The incident started rioting, which continued +for several days, and a battalion of troops had to be called in to +restore order. + +Meantime, throughout the summer, while the Government were complacently +carrying their Bill through Parliament for the second time, the Press +was packed with suggestions for averting the crisis which everybody +except the Cabinet recognised as impending. + +It began to be whispered in the clubs and lobbies that the King might +exercise the prerogative of veto, and even men like Lord St. Aldwyn and +the veteran Earl of Halsbury, both of them ex-Cabinet Ministers, +encouraged the idea; but there was no widespread acceptance of the +notion that even in so exceptional a case His Majesty would reject the +advice of his responsible Ministers. But in a letter to _The Times_ on +the 4th of September, Mr. George Cave, K.C., M.P. (afterwards Home +Secretary, and ultimately Lord of Appeal), suggested that the King might +"exercise his undoubted right" to dissolve Parliament before the +beginning of the next session, in order to inform himself as to whether +the policy of his Ministers was endorsed by the people. + +But a much greater sensation was created a few days later by a letter +which appeared in _The Times_ on the 11th of the same month over the +signature of Lord Loreburn. Lord Loreburn had been Lord Chancellor at +the time the Home Rule Bill was first introduced, but had retired from +the Government in June 1912, being replaced on the Woolsack by Lord +Haldane. When the first draft of the Home Rule Bill was under discussion +in the Cabinet in preparation for its introduction in the House of +Commons, two of the younger Ministers, Mr. Lloyd George and Mr. Winston +Churchill, proposed that an attempt should be made to avert the stern +opposition to be expected from Ulster, by treating the northern +Province, or a portion of it, separately from the rest of Ireland. This +proposal was not acceptable to the Cabinet as a whole, and its authors +were roundly rated by Lord Loreburn for so unprincipled a lapse from +orthodox Gladstonian doctrine. What, therefore, must have been the +astonishment of the heretics when they found their mentor, less than two +years later, publicly reproving the Government which he had left for +having got into such a sad mess over the Ulster difficulty! They might +be forgiven some indignation at finding themselves reproved by Lord +Loreburn for faulty statesmanship of which Lord Loreburn was the +principal author. + +Those, however, who had not the same ground for exasperation as Mr. +Lloyd George and Mr. Churchill thought Lord Loreburn's letter very sound +sense. He pointed out that if the Bill were to become law in 1914, as it +stood in September 1913, there would be, if not civil war, at any rate +very serious rioting in the North of Ireland, and when the riots had +been quelled by the Government the spirit that prompted them would +remain. Everybody concerned would suffer from fighting it out to a +finish. The Ex-Chancellor felt bound to assume that "up to the last, +Ministers, who assuredly have not taken leave of their senses, would be +willing to consider proposals for accommodation," and he therefore +suggested that a Conference should be held behind closed doors with a +view to a settlement by consent. If Lord Loreburn had perceived at the +time the draft Bill was before the Cabinet that it was not the Ministers +who proposed separate treatment for Ulster who had "taken leave of their +senses," but those, including himself, who had resisted that proposal, +his wisdom would have been more timely; but it was better late than +never, and his unexpected intervention had a decided influence on +opinion in the country. + +The comment of _The Times_ was very much to the point: + + "On the eve of a great political crisis, it may be of national + disaster, a distinguished Liberal statesman makes public confession + of his belief that, as a permanent solution, the Irish policy of + the Government is indefensible." + +This letter of the ex-Lord Chancellor gave rise to prolonged discussion +in the Press and on the platform. At Durham, on the 13th of September, +Carson declared that he would welcome a Conference if the question was +how to provide a genuine expansion of self-government, but that, if +Ulster was to be not only expelled from the Union but placed under a +Parliament in Dublin, then "they were going to make Home Rule impossible +by steady and persistent opposition." The Government seemed unable to +agree whether a conciliatory or a defiant attitude was their wiser +policy, though it is true that the latter recommended itself mostly to +the least prominent of its members, such as Mr. J.M. Robertson, +Secretary of the Board of Trade, who in a speech at Newcastle on the +25th of September announced scornfully that Ministers were not going to +turn "King Carson" into "Saint Carson" by prosecuting him, and that "the +Government would know how to deal with him."[50] But more important +Ministers were beginning to perceive the unwisdom of this sort of +bluster. Lord Morley, in the House of Lords, denied that he had ever +underrated the Ulster difficulty, and said that for twenty-five years he +had never thought that Ulster was guilty of bluff. Mr. Churchill, at +Dundee, on the 9th of October, no longer talked as he had the previous +year about "not taking Sir Edward Carson too seriously," though he still +appeared to be ignorant of the fact that there was in Ulster anybody +except Orangemen. "The Orange Leaders," he said, "used violent language, +but Liberals should try to understand their position. Their claim for +special consideration, if put forward with sincerity, could not be +ignored by a Government depending on the existing House."[51] + +The Prime Minister, less assured than his subordinate at the Board of +Trade that "King Carson" was negligible, also displayed a somewhat +chastened spirit at Ladybank on the 25th of October, when he +acknowledged that it was "of supreme importance to the future well-being +of Ireland that the new system should not start with the apparent +triumph of one section over another," and he invited a "free and frank +exchange of views."[52] Sir Edward Grey held out another little twig of +olive two days later at Berwick. + +To these overtures, if they deserve the name, Mr. Bonar Law replied in +an address to a gathering of fifteen thousand people at Wallsend on the +29th, in the presence of Sir Edward Carson. Having repeated the Blenheim +pledge, he praised the discipline and restraint shown by the Ulster +people and their leaders, but warned his hearers that the nation was +drifting towards the tragedy of civil war, the responsibility for which +would rest on the Government. He expressed his readiness to respond to +Mr. Asquith's invitation, but pointed out that there were only three +alternatives open to the Government. They must either (1) go on as they +were doing and provoke Ulster to resist--that was madness; (2) they +could consult the electorate, whose decision would be accepted by the +Unionist Party as a whole; or (3) they could try to arrange a settlement +which would at least avert civil war. + +There had been during the past six or eight months an unusual dearth of +by-elections to test public opinion in regard to the Irish policy of the +Government, and it must be borne in mind that the Unionist Party in +Great Britain was still distracted by disputes over the Tariff question, +which in January 1913 had very nearly led to the retirement of Mr. Bonar +Law from the leadership. Nevertheless, in May the Unionists won two +signal victories, one in Cambridgeshire, and one in Cheshire, where the +Altrincham Division sent a staunch friend of Ulster to Parliament in the +person of Mr. George C. Hamilton, who in his maiden speech declared that +he had won the contest entirely on the Ulster Question. Even more +significant, perhaps, were two elections which were fought while the +interchange of party strokes over the Loreburn letter was in progress, +and the results of both were declared on the 8th of November. At +Reading, where the Unionists retained the seat, the Liberal candidate +was constrained by pressure of opinion in the constituency to promise +support for a policy of "separate and generous treatment for Ulster." At +Linlithgow, a Liberal stronghold, where no such promise was forthcoming, +the Liberal majority, in spite of a large Nationalist vote, was reduced +by 1,500 votes as compared with the General Election. There were signs +that Nonconformists, whose great leaders like Spurgeon and Dale had been +hostile to Home Rule in Gladstone's time, were again becoming uneasy +about handing over the Ulster Presbyterians and Methodists to the Roman +hierarchy. A memorial against Home Rule, signed by 131,000 people, which +had been presented to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in +June, had no doubt had some effect on Nonconformist opinion in England, +and it was just about the time when these elections took place that +Carson was described at a large gathering of Nonconformists in London as +"the best embodiment at this moment of the ancient spirit of +Nonconformity."[53] + +Meanwhile the people in Ulster were steadily maturing their plans. The +arrangements already mentioned for setting up a Provisional Government +were confirmed and finally adopted by the Unionist Council in Belfast on +the 24th of September, and the Council by resolution delegated its +powers to the Standing Committee, while the Commission of Five was at +the same time appointed to act as an Executive. Carson, in accepting the +chairmanship of the Central Authority, used the striking phrase, which +precisely epitomised the situation, that "Ulster might be coerced into +submission, but in that case would have to be governed as a conquered +country." The Nationalist retort that the rest of Ireland was now being +so treated, appeared forcible to those Englishmen only who could see no +difference between controlling a disaffected population and chastising a +loyal one. + +At the same meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council on the 24th of +September a guarantee fund was established for providing means to +compensate members of the U.V.F. for any loss or disability they might +suffer as a result of their service, and the widows and dependents of +any who might lose their lives. This was a matter that had caused Carson +anxiety for some time. He was extremely sensitive to the moral +responsibility he would incur towards those who so eagerly followed his +lead, in the event of their suffering loss of life or limb in the +service of Ulster. His proposal that a guarantee fund of a million +sterling should be started, met with a ready response from the Council, +and from the wealthier classes in and about Belfast. The form of +"Indemnity Guarantee" provided for the payment to those entitled to +benefit under it of sums not less than they would have been entitled to +under the Fatal Accidents Act, the Employers' Liability Act, and the +Workman's Compensation Act, as the circumstances of the case might be. +The list was headed by Sir Edward Carson, Lord Londonderry, Captain +Craig, Sir John Lonsdale, Sir George Clark, and Lord Dunleath, with a +subscription of Ł10,000 each, and their example was followed by Mr. Kerr +Smiley, M.P., Mr. R.M. Liddell, Mr. George Preston, Mr. Henry Musgrave, +Mr. C.E. Allen, and Mr. Frank Workman, who entered their names +severally for the same amount. A quarter of a million sterling was +guaranteed in the room before the Council separated; by the end of a +week it had grown to Ł387,000; and before the 1st of January, 1914, the +total amount of the Indemnity Guarantee Fund was Ł1,043,816. + +It gave Carson and the other leaders the greatest possible satisfaction +that the response to this appeal was so prompt and adequate. Not only +was their anxiety relieved in regard to their responsibility to loyal +followers of the rank and file who might become "casualties" in the +movement, but they had been given a striking proof that the business +community of Belfast did not consider its pocket more sacred than its +principles. Moreover, if there had been doubt on that score in anyone's +mind, it was set at rest by a memorable meeting for business men only +held in Belfast on the 3rd of November. Between three and four thousand +leaders of industry and commerce, the majority of whom had never +hitherto taken any active share in political affairs, presided over by +Mr. G.H. Ewart, President of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, gave an +enthusiastic reception to Carson, who told them that he had come more to +consult them as to the commercial aspects of the great political +controversy than to impress his own views on the gathering. It was said +that the men in the hall represented a capital of not less than +Ł145,000,000 sterling,[54] and there can be no doubt that, even if that +were an exaggerated estimate, they were not of a class to whom +revolution, rebellion, or political upheaval could offer an attractive +prospect. Nevertheless, the meeting passed with complete unanimity a +resolution expressing confidence in Carson and approval of everything he +had done, including the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force, and +declaring that they would refuse to pay "all taxes which they could +control" to an Irish Parliament in Dublin. This meeting was very +satisfactory, for it proved that the "captains of industry" were +entirely in accord with the working classes, whose support of the +movement had never been in doubt. It showed that Ulster was solid +behind Carson; and the unanimity was emphasised rather than disturbed by +a little handful of cranks, calling themselves "Protestant Home Rulers," +who met on the 24th of October at the village of Ballymoney "to protest +against the lawless policy of Carsonism." The principal stickler for +propriety of conduct in public life on this occasion was Sir Roger +Casement. + +While the unity and steadfastness--which enemies called obstinacy--of +the Ulster people were being thus made manifest, the public in England +were hearing a good deal about the growth of the Ulster Volunteer Force +in numbers and efficiency. As will be seen later, the anniversary of the +Covenant was celebrated with great military display at the very time +when the newspapers across the Channel were busy discussing Lord +Loreburn's letter, and at a parade service in the Ulster Hall, Canon +Harding, after pronouncing the Benediction, called on the congregation +to raise their right hands and pledge themselves thereby "to follow +wherever Sir Edward Carson shall lead us." + +The events of September 1913--the setting up of the Provisional +Government, the wonderful and instantaneous response to the appeal for +an Indemnity Guarantee Fund, the rapid formation of an effective +volunteer army--were given the fullest publicity in the English Press. +Every newspaper of importance had its special correspondent in Belfast, +whose telegrams filled columns every day, adorned with all the varieties +of sensational headline type. The Radicals were becoming restive. The +idea that Carson was "not to be taken too seriously," had apparently +missed fire. It was the Ministerial affectation of contempt that no one +was taking seriously; in fact, to borrow an expression from current +slang, the "King Carson" stunt was a "wash-out." + +_The Nation_ suggested that, instead of being laughed at, the Ulster +leader should be prosecuted, or, at any rate, removed from the Privy +Council, and other Liberal papers feverishly took up the suggestion, +debating whether the indictment should be under the Treason Felony Act +of 1848, the Crimes Act of 1887, or the Unlawful Drilling Act of 1819. +One of them, however, which succeeded in keeping its head, did not +believe that a prosecution would succeed; and, as to the Privy Council, +if Carson's name were removed, what about Londonderry and F.E. Smith, +Walter Long, and Bonar Law? In fact, "it would be difficult to know +where to stop."[55] It would have been. The Privy Council would have had +to be reduced to a committee of Radical politicians; and, if Carson had +been prosecuted, room would have had to be found in the dock, not only +for the whole Unionist Party, but for the proprietors and editors of +most of the leading journals. The Government stopped short of that +supreme folly; but their impotence was the measure of the prevailing +sympathy with Ulster. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[50] _Annual Register_, 1913, p. 205. + +[51] Ibid., p. 209. + +[52] Ibid., p. 220. + +[53] _Annual Register_, 1913, p. 225. + +[54] _Annual Register_, 1913, p. 225. + +[55] _Liverpool Daily Post and Mercury_, September 22nd, 1913. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +PREPARATIONS AND PROPOSALS + + +We have seen in a former chapter how the Ulster Volunteer Force +originated. It was never formally established by the act of any +recognised authority, but rather grew spontaneously from the zeal of the +Unionist Clubs and the Orange Lodges to present an effective and +formidable appearance at the demonstrations which marked the progress of +the movement after the meeting at Craigavon in 1911. By the following +summer it had attained considerable numbers and respectable efficiency, +and was becoming organised, without violation of the law, on a +territorial basis under local officers, many of whom had served in the +Army. Early in 1913 the Standing Committee resolved that these units +should be combined into a single force, to be called The Ulster +Volunteer Force, which was to be raised and limited to a strength of +100,000 men, all of whom should be men who had signed the Covenant. When +this organisation took place it became obvious that a serious defect was +the want of a Commander-in-Chief of the whole force, to give it unity +and cohesion. This defect was pressed on the attention of the leaders of +the movement, who then began to look about for a suitable officer of +rank and military experience to take command of the U.V.F. Among English +Members of the House of Commons there was no firmer friend of Ulster +than Colonel Thomas Hickman, C.B., D.S.O., who has been mentioned as one +of those who consented to serve in the Provisional Government. Hickman +had seen a lot of active service, having served with great distinction +in Egypt and the Soudan under Kitchener, and in the South African War. +It was natural to take him into confidence in the search for a general; +and, when he was approached, it was decided that he should consult Lord +Roberts, whose warm sympathy with the Ulster cause was well known to the +leaders of the movement, and whose knowledge of army officers of high +rank was, of course, unequalled. Moreover, the illustrious Field-Marshal +had dropped hints which led those concerned to conjecture that in the +last resort he might not himself be unwilling to lend his matchless +prestige and genius to the loyalist cause in Ireland. The contingency +which might bring about such an accession had not, however, yet arisen, +and might never arise; in the meantime, Lord Roberts gave a ready ear to +Hickman's application, which, after some weeks of delay, he answered in +the following letter, which was at once communicated to Carson and those +in his immediate confidence: + + "ENGLEMERE, ASCOT, BERKS. + + "_4th June_, 1913. + + "DEAR HICKMAN, + + "I have been a long time finding a Senior Officer to help in the + Ulster business, but I think I have got one now. His name is + Lieut.-General Sir George Richardson, K.C.B., c/o Messrs. Henry S. + King & Co., Pall Mall, S.W. He is a retired Indian officer, active + and in good health. He is not an Irishman, but has settled in + Ireland.... Richardson will be in London for about a month, and is + ready to meet you at any time. + + "I am sorry to read about the capture of rifles. + + "Believe me, + + "Yours sincerely, + + "ROBERTS." + +The matter was quickly arranged, and within a few weeks Sir George +Richardson had taken up his residence in Belfast, and his duties as +G.O.C. the Ulster Volunteer Force. + +He was a distinguished soldier. He served under Roberts in the Afghan +Campaign of 1879-80; he took part in the Waziri Expedition of 1881, and +the Zhob Valley Field Force operations of 1890. He was in command of a +Flying Column in the Tirah Expedition of 1897-8, and of a Cavalry +Brigade in the China Expeditionary Force in 1900, and had commanded a +Division at Poona for three years before retiring in 1907. He had been +three times mentioned in despatches, besides receiving a brevet and many +medals and clasps. He was at this time sixty-six years of age, but, like +the great soldier who recommended him to Ulster, he was an active little +man both in body and mind, with no symptom of approaching old age. + +General Richardson was not long in making himself popular, not only with +the force under his command, but with all classes in Ulster. There were +unavoidable difficulties in handling troops whose officers had no +statutory powers of discipline, who had inherited no military +traditions, and who formed part of a population conspicuously +independent in character. But Sir George Richardson was as full of tact +as of good humour, and he soon found that the keenness of the officers +and men, to whom dismissal from the U.V.F. would have been the severest +of punishments, more than counterbalanced the difficulties referred to. + +When the new G.O.C. went to Belfast in July, 1913, he found his command +between fifty and sixty thousand strong, with recruits joining every +day. In September a number of parades were held in different localities, +at which the General was accompanied by Sir Edward Carson, Mr. F.E. +Smith, Captain James Craig, and other Members of Parliament. The local +battalions were in many cases commanded by retired or half-pay officers +of the regular army. At all these inspections Carson addressed the men, +many of whom were now seeing their Commander-in-Chief for the first +time, and pointed out that the U.V.F., being now under a single command, +was no longer a mere collection of unrelated units, but an army. At an +inspection at Antrim on the 21st of September, he made a disclosure +which startled the country not a little next day when it appeared in the +headlines of English newspapers. "I tell the Government," he said, "that +we have pledges and promises from some of the greatest generals in the +army, who have given their word that, when the time comes, if it is +necessary, they will come over and help us to keep the old flag flying." +These promises were entirely spontaneous and unsolicited. More than one +of those who made them did fine service to the Empire in the impending +time of trial which none of them foresaw in 1913. + +Of the men inspected on that day, numbering about 5,000, it was said by +the Special Correspondent of _The Yorkshire Post_, who was present-- + + "As far as I could detect in a very careful observation, there were + not half a dozen of them unqualified by physique or age to play a + manly part. They reminded me more than anything else--except that + but few of them were beyond the best fighting age--of the finest + class of our National Reserve. There was certainly nothing of the + mock soldier about them. Led by keen, smart-looking officers, they + marched past in quarter column with fine, swinging steps, as if + they had been in training for years. Officers who have had the + teaching of them tell me that the rapidity with which they have + become efficient is greater than has ever come within their + experience in training recruits for either the Territorials or the + Regular Service."[56] + +The 24th of September, it will be remembered, was the day when the +formation of the Provisional Government and the Indemnity Fund (with the +subscription of a quarter of a million sterling in two hours) was made +public; on Saturday the 27th, the country parades of Volunteers of the +preceding weeks reached a climax in a grand review in Belfast itself, +when some 15,000 men were drawn up on the same ground where the Balmoral +meeting had been held eighteen months before. They were reviewed by Sir +George Richardson, G.O.C., and it was on this occasion that Mr. F.E. +Smith became famous as "galloper" to the General. The Commanders of the +four regiments on parade--one from each parliamentary division of the +city--comprising fourteen battalions, were: Colonel Wallace, Major F.H. +Crawford, Major McCalmont, M.P., and Captain the Hon. A.C. Chichester. +More than 30,000 sympathetic spectators watched the arrival and the +review of the troops. + +Among these spectators were a large number of special military +correspondents of English newspapers, whose impressions of this +memorable event were studied in every part of the United Kingdom on the +following Monday morning. That which appeared in a great Lancashire +journal may be quoted as a fair and dispassionate account of the scene: + + "It is quite certain that the review of Volunteers at Balmoral + to-day will go down into history as one of the most extraordinary + events in the annals of these islands. Not since the marshalling of + Cromwell's Puritan army have we had anything approaching a + parallel; but, whereas the Puritans took up arms against a king of + whom they disapproved, the men of Ulster strongly protest their + loyalty to the British Throne. The great crowd which lined the + enclosure was eager, earnest, and sympathetic. It was not a + boisterous crowd. On the contrary, beyond the demonstration + following the call for cheers for the Union there was comparatively + little cheering. The crowd seemed burdened with a heavy sense of + the importance of the occasion. The conduct of the gathering was + serious to the point of positive solemnity. + + "The Volunteers from their own ranks policed the grounds, not a + solitary member of the Royal Irish Constabulary being seen in the + enclosure. The sun shone brilliantly as Colonel Wallace led the men + of the North division into the enclosure. Amidst subdued cheers he + marched them across the field in fours, forming up in quarter + column by the right, facing left. For an hour and a quarter the + procession filed through the gates, the men taking up their + positions with perfect movement and not the faintest suggestion of + confusion. As the men from the West took up their position the + crowd broke into a great cheer. They mustered only two battalions, + but they had come from Mr. Devlin's constituency! + + "As a body the men were magnificent. The hardy sons of toil from + shipyards and factories marched shoulder to shoulder with clergy + and doctors, professional men and clerks. From the saluting base + General Richardson took command, and almost immediately Sir Edward + Carson took up his position on the platform, with Lord Londonderry + and Captain Craig in attendance. Then followed a scene that will + live long in the memories of that vast concourse of people. With + the men standing to 'Attention,' the bands struck up the 'British + Grenadiers,' and the whole division advanced in review order, in + perfect lines and unison. + + "The supreme moment had arrived. The men took off their hats, and + the G.O.C. shouted, 'I call upon the men to give three cheers for + the Union, taking their time from me. Hip, hip----' + + "Well, people who were not there must imagine the rest. Out of the + deafening cheers came the strains of 'Rule, Britannia!' from the + bands; the monster Union Jack was unfurled in the centre of the + ground, and the mighty gathering stood bare-headed to 'God save the + King.' It was solemn, impressive, thrilling."[57] + +The following day, Sunday, was "Ulster Day," the first anniversary of +the signing of the Covenant, and it was celebrated in Belfast and many +other places in Ulster by holding special services in all places of +worship, which had the effect of sustaining that spirit of high +seriousness which struck all observers as remarkable in the behaviour of +the people. + +This week, in which occurred the proclamation of the Provisional +Government, the great review of the Belfast Volunteers, and the second +celebration of Ulster Day, was a notable landmark in the movement. The +Press in England and Scotland gave the widest publicity to every +picturesque and impressive detail, and there can be little doubt that +the idea of attempting to arrive at some agreed settlement, started by +Lord Loreburn's letter to _The Times_, was greatly stimulated by these +fresh and convincing proofs of the grim determination of the Ulster +people. + +At all events, the autumn produced more than the usual plethora of +political meetings addressed by "front bench" politicians on both sides, +each answering each like an antiphonal choir; scraps of olive-branch +were timidly held out, only to be snatched back next day in panic lest +someone had blundered in saying too much; while day by day a clamorous +Liberal Press, to whom Ulster's loyalty to King and Empire was an +unforgivable offence, alternated between execration of Ulster wickedness +and affected ridicule of Ulster bluff. But it was evident that genuine +misgiving was beginning to be felt in responsible Liberal quarters. A +Correspondent of _The Manchester Guardian_ on the 25th of November made +a proposal for special treatment of Ulster; on the 1st of December Mr. +Massingham, in _The Daily News_, urged that an effort should be made to +conciliate the northern Protestants; and on the 6th Mr. Asquith +displayed a more conciliatory spirit than usual in a speech at +Manchester. A most active campaign of propaganda in England and Scotland +was also carried on during the autumn by Ulster speakers, among whom +women bore their full share. The Ulster Women's Unionist Association +employed 93 voluntary workers, who visited over 90 constituencies in +Great Britain, addressing 230 important meetings. It was reckoned that +not less than 100,000 electors heard the Ulster case from the lips of +earnest Ulster women. + +On the 5th of December two Royal Proclamations were issued by the +Government, prohibiting the importation of arms and ammunition into +Ireland. But during the Christmas holidays the impression gained ground +that the Government contemplated making concessions to Ulster, and +communications in private between the Prime Minister and Sir Edward +Carson did in fact take place at this time. The truth, however, was that +the Government were not their own masters, and, as Mr. Bonar Law bluntly +declared at Bristol on the 15th of January, 1914, they were compelled by +the Nationalists, on whom they depended for existence, to refuse any +genuine concession. In the same speech Mr. Bonar Law replied to the +allegation that Ulster was crying out before she was hurt, by saying +that the American colonies had done the same thing--they had revolted on +a question of principle while suffering was still distant, and for a +cause that in itself was trivial in comparison with that of Ulster.[58] + +Most of the leaders on both sides were speaking on various platforms in +January. On the 17th Carson, at an inspection of the East Belfast +U.V.F., said he had lately visited Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, and that the +dying statesman, clear-sighted and valiant as ever, had said to him at +parting, "I would fight it out." In the same spirit Mr. Austen +Chamberlain, in a speech at Skipton a fortnight later, ridiculed any +concession that fell short of the exclusion of Ulster from the Irish +Parliament, and asserted that what the policy of the Government amounted +to was that England was to conquer a province and hold it down at the +expense of her friends for the benefit of her enemies.[59] + +Public attention was, however, not allowed to concentrate wholly on +Ireland. The Radicals, instigated by Sir John Brunner, President of the +National Liberal Federation, were doing their best to prevent the +strengthening of the Navy, the time being opportune for parsimony in Mr. +Lloyd George's opinion because our relations with Germany were "far more +friendly than for years past."[60] The militant women suffragists were +carrying on a lively campaign of arson and assault all over the country. +Labour unrest was in a condition of ferment. Land agitation was exciting +the "single-taxers" and other fanatics; and the Tariff question had not +ceased to be a cause of division in the Unionist Party. But, while these +matters were sharing with the Irish problem the attention of the Press +and the public, "conversations" were being held behind the scenes with a +view to averting what everyone now agreed would be a dangerous crisis if +Ulster proved implacable. + +When Parliament met on the 10th of February, 1914, Mr. Asquith referred +to these conversations; but while he congratulated everyone concerned on +the fact that the Press had been successfully kept in the dark for +months regarding them, he had to admit that they had produced no result. +But there were, he said, "schemes and suggestions of settlement in the +air," among them the exclusion of Ulster from the Bill, a proposal on +which he would not at that moment "pronounce, or attempt to pronounce, +any final judgment", and he then announced that, as soon as the +financial business of the year was disposed of, he would bring forward +proposals for the purpose of arriving at an agreement "which will +consult not only the interests but the susceptibilities of all +concerned." + +This appeared to be a notable change of attitude on the part of the +Government; but it was received with not a little suspicion by the +Unionist leaders. Whether or not the change was due, as Mr. William +Moore bluntly asserted, to the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force, +which had now reached its full strength of 100,000 men, the question of +interest was whether the promised proposals would render that force +unnecessary. Mr. Austen Chamberlain asked why the Government's proposals +should be kept bottled up until a date suspiciously near All Fools' Day; +and Sir Edward Carson, in one of the most impressive speeches he ever +made in Parliament, which wrung from Mr. Lloyd George the acknowledgment +that it had "entranced the House," joined Chamberlain in demanding that +the country should not be kept in anxious suspense. The only proper way +of making the proposals known was, he said, by embodying them at once in +a Bill to amend the Home Rule Bill. He confirmed Chamberlain's statement +that nothing short of the exclusion of Ulster would be of the slightest +use. The Covenanters were not men who would have acted as they had done +for the sake of minor details that could be adjusted by "paper +safeguards," they were "fighting for a great principle and a great +ideal," and if their determination to resist was not morally justified +he "did not see how resistance could ever be justified in history at +all." But if the exclusion of Ulster was to be offered, he would +immediately go to Belfast and lay the proposal before his followers. He +did not intend "that Ulster should be a pawn in any political game," and +would not allow himself to be manoeuvred into a position where it could +afterwards be said that Ulster had resorted to arms to secure something +that had been rejected when offered by legislation. The sympathy of +Ulstermen with Loyalists in other parts of Ireland was as deep and +sincere as ever, but no one had ever supposed that Ulster could by force +of arms do more than preserve her own territory from subjection to +Dublin. As for the Nationalists, they would never succeed in coercing +Ulster, but "by showing that good government can come under Home Rule +they might try and win her over to the case of the rest of Ireland." +That was a plan that had never yet been tried. + +The significance of the announcement which Mr. Asquith had now made lay +in the fact that it was an acknowledgment by the Government for the +first time that there was an "Ulster Question" to be dealt with--that +Ulster was not, as had hitherto been the Liberal theory, like any other +minority who must submit to the will of the majority opposed to it, but +a distinct community, conditioned by special circumstances entitling it +to special treatment. The Prime Minister had thus, as Mr. Bonar Law +insisted, "destroyed utterly the whole foundation on which for the last +two years the treatment extended to Ulster in this Bill has been +justified." From that day it became impossible ever again to contend +that Ulster was merely a recalcitrant minority in a larger unity, +without rights of her own. + +The speeches of the Unionist leaders in the House of Commons showed +clearly enough how little faith they had that the Government intended to +do anything that could lead to an agreed settlement. The interval that +passed before the nature of the Government's proposals was made known +increased rather than diminished this distrust. The air was full of +suggestions, the most notable of which was put forward by the veteran +constitutional lawyer, Mr. Frederic Harrison, who proposed that Ulster +should be governed by a separate committee elected by its own +constituencies, with full legislative, administrative, and financial +powers, subject only to the Crown and the Imperial Parliament.[61] +Unionists did not believe that the Liberal Cabinet would be allowed by +their Nationalist masters to offer anything so liberal to Ulster; nor +did that Province desire autonomy for itself. They believed that the +chief desire of the Government was not to appease Ulster, but to put her +in a tactically indefensible position. This fear had been expressed by +Lord Lansdowne as long before as the previous October, when he wrote +privately to Carson in reference to Lord Loreburn's suggested Conference +that he suspected the intention of the Government to be "to offer us +terms which they know we cannot accept, and then throw on us the odium +of having obstructed a settlement." Mr. Walter Long had the same +apprehension in March 1914 as to the purpose of Mr. Asquith's unknown +proposals. Both these leaders herein showed insight and prescience, for +not only Mr. Asquith's Government, but also that which succeeded it, had +resort on many subsequent occasions to the manoeuvre suspected by Lord +Lansdowne. + +On the other hand, there were encouraging signs in the country. To the +intense satisfaction of Unionists, Mr. C.F.G. Masterman, who had just +been promoted to the Cabinet, lost his seat in East London when he +sought re-election in February, and a day or two later the Government +suffered another defeat in Scotland. On the 27th of February Lord +Milner, a fearless supporter of the Ulster cause, wrote to Carson that a +British Covenant had been drawn up in support of the Ulster Covenanters, +and that the first signatures, in addition to his own, were those of +Field-Marshal Lord Roberts, Admiral of the Fleet Sir E. Seymour, the +Duke of Portland, Lord Balfour of Burleigh, Lord Desborough, Lord Lovat, +Mr. Rudyard Kipling, Sir W. Ramsay, F.R.S., the Dean of Canterbury, +Professors Dicey and Goudy, Sir George Hayter Chubb, and Mr. Salvidge, +the influential alderman of Liverpool. On the 6th of March Mr. Walter +Long, writing from the office of the Union Defence League, of which he +was President, was able to inform Carson that there was "a rush to sign +the Covenant--we are really almost overpowered." This was supplemented +by a women's Covenant, which, like the men's, "had been numerously and +influentially signed, about 3 or 4 per cent, of the signatories, it was +said, being Liberals."[62] Long believed from this and other evidence +that had reached him that "public opinion was now really aroused in the +country," and that the steadfast policy of Ulster had the undoubted +support of the electorate. + +Only those who were in the confidence of Mr. Asquith and his colleagues +at the beginning of 1914 can know whether the "proposals" they then made +were ever seriously put forward as an effort towards appeasement. If +they were sincerely meant for such, it implied a degree of ignorance of +the chief factor in the problem with which it is difficult to credit +able Ministers who had been face to face with that problem for years. +They must have supposed that their leading opponents were capable of +saying emphatically one thing and meaning quite another. For the +Unionist leaders had stated over and over again in the most unmistakable +terms, both in the recent debate on the Address, and on innumerable +former occasions, that nothing except the "exclusion of Ulster" could +furnish a basis for negotiation towards settlement. + +And yet, when the Prime Minister at last put his cards on the table on +the 9th of March, in moving the second reading of the Home Rule +Bill--which now entered on its third and last lap under the Parliament +Act--it was found that his much-trumpeted proposals were derisory to the +last degree. The scheme was that which came to be known as county option +with a time limit. Any county in Ulster, including the cities of Belfast +and Derry, was to be given the right to vote itself out of the Home Rule +jurisdiction, on a requisition signed by a specified proportion of its +parliamentary electorate, for a period of six years. + +Mr. Bonar Law said at once, on behalf of the Unionist Party, that apart +from all other objections to the Government scheme, and they were many, +the time limit for exclusion made the whole proposal a mockery. All that +it meant was that when the preparations in Ulster for resistance to Home +Rule had been got rid of--for it would be practically impossible to keep +them in full swing for six years--Ulster should then be compelled to +submit to the very thing to which she refused to submit now. Carson +described the proposal as a "sentence of death with a stay of execution +for six years." He noted with satisfaction indeed the admission of the +principle of exclusion, but expressed his conviction that the time limit +had been introduced merely in order to make it impossible for Ulster to +accept. Ulster wanted the question settled once for all, so that she +might turn her attention from politics to her ordinary business. The +time limit would keep the fever of political agitation at a high +temperature for six years, and at the end of that period forcible +resistance would be as necessary as ever, while in the interval all +administration would be paralysed by the unworkable nature of the system +to be introduced for six years. Although there were other gross blots on +the scheme outlined by the Prime Minister, yet, if the time limit were +dropped, Carson said he would submit it to a convention in Belfast; but +he utterly declined to do so if the time limit was to be retained. + +The debate was adjourned indefinitely, and before it could be resumed +the whole situation was rendered still more grave by the events to be +narrated in the next chapter, and by a menacing speech delivered by Mr. +Churchill at Bradford on the 14th of March. He hinted that, if Ulster +persisted in refusing the offer made by the Prime Minister, which was +the Government's last word, the forces of the Crown would have to be +employed against her; there were, he said, "worse things than bloodshed +even on an extended scale"; and he ended by saying, "Let us go forward +together and put these grave matters to the proof."[63] Two days later +Mr. Asquith, in answer to questions in the House of Commons, announced +that no particulars of the Government scheme would be given unless the +principle of the proposals were accepted as a basis of agreement. + +The leader of the Unionist Party replied by moving a vote of censure on +the Government on the 19th of March. Mr. Churchill's Bradford speech, +and one no less defiant by Mr. Devlin the day following it, had charged +with inflammable material the atmosphere in which the debate was +conducted. Sir Edward Carson began his speech by saying that, after +these recent events, "I feel that I ought not to be here, but in +Belfast." There were some sharp passages between him and Churchill, whom +he accused of being anxious to provoke the Ulster people to make an +attack on the soldiers. A highly provocative speech by Mr. Devlin +followed, at the end of which Carson rose and left the House, saying +audibly, "I am off to Belfast." He was accompanied out of the Chamber by +eight Ulster members, and was followed by ringing and sustained cheers +of encouragement and approval from the crowded Unionist benches. It was +a scene which those who witnessed it are not likely to forget. + +The idea of accommodation between the combatant parties was at an end. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[56] _The Yorkshire Post_, September 22nd, 1913. + +[57] _The Liverpool Daily Courier_, September 29th, 1913. + +[58] _Annual Register_, 1914, p. 6. + +[59] _Annual Register_, 1914, p. 12. + +[60] Ibid., p. 1. + +[61] _The Annual Register_, 1914, p. 33. + +[62] _Annual Register_, 1914, pp. 51-2. + +[63] _The Times_, March 16th, 1914. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE CURRAGH INCIDENT + + +When Mr. Bonar Law moved the vote of censure on the Government on the +19th of March he had no idea that the Cabinet had secretly taken in hand +an enterprise which, had it been known, would have furnished infinitely +stronger grounds for their impeachment than anything relating to their +"proposals" for amending the Home Rule Bill. It was an enterprise that, +when it did become known, very nearly brought about their fall from +power. + +The whole truth about the famous "Curragh Incident" has never been +ascertained, and the answers given by the Ministers chiefly concerned, +under cross-examination in the House of Commons, were so evasive and in +several instances so contradictory as to make it certain that they were +exceedingly anxious that the truth should be concealed. But when the +available evidence is pieced together it leads almost irresistibly to +the conclusion that in March 1914 the Cabinet, or at any rate some of +the most prominent members of it, decided to make an imposing +demonstration of military force against Ulster, and that they expected, +if they did not hope, that this operation would goad the Ulstermen into +a clash with the forces of the Crown, which, by putting them morally in +the wrong, would deprive them of the popular sympathy they enjoyed in so +large and increasing a measure. + +When Mr. Churchill spoke at Bradford on the 14th of March of "putting +these grave matters to the proof" he was already deeply involved in what +came to be known as "the plot against Ulster," to which his words were +doubtless an allusion. That plot may perhaps have originated at Mr. +Lloyd George's breakfast-table on the 11th, when he entertained Mr. +Redmond, Mr. Dillon, Mr. Devlin, Mr. O'Connor, and the Chief Secretary +for Ireland, Mr. Birrell; for on the same day it was decided to send a +squadron of battleships with attendant cruisers and destroyers from the +coast of Spain to Lamlash, in the Isle of Arran, opposite Belfast Lough; +and a sub-committee of the Cabinet, consisting of Lord Crewe, Mr. +Churchill, Colonel Seely, Mr. Birrell, and Sir John Simon, was appointed +to deal with affairs connected with Ulster. This sub-committee held its +first meeting the following day, and the next was the date of Mr. +Churchill's threatening speech at Bradford, with its reference to the +prospect of bloodshed and of putting grave matters to the proof. Bearing +in mind this sequence of events, it is not easy to credit the contention +of the Government, after the plot had been discovered, that the despatch +of the fleet to the neighbourhood of the Ulster coast had no connection +with the other naval and military operations which immediately followed. + +For on the 14th, while Churchill was travelling in the train to +Bradford, Seely, the Secretary of State for War, was drafting a letter +to Sir Arthur Paget, the Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, informing him of +reports (it was never discovered where the reports, which were without +the smallest foundation, came from) that attempts might be made "in +various parts of Ireland by evil-disposed persons" to raid Government +stores of arms and ammunition, and instructing the General to "take +special precautions" to safeguard the military depots. It was added that +"information shows that Armagh, Omagh, Carrickfergus, and Enniskillen +are insufficiently guarded."[64] It is permissible to wonder, if there +was danger from evil-disposed persons "in various parts of Ireland," +from whom came the information that the places particularly needing +reinforcements were a ring of strategically important towns round the +outskirts of the loyalist counties of Ulster. + +Whatever the source of the alleged "information"--whether it originated +at Mr. Lloyd George's breakfast-table or elsewhere--Seely evidently +thought it alarmingly urgent, for within forty-eight hours he +telegraphed to Paget asking for a reply before 8 a.m. next morning as to +what steps he had taken, and ordering the General to come at once to +London, bringing with him detailed plans. On the 16th Sir A. Paget +telegraphed that he "had taken all available steps"; but, on second +thoughts, he wrote on the 17th saying that there were sufficient troops +at Enniskillen to guard the depot, that he was making a small increase +to the detachment at Carrickfergus, and that, instead of strengthening +the garrisons of Omagh and Armagh, the stores there were being +removed--an operation that would take eight days. He explained his +reason for this departure from instructions to be that such a movement +of troops as had been ordered by the War Office would, "in the present +state of the country, create intense excitement in Ulster and possibly +precipitate a crisis."[65] + +As soon as this communication reached the War Office orders were sent +that the arms and ammunition at Omagh and Armagh, for the safety of +which from evil-disposed persons Seely had been so apprehensive, were +not to be removed, although they had already been packed for transport. +This order was sent on the 18th of March, and on the same day Sir Arthur +Paget arrived in London from Ireland and had a consultation with the +Ulster sub-committee of the Cabinet, and with Sir John French and other +members of the Army Council at the War Office. + +News of this meeting reached the ears of Sir Edward Carson, who was also +aware that a false report was being spread of attempts by Unionists to +influence the Army, and in his speech on the vote of censure on the 19th +he said: "I have never suggested that the Army should not be sent to +Ulster. I have never suggested that it should not do its duty when sent +there. I hope and expect it will." At the same time reports were +circulating in Dublin--did they come from Downing Street?--that the +Government were preparing to take strong measures against the Ulster +Unionist Council, and to arrest the leaders. In allusion to these +reports the Dublin Correspondent of _The Times_ telegraphed on the 18th +of March: "Any man or Government that increases the danger by blundering +or hasty action will accept a terrible responsibility." + +What passed at the interviews which Sir Arthur Paget had with Ministers +on the 18th and 19th has never been disclosed. But it is clear, from the +events which followed, either that an entirely new plan on a much larger +scale was now inaugurated, or that a development now took place which +Churchill and Seely, and perhaps other Ministers also, had contemplated +from the beginning and had concealed behind the pretended insignificance +of precautions to guard depots. It is noteworthy, at all events, that +the measures contemplated happened to be the stationing of troops in +considerable strength in important strategical positions round Ulster, +simultaneously with the despatch of a powerful fleet to within a few +hours of Belfast. + +The orders issued by the War Office, at any rate, indicated something on +a far bigger scale than the original pretext could justify. Paget's fear +of precipitating a crisis was brushed aside, and General Friend, who was +acting for him in Dublin during his absence, was instructed by telegram +to send to the four Ulster towns more than double the number of men that +Paget had deemed would be sufficient to protect the Government stores. +But still more significant was another order given to Friend on the +18th. The Dorset Regiment, quartered in the Victoria Barracks in +Belfast, were to be moved four miles out to Holywood, taking with them +their stores and ammunition, amounting to some thirty tons; and such was +the anxiety of the Government to get the troops out of the city that +they were told to leave their rifles behind, if necessary, after +rendering them useless by removing the bolts.[66] The Government had +vetoed Paget's plan of removing the stores from Omagh and Armagh, +because their real object was to increase the garrisons at those places; +but, as they had no scruple about moving the much larger supply from the +Victoria Barracks through the most intensely Orange quarter of Belfast, +it could hardly be wondered at if such an order, under the +circumstances, was held to give colour to the idea that Ministers wished +to provoke violent opposition to the troops. Not less inconsistent with +the original pretext was the despatch of a battalion to Newry and +Dundalk. At the latter place there was already a brigade of artillery, +with eighteen guns, which would prove a tough nut for "evil-disposed +persons" to crack; and although both towns would be important points to +hold with an army making war on Ulster, they were both in Nationalist +territory where there could be no fear of raids by Unionists. Yet the +urgency was considered so great at the War Office to occupy these places +in strength not later than the 20th that two cruisers were ordered to +Kingstown to take the troops to Dundalk by sea, if there should be +difficulty about land transport. + +Whatever may have been the actual design of Mr. Churchill and Colonel +Seely, who appear to have practically taken the whole management of the +affair into their own hands, the dispositions must have suggested to +anyone with elementary knowledge of military matters that nothing less +than an overpowering attack on Belfast was in contemplation. The +transfer of the troops from Victoria Barracks, where they would have +been useful to support the civil power in case of rioting, to Holywood, +where they would be less serviceable for that purpose but where they +would be in rapid communication by water with the garrison of +Carrickfergus on the opposite shore of the Lough; the ordering of H.M.S. +_Pathfinder_ and _Attentive_ to Belfast Lough, where they were to arrive +"at daybreak on Saturday the 21st instant" with instructions to support +the soldiers if necessary "by guns and search-lights from the +ships[67]"; the secret and rapid garrisoning of strategic points on all +the railways leading to Belfast,--all this pointed, not to the +safeguarding of stores of army boots and rifles, but to operations of an +offensive campaign. + +It was in this light that the Commander-in-Chief in Ireland himself +interpreted his instructions, and, seeing that he had taken the +responsibility of not fully obeying the much more modest orders he had +received in Ireland on the 14th, it is easy to understand that he +thought the steps now to be taken would lead to serious consequences. He +also foresaw that he might have trouble with some of the officers under +his command, for before leaving London he persuaded the Secretary of +State and Sir John French to give the following permission: "Officers +actually domiciled in Ulster would be exempted from taking part in any +operation that might take place. They would be permitted to 'disappear' +[that being the exact phrase used by the War Office], and when all was +over would be allowed to resume their places without their career or +position being affected."[68] + +Having obtained this concession, Sir Arthur Paget returned the same +night to Dublin, where he arrived on the 20th and had a conference with +his general officers. + +He told them of the instructions he had received, which the Government +called "precautionary" and believed "would be carried out without +resistance." The Commander-in-Chief did not share the Government's +optimism. He thought "that the moves would create intense excitement," +that by next day "the country would be ablaze," and that the result +might be "active operations against organised bodies of the Ulster +Volunteer Force under their responsible leaders." With regard to the +permission for officers domiciled in Ulster to "disappear," he informed +his generals that any other officers who were not prepared to carry out +their duty would be dismissed the Service. + +There was, apparently, some misunderstanding as to whether officers +without an Ulster domicile who objected to fight against Ulster were to +say so at once and accept dismissal, or were to wait until they received +some specific order which they felt unable to obey. Many of the officers +understood the General to mean the former of these two alternatives, and +the Colonel of one line regiment gave his officers half an hour to make +up their minds on a question affecting their whole future career; every +one of them objected to going against Ulster, and "nine or ten refused +under any condition" to do so.[69] Another regimental commanding officer +told his subordinates that "steps have been taken in Ulster so that any +aggression must come from the Ulsterites, and they will have to shed the +first blood," on which his comment was: "The idea of provoking Ulster is +hellish."[70] + +In consequence of what he learnt at the conference with his generals on +the morning of the 20th Sir Arthur Paget telegraphed to the War Office: +"Officer Commanding 5th Lancers states that all officers except two, and +one doubtful, are resigning their commissions to-day. I much fear same +conditions in the 16th Lancers. Fear men will refuse to move[71]"; and +later in the day he reported that the "Brigadier and 57 officers, 3rd +Cavalry Brigade, prefer to accept dismissal if ordered north."[72] Next +day he had to add that the Colonel and all the officers of the 4th +Hussars had taken up the same attitude.[73] + +This was very disconcerting news for the War Office, where it had been +taken for granted that very few, if any, officers, except perhaps a few +natives of Ulster, would elect to wreck their careers, if suddenly +confronted with so terrible a choice, rather than take part in +operations against the Ulster Loyalists. Instructions were immediately +wired to Paget in Dublin to "suspend any senior officers who have +tendered their resignations"; to refuse to accept the resignation of +junior officers; and to send General Gough, the Brigadier in command of +the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, and the commanding officers of the two Lancer +regiments and the 4th Hussars, to report themselves promptly at the War +Office after relieving them of their commands. + +Had the War Office made up its mind what to do with General Gough and +the other cavalry officers when they arrived in London? The inference to +be drawn from the correspondence published by the Government makes it +appear probable that the first intention was to punish these officers +severely _pour encourager les autres_. An officer to replace Gough had +actually been appointed and sent to Ireland, though Mr. Asquith denied +in the House of Commons that the offending generals had been dismissed. +But, if that was the intention, it was abandoned. The reason is not +plain; but the probability is that it had been discovered that sympathy +with Gough was widespread in the Army, and that his dismissal would +bring about very numerous resignations. It was said that a large part of +the Staff of the War Office itself would have laid down their +commissions, and that Aldershot would have been denuded of officers.[74] +Colonel Seely himself described it as a "situation of grave peril to the +Army."[75] + +Anyhow, no disciplinary action of any kind was taken. It was decided to +treat the matter as one of "misunderstanding," and when Gough and his +brother officers appeared at the War Office on Monday the 23rd they were +told that it was all a mistake to suppose that the Government had ever +intended warlike operations against Ulster (the orders to the fleet had +been cancelled by wireless on the 21st), and that they might return at +once to their commands, with the assurance that they would not be +required to serve against Ulster Loyalists. General Gough, who before +leaving Ireland had asked Sir A. Paget for a clear definition in writing +of the duties that officers would be expected to perform if they went to +Ulster,[76] thought that in view of the "misunderstanding" it would be +wise to have Colonel Seely's assurance also in black and white. Seely +had to hurry off to a Cabinet Meeting, and in his absence the +Adjutant-General reduced to writing the verbal statement of the +Secretary of State. A very confused story about the subsequent fortunes +of this piece of paper made it the central mystery round which raged +angry debates. This much, however, is not doubtful. Seely went from the +Cabinet to Buckingham Palace; when he returned to Downing Street the +paper was there, but the Cabinet had broken up. He looked at the paper, +saw that it did not accurately reproduce the assurance he had verbally +given to Gough, and with the help of Lord Morley he thereupon added two +paragraphs (which Mr. Balfour designated "the peccant paragraphs") to +make it conform to his promise. The addition so made was the only part +of the document that gave the assurance that the officers would not be +called upon "to crush political opposition to the policy or principles +of the Home Rule Bill." With this paper in his pocket General Gough +returned to his command at the Curragh. + +There the matter might have ended had not some of the facts become +known to Unionist members of the House of Commons, and to the Press. On +Sunday, the 22nd, Mr. Asquith sent a communication to _The Times_ +(published on the 23rd) in which he minimised the whole matter, putting +forward the original pretext of movements of troops solely to protect +Government property--an account at variance with a statement two days +later by Churchill in regard to the reason for naval movements--and on +the 23rd Seely also made a statement in the House of Commons on the same +lines as the Prime Minister's, which ended by saying that all the +movements of troops were completed "and all orders issued have been +punctually and implicitly obeyed." This was an hour or two after his +interview with the generals who had been summoned from Ireland to be +dismissed for refusal to obey orders. + +But Mr. Bonar Law had his own information, which was much fuller than +the Government imagined. A long and heated debate followed Colonel +Seely's statement, and was continued on the two following days, +gradually dragging to light the facts with a much greater profusion of +detail than is necessary for this narrative. On the 24th Mr. L.S. Amery +made a speech which infuriated the Radicals and Labour members, but the +speaker, as was his intention, made them quite as angry with the +Government as with himself. The cause of offence was that the Government +was thought to have allowed itself to be coerced by the soldiers, while +the latter had been allowed to make their obedience to orders contingent +on a bargain struck with the Government. This aspect of the case was +forcibly argued by Mr. J. Ward, the Labour member for Stoke, in a speech +greatly admired by enthusiasts for "democratic" principles. Although Mr. +Ward's invective was mainly directed against the Unionist Opposition, +the latter listened to it with secret pleasure, perceiving that it was +in reality more damaging to the Government than to themselves, since +Ministers were forced into an attitude of defence against their own +usually docile supporters. It may here be mentioned that at a much later +date, when Mr. John Ward, in the light of experience gained by his own +distinguished service as an officer in the Great War, had come to the +conviction that "the possibility of forcing Ulster within the ambit of a +Dublin Parliament has now become unthinkable," he acknowledged that in +1914 the only way by which Mr. Asquith's Home Rule Act could have been +enforced was through and by the power of the Army.[77] + +So much shaken were the Government by these attacks that on the next +day, the 25th of March, Colonel Seely, at the end of a long narrative of +the transaction, announced his resignation from the Government. He had, +he said, unintentionally misled his colleagues by adding without their +knowledge to the paper given to General Gough; the Cabinet as a whole +was quite innocent of the great offence given to democratic sentiment. +This announcement having had the desired effect of relieving the +Ministry as a whole from responsibility for the "peccant paragraphs," +and averting Radical wrath from their heads, the Prime Minister later in +the debate said he was not going to accept Seely's resignation. Yet Mr. +Churchill exhibited a fine frenzy of indignation against Mr. Austen +Chamberlain for describing it as a "put-up job." + +Only a fairly fertile imagination could suggest a transaction to which +the phrase would be more justly applicable. The idea that Seely, in +adding the paragraphs, was tampering in any way with the considered +policy of the Cabinet was absurd, although it served the purpose of +averting a crisis in the House of Commons. He had been in constant and +close communication with Churchill, who had himself been present at the +War Office Conference with Gough, and who had seen the Prime Minister +earlier in company with Sir John French. The whole business had been +discussed at the Cabinet Meeting, and when Seely returned from his +audience of the King he found the Prime Minister, Mr. Churchill, and +Lord Morley still in the Cabinet room. Mr. Asquith said on the 25th in +the House of Commons that no Minister except Seely had seen the added +paragraphs, and almost at the same moment in the House of Lords Lord +Morley was saying that he had helped Seely to draft them. Moreover, +Lord Morley actually took a copy of them, which he read in the House of +Lords, and he included the substance of them in his exposition of the +Government policy in the Upper House. + +Furthermore, General Gough was on his way to Ireland that night, and if +it had been true that the Prime Minister, or any other Minister, +disapproved of what Seely had done, there was no reason why Gough should +not have found a telegram waiting for him at the Curragh in the morning +cancelling Seely's paragraphs and withdrawing the assurance they +contained. No step of that kind was taken, and the Government, while +repudiating in the House of Commons the action for which Seely was +allowed to take the sole responsibility, permitted Gough to retain in +his despatch-box the document signed by the Army Council. + +For it was not only the Secretary of State for War who was involved. The +memorandum had been written by the Adjutant-General, and it bore the +initials of Sir John French and Sir Spencer Ewart as well as Colonel +Seely's. These members of the Army Council knew that the verbal +assurance given by the Secretary of State to Gough had not been +completely embodied in the written memorandum without the paragraph +which had been repudiated after the debate in the Commons on the 24th, +and they were not prepared to go back on their written word, or to be +satisfied by the "put-up job" resignation of their civilian Chief. They +both sent in their resignations; and, as they refused even under +pressure to withdraw them, the Secretary of State had no choice but to +do the same on the 30th of March, this time beyond recall. Mr. Asquith +announced on the same day that he had himself become Secretary of State +for War, and would have to go to Scotland for re-election. + +The facts as here related were only extracted by the most persistent and +laborious cross-examination of the Government, who employed all the +familiar arts of official evasion in order to conceal the truth from the +country. Day after day Ministers were bombarded by batteries of +questions in the House of Commons, in addition to the lengthy debates +that occupied the House for several consecutive days. This pressure +compelled the Prime Minister to produce a White Paper, entitled +"Correspondence relating to Recent Events in the Irish Command."[78] It +was published on the 25th of March, the third day of the continuous +debates, and, although Mr. Asquith said it contained "all the material +documents," it was immediately apparent to members who had closely +studied the admissions that had been dragged from the Ministers chiefly +concerned, that it was very far from doing so. Much the most important +documents had, in fact, been withheld. Suspicion as to the good faith of +the Government was increased when it was found that the Lord Chancellor, +Lord Haldane, had interpolated into the official Report of his speech in +the House of Lords a significant word which transformed his definite +pledge that Ulster would not be coerced, into a mere statement that no +"immediate" coercion was contemplated. + +In the face of such evasion and prevarication it was out of the question +to let the matter drop. On the 22nd of April the Government was forced +to publish a second White Paper,[79] which contained a large number of +highly important documents omitted from the first. But it was evident +that much was still being kept back, and, in particular, that what had +passed between Sir Arthur Paget and his officers at a conference +mentioned in the published correspondence was being carefully concealed. +Mr. Bonar Law demanded a judicial inquiry, where evidence could be taken +on oath. Mr. Asquith refused, saying that an insinuation against the +honour of Ministers could only be properly investigated by the House of +Commons itself, and that a day would be given for a vote of censure if +the leader of the Opposition meant that he could not trust the word of +Ministers of the Crown. Mr. Bonar Law sharply retorted that he "had +already accused the Prime Minister of making a statement which was +false."[80] But even this did not suffice to drive the Government to +face the ordeal of having their own account of the affair at the Curragh +sifted by the sworn evidence of others who knew the facts. They +preferred to take cover under the dutiful cheers of their parliamentary +majority when they repeated their explanations, which had already been +proved to be untrue. + +But the Ulster Unionist Council had, meantime, been making inquiries on +their own account. There was nothing in the least improper, although the +supporters of the Government tried to make out that there was, in the +officers at the Curragh revealing what the Commander-in-Chief had said +to them, so long as they did not communicate anything to the Press. They +were not, and could not be, pledged to secrecy. It thus happened that it +was possible for the Old Town Hall in Belfast to put together a more +complete account of the whole affair than it suited the Government to +reveal to Parliament. On the 17th of April the Standing Committee issued +to the Press a statement giving the main additional facts which a sworn +inquiry would have elicited. It bore the signatures of Lord Londonderry +and Sir Edward Carson, and there can have been few foolhardy enough to +suggest that these were men who would be likely to take such a step +without first satisfying themselves as to the trustworthiness of the +evidence, a point on which the judgment of one of them at all events was +admittedly unrivalled. + +From this statement it appeared that Sir Arthur Paget, so far from +indicating that mere "precautionary measures" for the protection of +Government stores were in contemplation, told his generals that +preparations had been made for the employment of some 25,000 troops in +Ulster, in conjunction with naval operations. The gravity of the plan +was revealed by the General's use of the words "battles" and "the +enemy," and his statement that he would himself be "in the firing line" +at the first "battle." He said that, when some casualties had been +suffered by the troops, he intended to approach "the enemy" with a flag +of truce and demand their surrender, and if this should be refused he +would order an assault on their position. The cavalry, whose pro-Ulster +sentiments must have been well known to the Commander-in-Chief, were +told that they would only be required to prevent the infantry "bumping +into the enemy," or in other words to act as a cavalry screen; that they +would not be called upon to fire on "the enemy"; and that as soon as +the infantry became engaged, they would be withdrawn and sent to Cork, +where "a disturbance would be arranged" to provide a pretext for the +movement. A Military Governor of Belfast was to be appointed, and the +general purpose of the operations was to blockade Ulster by land and +sea, and to provoke the Ulster men to shed the first blood. + +The publication of this statement with the authority of the two Ulster +leaders created a tremendous sensation. But it probably strengthened the +resolution of the Government to refuse at all costs a judicial inquiry, +which they knew would only supply sworn corroboration of the Ulster +Unionist Council's story. In this they were assisted in an unexpected +way. Just when the pressure was at its highest, relief came by the +diversion of attention and interest caused by another startling event in +Ulster, which will be described in the following chapters. + +This Curragh Incident, which caused intense and prolonged excitement in +March 1914, and nearly upset the Asquith Government, had more than +momentary importance in connection with the Ulster Movement. It proved +to demonstration the intense sympathy with the loyalist cause that +pervaded the Army. That sympathy was not, as Radical politicians like +Mr. John Ward believed, an aristocratic sentiment only to be found in +the mess-rooms of smart cavalry regiments. It existed in all branches of +the Service, and among the rank and file as well as the commissioned +ranks. Sir Arthur Paget's telegram reporting to the War Office the +feeling in the 5th and 16th Lancers, said, "Fear men will refuse to +move."[81] The men had not the same facility as the officers in making +their sentiments known at headquarters, but their sympathies were the +same. + +The Government had no excuse for being ignorant of this feeling in the +Army. It had been a matter of notoriety for a long time. Its existence +and its danger had been reported by Lord Wolseley to the Duke of +Cambridge, back in the old days of Gladstonian Home Rule, in a letter +that had been since published. In July 1913 _The Times_ gave the +warning in a leading article that "the crisis, the approach of which +Ministers affect to treat with unconcern, is already causing uneasiness +and apprehension in the public Services, and especially in the Army.... +It is notorious that some officers have already begun to speak of +sending in their papers." Lord Roberts had uttered a significant warning +in the House of Lords not long before the incident at the Curragh. +Colonel Seely himself had been made aware of it in the previous December +when he signed a War Office Memorandum on the subject[82]; and, indeed, +no officer could fail to be aware of it who had ever been quartered in +Ireland. + +Nor was it surprising that this sympathy should manifest itself. No one +is quicker to appreciate the difference between loyalty and disloyalty +than the soldier. There were few regiments in the Army that had not +learnt by experience that the King's uniform was constantly insulted in +Nationalist Ireland, and as invariably welcomed and honoured in Ulster. +In the vote of censure debate on the 19th of March Mr. Cave quoted an +Irish newspaper, which had described the British Army as "the most +immoral and degraded force in Europe," and warned Irishmen that, by +joining it, all they would get was "a red coat, a dishonoured name, a +besmirched character." On the other hand, the very troops who were sent +North from the Curragh against the advice of Sir Arthur Paget, to +provoke "the Ulsterites to shed the first blood," had, as the +Commander-in-Chief reported, "everywhere a good reception."[83] + +The welcoming cheers at Holywood and Carrickfergus and Armagh were +probably a pleasant novelty to men fresh from the Curragh or Fermoy. +Even in Belfast itself the contrast was brought home to troops quartered +in Victoria Barracks, all of whom were well aware that on the death of a +comrade his coffin would have to be borne by a roundabout route to the +cemetery, to avoid the Nationalist quarter of the city where a military +funeral would be exposed to insult. + +Such experiences, as they harden into traditions, sink deep into the +consciousness of an Army and breed sentiments that are not easily +eradicated. Soldiers ought, of course, to have no politics; but when it +appeared that they might be called upon to open fire on those whom they +had always counted "on our side," in order to subject them forcibly to +men who hated the sight of a British flag and were always ready to spit +upon it, human nature asserted itself. And the incident taught the +Government something as to the difficulty they would have in enforcing +the Home Rule Bill in Ulster. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[64] See White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. II. + +[65] See White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. VI. + +[66] See White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. VII. + +[67] White Paper (Cd. 7329), Part II, No. II. + +[68] White Paper (Cd. 7329), Part III. + +[69] See _Parliamentary Debates_, vol. lx, p. 73. + +[70] Ibid., p. 426. + +[71] Cd. 7329, No. XVII. + +[72] Ibid., Nos. XVIII, XX. + +[73] Ibid., Nos. XXII, XXIII. + +[74] See _Parliamentary Debates_, vol. lx, p. 246. + +[75] Ibid., p. 400. + +[76] White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. XX. + +[77] _The Nineteenth Century and After_, January 1921, art. "The Army +and Ireland," by Lieut.-Colonel John Ward, C.B., C.M.G., M.P. + +[78] Cd. 7318. + +[79] Cd. 7329. + +[80] _Parliamentary Debate_, vol. lxi, p. 765. + +[81] White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. XVII. See _ante_, p. 180. + +[82] White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. I. + +[83] Ibid., No. XXVII. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +ARMING THE U.V.F. + + +If the "evil-disposed persons" who so excited the fancy of Colonel Seely +were supposed to be Ulster Loyalists, the whole story was an absurdity +that did no credit to the Government's Intelligence in Ireland; and if +there ever was any "information," such as the War Office alleged, it +must have come from a source totally ignorant of Ulster psychology. +Raids on Government stores were never part of the Ulster programme. The +excitement of the Curragh Incident passed off without causing any sort +of disturbance, and, as we have seen, the troops who were sent North +received everywhere in Ulster a loyal welcome. This was a fine tribute +to the discipline and restraint of the people, and was a further proof +of their confidence in their leaders. + +Those leaders, it happened, were at that very moment taking measures to +place arms in the hands of the U.V.F. without robbing Government depots +or any one else. That method was left to their opponents in Ireland at a +later date, who adopted it on an extensive scale accompanied by +systematic terrorism. The Ulster plan was quite different. All the arms +they obtained were paid for, and their only crime was that they +successfully hoodwinked Mr. Asquith's colleagues and agents. + +Every movement has its Fabius, and also its Hotspur. Both are +needed--the men of prudence and caution, anxious to avoid extreme +courses, slow to commit themselves too far or to burn their boats with +the river behind them; and the impetuous spirits, who chafe at +half-measures, cannot endure temporising, and are impatient for the +order to advance against any odds. Major F.H. Crawford had more of the +temperament of a Hotspur than of a Fabius, but he nevertheless possessed +qualities of patience, reticence, discretion, and coolness which +enabled him to render invaluable service to the Ulster cause in an +enterprise that would certainly have miscarried in the hands of a man +endowed only with impetuosity and reckless courage. If the story of his +adventures in procuring arms for the U.V.F. be ever told in minute +detail, it will present all the features of an exciting novel by Mr. +John Buchan. + +Fred Crawford, the man who followed a family tradition when he signed +the Covenant with his own blood,[84] began life as a premium apprentice +in Harland and Wolf's great ship-building yard, after which he served +for a year as an engineer in the White Star Line, before settling down +to his father's manufacturing business in Belfast. Like so many ardent +Loyalists in Ulster, he came of Liberal stock. He was for years honorary +Secretary of the Reform Club in Belfast. The more staid members of this +highly respectable establishment were not a little startled and +perplexed when it was brought to their attention in 1907 that +advertisements in the name of one "Hugh Matthews," giving the Belfast +Reform Club as his address, had appeared in a number of foreign +newspapers--French, Belgian, Italian, German, and Austrian--inquiring +for "10,000 rifles and one million rounds of small-arm ammunition." The +membership of the Club included no Hugh Matthews; but inquiry showed +that the name covered the identity of the Hon. Secretary; and Crawford, +who sought no concealment in the matter, justified the advertisements by +pointing out that the Liberal Government which had lately come into +power had begun its rule in Ireland by repealing the Act prohibiting the +importation of arms, and that there was therefore nothing illegal in +what he was doing. But he resigned his secretaryship, which he felt +might hamper future transactions of the same kind. The advertisement was +no doubt half bravado and half practical joke; he wanted to see whether +it would attract notice, and if anything would come of it. But it had +also an element of serious purpose. + +Crawford regarded the advent to power of the Liberal Party as ominous, +as indeed all Ulster did, for the Liberal Party was a Home Rule Party; +and he had from his youth been convinced that the day would come when +Ulster would have to carry out Lord Randolph Churchill's injunction. +That being so, he was not the man to tarry till solemn assemblies of +merchants, lawyers, and divines should propound a policy; if there was +to be fighting, Crawford was going to be ready for it, and thought that +preparation for such a contingency could not begin too soon. And the +advertisements were not barren of practical result. There was an +astonishing number of replies; Crawford purchased a few rifles, and +obtained samples of others; and, what was more important, he gained +knowledge of the Continental trade in second-hand firearms, which had +its centre in the free port of Hamburg, and of the men engaged in that +trade. This knowledge he turned to account in 1912 and the two following +years. + +He had been for nearly twenty years an officer of Artillery Militia, and +when the U.V.F. was organised in 1912 he became its Director of Ordnance +on the headquarters staff. He was also a member of the Standing +Committee of the Ulster Unionist Council, where he persistently +advocated preparation for armed resistance long before most of his +colleagues thought such a policy necessary. But early in 1912 he +obtained leave to get samples of procurable firearms, and his +promptitude in acting on it, and in presenting before certain members of +the Committee a collection of gleaming rifles with bayonets fixed, took +away the breath of the more cautious of his colleagues. + +From this time forward Crawford was frequently engaged in this business. +He got into communication with the dealers in arms whose acquaintance he +had made six years before. He went himself to Hamburg, and, after +learning something of the chicanery prevalent in the trade, which it +took all his resourcefulness to overcome, he fell in with an honest Jew +by whose help he succeeded in sending a thousand rifles safely to +Belfast. Other consignments followed from time to time in larger or +smaller quantities, in the transport of which all the devices of +old-time smuggling were put to the test. Crawford bought a schooner, +which for a year or more proved very useful, and, while employing her in +bringing arms to Ulster, he made acquaintance with a skipper of one of +the Antrim Iron Ore Company's coasting steamers, whose name was Agnew, a +fine seaman of the best type produced by the British Mercantile Marine, +who afterwards proved an invaluable ally, to whose loyalty and ability +Crawford and Ulster owed a deep debt of gratitude, as they also did to +Mr. Robert Browne, Managing Director of the Antrim Iron Ore Company, for +placing at their disposal both vessels and seamen from time to time. + +Now and then the goods fell a victim to Custom House vigilance; for +although there was at this time nothing illegal in importing firearms, +it was not considered prudent to carry on the trade openly, which would +certainly have led to prohibition being introduced and enforced; and, +consequently, infringements of shipping regulations had to be risked, +which gave the authorities the right to interfere if they discovered +rifles where zinc plates or musical instruments ought to have been. + +On one occasion a case of arms was shipped on a small steamer from +Glasgow to Portrush, but was not entered in the manifest, so that the +skipper (being a worthy man) knew nothing--officially--of this box which +lay on deck instead of descending into the hold. But two Customs +officials, who noticed it with unsatisfied curiosity, decided, just as +the boat cast off, to make the trip to Portrush. Happily it was a dirty +night, and they, being bad sailors, were constrained to take refuge from +the elements in the Captain's cabin. But when Portrush was reached +search and research proved unavailing to find the mysterious box; the +skipper could find no mention of it in the manifest and thought the +Customs House gentlemen must have been dreaming; they, on the other +hand, threatened to seize the ship if the box did not materialise, and +were told to do so at their peril. But exactly off Ballycastle, which +had been passed while the officials were poorly, there was a float in +the sea attached to a line, which in due course led to the recovery of a +case of valuable property that was none the worse for a few hours' rest +on the bottom of the Moyle. + +Qualities of a different sort were called into play in negotiating the +purchase of machine-guns from Messrs. Vickers & Co., at Woolwich. Here a +strong American accent, combined with the providential circumstance that +Mexico happened to be in the grip of revolutionary civil war, overcame +all difficulties, and Mr. John Washington Graham, U.S.A. (otherwise Fred +H. Crawford of Belfast) played his part so effectively that he did not +fail to finish the deal by extracting a handsome commission for himself, +which found its way subsequently to the coffers of the Ulster Unionist +Council. But he compensated the Company by making a suggestion for +improving the mechanism of the Maxim-gun which the great ordnance +manufacturers permanently adopted without having to pay for any patent +rights. + +Major Crawford was, however, by no means the only person who was at this +time bringing arms and ammunition into Ulster, which, as already +explained, although not illegal, could not be safely done openly on a +large scale. Ammunition in small quantities dribbled into Belfast pretty +constantly, many amateur importers deriving pleasurable excitement from +feeling themselves conspirators, and affording amusement to others by +the tales told of the ingenious expedients resorted to by the smugglers. + +There was a dock porter at Belfast, an intense admirer of Sir Edward +Carson, who was the retailer of one of the best of these stories. He was +always on the look-out for the leader arriving by the Liverpool steamer, +and would allow no one else, if he could help it, to handle the great +man's hand-baggage; and when Carson was not a passenger, any of his +satellites who happened to be travelling came in for vicarious +attention. Thus, it happened on one occasion that the writer, arriving +alone from Liverpool, was hailed from the shore before the boat was made +fast. "Is Sir Edward on board?" A shake of the head brought a look of +pathetic disappointment to the face of the hero-worshipper; but he was +on board before the gangway was down and busy collecting the belongings +of the leader's unworthy substitute. When laden with these and half-way +down the gangway he stopped, and, entirely careless of the fact that he +was obstructing a number of passengers impatient to land, he turned and +whispered--a whisper that might be heard thirty yards off--with a +knowing wink of the eye: + +"We're getting in plenty of stuff now." + +"Yes, yes," was the reply. "Never mind about that now; put those things +on a car." + +But he continued, without budging from the gangway, "Och aye, we're +getting in plenty; but my God, didn't Mrs. Blank o' Dungannon bate all? +Did ye hear about her?" + +"No, I never heard of Mrs. Blank of Dungannon. But do hurry along, my +good man; you're keeping back all the passengers." + +"What! ye never heard o' Mrs. Blank o' Dungannon? Wait now till I tell +ye. Mrs. Blank came off this boat not a fortnight ago, an' as she came +down this gangway I declare to God you'd ha' swore she was within a week +of her time--and divil a ha'porth the matter with her, only cartridges. +An' the fun was that the Custom House boys knowed rightly what it was, +but they dursn't lay a hand on her nor search her, for fear they were +wrong." + +This admiring tribute to the heroic matron of Dungannon--whose real name +was not concealed by the porter--was heard by a number of people, and +probably most of them thought themselves compensated by the story for +the delay it caused them in leaving the steamer. + +By the summer of 1913 several thousands of rifles had been brought into +Ulster; but in May of that year the mishap occurred to which Lord +Roberts referred in his letter to Colonel Hickman on the 4th of June, +when he wrote: "I am sorry to read about the capture of rifles."[85] +Crawford had been obliged to find some place in London for storing the +arms which he was procuring from his friends in Hamburg, and with the +help of Sir William Bull, M.P. for Hammersmith, the yard of an +old-fashioned inn in that district was found where it was believed they +would be safe until means of transporting them to the North of Ireland +could be devised. The inn was taken by a firm calling itself John +Ferguson & Co., the active member of which was Sir William Bull's +brother-in-law, Captain Budden; and the business appeared to consist of +dealing in second-hand scientific instruments and machinery, +curiosities, antique armour and weapons, old furniture, and so forth, +which were brought in very heavy cases and deposited in the yard. For a +time it proved useful, and the Maxims from Woolwich passed safely +through the Hammersmith store. But the London police got wind of the +Hammersmith Armoury, and seized a consignment of between six and seven +thousand excellent Italian rifles. A rusty and little-known Act of +Parliament had to be dug up to provide legal authority for the seizure. +Many sportsmen and others then learnt for the first time that, under the +Gun-barrel Proof Act, 1868, every gun-barrel in England must bear the +Gun-makers' Company's proof-mark showing that its strength has been +tested and approved. As the penalty for being in possession of guns not +so marked was a fine of Ł2 per barrel, to have put in a claim for the +Italian rifles seized at Hammersmith would have involved a payment of +more than Ł12,000, and would have given the Government information as to +the channel through which they had been imported. No move was made, +therefore, so far as the firearms were concerned, but the bayonets +attached to them, for the seizure of which there was no legal +justification, were claimed by Crawford's agent in Hamburg, and +eventually reached Ulster safely by another route. About the same time a +consignment of half a million rounds of small-arm ammunition, which was +discovered by the authorities through faulty packing in cement-bags, was +also confiscated in another part of the country. + +These losses convinced Crawford that a complete change of method must be +adopted if faith was to be kept with the Ulster Volunteers, who were +implicitly trusting their leaders to provide them with weapons to enable +them to make good the Covenant. More than a year before this time he had +told the special Committee dealing with arms, to which he was +immediately responsible, that, in his judgment, the only way of dealing +effectively with the problem was not by getting small quantities +smuggled from time to time by various devices and through disguised +ordinary trade channels, but by bringing off a grand _coup_, as if +running a blockade in time of war. He had crossed the Channel on purpose +to submit this view to Sir Edward Carson and Captain Craig early in +1912, but at that time nothing was done to give effect to it. + +But the seizure of so large a number as six thousand rifles at a time +when the political situation looked like moving towards a crisis in the +near future, made necessary a bolder attempt to procure the necessary +arms. When General Sir George Richardson took command of the U.V.F. in +July 1913 he placed Captain (afterwards Lieut.-Colonel) Wilfrid Bliss +Spender on his staff, and soon afterwards appointed him A.Q.M.G. of the +Forces. Captain Spender's duties comprised the supply of equipment, +arms, and ammunition, the organisation of transport, and the supervision +of communications. He was now requested to confer with Major Fred +Crawford with a view to preparing a scheme for procuring arms and +ammunition, to be submitted to a special sub-committee appointed to deal +with this matter, of which Captain James Craig was chairman. Spender +gave his attention mainly to the difficulties that would attend the +landing and distribution of arms if they reached Ulster in safety; +Crawford said he could undertake to purchase and bring them from a +foreign port. Crawford's proposed _modus operandi_ may be given in his +own words: + + "I would immediately go to Hamburg and see B.S. [the Hebrew dealer + in firearms with whom he had been in communication for some six or + seven years, and whom he had found perfectly honest, and not at all + grasping], and consult him as to what he had to offer. I would + purchase 25,000 to 30,000 rifles, modern weapons if possible, and + not the Italian Vetteli rifles we had been getting, all to take the + same ammunition and fitted with bayonets. I would purchase a + suitable steamer of 600 tons in some foreign port and load her up + with the arms, and either bring her in direct or transfer the cargo + to a local steamer in some estuary or bay on the Scottish coast. I + felt confident, though I knew the difficulties in front of me, + that I could carry it through all right."[86] + +The sub-committee accepted Crawford's proposal, and, when it had been +confirmed by Headquarters Council, he was commissioned to go to Hamburg +to see how the land lay. On arriving there he found that B.S. had still +in store ten thousand Vetteli rifles and a million rounds of ammunition +for them, which he had been holding for Crawford for two years. After a +day or two the dealer laid three alternative proposals before his Ulster +customer: (a) Twenty thousand Vetteli rifles, with bayonets (ammunition +would have to be specially manufactured).(6) Thirty thousand Russian +rifles with bayonets (lacking scabbards) and ammunition, (c) Fifteen +thousand new Austrian, and five thousand German army rifles with +bayonets, both to take standard Mannlicher cartridges. + +The last mentioned of these alternatives was much the most costly, being +double the price of the first and nearly treble that of the second; but +it had great advantages over the other two. Ammunition for the Italian +weapons was only manufactured in Italy, and, if further supplies should +be required, could only be got from that country. The Russian rifles +were perfectly new and unused, but were of an obsolete pattern; they +were single-loaders, and fresh supplies of cartridges would be nearly as +difficult to procure for them as for the Italian. The Austrian and +German patterns were both first-rate; the rifles were up-to-date +clip-loaders, and, what was the most important consideration, ammunition +for them would be easily procurable in the United Kingdom or from +America or Canada. + +But the difference in cost was so great that Crawford returned to +Belfast to explain matters to his Committee, calling in London on his +way to inform Carson and Craig. He strongly urged the acceptance of the +third alternative offer, laying stress, among other considerations, on +the moral effect on men who knew they had in their hands the most modern +weapon with all latest improvements. Carson was content to be guided on +a technical matter of this sort by the judgment of a man whom he knew +to be an expert, and as James Craig, who was in control of the fund +ear-marked for the purchase of arms, also agreed, Crawford had not much +difficulty in persuading the Committee when he reached Belfast, although +at first they were rather staggered by the difference in cost between +the various proposals. + +It was not until the beginning of February 1914 that Crawford returned +to Hamburg to accept this offer, and to make arrangements with B.S. for +carrying out the rest of his scheme for transporting his precious but +dangerous cargo to Ulster. On his way through London he called again on +Carson. + + "I pointed out to Sir Edward, my dear old Chief," says Crawford in + a written account of the interview, "that some of my Committee had + no idea of the seriousness of the undertaking, and, when they did + realise what they were in for, might want to back out of it. I + said, 'Once I cross this time to Hamburg there is no turning back + with me, no matter what the circumstances are so far as my personal + safety is concerned; and no contrary orders from the Committee to + cancel what they have agreed to with me will I obey. I shall carry + out the _coup_ if I lose my life in the attempt. Now, Sir Edward, + you know what I am about to undertake, and the risks those who back + me up must run. Are you willing to back me to the finish in this + undertaking? If you are not, I don't go. But, if you are, I would + go even if I knew I should not return; it is for Ulster and her + freedom I am working, and this alone.' I so well remember that + scene. We were alone; Sir Edward was sitting opposite to me. When I + had finished, his face was stern and grim, and there was a glint in + his eye. He rose to his full height, looking me in the eye; he + advanced to where I was sitting and stared down at me, and shook + his clenched fist in my face, and said in a steady, determined + voice, which thrilled me and which I shall never forget: 'Crawford, + I'll see you through this business, if I should have to go to + prison for it.' I rose from my chair; I held out my hand and said, + 'Sir Edward, that is all I want. I leave to-night; good-bye.'" + +Next day Crawford was in Hamburg. He immediately concluded his +agreement with B.S., and began making arrangements for carrying out the +plan he had outlined to the Committee in Belfast. As will be seen in the +next chapter, he was actually in the middle of this adventure at the +very time when Seely and Churchill were worrying lest "evil-disposed +persons" should raid and rob the scantily stocked Government Stores at +Omagh and Enniskillen. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[84] _Ante_, p. 123. + +[85] _Ante_, p. 161. + +[86] From a manuscript narrative by Colonel F.H. Crawford. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A VOYAGE OF ADVENTURE + + +Although Mr. Lloyd George's message to mankind on New Year's Day, 1914, +was that "Anglo-German relations were far more friendly than for years +past,"[87] and that there was therefore no need to strengthen the +British Navy, it may be doubted, with the knowledge we now possess, +whether the German Government would have been greatly incensed at the +idea of a cargo of firearms finding its way from Hamburg to Ireland in +the spring of that year without the knowledge of the British Government. +But if that were the case Fred Crawford had no reason to suspect it. +German surveillance was always both efficient and obtrusive, and he had +to make his preparations under a vigilance by the authorities which +showed no signs of laxity. Those preparations involved the assembling +and the packing of 20,000 modern rifles, 15,000 of which had to be +brought from a factory in Austria; 10,000 Italian rifles previously +purchased, which B.S. had in store; bayonets for all the firearms; and +upwards of 3,000,000 rounds of small-arm ammunition. The packing of the +arms was a matter to which Crawford gave particular attention. He kept +in mind the circumstances under which he expected them to be landed in +Ulster. Avoidance of confusion and rapidity of handling were of the +first importance. Rifles, bayonets, and ammunition must be not separated +in bulk, requiring to be laboriously reassembled at their destination. +He therefore insisted that parcels should be made up containing five +rifles in each, with bayonets to match, and 100 rounds of ammunition per +rifle, each parcel weighing about 75 lbs. He attached so much importance +to this system of packing that he adhered to it even after discovering +that it would cost about Ł2,000, and would take more than a month to +complete. + +While the work of packing was going on, Crawford, who found he was +exciting the curiosity of the Hamburg police, kept out of sight as much +as possible, and he paid more than one visit to the Committee in +Belfast, leaving the supervision to the skipper and packer, whom he had +found he could trust. In the meantime, by advertisements in the +Scandinavian countries, he was looking out for a suitable steamer to +carry the cargo. For a crew his thoughts turned to his old friend, +Andrew Agnew, skipper in the employment of the Antrim Iron Ore Company. +Happily he was not only able to secure the services of Agnew himself, +but Agnew brought with him his mate and his chief and second engineers. +This was a great gain; for they were not only splendid men at their job, +but were men willing to risk their liberty or their lives for the Ulster +cause. Deck-hands and firemen would be procurable at whatever port a +steamer was to be bought. + +Several vessels were offered in response to Crawford's advertisements, +and on the 16th of March, when the packing of the arms was well +advanced, Crawford, Agnew, and his chief engineer went to Norway to +inspect these steamers. Eventually they selected the s.s. _Fanny_, which +had just returned to Bergen with a cargo of coal from Newcastle. She was +only an eight-knot vessel, but her skipper, a Norwegian, gave a +favourable report of her sea-going qualities and coal consumption, and +Agnew and his engineer were satisfied by their inspection of her. The +deal was quickly completed, and the Captain and his Norwegian crew +willingly consented to remain in charge of the _Fanny_; and, in order to +enable her to sail under the Norwegian flag, as a precaution against +possible confiscation in British waters, it was arranged that the +Captain should be the nominal purchaser, giving Crawford a mortgage for +her full value. + +Then, leaving Agnew to get sufficient stores on board the _Fanny_ for a +three-months' cruise, Crawford returned to Hamburg on the 20th, and +thence to Belfast to report progress. Agnew's orders were to bring the +_Fanny_ in three weeks' time to a rendezvous marked on the chart +between the Danish islands of Langeland and Fünen, where he was to pick +up the cargo of arms, which Crawford would bring in lighters from +Hamburg through the Kiel Canal. + +While Crawford was in Belfast arrangements were made to enable him to +keep in communication with Spender, so that in case of necessity he +could be warned not to approach the Irish coast, but to cruise in the +Baltic till a more favourable opportunity. He was to let Spender know +later where he could be reached with final instructions as to landing +the arms; the rendezvous so agreed upon subsequently was Lough Laxford, +a wild and inaccessible spot on the west coast of Sutherlandshire. +Crawford was warned by B.S. that he was far from confident of a +successful end to their labours at Hamburg. He had never before shipped +anything like so large a number of firearms; and the long process of +packing, and Crawford's own mysterious coming and going, would be +certain to excite suspicion, which would reach the secret agents of the +British Government, and lead either to a protest addressed to the German +authorities, followed by a prohibition on shipping the arms, or to +confiscation by the British authorities when the cargo entered British +territorial waters. + +These fears must have been present to the mind of B.S. when he met +Crawford at the station in Hamburg on the 27th on his return from +Belfast, for the precautions taken to avoid being followed gave their +movements the character of an adventure by one of Stanley Weyman's +heroes of romance. Whether any suspicion had in fact been aroused +remains unknown. Anyhow, the barges were ready laden, with a tug waiting +till the tide should serve about midnight for making a start down the +Elbe, and through the canal to Kiel. The modest sum of Ł10 procured an +order authorising the tug and barges to proceed through the canal +without stopping, and requiring other shipping to let them pass. A black +flag was the signal of this privileged position, which suggested the +"Jolly Roger" to Crawford's thoughts, and gave a sense of insolent +audacity when great liners of ten or fifteen thousand tons were seen +making way for a tug-boat towing a couple of lighters. + +For the success of the enterprise up to this point Crawford was greatly +indebted to the Jew, B.S. From first to last this gentleman "played the +game" with sterling honesty and straightforward dealing that won his +customers' warm admiration. Several times he accepted Crawford's word as +sufficient security when cash was not immediately forthcoming, and in no +instance did he bear out the character traditionally attributed to his +race. + +On arrival at Kiel, Crawford, after a short absence from the tug, was +informed that three men had been inquiring from the lightermen and the +tug's skipper about the nature and destination of the cargo. All such +evidences of curiosity on the subject were rather alarming, but it +turned out that the visitors were probably Mexicans--of what political +party there it would be impossible to guess--whose interest had been +aroused by the rumour, which Crawford had encouraged, that guns were +being shipped to that distracted Republic. Still more alarming was the +arrival on board the tug of a German official in resplendent uniform, +who insisted that he must inspect the cargo. Crawford knew no German, +but the shipping agent who accompanied him produced papers showing that +all formalities had been complied with, and all requisite authorisation +obtained. Neither official papers, however, nor arguments made any +impression on the officer until it occurred to Crawford to produce a +100-marks note, which proved much more persuasive, and sent the official +on his way rejoicing, with expressions of civility on both sides. + +The relief of the Ulsterman when the last of the Kiel forts was left +behind, and he knew that his cargo was clear of Germany, may be +imagined. A night was spent crossing Kiel Bay, and in the morning of the +29th they were close to Langeland, and approaching the rendezvous with +the _Fanny_. She was there waiting, and Agnew, in obedience to orders, +had already painted out her name on bows and stern. The next thing was +to transfer the arms from the lighters to the _Fanny_. Crawford was +apprehensive lest the Danish authorities should take an interest in the +proceedings if the work was carried out in the narrow channel between +the islands, and he proposed, as it was quite calm, to defer operations +till they were further from the shore. But the Norwegian Captain +declared that he had often transhipped cargo at this spot, and that +there was no danger whatever. Nevertheless, Crawford's fears were +realised. Before the work was half finished a Danish Port Officer came +on board, asked what the cargo comprised, and demanded to see the ship's +papers. According to the manifest the _Fanny_ was bound for Iceland with +a general cargo, part of which was to be shipped at Bergen. The Danish +officer then spent half an hour examining the bales, and, although he +did not open any of them, Crawford felt no doubt he knew perfectly the +nature of their contents. Finally he insisted on carrying off the +papers, both of the _Fanny_ and the tug-boat, saying that all the +information must be forwarded to Copenhagen to be dealt with by the +Government authorities, but that the papers would be returned early next +morning. + +One can well believe Crawford when he says that he suffered "mental +agony" that night. After all that he had planned, and all that he had +accomplished by many months of personal energy and resource, he saw +complete and ignominious failure staring him in the face. He realised +the heavy financial loss to the Ulster Loyalists, for his cargo +represented about Ł70,000 of their money; and he realised the bitter +disappointment of their hopes, which was far worse than any loss of +money. He pictured to himself what must happen in the morning--"to have +to follow a torpedo-boat into the naval base and lie there till the +whole Ulster scheme was unravelled and known to the world as a ghastly +failure, and the Province and Sir Edward and all the leaders the +laughing stock of the world"--and the thought of it all plunged him +almost into despair. + +Almost, but not quite. He was not the man to give way to despair. If it +came to the worst he would "put all the foreign crew and their +belongings into the boats and send them off; Agnew and I would arm +ourselves with a bundle of rifles, and cut it open and have 500 rounds +to fight any attempt to board us, and if we slipped this by any chance, +he and I would bring her to England together, he on deck and I in the +engine-room. He knew all about navigation and I knew all about engines, +having been a marine engineer in my youth." + +But a less desperate job called for immediate attention. The men engaged +in transferring the cargo from the barges to the steamer wanted to knock +off work for the night; but the offer of double pay persuaded them to +stick to it, and they worked with such good will that by midnight every +bale was safely below hatches in the _Fanny_. Crawford then instructed +the shipping agent to be off in the tug at break of day, giving him +letters to post which would apprise the Committee in Belfast of what had +happened, and give them the means of communicating with himself +according to previously concerted plans. + +Before morning a change occurred in the weather, which Crawford regarded +as providential. He was gladdened by the sight of a sea churned white by +half a gale, while a mist lay on the water, reducing visibility to about +300 yards. It would be impossible for the Port Officer's motor-boat to +face such a sea, or, if it did, to find the _Fanny_, unless guided by +her fog-whistle. As soon as eight o'clock had passed--the hour by which +the return of the ship's papers had been promised--Crawford weighed +anchor, and crept out of the narrow channel under cover of the fog, only +narrowly escaping going aground on the way among the banks and shallows +that made it impossible to sail before daylight, but eventually the open +sea was safely reached. But the _Fanny_ was now without papers, and in +law was a pirate ship. It was therefore desirable for her to change her +costume. As many hands as possible were turned to the task of giving a +new colour to the funnel and making some other effective alterations in +her appearance, including a new name on her bows and stern. Thus +renovated, and after a delay of some days, caused by trifling mishaps, +she left the Cattegat behind and steered a course for British waters. + +The original plan had been to set a course for Iceland, and, when north +of the Shetlands, to turn to the southward to Lough Laxford, the agreed +rendezvous with Spender. But the incident at Langeland, which had made +the Danish authorities suspect illegal traffic with Iceland, made a +change of plan imperative. Before leaving Danish waters Crawford tried +to communicate this change to Belfast. But, meantime, information had +reached Belfast of certain measures being taken by the Government, and +Spender, hoping to catch Crawford before he left Kiel, went to Dublin to +telegraph from there. In Dublin he was dismayed to read in the +newspapers that a mysterious vessel called the _Fanny_, said to be +carrying arms for Ulster, had been captured by the Danish authorities in +the Baltic. For several days no further news reached Belfast, where it +was assumed that the whole enterprise had failed; and then a code +message informed the Committee that Crawford was in London. + +Spender at once went over to see him, in order to warn him not to bring +the arms to Ireland for the present. He was to take them back to +Hamburg, or throw them overboard, or sink the _Fanny_ and take to her +boats, according to circumstances. But in London, instead of Crawford, +Spender found the Hamburg skipper and packer, who told him of Crawford's +escape from Langeland with the loss of the ship's papers. Spender, +knowing nothing of Crawford's change of plan, and anxious to convey to +him the latest instructions, went off on a wild-goose chase to the +Highlands of Scotland, where he spent the best part of an unhappy week +watching the waves tumbling in Lough Laxford, and looking as anxiously +as Tristan for the expected ship. + +Meantime the _Fanny_ had crossed the North Sea, and Crawford sent Agnew +ashore at Yarmouth on the 7th of April with orders to hurry to Belfast, +where he was to procure another steamer and bring it to a rendezvous at +Lundy Island, in the Bristol Channel. Crawford himself, having +rechristened the _Fanny_ for the second time (this time the _Doreen_), +proceeded down the English Channel, where he had a rather adventurous +cruise in a gale of wind. He kept close to the French coast, to avoid +any unwelcome attentions in British waters, but on the way had an attack +of malaria, which the Captain thought so grave that, no doubt with the +most humane motives, he declared his intention of putting Crawford +ashore at Dunkirk to save his life, a design which no persuasion short +of Crawford's handling of his revolver in true pirate fashion would make +the Norwegian abandon. + +In the heavy seas of the Channel the _Doreen_ could not make more than +four knots, and she was consequently twenty-four hours late for the +rendezvous with Agnew at Lundy, where she arrived on the 11th of April. +The Bristol Channel seemed to swarm with pilot boats eager to be of +service, whose inquisitive and expert eyes were anything but welcome to +the custodian of Ulster's rifles; and to his highly strung imagination +every movement of every trawler appeared to betoken suspicion. And, +indeed, they were not without excuse for curiosity; for, a foreign +steamer whose course seemed indeterminate, now making for Cardiff and +now for St. Ives, observed at one time north-east of Lundy and a few +hours later south of the island--a tramp, in fact, that was obviously +"loitering" with no ascertainable destination, was enough to keep +telescopes to the eyes of Devon pilots and fisher-folk, and to set their +tongues wagging. But there was no help for it. Crawford could not leave +the rendezvous till Agnew arrived, and was forced to wander round Lundy +and up and down the Bristol Channel for two days and nights, until, at 5 +a.m. on Monday morning, the 13th of April, a signal from a passing +steamer, the _Balmerino_, gave the welcome tidings that Agnew was on +board and was proceeding to sea. + +When the two steamers were sufficiently far from Lundy lighthouse and +other prying eyes to make friendly intercourse safe, Agnew came on board +the _Doreen_, bringing with him another North Irish seaman whom he +introduced to Crawford. This man handed to Crawford a paper he had +brought from Belfast. It was typewritten; it bore no address and no +signature; it was no doubt a duplicate of what Spender had taken to the +Highlands, for its purport, as given by Crawford from memory, was to the +following effect: "Owing to great changes since you left, and altered +circumstances, the Committee think it would be unwise to bring the +cargo here at present, and instruct you to proceed to the Baltic and +cruise there for three months, keeping in touch with the Committee, or +else to store the goods at Hamburg till required." + +The "great changes" referred to were the operations that led to the +Curragh incident, the story of which Crawford now learnt from Agnew. The +presence of the fleet at Lamlash, and of destroyers off Carrickfergus, +was enough to make the Committee deem it an inopportune moment for +Crawford to bring his goods to Belfast Lough. But the latter was hardly +in a condition to appreciate the gravity of the situation, and the +indignation which the missive aroused in him is intelligible. After all +he had come through, the ups and downs, dangers and escapes--far more +varied than have been here recorded--the disappointment at being ordered +back was cruel; and in his eyes such instructions were despicably +pusillanimous. The caution that had prompted his instructors to leave +the order unsigned moved him to contempt, and in his wrath he was +confident that "the Chief at any rate had nothing to do with it." He +told the messenger that he did not know who had sent the paper, and did +not want to know, and instructed him to take it back and inform the +senders that, as it bore no signature, no date, no address, and no +official stamp, he declined to recognise it and refused to obey it; and, +further, that unless he received within six days properly authenticated +instructions for delivering his cargo, he would run his ship ashore at +high water in the County Down, and let the Ulstermen salve as much as +they could when the tide ebbed. + +But Crawford determined to make another effort first to accomplish his +task by less desperate methods. He therefore decided to accompany the +messenger back to Belfast. The _Doreen_, late _Fanny_, was too +foreign-looking to pass unchallenged up Belfast Lough, but he believed +that if the cargo could be transhipped to a vessel known to all watchers +on the North Irish coast, a policy of audacity would have a good chance +of success. The s.s. _Balmerino_, which had brought Agnew and the +messenger to Lundy, was such a vessel; her owner, Mr. Sam Kelly, was an +intimate friend of Crawford's; and if he could see Kelly the matter, he +hoped, might be quickly arranged. The reliance which Crawford placed in +Mr. Sam Kelly was fully justified, for the assistance rendered by this +gentleman was essential to the success of the enterprise. He it was who +freely supplied two steamers, with crews and stevedores, thereby +enabling the last part of this adventurous voyage to be carried through; +and the willingness with which Mr. Kelly risked financial loss, and much +besides, placed Ulster under an obligation to him for which he sought no +recompense. + +Crawford accordingly went off in the _Balmerino_, landed in South Wales +on Tuesday, the 14th of April, and hastened by the quickest route to +Belfast. Agnew took charge of the _Doreen_, with instructions to be at +the Tuskar Light, on the Wexford coast, on the following Friday night, +the 17th, and to return there every night until Crawford rejoined him. A +friend of Crawford's, Mr. Richard Cowser, with whom he had a +conversation on the telephone from Dublin, met him at the railway +station in Belfast and told him that he had a motor waiting to take him +to Craigavon, where the Council was expecting him, and that he would see +Mr. Sam Kelly, the owner of the _Balmerino_, there also. This news made +Crawford very angry. He accused his friend of breach of confidence in +letting anyone know that he was coming to Belfast; he declared he would +have nothing to do with the Council after the unsigned orders he had +received at Lundy; and he besought his friend to take his car to +Craigavon and bring back Kelly, repeating his determination to bring in +his cargo, even if he had to run his ship ashore to do so. Mr. Cowser +replied that this would be very disappointing to Sir Edward Carson, who +was waiting for Crawford at Craigavon, having come from London on +purpose for this Council Meeting. "What!" exclaimed Crawford, "is Sir +Edward there? Why did you not say so at once? Where is your car? Let us +waste no time till I see the Chief and report to him." + +That evening of the 14th of April, at Craigavon, was a memorable one for +all who were present at the meeting. Carson invited Crawford to relate +all he had done, and to explain how he proposed to proceed. The latter +did not mince matters in saying what he thought of the Lundy +instructions, which he again declared angrily he intended to disobey. +When he had finished his narrative and his protestations against what he +considered a cowardly policy--a policy that would deprive Ulster of +succour as sorely needed as Derry needed the _Mountjoy_ to break the +boom--Carson put a few questions to him in regard to the feasibility of +his plans. Crawford explained the advantage it would be to transfer the +cargo from the _Fanny_ to a local steamer, which he felt confident he +could bring into Larne, and after the transhipment he would send the +_Fanny_ straight back to the Baltic, where she could settle her account +with the Danish authorities and recover her papers. + +Some members of the Council were sceptical about the possibility of +transhipping the cargo at sea, but Crawford, who had fully discussed it +with Agnew, believed that if favoured by calm weather it could be done. +When Carson, after hearing all that was to be said on both sides in the +long debate between Fabius and Hotspur, finally supported the latter, +the question was decided. There was no split--there never was in these +deliberations in Ulster; those whose judgment was overruled always +supported loyally the policy decided upon. + +Immediate measures were then taken to give effect to the decision. Kelly +knew of a suitable craft, the s.s. _Clydevalley_, for sale at that +moment in Glasgow, which would be in Belfast next morning with a cargo +of coal. This was providential. A collier familiar to every longshoreman +in Belfast Lough, carrying on her usual trade this week, could hardly be +suspected of carrying rifles when she returned next week ostensibly in +the same line of business. It was settled that Crawford should cross to +Glasgow at once and buy her; the steamer, when bought, was to go from +Belfast to Llandudno, where she would pick up Crawford on the sands, and +proceed to keep the rendezvous with Agnew at the Tuskar Light on Friday; +and, after taking over the _Fanny's_ cargo, would then steam boldly up +Belfast Lough and through the Musgrave Channel to the Belfast docks, +where he undertook to arrive on the Friday week, the 24th of April, the +various proposals which named Larne, Bangor, and Donaghadee as ports of +discharge having all been rejected after full discussion. This last +decision was not approved by Crawford, for he and Spender had long +before this time agreed that Larne harbour was the proper place to land +the arms, both because the large number of country roads leading to it +would facilitate rapid distribution, and because it would be more +difficult for the authorities to interfere with the disembarkation there +than at any of the other ports. + +Before parting from the Council Crawford made it quite clear that during +the remainder of the adventure he would recognise no orders of any kind +unless they bore the autograph signature of Sir Edward Carson. On this +understanding he set out for Glasgow, bought the _Clydevalley_, and went +by train to Llandudno to await her arrival. These affairs had left very +little margin of time to spare. The _Clydevalley_ could not be at +Llandudno before the morning of the 17th, and Agnew would be looking for +her at the Tuskar the same evening. As it actually turned out she only +arrived at the Welsh watering-place late that night, and, after picking +up Crawford, who had spent an anxious day on the beach, arrived off the +Wexford coast at daybreak on Saturday, the 18th. Not a sign of the +_Fanny_ was to be seen all that day, or the following night; and when +the skipper of the _Clydevalley_, who had been on the _Balmerino_ and +was privy to the arrangements with Agnew, gave Crawford reason to think +there might have been a misunderstanding as to the rendezvous, Yarmouth +having been also mentioned in that connection, Crawford was in a +condition almost of desperation. + +It was, indeed, a situation to test the nerves, to say nothing of the +temper, of even the most resolute. It was Sunday, and Crawford had +undertaken to be at Copeland Island, at the mouth of Belfast Lough, on +Friday evening for final landing instructions. The precious cargo, which +had passed safely through so many hazards, had vanished and was he knew +not where. He had heard nothing of the _Fanny_ (or _Doreen_) since he +landed at Tenby five days previously. Had she been captured by a +destroyer from Pembroke, or overhauled, pirate as she was without +papers, by Customs officials from Rosslare? Or had Agnew mistaken his +instructions, and risked all the dangers of the English Channel in a +fruitless voyage to Yarmouth, where, even if still undetected, the +_Fanny_ would be too far away to reach Copeland by Friday, unless Agnew +could be communicated with at once? + +There was only one way in which such communication could be managed, and +that way Crawford now took with characteristic promptitude and energy. +The _Clydevalley_ crossed the Irish Sea to Fishguard, where he took +train on Sunday night to London and Yarmouth, having first made +arrangements with the skipper for keeping in touch. But there was no +trace of the _Fanny_ at Yarmouth, and no word from Agnew at the Post +Office. There appeared to be no solution of the problem, and every +precious hour that slipped away made ultimate failure more menacing. But +at two o'clock the outlook entirely changed. A second visit to the Post +Office was rewarded by a telegram in code from Agnew saying all was +well, and that he would be at Holyhead to pick up Crawford on Tuesday +evening. There was just time to catch a London train that arrived in +time for the Irish mail from Euston. On Tuesday morning Crawford was +pacing the breakwater at Holyhead, and a few hours later he was +discussing matters with Agnew in the little cabin of the _Clydevalley_. + +The latter had amply made up for the loss of time caused by some +misunderstanding as to the rendezvous at the Tuskar, for he was able to +show Crawford, to his intense delight, that the cargo had all been +safely and successfully transferred to the hold of the _Clydevalley_ in +a bay on the Welsh coast, mainly at night. Some sixteen transport +labourers from Belfast, willing Ulster hands, had shifted the stuff in +less than half the time taken by Germans at Langeland over the same job. +There was, therefore, nothing more to be done except to steam leisurely +to Copeland, for which there was ample time before Friday evening. The +_Fanny_ had departed to an appointed rendezvous on the Baltic coast of +Denmark. + +It was now the turn of the _Clydevalley_ to yield up her obscure +identity, and to assume an historic name appropriate to the adventure +she was bringing to a triumphant climax--a name of good omen in Ulster +ears. Strips of canvas, 6 feet long, were cut and painted with white +letters on a black ground, and affixed to bows and stern, so that the +men waiting at Copeland might hail the arrival of the _Mountjoy II_. + +Off Copeland Island a small vessel was waiting, which Agnew recognised +as a tender belonging to Messrs. Workman & Clark. The men on board, as +soon as they could make out the name of the approaching vessel, +understood at once, and raised a ringing cheer. Two of them were seen +gesticulating and hailing the _Mountjoy_. Crawford, suspecting fresh +orders to retreat, paid no attention, and told Agnew to hold on his +course; and even when presently he was able to recognise Mr. Cowser and +Mr. Dawson Bates on board the tender, and to hear them shouting that +they had important instructions for him, he still refused to let them +come on board. "If the orders are not signed by Sir Edward Carson," he +shouted back, "you can take them back to where they came from." But the +orders they brought had been signed by the leader, a special messenger +having been sent to London to obtain his signature, and the change of +plan they indicated was, in fact, just what Crawford desired. The bulk +of the arms were to be landed at Larne, the port he had always favoured, +and lesser quantities were to be taken to Bangor and Donaghadee. + +It was 10.30 that night, the 24th of April 1914, when the _Mountjoy II_ +steamed alongside the landing-stage at Larne, where she had been eagerly +awaited for a couple of hours. The voyage of adventure was over. Fred +Crawford, with the able and zealous help of Andrew Agnew, had +accomplished the difficult and dangerous task he had undertaken, and a +service had been rendered to Ulster not unworthy to rank beside the +breaking of the boom across the Foyle by the first and more renowned +_Mountjoy_. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[87] _Annual Register_, 1914, p. 1. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +ON THE BRINK OF CIVIL WAR + + +The arrangements that had been made for the landing and disposal of the +arms when they arrived in port were the work of an extremely efficient +and complete organisation. In the previous summer Captain Spender, it +will be remembered, had been appointed to a position on Sir George +Richardson's staff which included in its duties that of the organisation +of transport. A railway board, a supply board, and a transport board had +been formed, on which leading business men willingly served; every +U.V.F. unit had its horse transport, and in addition a special motor +corps, organised in squadrons, and a special corps of motor-lorries were +formed. + +More than half the owners of motor-cars in Ulster placed their cars at +the disposal of the motor corps, to be used as and when required. The +corps was organised in sections of four cars each, and in squadrons of +seventeen cars each, with motor cyclist despatch-riders; a signalling +corps of despatch-riders and signallers completed the organisation. The +lively interest aroused by the practice and displays of the +last-mentioned corps did much to promote the high standard of +proficiency attained by its "flag-waggers," many of whom were women and +girls. In particular the signalling-station at Bangor gained a +reputation which attracted many English sympathisers with Ulster to pay +it a visit when they came to Belfast for the great Unionist +demonstrations. + +The despatch-riders on motor-cycles made the Ulster Council independent +of the Post Office, which for very good reasons they used as little as +possible. Post-houses were opened at all the most important centres in +Ulster, between which messages were transmitted by despatch-rider or +signal according to the nature of the intervening country. Along the +coast of Down and Antrim the organisation of signals was complete and +effective. The usefulness of the despatch-riders' corps was fully tested +and proved during the Curragh Incident, when news of all that was taking +place at the Curragh was received by this means two or three times a day +at the Old Town Hall in Belfast, where there was much information of +what was going on that was unknown at the Irish Office in London. + +All this organisation was at the disposal of the leaders for handling +the arms brought in the hold of the _Mountjoy II_. The perfection of the +arrangements for the immediate distribution of the rifles and ammunition +among the loyalist population, and the almost miraculous precision with +which they were carried out on that memorable Friday night, extorted the +admiration even of the most inveterate political enemies of Ulster. The +smoothness with which the machinery of organisation worked was only +possible on account of the hearty willingness of all the workers, +combined with the discipline to which they gladly submitted themselves. + +The whole U.V.F. was warned for a trial mobilisation on the evening of +the 24th of April, and the owners of all motor-cars and lorries were +requested to co-operate. Very few either of the Volunteers or the motor +owners knew that anything more than manoeuvres by night for practice +purposes was to take place. All motors from certain specified districts +were ordered to be at Larne by 8 o'clock in the evening; from other +districts the vehicles were to assemble at Bangor and Donaghadee +respectively, at a later hour. All the roads leading to these ports were +patrolled by volunteers, and at every cross-roads over the greater part +of nine counties men of the local battalions were stationed to give +directions to motor-drivers who might not be familiar with the roads. At +certain points these men were provided with reserve supplies of petrol, +and with repairing tools that might be needed in case of breakdown. It +is a remarkable testimony to the zeal of these men for the cause that, +although none of them knew he was taking part in an exciting adventure, +not one, so far as is known, left his post throughout a cold and wet +night, having received orders not to go home till daybreak. And these +were men, it must be remembered, who before putting on the felt hats, +puttees, and bandoliers which constituted their uniform, had already +done a full day's work, and were not to receive a sixpence for their +night's job. + +At the three ports of discharge large forces of volunteers were +concentrated. Sir George Richardson, G.O.C. in C., remained in Belfast +through the night, being kept fully and constantly informed of the +progress of events by signal and motor-cyclist despatch-riders. Captain +James Craig was in charge of the operations at Bangor; at Larne General +Sir William Adair was in command, with Captain Spender as Staff officer. + +The attention of the Customs authorities in Belfast was diverted by a +clever stratagem. A tramp steamer was brought up the Musgrave Channel +after dark, her conduct being as furtive and suspicious as it was +possible to make it appear. At the same time a large wagon was brought +to the docks as if awaiting a load. The skipper of the tramp took an +unconscionable time, by skilful blundering, in bringing his craft to her +moorings. The suspicions of the authorities were successfully aroused; +but every possible hindrance was put in their way when they began to +investigate. The hour was too late: could they not wait till daylight? +No? Well, then, what was their authority? When that was settled, it +appeared that the skipper had mislaid his keys and could not produce the +ship's papers--and so on. By these devices the belief of the officers +that they had caught the offender they were after was increasingly +confirmed every minute, while several hours passed before they were +allowed to realise that they had discovered a mare's-nest. For when at +last they "would stand no more nonsense," and had the hatches opened and +the papers produced, the latter were quite in order, and the +cargo--which they wasted a little additional time in turning +over--contained nothing but coal. + +Meantime the real business was proceeding twenty miles away. All +communications by wire from the three ports were blocked by "earthing" +the wires, so as to cause short circuit. The police and coast-guards +were "peacefully picketed," as trade unionists would call it, in their +various barracks--they were shut in and strongly guarded. No conflict +took place anywhere between the authorities and the volunteers, and the +only casualty of any kind was the unfortunate death of one +coast-guardsman from heart disease at Donaghadee. + +At Larne, where much the largest portion of the _Mountjoy's_ cargo was +landed, a triple cordon of Volunteers surrounded the town and harbour, +and no one without a pass was allowed through. The motors arrived with a +punctuality that was wonderful, considering that many of them had come +from long distances. As the drivers arrived near the town and found +themselves in an apparently endless procession of similar vehicles, +their astonishment and excitement became intense. Only when close to the +harbour did they learn what they were there for, and received +instructions how to proceed. They had more than two hours to wait in +drizzling rain before the _Mountjoy_ appeared round the point of +Islandmagee, although her approach had been made known to Spender by +signal at dusk. There were about five hundred motor vehicles assembled +at Larne alone, and such an invasion of flaring head-lights gave the +inhabitants of the little town unwonted excitement. Practically all the +able-bodied men of the place were either on duty as Volunteers or were +willing workers in the landing of the arms. The women stood at their +doors and gave encouraging greeting to the drivers; many of them ran +improvised canteens, which supplied the workers with welcome +refreshments during the night. + +There was a not unnatural tendency at first on the part of some of the +motor-drivers to look upon the event more in the light of a meet of +hounds than of the gravest possible business, and to hang about +discussing the adventure with the other "sportsmen." But the use of +vigorous language brought them back to recognition of the seriousness of +the work before them, and the discharge of the cargo proceeded hour +after hour with the utmost rapidity and with the regularity of a +well-oiled machine. The cars drew up beside the _Mountjoy_ in an endless +_queue_; each received its quota of bales according to its carrying +capacity, and was despatched on its homeward journey without a moment's +delay. + +The wisdom of Crawford's system of packing was fully vindicated. There +was no confusion, no waiting to bring ammunition from one part of the +ship's hold to match with rifles brought from another, and bayonets from +a third. The packages, as they were carried from the steamer or the +cranes, were counted by checking clerks, and their destination noted as +each car received its load. But even the large number of vehicles +available would have been insufficient for the purpose on hand if each +had been limited to a single load; dumps had therefore been formed at a +number of selected places in the surrounding districts, where the arms +were temporarily deposited so as to allow the cars to return and perform +the same duty several times during the night. + +While the _Mountjoy_ was discharging the Larne consignment on to the +quay, she was at the same time transhipping a smaller quantity into a +motor-boat, moored against her side, which when laden hurried off to +Donaghadee; and she left Larne at 5 in the morning to discharge the last +portion of her cargo at Bangor, which was successfully accomplished in +broad daylight after her arrival there about 7.30. + +Crawford refused to leave the ship at either Larne or Bangor, feeling +himself bound in honour to remain with the crew until they were safe +from arrest by the naval authorities. It was well known in Belfast that +a look-out was being kept for the _Fanny_, which had figured in the +Press as "the mystery ship" ever since the affair at Langeland, and had +several times been reported to have been viewed at all sorts of odd +places on the map, from the Orkneys to Tory Island. Just as Agnew was +casting off from Bangor, when the last bale of arms had gone ashore, a +message from U.V.F. headquarters informed him that a thirty-knot cruiser +was out looking for the _Fanny_. To mislead the coast-guards on shore a +course was immediately set for the Clyde--the very quarter from which a +cruiser coming from Lamlash was to be expected--and when some way out to +sea Crawford cut the cords holding the canvas sheets that bore the name +of the _Mountjoy_, so that within five minutes the filibustering pirate +had again become the staid old collier _Clydevalley_, which for months +past had carried her regular weekly cargo of coal from Scotland to +Belfast. As before at Langeland, so now at Copeland, fog providentially +covered retreat, and through it the _Clydevalley_ made her way +undetected down the Irish Sea. At daybreak next morning Crawford landed +at Rosslare; and Agnew then proceeded along the French and Danish coasts +to the Baltic to the rendezvous with the _Fanny_, in order to bring back +the Ulstermen members of her crew, after which "the mystery ship" was +finally disposed of at Hamburg. + +Sir Edward Carson and Lord Londonderry were both in London on the 24th +of April. At an early hour next morning a telegram was delivered to each +of them, containing the single word "Lion." It was a code message +signifying that the landing of the arms had been carried out without a +hitch. Before long special editions of the newspapers proclaimed the +news to all the world, and as fresh details appeared in every successive +issue during the day the public excitement grew in intensity. Wherever +two or three Unionists were gathered together exultation was the +prevailing mood, and eagerness to send congratulations to friends in +Ulster. + +Soon after breakfast a visitor to Sir Edward Carson found a motor +brougham standing at his door, and on being admitted was told that "Lord +Roberts is with Sir Edward." The great little Field-Marshal, on learning +the news, had lost not a moment in coming to offer his congratulations +to the Ulster leader. "Magnificent!" he exclaimed, on entering the room +and holding out his hand, "magnificent! nothing could have been better +done; it was a piece of organisation that any army in Europe might be +proud of." + +But it was not to be expected that the Government and its supporters +would relish the news. The Radical Press, of course, rang all the +changes of angry vituperation, especially those papers which had been +prominent in ridiculing "Ulster bluff" and "King Carson's wooden guns"; +and they now speculated as to whether Carson could be "convicted of +complicity" in what Mr. Asquith in the House of Commons described as +"this grave and unprecedented outrage." Carson soon set that question at +rest by quietly rising in his place in the House and saying that he took +full responsibility for everything that had been done. The Prime +Minister, amid the frenzied cheers of his followers, assured the House +that "His Majesty's Government will take, without delay, appropriate +steps to vindicate the authority of the law." For a short time there was +some curiosity as to what the appropriate steps would be. None, however, +of any sort were taken; the Government contented itself with sending a +few destroyers to patrol for a short time the coasts of Antrim and Down, +where they were saluted by the Ulster Signalling Stations, and their +officers hospitably entertained on shore by loyalist residents. + +On the 28th of April a further debate on the Curragh Incident took place +in the House of Commons, which was a curious example of the rapid +changes of mood that characterise that Assembly. Most of the speeches +both from the front and back benches were, if possible, even more +bitter, angry, and defiant than usual. But at the close of one of the +bitterest of them all Mr. Churchill read a typewritten passage that was +recognised as a tiny olive-branch held out to Ulster. Carson responded +next day in a conciliatory tone, and the Prime Minister was thought to +suggest a renewal of negotiations in private. For some time nothing came +of this hint; but on the 12th of May Mr. Asquith announced that the +third reading of the Home Rule Bill (for the third successive year, as +required by the Parliament Act before being presented for the signature +of the King) would be taken before Whitsuntide, but that the Government +intended to make another attempt to appease Ulster by introducing "an +amending proposal, in the hope that a settlement by agreement may be +arrived at"; and that the two Bills--the Home Rule Bill and the Bill to +amend it--might become law practically at the same time. But he gave no +hint as to what the "amending proposal" was to be, and the reception of +the announcement by the Opposition did not seem to presage agreement. + +Mr. Bonar Law insisted that the House of Commons ought to be told what +the Amending Bill would propose, before it was asked finally to pass the +Home Rule Bill. But the real fact was, as every member of the House of +Commons fully realised, that Mr. Asquith was not a free agent in this +matter. The Nationalists were not at all pleased at the attempts already +made, trivial as they were, to satisfy Ulster, and Mr. Redmond protested +against the promise of an Amending Bill of any kind. Mr. Asquith could +make no proposal sufficient to allay the hostility of Ulster that would +not alienate the Nationalists, whose support was essential to the +continuance of his Government in office. + +On the same day as this debate in Parliament the result of a by-election +at Grimsby was announced in which the Unionist candidate retained the +seat; a week later the Unionists won a seat in Derbyshire; and two days +afterwards crowned these successes with a resounding victory at Ipswich. +The last-mentioned contest was considered so important that Mr. Lloyd +George and Sir Edward Carson went down to speak the evening before the +poll for their respective sides. Mr. Lloyd George, the Chancellor of the +Exchequer, made his appeal to the cupidity of the constituency, which +was informed that it would gain Ł15,000 a year from his new Budget, in +addition to large sums, of which he gave the figure, for old age +pensions and under the Government's Health Insurance Act.[88] Sir Edward +Carson laid stress on Ulster's determination to resist Home Rule by +force. The Unionist candidate won the seat next day in this essentially +working-class constituency by a substantial majority, although his +Liberal opponent, Mr. Masterman, was a Cabinet Minister trying for the +second time to return to Parliament. Out of seven elections since the +beginning of the session the Government had lost four. + +It happened that the two latest new members took their seats on the 25th +of May, on which date the Home Rule Bill was passed by the House of +Commons on third reading for the last time. The occasion was celebrated +by the Nationalists, not unnaturally, by a great demonstration of +triumph, both in the House itself and outside in Palace Yard. Men on the +other side reflected that the tragedy of civil war had been brought one +stage nearer. + +The reply of Ulster to the passing of the Bill was a series of reviews +of the U.V.F. during the Whitsuntide recess. Carson, Londonderry, Craig, +and most of the other Ulster members attended these parades, which +excited intense enthusiasm through the country, more especially as the +arms brought by the _Mountjoy_ were now seen for the first time in the +hands of the Volunteers. Several battalions were presented with Colours +which had been provided by Lady Londonderry, Lady Massereene, Mrs. +Craig, and other local ladies, and the ceremony included the dedication +of these Colours by the Bishop of Down and the Moderator of the +Presbyterian Church. Many visitors from England witnessed these +displays, and among them were several deputations of Liberal and Labour +working men, who reported on their return that what they had seen had +converted them to sympathy with Ulster.[89] + +After the recess the promised Amending Bill was introduced in the House +of Lords on the 23rd of June by the Marquis of Crewe, who explained that +it embodied Mr. Asquith's proposals of the 9th of March, and that he +invited amendments. Lord Lansdowne at once declared that these +proposals, which had been rejected as inadequate three months ago, were +doubly insufficient now. But the invitation to amend the Bill was +accepted, Lord Londonderry asking the pertinent question whether the +Government would tell Mr. Redmond that they would insist on acceptance +of any amendments made in response to Lord Crewe's invitation--a +question to which no answer was forthcoming. Lord Milner, in the course +of the debate, said the Bill would have to be entirely remodelled, and +he laid stress on the point that if Ulster were coerced to join the rest +of Ireland it would make a united Ireland for ever impossible, and that +the employment of the Army and Navy for the purpose of coercion would +give a shock to the Empire which it would not long survive; to which +Lord Roberts added that such a policy would mean the utter destruction +of the Army, as he had warned the Prime Minister before the incident at +the Curragh. + +On the 8th of July the Bill was amended by substituting the permanent +exclusion of the whole province of Ulster--which Mr. Balfour had named +"the clean cut"--for the proposed county option with a time limit; and +several other alterations of minor importance were also made. The Bill +as amended passed the third reading on the 14th, when Lord Lansdowne +predicted that, whatever might be the fate of the measure and of the +Home Rule Bill which it modified, the one thing certain was that the +idea of coercing Ulster was dead. + +In Ulster itself, meanwhile, the people were bent on making Lord +Lansdowne's certainty doubly sure. Carson went over for the Boyne +celebration on the 12th of July. The frequency of his visits did nothing +to damp the ardour with which his arrival was always hailed by his +followers. The same wonderful scenes, whether at Larne or at the Belfast +docks, were repeated time after time without appearing to grow stale by +repetition. They gave colour to the Radical jeer at "King Carson," for +no royal personage could have been given a more regal reception than was +accorded to "Sir Edward" (as everybody affectionately called him in +Belfast) half a dozen times within a few months. + +This occasion, when he arrived on the 10th by the Liverpool steamer, +accompanied by Mr. Walter Long, was no exception. His route had been +announced in the Press. Countless Union Jacks were displayed in every +village along both shores of the Lough. Every vessel at anchor, +including the gigantic White Star Liner _Britannic_, was dressed; every +fog-horn bellowed a welcome; the multitude of men at work in the great +ship-yards crowded to places commanding a view of the incoming packet, +and waved handkerchiefs and raised cheers for Sir Edward; fellow +passengers jostled each other to get sight of him as he went down the +gangway and to give him a parting cheer from the deck; the dock sheds +were packed with people, many of them bare-headed and bare-footed +women, who pressed close in the hope of touching his hand, or hearing +one of his kindly and humorous greetings. It was the same in the streets +all the way from the docks to the centre of the city, and out through +the working-class district of Ballymacarret to the country beyond, and +in every hamlet on the road to Newtownards and Mount Stewart--people +congregating to give him a cheer as he passed in Lord Londonderry's +motor-car, or pausing in their work on the land to wave a greeting from +fields bordering the road. + +Radical newspapers in England believed--or at any rate tried to make +their readers believe--that the "Northcliffe Press," particularly _The +Times_ and _Daily Mail_, gave an exaggerated account of these +extraordinary demonstrations of welcome to Carson, and of the +impressiveness of the great meetings which he addressed. But the +accounts in Lord Northcliffe's papers did not differ materially from +those in other journals like _The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Express, +The Standard, The Morning Post, The Observer, The Scotsman_, and _The +Spectator_. There was no exaggeration. The special correspondents gave +faithful accounts of what they saw and heard, and no more. Editorial +support was a different matter. Lord Northcliffe's papers were unfailing +in their support of the Ulster cause, as were many other great British +journals; and even when at a later period Lord Northcliffe's attitude on +the general question of Irish government underwent a change that was +profoundly disappointing to Ulstermen, his papers never countenanced the +idea of applying coercion to Ulster. In the years 1911 to 1914 _The +Times_ remained true to the tradition started by John Walter, who, +himself a Liberal, went personally to Belfast in 1886 to inform himself +on the question, then for the first time raised by Gladstone; and, +having done so, supported the loyalist cause in Ireland till his death. +A series of weighty articles in 1913 and 1914 approved and encouraged +the resistance threatened by Ulster to Home Rule, and justified the +measures taken in preparation for it. Whatever may have been the reason +for a different attitude at a later date, Ulster owed a debt of +gratitude to _The Times_ in those troubled years. + +The long-expected crisis appeared to be very close when Carson arrived +in Belfast on the 10th of July, 1914. He had come to attend a meeting of +the Ulster Unionist Council--sitting for the first time as the +Provisional Government. Craig communicated to the Press the previous day +the Preamble and some of the articles of the Constitution of the +Provisional Government, hitherto kept strictly secret, one article being +that the administration would be taken over "in trust for the +Constitution of the United Kingdom," and that "upon the restoration of +direct Imperial Government, the Provisional Government shall cease to +exist." + +At this session on the 10th, the proceedings of which were private, +Carson explained the extreme gravity of the situation now reached. The +Home Rule Bill would become law probably in a few weeks. It was pretty +certain that the Nationalists would not permit the Government to accept +the Amending Bill in the altered form in which it had left the Upper +House. In that case, nothing remained for them in Ulster but to carry +out the policy they had resolved upon long ago, and to make good the +Covenant. After his forty minutes' speech a quiet and business-like +discussion followed. Plenary authority to take any action necessary in +emergency was conferred unanimously on the executive. The course to be +followed in assuming the administration was explained and agreed to, and +when they separated all the members felt that the crisis for which they +had been preparing so long had at last come upon them. There was no +flinching. + +Next day there was a parade of 3,000 U.V.F. at Larne. A distinguished +American who was present said after the march past, "You could destroy +these Volunteers, but you could not conquer them." Carson spoke with +exceptional solemnity to the men, telling them candidly that, "unless +something happens the evidence of which is not visible at present," he +could discern nothing but darkness ahead, and no hope of peace. He ended +by exhorting his followers throughout Ulster to preserve their +self-control and to "commit no act against any individual or against any +man's property which would sully the great name you have already won." + +As usual, his influence was powerful enough to prevent disturbance. The +Government had made extensive military preparations to maintain order on +the 12th of July; but, as a well-known "character" in Belfast expressed +it, "Sir Edward was worth twenty battalions in keeping order." The +anniversary was celebrated everywhere by enormous masses of men in a +state of tense excitement. Lord Londonderry addressed an immense +gathering at Enniskillen; seventy thousand Orangemen marched from +Belfast to Drumbeg to hear Carson, who sounded the same warning note as +at Larne two days before. But nowhere throughout the Province was a +single occurrence reported that called for action by the police. + +When the Ulster leaders returned to London on the 14th they were met by +reports of differences in the Cabinet over the Amending Bill, which was +to be brought before the House of Commons on the following Monday. +Nationalist pressure no doubt dictated the deletion of the amendments +made by the Peers and the restoration of the Bill to its original shape. +A minority of the Cabinet was said to be opposed to this course. Whether +that was true or false, the Prime Minister must by this time have +realised that he had allowed the country to drift to the brink of civil +war, and that some genuine effort must be made to arrive at a peaceable +solution. + +Accordingly on Monday, the 20th, instead of introducing the Amending +Bill, Mr. Asquith announced in the House of Commons that His Majesty the +King, "in view of the grave situation which has arisen, has thought it +right to summon representatives of parties, both British and Irish, to a +conference at Buckingham Palace, with the object of discussing +outstanding issues in relation to the problem of Irish Government." The +Prime Minister added that at the King's suggestion the Speaker, Mr. +James Lowther, would preside over the Conference, which would begin its +proceedings the following day. + +The Liberals, the British Unionists, the Nationalists, and the Ulstermen +were respectively represented at the Buckingham Palace Conference by Mr. +Asquith and Mr. Lloyd George, Lord Lansdowne and Mr. Bonar Law, Mr. +Redmond and Mr. Dillon, Sir Edward Carson and Captain James Craig. The +King opened the Conference in person on the 21st with a speech +recognising the extreme gravity of the situation, and making an +impressive appeal for a peaceful settlement of the question at issue. +His Majesty then withdrew. The Conference deliberated for four days, but +were unable to agree as to what area in Ulster should be excluded from +the jurisdiction of the Parliament in Dublin. On the 24th Mr. Asquith +announced the breakdown of the Conference, and said that in consequence +the Amending Bill would be introduced in the House of Commons on +Thursday, the 30th of July. + +Here was the old deadlock. The last glimmer of hope that civil war might +be averted seemed to be extinguished. Only ten days had elapsed since +Carson had gloomily predicted at Larne that peace was impossible "unless +something happens, the evidence of which is not visible at present." But +that "something" did happen--though it was something infinitely more +dreadful, infinitely more devastating in its consequences, even though +less dishonouring to the nation, than the alternative from which it +saved us. Balanced, as it seemed, on the brink of civil war, Great +Britain and Ireland together toppled over on the other side into the +maelstrom of world-wide war. + +On the 30th of July, when the Amending Bill was to be discussed, the +Prime Minister said that, with the concurrence of Mr. Bonar Law and Sir +Edward Carson, it would be indefinitely postponed, in order that the +country at this grave crisis in the history of the world "should present +a united front and be able to speak and act with the authority of an +undivided nation." To achieve this, all domestic quarrels must be laid +aside, and he promised that "no business of a controversial character" +would be undertaken. + +Thus it happened that the Amending Bill was never seen by the House of +Commons. Four days later the United Kingdom was at war with the greatest +military Empire in the world. The opportunity had come for Ulster to +prove whether her cherished loyalty was a reality or a sham. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[88] _Annual Register_, 1914, p. 110. + +[89] _Annual Register_, 1914, p. 114. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +ULSTER IN THE WAR + + +More than a year before the outbreak of the Great War a writer in _The +Morning Post_, describing the Ulster Volunteers who were then beginning +to attract attention in England, used language which was more accurately +prophetic than he can have realised in May 1913: + + "What these men have been preparing for in Ulster," he wrote, "may + be of value as a military asset in time of national emergency. I + have seen the men at drill, I have seen them on parade, and experts + assure me that in the matter of discipline, physique, and all + things which go to the making of a military force they are worthy + to rank with our regular soldiers. It is an open secret that, once + assured of the maintenance unimpaired of the Union between Great + Britain and Ireland under the Imperial Parliament alone, a vast + proportion of the citizen army of Ulster would cheerfully hold + itself at the disposal of the Imperial Government and volunteer for + service either at home or abroad!"[90] + +The only error in the prediction was that the writer underestimated the +sacrifice Ulster would be willing to make for the Empire. When the +testing time came fifteen months after this appreciation was published +all hope of unimpaired maintenance of the Union had to be sorrowfully +given up, and only those who were in a position to comprehend, with +sympathy, the depth and intensity of the feeling in Ulster on the +subject could realise all that this meant to the people there. Yet, all +the same, their "citizen army" did not hesitate to "hold itself at the +disposal of the Imperial Government, and volunteer for service at home +or abroad." + +In August 1914 the U.V.F., of 100.000 men, was without question the +most efficient force of infantry in the United Kingdom outside the +Regular Army. The medical comb did not seriously thin its ranks; and +although the age test considerably reduced its number, it still left a +body of fine material for the British Army. Some of the best of its +officers, like Captain Arthur O'Neill, M.P., of the Life Guards, and +Lord Castlereagh of the Blues, had to leave the U.V.F. to rejoin the +regiments to which they belonged, or to take up staff appointments at +the front. In spite of such losses there was a strong desire in the +force, which was shared by the political leaders, that it should be kept +intact as far as possible and form a distinct unit for active service, +and efforts were at once made to get the War Office to arrange for this +to be done. Pressure of work at the War Office, and Lord Kitchener's +aversion from anything that he thought savoured of political +considerations in the organisation of the Army, imposed a delay of +several weeks before this was satisfactorily arranged; and the +consequence was that in the first few weeks of the war a large number of +the keenest young men in Ulster enlisted in various regiments before it +was known that an Ulster Division was to be formed out of the U.V.F. + +It was the beginning of September before Carson was in a position to go +to Belfast to announce that such an arrangement had been made with Lord +Kitchener. And when he went he had also the painful duty of telling the +people of Ulster that the Government was going to give them the meanest +recompense for the promptitude with which they had thrown aside all +party purposes in order to assist the Empire. + +When war broke out a "party truce" had been proclaimed. The Unionist +leaders promised their support to the Government in carrying on the war, +and Mr. Asquith pledged the Government to drop all controversial +legislation. The consideration of the Amending Bill had been shelved by +agreement, Mr. Asquith stating that the postponement "must be without +prejudice to the domestic and political position of any party." On this +understanding the Unionist Party supported, almost without so much as a +word of criticism, all the emergency measures proposed by the +Government. Yet on the 10th of August Mr. Asquith astonished the +Unionists by announcing that the promise to take no controversial +business was not to prevent him advising the King to sign the Home Rule +Bill, which had been hung up in the House of Lords by the introduction +of the Amending Bill, and had never been either rejected or passed by +that House. + +Mr. Balfour immediately protested against this conduct as a breach of +faith; but Mr. Redmond's speech on that occasion contained the +explanation of the Government's conduct. The Nationalist leader gave a +strong hint that any help in the war from the southern provinces of +Ireland would depend on whether or not the Home Rule Bill was to become +law at once. Although the personal loyalty of Mr. Redmond was beyond +question, and although he was no doubt sincere when he subsequently +denied that his speech was so intended, it was in reality an application +of the old maxim that England's difficulty is Ireland's opportunity. In +any case, the Cabinet knew that, however unjustly Ulster might be +treated, she could be relied upon to do everything in her power to +further the successful prosecution of the war, and they cynically came +to the conclusion that the best thing to do was to placate those whose +loyalty was less assured. + +This was the unpleasant tale that Sir Edward Carson had to unfold to the +Ulster Unionist Council on the 3rd of September. After explaining how +and why he had consented to the indefinite postponement of the Amending +Bill, he continued: + + "And so, without any condition of any kind, we agreed that the Bill + should be postponed without prejudice to the position of either + party. England's difficulty is not Ulster's opportunity. England's + difficulty is our difficulty; and England's sorrows have always + been, and always will be, our sorrows. I have seen it stated that + the Germans thought they had hit on an opportune moment, owing to + our domestic difficulties, to make their bullying demand against + our country. They little understood for what we were fighting. We + were not fighting to get away from England; we were fighting to + stay with England, and the Power that attempted to lay a hand upon + England, whatever might be our domestic quarrels, would at once + bring us together--as it has brought us together--as one man." + +In order to avoid controversy at such a time, Carson declared he would +say nothing about their opponents. He insisted that, however unworthily +the Government might act in a great national emergency, Ulstermen must +distinguish between the Prime Minister as a party leader and the Prime +Minister as the representative of the whole nation. Their duty was to +"think not of him or his party, but of our country," and they must show +that "we do not seek to purchase terms by selling our patriotism." He +then referred to the pride they all felt in the U.V.F.; how he had +"watched them grow from infancy," through self-sacrificing toil to their +present high efficiency, with the purpose of "allowing us to be put into +no degraded position in the United Kingdom." But under the altered +conditions their duty was clear: + + "Our country and our Empire are in danger. And under these + circumstances, knowing that the very basis of our political faith + is our belief in the greatness of the United Kingdom and of the + Empire, I say to our Volunteers without hesitation, go and help to + save your country. Go and win honour for Ulster and for Ireland. To + every man that goes, or has gone, and not to them only, but to + every Irishman, you and I say, from the bottom of our hearts, 'God + bless you and bring you home safe and victorious.'" + +The arrangements with the War Office for forming a Division from the +Ulster Volunteers were then explained, which would enable the men "to go +as old comrades accustomed to do their military training together." +Carson touched lightly on fears that had been expressed lest political +advantage should be taken by the Government or by the Nationalists of +the conversion of the U.V.F. into a Division of the British Army, which +would leave Ulster defenceless. "We are quite strong enough," he said, +"to take care of ourselves, and so I say to men, so far as they have +confidence and trust in me, that I advise them to go and do their duty +to the country, and we will take care of politics hereafter." He +concluded by moving a resolution, which was unanimously carried by the +Council, urging "all Loyalists who owe allegiance to our cause" to join +the Army at once if qualified for military service. + +From beginning to end of this splendidly patriotic oration no allusion +was made to the Nationalist attitude to the war. Few people in Ulster +had any belief that the spots on the leopard were going to disappear, +even when the Home Rule Bill had been placed on the Statute-book. The +"difficulty" and the "opportunity" would continue in their old +relations. People in Belfast, as elsewhere, did justice to the patriotic +tone of Mr. Redmond's speech in the House of Commons on the 3rd of +August, which made so deep an impression in England; but they believed +him mistaken in attributing to "the democracy of Ireland" a complete +change of sentiment towards England, and their scepticism was more than +justified by subsequent events. + +But they also scrutinised more carefully than Englishmen the precise +words used by the Nationalist leader. Englishmen, both in the House of +Commons and in the country, were carried off their feet in an ecstasy of +joy and wonder at Mr. Redmond's confident offer of loyal help from +Ireland to the Empire in the mighty world conflict. Ireland was to be +"the one bright spot." Ulstermen, on the other hand, did not fail to +observe that the offer was limited to service at home. "I say to the +Government," said Mr. Redmond, "that they may to-morrow withdraw every +one of their troops from Ireland. I say that the coast of Ireland will +be defended from foreign invasion by her armed sons, and for this +purpose armed Nationalist Catholics in the South will be only too glad +to join arms with the armed Protestant Ulstermen in the North." + +These sentences were rapturously applauded in the House of Commons. When +they were read in Ulster the shrewd men of the North asked what danger +threatened the "coast of Ireland"; and whether, supposing there were a +danger, the British Navy would not be a surer defence than the "armed +sons" of Ireland whether from South or North. It was not on the coast +of Ireland but the coast of Flanders that men were needed, and it was +thither that the "armed Protestant Ulstermen" were preparing to go in +thousands. They would not be behind the Catholics of the South in the +spirit of comradeship invoked by Mr. Redmond if they were to stand +shoulder to shoulder under the fire of Prussian batteries; but they +could not wax enthusiastic over the suggestion that, while they went to +France, Mr. Redmond's Nationalist Volunteers should be trained and armed +by the Government to defend the Irish coast--and possibly, later, to +impose their will upon Ulster. + +The organisation and the training of the Ulster Division forms no part +of the present narrative, but it must be stated that after Carson's +speech on the 3rd of September, recruiting went on uninterruptedly and +rapidly, and the whole energies of the local leaders and of the rank and +file were thrown into the work of preparation. Captain James Craig, +promoted to be Lieutenant-Colonel, was appointed Q.M.G. of the Division; +but the arduous duties of this post, in which he tried to do the work of +half a dozen men, brought about a complete breakdown of health some +months later, with the result that, to his deep disappointment, he was +forbidden to go with the Division to France. No one displayed a finer +spirit than his brother, Mr. Charles Craig, M.P. for South Antrim. He +had never done any soldiering, as his brother had in South Africa, and +he was over military age in 1914; but he did not allow either his age, +his military inexperience, or his membership of the House of Commons to +serve as excuse for separating himself from the men with whom he had +learnt the elements of drill in the U.V.F. He obtained a commission as +Captain in the Ulster Division, and went with it to France, where he was +wounded and taken prisoner in the great engagement at Thiepval in the +battle of the Somme, and had to endure all the rigours of captivity in +Germany till the end of the war. There was afterwards not a little +pungent comment among his friends on the fact that, when honours were +descending in showers on the heads of the just and the unjust alike, a +full share of which reached members of Parliament, sometimes for no very +conspicuous merit, no recognition of any kind was awarded to this +gallant Ulster officer, who had set so fine an example and +unostentatiously done so much more than his duty. + +The Government's act of treachery in regard to "controversial business" +was consummated on the 18th of September, when the Home Rule Bill +received the Royal Assent. On the 15th Mr. Asquith put forward his +defence in the House of Commons. In a sentence of mellifluous optimism +that was to be woefully falsified in a not-distant future, he declared +his confidence that the action his Ministry was taking would bring "for +the first time for a hundred years Irish opinion, Irish sentiment, Irish +loyalty, flowing with a strong and a continuous and ever-increasing +stream into the great reservoir of Imperial resources and Imperial +unity." He acknowledged, however, that the Government had pledged itself +not to put the Home Rule Bill on the Statute-book until the Amending +Bill had been disposed of. That promise was not now to be kept; instead +he gave another, which, when the time came, was equally violated, +namely, to introduce the Amending Bill "in the next session of +Parliament, before the Irish Government Bill can possibly come into +operation." Meantime, there was to be a Suspensory Bill to provide that +the Home Rule Bill should remain in abeyance till the end of the war, +and he gave an assurance "which would be in spirit and in substance +completely fulfilled, that the Home Rule Bill will not and cannot come +into operation until Parliament has had the fullest opportunity, by an +Amending Bill, of altering, modifying, or qualifying its provisions in +such a way as to secure the general consent both of Ireland and of the +United Kingdom." The Prime Minister, further, paid a tribute to "the +patriotic and public spirit which had been shown by the Ulster +Volunteers," whose conduct has made "the employment of force, any kind +of force, for what you call the coercion of Ulster, an absolutely +unthinkable thing." + +But a verbal acknowledgment of the public spirit shown by the U.V.F. in +the first month of the war was a paltry recompense for the Government's +breach of faith, as Mr. Bonar Law immediately pointed out in a stinging +rejoinder. The leader of the Opposition concluded his powerful +indictment by saying that such conduct by the Government could not be +allowed to pass without protest, but that at such a moment of national +danger debate in Parliament on this domestic quarrel, forced upon them +by Ministers, was indecent; and that, having made his protest, neither +he nor his party would take further part in that indecency. Thereupon +the whole Unionist Party followed Mr. Bonar Law out of the Chamber. + +But that was not the end of the incident. It had been decided, with Sir +Edward Carson's approval, that "Ulster Day," the second anniversary of +the Covenant, should be celebrated in Ulster by special religious +services. The intention had been to focus attention on the larger +aspects of Imperial instead of local patriotism; but what had just +occurred in Parliament could not be ignored, and it necessitated a +reaffirmation of Ulster's unchanged attitude in the domestic quarrel. +Mr. Bonar Law now determined to accompany Sir Edward Carson to Belfast +to renew and to amplify under these circumstances the pledges of British +Unionists to Ulster. + +The occasion was a memorable one in several respects. On the 17th of +September Sir Edward Carson had been quietly married in the country to +Miss Frewen, and he was accompanied to Belfast a few days later by the +new Lady Carson, who then made acquaintance with Ulster and her +husband's followers for the first time. The scenes that invariably +marked the leader's arrival from England have been already described; +but the presence of his wife led to a more exuberant welcome than ever +on this occasion; and the recent Parliamentary storm, with its sequel in +the visit of the leader of the Unionist Party, contributed further to +the unbounded enthusiasm of the populace. + +There was a meeting of the Council on the morning of the 28th, Ulster +Day, at which Carson told the whole story of the conferences, +negotiations, conversations, and what not, that had been going on up to, +and even since, the outbreak of war, in the course of which he observed +that, if he had committed any fault, "it was that he believed the Prime +Minister." He paid a just tribute to Mr. Bonar Law, whose constancy, +patience, and "resolution to be no party even under these difficult +circumstances to anything that would be throwing over Ulster, were +matters which would be photographed upon his mind to the very end of his +life." + +But while, naturally, resentment at the conduct of the Government found +forcible expression, and the policy that would be pursued "after the +war" was outlined, the keynote of the speeches at this Council Meeting, +and also at the overwhelming demonstration addressed by Mr. Bonar Law in +the Ulster Hall in the evening, was "country before party." As the +Unionist leader truly said: "This is not an anti-Home Rule meeting. That +can wait, and you are strong enough to let it wait with quiet +confidence." But before passing to the great issues raised by the war, +introduced by a telling allusion to the idea that Germany had calculated +on Ulster being a thorn in England's side, Mr. Bonar Law gave the +message to Ulster which he had specially crossed the Channel to deliver +in person. + +He reminded the audience that hitherto the promise of support to Ulster +by the Unionists of Great Britain, given long before at Blenheim, had +been coupled with the condition that, if an appeal were made to the +electorate, the Unionist Party would bow to the verdict of the country. +"But now," he went on, "after the way in which advantage has been taken +of your patriotism, I say to you, and I say it with the full authority +of our party, we give the pledge without any condition." + +During the two days which he spent in Belfast Mr. Bonar Law, and other +visitors from England, paid visits to the training camps at Newcastle +and Ballykinler, where the 1st Brigade of the Ulster Division was +undergoing training for the front. Both now, and for some time to come, +there was a good deal of unworthy political jealousy of the Division, +which showed itself in a tendency to belittle the recruiting figures +from Ulster, and in sneers in the Nationalist Press at the delay in +sending to the front a body of troops whose friends had advertised their +supposed efficiency before the war. These troops were themselves +fretting to get to France; and they believed, rightly or wrongly, that +political intrigue was at work to keep them ingloriously at home, while +other Divisions, lacking their preliminary training, were receiving +preference in the supply of equipment. + +One small circumstance, arising out of the conditions in which +"Kitchener's Army" had to be raised, afforded genuine enjoyment in +Ulster. Men were enlisting far more rapidly than the factories could +provide arms, uniforms, and other equipment. Rifles for teaching the +recruits to drill and manoeuvre were a long way short of requirements. +It was a great joy to the Ulstermen when the War Office borrowed their +much-ridiculed "dummy rifles" and "wooden guns," and took them to +English training camps for use by the "New Army." + +But this volume is not concerned with the conduct of the Great War, nor +is it necessary to enter in detail into the controversy that arose as to +the efforts of the rest of Ireland, in comparison with those of Ulster, +to serve the Empire in the hour of need. It will be sufficient to cite +the testimony of two authorities, neither of whom can be suspected of +bias on the side of Ulster. The chronicler of the _Annual Register_ +records that: + + "In Ulster, as in England, the flow of recruits outran the + provision made for them by the War Office, and by about the middle + of October the Protestant districts had furnished some 21,000, of + which Belfast alone had contributed 7,581, or 305 per 10,000 of the + population--the highest proportion of all the towns in the United + Kingdom."[91] + +The second witness is the democratic orator who took a foremost part in +the House of Commons in denouncing the Curragh officers who resigned +their Commissions rather than march against Ulster. Colonel John Ward, +M.P., writing two years after the war, in which he had not kept his eyes +shut, said: + + "It would be presumptuous for a mere Englishman to praise the + gallantry and patriotism of Scotland, Wales, and Ulster; their + record stands second to none in the annals of the war. The case of + the South of Ireland, her most ardent admirer will admit, is not + as any other in the whole British Empire. To the everlasting credit + of the great leader of the Irish Nationalists, Mr. John Redmond, + his gallant son, and his very lovable brother--together with many + real, great-souled Irish soldiers whose loss we so deeply + deplore--saw the light and followed the only course open to good + men and true. But the patriotism and devotion of the few only show + up in greater and more exaggerated contrast the sullen indifference + of the majority, and the active hostility of the minority, who + would have seen our country and its people overrun and defeated not + only without regret, but with fiendish delight."[92] + +No generous-minded Ulsterman would wish to detract a word from the +tribute paid by Colonel Ward to the Redmond family and other gallant +Catholic Nationalists who stood manfully for the Empire in the day of +trial; but the concluding sentence in the above quotation cannot be +gainsaid. And the pathetic thing was that Mr. Redmond himself never +seems to have understood the true sentiments of the majority of those +who had been his followers before the war. In a speech in the House on +the 15th of September he referred contemptuously to a "little group of +men who never belonged to the National Constitutional party, who were +circulating anti-recruiting handbills and were publishing little +wretched rags once a week or once a month," which were not worth a +moment's notice. + +The near future was to show that these adherents of Sinn Fein were not +so negligible as Mr. Redmond sincerely believed. The real fact was that +his own patriotic attitude at the outbreak of war undermined his +leadership in Ireland. The "separatism" which had always been, as Ulster +never ceased to believe, the true underlying, though not always the +acknowledged, motive power of Irish Nationalism, was beginning again to +assert itself, and to find expression in "handbills" and "wretched +rags." It was discovering other leaders and spokesmen than Mr. Redmond +and his party, whom it was destined before long to sweep utterly away. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[90] _Morning Post_, May 19th, 1913. + +[91] _The Annual Register_, 1914, p. 259. + +[92] "The Army and Ireland," _Nineteenth Century and After_, January +1921, by Lieut.-Colonel John Ward, C.B., C.M.G., M.P. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +NEGOTIATIONS FOR SETTLEMENT + + +The position in which Ulster was now placed was, from the political +point of view, a very anxious one. Had the war not broken out when it +did, there was a very prevalent belief that the Government could not +have avoided a general election either before, or immediately after, the +placing of Home Rule on the Statute-book; and as to the result of such +an election no Unionist had any misgiving. Even if the Government had +remained content to disregard the electorate, it would have been +impossible for them to subject Ulster to a Dublin Parliament. The +organisation there was powerful enough to prevent it, by force if +necessary, and the Curragh Incident had proved that the Army could not +be employed against the Loyalists. + +But the whole outlook had now changed. The war had put off all thought +of a General Election till an indefinite future; the Ulster Volunteers, +and every other wheel in the very effective machinery prepared for +resistance to Home Rule, were now diverted to a wholly different +purpose; and at the same time the hated Bill had become an Act, and the +only alleviation was the promise, for what it might be worth, of an +Amending Bill the scope of which remained undefined. While, therefore, +the Ulster leaders and people threw themselves with all their energy +into the patriotic work to which the war gave the call, the situation so +created at home caused them much uneasiness. + +No one felt it more than Lord Londonderry. Indeed, as the autumn of 1914 +wore on, the despondency he fell into was so marked that his friends +could not avoid disquietude on his personal account in addition to all +the other grounds for anxiety. He and Lady Londonderry, it is true, took +a leading part in all the activities to which the war gave rise +--encouraging recruiting, organising hospitals, and making provision of +every kind for soldiers and their dependents, in Ulster and in the +County of Durham. But when in London in November, Lord Londonderry would +sit moodily at the Carlton Club, speaking to few except intimate +friends, and apparently overcome by depression. He was pessimistic about +the war. His only son was at the front, and he seemed persuaded he would +never return. The affairs of Ulster, to which he had given his whole +heart, looked black; and he went about as if all his purpose in life was +gone. He went with Lady Londonderry to Mount Stewart for Christmas, and +one or two intimate friends who visited him there in January 1915 were +greatly disturbed in mind on his account. But the public in Belfast, who +saw him going in and out of the Ulster Club as usual, did not know +anything was amiss, and were terribly shocked as well as grieved when +they heard of his sudden death at Wynyard on the 8th of February. + +The death of Lord Londonderry was felt by many thousands in Ulster as a +personal bereavement. If he did not arouse the unbounded, and almost +delirious, devotion which none but Sir Edward Carson ever evoked in the +North of Ireland, the deep respect and warm affection felt towards him +by all who knew him, and by great numbers who did not, was a tribute +which his modesty and integrity of character and genial friendliness of +disposition richly deserved. He was faithfully described by Carson +himself to the Ulster Unionist Council several months after his death as +"a great leader, a great and devoted public servant, a great patriot, a +great gentleman, and above all the greatest of great friends." + +Ulster, meantime, had already had a foretaste of the sacrifices the war +was to demand when the Division should go to the front. In November 1914 +Captain the Hon. Arthur O'Neill, M.P. for Mid Antrim, who had gone to +the front with the first expeditionary force, was killed in action in +France. There was a certain sense of sad pride in the reflection that +the first member of the House of Commons to give his life for King and +country was a representative of Ulster; and the constituency which +suffered the loss of a promising young member by the death of this +gallant Life Guardsman consoled itself by electing in his place his +younger brother, Major Hugh O'Neill, then serving in the Ulster +Division, who afterwards proved himself a most valuable member of the +Ulster Parliamentary Party, and eventually became the first Speaker of +the Ulster Parliament created by the Act of 1920. + +Notwithstanding the bitter outbreak of party passion caused by the +Government's action in putting the Home Rule Bill on the Statute-book in +September, the party truce was well maintained throughout the autumn and +winter. And the most striking proof of the transformation wrought by the +war was seen when Mr. Asquith, when constrained to form a truly national +Administration in May 1915, included Sir Edward Carson in his Cabinet +with the office of Attorney-General. Mr. Redmond was at the same time +invited to join the Government, and his refusal to do so when the +British Unionists, the Labour leaders, and the Ulster leaders all +responded to the Prime Minister's appeal to their patriotism, did not +appear in the eyes of Ulstermen to confirm the Nationalist leader's +profession of loyalty to the Empire; though they did him the justice of +believing that he would have accepted office if he had felt free to +follow his own inclination. His inability to do so, and the complaints +of his followers, including Mr. Dillon, at the admission of Carson to +the Cabinet, revealed the incapacity of the Nationalists to rise to a +level above party. + +Carson, however, did not remain very long in the Government. +Disapproving of the policy pursued in relation to our Allies in the +Balkans, he resigned on the 20th of October, 1915. But he had remained +long enough to prove his value in council to the most energetic of his +colleagues in the Cabinet. Men like Mr. Churchill and Mr. Lloyd George, +although they had been the bitterest of Carson's opponents eighteen +months previously, seldom omitted from this time forward to seek his +advice in times of difficulty; and the latter of these two, when things +were going badly with the Allies more than a year later, endeavoured to +persuade Mr. Asquith to include Carson in a Committee of four to be +charged with the entire conduct of the war. + +It was, perhaps, fortunate that the Ulster leader was not a member of +the Government when the rebellion broke out in the South of Ireland at +Easter 1916. For this event suddenly brought to the front again the +whole Home Rule question, which everybody had hoped might be allowed to +sleep till the end of the war; and it would have been a misfortune if +Carson had not then been in a position of independence to play his part +in this new act of the Irish drama. + +The Government had many warnings of what was brewing. But Mr. Birrell, +the Chief Secretary, who in frivolity seemed a contemporary embodiment +of Nero, deemed cheap wit a sufficient reply to all remonstrances, and +had to confess afterwards that he had utterly miscalculated the forces +with which he had to deal. He was completely taken by surprise when, on +the 20th of April, an attempt to land weapons from a German vessel, +escorted by a submarine from which Sir Roger Casement landed in the West +of Ireland, proved that the Irish rebels were in league with the enemy; +and even after this ominous event, he did nothing to provide against the +outbreak that occurred in Dublin four days later. The rising in the +capital, and in several other places in the South of Ireland, was not +got under for a week, during which time more than 170 houses had been +burnt, Ł2,000,000 sterling worth of property destroyed or damaged, and +1,315 casualties had been suffered, of which 304 were fatal. + +The aims of the insurgents were disclosed in a proclamation which +referred to the administration in Ireland as a "long usurpation by a +foreign people and government." It declared that the Irish Republican +Brotherhood--the same organisation that planned and carried out the +Phoenix Park murders in 1882--had now seized the right moment for +"reviving the old traditions of Irish nationhood," and announced that +the new Irish Republic was a sovereign independent State, which was +entitled to claim the allegiance of every Irish man and woman. + +The rebellion was the subject of debates in both Houses of Parliament on +the 10th and 11th of May--Mr. Birrell having in the interval, to use a +phrase of Carlyle's, "taken himself and his incompetence +elsewhere"--when Mr. Dillon, speaking for the Nationalist Party, poured +forth a flood of passionate sympathy with the rebels, declaring that he +was proud of youths who could boast of having slaughtered British +soldiers, and he denounced the Government for suppressing the rising in +"a sea of blood." The actual fact was, that out of a large number of +prisoners taken red-handed in the act of armed rebellion who were +condemned to death after trial by court-martial, the great majority were +reprieved, and thirteen in all were executed. Whether such measures +deserved the frightful description coined by Mr. Dillon's flamboyant +rhetoric everybody can judge for himself, after considering whether in +any other country or at any other period of the world's history, active +assistance of a foreign enemy--for that is what it amounted to--has been +visited with a more lenient retribution. + +On the same day that Mr. Dillon thus justified the whole basis of +Ulster's unchanging attitude towards Nationalism by blurting out his +sympathy with England's enemies, Mr. Asquith announced that he was +himself going to Ireland to investigate matters on the spot. These two +events, Mr. Dillon's speech and the Prime Minister's visit to +Dublin--where he certainly exhibited no stern anger against the rebels, +even if the stories were exaggerated which reported him to have shown +them ostentatious friendliness--went far to transform what had been a +wretched fiasco into a success. Cowed at first by their complete +failure, the rebels found encouragement in the complacency of the Prime +Minister, and the fear or sympathy, whichever it was, of the Nationalist +Party. From that moment they rapidly increased in influence, until they +proved two years later that they had become the predominant power all +over Ireland except in Ulster. + +In Ulster the rebellion was regarded with mixed feelings. The strongest +sentiment was one of horror at the treacherous blow dealt to the Empire +while engaged in a life-and-death struggle with a foreign enemy. But, +was it unpardonably Pharisaic if there was also some self-glorification +in the thought that Ulstermen in this respect were not as other men +were? There was also a prevalent feeling that after what had occurred +they would hear no more of Home Rule, at any rate during the war. It +appeared inconceivable that any sane Government could think of handing +over the control of Ireland in time of war to people who had just proved +their active hostility to Great Britain in so unmistakable a fashion. + +But they were soon undeceived. Mr. Asquith, on his return, told the +House of Commons what he had learnt during his few days' sojourn in +Ireland. His first proposition was that the existing machinery of +Government in Ireland had completely broken down. That was undeniable. +It was the natural fruit of the Birrell regime. Mr. Asquith was himself +responsible for it. But no more strange or illogical conclusion could be +drawn from it than that which Mr. Asquith proceeded to propound. This +was that there was now "a unique opportunity for a new departure for the +settlement of outstanding problems "--which, when translated from +Asquithian into plain English, meant that now was the time for Home +Rule. The pledge to postpone the question till after the war was to be +swept aside, and, instead of building up by sound and sensible +administration what Mr. Birrel's abnegation of government had allowed to +crumble into "breakdown," the rebels were to be rewarded for traffic +with the enemy and destruction of the central parts of Dublin, with +great loss of life, by being allowed to point to the triumphant success +of their activity, which was certain to prove the most effective of all +possible propaganda for their political ideals in Ireland. + +Some regard, however, was still to be paid to the promise of an Amending +Bill. The Prime Minister repeated that no one contemplated the coercion +of Ulster; that an attempt must be made to come to agreement about the +terms on which the Home Rule Act could be brought into immediate +operation; and that the Cabinet had deputed to Mr. Lloyd George the task +of negotiating to this end with both parties in Ireland. Accordingly, +Mr. Lloyd George, then Secretary of State for War, interviewed Sir +Edward Carson on the one hand and Mr. Redmond and Mr. Devlin on the +other, and submitted to them separately the proposals which he said the +Cabinet were prepared to make.[93] + +On the 6th of June Carson explained the Cabinet's proposals at a special +meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council held in private. His task was an +extremely difficult one, for the advice he had to offer was utterly +detestable to himself, and he knew it would be no less so to his +hearers. And the latter, profound as was their trust in him as their +leader, were men of singularly independent judgment and quite capable of +respectfully declining to take any course they did not themselves +approve. Indeed, Carson emphasised the fact that he could not, and had +not attempted to, bind the Council to take the same view of the +situation as himself. At the same time he clearly and frankly stated +what his own opinion was, saying: "I would indeed be a poor leader of a +great movement if I hesitated to express my own views of any proposition +put before you."[94] + +His speech, which took nearly two hours in delivery, was a perfect model +of lucid exposition and convincing argument. He reviewed in close detail +the course of events that had led to the present situation. He +maintained from first to last the highest ground of patriotism. +Mentioning that numerous correspondents had asked why he did not +challenge the Nationalist professions of loyalty two years before at the +beginning of the war, which had since then been so signally falsified, +he answered: + + "Because I had no desire to show a dissentient Ireland to the + Germans. I am glad, even with what has happened, that we played the + game, and if we had to do it again we would play the game. And then + suddenly came the rebellion in Dublin. I cannot find words to + describe my own horror when I heard of it. For I am bound to admit + to you that I was not thinking merely of Ulster; I was thinking of + the war; I was thinking, as I am always thinking, of what will + happen if we are beaten in the war. I was thinking of the + sacrifice of human lives at the front, and in Gallipoli, and at + Kut, when suddenly I heard that the whole thing was interrupted by, + forsooth, an Irish rebellion--by what Mr. Dillon in the House of + Commons called a clean fight! It is not Ulster or Ireland that is + now at stake: it is the British Empire. We have therefore to + consider not merely a local problem, but a great Imperial + problem--how to win the war." + +He then outlined the representations that had been made to him by the +Cabinet as to the injury to the Allied cause resulting from the +unsettled Irish question--the disturbance of good relations with the +United States, whence we were obtaining vast quantities of munitions; +the bad effect of our local differences on opinion in Allied and neutral +countries. He admitted that these evil effects were largely due to false +and hostile propaganda to which the British Government weakly neglected +to provide an antidote; he believed they were grossly exaggerated. But +in time of war they could not contend with their own Government nor be +deaf to its appeals, especially when that Government contained all their +own party leaders, on whose support they had hitherto leaned. + +One of Carson's chief difficulties was to make men grasp the +significance of the fact that Home Rule was now actually established by +Act of Parliament. The point that the Act was on the Statute-book was +constantly lost sight of, with all that it implied. He drove home the +unwelcome truth that simple repeal of that Act was not practical +politics. The only hope for Ulster to escape going under a Parliament in +Dublin lay in the promised Amending Bill. But they had no assurance how +much that Bill, when produced, would do for them. Was it likely, he +asked, to do more than was now offered by the Government? + +He then told the Council what Mr. Lloyd George's proposals were. The +Cabinet offered on the one hand a "clean cut," not indeed of the whole +of Ulster, but of the six most Protestant counties, and on the other to +bring the Home Rule Act, so modified, into immediate operation. He +pointed out that none of them could contemplate using the U.V.F. for +fighting purposes at home after the war; and that, even if such a thing +were thinkable, they could not expect to get more by forcible resistance +to the Act than what was now offered by legislation. + +But to Carson himself, and to all who listened to him that day, the +heartrending question was whether they could suffer a separation to be +made between the Loyalists in the six counties and those in the other +three counties of the Province. It could only be done, Carson declared, +if, after considering all the circumstances of the case as he unfolded +it to them, the delegates from Cavan, Monaghan, and Donegal could make +the self-sacrifice of releasing the other counties from the obligation +to stand or fall together. Carson ended by saying that he did not intend +to take a vote--he "could be no party to having Ulstermen vote one +against the other." What was to be done must be done by agreement, or +not at all. He offered to confer separately with the delegates from the +three omitted counties, and the Council adjourned till the 12th of June +to enable this conference to be held. + +In the interval a large number of the delegates held meetings of their +local associations, most of which passed resolutions in favour of +accepting the Government's proposals. But there was undoubtedly a +widespread feeling that it would be a betrayal of the Loyalists of +Cavan, Monaghan, and Donegal, and even a positive breach of the +Covenant, to accept exclusion from the Home Rule Act for only a portion +of Ulster. This was, it is true, a misunderstanding of the strict +meaning of the Covenant, which had been expressly conditioned so as not +to extend to such unforeseen circumstances as the war had brought +about[95]; but there was a general desire to avoid if possible taking +technical points, and both Carson himself and the Council were ready to +sacrifice the opportunity for a tolerable settlement should the +representatives of the three counties not freely consent to what was +proposed. + +In a spirit of self-sacrifice which deeply touched every member of the +Council, this consent was given. Carson had obtained leave for Lord +Farnham to return from the Army in France to be present at the meeting. +Lord Farnham, as a delegate from Cavan, made a speech at the adjourned +meeting on the 12th which filled his hearers with admiration. That he +was almost heart-broken by the turn events had taken he made no attempt +to conceal; and his distress was shared by those who heard his moving +words. But he showed that he possessed the instinct of statesmanship +which compelled him to recognise, in spite of the powerful pull of +sentiment and self-interest in the opposite direction, that the course +recommended by Carson was the path of wisdom. With breaking voice he +thanked the latter "for the clearness, and the fairness, and the +manliness with which he has put the deplorable situation that has arisen +before us, and for his manly advice as leader "; and he then read a +resolution that had been passed earlier in the day by the delegates of +the three counties, which, after recording a protest against any +settlement excluding them from Ulster, expressed sorrowful acquiescence, +on grounds of the larger patriotism, in whatever decision might be come +to in the matter by their colleagues from the six counties. + +It was the saddest hour the Ulster Unionist Council ever spent. Men not +prone to emotion shed tears. It was the most poignant ordeal the Ulster +leader ever passed through. But it was just one of those occasions when +far-seeing statesmanship demands the ruthless silencing of promptings +that spring from emotion. Many of those who on that terrible 12th of +June were most torn by doubt as to the necessity for the decision +arrived at, realised before long that their leader had never been guided +by surer insight than in the counsel he gave them that day. + +The Resolution adopted by the Council was a lengthy one. After reciting +the unaltered attachment of Ulster to the Union, it placed on record the +appeal that had been made by the Government on patriotic grounds for a +settlement of the Irish difficulty, which the Council did not think it +right at such a time of national emergency to resist; but it was careful +to reserve, in case the negotiations should break down from any other +cause, complete freedom to revert to "opposition to the whole policy of +Home Rule for Ireland." + +Meantime the Nationalist leaders had been submitting Mr. Lloyd George's +proposals to their own people, and on the 10th of June Mr. Redmond made +a speech in Dublin from which it appeared that he was submitting a very +different proposal to that explained by Carson in Belfast. For Mr. +Redmond told his Dublin audience that, while the Home Rule Act was to +come into operation at once, the exclusion of the six counties was to be +only for the period of the war and twelve months afterwards. That would, +of course, have been even less favourable to Ulster than the terms +offered by Mr. Asquith and rejected by Carson in March 1914. Exclusion +for the period of the war meant nothing; it would have been useless to +Ulster; it was no concession whatever; and Carson would have refused, as +he did in 1914, even to submit it to the Unionist Council in Belfast. +Mr. Lloyd George, who must have known this, had told him quite clearly +that there was to be a "definite clean cut," with no suggestion of a +time limit. There was, however, an idea that after the war an Imperial +Conference would be held, at which the whole constitutional relations of +the component nations of the British Empire would be reviewed, and that +the permanent status of Ireland would then come under reconsideration +with the rest. In this sense the arrangement now proposed was spoken of +as "provisional"; but both Mr. Lloyd George and the Prime Minister made +it perfectly plain that the proposed exclusion of the six Ulster +counties from Home Rule could never be reversed except by a fresh Act of +Parliament. + +But when the question was raised by Mr. Redmond in the House of Commons +on the 24th of July, in a speech of marked moderation, he explained that +he had understood the exclusion, like all the rest of the scheme, to be +strictly "provisional," with the consequence that it would come to an +end automatically at the end of the specified period unless prolonged by +new legislation; and he refused to respond to an earnest appeal by Mr. +Asquith not to let slip this opportunity of obtaining, with the consent +of the Unionist Party, immediate Home Rule for the greater part of +Ireland, more especially as Mr. Redmond himself had disclaimed any +desire to bring Ulster within the Home Rule jurisdiction without her own +consent. + +The negotiations for settlement thus fell to the ground, and the bitter +sacrifice which Ulster had brought herself to offer, in response to the +Government's urgent appeal, bore no fruit, unless it was to afford one +more proof of her loyalty to England and the Empire. She was to find +that such proofs were for the most part thrown away, and merely were +used by her enemies, and by some who professed to be her friends, as a +starting-point for demands on her for further concessions. But, although +all British parties in turn did their best to impress upon Ulster that +loyalty did not pay, she never succeeded in learning the lesson +sufficiently to be guided by it in her political conduct. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[93] Mr. Lloyd George's memory was at fault when he said in the House of +Commons on the 7th of February, 1922, that on the occasion referred to +in the text he had seen Sir Edward Carson and Mr. Redmond together. + +[94] The quotations from this speech, which was never published, are +from a report privately taken by the Ulster Unionist Council. + +[95] See _ante_, p. 105. + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE IRISH CONVENTION + + +After the failure of Mr. Lloyd George's negotiations for settlement in +the summer of 1916 the Nationalists practically dropped all pretence of +helping the Government to carry on the war. They were, no doubt, +beginning to realise how completely they were losing hold of the people +of Southern Ireland, and that the only chance of regaining their +vanishing popularity was by an attitude of hostility to the British +Government. + +Frequently during the autumn and winter they raised debates in +Parliament on the demand that the Home Rule Act should immediately come +into operation, and threatened that if this were not done recruits from +Ireland would not be forthcoming, although the need for men was now a +matter of great national urgency. They ignored the fact that Mr. Redmond +was a consenting party to Mr. Asquith's policy of holding Home Rule in +abeyance till after the war, and attempted to explain away their own +loss of influence in Ireland by alleging that the exasperation of the +Irish people at the delay in obtaining "self-government" was the cause +of their alienation from England, and of the growth of Sinn Fein. + +In December 1916 the Asquith Government came to an end, and Mr. Lloyd +George became Prime Minister. He had shown his estimate of Sir Edward +Carson's statesmanship by pressing Mr. Asquith to entrust the entire +conduct of the war to a Committee of four, of whom the Ulster leader +should be one; and, having failed in this attempt to infuse energy and +decision into the counsels of his Chief, he turned him out and formed a +Ministry with Carson in the office of First Lord of the Admiralty, at +that time one of the most vital in the Government. Colonel James Craig +also joined the Ministry as Treasurer of the Household. + +The change of Government did nothing to alter the attitude of the +Nationalists, unless, indeed, the return of Carson to high office added +to the fierceness of their attacks. On the 26th of February 1917--just +when "unrestricted submarine warfare" was bringing the country into its +greatest peril--Mr. Dillon called upon the Government to release +twenty-eight men who had been deported from Ireland, and who were +declared by Mr. Duke, the Chief Secretary, to have been deeply +implicated in the Easter rebellion of the previous year; and a week +later Mr. T.P. O'Connor returned to the charge with another demand for +Home Rule without further ado. + +The debate on Mr. O'Connor's motion on the 7th of March was made +memorable by the speech of Major William Redmond, home on leave from the +trenches in France, whose sincere and impassioned appeal for oblivion of +old historic quarrels between Irish Catholics and Protestants, who were +at that moment fighting and dying side by side in France, made a deep +impression on the House of Commons and the country. And when this +gallant officer fell in action not long afterwards and was carried out +of the firing line by Ulster soldiers, his speech on the 7th of March +was recalled and made the peg on which to hang many adjurations to +Ulster to come into line with their Nationalist fellow-countrymen of the +South. + +Such appeals revealed a curious inability to grasp the realities of the +situation. Men spoke and wrote as if it were something new and wonderful +for Irishmen of the "two nations" to be found fighting side by side in +the British Army--as if the same thing had not been seen in the +Peninsula, in the Crimea, on the Indian frontier, in South Africa, and +in many another fight. Ulstermen, like everybody else who knew Major +Redmond, deplored the loss of a very gallant officer and a very lovable +man. But they could not understand why his death should be made a reason +for a change in their political convictions. When Major Arthur O'Neill, +an Ulster member, was killed in action in 1914, no one had suggested +that Nationalists should on that account turn Unionists. Why, they +wondered, should Unionists any more turn Nationalists because a +Nationalist M.P. had made the same supreme sacrifice? All this +sentimental talk of that time was founded on the misconception that +Ulster's attachment to the Union was the result of personal prejudice +against Catholics of the South, instead of being, as it was, a +deliberate and reasoned conviction as to the best government for +Ireland. + +This distinction was clearly brought out in the same debate by Sir John +Lonsdale, who, when Carson became a member of the Cabinet, had been +elected leader of the Ulster Party in the House of Commons; and an +emphatic pronouncement, which went to the root of the controversy, was +made in reply to the Nationalists by the Prime Minister. In the +north-eastern portion of Ireland, he said: + + "You have a population as hostile to Irish rule as the rest of + Ireland is to British rule, yea, and as ready to rebel against it + as the rest of Ireland is against British rule--as alien in blood, + in religious faith, in traditions, in outlook--as alien from the + rest of Ireland in this respect as the inhabitants of Fife or + Aberdeen. To place them under National rule against their will + would be as glaring an outrage on the principles of liberty and + self-government as the denial of self-government would be for the + rest of Ireland." + +The Government were, therefore, prepared, said Mr. Lloyd George, to +bring in Home Rule immediately for that part of Ireland that wanted it, +but not for the Northern part which did not want it. Mr. Redmond made a +fine display of indignation at this refusal to coerce Ulster; and, in +imitation of the Unionists in 1914, marched out of the House at the head +of his party. Next day he issued a manifesto to men of Irish blood in +the United States and in the Dominions, calling on them to use all means +in their power to exert pressure on the British Government. It was clear +that this sort of thing could not be tolerated in the middle of a war in +which Great Britain was fighting for her life, and at a crisis in it +when her fortunes were far from prosperous. Accordingly, on the 16th of +March Mr. Bonar Law warned the Nationalists that their conduct might +make it necessary to appeal to the country on the ground that they were +obstructing the prosecution of the war. But he also announced that the +Cabinet intended to make one more attempt to arrive at a settlement of +the apparently insoluble problem of Irish government. + +Two months passed before it was made known how this attempt was to be +made. On the 16th of May the Prime Minister addressed a letter in +duplicate to Mr. Redmond and Sir John Lonsdale, representing the two +Irish parties respectively, in which he put forward for their +consideration two alternative methods of procedure, after premising that +the Government felt precluded from proposing during the war any measures +except such as "would be substantially accepted by both sides." + +These alternatives were: _(a)_ a "Bill for the immediate application of +the Home Rule Act to Ireland, but excluding therefrom the six counties +of North-East Ulster," or, _(b)_ a Convention of Irishmen "for the +purpose of drafting a Constitution ... which should secure a just +balance of all the opposing interests." Sir John Lonsdale replied to the +Prime Minister that he would take the Government's first proposal to +Belfast for consideration by the Council; but as Mr. Redmond, on the +other hand, peremptorily refused to have anything to say to it, it +became necessary to fall back on the other alternative, namely the +assembling of an Irish Convention. + +The members chosen to sit in the Convention were to be "representative +men" in Emerson's meaning of the words, but not in the democratic sense +as deriving their authority from direct popular election. Certain +political organisations and parties were each invited to nominate a +certain number; the Churches were represented by their leading clergy; +men occupying public positions, such as chairmen of local authorities, +were given _ex-officio_ seats; and a certain number were nominated by +the Government. The total membership of this variegated assembly was +ninety-five. The Sinn Fein party were invited to join, but refused to +have anything to do with it, declaring that they would consider nothing +short of complete independence for Ireland. The majority of the Irish +people thus stood aloof from the Convention altogether. + +As the purpose for which the Convention was called was quickly lost +sight of by many, and by none more than its Chairman, it is well to +remember what that purpose was. If it had not been for the opposition of +Ulster, the Home Rule Act of 1914 would have been in force for years, +and none of the many attempts at settlement would have been necessary. +The one and only thing required was to reconcile, if possible, the +aspirations of Ulster with those of the rest of Ireland. That was the +purpose, and the only purpose, of the Convention; and in the letter +addressed to Sir John Lonsdale equally with Mr. Redmond, the Prime +Minister distinctly laid it down that unless its conclusions were +accepted "by both sides," nothing could come of it. To leave no shadow +of doubt on this point Mr. Bonar Law, in reply to a specific question, +said that there could be no "substantial agreement" to which Ulster was +not a party. + +It is necessary to emphasise this point, because for such a purpose the +heterogeneous conglomeration of Nationalists of all shades that formed +the great majority of the Convention was worse than useless. The +Convention was in reality a bi-lateral conference, in which one of the +two sides was four times as numerous as the other. Yet much party +capital was subsequently made of the fact that the Nationalist members +agreed upon a scheme of Home Rule--an achievement which had no element +of the miraculous or even of the unexpected about it. + +Notwithstanding that the Sinn Fein party had displayed their contempt +for the Convention, and under the delusion that it would "create an +atmosphere of good-will" for its meeting, the Government released +without condition or reservation all the prisoners concerned in the +Easter rebellion of 1916. It was like playing a penny whistle to +conciliate a cobra. The prisoners, from whose minds nothing was further +than any thought of good-will to England, were received by the populace +in Dublin with a rapturous ovation, their triumphal procession being +headed by Mr. De Valera, who was soon afterwards elected member for East +Clare by a majority of nearly thirty thousand. Four months later, the +Chief Secretary told Parliament that the young men of Southern Ireland, +who had refused to serve in the Army, were being enrolled in preparation +for another rebellion. + +It was only after some hesitation that the Ulster Unionist Council +decided not to hold aloof from the Convention, as the Sinn Feiners did. +Carson accompanied Sir John Lonsdale to Belfast and explained the +explicit pledges by Ministers that participation would not commit them +to anything, that they would not be bound by any majority vote, and that +without their concurrence no legislation was to be founded on any +agreement between the other groups in the Convention; he also urged that +Ulster could not refuse to do what the Government held would be helpful +in the prosecution of the war. + +The invitation to nominate five delegates was therefore accepted; and +when the membership of the Convention was complete there were nineteen +out of ninety-five who could be reckoned as supporters in general of the +Ulster point of view. Among them were the Primate, the Moderator of the +General Assembly, the Duke of Abercorn, the Marquis of Londonderry, Mr. +H.M. Pollock, Chairman of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, one Labour +representative, Mr J. Hanna, and the Lord Mayors of Belfast and Derry. +It was agreed that Mr. H.T. Barrie, member for North Derry, should act +as chairman and leader of the Ulster group, and he discharged this +difficult duty with unfailing tact and ability. + +There was some difficulty in finding a suitable Chairman, for no party +was willing to accept any strong man opposed to their own views, while +an impartial man was not to be found in Ireland. Eventually the choice +fell on Sir Horace Plunkett as a gentleman who, if eagerly supported by +none, was accepted by each group as preferable to a more formidable +opponent. Sir Horace made no pretence of impartiality. Whatever +influence he possessed was used as a partisan of the Nationalists. He +was not, like the Speaker of the House of Commons, a silent guardian of +order; he often harangued the assembly, which, on one occasion at least, +he addressed for over an hour; and he issued manifestos, +_questionnaires_, and letters to members, one of which was sharply +censured as misleading both by Mr. Barrie and the Bishop of Raphoe. + +The procedure adopted was described by the Chairman himself as +"unprecedented." It was not only that, but was unsuitable in the last +degree for the purpose in view. When it is borne in mind what that +purpose was, it is clear that the only business-like method would have +been to invite the Ulster delegates at the outset to formulate their +objections to coming under the Home Rule Act of 1914, and then to see +whether Mr. Redmond could make any concessions which would persuade +Ulster to accept something less than the permanent exclusion of six +counties, which had been their _minimum_ hitherto. + +The procedure actually followed was ludicrously different. The object, +as stated by the chairman, was "to avoid raising contentious issues in +such a way as to divide the Convention on party lines,"[96] which, to +say the least, was a curious method of handling the most contentious +problem in British politics. A fine opportunity was offered to amateur +constitution-mongers. Anyone was allowed to propound a scheme for the +future government of Ireland, which, of course, was an encouragement to +endless wide-ranging debate, with the least conceivable likelihood of +arriving at definite decisions. Neither of the leaders of the two +parties whose agreement was essential if the Convention was to have any +result took the initiative in bringing forward proposals. Mr. Redmond +was invited to do so, but declined. Mr. Barrie had no reason to do so, +because the Ulster scheme for the government of Ireland was the +legislative union. So it was left to individuals with no official +responsibility to set forth their ideas, which became the subject of +protracted debates of a general character. + +It was further arranged that while contentious issues--the only ones +that mattered--should be avoided, any conclusions reached on minor +matters should be purely provisional, and contingent on agreement being +come to ultimately on fundamentals. Month after month was spent in thus +discussing such questions as the powers which an Irish Parliament ought +to wield, while the question whether Ulster was to come into that +Parliament was left to stand over. Committees and sub-committees were +appointed to thresh out these details, and some of them relieved the +tedium by wandering into such interesting by-ways of irrelevancy as +housing and land purchase, all of which, in Gilbertian phrase, "had +nothing to do with the case." + +The Ulster group raised no objection to all this expenditure of time and +energy. For they saw that it was not time wasted. From the standpoint of +the highest national interest it was, indeed, more useful than anything +the Convention could have accomplished by business-like methods. The +summer and autumn of 1917, and the early months of 1918, covered a +terribly critical period of the war. The country was never in greater +peril, and the attitude of the Nationalists in the House of Commons +added to the difficulties of the Government, as Mr. Bonar Law had +complained in March. It was to placate them that the Convention had been +summoned. It was a bone thrown to a snarling dog, and the longer there +was anything to gnaw the longer would the dog keep quiet. The Ulster +delegates understood this perfectly, and, as their chief desire was to +help the Government to get on with the war, they had no wish to curtail +the proceedings of the Convention, although they were never under the +delusion that it could lead to anything in Ireland. + +Having regard to the origin of this strange assembly of Irishmen it +might have been supposed that its ingenuity would be directed to finding +some modification of Mr. Asquith's Home Rule Act which Ulster could +accept. That Act was the point of departure for its investigation, and +the quest was _ex hypothesi_ for some amendment that would not be an +enlargement of the authority to be delegated to the subordinate +Parliament, or any further loosening of the tie with Great Britain. Any +proposal of the latter sort would be in the opposite direction from that +in which the Convention was intended to travel. Yet this is precisely +what was done from the very outset. The Act of 1914 was brushed aside as +beneath contempt; and the Ulster delegates had to listen with amazement +week after week to proposals for giving to the whole of Ireland, +including their own Province, a constitution practically as independent +of Great Britain as that of the Dominions. + +But what astonished the Ulstermen above everything was to find these +extravagant demands of the Nationalists supported by those who were +supposed to be representatives of Southern Unionism, with Lord Midleton, +a prominent member of the Unionist Party in England, at their head. The +only material point on which Lord Midleton differed from the extremists +led by the Bishop of Raphoe was that he wished to limit complete fiscal +autonomy for Ireland by reserving the control of Customs duties to the +Imperial Parliament. Save in this single particular he joined forces +with the Nationalists, and shocked the Unionists of the North by giving +his support to a scheme of Home Rule going beyond anything ever +suggested at Westminster by any Radical from Gladstone to Asquith. + +This question of the financial powers to be exercised by the +hypothetical Irish Parliament occupied the Convention and its committees +for the greater part of its eight months of existence. In January 1918 +Lord Midleton and Mr. Redmond came to an agreement on the subject which +proved the undoing of them both, and produced the only really impressive +scene in the Convention. + +For some time Mr. Redmond had given the impression of being a tired man +who had lost his wonted driving-force. He took little or no part in the +lobbying and canvassing that was constantly going on behind the scenes +in the Convention; he appeared to be losing grip as a leader. But he +cannot be blamed for his anxiety to come to terms with Lord Midleton; +and when he found, no doubt greatly to his surprise, that a Unionist +leader was ready to abandon Unionist principles and to accept Dominion +Home Rule for Ireland, subject to a single reservation on the subject of +Customs, he naturally jumped at it, and assumed that his followers would +do the same. + +But, while Mr. Redmond had been losing ground, the influence of the +Catholic Bishop of Raphoe had been on the increase, and that able and +astute prelate was entirely opposed to the compromise on which Mr. +Redmond and Lord Midleton were agreed. On the evening of the 14th of +January it came to the knowledge of Mr. Redmond that when the question +came up for decision next day, he would find Mr. Devlin, his principal +lieutenant, in league with the ecclesiastics against him. He was +personally too far committed to retrace his steps; to go forward meant +disaster, for it would produce a deep cleavage in the Nationalist ranks; +and, as the state of affairs was generally known to members of the +Convention, the sitting of the following day was anticipated with +unusual interest. + +There was an atmosphere of suppressed excitement when the Chairman took +his seat on the 15th. Mr. Redmond entered a few seconds later and took +his usual place without betraying the slightest sign of disturbed +equanimity. The Bishop of Raphoe strode past him, casting to left and +right swift, challenging glances. Mr. Devlin slipped quietly into his +seat beside the leader he had thrown over, without a word or gesture of +greeting. All over the room small groups of members engaged in whispered +conversation; an air of mysterious expectancy prevailed. The Ulster +members had been threatened that it was to be for them a day of disaster +and dismay--a little isolated group, about to be deserted by friends and +crushed by enemies. The Chairman, in an agitated voice, opened +proceedings by inviting questions. There was no response. A minute or so +of tense pause ensued. Then Mr. Redmond rose, and in a perfectly even +voice and his usual measured diction, stated that he was aware that his +proposal was repudiated by many of his usual followers; that the bishops +were against him, and some leading Nationalists, including Mr. Devlin; +that, while he believed if he persisted he would have a majority, the +result would be to split his party, a thing he wished to avoid; and that +he had therefore decided not to proceed with his amendment, and under +these circumstances felt he could be of no further use to the Convention +in the matter. + +For a minute or two the assembly could not grasp the full significance +of what had happened. Then it broke upon them that this was the fall of +a notable leader, although they did not yet know that it was also the +close of a distinguished career. Mr. Redmond's demeanour throughout +what must have been a painful ordeal was beyond all praise. There was +not a quiver in his voice, nor a hesitation for word or phrase. His +self-possession and dignity and high-bred bearing won the respect and +sympathy of the most strenuous of political opponents, even while they +recognised that the defeat of the Nationalist leader meant relief from +pressure on themselves. Mr. Redmond took no further part in the work of +the Convention; his health was failing, and the members were startled by +the news of his death on the 6th of March. + +Not a single vote was taken in the Convention until the 12th of March, +1918, when it had been sitting for nearly seven months, and two days +later the question which it had been summoned to consider, namely, the +relation of Ulster to the rest of Ireland, was touched for the first +time. The first clause in the Bishop of Raphoe's scheme, establishing a +Home Rule constitution for all Ireland, having been carried with Lord +Midleton's help against the vote of the nineteen representatives of +Ulster, the latter proposed an amendment for the exclusion of the +Province, and were, of course, defeated by the combined forces of +Nationalism and Southern Unionism. + +Thus, on the only issue that really mattered, there was no such +"substantial agreement" as the Government had postulated as essential +before legislation could be undertaken; and on the 5th of April the +Convention came to an end without having achieved any useful result, +except that it gave the Government a breathing space from the Irish +question to get on with the war. + +It served, however, to bring prominently forward two of the Ulster +representatives whose full worth had not till then been sufficiently +appreciated. Mr. H.M. Pollock had, it is true, been a valued adviser of +Sir Edward Carson on questions touching the trade and commerce of +Belfast. But in the Convention he made more than one speech which proved +him to be a financier with a comprehensive grasp of principle, and an +extensive knowledge of the history and the intricate details of the +financial relations between Great Britain and Ireland. + +Lord Londonderry (the 7th Marquis), who during his father's lifetime +had represented an English constituency in the House of Commons and +naturally took no very prominent part in Ulster affairs, although he +made many excellent speeches on Home Rule both in Parliament and on +English platforms, and was Colonel of a regiment of U.V.F., gave proof +at once, on succeeding to the peerage in 1915, that he was desirous of +doing everything in his power to fill his father's place in the Ulster +Movement. He displayed the same readiness to subordinate personal +convenience, and other claims on his time and energy, to the cause so +closely associated historically with his family. But it was his work in +the Convention that first convinced Ulstermen of his capacity as well as +his zeal. Several of Lord Londonderry's speeches, and especially one in +which he made an impromptu reply to Mr. Redmond, impressed the +Convention with his debating power and his general ability; and it gave +the greatest satisfaction in Ulster when it was realised that the son of +the leader whose loss they mourned so deeply was as able as he was +willing to carry on the hereditary tradition of service to the loyalist +cause. + +In another respect, too, the Convention had an indirect influence on the +position in Ulster. When it appeared likely, in January 1918, that a +deadlock would be reached in the Convention, the Prime Minister himself +intervened. A letter to the Chairman was drafted and discussed in the +Cabinet; but the policy which appeared to commend itself to his +colleagues was one that Sir Edward Carson was unable to support, and he +accordingly resigned office on the 21st, and was accompanied into +retirement by Colonel Craig, the other Ulster member of the Ministry. +Sir John Lonsdale, who for many years had been the very efficient +Honorary Secretary and "Whip" of the Ulster Parliamentary Party, and its +leader while Carson was in office, had been raised to the peerage at the +New Year, with the title of Lord Armaghdale, so that the Ulster +leadership was vacant for Carson to resume when he left the Government, +and he was formally re-elected to the position on the 28th of January. +It was fortunate for Ulster that the old helmsman was again free to +take his place at the wheel, for there was still some rough weather +ahead. + +The official Report of the Convention which was issued on the 10th of +April was one of the most extraordinary documents ever published in a +Government Blue Book.[97] It consisted for the most part of a confused +bundle of separate Notes and Reports by a number of different groups and +individuals, and numerous appendices comprising a mass of miscellaneous +memoranda bristling with cross-references. The Chairman was restricted +to providing a bald narrative of the proceedings without any of the +usual critical estimate of the general results attained; but he made up +for this by setting forth his personal opinions in a letter to the Prime +Minister, which, without the sanction of the Convention, he prefixed to +the Report. As it was no easy matter to gain any clear idea from the +Report as to what the Convention had done, its proceedings while in +session having been screened from publicity by drastic censorship of the +Press, many people contented themselves with reading Sir Horace +Plunkett's unauthorised letter to Mr. Lloyd George; and, as it was in +some important respects gravely misleading, it is not surprising that +the truth in regard to the Convention was never properly understood, and +the Ulster Unionist Council had solid justification for its resolution +censuring the Chairman's conduct as "unprecedented and unconstitutional." + +In this personal letter, as was to be expected of a partisan of the +Nationalists, Sir Horace Plunkett laid stress on the fact that Lord +Midleton had "accepted self-government for Ireland "--by which was +meant, of course, not self-government such as Ireland always enjoyed +through her representation, and indeed over-representation, in the +Imperial Parliament, but through separate institutions. But if it had +not been for this support of separate institutions by the Southern +Unionists there would not have been even a colourable pretext for the +assertion of Sir Horace Plunkett that "a larger measure of agreement has +been reached upon the principles and details of Irish self-government +than has ever yet been attained." The really surprising thing was how +little agreement was displayed even among the Nationalists themselves, +who on several important issues were nearly equally divided. + +It was soon seen how little the policy of Lord Midleton was approved by +those whom he was supposed to represent. Although it was exceedingly +difficult to obtain accurate information about what was going on in the +Convention, enough became known in Dublin to cause serious misgiving to +Southern Unionists. The Council of the Irish Unionist Alliance, who had +nominated Lord Midleton as a delegate, asked him to confer with them on +the subject; but he refused. On the 4th of March, 1918, a "Call to +Unionists," a manifesto signed by twenty-four influential Southern +Unionists, appeared in the Press. A Southern Unionist Committee was +formed which before the end of May was able to publish the names of 350 +well-known men in all walks of life who were in accord with the "Call," +and to announce that the supporters of their protest against Lord +Midleton's proceedings numbered upwards of fourteen thousand, of whom +more than two thousand were farmers in the South and West. + +This Committee then took steps to purge the Irish Unionist Alliance by +making it more truly representative of Southern Unionist opinion. A +special meeting of the Council of the organisation on the 24th of +January, 1919, brought on a general engagement between Lord Midleton and +his opponents. The general trend of opinion was disclosed when, after +the defeat of a motion by Lord Midleton for excluding Ulster Unionists +from full membership of the Alliance, Sir Edward Carson was elected one +of its Presidents, and Lord Farnham was chosen Chairman of the Executive +Committee. The Executive Committee was then entirely reconstituted, by +the rejection of every one of Lord Midleton's supporters; and the new +body issued a statement explaining the grounds of dissatisfaction with +Lord Midleton's action in the Convention, and declaring that he had +"lost the confidence of the general body of Southern Unionists." +Thereupon Lord Midleton and a small aristocratic clique associated with +him seceded from the Alliance, and set up a little organisation of their +own. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[96] _Report of the Proceedings of the Irish Convention_ (Cd. 9019), p. +10. + +[97] Cd. 9019. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +NATIONALISTS AND CONSCRIPTION + + +While the Irish Convention was toilfully bringing to a close its eight +months' career of futility, the British Empire was in the grip of the +most terrible ordeal through which it has ever passed. On the 21st of +March, 1918, the assembled Irishmen in Dublin were discussing whether or +not proportional representation should form part of the hypothetical +constitution of Ireland, and on the same day the Germans well-nigh +overwhelmed the 5th Army at the opening of the great offensive campaign +which threatened to break irretrievably the Allied line by the capture +of Amiens. The world held its breath. Englishmen hardly dared to think +of the fate that seemed impending over their country. Irishmen continued +complacently debating the paltry details of the Bishop of Raphoe's +clauses. Irishmen and Englishmen together were being killed or maimed by +scores of thousands in a supreme effort to stay the advance of the Boche +to Paris and the sea. + +It happened that on the very day when the Report of the Convention was +laid on the table of the House of Commons, the Prime Minister made a +statement of profound gravity, beginning with words such as the British +Parliament can never before have been compelled to hear from the lips of +the head of the Government. For the moment, said Mr. Lloyd George, there +was a lull in the storm; but more attacks were to come, and-- + + The "fate of the Empire, the fate of Europe, and the fate of + liberty throughout the world may depend on the success with which + the very last of these attacks is resisted and countered." + +Mr. Asquith struck the same note, urging the House-- + + "With all the earnestness and with all the solemnity of which I am + capable, to realise that never before in the experience of any man + within these walls, or of his fathers and his forefathers, has this + country and all the great traditions and ideals which are embodied + in our history--never has this, the most splendid inheritance ever + bequeathed to a people, been in greater peril, or in more need of + united safeguarding than at this present time." + +Not Demosthenes himself, in his most impassioned appeal to the +Athenians, more fitly matched moving words to urgent occasion than these +two statesmen in the simple, restrained sentences, in which they warned +the Commons of the peril hanging over England. + +But was eloquent persuasion really required at such a moment to still +the voice of faction in the British House of Commons? Let those who +would assume the negative study the official Parliamentary Report of the +debate on the 9th of April, 1918. They will find a record which no loyal +Irishman will ever be able to read without a tingling sense of shame. +The whole body of members, with one exception, listened to the Prime +Minister's grave words in silence touched with awe, feeling that perhaps +they were sitting there on the eve of the greatest tragedy in their +country's history. The single exception was the Nationalist Party. From +those same benches whence arose nineteen years back the never-forgotten +cheers that greeted the tale of British disaster in South Africa, now +came a shower of snarling interruptions that broke persistently into the +Prime Minister's speech, and with angry menace impeded his unfolding of +the Government's proposals for meeting the supreme ordeal of the war. + +What was the reason? It was because Ireland, the greater part of which +had till now successfully shirked its share of privation and sacrifice, +was at last to be asked to take up its corner of the burden. The need +for men to replace casualties at the front was pressing, urgent, +imperative. Many indeed blamed the Government for having delayed too +long in filling the depleted ranks of our splendid armies in France; the +moment had come when another day's delay would have been criminal. As +Mr. Lloyd George pointed out, the battle that was being waged in front +of Amiens "proves that the enemy has definitely decided to seek a +military decision this year, whatever the consequences to himself." The +Germans had just called up a fresh class of recruits calculated to place +more than half a million of efficient young men in the line. The +collapse of Russia had released the vast German armies of the East for +use against England and France. It was under such circumstances that the +Prime Minister proposed + + "to submit to Parliament to-day certain recommendations in order to + assist this country and the Allies to weather the storm. They will + involve," continued Mr. Lloyd George, "extreme sacrifices on the + part of large classes of the population, and nothing would justify + them but the most extreme necessity, and the fact that we are + fighting for all that is essential and most sacred in the national + life." + +The age limit for compulsory military service was to be raised from +forty-two to fifty, and Ireland was to be included under the new +Military Service Bill now introduced. England, Scotland, and Wales had +cheerfully submitted to conscription when first enacted by Mr. Asquith +in 1916, and to all the additional combings of industry and extension of +obligation that had been required in the past two years. Agriculture and +other essential industries were being starved for want of labour, and +men had actually been brought back from the sorely pressed armies to +produce supplies imperatively needed at home. + +But from all this Ireland had hitherto been exempt. To escape the call +of the country a man had only to prove that he was "ordinarily resident +in Ireland"; for conscription did not cross the Irish Sea. From most of +the privations cheerfully borne in Great Britain the Irishman had been +equally free. Food rationing did not trouble him, and, lest he should go +short of accustomed plenty, it was even forbidden to carry a parcel of +butter across the Channel from Ireland. Horse-racing went on as usual. +Emigration had been suspended during the war, so that Ireland was +unusually full of young men who, owing to the unwonted prosperity of the +country resulting from war prices for its produce, were "having the +time of their lives." Mr. Bonar Law, in the debates on the Military +Service Bill, gave reasons for the calculation that there were not far +short of 400,000 young men of military age, and of "Al" physique, in +Ireland available for the Army. + +No wonder that Mr. Lloyd George said it would be impossible to leave +this reservoir of man-power untouched when men of fifty, whose sons were +already with the colours, were to be called up in Great Britain! But the +bare suggestion of doing such a thing raised a hurricane of angry +vituperation and menace from the Nationalists in the House of Commons. +When Mr. Lloyd George, in conciliatory accents, observed that he had no +wish to raise unnecessary controversy, as Heaven knew they had trouble +enough already, "You will get more of it," shouted Mr. Flavin. "You will +have another battle front in Ireland," interjected Mr. Byrne. Mr. +Flavin, getting more and more excited, called out, with reference to the +machinery for enrolment explained by the Prime Minister--"It will never +begin. Ireland will not have it at any price"; and again, a moment +later, "You come across and try to take them." Mr. Devlin was fully as +fierce as these less prominent members of his party, and after many +wrathful interruptions he turned aside the debate into a discussion +about a trumpery report of one of the sub-committees of the Irish +Convention. + +It was truly a sad and shameful scene to be witnessed in the House of +Commons at such a moment. It would have been so even if the contention +of the Nationalists had been reasonably tenable. But it was not. They +maintained that only an Irish Parliament had the right to enforce +conscription in Ireland. But at the beginning of the war they had +accepted the proviso that it should run its course before Home Rule came +into operation. And even if it had been in operation, and a Parliament +had been sitting in Dublin under Mr. Asquith's Act, which the +Nationalists had accepted as a settlement of their demands, that +Parliament would have had nothing to do with the raising of military +forces by conscription or otherwise, this being a duty reserved, as in +every federal or quasi-federal constitution, for the central +legislative authority alone. + +But it was useless to point this out to the infuriated Nationalist +members. Mr. William O'Brien denounced the idea of compelling Irishmen +to bear the same burden as their British fellow-subjects as "a +declaration of war against Ireland"; and he and Mr. Healy joined Mr. +Dillon and his followers in opposing with all their parliamentary skill, +and all their voting power, the extension to Ireland of compulsory +service. Mr. Healy, whose vindictive memory had not forgotten the +Curragh Incident before the war, could not forbear from having an +ungenerous fling at General Gough, who had just been driven back by the +overwhelming numerical superiority of the German attack, and who, at the +moment when Mr. Healy was taunting him in the House of Commons, was +re-forming his gallant 5th Army to resist the enemy's further advance. + +In comparison with this Mr. Healy's stale gibe at "Carson's Army," +however inappropriate to the occasion, was a venial offence. Carson +himself replied in a gentle and conciliatory tone to Mr. Healy's coarse +diatribe. + + "My honourable friend," he said, "talked of Carson's Army. You may, + if you like, call it with contempt Carson's Army. But it has just + gone into action for the fourth time, and many of them have paid + the supreme sacrifice. They have covered themselves with glory, + and, what is more, they have covered Ireland with glory, and they + have left behind sad homes throughout the small hamlets of Ulster, + as I well know, losing three or four sons in many a home." + +On behalf of Ulster Carson gave unhesitating support to the Government. +He and his colleagues from Ulster had always voted against the exemption +of Ireland from the Military Service Acts. It was true, no doubt, as the +Nationalists jeeringly maintained, that conscription was no more desired +in Ulster than in any other part of the United Kingdom. Of course it was +not; it was liked nowhere. But Carson declared that "equality of +sacrifice" was the principle to be acted upon, and Ulster accepted it. +He "would go about hanging his head in shame," if his own part of the +United Kingdom were absolved from sacrifice which the national necessity +imposed on the inhabitants of Great Britain. + +The Bill was carried through by the 16th of April in the teeth of +Nationalist opposition maintained through all its stages. Mr. Bonar Law +announced emphatically that the Government intended to enforce the +compulsory powers in Ireland; but he also said that yet another attempt +was to be made to settle the constitutional question by bringing in "at +an early date" a measure of Home Rule which the Government hoped might +be carried at once and "without violent controversy." + +After the experience of the past this seemed an amazingly sanguine +estimate of the prospects of any proposals that ingenuity could devise. +But what the nature of the measure was to have been was never made +known; for the Bill was still in the hands of a drafting committee when +a dangerous German intrigue in Ireland was discovered; and the +Lord-Lieutenant made a proclamation on the 18th of May announcing that +the Government had information "that certain of the King's subjects in +Ireland had entered into a treasonable communication with the German +enemy, and that strict measures must be taken to put down this German +plot."[98] On the same day one hundred and fifty Sinn Feiners were +arrested, including Mr. De Valera and Mr. Arthur Griffith, and on the +25th a statement was published indicating the connection between this +conspiracy and Casement's designs in 1916. The Government had definitely +ascertained some weeks earlier, and must have known at the very time +when they were promising a new Home Rule Bill, that a plan for landing +arms in Ireland was ripe for execution.[99] Indeed, on the 12th of April +a German agent who had landed in Ireland was arrested, with papers in +his possession showing that De Valera had worked out a detailed +organisation of the rebel army, and expected to be in a position to +muster half a million of trained men.[100] + +Such was the fruit of the Government's infatuation which, under the +delusion of "creating an atmosphere of good-will" for the Convention, +had released a few months previously a number of dangerous men who had +been proved to be in league with the Germans, and who now took advantage +of this clemency to conspire afresh with the foreign enemy. It was not +surprising that Mr. Bonar Law said it was impossible for the Government, +under these circumstances, to proceed with their proposals for a new +Home Rule Bill. + +On the other hand, no sooner was the Military Service Act on the +Statute-book than the Government began to recede from Mr. Bonar Law's +declaration that they would at all costs enforce it in Ireland. They +intimated that if voluntary recruiting improved it might be possible to +dispense with compulsion. But although Mr. Shortt--who succeeded Mr. +Duke as Chief Secretary in May, at the same time as Lord Wimborne was +replaced in the Lord-Lieutenancy by Field-Marshal Lord French--complained +on the 29th of July that the Nationalists had given no help to the +Government in obtaining voluntary recruits in Ireland, and, "instead of +taking Sinn Fein by the throat, had tried to go one better,"[101] the +compulsory powers of the Military Service Act remained a dead letter. + +The fact was that the Nationalists had followed up their fierce +opposition to the Bill by raising a still more fierce agitation in +Ireland against conscription. In this they joined hands with Sinn Fein, +and the whole weight of the Catholic Church was thrown into the same +scale. From the altars of that Church the thunderbolts of ecclesiastical +anathema were loosed against the Government, and--what was more +effective--against any who should obey the call to arms. The Government +gave way before the violence of the storm, and the lesson to be learnt +from their defeat was not thrown away on the rebel party in Ireland. +There was, naturally, widespread indignation in England at the spectacle +of the youth of Ireland taking its ease at home and earning +extravagantly high war-time wages while middle-aged bread-winners in +England were compulsorily called to the colours; but the marvellously +easy-going disposition of Englishmen submitted to the injustice with no +more than a legitimate grumble. + +In June 1918, while this agitation against conscription was at its +height, the hostility of the Nationalists took a new turn. A manifesto, +intended as a justification of their resistance to conscription, was +issued in the form of a letter to Mr. Wilson, President of the United +States, signed by Mr. Dillon, Mr. Devlin, Mr. William O'Brien, Mr. +Healy, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, and some others, including leaders of +Sinn Fein. It was a remarkable document, the authorship of which was +popularly attributed to Mr. T.M. Healy. If it ever came under the eye of +Mr. Wilson, a man of literary taste and judgment, it must have afforded +him a momentary diversion from the cares of his exalted office. A longer +experience than his of diplomatic correspondence would fail to produce +from the pigeon-holes of all the Chanceries a rival to this +extraordinary composition, the ill-arranged paragraphs of which formed +an inextricable jumble of irrelevant material, in which bad logic, bad +history, and barren invective were confusedly intermingled in a torrent +of turgid rhetoric. The extent of its range may be judged from the fact +that Shakespeare's allusions to Joan of Arc were not deemed too remote +from the subject of conscription in Ireland during the Great War to find +a place in this amazing despatch. For the amusement of anyone who may +care to examine so rare a curiosity of English prose, it will be found +in full in the Appendix to this volume, where it may be compared by way +of contrast with the restrained rejoinder sent also to President Wilson +by Sir Edward Carson, the Lord Mayor of Belfast, the Mayor of Derry, and +several loyalist representatives of Labour in Ulster. + +In the Nationalist letter to President Wilson reference was made more +than once to the sympathy that prevailed in Ireland in the eighteenth +century with the American colonists in the War of Independence. The use +made of it was a good example of the way in which a half-truth may, for +argumentative purposes, be more misleading than a complete falsehood. +"To-day, as in the days of George Washington"--so Mr. Wilson was +informed--"nearly half the American forces have been furnished from the +descendants of our banished race." No mention was made of the fact that +the members of the "banished race" in Washington's army were +Presbyterian emigrants from Ulster, who formed almost the entire +population of great districts in the American Colonies at that +time.[102] The late Mr. Whitelaw Reid told an Edinburgh audience in 1911 +that more than half the Presbyterian population of Ulster emigrated to +America between 1730 and 1770, and that at the date of the Revolution +they made more than one-sixth of the population of the Colonies. The +Declaration of Independence itself, he added-- + + "Is sacredly preserved in the handwriting of an Ulsterman, who was + Secretary of Congress. It was publicly read by an Ulsterman, and + first printed by another. Washington's first Cabinet had four + members, of whom one was an Ulsterman."[103] + +It is, of course, true that not all Ulster Presbyterians of that period +were the firm and loyal friends of Great Britain that their descendants +became after a century's experience of the legislative Union. But it is +the latter who best in Ireland can trace kinship with the founders of +the United States, and who are entitled--if any Irishmen are--to base on +that kinship a claim to the sympathy and support of the American people. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[98] _Annual Register_, 1918, p, 87. + +[99] Ibid., p. 88 + +[100] Ibid. + +[101] _Annual Register_, 1918, p. 90. + +[102] See Lecky's _History of England in the Eighteenth Century_, vol. +iv, p. 430. + +[103] See Lecture to the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution by Whitelaw +Reid, reported in _The Scotsman_, November 2nd, 1911. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE ULSTER PARLIAMENT + + +ON the 25th of November, 1918, the Parliament elected in December 1910 +was at last dissolved, a few days after the Armistice with Germany. The +new House of Commons was very different from the old. Seventy-two Sinn +Fein members were returned from Ireland, sweeping away all but half a +dozen of the old Nationalist party; but, in accordance with their fixed +policy, the Sinn Fein members never presented themselves at Westminster +to take the oath and their seats. That quarter of the House of Commons +which for thirty years had been packed with the most fierce and +disciplined of the political parties was therefore now given over to +mild supporters of the Coalition Government, the only remnant of +so-called "constitutional Nationalism" being Mr. T.P. O'Connor, Mr. +Devlin, Captain Redmond, and two or three less prominent companions, who +survived like monuments of a bygone age. + +Ulster Unionists, on the other hand, were greatly strengthened by the +recent Redistribution Act. Sir Edward Carson was elected member for the +great working-class constituency of the Duncairn Division of Belfast, +instead of for Dublin University, which he had so long represented, and +twenty-two ardent supporters accompanied him from Ulster to Westminster. +In the reconstruction of the Government which followed the election, +Carson was pressed to return to office, but declined. Colonel James +Craig, whose war services in connection with the Ulster Division were +rewarded by a baronetcy, became Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry +of Pensions, and the Marquis of Londonderry accepted office as +Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Air Ministry. + +Although the termination of hostilities by the Armistice was not in the +legal sense the "end of the war," it brought it within sight. No one in +January 1919 dreamt that the process of making peace and ratifying the +necessary treaties would drag on for a seemingly interminable length of +time, and it was realised, with grave misgiving in Ulster, that the Home +Rule Act of 1914 would necessarily come into force as soon as peace was +finally declared, while as yet nothing had been done to redeem the +promise of an Amending Bill given by Mr. Asquith, and reiterated by Mr. +Lloyd George. The compact between the latter and the Unionist Party, on +which the Coalition had swept the country, had made it clear that fresh +Irish legislation was to be expected, and the general lines on which it +would be based were laid down; but there was also an intimation that a +settlement must wait till the condition of Ireland should warrant +it.[104] + +The state of Ireland was certainly not such as to make it appear +probable that any sane Government would take the risk of handing over +control of the country immediately to the Sinn Feiners, whom the recent +elections had proved to be in an overwhelming majority in the three +southern provinces. By the law, not of England alone, but of every +civilised State, that party was tainted through and through with high +treason. It had attempted to "succour the King's enemies" in every way +in its power. The Government had in its possession evidence of two +conspiracies, in which, during the late frightful war, these Irishmen +had been in league with the Germans to bring defeat and disaster upon +England and her Allies, and the second of these plots was only made +possible by the misconceived clemency of the Government in releasing +from custody the ring-leaders in the first. + +And these Sinn Fein rebels left the Government no excuse for any +illusion as to their being either chastened or contrite in spirit. +Contemptuously ignoring their election as members of the Imperial +Parliament, where they never put in an appearance because it would +require them to take an oath of allegiance to the Crown, they openly +held a Congress in Dublin in January 1919 where a Declaration of +Independence was read, and a demand made for the evacuation of Ireland +by the forces of the Crown. A "Ministry" was also appointed, which +purported to make itself responsible for administration in Ireland. +Outrages of a daring character became more and more frequent, and gave +evidence of being the work of efficient organisation. + +President Wilson's coinage of the unfortunate and ambiguous expression +"self-determination" made it a catch-penny cry in relation to Ireland; +but, in reply to Mr. Devlin's demand for a recognition of that +"principle," Mr. Lloyd George pointed out that it had been tried in the +Convention, with the result that both Nationalists and Unionists had +been divided among themselves, and he said he despaired of any +settlement in Ireland until Irishmen could agree. Nevertheless, in +October 1919 he appointed a Cabinet Committee, with Mr. Walter Long as +Chairman, to make recommendations for dealing with the question of Irish +Government. + +But murders of soldiers and police had now become so scandalously +frequent that in November a Proclamation was issued suppressing Sinn +Fein and kindred organisations. It did nothing to improve the state of +the country, which grew worse than ever in the last few weeks of the +year. On the 19th of December a carefully planned attempt on the life of +the Lord-Lieutenant, Lord French, proved how complete was the impunity +relied upon by the organised assassins who, calling themselves an Irish +Republican Army, terrorised the country. + +It was in such conditions that, just before the close of the +parliamentary session, the Prime Minister disclosed the intentions of +the Government. He laid down three "basic facts," which he said governed +the situation: (1) Three-fourths of the Irish people were bitterly +hostile, and were at heart rebels against the Crown and Government. (2) +Ulster was a complete contrast, which would make it an outrage to place +her people under the rest of Ireland.[105] (3) No separation from the +Empire could be tolerated, and any attempt to force it would be fought +as the United States had fought against secession. On these +considerations he based the proposals which were to be embodied in +legislation in the next session. Sir Edward Carson, who in the light of +past experience was too wary to take all Mr. Lloyd George's declarations +at their face value, said at once that he could give no support to the +policy outlined by the Prime Minister until he was convinced that the +latter intended to go through with it to the end. + +The Bill to give effect to these proposals (which became the Government +of Ireland Act, 1920) was formally introduced on the 25th of February, +1920, and Carson then went over to Belfast to consult with the Unionist +Council as to the action to be taken by the Ulster members. + +The measure was a long and complicated one of seventy clauses and six +schedules. Its effect, stated briefly, was to set up two Parliaments in +Ireland, one for the six Protestant counties of Ulster and the other for +the rest of Ireland. In principle it was the "clean cut" which had been +several times proposed, except that, instead of retaining Ulster in +legislative union with Great Britain, she was to be endowed with local +institutions of her own in every respect similar to, and commensurate +with, those given to the Parliament in Dublin. In addition, a Council of +Ireland was created, composed of an equal number of members from each of +the two legislatures. This Council was given powers in regard to private +bill legislation, and matters of minor importance affecting both parts +of the island which the two Parliaments might mutually agree to commit +to its administration. Power was given to the two Parliaments to +establish by identical Acts at any time a Parliament for all Ireland to +supersede the Council, and to form a single autonomous constitution for +the whole of Ireland. + +The Council of Ireland occupied a prominent place in the debates on the +Bill. It was held up as a symbol of the "unity of Ireland," and the +authors of the measure were able to point to it as supplying machinery +by which "partition" could be terminated as soon as Irishmen agreed +among themselves in wishing to have a single national Government. It was +not a feature of the Bill that found favour in Ulster; but, as it could +do no harm and provided an argument against those who denounced +"partition," the Ulster members did not think it worth while to oppose +it. + +But when Carson met the Ulster Unionist Council on the 6th of March the +most difficult point he had to deal with was the same that had given so +much trouble in the negotiations of 1916. The Bill defined the area +subject to the "Parliament of Northern Ireland" as the six counties +which the Ulster Council had agreed four years earlier to accept as the +area to be excluded from the Home Rule Act. The question now to be +decided was whether this same area should still be accepted, or an +amendment moved for including in Northern Ireland the other three +counties of the Province of Ulster. The same harrowing experience which +the Council had undergone in 1916 was repeated in an aggravated +form.[106] To separate themselves from fellow loyalists in Monaghan, +Cavan, and Donegal was hateful to every delegate from the other six +counties, and it was heartrending to be compelled to resist another +moving appeal by so valued a friend as Lord Farnham. But the inexorable +index of statistics demonstrated that, although Unionists were in a +majority when geographical Ulster was considered as a unit, yet the +distribution of population made it certain that a separate Parliament +for the whole Province would have a precarious existence, while its +administration of purely Nationalist districts would mean unending +conflict. + +It was, therefore, decided that no proposal for extending the area +should be made by the Ulster members. Carson made it clear in the +debates on the Bill that Ulster had not moved from her old position of +desiring nothing except the Union; that he was still convinced there was +"no alternative to the Union unless separation"; but that, while he +would take no responsibility for a Bill which Ulster did not want, he +and his colleagues would not actively oppose its progress to the +Statute-book. + +It did not, however, receive the Royal Assent until two days before +Christmas, and during all these months the condition of Ireland was one +of increasing anarchy. The Act provided that, if the people of Southern +Ireland refused to work the new Constitution, the administration should +be carried on by a system similar to Crown Colony government. Carson +gave an assurance that in Ulster they would do their best to make the +Act a success, and immediate steps were taken in Belfast to make good +this undertaking. + +To the people of Ulster the Act of 1920, though it involved the +sacrifice of much that they had ardently hoped to preserve, came as a +relief to their worst fears. It was represented as a final settlement, +and finality was what they chiefly desired, if they could get it without +being forced to submit to a Dublin Parliament. The disloyal conduct of +Nationalist Ireland during the war, and the treason and terrorism +organised by Sinn Fein after the war, had widened the already broad gulf +between North and South. The determination never to submit to an +all-Ireland Parliament was more firmly fixed than ever. The Act of 1920, +which repealed Mr. Asquith's Act of 1914, gave Ulster what she had +prepared to fight for, if necessary, before the war. It was the +fulfilment of the Craigavon resolution--to take over the government "of +those districts which they could control."[107] The Parliament of +Northern Ireland established by the Act was in fact the legalisation of +the Ulster Provisional Government of 1913. It placed Ulster in a +position of equality with the South, both politically and economically. +The two Legislatures in Ireland possessed the same powers, and were +subject to an equal reservation of authority to the Imperial Parliament. + +But with the passing of the Act the long and consummate leadership of +Sir Edward Carson came to an end. If he had not succeeded in bringing +the Ulster people into a Promised Land, he had at least conducted an +orderly retreat to a position of safety. The almost miraculous skill +with which he had directed all the operations of a protracted and +harassing campaign, avoiding traps and pitfalls at every step, +foreseeing and providing against countless crises, frustrating with +unfailing adroitness the manoeuvres both of implacable enemies and +treacherous "friends," was fully appreciated by his grateful followers, +who had for years past regarded him with an intensity of personal +devotion seldom given even to the greatest of political leaders. But he +felt that the task of opening a new chapter in the history of Ulster, +and of inaugurating the new institutions now established, was work for +younger hands. Hard as he was pressed to accept the position of first +Prime Minister of Ulster, he firmly persisted in his refusal; and on his +recommendation the man who had been his able and faithful lieutenant +throughout the long Ulster Movement was unanimously chosen to succeed +him in the leadership. + +Sir James Craig did not hesitate to respond to the call, although to do +so he had to resign an important post in the British Government, that of +Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty, with excellent prospects of +further promotion. As soon as the elections in "Northern Ireland," +conducted under the system of Proportional Representation, as provided +by the Act of 1920, were complete, Sir James, whose followers numbered +forty as against a Nationalist and Sinn Fein minority of twelve, was +sent for by the Viceroy and commissioned to form a Ministry. He +immediately set himself to his new and exceedingly difficult duties with +characteristic thoroughness. The whole apparatus of government +administration had to be built up from the foundation. Departments, for +which there was no existing office accommodation or personnel, had to +be called into existence and efficiently organised, and all this +preliminary work had to be undertaken at a time when the territory +subject to the new Government was beset by open and concealed enemies +working havoc with bombs and revolvers, with which the Government had +not yet legal power to cope. + +But Sir James Craig pressed on with the work, undismayed by the +difficulties, and resolved that the Parliament in Belfast should be +opened at the earliest possible date. The Marquis of Londonderry gave a +fresh proof of his Ulster patriotism by resigning his office in the +Imperial Government and accepting the portfolio of Education in Sir +James Craig's Cabinet, and with it the leadership of the Ulster Senate; +in which the Duke of Abercorn also, to the great satisfaction of the +Ulster people, consented to take a seat. Mr. Dawson Bates, the +indefatigable Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council during the whole +of the Ulster Movement, was appointed Minister for Home Affairs, and Mr. +E.M. Archdale became Minister for Agriculture. The first act of the +House of Commons of Northern Ireland was to choose Major Hugh O'Neill as +their Speaker, while the important position of Chairman of Committees +was entrusted to Mr. Thomas Moles, one of the ablest recruits of the +Ulster Parliamentary Party, whom the General Election of 1918 had sent +to Westminster as one of the members for Belfast, and who had given +ample evidence of his capacity both in the Imperial Parliament and on +the Secretarial Staff of the Irish Convention of 1917. + +Meantime, in the South the Act of 1920 was treated with absolute +contempt; no step was taken to hold elections or to form an +Administration, although it must be remembered that the flouted Act +conferred a larger measure of Home Rule than had ever been offered by +previous Bills. Thus by one of those curious ironies that have +continually marked the history of Ireland, the only part of the island +where Home Rule operated was the part that had never desired it, while +the provinces that had demanded Home Rule for generations refused to use +it when it was granted them. + +In Ulster the new order of things was accepted with acquiescence rather +than with enthusiasm. But the warmer emotion was immediately called +forth when it became known that His Majesty the King had decided to open +the Ulster Parliament in person on the 22nd of June, 1921, especially as +it was fully realised that, owing to the anarchical condition of the +country, the King's presence in Belfast would be a characteristic +disregard of personal danger in the discharge of public duty. And when, +on the eve of the royal visit, it was intimated that the Queen had been +graciously pleased to accede to Sir James Craig's request that she +should accompany the King to Belfast, the enthusiasm of the loyal people +of the North rose to fever heat. + +At any time, and under any circumstances, the reigning Sovereign and +his Consort would have been received by a population so noted for its +sentiment of loyalty to the Throne as that of Ulster with demonstrations +of devotion exceeding the ordinary. But the present occasion was felt to +have a very special significance. The opening of Parliament by the King +in State is one of the most ancient and splendid of ceremonial pageants +illustrating the history of British institutions. It was felt in Ulster +that the association of this time-honoured ceremonial with the baptism, +so to speak, of the latest offspring of the Mother of Parliaments +stamped the Royal Seal upon the achievement of Ulster, and gave it a +dignity, prestige, and promise of permanence which might otherwise have +been lacking. No city in the United Kingdom had witnessed so many +extraordinary displays of popular enthusiasm in the last ten years as +Belfast, some of which had left on the minds of observers a firm belief +that such intensity of emotion in a great concourse of people could not +be exceeded. The scene in the streets when the King and Queen drove from +the quay, on the arrival of the royal yacht, to the City Hall, was held +by general consent to equal, since it could not surpass, any of those +great demonstrations of the past in popular fervour. At any rate, +persons of long experience in attendance on the Royal Family gave it as +their opinion in the evening that they had never before seen so +impressive a display of public devotion to the person of the Sovereign. + +Two buildings in Belfast inseparably associated with Ulster's stand for +union, the City Hall and the Ulster Hall, were the scenes of the chief +events of the King's visit. The former, described by one of the English +correspondents as "easily the most magnificent municipal building in the +three Kingdoms,"[108] was placed at the disposal of the Ulster +Government by the Corporation for temporary use as a Parliament House. +The Council Chamber, a fine hall of dignified proportions with a dais +and canopied chair at the upper end, made an appropriate frame for the +ceremony of opening Parliament, and the arrangements both of the +Chamber itself and of the approaches and entrances to it made it a +simple matter to model the procedure as closely as possible on that +followed at Westminster. + +Among the many distinguished people who assembled in the Ulster Capital +for the occasion, there was one notable absentee. Lord Carson of +Duncairn--for this was the title that Sir Edward Carson had assumed on +being appointed a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary a few weeks previously--was +detained in London by judicial duty in the House of Lords; and possibly +reasons of delicacy not difficult to understand restrained him from +making arrangements for absence. But the marked ovation given to Lady +Carson wherever she was recognised in the streets of Belfast showed that +the great leader was not absent from the popular mind at this moment of +vindication of his statesmanship. + +Such an event as that which brought His Majesty to Belfast was naturally +an occasion for bestowing marks of distinction for public service. Sir +James Craig wisely made it also an occasion for letting bygones be +bygones by recommending Lord Pirrie for a step in the Peerage. Among +those who received honours were several whose names have appeared in the +preceding chapters of this book. Mr. William Robert Young, for thirty +years one of the most indefatigable workers for the Unionist cause in +Ulster, and Colonel Wallace, one of the most influential of Carson's +local lieutenants, were made Privy Councillors, as was also Colonel +Percival-Maxwell, who raised and commanded a battalion of the Ulster +Division in the war. Colonel F.H. Crawford and Colonel Spender were +awarded the C.B.E. for services to the nation during the war; but +Ulstermen did not forget services of another sort to the Ulster cause +before the Germans came on the scene.[109] A knighthood was given to Mr. +Dawson Bates, who had exchanged the Secretaryship of the Ulster Unionist +Council for the portfolio of a Cabinet Minister. + +These honours were bestowed by the King in person at an investiture held +in the Ulster Hall in the afternoon. There must have been many present +whose minds went back to some of the most stirring events of Ulster's +domestic history which had been transacted in the same building within +recent years. Did Sir Hamar Greenwood, the Chief Secretary, as he stood +in attendance on the Sovereign in the resplendent uniform of a Privy +Councillor, look in curiosity round the walls which he and Mr. Churchill +had been prohibited from entering on a memorable occasion when they had +to content themselves with an imported tent in a football field instead? +Did Colonel Wallace's thoughts wander back to the scene of wild +enthusiasm in that hall on the evening before the Covenant, when he +presented the ancient Boyne flag to the Ulster leader? Did those who +spontaneously started the National Anthem in the presence of the King +without warrant from the prearranged programme, and made the Queen smile +at the emphasis with which they "confounded politics" and "frustrated +knavish tricks," remember the fervour with which on many a past occasion +the same strains testified to Ulster's loyalty in the midst of +perplexity and apprehension? If these memories crowded in, they must +have added to the sense of relief arising from the conviction that the +ceremony they were now witnessing was the realisation of the policy +propounded by Carson, when he declared that Ulster must always be ruled +either by the Imperial Parliament or by a Government of her own. + +But the moment of all others on that memorable day that must have been +suggestive of such reflections was when the King formally opened the +first Parliament of Northern Ireland in the same building that had +witnessed the signing of the Ulster Covenant. Without the earlier event +the later could not have been. If 1921 could have been fully foreseen in +1912 it might have appeared to many Covenanters as the disappointment of +a cherished ideal. But those who lived to listen to the King's Speech in +the City Hall realised that it was the dissipation of foreboding. +However regarded, it was, as King George himself pronounced, "a +profoundly moving occasion in Irish history." + +The Speech from the Throne in which these words occurred made a deep +impression all over the world, and nowhere more than in Ulster itself. +No people more ardently shared the touchingly expressed desire of the +King that his coming to Ireland might "prove to be the first step +towards an end of strife amongst her people, whatever their race or +creed." So, too, when His Majesty told the Ulster Parliament that he +"felt assured they would do their utmost to make it an instrument of +happiness and good government for all parts of the community which they +represented," the Ulster people believed that the King's confidence in +them would not prove to have been misplaced. + +Happily, no prophetic vision of those things that were shortly to come +to pass broke in to disturb the sense of satisfaction with the haven +that had been reached. The future, with its treachery, its alarms, its +fresh causes of uncertainty and of conflict, was mercifully hidden from +the eyes of the Ulster people when they acclaimed the inauguration of +their Parliament by their King. They accepted responsibility for the +efficient working of institutions thus placed in their keeping by the +highest constitutional Authority in the British Empire, although they +had never asked for them, and still believed that the system they had +been driven to abandon was better than the new; and they opened this +fresh chapter in their history in firm faith that what had received so +striking a token of the Sovereign's sympathy and approval would never be +taken from them except with their own consent. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[104] See Letter from Mr. Lloyd George to Mr. Bonar Law, published in +the Press on November 18th, 1918. + +[105] Precisely twenty-four months later this outrage was committed by +Mr. Lloyd George himself, with the concurrence of Mr. Austen +Chamberlain. + +[106] _Ante_, p. 248. + +[107] See _ante_, p. 51. + +[108] _The Morning Post_, June 23rd, 1921. + +[109] See _ante_, Chapter XVIII. + + + + +APPENDIX A + +NATIONALIST LETTER TO PRESIDENT WILSON + +To THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + +SIR, + +When, a century and a half ago, the American Colonies dared to assert +the ancient principle that the subject should not be taxed without the +consent of his representatives, England strove to crush them. To-day +England threatens to crush the people of Ireland if they do not accept a +tax, not in money but in blood, against the protest of their +representatives. + +During the American Revolution the champions of your liberties appealed +to the Irish Parliament against British aggression, and asked for a +sympathetic judgment on their action. What the verdict was, history +records. + +To-day it is our turn to appeal to the people of America. We seek no +more fitting prelude to that appeal than the terms in which your +forefathers greeted ours: + + "We are desirous of possessing the good opinion of the virtuous and + humane. We are peculiarly desirous of furnishing you with the true + state of our motives and objects, the better to enable you to judge + of our conduct with accuracy, and determine the merits of the + controversy with impartiality and precision." + +If the Irish race had been conscriptable by England in the war against +the United Colonies is it certain that your Republic would to-day +flourish in the enjoyment of its noble Constitution? + +Since then the Irish Parliament has been destroyed, by methods described +by the greatest of British statesmen as those of "black-guardism and +baseness." Ireland, deprived of its protection and overborne by more +than six to one in the British Lower House, and by more than a hundred +to one in the Upper House, is summoned by England to submit to a +hitherto-unheard-of decree against her liberties. + +In the fourth year of a war ostensibly begun for the defence of small +nations, a law conscribing the manhood of Ireland has been passed, in +defiance of the wishes of our people. The British Parliament, which +enacted it, had long outrun its course, being in the eighth year of an +existence constitutionally limited to five. To warrant the coercive +statute, no recourse was had to the electorate of Britain, much less to +that of Ireland. Yet the measure was forced through within a week, +despite the votes of Irish representatives, and under a system of +closure never applied to the debates which established conscription for +Great Britain on a milder basis. + +To repel the calumnies invented to becloud our action, we venture to +address the successors of the belligerents who once appealed to Ireland. +The feelings which inspire America deeply concern our race; so, in the +forefront of our remonstrance, we feel bound to set forth that this +Conscription Act involves for Irishmen questions far larger than any +affecting mere internal politics. They raise a sovereign principle +between a nation that has never abandoned her independent rights, and an +adjacent nation that has persistently sought to strangle them. + +Were Ireland to surrender that principle, she must submit to a usurped +power, condone the fraudulent prostration of her Parliament in 1800, and +abandon all claim to distinct nationality. Deep-seated and far-reaching +are the problems remorselessly aroused by the unthinking and violent +courses taken at Westminster. + +Thus the sudden and unlooked-for departure of British politicians from +their past military procedure towards this island provokes acutely the +fundamental issue of Self-determination. That issue will decide whether +our whole economic, social, and political life must lie at the +uncontrolled disposition of another race whose title to legislate for us +rests on force and fraud alone. + +Ireland is a nation more ancient than England, and is one of the oldest +in Christendom. Its geographical boundaries are clearly defined. It +cherishes its own traditions, history, language, music, and culture. It +throbs with a national consciousness sharpened not only by religious +persecution, but by the violation of its territorial, juristic, and +legislative rights. The authority of which its invaders boasted rests +solely on an alleged Papal Bull. The symbols of attempted conquest are +roofless castles, ruined abbeys, and confiscated cathedrals. + +The title of King of Ireland was first conferred on the English monarch +by a statute of the Parliament held in Ireland in 1542, when only four +of our counties lay under English sway. That title originated in no +English enactment. Neither did the Irish Parliament so originate. Every +military aid granted by that Parliament to English kings was purely +voluntary. Even when the Penal Code denied representation to the +majority of the Irish population, military service was never enforced +against them. + +For generations England claimed control over both legislative and +judicial functions in Ireland, but in 1783 these pretensions were +altogether renounced, and the sovereignty of the Irish Legislature was +solemnly recognised. A memorable British statute declared it-- + + "Established and ascertained for ever, and shall at no time + hereafter be questioned or questionable." + +For this, the spirit evoked by the successful revolt of the United +States of America is to be thanked, and Ireland won no mean return for +the sympathy invited by your Congress. Yet scarcely had George III +signified his Royal Assent to that "scrap of paper," when his Ministers +began to debauch the Irish Parliament. No Catholic had, for over a +century, been allowed to sit within its walls; and only a handful of the +population enjoyed the franchise. In 1800, by shameless bribery, a +majority of corrupt Colonists was procured to embrace the London +subjugation and vote away the existence of their Legislature for +pensions, pelf, and titles. + +The authors of the Act of Union, however, sought to soften its shackles +by limiting the future jurisdiction of the British Parliament. Imposed +on "a reluctant and protesting nation," it was tempered by articles +guaranteeing Ireland against the coarser and more obvious forms of +injustice. To guard against undue taxation, "exemptions and abatements" +were stipulated for; but the "predominant partner" has long since +dishonoured that part of the contract, and the weaker side has no power +to enforce it. No military burdens were provided for, although Britain +framed the terms of the treaty to her own liking. That an obligation to +yield enforced service was thereby undertaken has never hitherto been +asserted. We therefore cannot neglect to support this protest by citing +a main proviso of the Treaty of Union. Before the destruction of the +Irish Parliament no standing army or navy was raised, nor was any +contribution made, except by way of gift, to the British Army or Navy. +No Irish law for the levying of drafts existed; and such a proposal was +deemed unconstitutional. Hence the 8th Article of the Treaty provides +that-- + + "All laws in force at the time of the Union shall remain as now by + law established, subject only to such alterations and regulations + from time to time as circumstances may appear to the Parliament of + the United Kingdom to require." + +Where there was no law establishing military service for Ireland, what +"alteration or regulation" respecting such a law can legally bind? Can +an enactment such as Conscription, affecting the legal and moral rights +of an entire people, be described as an "alteration" or "regulation" +springing from a pre-existing law? Is the Treaty to be construed as +Britain pleases, and always to the prejudice of the weaker side? + +British military statecraft has hitherto rigidly held by a separate +tradition for Ireland. The Territorial military system, created in 1907 +for Great Britain, was not set up in Ireland. The Irish Militia was then +actually disbanded, and the War Office insisted that no Territorial +force to replace it should be embodied. Stranger still, the Volunteer +Acts (Naval or Military) from 1804 to 1900 (some twenty in all) were +never extended to Ireland. In 1880, when a Conservative House of Commons +agreed to tolerate volunteering, the measure was thrown out by the House +of Lords on the plea that Irishmen must not be allowed to learn the use +of arms. + +For, despite the Bill of Rights, the privilege of free citizens to bear +arms in self-defence has been refused to us. The Constitution of America +affirms that right as appertaining to the common people, but the men of +Ireland are forbidden to bear arms in their own defence. Where, then, +lies the basis of the claim that they can be forced to take them up for +the defence of others? + +It will suffice to present such considerations in outline without +disinterring the details of the past misgovernment of our country. Mr. +Gladstone avowed that these were marked by "every horror and every shame +that could disgrace the relations between a strong country and a weak +one." After an orgy of Martial Law the Scottish General, Abercromby, +Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, wrote: "Every crime, every cruelty that +could be committed by Cossacks or Calmucks has been transacted here.... +The abuses of all kinds I found can scarcely be believed or enumerated." +Lord Holland recalls that many people "were sold at so much a head to +the Prussians." + +We shall, therefore, pass by the story of the destruction of our +manufactures, of artificial famines, of the fomentation of uprisings, of +a hundred Coercion Acts, culminating in the perpetual "Act of +Repression" obtained by forgery, which graced Queen Victoria's Jubilee +Year in 1887. In our island the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, the +repression of free speech, gibbetings, shootings, and bayonetings, are +commonplace events. The effects of forced emigration and famine American +generosity has softened; and we do not seek a verdict on the general +merits of a system which enjoys the commendation of no foreigner except +Albert, Prince Consort, who declared that the Irish "were no more worthy +of sympathy than the Poles." + +It is known to you how our population shrank to its present fallen +state. Grants of money for emigration, "especially of families," were +provided even by the Land Act of 1881. Previous Poor Law Acts had +stimulated this "remedy." So late as 1891 a "Congested District" Board +was empowered to "aid emigration," although millions of Irishmen had in +the nineteenth century been evicted from their homes or driven abroad. + +Seventy years ago our population stood at 8,000,000, and, in the normal +ratio of increase, it should to-day amount to 16,000,000. Instead, it +has dwindled to 4,500,000; and it is from this residuum that our manhood +between the ages of eighteen and fifty-one is to be delivered up in such +measure as the strategists of the English War Cabinet may demand. + +To-day, as in the days of George Washington, nearly half the American +forces have been furnished from the descendants of our banished race. If +England could not, during your Revolution, regard that enrolment with +satisfaction, might she not set something now to Ireland's credit from +the racial composition of your Army or Navy? No other small nation has +been so bereft by law of her children, but in vain for Ireland has the +bread of exile been thrown upon the waters. + +Yet, while Self-determination is refused, we are required by law to +bleed to "make the world safe for democracy "--in every country except +our own. Surely this cannot be the meaning of America's message to +mankind glowing from the pen of her illustrious President? + +In the 750 years during which the stranger sway has blighted Ireland her +people have never had occasion to welcome an unselfish or generous deed +at the hands of their rulers. Every so-called "concession" was but the +loosening of a fetter. Every benefit sprang from a manipulation of our +own money by a foreign Treasury denying us an honest audit of accounts. +None was yielded as an act of grace. All were the offspring of +constraint, tumult, or political necessity. Reason and arguments fell on +deaf ears. To England the Union has brought enhanced wealth, population, +power, and importance; to Ireland increased taxation, stunted +industries, swollen emigration, and callous officialism. + +Possessing in this land neither moral nor intellectual pre-eminence, nor +any prestige derived from past merit or present esteem, the British +Executive claims to restrain our liberties, control our fortunes, and +exercise over our people the power of life and death. To obstruct the +recent Home Rule Bill it allowed its favourites to defy its Parliament +without punishment, to import arms from suspect regions with impunity, +to threaten "to break every law" to effectuate their designs to infect +the Army with mutiny and set up a rival Executive backed by military +array to enforce the rule of a caste against the vast majority of the +people. The highest offices of State became the guerdon of the +organisers of rebellion, boastful of aid from Germany. To-day they are +pillars of the Constitution, and the chief instrument of law. The only +laurels lacking to the leaders of the Mutineers are those transplanted +from the field of battle! + +Are we to fight to maintain a system so repugnant, and must Irishmen be +content to remain slaves themselves after freedom for distant lands has +been purchased by their blood? + +Heretofore in every clime, whenever the weak called for a defender, +wherever the flag of liberty was unfurled, that blood freely flowed. +Profiting by Irish sympathy with righteous causes Britain, at the +outbreak of war, attracted to her armies tens of thousands of our youth +ere even the Western Hemisphere had awakened to the wail of "small +nations." + +Irishmen, in their chivalrous eagerness, laid themselves open to the +reproach from some of their brethren of forgetting the woes of their own +land, which had suffered from its rulers, at one time or another, almost +every inhumanity for which Germany is impeached. It was hard to bear the +taunt that the army they were joining was that which held Ireland in +subjection; but fresh bitterness has been added to such reproaches by +what has since taken place. + +Nevertheless, in the face of persistent discouragements, Irish chivalry +remained ardent and aflame in the first years of the war. Tens of +thousands of the children of the Gael have perished in the conflict. +Their bones bleach upon the soil of Flanders or moulder beneath the +waves of Suvla Bay. The slopes of Gallipoli, the sands of Egypt, +Mesopotamia and Judasa afford them sepulture. Mons and Ypres provide +their monuments. Wherever the battle-line extends from the English +Channel to the Persian Gulf their ghostly voices whisper a response to +the roll-call of the guardian-spirits of Liberty. What is their reward? + +The spot on earth they loved best, and the land to which they owed their +first duty, and which they hoped their sacrifices might help to freedom, +lies unredeemed under an age-long thraldom. So, too, would it for ever +lie, were every man and every youth within the shores of Ireland to +immolate himself in England's service, unless the clamour of a dominant +caste be rebuked and stilled. + +Yet proof after proof accumulates that British Cabinets continue to be +towards our country as conscienceless as ever. They deceive frankly +nations throughout the world as to their Irish policy, while withholding +from us even the Act of Home Rule which in 1914 was placed on the +Statute-book. The recent "Convention," which they composed to initiate +reform, was brought to confusion by a letter from the Prime Minister +diminishing his original engagements. + +Such insincere manoeuvres have left an indelible sense of wrong rankling +in the hearts of Ireland. + +Capitulations are observed with French Canadians, with the Maltese, with +the Hindoos, with the Mohammedan Arabs, or the African Boers; but never +has the word of England, in any capital case, been kept towards the +"sister" island. + +The Parliaments of Australia and of South Africa--both of which (unlike +our ancient Legislature) were founded by British enactments--refused to +adopt conscription. This was well known when the law against Ireland was +resolved on. For opposing the application of that law to Irishmen, and +while this appeal to you, sir, was being penned, members of our +Conference have been arrested and deported without trial. It was even +sought to poison the wells of American sympathy by levelling against +them and others an allegation which its authors have failed to submit to +the investigation of any tribunal. + +To overlay malpractice by imputing to its victims perverse or criminal +conduct is the stale but never-failing device of tyranny. + +A claim has also been put forward by the British Foreign Office to +prevent you, Mr. President, as the head of a great allied Republic, from +acquiring first-hand information of the reasons why Ireland has +rejected, and will resist, conscription except in so far as the Military +Governor of Ireland, Field-Marshal Lord French, may be pleased to allow +you to peruse his version of our opinions. + +America's present conflict with Germany obstructs no argument that we +advance. "Liberty and ordered peace" we, too, strive for; and +confidently do we look to you, sir, and to America--whose freedom +Irishmen risked something to establish--to lend ear and weight to the +prayer that another unprovoked wrong against the defenceless may not +stain this sorry century. + +We know that America entered the war because her rights as a neutral, in +respect of ocean navigation, were interfered with, and only then. Yet +America in her strength had a guarantee that in victory she would not be +cheated of that for which she joined in the struggle. Ireland, having no +such strength, has no such guarantee; and experience has taught us that +justice (much less gratitude) is not to be wrung from a hostile +Government. What Ireland is to give, a free Ireland must determine. + +We are sadly aware, from recent proclamations and deportations, of the +efforts of British authorities to inflame prejudice against our country. +We therefore crave allowance briefly to notice the insinuation that the +Irish coasts, with native connivance, could be made a base for the +destruction of American shipping. + +An official statement asserts that: + + "An important feature in every plan was the establishment of + submarine bases in Ireland to menace the shipping of all nations." + +On this it is enough to say that every creek, inlet, or estuary that +indents our shores, and every harbour, mole, or jetty is watchfully +patrolled by British authority. Moreover, Irish vessels, with their +cargoes, crews, and passengers, have suffered in this war +proportionately to those of Britain. + +Another State Paper palliates the deportations by blazoning the descent +of a solitary invader upon a remote island on the 12th of April, +heralded by mysterious warnings from the Admiralty to the Irish Command. +No discussion is permitted of the tryst of this British soldier with the +local coast-guards, of his speedy bent towards a police barrack, and his +subsequent confidences with the London authorities. + +Only one instance exists in history of a project to profane our coasts +by making them a base to launch attacks on international shipping. That +plot was framed, not by native wickedness, but by an English Viceroy, +and the proofs are piled up under his hand in British State Papers. + +For huge bribes were proffered by Lord Falkland, Lord-Lieutenant of +Ireland, to both the Royal Secretary and the Prince of Wales, to obtain +consent for the use of Irish harbours to convenience Turkish and +Algerine pirates in raiding sea-going commerce. The plot is old, but the +plea of "increasing his Majesty's revenues" by which it was commended is +everlasting. Nor will age lessen its significance for the citizens of +that Republic which, amidst the tremors and greed of European diplomacy, +extirpated the traffic of Algerine corsairs ninety years ago. British +experts cherish Lord Falkland's fame as the sire of their most knightly +cavalier, and in their eyes its lustre shines undimmed, though his +Excellency, foiled of marine booty, enriched himself by seizing the +lands of his untried prisoners in Dublin Castle. + +Moving are other retrospects evoked by the present outbreak of malignity +against our nation. The slanders of the hour recall those let loose to +cloak previous deportations in days of panic less ignoble. Then it was +the Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Oliver Plunkett, who was dragged +to London and arraigned for high treason. Poignant memories quicken at +every incident which accompanied his degradation before the Lord Chief +Justice of England. A troop of witnesses was suborned to swear that his +Grace "endeavoured and compassed the King's death," sought to "levy war +in Ireland and introduce a foreign Power," and conspired "to take a view +of all the several ports and places in Ireland where it would be +convenient to land from France." An open trial, indeed, was not denied +him; but with hasty rites he was branded a base and false traitor and +doomed to be hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. That desperate +felon, after prolonged investigation by the Holy See, has lately been +declared a martyr worthy of universal veneration. + +The fathers of the American Revolution were likewise pursued in turn by +the venom of Governments. Could they have been snatched from their homes +and haled to London, what fate would have befallen them? There your +noblest patriots might also have perished amidst scenes of shame, and +their effigies would now bedeck a British chamber of horrors. Nor would +death itself have shielded their reputations from hatchments of +dishonour. For the greatest of Englishmen reviled even the sacred name +of Joan of Arc, the stainless Maid of France, to belittle a fallen foe +and spice a ribald stage-play. + +It is hardly thirty years since every Irish leader was made the victim +of a special Statute of Proscription, and was cited to answer vague +charges before London judges. During 1888 and 1889 a malignant and +unprecedented inquisition was maintained to vilify them, backed by all +the resources of British power. No war then raged to breed alarms, yet +no weapon that perjury or forgery could fashion was left unemployed to +destroy the characters of more than eighty National representatives--some +of whom survive to join in this Address. That plot came to an end amidst +the confusion of their persecutors, but fresh accusations may be daily +contrived and buttressed by the chicanery of State. + +In every generation the Irish nation is challenged to plead to a new +indictment, and to the present summons answer is made before no narrow +forum but to the tribunal of the world. So answering, we commit our +cause, as did America, to "the virtuous and humane," and also more +humbly to the providence of God. + +Well assured are we that you, Mr. President, whose exhortations have +inspired the Small Nations of the world with fortitude to defend to the +last their liberties against oppressors, will not be found among those +who would condemn Ireland for a determination which is irrevocable to +continue steadfastly in the course mapped out for her, no matter what +the odds, by an unexampled unity of National judgment and National +right. + +Given at the Mansion House, Dublin, this 11th day of June, 1918. + +LAURENCE O'NEILL, Lord Mayor of Dublin, +Chairman of a Conference of representative +Irishmen whose names stand hereunder. +JOSEPH DEVLIN, +JOHN DILLON, +MICHAEL JOHNSON, +WILLIAM O'BRIEN (Lab.), +T.M. HEALY, +WILLIAM O'BRIEN, +THOMAS KELLY, and JOHN MACNEILL: + {Acting in the place E. DE + VALERA and A. GRIFFITH, + deported 18th of May, 1918, + to separate prisons in England, + without trial or accusation--communication + with whom has been cut off.} + + + + +APPENDIX B + +UNIONIST LETTER TO PRESIDENT WILSON + +CITY HALL, BELFAST, +_August 1st_, 1918. + +To THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + +SIR, + +A manifesto signed by the leader of the Irish Nationalist Party and +certain other Irish gentlemen has been widely circulated in the United +Kingdom, in the form of a letter purporting to have been addressed to +your Excellency.[110] + +Its purpose appears to be to offer an explanation of, and an excuse for, +the conduct of the Nationalist Party in obstructing the extension to +Ireland of compulsory military service, which the rest of the United +Kingdom has felt compelled to adopt as the necessary means of defeating +the German design to dominate the world. At a time when all the free +democracies of the world have, with whatever reluctance, accepted the +burden of conscription as the only alternative to the destruction of +free institutions and of international justice, it is easily +intelligible that those who maintain Ireland's right to solitary and +privileged exemption from the same obligation should betray their +consciousness that an apologia is required to enable them to escape +condemnation at the bar of civilised, and especially of American, +opinion. But, inasmuch as the document referred to would give to anyone +not intimately familiar with British domestic affairs the impression +that it represents the unanimous opinion of Irishmen, it is important +that your Excellency and the American people should be assured that this +is very far from being the case. + +There is in Ireland a minority, whom we claim to represent, comprising +one-fourth to one-third of the total population of the island, located +mainly, but not exclusively, in the province of Ulster, who dissent +emphatically from the views of Mr. Dillon and his associates. This +minority, through their representatives in Parliament, have maintained +throughout the present war that the same obligations should in all +respects be borne by Ireland as by Great Britain, and it has caused them +as Irishmen a keen sense of shame that their country has not submitted +to this equality of sacrifice. + +Your Excellency does not need to be informed that this question has +become entangled in the ancient controversy concerning the +constitutional status of Ireland in the United Kingdom. This is, +indeed, sufficiently clear from the terms of the Nationalist manifesto +addressed to you, every paragraph of which is coloured by allusion to +bygone history and threadbare political disputes. + +It is not our intention to traverse the same ground. There is in the +manifesto almost no assertion with regard to past events which is not +either a distortion or a misinterpretation of historical fact. But we +consider that this is not the moment for discussing the faults and +follies of the past, still less for rehearsing ancient grievances, +whether well or ill founded, in language of extravagant rhetoric. At a +time when the very existence of civilisation hangs in the balance, all +smaller issues, whatever their merits or however they may affect our +internal political problems, should in our judgment have remained in +abeyance, while the parties interested in their solution should have +joined in whole-hearted co-operation against the common enemy. + +There is, however, one matter to which reference must be made, in order +to make clear the position of the Irish minority whom we represent. The +Nationalist Party have based their claim to American sympathy on the +historic appeal addressed to Irishmen by the British colonists who +fought for independence in America a hundred and fifty years ago. By no +Irishmen was that appeal received with a more lively sympathy than by +the Protestants of Ulster, the ancestors of those for whom we speak +to-day--a fact that was not surprising in view of the circumstance that +more than one-sixth part of the entire colonial population in America at +the time of the Declaration of Independence consisted of emigrants from +Ulster. + +The Ulstermen of to-day, forming as they do the chief industrial +community in Ireland, are as devoted adherents to the cause of +democratic freedom as were their forefathers in the eighteenth century. +But the experience of a century of social and economic progress under +the legislative Union with Great Britain has convinced them that under +no other system of government could more complete liberty be enjoyed by +the Irish people. This, however, is not the occasion for a reasoned +defence of "Unionist" policy. Our sole purpose in referring to the +matter is to show, whatever be the merits of the dispute, that a very +substantial volume of Irish opinion is warmly attached to the existing +Constitution of the United Kingdom, and regards as wholly unwarranted +the theory that our political status affords any sort of parallel to +that of the "small nations" oppressed by alien rule, for whose +emancipation the Allied democracies are fighting in this war. + +The Irish representation in the Imperial Parliament throws a significant +sidelight on this prevalent fiction. Whereas England is only represented +by one member for every 75,000 of population, and Scotland by one for +every 65,000, Ireland has a member for every 42,000 of her people. With +a population below that of Scotland, Ireland has 31 more members in the +House of Commons, and 89 more than she could claim on a basis of +representation strictly proportionate to population in the United +Kingdom. + +Speaking in Dublin on the 1st of July, 1915, the late Mr. John Redmond +gave the following description of the present condition of Ireland, +which offers a striking contrast to the extravagant declamation that +represents that country as downtrodden by a harsh and unsympathetic +system of government: + + "To-day," he said, "the people, broadly speaking, own the soil. + To-day the labourers live in decent habitations. To-day there is + absolute freedom in local government and local taxation of the + country. To-day we have the widest parliamentary and municipal + franchise. The congested districts, the scene of some of the most + awful horrors of the old famine days, have been transformed. The + farms have been enlarged, decent dwellings have been provided, and + a new spirit of hope and independence is to-day among the people. + In towns legislation has been passed facilitating the housing of + the working classes--a piece of legislation far in advance of + anything obtained for the town tenants of England. We have a system + of old-age pensions in Ireland whereby every old man and woman over + seventy is safe from the workhouse and free to spend their last + days in comparative comfort." + +Such are the conditions which, in the eyes of Nationalist politicians, +constitute a tyranny so intolerable as to justify Ireland in repudiating +her fair share in the burden of war against the enemies of civilisation. + +The appeal which the Nationalists make to the principle of +"self-determination" strikes Ulster Protestants as singularly +inappropriate. Mr. Dillon and his co-signatories have been careful not +to inform your Excellency that it was their own opposition that +prevented the question of Irish Government being settled in accordance +with that principle in 1916. The British Government were prepared at +that time to bring the Home Rule Act of 1914 into immediate operation, +if the Nationalists had consented to exclude from its scope the +distinctively Protestant population of the North, who desired to adhere +to the Union. This compromise was rejected by the Nationalist leaders, +whose policy was thus shown to be one of "self-determination" for +themselves, combined with coercive domination over us. + +It is because the British Government, while prepared to concede the +principle of self-determination impartially to both divisions in +Ireland, has declined to drive us forcibly into such subjection that the +Nationalist Party conceive themselves entitled to resist the law of +conscription. And the method by which this resistance has been made +effective is, in our view, not less deplorable than the spirit that +dictated it. The most active opponents of conscription in Ireland are +men who have been twice detected during the war in treasonable traffic +with the enemy, and their most powerful support has been that of +ecclesiastics, who have not scrupled to employ weapons of spiritual +terrorism which have elsewhere in the civilised world fallen out of +political use since the Middle Ages. + +The claim of these men, in league with Germany on the one hand, and with +the forces of clericalism on the other, to resist a law passed by +Parliament as necessary for national defence is, moreover, inconsistent +with any political status short of independent sovereignty--status which +could only be attained by Ireland by an act of secession from the United +Kingdom, such as the American Union averted only by resort to civil war. +In every Federal or other Constitution embracing subordinate +legislatures the raising and control of military forces are matters +reserved for the supreme legislative authority alone, and they are so +reserved for the Imperial Parliament of the United Kingdom in the Home +Rule Act of 1914, the "withholding" of which during the war is +complained of by the Nationalists who have addressed your Excellency. +The contention of these gentlemen that until the internal government of +Ireland is changed in accordance with their demands, Ireland is +justified in resisting the law of Conscription, is one that finds +support in no intelligible theory of political science. + +To us as Irishmen--convinced as we are of the righteousness of the cause +for which we are fighting, and resolved that no sacrifice can be too +great to "make the world safe for democracy"--it is a matter of poignant +regret that the conduct of the Nationalist leaders in refusing to lay +aside matters of domestic dispute, in order to put forth the whole +strength of the country against Germany should have cast a stain on the +good name of Ireland. We have done everything in our power to dissociate +ourselves from their action, and we disclaim responsibility for it at +the bar of posterity and history. + +EDWARD CARSON. +JAMES JOHNSTON, Lord Mayor of Belfast. +H.M. POLLOCK, President Belfast Chamber of Commerce. +R.N. ANDERSON, Mayor of Londonderry, and + President Londonderry Chamber of Commerce. +JOHN M. ANDREWS, Chairman Ulster Unionist Labour Association. +JAMES A. TURKINGTON, Vice-Chairman Ulster + Unionist Labour Association, and Secretary + Power-loom and Allied Trades Friendly + Society, and ex-Secretary Power-loom + Tenters' Trade Union of Ireland. +THOMPSON DONALD, Hon. Secretary Ulster + Unionist Labour Association, and ex-District + Secretary Shipwrights' Association. +HENRY FLEMING, Hon. Secretary Ulster Unionist + Labour Association, Member of Boilermakers' + Iron and Steel Shipbuilders' Society. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[110] See Appendix A. + + + + +INDEX + +Abercorn, James, 2nd Duke of, + at the Belfast Convention, 33; + President of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + illness, 47, 85, 108; + signs the Covenant, 122; + death, 144 +Abercorn, James, 3rd Duke of, 257, 282 +Abercorn, Mary, Duchess of, + President of the Women's Unionist Council, 37 +Adair, Gen. Sir Wm., at Larne, 217 +Afghan Campaign, 161 +Africa, South, War, 18 +Agar-Robartes, Hon. Thomas, + amendment on the Home Rule Bill, 92, 94-97, 132 +Agnew, Capt. Andrew, viii, 193, 202, 210, 213, 214, 220 +Albert Hall, meetings at, 14, 21, 34, 71 +Alexander, Dr., Bishop of Derry, at the Albert Hall, 14 +Allen, C.E., 156 +Allen, W.J., 35 +Althorp, Lord, 138 +Altrincham, election, 155 +Amending Bill, 221, 223, 227; + postponed, 228, 230; + _see_ Home Rule +America, War of Independence, 273 +Amery, L.C.S., + at Belfast, 81; + on the Curragh Incident, 182 +Amiens, threatened capture of, 266 +Anderson, R.N., Mayor of Londonderry, + letter to President Wilson, 273, 296-299 +Andrews, John M., letter to President Wilson, 296-299 +Andrews, Thomas, 33, 35, 48 +Anglo-German relations, 167, 201 +_Annual Register_, viii, 18 note, 21, 54 note, 76, 78 note, 138, + 154 note, 155 note, 157 note, 166 note, 167 note, 169 note, + 170 note, 201 note, 222 note, 223 note, 238, 271 note, 272 note +Archdale, E.M., 35; + Chairman of the Standing Committee, 35; + Minister for Agriculture, 282 +Armagh, military depot, 175, 176 +Armaghdale, Lord, 263; + signs the Covenant, 122: + _see_ Lonsdale +Armistice, the, 275 +Army, British, sympathy with Ulster Loyalists, 187-189 +Arran, Isle of, 175 +Asquith, Rt. Hon. H.H., + on the opposition of Ulster to Home Rule, 1, 2; + at the Albert Hall, 21; + Hull, 24; + Reading, 24; + Bury St. Edmunds, 25; + opinion of Sir E. Carson's speech, 133; + at Ladybank, 154; + Manchester, 166; + policy on the Ulster Question, 167-170; + on the Curragh Incident, 180, 182; + Secretary of State for War, 184; + promises an Amending Bill, 221; + on the landing of arms, 221; + at the Buckingham Palace Conference, 227; + on the postponement of the Amending Bill, 228, 230; + defence of Home Rule Bill, 235; + in Dublin, 244; + on the settlement of the Irish question, 245; + on the national danger, 266 +_Attentive_, H.M.S., 178 +Austrian rifles, 198 + + +Baird, J.D., at Belfast, 81 +Balfour, Rt. Hon. A.J., + at Belfast, 13, 81; + on election tactics, 25; + on exclusion of Ulster, 95; + resigns leadership of the Unionist Party, 60; + how regarded in Ulster, 61; + message from, 115; + the "peccant paragraphs," 181 +Balfour, Lord, of Burleigh, signs the British Covenant, 170 +Ballycastle, 193 +Ballykinler, training camp, 237 +Ballymacarret, 225 +Ballymena, meeting at, 108 +Ballymoney, meeting at, 158 +Ballyroney, meeting at, 108 +_Balmerino_, s.s., 208, 209 +Balmoral, Belfast, meeting at, 79-86, 101 +Bangor, 214, 219 +Barrie, H.T., 257 +Bates, Richard Dawson, Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35, 121; + organises demonstration, 111; + on board a tender, 214; + Minister for Home Affairs, 282; + knighthood, 284 +Bedford, Duke of, + Chairman of the British League for the support of Ulster, 147 +Belfast, 46; + Convention of 1892, 32-34, 109; + meetings at, 52, 78, 157; + services on Ulster Day, 117; + City Hall, 119, 283; + Covenant signed, 119-122; + drill hall, opened, 148; + riots, 151; + review of the Ulster Volunteer Force at, 163; + Customs Authorities, stratagem against, 217; + reception of the King and Queen, 283 +Belfast Lough, 46, 175, 211, 212 +_Belfast Newsletter_, 102 note, 111 +Benn, Sir John, 53 +Beresford, Lord Charles, + at Belfast, 81, 109; + at the Ulster Club, 125; + Liverpool, 127; + member of a Committee of the Provisional Government, 145 +Berwick, 149, 154 +Birrell, Rt. Hon. Augustine, Chief Secretary for Ireland, + on the character of Sinn Feinism, 4; + at Ilfracombe, 54; + on the Home Rule Bill, 96; + the right to fight, 138; + member of a sub-committee on Ulster, 175; + conduct in the Irish rebellion, 243; + character of his administration, 245 +Blenheim, meeting at, 97 +Boyne, the, 2; + battle of, 115; + celebration, 224 +Bradford, 172, 174, 175 +Bristol, 150, 166; + Channel, 208 +_Britannic_, H.M.S., 224 +British Covenant, signing the, 170 +British League for the support of Ulster and the Union, formation, 147 +Browne, Robert, Managing Director of the Antrim Iron Ore Company, 193 +Brunner, Sir John, President of the National Liberal Federation, 167 +Buckingham Palace Conference, 227 +Budden, Captain, 196 +Budget, 19; "The People's," 20 +"Budget League," formed, 20 +Bull, Sir William, 195 +Bury St. Edmunds, 25 +Butcher, Sir J.G., at Belfast, 81 + + +Cambridge, H.R.H. Duke of, 187 +Cambridgeshire, election, 155 +Campbell, James, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, 57, 95, 109 +Canterbury, Dean of, signs the British Covenant, 170 +Carlyle, Thomas, 137 +Carrickfergus, military depot, 175, 176 +Carson, Lady, at Belfast, 236, 284 +Carson, Rt. Hon. Sir Edward, viii; + accepts leadership, 39-41; + political views, 41; + at the Ulster Hall, 42, 108; + at the Ulster Unionist Council meetings, 42, 246-248; + relations with Lord Londonderry, 44, 53; + on the Parliament Bill, 44; + at the Craigavon meeting, 48-51, 210; + character of his speaking, 48; + at the Conference at Belfast, 52; + at Dublin, 54; + Portrush, 55; + refuses leadership of Unionist Party, 60; + meetings in Lancashire, 65; + popularity, 66, 110, 148; + at Belfast, 73, 157, 224-226, 257, 278; + criticism of W. Churchill's speech, 74; + on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, 77; + at the Balmoral meeting, 81, 84; + ovation, 85; + attacks on, 87; + on the Home Rule Bill, 90, 96; + at the Londonderry House Conference, 94; + on the resistance of Ulster, 98, 100; + character of his leadership, 102; + reads the Ulster Covenant, 105; + tour of the Province, 110, 114; + opinion of the Covenant, 111; + presentation to, 115; + speech on the Covenant, 116; + at the service in the Ulster Hall, 118; + at the City Hall, 120-124; + signs the Covenant, 121; + at Liverpool, 127; + on the exclusion of Ulster, 133, 168; + death of his wife, 148; + at opening of drill hall, 148; + in Scotland and England, 149; + at Durham, 153; + Chairman of the Central Authority, 156; + Indemnity Guarantee Fund, 156; + inspection of the Ulster Volunteer Force, 162, 164, 167, 223, 226; + on the time limit for exclusion, 171; + leaves the House of Commons, 173; + on the plot against Ulster, 176; + signs statement on the Curragh Incident, 186; + interview with Major F.H. Crawford, 199, 210; + congratulations from Lord Roberts, 220; + at Ipswich, 222; + at the Buckingham Palace Conference, 227; + on the patriotism of Ulster, 231-233; + tribute to B. Law, 236; + second marriage, 236; + tribute to Lord Londonderry, 241; + appointed Attorney-General, 242; + resignation, 242; + on the Irish rebellion, 246; + appointed First Lord of the Admiralty, 252; + resignation, 263; + re-elected leader of the Ulster Party, 263; + member of the Irish Unionist Alliance, 265; + on the Military Service Bill, 270; + letter to President Wilson, 273, 296-299; + M.P. for Duncairn, 275; + declines office, 275; + on the Government of Ireland Act, 279; + conclusion of his leadership, 280; + Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, 284; + unable to be present at the opening of the Ulster Parliament, 284 +Casement, Sir Roger, 7, 158; + in league with Germany, 243 +Cassel, Felix, at Belfast, 81 +Castlereagh, Viscount, 109, 230; + at Belfast, 81; + signs the Covenant, 121 +Cavan, 248, 279 +Cave, Rt. Hon. George, 188; + at Belfast, 81; + letter to _The Times_, 152 +Cecil, Lord Hugh, at Belfast, 81, 109; + at the Balmoral meeting, 86; + on the resistance of Ulster, 96 +Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. Austen, + candidate for the leadership of the Unionist Party, 60; + message from, 115; + at Skipton, 167; + on the policy of the Government, 168 +Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. Joseph, at Belfast, 13; + views on Home Rule, 16, 128; + tariff policy, 18; + his advice to Sir E. Carson, 167 +Chambers, James, signs the Covenant, 121 +Chichester, Capt. the Hon. A.C., + Commander in the Ulster Volunteer Force, 163 +Childers, Mr. Erskine, on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, 76 +China Expeditionary Force, 161 +Chubb, Sir George Hayter, signs the British Covenant, 170 +Churchill, Mrs., at Belfast, 73 +Churchill, Lord Randolph, at Belfast, 13, 81; + at the Ulster Hall meeting, 30, 40, 62; + saying of, 31, 42; + reception at Larne, 74; + views on Home Rule, 128; + _Life of,_ 138 +Churchill, Rt. Hon. Winston S., at Manchester, 19; + _Life of Lord Randolph Churchill_, 30, 138; + at Dundee, 54, 154; + views on Home Rule, 62; + projected visit to Belfast, 62-69; + letter to Lord Londonderry, 69; + change of plan, 69; + reception at Belfast, 73; + departure from, 74; + on Home Rule, 95; + letters on the Ulster menace, 99; + on the resistance of Ulster, 138, 141; + the policy of exclusion, 152; + at Bradford, 172, 174, 175 +City Hall, Belfast, 119, 283 +Clark, Sir George, 156 +Clogher, Bishop of, signs the Covenant, 122 +_Clydevalley, s.s.,_ 211-213, 220; + renamed, 214 +Coleraine, meeting at, 108, 114 +Comber, 82 +Copeland Island, 212, 214, 220 +_Correspondence relating to Recent Events in the Irish Command_, 185 +Covenant, British, signing the, 170 +Covenant, Ulster, draft, 104; + terms, 105-107; + series of demonstrations, 108-110; + meeting in the Ulster Hall, 114; + signing the, 120-124; + anniversary, 158, 165, 236 +Cowser, Richard, 210, 214 +Craig, Charles, 96, 147; + serves in the war, 234; + taken prisoner, 234 +Craig, James, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + meeting at Craigavon, 46; + gift for organisation, 46; + member of the Commission of Five, 53; + on the resistance of Ulster, 96; + draft of the Covenant, 103; + organises the demonstration, 111; + presentation of a silver key and pen to Sir E. Carson, 115; + Indemnity Guarantee Fund, 156; + at the reviews of the U.V.F., 162, 164, 223; + at Bangor, 217; + at the Buckingham Palace Conference, 228; + appointed Q.M.G. of the Ulster Division, 234; + Treasurer of the Household, 253; + resignation, 263; + baronetcy, 275; + Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions, 275; + Secretary to the Admiralty, 281; + resignation, 281; + Prime Minister of the Northern Parliament, 281 +Craig, John, 103 +Craig, Mrs., presents colours to the U.V.F., 223 +Craigavon, meeting at, 45-51, 80, 105, 149, 210 +Crawford, Colonel F.H., viii; signs the Covenant, 123, 191; + Commander in the U.V.F., 163; +characteristics, 190; career, 191; + Secretary of the Reform Club, 191; + advertises for rifles, 191; + Director of Ordnance, 192; + method of procuring arms, 192-200; + schooner, 192; + agreement with B.S., 197-200; + interview with Sir E. Carson, 199, 210; + voyage in s.s. _Fanny_, 202-210; + conveys arms from Hamburg, 203-213; + attack of malaria, 207; + declines to obey unsigned orders, 209; + at Belfast, 210; + purchases s.s. _Clydevalley_, 211, 212; + lands the arms, 214; + at Rosslare, 220; + awarded the O.B.E., 284 +Crewe, election, 98, 99 +Crewe, Marq. of, 18, 23, 175; + on the Amending Bill, 223 +Cromwell, Oliver, 136 +Crozier, Dr., Archbp. of Armagh, member of Provisional Government, 145 +Crumlin, meeting at, 108 +Curragh Incident, 174-189, 221 +Curzon, Marq., on the Parliament Bill, 44; + the Home Rule Bill, 134; + the loyalty of Ulster, 141 + + +_Daily Express, The_, 225 +_Daily Mail, The_, 225 +_Daily News, The_, 114, 166 +_Daily Telegraph, The_, 111, 225 +D'Arcy, Dr., Primate of All Ireland, 118; + signs the Covenant, 121 +Darlington, 149 +Davis, Jefferson, 137 +Democracy, axiom of, 15 +Derbyshire, election, 222 +Derry, relief of, 13, 85; + meeting at, 108; + election, 144; + riots, 151 +Desborough, Lord, signs the British Covenant, 170 +Devlin, Joseph, 6, 127, 172, 174, 275; + with Mr. W. Churchill in Belfast, 63, 68; + the Irish Convention, 261; + on the Military Service Bill, 269; + letter to President Wilson, 273, 287-295; + demands self-determination, 277 +Devonshire, 8th Duke of, views on Home Rule, 128, 134; + on the resistance of Ulster, 136, 138; + _Life of_, 136 note, 139 note +Dicey, Prof., signs the British Covenant, 170 +Dickson, Scott, at Belfast, 81; + at the Balmoral meeting, 86 +"Die Hards" party, 44 +Dillon, John, 6, 174; + at the Buckingham Palace Conference, 227; + on the Irish Rebellion, 244; + letter to Pres. Wilson, 273, 287-293 +Donaghadee, 214, 219 +Donald, Thompson, letter to Pres. Wilson, 296-299 +Donegal, 248, 279 +_Doreen_, s.s., 207, 210; + at Lundy, 208 +Dorset Regiment, transferred to Holywood, 177, 178 +Dromore, meeting at, 108 +Dublin, insurrection, 4, 243; + Unionist demonstration at, 54; + Nationalist Convention, meeting, 92; + Congress in, 276 +Dufferin and Ava, Dow. Marchioness of, 113 +Duke, Rt. Hon. H.E., Chief Secretary for Ireland, 253 +Duncairn, election, 275 +Dundalk, 178 +Dundee, 54, 154 +Dunleath, Lord, 156 +Durham, Sir E. Carson at, 153 + + +East Fife, 25 +Edinburgh, 24, 101; + Ulstermen sign the Covenant, 123; + meeting at, 149; + Philosophical Institution, lecture at the, 274 +Edward VII, King, death, 23 +Election, General, of 1886, 16; + of 1895, 34; + of Jan. 1910, 21, 22, 42; + of Dec. 1910, 26; + of 1918, 4 +Elections, result of, 99, 155, 222 +Emmet, Robert, 7, 46, 142 +Enniskillen, meeting at, 108, 114; + military depot, 175, 176 +Erne, Earl of, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + at the Craigavon meeting, 47; + signs the Covenant, 122 +Ewart, G.H., President of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, 157 +Ewart, Sir William, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + signs the Covenant, 121 +_Fanny_, s.s., voyage, viii, 202-213; + alterations in her appearance, 206; + rechristened, 207; + transference of the cargo, 213 +Farnham, Lord, at the Ulster Unionist Council meeting, 248, 279; + Irish Unionist Alliance, 265 +Ferguson, John, & Co., 196 +Fiennes, Mr., at Belfast, 73 +Finance Bill, rejected, 19 +Finlay, Sir Robert, at Belfast, 81; + at the Balmoral meeting, 86 +Fishguard, 213 +Flavin, Mr., on the Military Service Bill, 269 +Fleming, Henry, letter to Pres. Wilson, 296-299 +Flood, Henry, patriotism, 7 +Foyle, the, 87, 214 +_Freemason's Journal, The_, 72, 287 +French, F.M., Viscount, member of the Army Council, 176; + resignation, 184; + Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 272; + attempt on his life, 277 +Frewen, Miss, marriage, 236; _see_ Carson +Friend, General, 177 + + +Gambetta, Léon, 9 +George V, King, Conference at Buckingham Palace, 228; + opens the Ulster Parliament, 282, 286; + reception in Belfast, 283 +George, Rt. Hon. D. Lloyd, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Budget, 19; + at Edinburgh, 24; + on the exclusion of Ulster, 152; + Anglo-German relations, 167, 201; + opinion of Sir E. Carson's speech, 168; + plot against Ulster, 174; + at Ipswich, 222; + the Buckingham Palace Conference, 227; + Secretary of State for War, 245; + negotiations for the settlement of the Irish question, 245, 247, 250; + Prime Minister, 252; + on Home Rule, 254; + alternative proposals, 255; + statement on the war, 266, 268; + Military Service Bill, 268; + letter to B. Law, 276 note; + basic facts on the Irish Question, 277; + Government of Ireland Act, 278 +German rifles, 198 +Gibson, T.H., Sec. of Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + resignation, 35 +Gilmour, Captain, at Belfast, 81 +Gladstone, Rt. Hon. W.E., 138; + on the character of the Nationalists, 5; + conversion to Home Rule, 7, 12, 30; + Home Rule Bills, 13, 16, 17; + personality, 17 +Glasgow, 22, 78; + meeting at, 149 +Goschen, Viscount, views on Home Rule, 16, 128 +Goudy, Prof., signs the British Covenant, 170 +Gough, General Sir Hugh, commanding the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, 180; +at the War Office, 181; + return to the Curragh, 181; + driven back by the Germans, 270 +Government of Ireland Act, 51, 278 +Graham, John Washington, 194 +Grattan, Henry, patriotism, 7 +Greenwood, Sir Hamar, at Belfast, 73; + Chief Secretary for Ireland, 285 +Grey, Earl, on the Home Rule Bill, 134 +Grey, Sir Edward, on the Home Rule Bill, 95; + at Berwick, 154 +Griffith, Arthur, arrested, 271; + deported, 295 +Griffith-Boscawen, Sir Arthur, at Belfast, 81 +Grimsby, election, 222 +Guest, Capt. Frederick, at Belfast, 72 +Guinness, Walter, supports exclusion of Ulster, 95 +Gun-barrel Proof Act, 196 + + +Haldane, Viscount, 130, 185 +Halifax, Lord, 136, 141 +Hall, Frank, 121 +Halsbury, Earl of, 151 +Hamburg, Col. Crawford at, 198 +Hamilton, Lord Claud, at Belfast, 81; + Provisional Government, 145 +Hamilton, George C., M.P. for Altrincham, 155 +Hamilton, Gustavus, Governor of Enniskillen, 48 +Hamilton, Marq. of, interest in the Ulster Movement, 109; + signs the Covenant, 122 +Hammersmith Armoury, 195; + seizure of arms at, 196 +Hanna, J., 257 +Harding, Canon, 158 +Harland and Wolff, Messrs., 191 +Harrison, Frederic, on the Ulster Question, 169 +Hartington, Marq. of, views on Home Rule, 16 +Health Insurance Act, 222 +Healy, T.M., 18, 22; + on the Military Service Bill, 270; + letter to Pres. Wilson, 273, 287-295 +Henry, Denis, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35 +Hickman, Colonel Thomas, member of Provisional Government, 145; + career, 160; + letter from Lord Roberts, 161, 195 +Hills, J.W., at Belfast, 81 +Holland, Bernard, + _Life of the Eighth Duke of Devonshire_, 136 note, 139 note +Holywood, 46, 177, 178 +Home Rule, 23-29; + a separatist movement, 7; + memorial against, 155 +Home Rule Bill, 13, 16, 17, 90-97, 131, 133, 149; + political meetings, 97; + under the "guillotine," 131; + in the House of Lords, 134; + rejected, 135; + time limit for exclusion, 171; + passed, 222, 224; + receives the Royal Assent, 235 +Home Rule Bill, Amending Bill, 221, 223, 227, 228, 230 +Hull, Mr. Asquith at, 24 + + +Ilfracombe, 54 +Indemnity Guarantee Fund, subscriptions, 156, 163 +Ipswich, election, 222 +Ireland, two nations, 2, 84; + rebellions, 6; + animosity of rival creeds, 9; + condition, 17, 19, 298; + insurrection, 27; + fiscal autonomy, 76-78; + financial clauses of the Home Rule Bill, 91; + prohibition of the importation of arms, 166; + Easter Rebellion, 243; + exemption from conscription, 268; + German plot in, 271; + agitation against conscription, 272; + anarchy, 279 +Ireland, Council of, 278 +Ireland, Government of, Act, 2, 278-280 +Ireland, Northern, Parliament, 280-282 +Irish Convention, 255-262; + members, 255, 257; + Report, 264, 266 +_Irish News, The_, 114 +Irish Republican Army, system of terrorism, 277 +Irish Republican Brotherhood, 243 +Irish Unionist Alliance, 30, 265; + co-operation with the Ulster Unionist Council, 37 +Islandmagee, 218 +Italian Vetteli rifles, 197, 198, 201 + + +James II, King, 139, 141 +Johnston, James, Lord Mayor of Belfast, + letter to Pres. Wilson, 273, 296-299 + + +Kelly, Sam, 209 +Kelly, Thomas, letter to Pres. Wilson, 287-295 +Kennedy, Sir Robert, member of Provisional Government, 143 +Kettle, Prof. T.M., on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, 76 +Kiel, 204 +Kingstown, cruisers at, 178 +Kipling, Rudyard, "Ulster 1912," 79, 129; + signs the British Covenant, 170 +Kitchener, F.M. Earl, 230, 238 +Kossuth, 136 + + +Labour Party, 22, 26 +Ladybank, Mr. Asquith at, 154 +Lamlash, battleships at, 175 +Lane-Fox, George, at Belfast, 81 +Langeland, 204 +Lansdowne, Marq. of, scheme of reform for the House of Lords, 24; + on the Parliament Bill, 44; + message from, 115; + on the Ulster Question, 169; + the Amending Bill, 223; + at the Buckingham Palace Conference, 227 +Larne, 74, 81, 212, 214 +Law, Rt. Hon. A. Bonar, leader of Unionist Party, 28, 60; + on Home Rule, 28, 131; + at the Albert Hall, 71; + on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, 78; + at the Balmoral meeting, 80-86; + reception at Larne, 81; + his speech, 84; + indictment against the Government, 90, 172, 174, 235; + on the resistance of Ulster, 91, 95, 98; + messages from, 115, 149; + at Wallsend, 154; + Bristol, 166; + on the exclusion of Ulster, 169, 171; + demands inquiry into the Curragh Incident, 185; + on the Amending Bill, 222; + at the Buckingham Palace Conference, 227; + at Belfast, 236; + tribute to, 236; + at the Ulster Hall, 237; + warning to the Nationalists, 255; + on the Military Service Bill, 269, 271 +Lecky, W.E.H., _History of England in the Eighteenth Century_, 274 note +Leeds, meeting at, 149 +Leo XIII, Pope, 8 +Leslie, Shane, _Henry Edward Manning_, 8 note +Liberal Party, policy, 16; + victory in 1906, 18; + majority, 19, 22; + tactics, 20; + number of votes, 22, 26; + defeated in 1895, 34 +Liddell, R.M., 156 +Lincoln, Abraham, 40; + saying of, 15 +Linlithgow, election, 155 +Lisburn, meeting at, 108, 114 +Liverpool, 127 +_Liverpool Daily Courier, The_, extract from, 165 +_Liverpool Daily Post and Mercury,_ 159 note +Llandudno, 212 +Lloyd, Mr. George, at Belfast, 81 +Logue, Cardinal, 10 +London School of Economics, conference at, 76 +Londonderry House, conference at, 92, 94, 147 +Londonderry, Marchioness of, + member of the Ulster Women's Unionist Council, 37; + on the Covenant, 112; + presents colours to the U.V.F., 223; + work in the war, 240 +Londonderry, 6th Marq. of, viii; + on Home Rule, 28; + Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + popularity, 43; + character, 44; + relations with Sir E. Carson, 44, 53; + on the Parliament Bill, 44; + Conference at Belfast, 52; + at the Ulster Hall meeting, 62, 106, 108; + the Ulster Unionist Council meetings, 65, 67; + reply to W. Churchill, 69; + at Belfast, 73; + at the Balmoral meeting, 84; + signs the Covenant, 121; + at the Ulster Club, 125; + Liverpool, 127; + on the House of Lords, 134; + President of the Ulster Unionist Council, 145; + Indemnity Guarantee Fund, 156; + at the reviews of the U.V.F., 164, 223; + on the Curragh Incident, 186; + on the Amending Bill, 223; + at Enniskillen, 227; + despondency, 240; death, 241; + tribute to, 241 +Londonderry, 7th Marq. of, viii; + member of the Irish Convention, 257, 263; + Under-Secretary of State in the Air Ministry, 275; + resignation, 281; + Minister of Education, 281 +Long, Rt. Hon. Walter, 147; + founder of the Union Defence League, 37; + leader of the Irish Unionists, 38; + at the Ulster Hall, 42; + candidate for the leadership of the Unionist Party, 60; + at Belfast, 81, 224; + at the Balmoral meeting, 84, 86; + the Londonderry House conference, 92; + message from, 115; + on the policy of the Government, 170; + signs the British Covenant, 170; + chairman of a Cabinet Committee on the Irish Question, 277 +Lonsdale, Sir John B., member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + Hon. Sec. of the Irish Unionist Party, 39; + signs Covenant, 122; + Indemnity Guarantee Fund, 156; + leader of the Ulster Party, 254; + at Belfast, 257; + raised to the peerage, 263; + _see_ Armaghdale +Lords, House of, + rejection of the Home Rule Bill, 17, 135; + of the Finance Bill, 19, 21; + forced to accept the Parliament Bill, 27; + position under the Parliament Act, 134; + debates on the Home Rule Bill, 134 +Loreburn, Lord, letters to _The Times_, 152, 165 +Lough Laxford, 203, 206, 207 +Lough, Thomas, on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, 76 +Lovat, Lord, signs the British Covenant, 170 +Lowther, Rt. Hon. James, at the Buckingham Palace Conference, 227 +Loyal Orange Institution, 31 +Lundy, 208 +Lyons, W.H.H., 35 + + +Macdonnell, Lord, on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, 76 +Mackinder, H.J., at Belfast, 81 +Macnaghten, Sir Charles, member Provisional Government, 145 +Macnaghten, Lord, Lord of Appeal, 140, 145; + signs the Covenant, 122 +MacNeill, John, letter to Pres. Wilson, 287-295 +Mahan, Admiral, 130 +Maine, Sir H., _Popular Government_, extract from, 14 +Malcolm, Sir Ian, at Belfast, 81 +Manchester, 77, 166; + election, 99 +_Manchester Guardian, The_, 166 +Manning, Cardinal, on Home Rule, 8 +Mary, H.M., Queen, at the opening of the Ulster Parliament, 282; + reception in Belfast, 283 +Massereene, Lady, presents colours to the Ulster Volunteer Force, 223 +Massingham, Mr., 166 +Masterman, Rt. Hon. C.F.G., 170, 222 +Mazzini, 136 +McCalmont, Col. James, Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + Commander of a U.V.F regiment, 163 +McCammon, Mr., 121 +McDowell, Sir Alexander, criticism of the Ulster Covenant, 104 +McMordie, Mr., Lord Mayor of Belfast, + at the service in the Ulster Hall, 118; + receives Sir E. Carson, 120; + at the Ulster Club, 125 +Meath election petition in 1892, 10 +Melbourne, Lord, 136 +Mersey, the, 127 +Midleton, Earl of, at the Irish Convention, 260; + supports Home Rule, 262; + secedes from the Irish Unionist Alliance, 265 +Midlothian, election, 99 +Military Service Act, ii., 268-272 +Milner, Viscount, signs the British Covenant, 170; + on the Amending Bill, 223 +Moles, Thomas, viii; Chairman of Committee in the Northern Parliament, 282 +Molyneux, patriotism, 7 +Monaghan, 248, 279 +Montgomery, B.W.D., Secretary of the Ulster Club, 103 +Montgomery, Dr., 118 +Montgomery, Major-Gen., member of Provisional Government, 145 +Moore, William, Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + on the amendment to the Home Rule Bill, 96; + exclusion of Ulster, 168 +Morley, Viscount, _Life of Gladstone_, 17; + on the resistance of Ulster, 154; + helps Colonel Seely to draft the "peccant paragraphs," 181, 183 +_Morning Post, The_, 79, 225, 229, 283 note +_Motu Proprio_, Vatican decree, 11 +Mount Stewart, 82, 225 +_Mountjoy_, the, 87, 214 +_Mountjoy II_, s.s., cargo landed at Larne, 214, 218 +Moyle, the, 193 +Musgrave Channel, 211, 217 +Musgrave, Henry, 156 + + +_Nation, The_, 158 +National Insurance Bill, 53 +Nationalist Party, in the House of Commons, 22, 26; + attitude on the war, 267; + opposition to conscription, 269-273 +Nationalists, the, compared with the Ulster Unionists, 2; + disloyalty, 4-6; + policy, 6, 78, 141, 142; + ancestry, 8; + demand dissolution of the Union, 14; + attitude on the war, 231, 233, 252; + members of the Irish Convention, 256-262; + letter to Pres. Wilson, 273, 287-295; + demand "self-determination," 291, 298 +Nationality, root of, 2; + plea of 14, 15 +Navy, reduction of, 167, 201 +_Nec Temere_, Vatican decree, 11 +Neild, Herbert, at Belfast, 81 +Newcastle, 149, 153; + training camp, 237 +Newman, Cardinal, 5 +Newry, 177 +Newtownards, 225; + meeting at, 108, 114 +_Nineteenth Century, The_, 183 note, 239 note +Nonconformists, 9; opposition to + Home Rule, 155 +Northcliffe, Viscount, 225 +Norwich, Ulster members at, 150 + + +O'Brien, William, 22; + on the Military Service Bill, 270; + letter to Pres. Wilson, 273, 287-295 +_Observer, The_, 84, 115 note, 225 +O'Connell, Daniel, 7 +O'Connor, T.P., 127, 174, 275; + on Home Rule, 253 +Omagh, military depot, 175, 176 +Omash, Miss, viii +O'Neill, Capt. Hon. Arthur, 230; + killed in the war, 241, 253 +O'Neill, Major Hugh, serves in the war, 242; + Speaker of the Northern Parliament, 282 +O'Neill, Hugh, Earl of Tyrone, 7 +O'Neill, Laurence, Lord Mayor of Dublin, + letter to Pres. Wilson, 273, 287-295 +O'Neill, Hon. R.T., member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35 +Ormsby-Gore, Capt. the Hon. W.G.A., at Belfast, 81 +O'Shea, divorce, 17 + + +Paget, Sir Arthur, Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, + letter from Colonel Seely, 175; + in London, 176; + interviews with Ministers, 177; + instructions from the War Office, 178, 180; + conference with his officers, 179, 185; + on the employment of troops in Ulster, 186 +Parliament, assembled, 23, 131, 167; + dissolved, 23, 275; + adjourned, 99 +Parliament Act, 23, 27, 43-45, 53, 91 +_Parliamentary Debates_, viii, 29 _note,_ 142, 179 note, 181 note, 185 note +Parnell, Charles, saying of, 6; + leader of the Nationalist Party, 6; + downfall, 17 +_Pathfinder_, H.M.S., 178 +_Patriotic_, R.M.S., 128 +Peel, Sir Robert, 138 +Peel, W., at Belfast, 81 +"People's Budget," 20; + rejection, 42 +Percival-Maxwell, Col., Privy Councillor, 284 +Phoenix Park murders, 243 +Pirrie, Lord, unpopularity in Belfast, 63; + peerage conferred, 284 +Pitt, Rt. Hon. William, 15 +Plunkett, Sir Horace, Chairman of the Irish Convention, 257, 261; + letter to Lloyd George, 264 +Pollock, Sir Ernest, at Belfast, 81 +Pollock, H.M., member of the Irish Convention, 257, 262 +Portadown, meeting at, 108, 114 +Portland, Duke of, signs the British Covenant, 170 +Portrush, 55, 193 +Presbyterian Church, General Assembly of the, 155 +Presbyterians, political views, 12 +Preston, George, subscription to the Indemnity Guarantee Fund, 156 +Prisoners, release of, 256 +Protestants, Irish, distrust of Roman Catholics, 9; + dislike of clerical influence, 10 + +Ramsay, Sir W., signs the British Covenant, 170 +Ranfurly, Earl of, organises the Ulster Loyalist Union, 30, 37; + member of the Unionist Council, 35 +Raphoe, Bishop of, member of the Irish Convention, 258, 260-262 +Rawlinson, J.F.P., at Belfast, 81 +Reade, R.H., 35 +Reading, Mr. Asquith at, 24; + election, 155 +Redistribution Act, 275 +Redmond, Capt., 275 +Redmond, John, 174; + on the national movement, 7; + policy, 22; + on Home Rule, 27, 54; + with Mr. W. Churchill in Belfast, 63, 68; + opinion of Sir E. Carson's speech, 133; + protests against Amending Bill, 222; + at Buckingham Palace Conference, 227; + conditional offer of help in the war, 231, 233; + tribute to, 239; + patriotism, 239; + refuses office, 242; + at Dublin, 249; + on the exclusion of Ulster, 250; + manifesto, 254; + at the Irish Convention, 260-262; + death, 262; + on the condition of Ireland, 298 +Redmond, Major W., his speech in the House, 253; + killed in the war, 253 +Reform Club, Belfast, 122, 124, 191 +Reid, Whitelaw, 274 +Renan, E., on the root of nationality, 2 +_Reynolds's Newspaper_, 89 +Richardson, Gen. Sir George, Commander-in-Chief of the U.V.F., 161, 197; + career, 161; + characteristics, 162; + at Belfast, 162, 217; + reviews the U.V.F., 163-165 +Rifles, seized by Government, 161, 195; + purchase of, 198; + packing, 201; + landed in Ulster, 219 +Roberts, F.M. Earl, 130, 188; + letter to Col. Hickman, 161, 195; + signs British Covenant, 170; + congratulations to Sir E. Carson, 220; + on the result of coercing Ulster, 224 +Robertson, Rt. Hon. J.M., Secretary to the Board of Trade, + on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, 76; + at Newcastle, 153 +Rochdale, Unionist Association at, 99 +Roe, Owen, 7 +Roman Catholics, Irish, disloyalty 9; + character of the priest, 10; + methods of enforcing obedience, 10-12 +Rosebery, Earl of, 15, 18; + at Glasgow, 22; + on the characteristics + of the Ulster race, 101 +Rosslare, 220 +Royal Irish Rifles, the 5th, 57 +Russia, collapse of, 268 +Russian rifles, 198 + + +S.B., the Hebrew dealer in firearms, 197; + agreement with Major F.H. Crawford, 197-200; + honesty, 204 +St. Aldwyn, Viscount, on the King's Prerogative, 151 +Salisbury, Marq. of, at Belfast, 13, 81; + message from, 109; + views on Home Rule, 128 +Salvidge, Mr., Alderman of Liverpool, 127, 128; + signs the British Covenant, 170 +Samuel, Mr. Herbert, at Belfast, 54 +Sanderson, Colonel, Chairman of the Ulster Parliamentary Party, 35, 38 +_Saturday Review, The_, extract from, 70 +Sclater, Edward, Secretary of the Unionist Clubs, 53 +Scotland, the Covenant, 103 +_Scotsman, The_, 101, 225, 274 note +Seely, Col. Sec. of State for War, letter to Sir A. Paget, 175; + statement to Gen. Gough, 181; + adds paragraphs, 181, 183; + on the Curragh Incident, 182; + resignation, 183, 184 +Seymour, Adm. Sir E., signs British Covenant, 170 +Sharman-Crawford, Col., member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + of the Commission of Five, 53 +Shaw, Lord, _Letters to Isabel_, 18 note +Shiel Park, meeting at, 128 +Shipyards, observance of Ulster Day, 117 +Shortt, Rt. Hon. E., Chief Secretary for Ireland, 272 +Simon, Sir John, 175 +Sinclair, Rt. Hon. Thomas, at the Ulster Convention, 33; + member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35, 67; + on Home Rule, 38; + member of a Commission, 63; + on the Covenant, 104, 109; + signs it, 121 +Sinn Fein party, refuse to join the Convention, 255; + in league with Germany, 271, 276; + arrests, 271; + members of Parliament, 276, 276; + treason of, 276; + congress in Dublin, 276; outrages, 277 +Sinn Feinism, spirit of, 4 +Skipton, 167 +Smiley, Kerr, 156 +Smith, Rt. Hon. F.E. (Lord Birkenhead), on the policy of Ulster, 97, 98; + on the Covenant, 109; + at the Ulster Club, 125; + at Liverpool, 127; + at the inspection of the U.V.F., 162; + "galloper" to Gen. Sir G. Richardson, 163 +Smith, Mr. Harold, 109 +Solemn League and Covenant, 104; + _see_ Ulster +Somme, battle of the, 234 +_Spectator, The_, 225 +Spender, Col. W. Bliss, U.V.F., 197, 203, 207, 215; + awarded the O.B.E., 284 +_Standard, The_, 70, 118, 225 +_Star, The_, extract from, 89 +Stronge, Sir James, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35 +Stuart-Wortley, Mr., at Belfast, 81 +Submarine warfare, 253 +Suffragists' campaign, 167 +Swift, patriotism, 7 + + +Tariff Reform policy, 18, 19; + controversy, 59, 155, 167 +Templetown, Lord, founds the Unionist Clubs, 30, 31 +Thiepval, battle at, 234 +_Times, The_, 32, 64, 69, 71, 77, 79, 82, 84, 99, 110, 115, 124, 126, + 139, 140, 153, 172, 182, 187, 225; + letters in, 152, 165 +Tirah Expedition, 161 +Tone, Wolfe, 7, 46, 142 +Tramp steamer, diverts suspicion, 217 +Turkington, James A., letter to Pres. Wilson, 296-299 +Tuskar Light, 210, 211 +Tyrone, contingent of Orangemen, 57 + + +Ulster, use of the term, vii; + opposition to Home Rule, 1, 2, 30; + loyalty, 2-4, 33, 63, 139-143, 251; + ancestry, 8; + political views, 12; + landlords and tenants, 12; + mottoes, 13, 33; + reluctant acceptance of a separate constitution, 14; + organisations, 30-38; + policy, 33, 51, 75, 77, 92, 93-100, 133, 136-143; + military drilling, 57; + characteristics of the people, 101; + time limit for exclusion, 171; + plot against, 174; + emigrants in America, 274, 297; + result of the Government of Ireland Act, 280 +Ulster, British League for the support of, formed, 147 +Ulster Club, Belfast, 125 +Ulster, Convention of 1892, 80, 109 +Ulster Covenant, draft, 104; + terms, 105-107; + series of demonstrations, 108-110; + meeting in the Ulster Hall, 114; + signing the, 120-124; + anniversary, 158, 165, 236 +Ulster Day, 165, 236; religious observance, 107, 117 +Ulster Division, 1st Brigade, training, 237; + recruiting, 238 +Ulster Hall, 283; + meetings, 30, 38, 40, 42, 62, 106, 108, 114, 237; + service, 118, 158 +Ulster Loyalist Anti-Repeal Union, 37 +Ulster Loyalist and Patriotic Union, 30 +Ulster Movement, vii, 1 +Ulster Parliament, appointment of Ministers, 281-2; + opened, 282-6 +Ulster Provisional Government, 53, 145, 156, 163; + judiciary, 146; + constitution, 226 +Ulster Unionist Clubs, founded, 30-1 +Ulster Unionist Council, vii, 35; + meetings, 27, 42, 52, 62, 65-67, 106, 145, + 156, 210, 226, 236, 246-249, 279; + members, 35, 36; + co-operation with the Irish Unionist Alliance, 37; + resolution adopted, 68-71; + character, 75; + scheme for the Provisional Government, 145; + statement on the Curragh Incident, 186 +Ulster Unionist Members of Parliament, 38; + tour in Scotland and England, 149 +Ulster Unionists, letter to Pres. Wilson, 273, 296-299 +Ulster Volunteer Force, 58, 113, 137, 160; + Indemnity Guarantee Fund, 156, 163; + growth, 158, 160; + parades, 162, 163-165, 167, 223, 226; + strength, 168; + arming the, 192-200, 223; + organisation, 215; + despatch-riders' corps, 215; + trial mobilisation, 216; + presentation of colours, 223; + volunteer for service in the war, 229; + organisation and training of the Division, 234 +Ulster Women's Unionist Association, work of the, 166 +Ulster Women's Unionist Council, formed, 37; + meeting, 113 +"Ulster 1912," Rudyard Kipling's, 79, 129 +"Ulster's Reward," William Watson's, 129 +Union Defence League, in London, 37 +Unionist Associations of Ireland, joint committee, 37 +Unionist Party, administration, 18, 20; + defeated, 18; + number of votes, 22, 26, 99; + dissensions on Tariff Reform, 69; + members at Belfast, 81 +Unionists, Southern manifesto, 265; + Committee formed, 265; + result of the Government Act, 282 + + +Valera, E. De, M.P. for East Clare, 256; + arrested, 277; deported, 295 +Vatican decrees, 11 +Vickers & Co., Messrs., 194 +Victoria, Queen, 136 + + +Wallace, Col. R.H., member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + member of a Commission, 53; + Grand Master of the Belfast Lodges, 57; + popularity, 57; + career, 57; + applies for leave to drill, 58; + at the Ulster Unionist Council meeting, 67, 72; + presentation of a banner to Sir E. Carson, 115; + Command in the U.V.F., 163, 164; + Privy Councillor, 284 +Wallsend, 154 +Walter, Mr. John, 225 +War, the Great, 27, 228, 266 +War Office, treatment of Gen. Gough, 181 +Ward, Lieut.-Col. John, + on the Curragh Incident, 182; + "The Army and Ireland," 183 note, 238 +Warden, F.W., 72 note +Washington, George, 273, 291 +Watson, Sir William, "Ulster's Reward," 129 +Waziri Expedition, 161 +_Westminster Gazette_, 114; + cartoon, 87 +Whig Revolution of 1688, 31 +White Paper, 175 note, 176 note, 177 note, 178 note, 179 note, + 180 note, 181 note, 185, 187 note, 188 +William III, King, banner, 115 +Willoughby de Broke, Lord, 109 +Wilson, President, + letter from the Nationalists, 273, 287-295; + from the Unionists, 273, 296-299; + phrase of "self-determination," 277 +Wimborne, Lord, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, resignation, 272 +Wolff, G., 35 +Wolseley, Viscount, 187 +Women's Unionist Council, Ulster, + formed, 37; + meeting, 113 +Workman and Clark, Messrs., 214 +Workman, Frank, 157 +Wynyard, Lord Londonderry's death at, 241 + + +Yarmouth, 207 +York, 149 +York, Archbp. of, on the Home Rule Bill, 134 +_Yorkshire Post, The_, 149, 163 +Young, Rt. Hon. John, + member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + at the meeting, 67; + takes part in the campaign, 109; + signs the Covenant, 122 +Young, W.R., + organises the Ulster Loyalist and Patriotic Union, 30, 37; + signs the Covenant, 122; + Privy Councillor, 284 + + +Zhob Valley Field Force, expedition, 161 + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ULSTER'S STAND FOR UNION*** + + +******* This file should be named 14326-8.txt or 14326-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/3/2/14326 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Ulster's Stand For Union</p> +<p>Author: Ronald McNeill</p> +<p>Release Date: December 11, 2004 [eBook #14326]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ULSTER'S STAND FOR UNION***</p> +<br /><br /><h4>E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, Susan Skinner,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team</h4><br /><br /> +<hr class="full" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h1>ULSTER'S STAND FOR UNION</h1> + +<h2>BY RONALD McNEILL</h2> +<br /> + +<h4>WITH FRONTISPIECE</h4> +<br /> + +<h6>London<br /> +John Murray, Albemarle Street, W.</h6> + +<h5>1922</h5> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<center> +<img src="images/image01.png" width="476" height="568" alt="THE RIGHT HON. SIR EDWARD CARSON, P.C. +(now Lord Carson of Duncairn)." title="" /> +</center> +<h4>THE RIGHT HON. SIR EDWARD CARSON, P.C.</h4> +<h4>(now Lord Carson of Duncairn).</h4> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h4>DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF THE UNIONIST PARTY</h4> +<br /> +<br /> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>PREFACE</h2> +<br /> + +<p>The term "Ulster," except when the context proves the contrary, is used +in this book not in the geographical, but the political meaning of the +word, which is quite as well understood.</p> + +<p>The aim of the book is to present an account of what I have occasionally +in its pages referred to as "the Ulster Movement." The phrase is perhaps +somewhat paradoxical when applied to a political ideal which was the +maintenance of the <i>status quo</i>; but, on the other hand, the steps taken +during a period of years to organise an effective opposition to +interference with the established constitution in Ireland did involve a +movement, and it is with these measures, rather than with the policy +behind them, that the book is concerned.</p> + +<p>Indeed, except for a brief introductory outline of the historical +background of the Ulster standpoint, I have taken for granted, or only +referred incidentally to the reasons for the unconquerable hostility of +the Ulster Protestants to the idea of allowing the government of +Ireland, and especially of themselves, to pass into the control of a +Parliament in Dublin. Those reasons were many and substantial, based +upon considerations both of a practical and a sentimental nature; but I +have not attempted an exposition of them, having limited myself to a +narrative of the events to which they gave rise.</p> + +<p>Having been myself, during the most important part of the period +reviewed, a member of the Standing Committee of the Ulster Unionist +Council, and closely associated with the leaders of the movement, I have +had personal knowledge of practically everything I have had to record. I +have not, however, trusted to unaided memory for any<a name="Page_viii"></a> statement of fact. +It is not, of course, a matter where anything that could be called +research was required; but, in addition to the <i>Parliamentary Reports</i>, +the <i>Annual Register</i>, and similar easily accessible books of reference, +there was a considerable mass of private papers bearing on the subject, +for the use of some of which I am indebted to friends.</p> + +<p>I was permitted to consult the Minute-books of the Ulster Unionist +Council and its Standing Committee, and also verbatim reports made for +the Council of unpublished speeches delivered at private meetings of +those bodies. A large collection of miscellaneous documents accumulated +by the late Lord Londonderry was kindly lent to me by the present +Marquis; and I also have to thank Lord Carson of Duncairn for the use of +letters and other papers in his possession. Colonel F.H. Crawford, +C.B.E., was good enough to place at my disposal a very detailed account +written by himself of the voyage of the <i>Fanny</i>, and the log kept by +Captain Agnew. My friend Mr. Thomas Moles, M.P., took full shorthand +notes of the proceedings of the Irish Convention and the principal +speeches made in it, and he kindly allowed me to use his transcript. And +I should not like to pass over without acknowledgment the help given me +on several occasions by Miss Omash, of the Union Defence League, in +tracing references.</p> + +<p>R. McN.</p> + +<p><i>February 1922.</i></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CONTENTS"></a><h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + +<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td><b>CHAPTER</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>I.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>INTRODUCTION: THE ULSTER STANDPOINT</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>II.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>THE ELECTORATE AND HOME RULE</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>III.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>ORGANISATION AND LEADERSHIP</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>IV.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>THE PARLIAMENT ACT: CRAIGAVON</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>V.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>THE CRAIGAVON POLICY AND THE U.F.V.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>VI.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>MR. CHURCHILL IN BELFAST</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>VII.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>"WHAT ANSWER FROM THE NORTH?"</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>VIII.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>THE EXCLUSION OF ULSTER</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>IX.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>THE EVE OF THE COVENANT</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>X.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>THE SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XI.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>PASSING THE BILL</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XII.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><b>WAS RESISTANCE JUSTIFIABLE?</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XIII.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><b>PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT AND PROPAGANDA</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XIV.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><b>LORD LOREBURN'S LETTER</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XV.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><b>PREPARATIONS AND PROPOSALS</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XVI.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"><b>THE CURRAGH INCIDENT</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XVII.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"><b>ARMING THE U.V.F</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XVIII.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"><b>A VOYAGE OF ADVENTURE</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XIX.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"><b>ON THE BRINK OF CIVIL WAR</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XX.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XX"><b>ULSTER IN THE WAR</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XXI.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI"><b>NEGOTIATIONS FOR SETTLEMENT</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XXII.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII"><b>THE IRISH CONVENTION</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XXIII.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII"><b>NATIONALISTS AND CONSCRIPTION</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>XXIV.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV"><b>THE ULSTER PARLIAMENT</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td><b>APPENDIX</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>A.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#APPENDIX_A"><b>NATIONALIST LETTER TO PRESIDENT WILSON</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><b>B.</b></td><td align='left'><a href="#APPENDIX_B"><b>UNIONIST LETTER TO PRESIDENT WILSON</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align='left'><a href="#INDEX"><b>INDEX</b></a></td></tr></table> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<br /> +<h2><a name="Page_1"></a><b>ULSTER'S STAND FOR UNION</b></h2> +<br /> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_I"></a><h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h4>INTRODUCTION: THE ULSTER STANDPOINT +</h4> + +<p>Like all other movements in human affairs, the opposition of the +Northern Protestants of Ireland to the agitation of their Nationalist +fellow-countrymen for Home Rule can only be properly understood by those +who take some pains to get at the true motives, and to appreciate the +spirit, of those who engaged in it. And as it is nowhere more true than +in Ireland that the events of to-day are the outcome of events that +occurred longer ago than yesterday, and that the motives of to-day have +consequently their roots buried somewhat deeply in the past, it is no +easy task for the outside observer to gain the insight requisite for +understanding fairly the conduct of the persons concerned.</p> + +<p>It was Mr. Asquith who very truly said that the Irish question, of which +one of the principal factors is the opposition of Ulster to Home Rule, +"springs from sources that are historic, economic, social, racial, and +religious." It would be a hopeless undertaking to attempt here to probe +to the bottom an origin so complex; but, whether the sympathies of the +reader be for or against the standpoint of the Irish Loyalists, the +actual events which make up what may be called the Ulster Movement would +be wholly unintelligible without some introductory retrospect. Indeed, +to those who set out to judge Irish political conditions without +troubling themselves about anything more ancient than their own memory +can recall, the most fundamental factor of all—the line of cleavage +between Ulster and the rest of the island—- is more than +unintelligible. In the eyes of many it presents itself as an example of +perversity, of "cussedness" on the part of men who <a name="Page_2"></a>insist on magnifying +mere differences of opinion, which would be easily composed by +reasonable people, into obstacles to co-operation which have no reality +behind them.</p> + +<p>Writers and speakers on the Nationalist side deride the idea of "two +nations" in Ireland, calling in evidence many obvious identities of +interest, of sentiment, or of temperament between the inhabitants of the +North and of the South. The Ulsterman no more denies these identities +than the Greek, the Bulgar, and the Serb would deny that there are +features common to all dwellers in the Balkan peninsula; but he is more +deeply conscious of the difference than of the likeness between himself +and the man from Munster or Connaught. His reply to those who denounced +the Irish Government Act of 1920 on the ground that it set up a +"partition of Ireland," is that the Act did not "set up," but only +recognised, the partition which history made long ago, and which wrecked +all attempts to solve the problem of Irish Government that neglected to +take it into account. If there be any force in Renan's saying that the +root of nationality is "the will to live together," the Nationalist cry +of "Ireland a Nation" harmonises ill with the actual conditions of +Ireland north and south of the Boyne. This dividing gulf between the two +populations in Ireland is the result of the same causes as the political +dissension that springs from it, as described by Mr. Asquith in words +quoted above. The tendencies of social and racial origin operate for the +most part subconsciously—though not perhaps less powerfully on that +account; those connected with economic considerations, with religious +creeds, and with events in political history enter directly and +consciously into the formation of convictions which in turn become the +motives for actions.</p> + +<p>In the mind of the average Ulster Unionist the particular point of +contrast between himself and the Nationalist of which he is more +forcibly conscious than of any other, and in which all other +distinguishing traits are merged, is that he is loyal to the British +Crown and the British Flag, whereas the other man is loyal to neither. +Religious intolerance, so far as the Protestants are concerned, of +<a name="Page_3"></a>which so much is heard, is in actual fact mainly traceable to the same +sentiment. It is unfortunately true that the lines of political and of +religious division coincide; but religious dissensions seldom flare up +except at times of political excitement; and, while it is undeniable +that the temper of the creeds more resembles what prevailed in England +in the seventeenth than in the twentieth century, yet when overt +hostility breaks out it is because the creed is taken—and usually taken +rightly—as <i>prima facie</i> evidence of political opinion—political +opinion meaning "loyalty" or "disloyalty," as the case may be. The label +of "loyalist" is that which the Ulsterman cherishes above all others. It +means something definite to him; its special significance is reinforced +by the consciousness of its wearers that they are a minority; it +sustains the feeling that the division between parties is something +deeper and more fundamental than anything that in England is called +difference of opinion. This feeling accounts for much that sometimes +perplexes even the sympathetic English observer, and moves the hostile +partisan to scornful criticism. The ordinary Protestant farmer or +artisan of Ulster is by nature as far as possible removed from the being +who is derisively nicknamed the "noisy patriot" or the "flag-wagging +jingo." If the National Anthem has become a "party tune" in Ireland, it +is not because the loyalist sings it, but because the dis-loyalist shuns +it; and its avoidance at gatherings both political and social where +Nationalists predominate, naturally makes those who value loyalty the +more punctilious in its use. If there is a profuse display of the Union +Jack, it is because it is in Ulster not merely "bunting" for decorative +purposes as in England, but the symbol of a cherished faith.</p> + +<p>There may, perhaps, be some persons, unfamiliar with the Ulster cast of +mind, who find it hard to reconcile this profession of passionate +loyalty with the methods embarked upon in 1912 by the Ulster people. It +is a question upon which there will be something to be said when the +narrative reaches the events of that date. Here it need only be stated +that, in the eyes of Ulstermen at all events, constitutional orthodoxy +is quite a different thing from <a name="Page_4"></a>loyalty, and that true allegiance to +the Sovereign is by them sharply differentiated from passive obedience +to an Act of Parliament.</p> + +<p>The sincerity with which this loyalist creed is held by practically the +entire Protestant population of Ulster cannot be questioned by anyone +who knows the people, however much he may criticise it on other grounds. +And equally sincere is the conviction held by the same people that +disloyalty is, and always has been, the essential characteristic of +Nationalism. The conviction is founded on close personal contact +continued through many generations with the adherents of that political +party, and the tradition thus formed draws more support from authentic +history than many Englishmen are willing to believe. Consequently, when +the General Election of 1918 revealed that the whole of Nationalist +Ireland had gone over with foot, horse, and artillery, with bag and +baggage, from the camp of so-called Constitutional Home Rule, to the +Sinn Feiners who made no pretence that their aim was anything short of +complete independent sovereignty for Ireland, no surprise was felt in +Ulster. It was there realised that nothing had happened beyond the +throwing off of the mask which had been used as a matter of political +tactics to disguise what had always been the real underlying aim, if not +of the parliamentary leaders, at all events of the great mass of +Nationalist opinion throughout the three southern provinces. The whole +population had not with one consent changed their views in the course of +a night; they had merely rallied to support the first leaders whom they +had found prepared to proclaim the true objective. Curiously enough, +this truth was realised by an English politician who was in other +respects conspicuously deficient in insight regarding Ireland. The +Easter insurrection of 1916 in Dublin was only rendered possible by the +negligence or the incompetence of the Chief Secretary; but, in giving +evidence before the Commission appointed to inquire into it, Mr. Birrell +said: "The spirit of what to-day is called Sinn Feinism is mainly +composed of the old hatred and distrust of the British connection ... +always there as the background<a name="Page_5"></a> of Irish politics and character"; and, +after recalling that Cardinal Newman had observed the same state of +feeling in Dublin more than half a century before, Mr. Birrell added +quite truly that "this dislike, hatred, disloyalty (so unintelligible to +many Englishmen) is hard to define but easy to discern, though incapable +of exact measurement from year to year." This disloyal spirit, which +struck Newman, and which Mr. Birrell found easy to discern, was of +course always familiar to Ulstermen as characteristic of "the South and +West," and was their justification for the badge of "loyalist," their +assumption of which English Liberals, knowing nothing of Ireland, held +to be an unjust slur on the Irish majority.</p> + +<p>If this belief in the inherent disloyalty of Nationalist Ireland to the +British Empire did any injustice to individual Nationalist politicians, +they had nobody but themselves to blame for it. Their pronouncements in +America, as well as at home, were scrutinised in Ulster with a care that +Englishmen seldom took the trouble to give them. Nor must it be +forgotten that, up to the date when Mr. Gladstone made Home Rule a plank +in an English party's programme—which, whatever else it did, could not +alter the facts of the case—the same conviction, held in Ulster so +tenaciously, had prevailed almost universally in Great Britain also; and +had been proclaimed by no one so vehemently as by Mr. Gladstone himself, +whose famous declarations that the Nationalists of that day were +"steeped to the lips in treason," and were "marching through rapine to +the dismemberment of the Empire," were not so quickly forgotten in +Ulster as in England, nor so easily passed over as either meaningless or +untrue as soon as they became inconvenient for a political party to +remember. English supporters of Home Rule, when reminded of such +utterances, dismissed with a shrug the "unedifying pastime of unearthing +buried speeches"; and showed equal determination to see nothing in +speeches delivered by Nationalist leaders in America inconsistent with +the purely constitutional demand for "extended self-government."</p> + +<p>Ulster never would consent to bandage her own eyes in <a name="Page_6"></a>similar fashion, +or to plug her ears with wool. The "two voices" of Nationalist leaders, +from Mr. Parnell to Mr. Dillon, were equally audible to her; and, of the +two, she was certain that the true aim of Nationalist policy was +expressed by the one whose tone was disloyal to the British Empire. +Look-out was kept for any change in the direction of moderation, for any +real indication that those who professed to be "constitutional +Nationalists" were any less determined than "the physical force party" +to reach the goal described by Parnell in the famous sentence, "None of +us will be ... satisfied until we have destroyed the last link which +keeps Ireland bound to England."</p> + +<p>No such indication was ever discernible. On the contrary, Parnell's +phrase became a refrain to be heard in many later pronouncements of his +successors, and the policy he thus described was again and again +propounded in after-years on innumerable Nationalist platforms, in +speeches constantly quoted to prove, as was the contention of Ulster +from the first, that Home Rule as understood by English Liberals was no +more than an instalment of the real demand of Nationalists, who, if they +once obtained the "comparative freedom" of an Irish legislature—to +quote the words used by Mr. Devlin at a later date—would then, with +that leverage, "operate by whatever means they should think best to +achieve the great and desirable end" of complete independence of Great +Britain.</p> + +<p>This was an end that could not by any juggling be reconciled with the +Ulsterman's notion of "loyalty." Moreover, whatever knowledge he +possessed of his country's history—and he knows a good deal more, man +for man, than the Englishman—confirmed his deep distrust of those whom, +following the example of John Bright, he always bluntly described as +"the rebel party." He knew something of the rebellions in Ireland in the +seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, and was under no +illusion as to the design for which arms had been taken up in the past. +He knew that that design had not changed with the passing of +generations, although gentler methods of accomplishing it might +sometimes find favour. Indeed, one Nationalist leader himself took +<a name="Page_7"></a>pains, at a comparatively recent date, to remove any excuse there may +ever have been for doubt on this point. Mr. John Redmond was an orator +who selected his words with care, and his appeals to historical +analogies were not made haphazard. When he declared (in a speech in +1901) that, "in its essence, the national movement to-day is the same as +it was in the days of Hugh O'Neill, of Owen Roe, of Emmet, or of Wolfe +Tone," those names, which would have had but a shadowy significance for +a popular audience in England, carried very definite meaning to the ears +of Irishmen, whether Nationalist or Unionist. Mr. Gladstone, in the +fervour of his conversion to Home Rule, was fond of allusions to the +work of Molyneux and Swift, Flood and Grattan; but these were men whose +Irish patriotism never betrayed them into disloyalty to the British +Crown or hostility to the British connection. They were reformers, not +rebels. But it was not with the political ideals of such men that Mr. +Redmond claimed his own to be identical, nor even with that of +O'Connell, the apostle of repeal of the Union, but with the aims of men +who, animated solely by hatred of England, sought to establish the +complete independence of Ireland by force of arms, and in some cases by +calling in (like Roger Casement in our own day) the aid of England's +foreign enemies.</p> + +<p>In the face of appeals like this to the historic imagination of an +impressionable people, it is not surprising that by neither Mr. +Redmond's followers nor by his opponents was much account taken of his +own personal disapproval of extremes both of means and ends. His +opponents in Ulster simply accepted such utterances as confirmation of +what they had known all along from other sources to be the actual facts, +namely, that the Home Rule agitation was "in its essence" a separatist +movement; that its adherents were, as Mr. Redmond himself said on +another occasion, "as much rebels as their fathers were in 1798"; and +that the men of Ulster were, together with some scattered sympathisers +in the other Provinces, the depositaries of the "loyal" tradition.</p> + +<p>The latter could boast of a pedigree as long as that of the rebels. If +Mr. Redmond's followers were to trace <a name="Page_8"></a>their political ancestry, as he +told them, to the great Earl of Tyrone who essayed to overthrow England +with the help of the Spaniard and the Pope, the Ulster Protestants could +claim descent from the men of the Plantation, through generation after +generation of loyalists who had kept the British flag flying in Ireland +in times of stress and danger, when Mr. Redmond's historical heroes were +making England's difficulty Ireland's opportunity.</p> + +<p>There have been, and are, many individual Nationalists, no doubt, +especially among the more educated and thoughtful, to whom it would be +unjust to impute bad faith when they professed that their political +aspirations for Ireland were really limited to obtaining local control +of local affairs, and who resented being called "Separatists," since +their desire was not for separation from Great Britain but for the +"union of hearts," which they believed would grow out of extended +self-government. But the answer of Irish Unionists, especially in +Ulster, has always been that, whatever such "moderate," or +"constitutional" Nationalists might dream, it would be found in +practice, if the experiment were made, that no halting-place could be +found between legislative union and complete separation. Moreover, the +same view was held by men as far as possible removed from the standpoint +of the Ulster Protestant. Cardinal Manning, for example, although an +intimate personal friend of Gladstone, in a letter to Leo XIII, wrote: +"As for myself, Holy Father, allow me to say that I consider a +Parliament in Dublin and a separation to be equivalent to the same +thing. Ireland is not a Colony like Canada, but it is an integral and +vital part of one country."<a name="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1"><sup>[1]</sup></a></p> + +<p>It is improbable that identical lines of reasoning led the Roman +Catholic Cardinal and the Belfast Orangeman and Presbyterian to this +identical conclusion; but a position reached by convergent paths from +such distant points of departure is defensible presumably on grounds +more solid than prejudice or passion. It is unnecessary here to examine +those grounds at length, for the present purpose is not to argue the +Ulster case, but to let the reader know <a name="Page_9"></a>what was, as a matter of fact, +the Ulster point of view, whether that point of view was well or ill +founded.</p> + +<p>But, while the opinion that a Dublin Parliament meant separation was +shared by many who had little else in common with the Ulster +Protestants, the latter stood alone in the intensity of their conviction +that "Home Rule meant Rome Rule." It has already been mentioned that it +is the "disloyalty" attributed rightly or wrongly to the Roman Catholics +as a body that has been, in recent times at all events, the mainspring +of Protestant distrust. But sectarian feeling, everywhere common between +rival creeds, is, of course, by no means absent. Englishmen find it hard +to understand what seems to them the bigoted and senseless animosity of +the rival faiths in Ireland. This is due to the astonishing shortness of +their memory in regard to their own history, and their very limited +outlook on the world outside their own island. If, without looking +further back in their history, they reflected that the "No Popery" +feeling in England in mid-Victorian days was scarcely less intense than +it is in Ulster to-day; or if they realised the extent to which +Gambetta's "Le cléricalisme, voilà l'ennemi" continues still to +influence public life in France, they might be less ready to censure the +Irish Protestant's dislike of priestly interference in affairs outside +the domain of faith and morals. It is indeed remarkable that +Nonconformists, especially in Wales, who within living memory have +displayed their own horror of the much milder form of sacerdotalism to +be found in the Anglican Church, have no sympathy apparently with the +Presbyterian and the Methodist in Ulster when the latter kick against +the encompassing pressure of the Roman Catholic priesthood, not in +educational matters alone, but in all the petty activities of every-day +life.</p> + +<p>Whenever this aspect of the Home Rule controversy was emphasised +Englishmen asked what sort of persecution Irish Protestants had to fear +from a Parliament in Dublin, and appeared to think all such fear +illusory unless evidence could be adduced that the Holy Office was to be +set up at Maynooth, equipped with faggot and thumb-screw. Of persecution +of that sort there never has been, <a name="Page_10"></a>of course, any apprehension in +modern times. Individual Catholics and Protestants live side by side in +Ireland with fully as much amity as elsewhere, but whereas the Catholic +instinctively, and by upbringing, looks to the parish priest as his +director in all affairs of life, the Protestant dislikes and resists +clerical influence as strongly as does the Nonconformist in England and +Wales—and with much better reason. For the latter has never known +clericalism as it exists in a Roman Catholic country where the Church is +wholly unrestrained by the civil power. He has resented what he regards +as Anglican arrogance in regard to educational management or the use of +burying-grounds, but he has never experienced a much more aggressive +clerical temper exercised in all the incidents of daily life—in the +market, the political meeting, the disposition of property, the +amusements of the people, the polling booth, the farm, and the home.</p> + +<p>This involves no condemnation of the Irish priest as an individual or as +a minister of his Church. He is kind-hearted, charitable, and +conscientious; and, except that it does not encourage self-reliance and +enterprise, his influence with his own people is no more open to +criticism than that of any other body of religious ministers. But the +Roman Catholic Church has always made a larger claim than any other on +the obedience of its adherents, and it has always enforced that +obedience whenever it has had the power by methods which, in Protestant +opinion, are extremely objectionable. In theory the claim may be limited +to affairs concerned with faith and morals; but the definition of such +affairs is a very elastic one. Cardinal Logue not many years ago said: +"When political action trenches upon faith or morals or affects +religion, the Vicar of Christ, as the supreme teacher and guardian of +faith and morals, and as the custodian of the immunities of religion, +has, by Divine Right, authority to interfere and to enforce his +decisions." How far this principle is in practice carried beyond the +limits so denned was proved in the famous Meath election petition in +1892, in which the Judge who tried it, himself a devout Catholic, +declared: "The Church became converted for the time being into a vast +political agency, a <a name="Page_11"></a>great moral machine moving with resistless +influence, united action, and a single will. Every priest who was +examined was a canvasser; the canvas was everywhere—on the altar, in +the vestry, on the roads, in the houses." And while an election was in +progress in County Tyrone in 1911 a parish priest announced that any +Catholic who should vote for the Unionist candidate "would be held +responsible at the Day of Judgment." A still more notorious example of +clericalism in secular affairs, within the recollection of Englishmen, +was the veto on the Military Service Act proclaimed from the altars of +the Catholic Churches, which, during the Great War, defeated the +application to Ireland of the compulsory service which England, +Scotland, and Wales accepted as the only alternative to national defeat +and humiliation.</p> + +<p>But these were only conspicuous examples of what the Irish Protestant +sees around him every day of his life. The promulgation in 1908 of the +Vatican decree, <i>Nec Temere</i>, a papal reassertion of the canonical +invalidity of mixed marriages, followed as it was by notorious cases of +the victimisation of Protestant women by the application of its +principles, did not encourage the Protestants to welcome the prospect of +a Catholic Parliament that would have control of the marriage law; nor +did they any more readily welcome the prospect of national education on +purely ecclesiastical lines. Another Vatican decree that was equally +alarming to Protestants was that entitled <i>Motu Proprio</i>, by which any +Catholic layman was <i>ipso facto </i> excommunicated who should have the +temerity to bring a priest into a civil court either as defendant or +witness. Medievalism like this was felt by Ulster Protestants to be +irreconcilable with modern ideas of democratic freedom, and to indicate +a temper that boded ill for any regime which would be subject to its +inspiration. These were matters, it is true,—and there were perhaps +some others of a similar nature—on which it is possible to conceive +more or less satisfactory legislative safeguards being provided; but as +regards the indefinable but innumerable minutiae in which the prevailing +ecclesiastical standpoint creates an atmosphere in which daily life has +to be carried <a name="Page_12"></a>on, no safeguards could be devised, and it was the +realisation of this truth in the light of their own experience that made +the Ulstermen continually close their ears to allurements of that sort.</p> + +<p>The Roman Church is quite consistent, and from its own point of view +praiseworthy, in its assertion of its right, and its duty, to control +the lives and thoughts of men; but this assertion has produced a clash +with the non-ecclesiastical mind in almost every country, where +Catholicism is the dominant religious faith. But in Ireland, unlike +Continental countries, there is no Catholic lay opinion—or almost +none—able to make its voice heard against clerical dictation, and +consequently the Protestants felt convinced, with good reason, that any +legislature in Ireland must take its tone from this pervading mental and +moral atmosphere, and that all its proceedings would necessarily be +tainted by it.</p> + +<p>Prior to 1885 the political complexion of Ulster was in the main +Liberal. The Presbyterians, who formed the majority of the Protestant +population, collateral descendants of the men who emigrated in the +eighteenth century and formed the backbone of Washington's army, and +direct descendants of those who joined the United Irishmen in 1798, were +of a pronounced Liberal type, and their frequently strong disapproval of +Orangeism made any united political action an improbable occurrence. But +the crisis brought about by Gladstone's declaration in favour of Home +Rule instantly swept all sections of Loyalists into a single camp. There +was practically not a Liberal left who did not become Unionist, and, +although a separate organisation of Liberal Unionists was maintained, +the co-operation with Conservatives was so whole-hearted and complete as +almost to amount to fusion from the outset.</p> + +<p>The immediate cessation of class friction was still more remarkable. For +more than a decade the perennial quarrel between landlord and tenant had +been increasing in intensity, and the recent land legislation had +disposed the latter to look upon Gladstone as a deliverer. Their +gratitude was wiped out the moment he hoisted the green flag, while the +labourers enfranchised by the Act of 1884 <a name="Page_13"></a>eagerly enrolled themselves +as the bitterest enemies of his new Irish policy. The unanimity of the +country-side was matched in the towns, and especially in Belfast, where, +with the single exception of a definitely Catholic quarter, employer and +artisan were as whole-heartedly united as were landlord and tenant in +passionate resentment at what they regarded as the betrayal by England's +foremost statesman of England's only friends in Ireland.</p> + +<p>The defeat of the Home Rule Bill of 1886 brought relief from the +immediate strain of anxiety. But it was at once realised that the +encouragement and support given to Irish disloyalty for the first time +by one of the great political parties in Great Britain was a step that +could never be recalled. Henceforth the vigilance required to prevent +being taken unawares, and the untiring organisation necessary for making +effective defence against an attack which, although it had signally +failed at the first onslaught, was certain to be renewed, welded all the +previously diverse social and political elements in Ulster into a single +compact mass, tempered to the maximum power of resistance. There was +room for no other thought in the minds of men who felt as if living in a +beleaguered citadel, whose flag they were bound in honour to keep flying +to the last. The "loyalist" tradition acquired fresh meaning and +strength, and its historical setting took a more conscious hold on the +public mind of Ulster, as men studied afresh the story of the Relief of +Derry or the horrors of 1641. Visits of encouragement from the leaders +of Unionism across the Channel, men like Lord Salisbury, Mr. Balfour, +Mr. Chamberlain, Lord Randolph Churchill, fortified the resolution of a +populace that came more and more to regard themselves as a bulwark of +the Empire, on whom destiny, while conferring on them the honour of +upholding the flag, had imposed the duty of putting into actual practice +the familiar motto of the Orange Lodges—"No surrender."</p> + +<p>From a psychology so bred and nourished sprang a political temper which, +as it hardened with the passing years, appeared to English Home Rulers +to be "stiff-necked," "bigoted," and "intractable." It certainly was <a name="Page_14"></a>a +state of mind very different from those shifting gusts of transient +impression which in England go by the name of public opinion; and, if +these epithets in the mouths of opponents be taken as no more than +synonyms for "uncompromising," they were not undeserved. At a memorable +meeting at the Albert Hall in London on the 22nd of April, 1893, Dr. +Alexander, Bishop of Derry, poet, orator, and divine, declared in an +eloquent passage that was felt to be the exact expression of Ulster +conviction, that the people of Ulster, when exhorted to show confidence +in their southern fellow-countrymen, "could no more be confiding about +its liberty than a pure woman can be confiding about her honour."</p> + +<p>Here was the irreconcilable division. The Nationalist talked of +centuries of "oppression," and demanded the dissolution of the Union in +the name of liberty. The Ulsterman, while far from denying the +misgovernment of former times, knew that it was the fruit of false ideas +which had passed away, and that the Ireland in which he lived enjoyed as +much liberty as any land on earth; and he feared the loss of the true +liberty he had gained if put back under a regime of Nationalist and +Utramontane domination. And so for more than thirty years the people of +Ulster for whom Bishop Alexander spoke made good his words. If in the +end compromise was forced upon them it was not because their standpoint +had changed, and it was only in circumstances which involved no +dishonour, and which preserved them from what they chiefly dreaded, +subjection to a Dublin Parliament inspired by clericalism and disloyalty +to the Empire.</p> + +<p>The development which brought about the change from Ulster's resolute +stand for unimpaired union with Great Britain to her reluctant +acceptance of a separate local constitution for the predominantly +Protestant portion of the Province, presents a deeply interesting +illustration of the truth of a pregnant dictum of Maine's on the working +of democratic institutions.</p> + +<p>"Democracies," he says, "are quite paralysed by the plea of nationality. +There is no more effective way of attacking them than by admitting the +right of the majority <a name="Page_15"></a>to govern, but denying that the majority so +entitled is the particular majority which claims the right."<a name="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2"><sup>[2]</sup></a></p> + +<p>This is precisely what occurred in regard to Ulster's relation to Great +Britain and to the rest of Ireland respectively. The will of the +majority must prevail, certainly. But what majority? Unionists +maintained that only the majority in the United Kingdom could decide, +and that it had never in fact decided in favour of repealing the Act of +Union; Lord Rosebery at one time held that a majority in Great Britain +alone, as the "Predominant Partner," must first give its consent; Irish +Nationalists argued that the majority in Ireland, as a distinct unit, +was the only one that should count. Ulster, whilst agreeing with the +general Unionist position, contended ultimately that her own majority +was as well entitled to be heard in regard to her own fate as the +majority in Ireland as a whole. To the Nationalist claim that Ireland +was a nation she replied that it was either two nations or none, and +that if one of the two had a right to "self-determination," the other +had it equally. Thus the axiom of democracy that government is by the +majority was, as Maine said, "paralysed by the plea of nationality," +since the contending parties appealed to the same principle without +having any common ground as to how it should be applied to the case in +dispute.</p> + +<p>If the Union with Great Britain was to be abrogated, which Pitt had only +established when "a full measure of Home Rule" had produced a bloody +insurrection and Irish collusion with England's external enemies, Ulster +could at all events in the last resort take her stand on Abraham +Lincoln's famous proposition which created West Virginia: "A minority of +a large community who make certain claims for self-government cannot, in +logic or in substance, refuse the same claims to a much larger +proportionate minority among themselves."</p> + +<p>The Loyalists of Ulster were successful in holding this second line, +when the first was no longer tenable; but they only retired from the +first line—the maintenance of the legislative union—after a long and +obstinate defence which it is the purpose of the following pages to +relate.</p> +<a name="Page_16"></a> +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1">[1]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Henry Edward Manning</i>, by Shane Leslie, p. 406.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2">[2]</a><div class="note"><p> Sir S.H. Maine, <i>Popular Government</i>, p. 28.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_II"></a><h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h4>THE ELECTORATE AND HOME RULE</h4> + + +<p>We profess to be a democratic country in which the "will of the people" +is the ultimate authority in determining questions of policy, and the +Liberal Party has been accustomed to regard itself as the most zealous +guardian of democratic principles. Yet there is this curious paradox in +relation to the problem which more than any other taxed British +statesmanship during the thirty-five years immediately following the +enfranchisement of the rural democracy in 1884, that the solution +propounded by the Liberal Party, and inscribed by that party on the +Statute-book in 1914, was more than once emphatically rejected, and has +never been explicitly accepted by the electorate.</p> + +<p>No policy ever submitted to the country was more decisively condemned at +the polls than Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule proposals in the General +Election of 1886. The issue then for the first time submitted to the +people was isolated from all others with a completeness scarcely ever +practicable—a circumstance which rendered the "mandate" to Parliament +to maintain the legislative union exceptionally free from ambiguity. The +party which had brought forward the defeated proposal, although led by a +statesman of unrivalled popularity, authority, and power, was shattered +in the attempt to carry it, and lost the support of numbers of its most +conspicuous adherents, including Chamberlain, Hartington, Goschen, and +John Bright, besides a multitude of its rank and file, who entered into +political partnership with their former opponents in order to withstand +the new departure of their old Chief.</p> + +<p>The years that followed were a period of preparation by both sides for +the next battle. The improvement in the <a name="Page_17"></a>state of Ireland, largely the +result of legislation carried by Lord Salisbury's Government, especially +that which promoted land purchase, encouraged the confidence felt by +Unionists that the British voter would remain staunch to the Union. The +downfall of Parnell in 1890, followed by the break-up of his party, and +by his death in the following year, seemed to make the danger of Home +Rule still more remote. The only disquieting factor was the personality +of Mr. Gladstone, which, the older he grew, exercised a more and more +incalculable influence on the public mind. And there can be no doubt +that it was this personal influence that made him, in spite of his +policy, and not because of it, Prime Minister for the fourth time in +1892. In Great Britain the electors in that year pronounced against Home +Rule again by a considerable majority, and it was only by coalition with +the eighty-three Irish Nationalist Members that Gladstone and his party +were able to scrape up a majority of forty in support of his second Home +Rule Bill. Whether there was any ground for Gladstone's belief that but +for the O'Shea divorce he would have had a three-figure majority in 1892 +is of little consequence, but the fall of his own majority in Midlothian +from 4,000 to below 700, which caused him "intense chagrin,"<a name="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> does not +lend it support. Lord Morley says Gladstone was blamed by some of his +friends for accepting office "depending on a majority not large enough +to coerce the House of Lords"<a name="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4"><sup>[4]</sup></a>; but a more valid ground of censure was +that he was willing to break up the constitution of the United Kingdom, +although a majority of British electors had just refused to sanction +such a thing being done. That Gladstone's colleagues realised full well +the true state of public opinion on the subject, if he himself did not, +was shown by their conduct when the Home Rule Bill, after being carried +through the House of Commons by diminutive majorities, was rejected on +second reading by the Peers. Even their great leader's entreaty could +not persuade them to consent to an appeal to the people<a name="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5"><sup>[5]</sup></a>; and when +they were tripped up over the <a name="Page_18"></a>cordite vote in 1895, after Gladstone had +disappeared from public life, none of them probably were surprised at +the overwhelming vote by which the constituencies endorsed the action of +the House of Lords, and pronounced for the second time in ten years +against granting Home Rule to Ireland.</p> + +<p>If anything except the personal ascendancy of Gladstone contributed to +his small coalition majority in 1892 it was no doubt the confidence of +the electors that the House of Lords could be relied upon to prevent the +passage of a Home Rule Bill. It is worth noting that nearly twenty years +later Lord Crewe acknowledged that the Home Rule Bill of 1893 could not +have stood the test of a General Election or of a Referendum.<a name="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6"><sup>[6]</sup></a></p> + +<p>During the ten years of Unionist Government from 1895 to 1905 the +question of Home Rule slipped into the background. Other issues, such as +those raised by the South African War and Mr. Chamberlain's tariff +policy, engrossed the public mind. English Home Rulers showed a +disposition to hide away, if not to repudiate altogether, the legacy +they had inherited from Gladstone. Lord Rosebery acknowledged the +necessity to convert "the predominant partner," a mission which every +passing year made appear a more hopeless undertaking. At by-elections +Home Rule was scarcely mentioned. In the eyes of average Englishmen the +question was dead and buried, and most people were heartily thankful to +hear no more about it. Mr. T.M. Healy's caustic wit remarked that "Home +Rule was put into cold storage."<a name="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7"><sup>[7]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Then came the great overthrow of the Unionists in 1906. Home Rule, +except by its absence from Liberal election addresses, contributed +nothing at all to that resounding Liberal victory. The battle of +"terminological inexactitudes" rang with cries of Chinese "slavery," +Tariff Reform, Church Schools, Labour Dispute Bills, and so forth; but +on Ireland silence reigned on the platforms of the victors. The event +was to give the successors of Mr. Gladstone a House of Commons in +complete subjection to <a name="Page_19"></a>them. For the first time since 1885 they had a +majority independent of the Nationalists, a majority, if ever there was +one, "large enough to coerce the House of Lords," as they would have +done in 1893, according to Lord Morley, if they had had the power. But +to do that would involve the danger of having again to appeal to the +country, which even at this high tide of Liberal triumph they could not +face with Home Rule as an election cry. So, with the tame acquiescence +of Mr. Redmond and his followers, they spent four years of unparalleled +power without laying a finger on Irish Government, a course which was +rendered easy for them by the fact that, on their own admission, they +had found Ireland in a more peaceful, prosperous, and contented +condition than it had enjoyed for several generations. Occasionally, +indeed, as was necessary to prevent a rupture with the Nationalists, +some perfunctory mention of Home Rule as a <i>desideratum</i> of the future +was made on Ministerial platforms—by Mr. Churchill, for example, at +Manchester in May 1909. But by that date even the contest over Tariff +Reform—which had raged without intermission for six years, and by +rending the Unionist Party had grievously damaged it as an effective +instrument of opposition—had become merged in the more immediately +exciting battle of the Budget, provoked by Mr. Lloyd George's financial +proposals for the current year, and by the possibility that they might +be rejected by the House of Lords. This the House of Lords did, on the +30th of November, 1909, and the Prime Minister at once announced that he +would appeal to the country without delay.</p> + +<p>Such a turn of events was a wonderful windfall for the Irish +Nationalists, beyond what the most sanguine of them can ever have hoped +for. The rejection of a money Bill by the House of Lords raised a +democratic blizzard, the full force of which was directed against the +constitutional power of veto possessed by the hereditary Chamber in +relation not merely to money Bills, but to general legislation. For a +long time the Liberal Party had been threatening that part of the +Constitution without much effect. Sixteen years had passed since Mr. +Gladstone in <a name="Page_20"></a>his last speech in the House of Commons declared that +issue must be joined with the Peers; but the emphatic endorsement by the +constituencies in 1895 of the Lords' action which he had denounced, +followed by ten years of Unionist Government, damped down the ardour of +attack so effectually that, during the four years in which the Liberals +enjoyed unchallengeable power, from 1906 to 1910, they did nothing to +carry out Gladstone's parting injunction. Had they done so at any time +when Home Rule was a living issue in the country an attack on the Lords +would in all probability have proved disastrous to themselves. For there +was not a particle of evidence that the electors of Great Britain had +changed their minds on this subject, and there were great numbers of +voters in the country—those voters, unattached to party, who constitute +"the swing of the pendulum," and decide the issue at General +Elections—who felt free to vote Liberal in 1906 because they believed +Home Rule was practically dead, and if revived would be again given its +<i>quietus</i>, as in 1893, by the House of Lords. But the defeat of the +Budget in November 1909 immediately opened a line of attack wholly +unconnected with Ireland, and over the most favourable ground that could +have been selected for the assault.</p> + +<p>Nothing could have been more skilful than the tactics employed by the +Liberal leaders. Concentrating on the constitutional question raised by +the alleged encroachment of the Lords on the exclusive privilege of the +Commons to grant supply, they tried to excite a hurricane of popular +fury by calling on the electorate to decide between "Peers and People." +The rejected Finance Bill was dubbed "The People's Budget." A "Budget +League" was formed to expatiate through the constituencies on the +democratic character of its provisions, and on the personal and class +selfishness of the Peers in throwing it out. As little as possible was +said about Ireland, and probably not one voter in ten thousand who went +to the poll in January 1910 ever gave a thought to the subject, or +dreamed that he was taking part in reversing the popular verdict of 1886 +and 1895. Afterwards, when it was complained that <a name="Page_21"></a>an election so +conducted had provided no "mandate" for Home Rule, it was found that in +the course of a long speech delivered by Mr. Asquith at the Albert Hall +on the 10th of December there was a sentence in which the Prime Minister +had declared that "the Irish problem could only be solved by a policy +which, while explicitly safeguarding the supreme authority of the +Imperial Parliament, would set up self-government in Ireland in regard +to Irish affairs." The rest of the speech dealt with Tariff Reform and +with the constitutional question of the House of Lords, on which the +public mind was focused throughout the election.</p> + +<p>In the unprecedented deluge of oratory that flooded the country in the +month preceding the elections the Prime Minister's sentence on Ireland +at the Albert Hall passed almost unnoticed in English and Scottish +constituencies, or was quickly lost sight of, like a coin in a +cornstack, under sheaves of rhetoric about the dear loaf and the +intolerable arrogance of hereditary legislators. Here and there a +Unionist candidate did his best to warn a constituency that every +Liberal vote was a vote for Home Rule. He was invariably met with an +impatient retort that he was attempting to raise a bogey to divert +attention from the iniquity of the Lords and the Tariff Reformers. Home +Rule, he was told, was dead and buried.</p> + +<p>On the 19th of January, 1910, when the elections were over in the +boroughs, Mr. Asquith claimed that "the great industrial centres had +mainly declared for Free Trade," and the impartial chronicler of the +<i>Annual Register</i> stated that "the Liberals had fought on Free Trade and +the constitutional issue." The twice-repeated decision of the country +against Home Rule for Ireland was therefore in no sense reversed by the +General Election of January 1910.</p> + +<p>But from the very beginning of the agitation over the Budget and the +action of the House of Lords in relation to it, in the summer of 1909, +the gravity of the situation so created was fully appreciated by both +political parties in Ireland itself. Only the most languid interest was +there taken in the questions which stirred the constitu<a name="Page_22"></a>encies across +the Channel. Neither Nationalist nor Unionist cared anything whatever +for Free Trade; neither of them shed a tear over the rejected Budget. +Indeed, Mr. Lloyd George's new taxes were so unpopular in Ireland that +Mr. Redmond was violently attacked by Mr. William O'Brien and Mr. Healy +for his neglect of obvious Irish interests in supporting the Government. +Mr. Redmond, for his part, made no pretence that his support was given +because he approved of the proposals for which he and his followers gave +their votes in every division. The clauses of the Finance Bill were +trifles in his eyes that did not matter. His gaze was steadily fixed on +the House of Peers, which he saw before him as a huntsman views a fox +with bedraggled brush, reduced to a trot a field or two ahead of the +hounds. That House was, as he described it, "the last obstacle to Home +Rule," and he was determined to do all he could to remove the obstacle. +Lord Rosebery said at Glasgow in September 1909 that he believed +Ministers wanted the House of Lords to reject the Budget. Whether they +did or not, there can be no doubt that Mr. Redmond did, for he knew +that, in that event, the whole strength of the Liberal Party would be +directed to the task of beating down the "last obstacle," and that then +it would be possible to carry Home Rule without the British +constituencies being consulted. It was with this end in view that he +took his party into the lobby in support of a Budget that was detested +in Ireland, and threw the whole weight of his influence in British +constituencies on to the Liberal side in the elections of January 1910.</p> + +<p>But, notwithstanding the torrent of class prejudice and democratic +passion that was stirred up by six weeks of Liberal oratory, the result +of the elections was a serious loss of strength to the Government. The +commanding Liberal majority of 1906 over all parties in the House of +Commons disappeared, and Mr. Asquith and his Cabinet were once more +dependent on a coalition of Labour Members and Nationalists. The +Liberals by themselves had a majority of two only over the Unionists, +who had won over one hundred seats, so that the Nationalists <a name="Page_23"></a>were +easily in a position to enforce their leader's threat to make Mr. +Asquith "toe the line."</p> + +<p>When the Parliament elected in January 1910 assembled disputes arose +between the Government and the Nationalists as to whether priority was +to be given to passing the Budget rejected in the previous session, or +to the Parliament Bill which was to deprive the House of Lords of its +constitutional power to reject legislation passed by the Commons; and +Mr. Redmond expressed his displeasure that "guarantees" had not yet been +obtained from the King, or, in plain language, that a promise had not +been extorted from the Sovereign that he would be prepared to create a +sufficient number of Peers to secure the acceptance of the Parliament +Bill by the Upper House.</p> + +<p>The whole situation was suddenly changed by the death of King Edward in +May 1910. Consideration for the new and inexperienced Sovereign led to +the temporary abandonment of coercion of the Crown, and resort was had +to a Conference of party leaders, with a view to settlement of the +dispute by agreement. But no agreement was arrived at, and the +Conference broke up on the 10th of November. Parliament was again +dissolved in December, "on the assumption," as Lord Crewe stated, "that +the House of Lords would reject the Parliament Bill."</p> + +<p>During the agitation of this troubled autumn preceding the General +Election, the question of Home Rule was not quite so successfully +concealed from view as in the previous year. The Liberals, indeed, +maintained the same tactical reserve on the subject, alike in their +writings and their speeches. The Liberal Press of the period may be +searched in vain for any clear indication that the electors were about +to be asked to decide once more this momentous constitutional question. +Such mention of it as was occasionally to be found in ministerial +speeches seemed designed to convey the idea that, while the door leading +to Home Rule was still formally open, there was no immediate prospect of +its being brought into use. The Prime Minister in particular did +everything in his power to direct the attention of the country to the +same issues as in the preceding January, among which Ireland had <a name="Page_24"></a>had no +place. In presenting the Government's case at Hull on the 25th of +November, he reminded the country that in the January elections the veto +of the Peers was "the dominant issue"; in the intervening months the +Government, he said, had brought forward proposals for dealing with the +veto, and had given the Lords an opportunity to make proposals of their +own; a defeat of the Liberals in the coming elections would bring in +"Protection disguised as Tariff Reform"; but he (Mr. Asquith) preferred +to concentrate his criticism on Lord Lansdowne's "crude and complex +scheme" for Second Chamber reform; he made a passing mention of +"self-government for Ireland" as a policy that would have the sympathy +of the Dominions, but added that "the immediate task was to secure fair +play for Liberal legislation and popular government." And in his +election address Mr. Asquith declared that "the appeal to the country +was almost narrowed to a single issue, and on its determination hung the +whole future of democratic Government."</p> + +<p>This zeal for "popular," or "democratic" government was, however, not +inconsistent apparently with a determination to avoid at all hazards +consulting the will of the people, before doing what the people had +hitherto always refused to sanction. The suggestion had been made +earlier in the autumn that a Referendum, or "Poll of the People" might +be taken on the question of Home Rule. The very idea filled the Liberals +with dismay. Speaking at Edinburgh on the 2nd of December, Mr. Lloyd +George, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, made the curiously naive +admission, for a "democratic" politician, that the Referendum would +amount to "a prohibitive tariff against Liberalism." A few days earlier +at Reading (November 29th) his Chief sought to turn the edge of this +disconcerting proposal by asking whether the Unionists, if returned to +power, would allow Tariff Reform to be settled by the same mode of +appeal to the country; and when Mr. Balfour promptly accepted the +challenge by promising that he would do so Mr. Asquith retreated under +cover of the excuse that no bargain had been intended.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_25"></a>While the Liberal leaders were thus doing all they could to hold down +the lid of the Home Rule Jack-in-the-box, the Unionists were warning the +country that as soon as Mr. Asquith secured a majority his thumb would +release the spring. Speakers from Ulster carried the warning into many +constituencies, but it was noticed that they were constantly met with +the same retort as in January—that Home Rule was a "bogey," or a "red +herring" dragged across the trail of Tariff Reform and the Peers' veto; +and it is a significant indication of the straits to which the +Government afterwards felt themselves driven to find justification for +dealing with so fundamental a question as the repeal of the Union +without the explicit approval of the electorate, that they devised the +strange doctrine that speeches by their opponents provided them with a +mandate for a policy about which they had themselves kept silence, even +although those speeches had been disbelieved and derided on the very +ground that it would be impossible for Ministers to bring forward a +policy they had not laid before the country during the election.</p> + +<p>The extent to which this ministerial reserve was carried was shown by a +question put to Mr. Asquith in his own constituency in East Fife on the +6th of December. Scottish "hecklers" are intelligent and well informed +on current politics, and no one who knows them can imagine one of them +asking the Prime Minister whether he intended to introduce a Home Rule +Bill if Home Rule had been proclaimed as one of the chief items in the +policy of the Government. Mr. Asquith gave an affirmative reply; but the +elections were by this time half over, and in the following week Mr. +Balfour laid stress on the fact that five hundred contests had been +decided before any Minister had mentioned Home Rule. Even after giving +this memorable answer in East Fife Mr. Asquith, speaking at Bury St. +Edmunds on the 12th of December, declared that "the sole issue at that +moment was the supremacy of the people," and he added, in deprecation of +all the talk about Ireland, that "it was sought to confuse this issue by +catechising Ministers on the details of the next Home Rule Bill."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_26"></a>Even if this had been, as it was not, a true description of the +attempts that had been made to extract a frank declaration from the +Government as to their intentions in regard to this vitally important +matter—far more important to hundreds of thousands of people than any +question of Tariff, or of limiting the functions of the Second Chamber +—it was surely a curious doctrine to be propounded by a statesman +zealous to preserve "popular government "! There had been two Home Rule +Bills in the past, differing one from the other in not a few important +respects; discussion had shown that many even of those who supported the +principle of Home Rule objected strongly to this or that proposal for +embodying it in legislation Language had been used by Mr. Asquith +himself, as well as by some of his principal colleagues, which implied +that any future Home Rule Bill would be part of a general scheme of +"devolution," or federation, or "Home Rule All Round"—a solution of the +question favoured by many who hotly opposed separate treatment for +Ireland Yet here was the responsible Minister, in the middle of a +General Election, complaining that the issue was being "confused" by +presumptuous persons who wanted to know what sort of Home Rule, if any, +he had in contemplation in the event of obtaining a majority sufficient +to keep him in power.</p> + +<p>Under such circumstances it would have been a straining of +constitutional principles, and a flagrant violation of the canons of +that "democratic government" of which Mr Asquith had constituted himself +the champion, to pass a Home Rule Bill by means of a majority so +obtained, even if the majority had been one that pointed to a sweeping +turnover of public opinion to the side of the Government The elections +of December 1910, in point of fact, gave no such indication. The +Government gained nothing whatever by the appeal to the country. +Liberals and Unionists came back in almost precisely the same strength +as in the previous Parliament. They balanced each other within a couple +of votes in the new House of Commons, and the Ministry could not have +remained twenty-four hours in office except in coalition with Labour and +the Irish Nationalists.</p><a name="Page_27"></a> + +<p>The Parliament so elected and so constituted was destined not merely to +destroy the effective power of the House of Lords, and to place on the +Statute-book a measure setting up an Irish Parliament in Dublin, but to +be an assembly longer in duration and more memorable in achievement than +any in English history since the Long Parliament. During the eight years +of its reign the Great War was fought and won; the "rebel party" in +Ireland once more, as in the Napoleonic Wars, broke into armed +insurrection in league with the enemies of England; and before it was +dissolved the political parties in Great Britain, heartily supported by +the Loyalists of Ulster, composed the party differences which had raged +with such passion over Home Rule and other domestic issues, and joined +forces in patriotic resistance to the foreign enemy.</p> + +<p>But before this transformation took place nearly four years of agitation +and contest had to run their course. In the first session of the +Parliament, by a violent use of the Royal Prerogative, the Parliament +Bill became law, the Peers accepting the measure under duress of the +threat that some four or five hundred peerages would, if necessary, be +created to form a majority to carry it. It was then no longer possible +for the Upper House to force an appeal to the country on Home Rule, as +it had done in 1893. All that was necessary was for a Bill to be carried +in three successive sessions through the House of Commons, to become +law. "The last obstacle to Home Rule," as Mr. Redmond called it, had +been removed. The Liberal Government had taken a hint from the procedure +of the careful burglar, who poisons the dog before breaking into the +house.</p> + +<p>The significance of the manner in which the Irish question had been kept +out of view of the electorate by the Government and their supporters was +not lost upon the people of Ulster. In January 1911, within a month of +the elections, a meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council was held at +which a comprehensive resolution dealing with the situation that had +arisen was adopted, and published as a manifesto. One of its clauses +was:</p><a name="Page_28"></a> + +<blockquote><p>"The Council has observed with much surprise the singular reticence + as regards Home Rule maintained by a large number of Radical + candidates in England and Scotland during the recent elections, and + especially by the Prime Minister himself, who barely referred to + the subject till almost the close of his own contest. In view of + the consequent fact that Home Rule was not at the late appeal to + the country placed as a clear issue before the electors, it is the + judgment of the Council that the country has given no mandate for + Home Rule, and that any attempt in such circumstances to force + through Parliament a measure enacting it would be for His Majesty's + Ministers a grave, if not criminal, breach of constitutional duty."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The great importance, in relation to the policy subsequently pursued by +Ulster, of the historical fact here made clear—namely, that the "will +of the people" constitutionally expressed in parliamentary elections has +never declared itself in favour of granting Home Rule to Ireland, lies, +first, in the justification it afforded to the preparations for active +resistance to a measure so enacted; and, secondly, in the influence it +had in procuring for Ulster not merely the sympathy but the open support +of the whole Unionist Party in Great Britain. Lord Londonderry, one of +Ulster's most trusted leaders, who afterwards gave the whole weight of +his support to the policy of forcible resistance, admitted in the House +of Lords in 1911, in the debates on the Parliament Bill, that the +verdict of the country, if appealed to, would have to be accepted. The +leader of the Unionist Party, Mr. Bonar Law, made it clear in February +1914, as he had more than once stated before, that the support he and +his party were pledging themselves to give to Ulster in the struggle +then approaching a climax, was entirely due to the fact that the +electorate had never sanctioned the policy of the Government against +which Ulster's resistance was threatened. The chance of success in that +resistance "depended," he said, "upon the sympathy of the British +people, and an election would undoubtedly make a great difference in +that respect"; he denied that Mr. Asquith had a "right to pass any form +of Home Rule without a <a name="Page_29"></a>mandate from the people of this country, which +he has never received"; and he categorically announced that "if you get +the decision of the people we shall obey it." And if, as then appeared +likely, the unconstitutional conduct of the Government should lead to +bloodshed in Ireland, the responsibility, said Mr. Bonar Law, would be +theirs, "because you preferred to face civil war rather than face the +people."<a name="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8"><sup>[8]</sup></a></p> +<a name="Page_30"></a> +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3">[3]</a><div class="note"><p> Morley's <i>Life of Gladstone</i>, in, 492.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4">[4]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., 493.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5">[5]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., 505.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6">[6]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1910, p. 240.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7">[7]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>Letters to Isabel</i>, by Lord Shaw of Dunfermline, p. +130.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8">[8]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Parliamentary Debates</i> (5th Series), vol. I viii, pp. +279-84.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_III"></a><h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h4>ORGANISATION AND LEADERSHIP</h4> + + +<p>From the day when Gladstone first made Home Rule for Ireland the leading +issue in British politics, the Loyalists of Ulster—who, as already +explained, included practically all the Protestant population of the +Province both Conservative and Liberal, besides a small number of +Catholics who had no separatist sympathies—set to work to organise +themselves for effective opposition to the new policy. In the hour of +their dismay over Gladstone's surrender Lord Randolph Churchill, +hurrying from London to encourage and inspirit them, told them in the +Ulster Hall on the 22nd of February, 1886, that "the Loyalists in Ulster +should wait and watch—organise and prepare."<a name="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9"><sup>[9]</sup></a> They followed his +advice. Propaganda among themselves was indeed unnecessary, for no one +required conversion except those who were known to be inconvertible. The +chief work to be done was to send speakers to British constituencies; +and in the decade from 1885 to 1895 Ulster speakers, many of whom were +ministers of the different Protestant Churches, were in request on +English and Scottish platforms.</p> + +<p>A number of organisations were formed for this purpose, some of which, +like the Irish Unionist Alliance, represented Unionist opinion +throughout Ireland, and not in Ulster alone. Others were exclusively +concerned with the northern Province, where from the first the +opposition was naturally more concentrated than elsewhere. In the early +days, the Ulster Loyalist and Patriotic Union, organised by Lord +Ranfurly and Mr. W.R. Young, carried on an active and sustained campaign +in Great Britain, and the Unionist Clubs initiated by Lord Temple<a name="Page_31"></a>town +provided a useful organisation in the smaller country towns, which still +exists as an effective force. The Loyal Orange Institution, founded at +the end of the eighteenth century to commemorate, and to keep alive the +principles of, the Whig Revolution of 1688, had fallen into not +unmerited disrepute prior to 1886. Few men of education or standing +belonged to it, and the lodge meetings and anniversary celebrations had +become little better than occasions for conviviality wholly inconsistent +with the irreproachable formularies of the Order. But its system of +local Lodges, affiliated to a Grand Lodge in each county, supplied the +ready-made framework of an effective organisation. Immediately after the +introduction of Gladstone's first Bill in 1886 it received an immense +accession of strength. Large numbers of country gentlemen, clergymen of +all Protestant denominations, business and professional men, farmers, +and the better class of artisans in Belfast and other towns, joined the +local Lodges, the management of which passed into capable hands; the +character of the Society was thereby completely and rapidly transformed, +and, instead of being a somewhat disreputable and obsolete survival, it +became a highly respectable as well as an exceedingly powerful political +organisation, the whole weight of whose influence has been on the side +of the Union.</p> + +<p>A rallying cry was given to the Ulster Loyalists in the famous phrase +contained in a letter from Lord Randolph Churchill to a correspondent in +May 1886: "Ulster will fight, and Ulster will be right." From this time +forward the idea that resort to physical resistance would be preferable +to submission to a Parliament in Dublin controlled by the "rebel party" +took hold of the popular mind in Ulster, although after the elections of +1886 there was no serious apprehension that the necessity would arise, +until the return to power of Mr. Gladstone at the head of a small +majority in 1892 brought about a fresh crisis.</p> + +<p>The work of organisation was then undertaken with greater energy and +thoroughness than before. It was now that Lord Templetown founded the +Unionist Clubs, which spread in an affiliated network through Ulster, +and <a name="Page_32"></a>proved so valuable that, after falling into neglect during the ten +years of Conservative Government, they were revived at the special +request of the Ulster Unionist Council in December 1910. Nothing, +however, did so much to stimulate organisation and concentration of +effort as the great Convention held in Belfast on the 19th of June 1892, +representing on a democratic basis all the constituencies in Ulster. +Numerous preliminary meetings were arranged for the purpose of electing +the delegates; and of these the Special Correspondent of <i>The Times</i> +wrote:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Nothing has struck me more in the present movement than the + perfect order and regularity with which the preliminary meetings + for the election of delegates has been conducted. From city and + town and village come reports of crowded and enthusiastic + gatherings, all animated by an equal ardour, all marked by the same + spirit of quiet determination. There has been no 'tall talk,' no + over-statement; the speeches have been dignified, sensible, and + practical. One of the most marked features in the meetings has been + the appearance of men who have never before taken part in public + life, who have never till now stood on a public platform. Now for + the first time they have broken with the tranquil traditions of a + lifetime, and have come forward to take their share and their + responsibility in the grave danger which threatens their + country."<a name="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10"><sup>[10]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>There being no building large enough to hold the delegates, numbering +nearly twelve thousand, every one of whom was a registered voter +appointed by the polling districts to attend the Convention, a pavilion, +the largest ever used for a political meeting in the kingdom, was +specially constructed close to the Botanical Gardens in Belfast. It +covered 33,000 square feet, and, owing to the enthusiasm of the workmen +employed on the building, it was erected (at a cost of over £3,000) +within three weeks. It provided seating accommodation for 13,000 people, +but the number who actually gained admittance to the Convention was +nearly 21,000, while outside an assemblage, estimated by the +correspondent of <i>The Times</i> at 300,000, was also addressed by the +principal speakers.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_33"></a>The commencement of the proceedings with prayer, conducted by the +Primate of all Ireland and the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church, set +a precedent which was extensively followed in later years throughout +Ulster, marking the spirit of seriousness which struck numerous +observers as characteristic of the Ulster Movement. The speakers were +men representative of all the varied interests of the Province—- +religious, agricultural, commercial, and industrial—and among them were +two men, Mr. Thomas Sinclair and Mr. Thomas Andrews, who had been +life-long Liberals, but who from this time forward were distinguished +and trusted leaders of Unionist opinion in Ulster. It was Mr. Andrews +who touched a chord that vibrated through the vast audience, making them +leap to their feet, cheering for several minutes. "As a last resource," +he cried, "we will be prepared to defend ourselves." But the climax of +this memorable assembly was reached when the chairman, the Duke of +Abercorn, with upraised arm, and calling on the audience solemnly to +repeat the words one by one after him, gave out what became for the +future the motto and watchword of Ulster loyalty: "We will not have Home +Rule." It was felt that this simple negation constituted a solemn vow +taken by the delegates, both for themselves and for those they +represented—an act of self-dedication to which every loyal man and +woman in Ulster was committed, and from which there could be no turning +back.</p> + +<p>The principal Resolution, adopted unanimously by the Convention, +formulated the grounds on which the people of the Province based their +hostility to the separatist policy of Home Rule; and as frequent +reference was made to it in after-years as an authoritative definition +of Ulster policy, it may be worth while to recall its terms:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"That this Convention, consisting of 11,879 delegates representing + the Unionists of every creed, class, and party throughout Ulster, + appointed at public meetings held in every electoral division of + the Province, hereby solemnly resolves and declares: 'That we + express the devoted loyalty of Ulster Unionists to the Crown and + Constitution of the United Kingdom; that we avow our fixed resolve + <a name="Page_34"></a>to retain unchanged our present position as an integral portion of + the United Kingdom, and protest in the most unequivocal manner + against the passage of any measure that would rob us of our + inheritance in the Imperial Parliament, under the protection of + which our capital has been invested and our homes and rights + safeguarded; that we record our determination to have nothing to do + with a Parliament certain to be controlled by men responsible for + the crime and outrages of the Land League, the dishonesty of the + Plan of Campaign, and the cruelties of boycotting, many of whom + have shown themselves the ready instruments of clerical domination; + that we declare to the people of Great Britain our conviction that + the attempt to set up such a Parliament in Ireland will inevitably + result in disorder, violence, and bloodshed, such as have not been + experienced in this century, and announce our resolve to take no + part in the election or proceedings of such a Parliament, the + authority of which, should it ever be constituted, we shall be + forced to repudiate; that we protest against this great question, + which involves our lives, property, and civil rights, being treated + as a mere side-issue in the impending electoral struggle; that we + appeal to those of our fellow countrymen who have hitherto been in + favour of a separate Parliament to abandon a demand which + hopelessly divides Irishmen, and to unite with us under the + Imperial Legislature in developing the resources and furthering the + best interests of our common country.'"</p></blockquote> + +<p>There can be no doubt that the Ulster Convention of 1892, and the +numerous less imposing demonstrations which followed on both sides of +the Channel and took their tone from it, of which the most notable was +the great meeting at the Albert Hall in London on the 22nd of April, +1893, had much effect in impressing and instructing public opinion, and +thus preparing the way for the smashing defeat of the Liberal Home Rule +Party in the General Election of 1895. After that event vigilance again +relaxed during the ten years of Unionist predominance which followed. +But the organisation was kept intact, and its democratic method of +appointing delegates in every polling district provided a permanent +electoral machinery for the Unionist Party in the constituencies, <a name="Page_35"></a>as +well as the framework for the Ulster Unionist Council, which was brought +into existence in 1905, largely through the efforts of Mr. William +Moore, M.P. for North Armagh. This Council, with its executive Standing +Committee, was thenceforward the acknowledged authority for determining +all questions of Unionist policy in Ulster.</p> + +<p>Its first meeting was held on the 3rd of March, 1905, under the +presidency of Colonel James McCalmont, M.P. for East Antrim. The first +ten members of the Standing Committee were nominated by Colonel +Saunderson, M.P., as chairman of the Ulster Parliamentary Party. They +were, in addition to the chairman himself, the Duke of Abercorn, the +Marquis of Londonderry, the Earl of Erne, the Earl of Ranfurly, Colonel +James McCalmont, M.P., the Hon. R.T. O'Neill, M.P., Mr. G. Wolff, M.P., +Mr. J.B. Lonsdale, M.P., and Mr. William Moore, K.C., M.P. These +nominations were confirmed by a ballot of the members of the Council, +and twenty other members were elected forthwith to form the Standing +Committee. This first Executive Committee of the organisation which for +the next fifteen years directed the policy of Ulster Unionism included +several names that were from this time forward among the most prominent +in the movement. There were the two eminent Liberals, Mr. Thomas +Sinclair and Mr. Thomas Andrews, and Mr. John Young, all three of whom +were members of the Irish Privy Council; Colonel R.H. Wallace, C.B., Mr. +W.H.H. Lyons, and Sir James Stronge, leaders of the Orangemen; Colonel +Sharman-Crawford, Mr. E.M. Archdale, Mr. W.J. Allen, Mr. R.H. Reade, and +Sir William Ewart. Among several "Unionist candidates for Ulster +constituencies" who were at the same meeting co-opted to the Council, we +find the names of Captain James Craig and Mr. Denis Henry, K.C. The Duke +of Abercorn accepted the position of President of the Council, and Mr. +E.M. Archdale was elected chairman of the Standing Committee. Mr. T.H. +Gibson was appointed secretary. In October 1906 the latter resigned his +post owing to failing health, and, on the motion of Mr. William Moore, +M.P., Mr. Richard Dawson Bates, a solicitor practising in Belfast, was +"temporarily"<a name="Page_36"></a> appointed to fill the vacancy. This temporary appointment +was never formally made permanent, but no question in regard to the +secretaryship was ever raised, for Mr. Bates performed the duties year +after year to the complete satisfaction of everyone connected with the +organisation, and in a manner that earned the gratitude of all Ulster +Unionists. The funds at the disposal of the Council in 1906 only enabled +a salary of £100 a year to be paid to the secretary—a salary that was +purely nominal in the case of a professional gentleman of Mr. Bates's +standing; but the spirit in which he took up his duties was seen two +years later, when it was found that out of this salary he had himself +been paying for clerical assistance; and then, of course, this matter +was properly adjusted, which the improved financial position of the +Council happily rendered possible.</p> + +<p>The declared purpose of the Ulster Unionist Council was to form a union +of all local Unionist Associations in Ulster; to keep the latter in +constant touch with their parliamentary representatives; and "to be the +medium of expressing Ulster Unionist opinion as current events may from +time to time require." It consisted at first of not more than 200 +members, of whom 100 represented local Associations, and 50 represented +the Orange Lodges, the remaining 50 being made up of Ulster members of +both Houses of Parliament and of certain "distinguished residents in or +natives of Ulster" to be co-opted by the Council. As time went on the +Council was considerably enlarged, and its representative character +improved. In 1911 the elected membership was raised to 370, and included +representatives of local Associations, Orange Lodges, Unionist Clubs, +and the Derry Apprentice Boys. In 1918 representatives of the Women's +Associations were added, and the total elected membership was increased +to 432. The delegates elected by the various constituent bodies were in +the fullest sense representative men; they were drawn from all classes +of the population; and, by the regularity with which they attended +meetings of the Council whenever business of any importance was to be +transacted, they made it the most effective political organisation in +the United Kingdom.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_37"></a>A campaign of public meetings in England and Scotland conducted jointly +by the Ulster Unionist Council and the Irish Unionist Alliance in 1908 +led to a scheme of co-operation between the two bodies, the one +representing Unionists in the North and the other those in the southern +Provinces, which worked smoothly and effectively. A joint Committee of +the Unionist Associations of Ireland was therefore formed in the same +year, the organisations represented on it being the two already named +and the Ulster Loyalist Anti-Repeal Union. The latter, which in earlier +years had done excellent spade-work under the fostering zeal of Lord +Ranfurly and Mr. William Robert Young, was before 1911 amalgamated with +the Unionist Council, so that all rivalry and overlapping was +thenceforward eliminated from the organisation of Unionism in Ulster. +The Council in the North and the Irish Unionist Alliance in Dublin +worked in complete harmony both with each other and with the Union +Defence League in London, whose operations were carried on under the +direction of its founder, Mr. Walter Long.</p> + +<p>The women of Ulster were scarcely less active than the men in the matter +of organisation. Although, of course, as yet unenfranchised, they took +as a rule a keener interest in political matters—meaning thereby the +one absorbing question of the Union—than their sex in other parts of +the United Kingdom. When critical times for the Union arrived there was, +therefore, no apathy to be overcome by the Protestant women in Ulster. +Early in 1911 the "Ulster Women's Unionist Council" was formed under the +presidency of the Duchess of Abercorn, and very quickly became a most +effective organisation side by side with that of the men. The leading +spirit was the Marchioness of Londonderry, but that it was no +aristocratic affair of titled ladies may be inferred from the fact that +within twelve months of its formation between forty and fifty thousand +members were enrolled. A branch in Mr. Devlin's constituency of West +Belfast, which over four thousand women joined in its first month of +existence, of whom over 80 per cent, were mill-workers and shop-girls in +the district, held a very effective demonstration on the<a name="Page_38"></a> 11th of +January, 1912, at which Mr. Thomas Sinclair, the most universally +respected of Belfast's business men, made one of his many telling +speeches which familiarised the people with the commercial and financial +aspects of Home Rule, as it would be felt in Ulster. The central Women's +Council followed this up with a more imposing gathering in the Ulster +Hall on the 18th, which adopted with intense enthusiasm the declaration: +"We will stand by our husbands, our brothers, and our sons, in whatever +steps they may be forced to take in defending our liberties against the +tyranny of Home Rule."</p> + +<p>Thus before the end of 1911 men and women alike were firmly organised in +Ulster for the support of their loyalist principles. But the most +effective organisation is impotent without leadership. Among the +declared "objects" of the Ulster Unionist Council was that of acting "as +a connecting link between Ulster Unionists and their parliamentary +representatives." In the House of Commons the Ulster Unionist Members, +although they recognised Colonel Edward Saunderson, M.P., as their +leader until his death in 1906, did not during his lifetime, or for some +years afterwards, constitute a separate party or group. When Colonel +Saunderson died the Right Hon. Walter Long, who had held the office of +Chief Secretary in the last year of the Unionist Administration, and who +had been elected for South Dublin in 1906, became leader of the Irish +Unionists—with whom those representing Ulster constituencies were +included. But in the elections of January 1910 Mr. Long was returned for +a London seat, and it therefore became necessary for Irish Unionists to +select another leader.</p> + +<p>By this time the Home Rule question had, as the people of Ulster +perceived, become once more a matter of vital urgency, although, as +explained in the preceding chapter, the electors of Great Britain were +too engrossed by other matters to give it a thought, and the Liberal +Ministers were doing everything in their power to keep it in the +background. The Ulster Members of the House of Commons realised, +therefore, the grave importance of finding a leader of the calibre +necessary for dealing on <a name="Page_39"></a>equal terms with such orators and +Parliamentarians as Mr. Asquith and Mr. John Redmond. They did not +deceive themselves into thinking that such a leader was to be found +among their own number. They could produce several capable speakers, and +men of judgment and good sense; but something more was needed for the +critical times they saw ahead. After careful consideration, they took a +step which in the event proved to be of momentous importance, and of +extreme good fortune, for the enterprise that the immediate future had +in store for them. Mr. J.B. Lonsdale, Member for Mid Armagh, Hon. +Secretary of the Irish Unionist Parliamentary Party, was deputed to +request Sir Edward Carson, K.C., to accept the leadership of the Irish +Unionist party in the House of Commons.</p> + +<p>Several days elapsed before they received an answer; but when it came it +was, happily for Ulster, an acceptance. It is easy to understand Sir +Edward Carson's hesitation before consenting to assume the leadership. +After carrying all before him in the Irish Courts, where he had been Law +Officer of the Crown, he had migrated to London, where he had been +Solicitor-General during the last six years of the Unionist +Administration, and by 1910 had attained a position of supremacy at the +English Bar, with the certain prospect of the highest legal advancement, +and with an extremely lucrative practice, which his family circumstances +made it no light matter for him to sacrifice, but which he knew it would +be impossible for him to retain in conjunction with the political duties +he was now urged to undertake. Although only in his fifty-seventh year, +he was never one of those who feel younger than their age; nor did he +minimise in his own mind the disability caused by his too frequent +physical ailments, which inclined him to shrink from embarking upon +fresh work the extent and nature of which could not be exactly foreseen. +As to ambition, there are few men who ever were less moved by it, but he +could not leave altogether out of consideration his firm +conviction—which ultimately proved to have been ill-founded—that +acceptance of the Ulster leadership would cut him off from all +promotion, whether political or legal.<a name="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11"><sup>[11]</sup></a></p> + +<p><a name="Page_40"></a>Moreover, although for the moment it was the leadership of a +parliamentary group to which he was formally invited, it was obvious +that much more was really involved; the people in Ulster itself needed +guidance in the crisis that was visibly approaching. Ever since Lord +Randolph Churchill, with the concurrence of Lord Salisbury, first +inspired them in 1886 with the spirit of resistance in the last resort +to being placed under a Dublin Parliament, and assured them of British +sympathy and support if driven to that extremity, the determination of +Ulster in this respect was known to all who had any familiarity with the +temper of her people. Any man who undertook to lead them at such a +juncture as had been reached in 1910 must make that determination the +starting-point of his policy. It was a task that would require not only +statesmanship, but political courage of a high order. Lord Randolph +Churchill, in his famous Ulster Hall speech, had said that "no +portentous change such as the repeal of the Union, no change so +gigantic, could be accomplished by the mere passing of a law; the +history of the United States will teach us a different lesson." Ulster +always took her stand on the American precedent, though the exemplar was +Lincoln rather than Washington. But although the scale of operations +was, of course, infinitely smaller, the Ulster leader would, if it came +to the worst, be confronted by certain difficulties from which Abraham +Lincoln was free. He might have to follow the example of the latter in +forcibly resisting secession, but his legal position would be very +different. He might be called upon to resist technically legal +authority, whereas Lincoln had it at his back. To guide and control a +headstrong people, smarting under a sense of betrayal, when entering on +a movement pregnant with these issues, and at the same time to stand up +against a powerful Government on the floor of the House of Commons, was +an enterprise upon which any far-seeing man might well hesitate to +embark.</p> + +<p>Pondering over the invitation conveyed to him in his Chambers in the +Temple, Carson may, therefore, well have asked himself what inducement +there was for him to accept it. He was not an Ulsterman. As a Southerner +<a name="Page_41"></a>he was not familiar with the psychology of the northern Irish; the +sectarian narrowness popularly attributed to them outside their province +was wholly alien to his character; he was as far removed by nature from +a fire-eater as it was possible for man to be; he was not fond of +unnecessary exertion; he preferred the law to politics, and disliked +addressing political assemblies. In Parliament he represented, not a +popular constituency, but the University of Dublin. But, on the other +hand, he was to the innermost core of his nature an Irish Loyalist. His +youthful political sympathies had, indeed, been with the Liberal Party, +but he instantly severed his connection with it when Gladstone joined +hands with Parnell. He had made his name at the Irish Bar as Crown +Prosecutor in the troubled period of Mr. Balfour's Chief Secretaryship, +and this experience had bred in him a hearty detestation of the whining +sentimentality, the tawdry and exaggerated rhetoric, and the +manufactured discontent that found vent in Nationalist politics. A +sincere lover of Ireland, he had too much sound sense to credit the +notion that either the freedom or the prosperity of the country would be +increased by loosening the tie with Great Britain. Although he as yet +knew little of Ulster, he admired her resolute stand for the Union, her +passionate loyalty to the Crown; he watched with disgust the way in +which her defences were being sapped by the Liberal Party in England; +and the thought that such a people were perhaps on the eve of being +driven into subjection to the men whose character he had had so much +opportunity to gauge in the days of the Land League filled him with +indignation.</p> + +<p>If, therefore, he could be of service in helping to avert so great a +wrong Sir Edward Carson came to the conclusion that it would be shirking +a call of duty were he to decline the leadership that had been offered +him. Realising to the full all that it meant for himself—inevitable +sacrifice of income, of ease, of chances of promotion, a burden of +responsibility, a probability of danger—he gave his consent; and the +day he gave it—the 21st of February, 1910—should be marked for all +time as a red-letter day in the Ulster calendar.</p><a name="Page_42"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9">[9]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Lord Randolph Churchill</i>, by the Right Hon. W.S. +Churchill, vol. ii, p. 62.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10">[10]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Times</i>, June 16th, 1892.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11">[11]</a><div class="note"><p> He expressed this conviction to the author in 1911.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_IV"></a><h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h4>THE PARLIAMENT ACT: CRAIGAVON</h4> + + +<p>A good many months were to elapse before the Unionist rank and file in +Ulster were brought into close personal touch with the new leader of the +Irish Unionist Parliamentary Party. The work to be done in 1910 lay +chiefly in London, where the constitutional struggle arising out of the +rejection of the "People's Budget" was raging. But shortly before the +General Election of December a demonstration was held in the Ulster Hall +in Belfast, in the hope of opening the eyes of the English and Scottish +electors to the danger of Home Rule. Mr. Walter Long was the principal +speaker, and Sir Edward Carson, in supporting the resolution, ended his +speech by quoting Lord Randolph Churchill's famous jingling phrase, +"Ulster will fight, and Ulster will be right."</p> + +<p>On the 31st of January, 1911, when the elections were over, he went over +from London to preside at an important meeting of the Ulster Unionist +Council. The Annual Report of the Standing Committee, in welcoming his +succession to Mr. Long in the leadership, spoke of his requiring no +introduction to Ulstermen; and it is true that he had occasionally +spoken at meetings in Belfast, and that his recent speech in the Ulster +Hall had made an excellent impression. But he was not yet a really +familiar figure even in Belfast, while outside the city he was +practically unknown, except of course by repute. That a man of his +sagacity would quickly make his weight felt was never in doubt; but few +at that time can have anticipated the extent to which a stranger—with +an accent proclaiming an origin south of the Boyne—was in a short time +to captivate the hearts, and become literally the idolised leader, of +the Ulster democracy.</p> + +<p>For the latter are a people who certainly do not wear <a name="Page_43"></a>their hearts on +their sleeves for daws to peck at. In the eyes of the more volatile +southern Celts they seem a "dour" people. They are naturally reserved, +laconic of speech, without "gush," far from lavish in compliment, slow +to commit themselves or to give their confidence without good and proved +reason.</p> + +<p>Opportunity for the populace to get into closer touch with the leader +did not, however, come till the autumn. He was unable to attend the +Orange celebration on the 12th of July, when the anniversary, which +preceded by less than a month the "removal of the last obstacle to Home +Rule" by the passing of the Parliament Act, was kept with more than the +usual fervour, and the speeches proved that the gravity of the situation +was fully appreciated. The Marquis of Londonderry, addressing an immense +concourse of Belfast Lodges, stated that it was the first time an +Ex-Viceroy had been present at an Orange gathering, but that he had +deliberately created the precedent owing to his sense of the danger +threatening the Loyalist cause.</p> + +<p>It was the first of innumerable similar actions by which Lord +Londonderry identified himself whole-heartedly with the popular +movement, throwing aside all the conventional restraints of rank and +wealth, and thereby endearing himself to every man and woman in +Protestant Ulster. There was no more familiar figure in the streets of +Belfast. Barefooted street urchins, catching sight of him on the steps +of the Ulster Club, would gather round and, with free-and-easy +familiarity, shout "Three cheers for Londonderry." He knew everybody and +was everybody's friend. There was no aristocratic hauteur or aloofness +about his genial personality. He was in the habit of entertaining the +whole Unionist Council, some five hundred strong, at luncheon or dinner +as the occasion required, when important meetings of the delegates took +place. Distinguished political visitors from England could always be +invited over without thought for their entertainment, since a welcome at +Mount Stewart was never wanting. His financial support of the political +movement was equally open-handed.</p> + +<p>But, helpful as were his hospitality and his subscriptions, <a name="Page_44"></a>it was the +countenance and support of a man who had held high Cabinet office, and +especially the great position of Viceroy of Ireland, that made Lord +Londonderry's full participation an asset of incalculable value to the +cause he espoused. Moreover, while he was always ready to cross the +Channel, even if for a few hours only, when wanted for any conference or +public meeting, never pleading his innumerable social and political +engagements in London or the North of England as an excuse for absence, +his natural modesty of character made it easy for him to act under the +leadership of another. Indeed, he underrated his own abilities; but +there are probably not many men of his prominence and antecedents who, +if similarly placed, would have been able to give, without a trace of +<i>amour-propre,</i> to a leader who had in former years been his own +official subordinate, the consistently loyal backing that Lord +Londonderry gave to Sir Edward Carson.</p> + +<p>But, although there never was the slightest friction between the two +men, a difference of opinion between them on an important point showed +itself within a few months of Carson's acceptance of the leadership. In +July 1911 the excitement over the Parliament Bill reached its climax. +When the Government announced that the King had given his assent to the +creation of whatever number of peerages might be required for carrying +the measure through the Upper House, the party known as "Die Hards" were +for rejecting it and taking the consequences; while against this policy +were ranged Lord Lansdowne, Lord Curzon, and other Unionist leaders, who +advocated the acceptance of the Bill under protest. On the 20th of July +Carson told Lansdowne that in his judgment "the disgrace and ignominy of +surrender on the question far outweighed any temporary advantage" to be +gained by the two years' delay of Home Rule which the Parliament Bill +would secure.<a name="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12"><sup>[12]</sup></a> Lord Londonderry, on the other hand, supported the +view taken by Lord Lansdowne, and he voted with the majority who carried +the Bill on the 10th of August. This step temporarily clouded his +popularity in Ulster, but not many weeks <a name="Page_45"></a>passed before he completely +regained the confidence and affection of the people, and the difference +of opinion never in the smallest degree interrupted the harmony of his +relations with Sir Edward Carson.</p> + +<p>The true position of affairs in relation to Home Rule had not yet been +grasped by the British public. As explained in a former chapter, it had +not been in any real sense an issue in the two General Elections of the +previous year, and throughout the spring and summer of 1911 popular +interest in England and Scotland was still wholly occupied with the +fight between "Peers and People" and the impending blow to the power of +the Second Chamber; and the coronation festivities also helped to divert +attention from the political consequences to which the authors of the +Parliament Bill intended it to lead.</p> + +<p>The first real awakening was brought about by an immense demonstration +held at Craigavon, on the outskirts of Belfast, on the 23rd of +September. The main purpose of this historic gathering was to bring the +populace of Ulster face to face with their new leader, and to give him +an opportunity of making a definite pronouncement of a policy for +Ulster, in view of the entirely novel situation resulting from the +passing of the Parliament Act.</p> + +<p>For that Act made it possible for the first time for the Liberal Home +Rule Party to repeal the Act of Union without an appeal to the country. +It enacted that any Bill which in three successive sessions was passed +without substantial alteration through the House of Commons might be +presented for the Royal Assent without the consent of the Lords; and an +amendment to exclude a Home Rule Bill from its operation had been +successfully resisted by the Government. It also reduced the maximum +legal duration of a Parliament from seven to five years; but the +existing Parliament was still in its first session, and there was +therefore ample time, under the provisions of the new Constitution, to +pass a Home Rule Bill before the next General Election, as the coalition +of parties in favour of Home Rule constituted a substantial majority in +the House of Commons.</p> + +<p>The question, therefore, which the Ulster people had <a name="Page_46"></a>now to decide was +no longer simply how they could bring about the rejection of a Home Rule +Bill by propaganda in the British constituencies, as they had hitherto +done with unfailing success, although that object was still kept in +view, but what course they should adopt if a Home Rule Act should be +placed on the Statute-book without those constituencies being consulted. +Was the day at last approaching when Lord Randolph Churchill's +exhortation must be obeyed? Or were they to be compelled, because the +Cabinet had coerced the Sovereign and tricked the people by straining +the royal prerogative in a manner described by Mr. Balfour as "a gross +violation of constitutional liberty," to submit with resignation to the +government of their country by the "rebel party "—the party controlled +by clerical influence, and boasting of the identity of its aims with +those of Wolfe Tone and Robert Emmet? This was the real problem in the +minds of those who flocked to Craigavon on Saturday, the 23rd of +September, 1911, to hear what proposals Sir Edward Carson had to lay +before his followers.</p> + +<p>Craigavon was the residence of Captain James Craig, Member of Parliament +for East Down. It is a spacious country house standing on a hill above +the road leading from Belfast to Holywood, with a fine view of Belfast +Lough and the distant Antrim coast beyond the estuary. The lawn in front +of the house, sloping steeply to the shore road, forms a sort of natural +amphitheatre offering ideal conditions for out-of-door oratory to an +unlimited audience. At the meeting on the 23rd of September the platform +was erected near the crest of the hill, enabling the vast audience to +spread out fan-wise over the lower levels, where even the most distant +had the speakers clearly in view, even if many of them, owing to the +size of the gathering, were unable to hear the spoken word.</p> + +<p>It was on this occasion that Captain Craig, by the care with which every +minute detail of the arrangements was thought out and provided for, +first gave evidence of his remarkable gift for organisation that was to +prove so invaluable to the Ulster cause in the next few years. The +greater part of the audience arrived in procession, which, <a name="Page_47"></a>starting +from the centre of the city of Belfast, took over two hours to pass a +given point, at the quick march in fours. All the Belfast Orange Lodges, +and representative detachments from the County Grand Lodges, together +with Lord Templetown's Unionist Clubs, and other organisations, +including the Women's Association, took part in the procession. But +immense numbers of people attended the meeting independently; it was +calculated that not less than a hundred thousand were present during the +delivery of Sir Edward Carson's speech, and although there must have +been very many of them who could hear nothing, the complete silence +maintained by all was a remarkable proof—or so it appeared to men +experienced in out-door political demonstrations—of the earnestness of +spirit that prevailed. To some it may appear still more remarkable that, +with such a concourse of people within a couple of miles of Belfast, not +a single policeman was present, and that none was required; no +disturbance of any sort occurred during the day, nor was a single case +of drunkenness observed.</p> + +<p>It had been intended that the Duke of Abercorn, whose inspiring +exhortation as chairman of the Ulster Convention in 1892 had never been +forgotten, should preside over the meeting; but, as he was prevented by +a family bereavement from being present, his place was taken by the Earl +of Erne, Grand Master of the Orange Order. The scene, when he rose to +open the proceedings, was indescribable in its impressiveness. Some +members of the Eighty Club happened to be in Ireland at the time, for +the purpose of "seeing for themselves" in the familiar fashion of such +political tourists; but they did not think it worth while to witness +what Ulster was doing at Craigavon. If they had, they could have made a +report to their political leaders which, had it been truthful, might +have averted some irreparable blunders; for they could hardly have +looked upon that sea of eager faces, or have observed the enthusiasm +that possessed such a host of earnest and resolute men, without revising +the opinion, which they had accepted from Mr. Redmond, that there was +"no Ulster question."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_48"></a>The meeting took the form of according a welcome to Sir Edward Carson +as the new leader of Irish Loyalism, and of Ulster in particular. But +before he rose to speak a significant note had already been sounded. +Lord Erne struck it when he quoted words which were to become very +familiar in Ulster—the letter from Gustavus Hamilton, Governor of +Enniskillen in 1689, to "divers of the nobility and gentry in the +north-east part of Ulster," in which he declared: "We stand upon our +guard, and do resolve by the blessing of God to meet our danger rather +than to await it." And the veteran Liberal, Mr. Thomas Andrews, in +moving the resolution of welcome to the leader, expressed the universal +sentiment of the multitude when he exclaimed, "We will never, never bow +the knee to the disloyal factions led by Mr. John Redmond. We will never +submit to be governed by rebels who acknowledge no law but the laws of +the Land League and illegal societies."</p> + +<p>A great number of Addresses from representative organisations were then +presented to Sir Edward Carson, in many of which the determination to +resist the jurisdiction of a Dublin Parliament was plainly declared. But +such declarations, although they undoubtedly expressed the mind of the +people, were after all in quite general terms. For a quarter of a +century innumerable variations on the theme "Ulster will fight, and +Ulster will be right," had been fiddled on Ulster platforms, so that +there was some excuse for the belief of those who were wholly ignorant +of North Irish character that these utterances were no more than the +commonplaces of Ulster rhetoric. The time had only now come, however, +when their reality could be put to the test. Carson's speech at +Craigavon crystallised them into practical politics.</p> + +<p>Sir Edward Carson's public speaking has always been entirely free from +rhetorical artifice. He seldom made use of metaphor or imagery, or +elaborate periods, or variety of gesture. His language was extremely +simple and straightforward; but his mobile expression—so variable that +his enemies saw in it a suggestion of Mephistopheles, and his friends a +resemblance to Dante—<a name="Page_49"></a>his measured diction, and his skilful use of a +deep-toned voice, gave a remarkable impressiveness to all he said—even, +indeed, to utterances which, if spoken by another, would sometimes have +sounded commonplace or obvious. Sarcasm he could use with effect, and a +telling point was often made by an epigrammatic phrase which delighted +his hearers. And, more than all else, his meaning was never in doubt. In +lucidity of statement he excelled many much greater orators, and was +surpassed by none; and these qualities, added to his unmistakable +sincerity and candour, made him one of the most persuasive of speakers +on the platform, as he was also, of course, in the Law Courts.</p> + +<p>The moment he began to speak at Craigavon the immense multitude who had +come to welcome him felt instinctively the grip of his power. The +contrast to all the previous scene—the cheering, the enthusiasm, the +marching, the singing, the waving of handkerchiefs and flags—was deeply +impressive, when, after a hushed pause of some length, he called +attention without preface to the realities of the situation in a few +simple sentences of slow and almost solemn utterance:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I know full well what the Resolution you have just passed means; I + know what all these Addresses mean; I know the responsibility you + are putting upon me to-day. In your presence I cheerfully accept + it, grave as it is, and I now enter into a compact with you, and + every one of you, and with the help of God you and I joined + together—giving you the best I can, and you giving me all your + strength behind me—we will yet defeat the most nefarious + conspiracy that has ever been hatched against a free people. But I + know full well that this Resolution has a still wider meaning. It + shows me that you realise the gravity of the situation that is + before us, and it shows me that you are here to express your + determination to see this fight out to a finish."</p></blockquote> + +<p>He went on to expose the hollowness of the allegation, then current in +Liberal circles, that Ulster's repugnance to Home Rule was less +uncompromising than it formerly had been. On the contrary, he believed +that "there never was a moment at which men were more resolved than at +<a name="Page_50"></a>the present, with all the force and strength that God has given them, +to maintain the British connection and their rights as citizens of the +United Kingdom." Apart from principle or sentiment, that was an +attitude, he maintained, dictated by practical good sense. He showed how +Ireland had been "advancing in prosperity in an unparalleled measure," +for which he could quote the authority of Mr. Redmond himself, although +the Nationalist leader had omitted to notice that this advance had taken +place under the legislative Union, and, as Carson contended, in +consequence of it. He laid special emphasis on the point, never +forgotten, that the danger in which they stood was due to the +hoodwinking of the British constituencies by Mr. Asquith's Ministry.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Make no mistake; we are going to fight with men who are prepared + to play with loaded dice. They are prepared to destroy their own + Constitution, so that they may pass Home Rule, and they are + prepared to destroy the very elements of constitutional government + by withdrawing the question from the electorate, who on two + previous occasions refused to be a party to it."</p></blockquote> + +<p>He ridiculed the "paper safeguards" which Liberal Ministers tried to +persuade them would amply protect Ulster Protestants under a Dublin +Parliament, giving a vivid picture of the plight they would be in under +a Nationalist administration, which, he declared, meant "a tyranny to +which we never can and never will submit"; and then, in a pregnant +passage, he summarised the Ulster case:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Our demand is a very simple one. We ask for no privileges, but we + are determined that no one shall have privileges over us. We ask + for no special rights, but we claim the same rights from the same + Government as every other part of the United Kingdom. We ask for + nothing more; we will take nothing less. It is our inalienable + right as citizens of the British Empire, and Heaven help the men + who try to take it from us."</p></blockquote> + +<p>It was all no doubt a mere restatement—though an admirably lucid and +forcible restatement—of doctrine with which his hearers had long been +familiar. The great question still awaited an answer—how was effect to +be <a name="Page_51"></a>given to this resolve, now that there was no longer hope of +salvation through the sympathy and support of public opinion in Great +Britain? This was what the eager listeners at Craigavon hoped in hushed +expectancy to hear from their new leader. He did not disappoint them:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Mr. Asquith, the Prime Minister, says that we are not to be + allowed to put our case before the British electorate. Very well. + By that determination he drives you in the ultimate result to rely + upon your own strength, and we must follow all that out to its + logical conclusion.... That involves something more than that we do + not accept Home Rule. We must be prepared, in the event of a Home + Rule Bill passing, with such measures as will carry on for + ourselves the government of those districts of which we have + control. We must be prepared—and time is precious in these + things—the morning Home Rule passes, ourselves to become + responsible for the government of the Protestant Province of + Ulster. We ask your leave at the meeting of the Ulster Unionist + Council, to be held on Monday, there to discuss the matter, and to + set to work, to take care that at no time and at no intervening + interval shall we lack a Government in Ulster, which shall be a + Government either by the Imperial Parliament, or by ourselves."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Here, then, was the first authoritative declaration of a definite policy +to be pursued by Ulster in the circumstances then existing or foreseen, +and it was a policy that was followed with undeviating consistency under +Carson's leadership for the next nine years. To be left under the +government of the Imperial Parliament was the alternative to be +preferred, and was asserted to be an inalienable right; but, if all +their efforts to that end should be defeated, then "a government by +ourselves" was the only change that could be tolerated. Rather than +submit to the jurisdiction of a Nationalist legislature and +administration, they would themselves set up a Government "<i>in those +districts of which they had control</i>." It was because, when the first of +these alternatives had to be sorrowfully abandoned, the second was +offered in the Government of Ireland Act of 1920 that Ulster did not +actively oppose the passing of that statute.</p><a name="Page_52"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12">[12]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1911, p. 175.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_V"></a><h2>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h4>THE CRAIGAVON POLICY AND THE U.F.V.</h4> + + +<p>No time was lost in giving practical shape to the policy outlined at +Craigavon, and in taking steps to give effect to it. On the 25th of +September a meeting of four hundred delegates representing the Ulster +Unionist Council, the County Grand Orange Lodges, and the Unionist +Clubs, was held in Belfast, and, after lengthy discussion in private, +when the only differences of opinion were as to the most effective +methods of proceeding, two resolutions were unanimously adopted and +published. It is noteworthy that, at this early stage in the movement, +out of nearly four hundred popularly elected delegates, numbers of whom +were men holding responsible positions or engaged in commercial +business, not one raised an objection to the policy itself, although its +grave possibilities were thoroughly appreciated by all present. Both +Lord Londonderry, who presided, and Sir Edward Carson left no room for +doubt in that respect; the developments they might be called upon to +face were thoroughly searched and explained, and the fullest opportunity +to draw back was offered to any present who might shrink from going on.</p> + +<p>The first Resolution registered a "call upon our leaders to take any +steps they may consider necessary to resist the establishment of Home +Rule in Ireland, solemnly pledging ourselves that under no conditions +shall we acknowledge any such Government"; and it gave an assurance that +those whom the delegates represented would give the leaders "their +unwavering support in any danger they may be called upon to face." The +second decided that "the time has now come when we consider it our +imperative duty to make arrangements for the provisional government of +Ulster," and for that purpose <a name="Page_53"></a>it went on to appoint a Commission of +five leading local men, namely, Captain James Craig, M.P., Colonel +Sharman Crawford, M.P., the Right Hon. Thomas Sinclair, Colonel R.H. +Wallace, C.B., and Mr. Edward Sclater, Secretary of the Unionist Clubs, +whose duties were <i>(a)</i> "to keep Sir Edward Carson in constant and close +touch with the feeling of Unionist Ulster," and <i>(b)</i> "to take immediate +steps, in consultation with Sir Edward Carson, to frame and submit a +Constitution for a Provisional Government of Ulster, having due regard +to the interests of the Loyalists in other parts of Ireland: the powers +and duration of such Provisional Government to come into operation on +the day of the passage of any Home Rule Bill, to remain in force until +Ulster shall again resume unimpaired her citizenship in the United +Kingdom."</p> + +<p>At the luncheon given by Lord Londonderry after this business +conference, Carson took occasion to refer to a particularly contemptible +slander to which currency had been given some days previously by Sir +John Benn, one of the Eighty Club strolling seekers after truth. It was +perhaps hardly worth while to notice a statement so silly as that the +Ulster leader had been ready a few weeks previously to betray Ulster in +order to save the House of Lords, but Carson did not yet realise the +degree to which he had already won the confidence of his followers; +moreover, the incident proved useful as an opportunity of emphasising +the uninterrupted mutual confidence between Lord Londonderry and +himself, in spite of their divergence of opinion over the Parliament +Bill. It also gave those present a glimpse of their leader's power of +shrivelling meanness with a few caustic drops of scorn.</p> + +<p>The proceedings at Craigavon and at the Conference naturally created a +sensation on both sides of the Channel. They brought the question of +Ireland once more, for the first time since 1895, into the forefront of +British politics. The House of Commons might spend the autumn ploughing +its way through the intricacies of the National Insurance Bill, but +everyone knew that the last and bitterest battle against Home Rule was +now approaching. And, now that the Parliament Act was safely on the +Statute-book,<a name="Page_54"></a> Ministers had no further interest in concealment. During +the elections, from which alone they could procure authority for +legislation of so fundamental a character, Mr. Asquith, as we have seen, +regarded any inquiry as to his intentions as "confusing the issue." But +now that he had the constituencies in his pocket for five years and +nothing further was to be feared from that quarter, his cards were +placed on the table.</p> + +<p>On the 3rd of October Mr. Winston Churchill told his followers at Dundee +that the Government would introduce a Home Rule Bill next session "and +press it forward with all their strength," and he added the +characteristic injunction that "they must not take Sir Edward Carson too +seriously." But that advice did not prevent Mr. Herbert Samuel, another +member of the Cabinet, from putting in an appearance in Belfast four +days later, where he threw himself into a ludicrously unequal combat +with Carson, exerting himself to calm the fears of business men as to +the effect of Home Rule on their prosperity; while, in the same week, +Carson himself, at a great Unionist demonstration in Dublin, described +the growth of Irish prosperity in the last twenty years as "almost a +fairy tale," which would be cut short by Home Rule. On the 19th of the +same month Mr. Birrell, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, in a speech at +Ilfracombe, gave some scraps of meagre information in regard to the +provisions that would be included in the coming Home Rule Bill; and on +the 21st Mr. Redmond announced that the drafting of the Bill was almost +completed, and that the measure would be "satisfactory to Nationalists +both in principle and detail."<a name="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13"><sup>[13]</sup></a></p> + +<p>So the autumn of 1911 wore through—Ministers doling out snippets of +information; members of Parliament and the Press urging them to give +more. The people of Ulster, on the other hand, were not worrying over +details. They did not require to be told that the principle would be +"satisfactory to Nationalists," for they knew that the Government had to +"toe the line"; nor were they in doubt that what was satisfactory to +Nationalists must <a name="Page_55"></a>be unsatisfactory to themselves. What they were +thinking about was not what the Bill would or would not contain, but the +preparations they were making to resist its operation.</p> + +<p>A day or two after Craigavon the leader spoke at a great meeting in +Portrush, after receiving, at every important station he passed <i>en +route</i> from Belfast, enthusiastic addresses expressing confidence in +himself and approval of the Craigavon declaration; and in this speech he +considerably amplified what he had said at Craigavon. After explaining +how the whole outlook had been changed by the Parliament Act, which cut +them off from appeal to the sympathies of Englishmen, he pointed out to +his hearers the only course now open to them, namely, that resolved upon +at Craigavon.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Some people," he continued, "say that I am preaching disorder. No, + in the course I am advising I am preaching order, because I believe + that, unless we are in a position ourselves to take over the + government of those places we are able to control, the people of + Ulster, if let loose without that organisation, and without that + organised determination, might in a foolish moment find themselves + in a condition of antagonism and grips with their foes which I + believe even the present Government would lament. And therefore I + say that the course we recommend—and it has been solemnly adopted + by your four hundred representatives, after mature discussion in + which every man understood what it was he was voting about—is the + only course that I know of that is possible under the circumstances + of this Province which is consistent with the maintenance of law + and order and the prevention of bloodshed."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Superficially, these words may appear boldly paradoxical; but in fact +they were prophetic, for the closest observers of the events of the next +three years, familiar with Irish character and conditions, were in no +doubt whatever that it was the disciplined organisation of the Ulster +Unionists alone that prevented the outbreak of serious disorders in the +North. There was, on the contrary, a diminution even of ordinary crime, +accompanied <a name="Page_56"></a>by a marked improvement in the general demeanour, and +especially in the sobriety, of the people.</p> + +<p>The speaker then touched upon a question which naturally arose out of +the Craigavon policy of resistance to Home Rule. He had been asked, he +said, whether Ulster proposed to fight against the forces of the Crown. +He had already contrasted their own methods with those of the +Nationalists, saying that Ulstermen would never descend to action "from +behind hedges or by maiming cattle, or by boycotting of individuals"; he +now added that they were "not going to fight the Army and the Navy ... +God forbid that any loyal Irishman should ever shoot or think of +shooting the British soldier or sailor. But, believe me, any Government +will ponder long before it dares to shoot a loyal Ulster Protestant, +devoted to his country and loyal to his King."</p> + +<p>In newspaper reports of public meetings, sayings of pith and moment are +often attributed to "A Voice" from the audience. On this occasion, when +Sir Edward Carson referred to the Army and the Navy, "A Voice" cried +"They are on our side." It was the truth, as subsequent events were to +show. It would indeed have been strange had it been otherwise. Men +wearing His Majesty's uniform, who had been quartered at one time in +Belfast or Carrickfergus and at another in Cork or Limerick, could be +under no illusion as to where that uniform was held in respect and where +it was scorned. The certainty that the reality of their own loyalty was +understood by the men who served the King was a sustaining thought to +Ulstermen through these years of trial.</p> + +<p>This Portrush speech cleared the air. It made known the <i>modus +operandi</i>, as Craigavon had made known the policy. Henceforward Ulster +Unionists had a definite idea of what was before them, and they had +already unbounded confidence both in the sagacity and in the courage of +the man who had become their leader.</p> + +<p>The Craigavon meeting led, almost by accident as it were, to a +development the importance of which was hardly foreseen at the time. +Among the processionists who passed through Captain Craig's grounds +there was a <a name="Page_57"></a>contingent of Orangemen from County Tyrone who attracted +general attention by their smart appearance and the orderly precision of +their marching. On inquiry it was learnt that these men had of their own +accord been learning military drill. The spirit of emulation naturally +suggested to others to follow the example of the Tyrone Lodges. It was +soon followed, not by Orangemen alone, but by members of the Unionist +Clubs, very many of whom belonged to no Orange Lodge. Within a few +months drilling—of an elementary kind, it is true—had become popular +in many parts of the country. Colonel R.H. Wallace, C.B., who had served +with distinction in the South African War, where he commanded the 5th +Royal Irish Rifles, was a prominent member of the Orange Institution, in +which he was in 1911 Grand Master of the Belfast Lodges, and Grand +Secretary of the Provincial Grand Orange Lodge of Ulster; and, being a +man of marked ability and widespread popularity, his influence was +powerful and extensive. He was a devoted adherent of Carson, and there +was no keener spirit among the Ulster Loyalist leaders. Colonel Wallace +was among the first to perceive the importance of this military drilling +that was taking place throughout Ulster, and through his leading +position in the Orange Institution his encouragement did much to extend +the practice.</p> + +<p>Having been a lawyer by profession before South Africa called him to +serve his country in arms, Wallace was careful to ascertain how the law +stood with regard to the drilling that was going on. He consulted Mr. +James Campbell (afterwards Lord Chancellor of Ireland), who advised that +any two Justices of the Peace had power to authorise drill and other +military exercises within the area of their jurisdiction on certain +conditions. The terms of the application made by Colonel Wallace himself +to two Belfast magistrates show what the conditions were, and, under the +circumstances of the time, are not without a flavour of humour. The +request stated that Wallace and another officer of the Belfast Grand +Lodge were—</p> + +<p>"Authorised on behalf of the members thereof to apply for lawful +authority to them to hold meetings of the <a name="Page_58"></a>members of the said Lodge and +the Lodges under its jurisdiction for the purpose of training and +drilling themselves and of being trained and drilled to the use of arms, +and for the purpose of practising military exercises, movements, and +evolutions. And we are authorised, on their behalf, to give their +assurance that they desire this authority as faithful subjects of His +Majesty the King, and their undertaking that such authority is sought +and will be used by them only to make them more efficient citizens for +the purpose of maintaining the constitution of the United Kingdom as now +established and protecting their rights and liberties thereunder."</p> + +<p>The <i>bona fides</i> of an application couched in these terms, which +followed well-established precedent, could not be questioned by any +loyal subject of His Majesty. The purpose for which the licence was +requested was stated with literal exactness and without subterfuge. +There was nothing seditious or revolutionary in it, and the desire of +men to make themselves more efficient citizens for maintaining the +established government of their country, and their rights and liberties +under it, was surely not merely innocent of offence, but praiseworthy.</p> + +<p>Such, at all events, was the view taken by numbers of strictly +conscientious holders of the Commission of the Peace throughout Ulster, +with the result that the Ulster Volunteer Force sprang into existence +within a few months without the smallest violation of the law. +Originating in the Orange Lodges and the Unionist Clubs, it soon +enrolled large numbers of men outside both those organisations. Men with +military experience interested themselves in training the volunteers in +their districts; the local bodies were before long drawn into a single +coherent organisation on a territorial basis, which soon gave rise to an +<i>esprit de corps</i> leading to friendly rivalry in efficiency between the +local battalions.</p> + +<p>This Ulster Volunteer Force had as yet no arms in their hands, but, as +the first act of the Liberal Government on coming into power in 1906 had +been to drop the "coercion" Act which prohibited the importation of +firearms into Ireland, there was no reason why, in the course of time, +the U.V.F. should not be fully armed with as complete an <a name="Page_59"></a>avoidance of +illegality as that with which in the meantime they were acquiring some +knowledge of military duties. But for the present they had to be content +with wooden "dummy" rifles with which to learn their drill, an expedient +which, as will be seen later on, excited the derisive mirth of the +English Radical Press.</p> + +<p>The application to the Belfast Justices for leave to drill the Orange +Lodges was dated the 5th of January, 1912. For some months both before +and after that date the formation of new battalions proceeded rapidly, +so that by the summer of 1912 the force was of considerable strength and +decent efficiency; but already in the autumn of 1911 it soon became +apparent that the existence of such a force would give a backing to the +Craigavon policy which nothing else could provide. At Craigavon the +leader of the movement had foreshadowed the possibility of having to +take charge of the government of those districts which the Loyalists +could control. The U.V.F. made such control a practical proposition, and +the consciousness of this throughout Ulster gave a solid reality to the +movement which it must otherwise have lacked.</p> + +<p>The special Commission of Five set to work immediately after the +Craigavon meeting to carry out the task entrusted to them by the +Council. But, as more than two years must elapse before the Home Rule +Bill could become law under the Parliament Act, there was no immediate +urgency in making arrangements for setting up the Provisional Government +resolved upon by the Council on the 25th of September, 1911, and the +outside public heard nothing about what was being done in the matter for +many months to come.</p> + +<p>Meantime the Ulster Loyalists watched with something akin to dismay the +dissensions in the Unionist party in England over the question of Tariff +Reform, which made impossible a united front against the revived attack +on the Union, and woefully weakened the effective force of the +Opposition both in Parliament and the country. Public opinion was +diverted from the one thing that really mattered—had Englishmen been +able to realise it—from an Imperial standpoint, no less than from the +standpoint <a name="Page_60"></a>of Irish Loyalists. On the 8th of November, 1911, mainly in +consequence of these dissensions, Mr. Balfour resigned the leadership of +the Unionist Party. This event was regarded in Ulster as a calamity. Mr. +Balfour was the ablest and most zealous living defender of the Union, +and the great services he had rendered to the country during his +memorable Chief Secretaryship were not forgotten. Ulstermen, in whose +eyes the tariff question was of very subordinate importance, feared that +no one could be found to take command of the Unionist forces comparable +with the Achilles who, as they supposed, was now retiring to his tent.</p> + +<p>What happened in regard to the vacant leadership is well known—how Mr. +Walter Long and Mr. Austen Chamberlain, after presenting themselves for +a day or two as rival candidates, patriotically agreed to stand aside +and give united support to Mr. Bonar Law in order to avoid a division in +the ranks of the party. It is less generally known that Mr. Bonar Law, +before consenting to his name being proposed, wrote and asked Sir Edward +Carson if he would accept the leadership, and that it was only when he +received an emphatic reply in the negative that he assumed the +responsibility himself. If this had been known at the time in Ulster +there can be little doubt that consternation would have been caused by +the refusal of their own leader to place himself at the head of the +whole Unionist Party. It is quite certain that Sir Edward Carson would +have been acceptable to the party meeting at the Carlton Club, for he +was then much better known to the party both in the House of Commons and +in the country than was Mr. Bonar Law, whose great qualities as +parliamentarian and statesman had not yet been revealed; but it is not +less certain that, if his first thought was to be of service to Ulster, +Carson acted wisely in maintaining a position of independence, in which +all his powers could continue to be concentrated on a single aim of +statecraft.</p> + +<p>At all events, the new leader of the Unionist Party was not long in +proving that the Ulster cause had suffered no set-back by the change, +and his constant and courageous <a name="Page_61"></a>backing of the Ulster leader won him +the unstinted admiration and affection of every Irish Loyalist. Mr. +Balfour also soon showed that he was no sulking Achilles; his loyalty to +the Unionist cause was undimmed; he never for a moment acted, as a +meaner man might, as if his successor were a supplanter; and within the +next few months he many times rose from beside Mr. Bonar Law in the +House of Commons to deliver some of the best speeches he ever made on +the question of Irish Government, full of cogent and crushing criticism +of the Home Rule proposals of Mr. Asquith.</p><a name="Page_62"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13">[13]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1911, p. 228.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_VI"></a><h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h4>MR. CHURCHILL IN BELFAST</h4> + + +<p>At the women's meeting at the Ulster Hall on the 18th of January, +1912,<a name="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14"><sup>[14]</sup></a> Lord Londonderry took occasion to recall once more to the +memory of his audience the celebrated speech delivered by Lord Randolph +Churchill in the same building twenty-six years before. That clarion +was, indeed, in no danger of being forgotten; but there happened at that +particular moment to be a very special reason for Ulstermen to remember +it, and the incident which was present in Londonderry's mind—a +Resolution passed by the Standing Committee of the Ulster Unionist +Council two days earlier—proved to be so distinct a turning-point in +the history of Ulster's stand for the Union that it claims more than a +passing mention.</p> + +<p>"Diligence and vigilance should be your watchword, so that the blow, if +it is coming, may not come upon you as a thief in the night, and may not +find you unready and taken by surprise." Such had been Lord Randolph's +warning. It was now learnt, with feelings in which disgust and +indignation were equally mingled, that Lord Randolph's son was bent on +coming to Belfast, not indeed as a thief in the night, but with +challenging audacity, to give his countenance, encouragement, and +support to the adherents of disloyalty whom Lord Randolph had told +Ulster to resist to the death. And not only was he coming to Belfast; he +was coming to the Ulster Hall—to the very building which his father's +oration had, as it were, consecrated to the Unionist cause, and which +had come to be regarded as almost a loyalist shrine.</p> + +<p>It is no doubt difficult for those who are unfamiliar with the +psychology of the North of Ireland to understand the anger which this +projected visit of Mr. Winston<a name="Page_63"></a> Churchill aroused in Belfast. His change +of political allegiance from the party which his father had so +brilliantly served and led, to the party which his father had so +pitilessly chastised, was of course displeasing to Conservatives +everywhere. Politicians who leave their friends to join their opponents +are never popular with those they abandon, and Mr. Winston Churchill was +certainly no exception. But such desertions, after the first burst of +wrath has evaporated, are generally accepted with a philosophic shrug in +what journalists call "political circles" in London, where plenty of +precedents for lapses from party virtue can be quoted. In the provinces, +even in England, resentment dies down less easily, and forgiveness is of +slow growth; but in Ulster, where a political creed is held with a +religious fervour, or, as a hostile critic might put it, with an +intolerance unknown in England, and where the dividing line between +"loyalty" and "disloyalty" is regarded almost as a matter of faith, the +man who passes from the one to the other arouses the same bitterness of +anger and contempt which soldiers feel for a deserter in face of the +enemy.</p> + +<p>To such sentiments there was added, in the case of Mr. Winston +Churchill, a shocked feeling that his appearance in the Ulster Hall as +an emissary of Home Rule would be an act not only of political apostasy +but of filial impiety. The prevailing sentiment in Belfast at the time +was expressed somewhat brutally, perhaps, in the local Press—"he is +coming to dance on his father's coffin." It was an outrage on their +feelings which the people of Belfast could not and would not tolerate. +If Mr. Churchill was determined to flaunt the green flag let him find a +more suitable site than the very citadel in which they had been exhorted +by his father to keep the Union Jack flying to the last.</p> + +<p>If anything could have added to the anger excited by this announcement +it would have been the fact that the Cabinet Minister was to be +accompanied on the platform of the Ulster Hall by Mr. Redmond and Mr. +Devlin, and that Lord Pirrie was to be his chairman. There was no more +unpopular citizen of Belfast than Lord Pirrie; and the reason was neatly +explained to English readers by the<a name="Page_64"></a> Special Correspondent of <i>The +Times</i>. "Lord Pirrie," he wrote, "deserted Unionism about the time the +Liberals acceded to power, and soon afterwards was made a Peer; whether +<i>propter hoc</i> or only <i>post hoc</i> I am quite unable to say, though no +Ulster Unionist has any doubts on the subject."<a name="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15"><sup>[15]</sup></a> But that was not +quite the whole reason. That Lord Pirrie was an example of apostasy +"just for a riband to stick in his coat," was the general belief; but it +was also resented that a man who had amassed, not "a handful of silver," +but an enormous fortune, through a trade created by an eminent Unionist +firm, and under conditions brought about in Belfast by the Union with +Great Britain, should have kicked away the ladder by which he had +climbed from obscurity to wealth and rank. An additional cause of +offence, moreover, was that he was at that time trying to persuade +credulous people in England that there was in Ulster a party of Liberals +and Protestant Home Rulers, of which he posed as leader, although +everyone on the spot knew that the "party" would not fill a tramcar. Of +this party the same Correspondent of <i>The Times</i> very truly said:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Nearly every prominent man in it has received an office or a + decoration—and the fact that, with all the power of patronage in + their hands for the last six years, the Government had been able to + make so small an inroad into the solid square of Ulster Unionism is + a remarkable testimony to the strength of the sentiment which gives + it cohesion."</p></blockquote> + +<p>But a score of individuals in possession of an office equipped with +stamped stationery, and with a titled chairman of fabulous wealth, have +no difficulty in deluding strangers at a distance into the belief that +they are an influential and representative body of men. It was in +furtherance of the scheme for creating this false impression across the +Channel that Lord Pirrie and his so-called "Ulster Liberal Association" +invited Mr. Winston Churchill and the two Nationalist leaders to speak +in the Ulster Hall on the 8th of February, 1912, and that the +<a name="Page_65"></a>announcement of the fixture was made in the Press some three weeks +earlier.</p> + +<p>The Unionist leaders were not long left in ignorance of the public +excitement which this news created in the city. A specially summoned +meeting of the Standing Committee, with Londonderry in the chair, was +held on the 16th of January to consider what action, if any, should be +taken; but it was no simple matter they had to decide, especially in the +absence of their leader, Sir Edward Carson, who was kept in England by +great Unionist meetings which he was addressing in Lancashire.</p> + +<p>The reasons, on the one hand, for doing nothing were obvious enough. No +one, of course, suggested the possibility of preventing Mr. Churchill +coming to Belfast; but could even the Ulster Hall itself, the Loyalist +sanctuary, be preserved from the threatened desecration? It was the +property of the Corporation, and the Unionist political organisation had +no exclusive title to its use. The meeting could only be frustrated by +force in some form, or by a combination of force and stratagem. The +Standing Committee, all men of solid sense and judgment, several of whom +were Privy Councillors, were very fully alive to the objections to any +resort to force in such a matter. They valued freedom of speech as +highly as any Englishman, and they realised the odium that interference +with it might bring both on themselves and their cause; and the last +thing they desired at the present crisis was to alienate public sympathy +in Great Britain. The force of such considerations was felt strongly by +several members, indeed by all, of the Committee, and not least by Lord +Londonderry himself, whose counsel naturally carried great weight.</p> + +<p>But, on the other hand, the danger of a passive attitude was also fully +recognised. It was perfectly well understood that one of the chief +desires of the Liberal Government and its followers at this time was to +make the world believe that Ulster's opposition to Home Rule had +declined in strength in recent years; that there really was a +considerable body of Protestant opinion in agreement with Lord Pirrie, +and prepared to support Home Rule on<a name="Page_66"></a> "Liberal," if not on avowedly +"Nationalist" principles, and that the policy for which Carson, +Londonderry, and the Unionist Council stood was a gigantic piece of +bluff which only required to be exposed to disappear in general +derision.</p> + +<p>From this point of view the Churchill meeting could only be regarded as +a deliberate challenge and provocation to Ulster. It seemed probable +that the First Lord of the Admiralty had been selected for the mission +in preference to any other Minister precisely because he was Lord +Randolph's son. All this bluster about "fight and be right" was +traceable, so Liberal Ministers doubtless reasoned, to that unhappy +speech of "Winston's father"; let Winston go over to the same place and +explain his father away. If he obtained a hearing in the Ulster Hall in +the company of Redmond, Devlin, and Pirrie the legend of Ulster as an +impregnable loyalist stronghold would be wiped out, and Randolph's rant +could be made to appear a foolish joke in comparison with the more +mature and discriminating wisdom of Winston.</p> + +<p>It cannot, of course, be definitely asserted that the situation was thus +weighed deliberately by the Cabinet, or by Mr. Churchill himself. But, +if it was not, they must have been deficient in foresight; for there can +be no doubt, as several writers in the Press perceived, that the +transaction would so have presented itself to the mind of the public; +the psychological result would inure to the benefit of the Home Rulers.</p> + +<p>But there was also another consideration which could not be ignored by +the Standing Committee—namely, the attitude of that important +individual, the "man in the street." Among the innumerable +misrepresentations levelled at the Ulster Movement none was more common +than that it was confined to a handful of lords, landlords, and wealthy +employers of labour; and, as a corollary, that all the trouble was +caused by the perversity of a few individuals, of whom the most guilty +was Sir Edward Carson. The truth was very different. Even at the zenith +of his influence and popularity Sir Edward himself would have been +instantly disowned by the Ulster democracy if he had given away anything +fundamental to <a name="Page_67"></a>the Unionist cause. More than to anything else he owed +his power to his pledge, never violated, that he would never commit his +followers to any irretraceable step without the consent of the Council, +in which they were fully represented on a democratic basis. At the +particular crisis now reached popular feeling could not be safely +disregarded, and it was clearly understood by the Standing Committee +that public excitement over the coming visit of Mr. Churchill was only +being kept within bounds by the belief of the public that their leaders +would not "let them down."</p> + +<p>All these considerations were most carefully balanced at the meeting on +the 16th of January, and there were prolonged deliberations before the +decision was arrived at that some action must be taken to prevent the +Churchill meeting being held in the Ulster Hall, but that no obstacle +could, of course, be made to his speaking in any other building in +Belfast. The further question as to what this action should be was under +discussion when Colonel R.H. Wallace, C.B., Grand Master of the Belfast +Orangemen, and a man of great influence with all classes in the city as +well as in the neighbouring counties, entered the room and told the +Committee that people outside were expecting the Unionist Council to +devise means for stopping the Ulster Hall meeting; that they were quite +resolved to take matters into their own hands if the Council remained +passive; and that, in his judgment, the result in that event would +probably be very serious disorder and bloodshed, and the loss of all +control over the Unionist rank and file by their leaders.</p> + +<p>This information arrived too late to influence the decision on the main +question, but it confirmed its wisdom and set at rest the doubts which +some of the Committee had at first entertained. It was reported at the +time that there had been a dissenting minority consisting of Lord +Londonderry, Mr. Sinclair, and Mr. John Young, the last-mentioned being +a Privy Councillor, a trusted leader of the Presbyterians, and a man of +moderate views whose great influence throughout the north-eastern +counties was due to his high character and the soundness of his +judgment. There was, however, no truth in this report, which<a name="Page_68"></a> +Londonderry publicly contradicted; but it is probable that the +concurrence of the men mentioned, and perhaps of others, was owing to +their well-founded conviction that the course decided upon, however +high-handed it might appear to onlookers at a distance, was in reality +the only means of averting much more deplorable consequences.</p> + +<p>On the following day, January 17th, an immense sensation was created by +the publication of the Resolution which had been unanimously adopted on +the motion of Captain James Craig, M.P. It was:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"That the Standing Committee of the Ulster Unionist Council + observes with astonishment the deliberate challenge thrown down by + Mr. Winston Churchill, Mr. John Redmond, Mr. Joseph Devlin, and + Lord Pirrie in announcing their intention to hold a Home Rule + meeting in the centre of the loyal city of Belfast, and resolves to + take steps to prevent its being held."</p></blockquote> + +<p>There was an immediate outpouring of vituperation by the Ministerial +Press in England, as had been anticipated by the Standing Committee. +Special Correspondents trooped over to Belfast, whence they filled their +papers with telegrams, articles, and interviews, ringing the changes on +the audacity of this unwarranted interference with freedom of speech, +and speculating as to the manner in which the threat, was likely to be +carried out. Scribes of "Open Letters" had a fine opportunity to display +their gift of insolent invective. Cartoonists and caricaturists had a +time of rare enjoyment, and let their pencils run riot. Writers in the +Liberal Press for the most part assumed that Mr. Churchill would bid +defiance to the Ulster Unionist Council; others urged him to do so and +to fulfil his engagement; some, with more prudence, suggested that he +might be extricated from the difficulty without loss of dignity if the +Chief Secretary would prohibit the meeting, as likely to produce a +breach of peace, and it was pointed out that Dublin Castle would +certainly forbid a meeting in Tipperary organised by the Ulster Unionist +Council, with Sir Edward Carson as principal speaker.</p> + +<p>However, on the 25th of January Mr. Churchill addressed a letter, dated +from the Admiralty, to Lord<a name="Page_69"></a> Londonderry at Mount Stewart, in which he +said he was prepared to give up the idea of speaking in the Ulster Hall, +and would arrange for his meeting to be held elsewhere in the city, as +"it was not a point of any importance to him where he spoke in Belfast." +He did not explain why, if that were the case, he had ever made a plan +that so obviously constituted a direct premeditated challenge to Ulster. +Lord Londonderry, in his reply, said that the Ulster Unionist Council +had no intention of interfering with any meeting Mr. Churchill might +arrange "outside the districts which passionately resent your action," +but that, "having regard to the intense state of feeling" which had been +aroused, the Council could accept no responsibility for anything that +might occur during the visit. Mr. Churchill's prudent change of plan +relieved the extreme tension of the situation, and there was much +speculation as to what influence had produced a result so satisfactory +to the Ulster Unionist Council. The truth seems to be that the Council's +Resolution had impaled the Government on the horns of a very awkward +dilemma, completely turning the tables on Ministers, whose design had +been to compel the Belfast Unionists either to adopt, on the one hand, +an attitude of apparent intolerance which would put them in the wrong in +the eyes of the British public, or, on the other, to submit to the +flagrant misrepresentation of their whole position which would be the +outcome of a Nationalist meeting in the Ulster Hall presided over by the +President of the illusory "Ulster Liberal Association," and with Lord +Randolph Churchill's son as the protagonist of Home Rule. The threat to +stop the meeting forced the Government to consider how the First Lord of +the Admiralty and his friends were to be protected and enabled to fulfil +their programme. The Irish Executive, according to the Dublin +Correspondent of <i>The Times</i>, objected to the employment of troops for +this purpose; because—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"If the Belfast Unionists decided to resist the soldiers, bloodshed + and disorder on a large scale must have ensued. If, on the other + hand, they yielded to the <i>force majeure</i> of British bayonets, and + Mr. Churchill was enabled to speak <a name="Page_70"></a>in the Ulster Hall, they would + still have carried their point; they would have proved to the + English people that Home Rule could only be thrust upon Ulster by + an overwhelming employment of military force. The Executive + preferred to depend on the services of a large police force. And + this meant that Mr. Churchill could not speak in the Ulster Hall; + for the Belfast democracy, though it might yield to soldiers, would + certainly offer a fierce resistance to the police. It seemed, + therefore, that the Government's only safe and prudent course was + to prevent Mr. Churchill from trying to speak in that Hall."<a name="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16"><sup>[16]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>The Government, in fact, had been completely out-manoeuvred. They had +given the Ulster Unionist Council an opportunity to show its own +constituents and the outside world that, where the occasion demanded +action, it could act with decision; and they had failed utterly to drive +a wedge between Ulster and the Unionist Party in England and in the +South of Ireland, as they hoped to do by goading Belfast into +illegality. On the other hand, they had aroused some misgiving in the +ranks of their own supporters. A political observer in London reported +that the incident had—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Caused a feeling of considerable apprehension in Radical circles. + The pretence that Ulster does not mean to fight is now almost + abandoned even by the most fanatical Home Rulers."<a name="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17"><sup>[17]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>Unionist journals in Great Britain, almost without exception, applauded +the conduct of the Council, and proved by their comments that they +understood its motive, and sympathised with the feelings of Ulster. <i>The +Saturday Review</i> expressed the general view when it wrote:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"With the indignation of the loyal Ulstermen at this proposal we + are in complete sympathy. Where there is a question of Home Rule, + the Ulster Hall is sacred ground, and to the Ulster mind and, + indeed, to the mind of any calm outsider, there is something both + impudent and impious in the proposal that this temple of Unionism + <a name="Page_71"></a>should be profaned by the son of a man who assisted at its + consecration."<a name="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18"><sup>[18]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>The southern Unionists of Ireland thoroughly appreciated the difficulty +that had confronted their friends in the North, and approved the way it +had been met. This was natural enough, since, as the Dublin +Correspondent of <i>The Times</i> pointed out—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"They understand Ulster's position better than it can be understood + in England. They realise that the provocation has been extreme. + There has been a deliberate conspiracy to persuade the English + people, first, that Ulster is weakening in its opposition to Home + Rule; and, next, that its declared refusal to accept Home Rule in + any form is mere bluff. It became necessary for Ulster to defeat + this conspiracy, and the Ulster Council's Resolution has defeated + it."<a name="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19"><sup>[19]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>A few days later a still more valuable token of sympathy and support +from across the Channel gave fresh encouragement to Ulster. On the 26th +of January Mr. Bonar Law made his first public speech as leader of the +Unionist Party, when he addressed an audience of ten thousand people in +the Albert Hall in London. In the course of a masterly analysis of the +dangers inseparable from Home Rule, he once more drew attention to "the +dishonesty with which the Government hid Home Rule before the election, +and now propose to carry it after the election"; but the passage which +gave the greatest satisfaction in Ulster was that in which, speaking for +the whole Unionist Party—which meant at least half, and probably more +than half, the British nation—Mr. Bonar Law, in reference to the recent +occurrence in Belfast, said:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"We hear a great deal about the intolerance of Ulster. It is easy + to be tolerant for other people. We who represent the Unionist + Party in England and Scotland have supported, and we mean to + support to the end, the loyal minority. We support them not because + we are intolerant, but because their claims are just."</p></blockquote> + +<p><a name="Page_72"></a>Meanwhile, Mr. Churchill's friends were seeking a building in Belfast +where the baffled Minister could hold his meeting on the 8th of +February, and in the course of the search the director of the Belfast +Opera-house was offered a knighthood as well as a large sum of money for +the use of his theatre,<a name="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20"><sup>[20]</sup></a> a fact that possibly explains the statement +made by the London Correspondent of <i>The Freeman's Journal</i> on the 28th +of January, that the Government's Chief Whip and Patronage Secretary was +busying himself with the arrangement.<a name="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21"><sup>[21]</sup></a> Captain Frederick Guest, M.P., +one of the junior whips, arrived in Belfast on the 25th to give +assistance on the spot; but no suitable hall with an auspicious <i>genius +loci</i> could apparently be found, for eventually a marquee was imported +from Scotland and erected on the Celtic football ground, in the +Nationalist quarter of the city.</p> + +<p>The question of maintaining order on the day of the meeting was at the +same time engaging the attention both of the Government in Dublin and +the Unionist Council in Belfast. The former decided to strengthen the +garrison of Belfast by five battalions of infantry and two squadrons of +cavalry, while at the Old Town Hall anxious consultations were held as +to the best means of securing that the soldiers should have nothing to +do. The Unionist leaders had not yet gained the full influence they were +able to exercise later, nor were their followers as disciplined as they +afterwards became. The Orange Lodges were the only section of the +population in any sense under discipline; and this section was a much +smaller proportion of the Unionist rank and file than English Liberals +supposed, who were in the habit of speaking as if "Orangemen" were a +correct cognomen of the whole Protestant population of Ulster. It was, +however, only through the Lodges and the Unionist Clubs that the +Standing Committee could hope to exert influence in keeping the peace. +That Committee, accordingly, passed a Resolution on the 5th of February, +moved by Colonel Wallace, the most influential <a name="Page_73"></a>of the Belfast +Orangemen, which "strongly urged all Unionists," in view of the Ulster +Hall victory, "to abstain from any interference with the meeting at the +Celtic football ground, and to do everything in their power to avoid any +action that might lead to any disturbance."</p> + +<p>The Resolution was circulated to all the Orange Lodges and Unionist +Clubs in Belfast and the neighbouring districts—for it was expected +that some 30,000 or 40,000 people might come into the city from outside +on the day of the meeting—with urgent injunctions to the officers to +bring it to the notice of all members; it was also extensively placarded +on all the hoardings of Belfast. Of even greater importance perhaps, in +the interests of peace, was the decision that Carson and Londonderry +should themselves remain in Belfast on the 8th. This, as <i>The Times </i> +Correspondent in Belfast had the insight to observe, was "the strongest +guarantee of order" that could be given, and there is no doubt that +their appearance, together with Captain Craig, M.P., and Lord +Templetown, on the balcony of the Ulster Club had a calming effect on +the excited crowd that surged round Mr. Churchill's hotel, and served as +a reminder throughout the day of the advice which these leaders had +issued to their adherents.</p> + +<p>The First Lord of the Admiralty was accompanied to Belfast by Mrs. +Churchill, his Secretary, and two Liberal Members of Parliament, Mr. +Fiennes and Mr. Hamar Greenwood—for the last-mentioned of whom fate was +reserving a more intimate connection with Irish trouble than could be +got from a fleeting flirtation with disloyalty in West Belfast. They +were greeted at Larne by a large crowd vociferously cheering Carson, and +singing the National Anthem. A still larger concourse of people, though +it could not be more hostile, awaited Mr. Churchill at the Midland +Station in Belfast and along the route to the Grand Central Hotel. When +he started from the hotel early in the afternoon for the football field +the crowd in Royal Avenue was densely packed and actively demonstrating +its unfavourable opinion of the distinguished visitor; on whom, however, +none desired or attempted to inflict any physical injury, although the +involuntary <a name="Page_74"></a>swaying of so great a mass of men was in danger for a +moment of overturning the motor-car in which he and his wife were +seated.</p> + +<p>The way to the meeting took the Minister from the Unionist to the +Nationalist district and afforded him a practical demonstration of the +gulf between the "two nations" which he and his colleagues were bent +upon treating as one. The moment he crossed the boundary, the booing and +groaning of one area was succeeded by enthusiastic cheers in the other; +grotesque effigies of Redmond and of himself in one street were replaced +by equally unflattering effigies of Londonderry and Carson in the next; +in Royal Avenue both men and women looked like tearing him in pieces, in +Falls Road they thronged so close to shake his hand that "Mr. Hamar +Greenwood found it necessary" (so the <i>Times</i> Correspondent reported) +"to stand on the footboard outside the car and relieve the pressure."</p> + +<p>It was expected that Mr. Churchill would return to his hotel after the +meeting, and there had been no shrinkage in the crowd in the interval, +nor any change in its sentiments. The police decided that it would be +wiser for him to depart by another route. He was therefore taken by back +streets to the Midland terminus, and without waiting for the ordinary +train by which he had arranged to travel, was as hastily as possible +despatched to Larne by a special train before it was generally known +that Royal Avenue and York Street were to see him no more. Mr. Churchill +tells us in his brilliant biography of his father that when Lord +Randolph arrived at Larne in 1886 "he was welcomed like a King." His own +arrival at the same port was anything but regal, and his departure more +resembled that of the "thief in the night," of whom Lord Randolph had +bidden Ulster beware.</p> + +<p>So this memorable pilgrimage ended. Of the speech itself which Mr. +Churchill delivered to some thousands of Nationalists, many of whom were +brought by special train from Dublin, it is unnecessary here to say more +than that Sir Edward Carson described it a few days later as a "speech +full of eloquent platitudes," and that <a name="Page_75"></a>it certainly did little to +satisfy the demand for information about the Home Rule Bill which was to +be produced in the coming session of Parliament.</p> + +<p>The undoubted importance which this visit of Mr. Churchill to Belfast +and its attendant circumstances had in the development of the Ulster +Movement is the justification for treating it in what may appear to be +disproportionate detail. From it dates the first clear realisation even +by hostile critics in England, and probably by Ministers themselves, +that the policy of Ulster as laid down at Craigavon could not be +dismissed with a sneer, although it is true that there were many Home +Rulers who never openly abandoned the pretence that it could. Not less +important was the effect in Ulster itself. The Unionist Council had +proved itself in earnest; it could, and was prepared to, do more than +organise imposing political demonstrations; and so the rank and file +gained confidence in leaders who could act as well as make speeches, and +who had shown themselves in an emergency to be in thorough accord with +popular sentiment; the belief grew that the men who met in the Old Town +Hall would know how to handle any crisis that might arise, would not +timidly shrink from acting as occasion might require, and were quite +able to hold their own with the Government in tactical manoeuvres. This +confidence improved discipline. The Lodges and the Clubs and the general +body of shipyard and other workers had less temptation to take matters +into their own hands; they were content to wait for instructions from +headquarters now that they could trust their leaders to give the +necessary instructions at the proper time.</p> + +<p>The net result, therefore, of an expedition which was designed to expose +the hollowness and the weakness of the Ulster case was to augment the +prestige of the Ulster leaders and the self-confidence of the Ulster +people, and to make both leaders and followers understand better than +before the strength of the position in which they were entrenched.</p><a name="Page_76"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14">[14]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>ante</i>, p. 38.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15">[15]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Times</i>, January 18th, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16">[16]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Times</i>, January 26th, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17">[17]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Standard</i>, January 18th, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18">[18]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Saturday Review</i>, January 27th, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19">[19]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Times</i>, January 20th, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20">[20]</a><div class="note"><p> See Interview with Mr. F.W. Warden in <i>The Standard</i>, +February 8th, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21">[21]</a><div class="note"><p> See Dublin Correspondent's telegram in <i>The Times</i>, +January 29th, 1912.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_VII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h4>"WHAT ANSWER FROM THE NORTH?"</h4> + + +<p>Public curiosity as to the proposals that the coming Home Rule Bill +might contain was not set at rest by Mr. Churchill's oration in Belfast. +The constitution-mongers were hard at work with suggestions. Attempts +were made to conciliate hesitating opinion by representing Irish Home +Rule as a step in the direction of a general federal system for the +United Kingdom, and by tracing an analogy with the constitutions already +granted to the self-governing Dominions. Closely connected with the +federal idea was the question of finance. There was lively speculation +as to what measure of control over taxation the Bill would confer on the +Irish Parliament, and especially whether it would be given the power to +impose duties of Customs and Excise. Home Rulers themselves were sharply +divided on the question. At a conference held at the London School of +Economics on the 10th of January, 1912, Professor T.M. Kettle, Mr. +Erskine Childers, and Mr. Thomas Lough, M.P., declared themselves in +favour of Irish fiscal autonomy, while Lord Macdonnell opposed the idea +as irreconcilable with the fiscal policy of Great Britain.<a name="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22"><sup>[22]</sup></a> The +latter opinion was very forcibly maintained a few weeks later by a +member of the Government with some reputation as an economist. Speaking +to a branch of the United Irish League in London, Mr. J.M. Robertson, +Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, summarily rejected fiscal +autonomy for Ireland, which, he said, "really meant a claim for +separation." "To give fiscal autonomy," he added, "would mean +disintegration of the United<a name="Page_77"></a> Kingdom. Fiscal autonomy for Ireland put +an end altogether to all talk of Federal Home Rule, and he could see no +hope for a Home Rule Bill if it included fiscal autonomy."<a name="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23"><sup>[23]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Although the Secretary to the Board of Trade was probably not in the +confidence of the Cabinet, many people took Mr. Robertson's speech as an +indication of the limits of financial control that the Bill would give +to Ireland. On the same day that it was delivered the Dublin +Correspondent of <i>The Times</i> reported that the demand of the +Nationalists for control of Customs and Excise was rapidly growing, and +that any Bill which withheld it, even if it could scrape through a +National Convention, "would never survive the two succeeding years of +agitation and criticism"; and he agreed with Mr. Robertson that if, on +the other hand, fiscal autonomy should be conceded, it would destroy all +prospect of a settlement on federal lines, and would "establish virtual +separation between Ireland and Great Britain." He predicted that +"Ulster, of course, would resist to the bitter end."<a name="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24"><sup>[24]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Ulster, in point of fact, took but a secondary interest in the question. +Her people were indeed opposed to anything that would enlarge the +separation from England, or emphasise it, and, as they realised, like +the Secretary to the Board of Trade, that fiscal autonomy would have +this effect, they opposed fiscal autonomy; but they cared little about +the thing in itself one way or the other. Nor did they greatly concern +themselves whether Home Rule proceeded on federal lines or any other +lines; nor whether some apt analogy could or could not be found between +Ireland and the Dominions of the Crown thousands of miles oversea. +Having made up their minds that no Dublin Parliament should exercise +jurisdiction over themselves, they did not worry themselves much about +the powers with which such a Parliament might be endowed. It is +noteworthy, however, in view of the importance which the question +afterwards attained, that so early as January 1912 Sir Edward Carson, +speaking in Manchester, maintained that without fiscal autonomy Home +Rule was <a name="Page_78"></a>impossible,<a name="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25"><sup>[25]</sup></a> and that some months later Mr. Bonar Law, in a +speech at Glasgow on the 21st of May, said that if the Unionist Party +were in a position where they had to concede Home Rule to Ireland they +would include fiscal autonomy in the grant.<a name="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26"><sup>[26]</sup></a> These leaders, who, +unlike the Liberal Ministers, had some knowledge of the Irish +temperament, realised from the first the absurdity of Mr. Asquith's +attempt to satisfy the demands of "the rebel party" by offering +something very different from what that party demanded. The Ulster +leader and the leader of the Unionist Party knew as well as anybody that +fiscal autonomy meant "virtual separation between Ireland and Great +Britain," but they also knew that separation was the ultimate aim of +Nationalist policy, and that there could be no finality in the Liberal +compromise; and they no doubt agreed with the forcible language used by +Mr. Balfour in the previous autumn, when he said that "the rotten hybrid +system of a Parliament with municipal duties and a national feeling +seemed to be the dream of political idiots."</p> + +<p>The ferment of speculation as to the Government's intentions continued +during the early weeks of the Parliamentary session, which opened on the +14th of February, but all inquiries by members of the House of Commons +were met by variations on the theme "Wait and See." Unionists, however, +realised that it was not in Parliament, but outside, that the only +effective work could be done, in the hope of forcing a dissolution of +Parliament before the Bill could become law. A vigorous campaign was +conducted throughout the country, especially in Lancashire, and +arrangements were made for a monster demonstration in Belfast, which +should serve both as a counter-blast to the Churchill fiasco, and for +enabling English and Scottish Unionists to test for themselves the +temper of the Ulster resistance. In the belief that the Home Rule Bill +would be introduced before Easter, it was decided to hold this meeting +in the Recess, as Mr. Bonar Law had promised to speak, and a number of +English Members of Parliament wished to be present. At the last moment +<a name="Page_79"></a>the Government announced that the Bill would not be presented till the +11th of April, after Parliament reassembled, and its provisions were +therefore still unknown when the demonstration took place on the 9th in +the Show Ground of the Royal Agricultural Society at Balmoral, a suburb +of Belfast.</p> + +<p>Feeling ran high as the date of the double event approached, and the +indignant sense of wrong that prevailed in Ulster was finely voiced in a +poem, entitled "Ulster 1912," written by Mr. Kipling for the occasion +which appeared in <i>The Morning Post</i> on the day of the Balmoral +demonstration, of which the first and last stanzas were:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"The dark eleventh hour<br /></span> +<span>Draws on, and sees us sold<br /></span> +<span>To every evil Power<br /></span> +<span>We fought against of old.<br /></span> +<span>Rebellion, rapine, hate,<br /></span> +<span>Oppression, wrong, and greed<br /></span> +<span>Are loosed to rule our fate,<br /></span> +<span>By England's act and deed.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Believe, we dare not boast,<br /></span> +<span>Believe, we do not fear—<br /></span> +<span>We stand to pay the cost<br /></span> +<span>In all that men hold dear.<br /></span> +<span>What answer from the North?<br /></span> +<span>One Law, One Land, One Throne.<br /></span> +<span>If England drive us forth<br /></span> +<span>We shall not fall alone!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The preparations for the Unionist leader's coming visit to Belfast had +excited the keenest interest throughout England and Scotland. Coinciding +as it did with the introduction of the Government's Bill, it was +recognised to be the formal countersigning by the whole Unionist Party +of Great Britain of Ulster's proclamation of her determination to resist +her forcible degradation in constitutional status. The same note of +mingled reproach and defiance which sounded in Kipling's verses was +heard in the grave warning addressed by <i>The Times</i> to the country in a +leading article on the morning of the meeting:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Nobody of common judgment and common knowledge of political + movements can honestly doubt the exceptional <a name="Page_80"></a>gravity of the + occasion, and least of all can any such doubt be felt by any who + know the men of Ulster. To make light of the deep-rooted + convictions which fill the minds of those who will listen to Mr. + Bonar Law to-day is a shallow and an idle affectation, or a token + of levity and of ignorance. Enlightened Liberalism may smile at the + beliefs and the passions of the Ulster Protestants, but it was + those same beliefs and passions, in the forefathers of the men who + will gather in Belfast to-day, which saved Ireland for the British + Crown, and freed the cause of civil and religious liberty in these + islands from its last dangerous foes.... It is useless to argue + that they are mistaken. They have reasons, never answered yet, for + believing that they are not mistaken.... Their temper is an + ultimate fact which British statesmen and British citizens have to + face. These men cannot be persuaded to submit to Home Rule. Are + Englishmen and Scotchmen prepared to fasten it upon them by + military force? That is the real Ulster question."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Other great English newspapers wrote in similar strain, and the support +thus given was of the greatest possible encouragement to the Ulster +people, who were thereby assured that their standpoint was not +misunderstood and that the justice of their "loyalist" claims was +appreciated across the Channel.</p> + +<p>Among the numberless popular demonstrations which marked the history of +Ulster's stand against Home Rule, four stand out pre-eminent in the +impressiveness of their size and character. Those who attended the +Ulster Convention of 1892 were persuaded that no political meeting could +ever be more inspiring; but many of them lived to acknowledge that it +was far surpassed at Craigavon in 1911. The Craigavon meeting, though in +some respects as important as any of the series, was, from a spectacular +point of view, much less imposing than the assemblage which listened to +Mr. Bonar Law at Balmoral on Easter Tuesday, 1912; and the latter +occasion, though never surpassed in splendour and magnitude by any +single gathering, was in significance but a prelude to the magnificent +climax reached in the following September on the day when the Covenant +was signed throughout Ulster.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_81"></a>The Balmoral demonstration had, however, one distinctive feature. At it +the Unionist Party of Great Britain met and grasped the hand of Ulster +Loyalism. It gave the leader and a large number of his followers an +opportunity to judge for themselves the strength and sincerity of +Ulster, and at the same time it served to show the Ulstermen the weight +of British opinion ready to back them. Mr. Bonar Law was accompanied to +Belfast by no less than seventy Members of Parliament, representing +English, Scottish, and Welsh constituencies, not a few of whom had +already attained, or afterwards rose to, political distinction. Among +them were Mr. Walter Long, Lord Hugh Cecil, Sir Robert Finlay, Lord +Charles Beresford, Lord Castlereagh, Mr. Amery, Mr. J.D. Baird, Sir +Arthur Griffith-Boscawen, Mr. Ian Malcolm, Lord Claud Hamilton, Mr. J.G. +Butcher, Mr. Ernest Pollock, Mr. George Cave, Mr. Felix Cassel, Mr. +Ormsby-Gore, Mr. Scott Dickson, Mr. W. Peel, Captain Gilmour, Mr. George +Lloyd, Mr. J.W. Hills, Mr. George Lane-Fox, Mr. Stuart-Wortley, Mr. +J.F.P. Rawlinson, Mr. H.J. Mackinder, and Mr. Herbert Nield.</p> + +<p>The reception of the Unionist Leader at Larne on Easter Monday was +wonderful, even to those who knew what a Larne welcome to loyalist +leaders could be, and who recalled the scenes there during the historic +visits of Lord Randolph Churchill, Lord Salisbury, and Mr. Balfour. "If +this is how you treat your friends," said Mr. Bonar Law simply, in reply +to one of the innumerable addresses presented to him, "I am glad I am +not an enemy." Before reaching Belfast he had ample opportunity at every +stopping-place of his train to note the fervour of the populace. "Are +all these people landlords?" he asked (in humorous allusion to the +Liberal legend that Ulster Unionism was manufactured by a few +aristocratic landowners), as he saw every platform thronged with +enthusiastic crowds of men and women, the majority of whom were +evidently of the poorer classes. In Belfast the concourse of people was +so dense in the streets that the motor-car in which Mr. Bonar Law and +Sir Edward Carson sat side by side found it difficult to make its way +<a name="Page_82"></a>to the Reform Club, the headquarters of what had once been Ulster +Liberalism, where an address was presented in which it was stated that +the conduct of the Government "will justify loyal Ulster in resorting to +the most extreme measures in resisting Home Rule." In his reply Mr. +Bonar Law gave them "on behalf of the Unionist Party this +message—though the brunt of the battle will be yours, there will not be +wanting help from 'across the Channel.'" At Comber, where a stop was +made on the way to Mount Stewart, he asked himself how Radical Scotsmen +would like to be treated as the Government were treating Protestant +Ulster. "I know Scotland well," he replied to his own question, "and I +believe that, rather than submit to such fate, the Scottish people would +face a second Bannockburn or a second Flodden."</p> + +<p>These few quotations from the first utterances of Mr. Bonar Law on his +arrival are sufficient to show how complete was the understanding +between him and the Ulster people even before the great demonstration of +the following day. He had, as <i>The Times</i> Correspondent noted, "already +found favour with the Belfast crowd. All the way from Larne by train to +Belfast and through Belfast by motor-car to Newtownards and Mount +Stewart, his progress was a triumph."</p> + +<p>The remarks of the same experienced observer on the eve of the Balmoral +meeting are worth recording, especially as his anticipations were amply +fulfilled.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"To-morrow's demonstration," he telegraphed from Belfast, "both in + numbers and enthusiasm, promises to be the most remarkable ever + seen in Ireland. If expectations are realised the assemblage of men + will be twice as numerous as the whole white population of the + Witwatersrand, whose grievances led to the South African War, and + they will represent a community greater in numbers than the white + population of South Africa as a whole. Unless all the signs are + misleading, it will be the demonstration of a community in the + deadliest earnest. By the Protestant community of Ulster, Home Rule + is regarded as a menace to their faith, to their material + well-being and prosperity, and to their freedom and national + traditions, and thus <a name="Page_83"></a>all the most potent motives which in history + have stirred men to their greatest efforts are here in operation."</p></blockquote> + +<p>No written description, unless by the pen of some gifted imaginative +writer, could convey any true impression of the scenes that were +witnessed the following day in the Show Ground at Balmoral and the roads +leading to it from the heart of the city. The photographs published at +the time give some idea of the apparently unbounded ocean of earnest, +upturned faces, closely packed round the several platforms, and +stretching away far into a dim and distant background; but even they +could not record the impressive stillness of the vast multitude, its +orderliness, which required the presence of not a single policeman, its +spirit of almost religious solemnity which struck every observant +onlooker. No profusion of superlative adjectives can avail to reproduce +such scenes, any more than words, no matter how skilfully chosen, can +convey the tone of a violin in the hands of a master. Even the mere +number of those who took part in the demonstration cannot be guessed +with any real accuracy. There was a procession of men, whose fine +physique and military smartness were noticed by visitors from England, +which was reported to have taken three hours to pass a given point +marching in fours, and was estimated to be not less than 100,000 strong, +while those who went independently to the ground or crowded the route +were reckoned to be at least as many more. The Correspondent of <i>The +Times</i> declared that "it was hardly by hyperbole that Sir Edward Carson +claimed that it was one of the largest assemblies in the history of the +world."</p> + +<p>But the moral effect of such gatherings is not to be gauged by numbers +alone. The demeanour of the people, which no organisation or stage +management could influence, impressed the English journalists and +Members of Parliament even more than the gigantic scale of the +demonstration. There was not a trace of the picnic spirit. There was no +drunkenness, no noisy buffoonery, no unseemly behaviour. The Ulster +habit of combining politics and prayer—which was not departed from at +Balmoral, where the proceedings were opened by the Primate of<a name="Page_84"></a> All +Ireland and the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church—was jeered at by +people who never witnessed an Ulster loyalist meeting; but the Editor of +<i>The Observer</i>, himself a Roman Catholic, remarked with more insight +that "the Protestant mind does not use prayer simply as part of a +parade;" and <i>The Times</i> Correspondent, who has already been more than +once quoted, was struck by the fervour with which at Balmoral "the whole +of the vast gathering joined in singing the 90th Psalm," and he added +the very just comment that "it is the custom in Ulster to mark in this +solemn manner the serious nature of the issue when the Union is the +question, as something different from a question of mere party +politics."</p> + +<p>The spectacular aspect of the demonstration was admirably managed. A +saluting point was so arranged that the procession, on entering the +enclosure, could divide into two columns, one passing each side of a +small pavilion where Mr. Bonar Law, Sir Edward Carson, Lord Londonderry, +and Mr. Walter Long stood to take the salute before proceeding to the +stand which held the principal platform for the delivery of the +speeches. In the centre of the ground was a signalling-tower with a +flagstaff 90 feet high, on which a Union Jack measuring 48 feet by 25 +and said to be the largest ever woven, was broken at the moment when the +Resolution against Home Rule was put to the meeting.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bonar Law, visibly moved by the scene before him, made a speech that +profoundly affected his audience, although it was characteristically +free from rhetorical display. A recent incident in Dublin, where the +sight of the British Flag flying within view of a Nationalist meeting +had been denounced as "an intolerable insult," supplied him, when he +compared it with the spectacle presented by the meeting, with an apt +illustration of the contrast between "the two nations" in Ireland—the +loyal and the disloyal. He told the Ulstermen that he had come to them +as the leader of the Unionist Party to give them the assurance that +"that party regard your cause, not as yours alone, nor as ours alone, +but as the cause of the Empire"; the meeting, which he had expected to +be a great gathering <a name="Page_85"></a>but which far exceeded his expectation, proved +that Ulster's hostility to Home Rule, far from having slackened, as +enemies had alleged, had increased and solidified with the passing +years; they were men "animated by a unity of purpose, by a fixity of +resolution which nothing can shake and which must prove irresistible," +to whom he would apply Cromwell's words to his Ironsides: "You are men +who know what you are fighting for, and love what you know." Then, after +an analysis of the practical evils that Home Rule would engender and the +benefits which legislative union secured, he again emphasised the lack +of mandate for the Government policy. His hearers, he said, "knew the +shameful story": how the Radicals had twice failed to obtain the +sanction of the British people for Home Rule, "and now for the third +time they were trying to carry it not only without the sanction, but +against the will, of the British people."</p> + +<p>The peroration which followed made an irresistible appeal to a people +always mindful of the glories of the relief of Derry. Mr. Bonar Law +warned them that the Ministerial majority in the House of Commons, "now +cemented by £400 a year," could not be broken up, but would have their +own way. He therefore said to them:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"With all solemnity—you must trust in yourselves. Once again you + hold the pass—the pass for the Empire. You are a besieged city. + The timid have left you; your Lundys have betrayed you; but you + have closed your gates. The Government have erected by their + Parliament Act a boom against you to shut you off from the help of + the British people. You will burst that boom. That help will come, + and when the crisis is over men will say to you in words not unlike + those used by Pitt—you have saved yourselves by your exertions and + you will save the Empire by your example."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The overwhelming ovation with which Sir Edward Carson was received upon +taking the president's chair at the chief platform, in the absence +through illness of the Duke of Abercorn, proved that he had already won +the confidence and the affection of the Ulster people to a <a name="Page_86"></a>degree that +seemed to leave little room for growth, although every subsequent +appearance he made among them in the years that lay ahead seemed to add +intensity to their demonstrations of personal devotion. The most +dramatic moment at Balmoral—if for once the word so hackneyed and +misused by journalists may be given its true signification—the most +dramatic moment was when the Ulster leader and the leader of the whole +Unionist Party each grasped the other's hand in view of the assembled +multitude, as though formally ratifying a compact made thus publicly on +the eve of battle. It was the consummation of the purpose of this +assembly of the Unionist hosts on Ulster soil, and gave assurance of +unity of aim and undivided command in the coming struggle.</p> + +<p>Of the other speeches delivered, many of them of a high quality, +especially, perhaps, those of Lord Hugh Cecil, Sir Robert Finlay, and +Mr. Scott Dickson, it is enough to say that they all conveyed the same +message of encouragement to Ulster, the same promise of undeviating +support. One detail, however, deserves mention, because it shows the +direction in which men's thoughts were then moving. Mr. Walter Long, +whose great services to the cause of the Union procured him a welcome +second in warmth to that of no other leader, after thanking Londonderry +and Carson "for the great lead they have given us in recent difficult +weeks "—an allusion to the Churchill incident that was not lost on the +audience—added with a blunt directness characteristic of the speaker: +"If they are going to put Lord Londonderry and Sir Edward Carson into +the dock, they will have to find one large enough to hold the whole +Unionist Party."</p> + +<p>The Balmoral demonstration was recognised on all sides as one of the +chief landmarks in the Ulster Movement. The Craigavon policy was not +only reaffirmed with greater emphasis than before by the people of +Ulster themselves, but it received the deliberate endorsement of the +Unionist Party in England and Scotland. Moreover, as Mr. Long's speech +explicitly promised, and Mr. Bonar Law's speech unmistakably implied, +British support was not to be dependent on Ulster's opposition to Home +Rule being <a name="Page_87"></a>kept within strictly legal limits. Indeed, it had become +increasingly evident that opposition so limited must be impotent, since, +as Mr. Bonar Law pointed out, Ministers and their majority in the House +of Commons were in Mr. Redmond's pocket, and had no choice but to "toe +the line," while the "boom" which they had erected by the Parliament Act +cut off Ulster from access to the British constituencies, unless that +boom could be burst as the boom across the Foyle was broken by the +<i>Mountjoy </i> in 1689. The Unionist leader had warned the Ulstermen that +in these circumstances they must expect nothing from Parliament, but +must trust in themselves. They did not mistake his meaning, and they +were quite ready to take his advice.</p> + +<p>Coming, as it did, two days before the introduction of the Government's +Bill, the Balmoral demonstration profoundly influenced opinion in the +country. The average Englishman, when his political party is in a +minority, damns the Government, shrugs his shoulders, and goes on his +way, not rejoicing indeed, but with apathetic resignation till the +pendulum swings again. He now awoke to the fact that the Ulstermen meant +business. He realised that a political crisis of the first magnitude was +visible on the horizon. The vague talk about "civil war" began to look +as if it might have something in it, and it was evident that the +provisions of the forthcoming Bill, about which there had been so much +eager anticipation, would be of quite secondary importance since neither +the Cabinet nor the House of Commons would have the last word.</p> + +<p>Supporters of the Government in the Press could think of nothing better +to do in these circumstances than to pour out abuse, occasionally varied +by ridicule, on the Unionist leaders, of which Sir Edward Carson came in +for the most generous portion. He was by turns everything that was bad, +dangerous, and absurd, from Mephistopheles to a madman. "F.C.G." +summarised the Balmoral meeting pictorially in a <i>Westminster Gazette</i> +cartoon as a costermonger's donkey-cart in which Carson, Londonderry, +and Bonar Law, refreshed by "Orangeade,"<a name="Page_88"></a> took "an Easter Jaunt in +Ulster," and other caricaturists used their pencils with less humour and +more malice with the same object of belittling the demonstration with +ridicule. But ridicule is not so potent a weapon in England or in Ulster +as it is said to be in France. It did nothing to weaken the Ulster +cause; it even strengthened it in some ways. It was about this time that +hostile writers began to refer to "King Carson," and to represent him as +exercising regal sway over his "subjects" in Ulster. Those "subjects" +were delighted; they took it as a compliment to their leader's position +and power, and did not in the least resent the role assigned to +themselves.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, they did resent very hotly the vulgar insolence often +levelled at their "Sir Edward." He himself was always quite indifferent +to it, sometimes even amused by it. On one occasion, when something +particularly outrageous had appeared with reference to him in some +Radical paper, he delighted a public meeting by solemnly reading the +passage, and when the angry cries of "Shame, shame" had subsided, saying +with a smile: "This sort of thing is only the manure that fertilises my +reputation with you who know me."</p> + +<p>And that was true. If Home Rulers, whether in Ireland or in Great +Britain, ever seriously thought of conciliating Ulster, as Mr. Redmond +professed to desire, they never made a greater mistake than in saying +and writing insulting things about Carson. It only endeared him more and +more to his followers, and it intensified the bitterness of their +feeling against the Nationalists and all their works. An almost equally +short-sighted error on the part of hostile critics was the idea that the +attitude of Ulster as exhibited at Craigavon and Balmoral should be +represented as mere bluster and bluff, to which the only proper reply +was contempt. There never was anything further removed from the truth, +as anyone ought to have known who had the smallest acquaintance with +Irish history or with the character of the race that had supplied the +backbone of Washington's army; but, if there had been at any time an +element of bluff in their attitude, their contemptuous critics took the +surest means of converting <a name="Page_89"></a>it into grim earnestness of purpose. Mr. +Redmond himself was ill-advised enough to set an example in this +respect. In an article published by <i>Reynold's Newspaper</i> in January he +had scoffed at the "stupid, hollow, and unpatriotic bellowings" of the +Loyalists in Belfast. Some few opponents had enough sense to take a +different line in their comments on Balmoral. One article in particular +which appeared in <i>The Star</i> on the day of the demonstration attracted +much attention for this reason.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"We have never yielded," it said, "to the temptation to deride or + to belittle the resistance of Ulster to Home Rule.... The + subjugation of Protestant Ulster by force is one of those things + that do not happen in our politics.... It is, we know, a popular + delusion that Ulster is a braggart whose words are empty bluff. We + are convinced that Ulster means what she says, and that she will + make good every one of her warnings."</p></blockquote> + +<p><i>The Star</i> went on to implore Liberals not to be driven "into an +attitude of bitter hostility to the Ulster Protestants," with whom it +declared they had much in common.</p> + +<p>After Balmoral there was certainly more disposition than before on the +part of Liberal Home Rulers to acknowledge the sincerity of Ulster and +the gravity of the position created by her opposition, and this +disposition showed itself in the debates on the Bill; but, speaking +generally, the warning of <i>The Star</i> was disregarded by its political +adherents, and its neglect contributed not a little to the embitterment +of the controversy.</p><a name="Page_90"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22">[22]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1912, p. 3.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23">[23]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Times</i>, February 3rd, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24">[24]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25">[25]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1912, p. 7.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26">[26]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., p. 126.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_VIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h4>THE EXCLUSION OF ULSTER</h4> + + +<p>Within forty-eight hours of the Balmoral meeting the Prime Minister +moved for leave to introduce the third Home Rule Bill in the House of +Commons. Carson immediately stated the Ulster case in a powerful speech +which left no room for doubt that, while every clause in the Bill would +be contested, it was the setting up of an executive administration +responsible to a Parliament in Dublin—that is to say, the central +principle of the measure—that would be most strenuously opposed.</p> + +<p>There is no occasion here to explain in detail the proposals contained +in Mr. Asquith's Home Rule Bill. They form part of the general history +of the period, and are accessible to all who care to examine them. Our +concern is with the endeavour of Ulster to prevent, if possible, the +passage of the Bill to the Statute-book, and, if that should prove +impracticable, to prevent its enforcement "in those districts of which +they had control." But one or two points that were made in the course of +the debates which occupied Parliament for the rest of the year 1912 +claim a moment's notice in their bearing on the subject in hand.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bonar Law lost no time in fully redeeming the promises he made at +Balmoral. Challenged to repeat in Parliament the charges he had made +against the Government in Ulster, he not only repeated them with +emphasis, but by closely-knit reasoning justified them with chapter and +verse. As to Balmoral, "it really was not like a political +demonstration; it was the expression of the soul of a people." He +declared that "the gulf between the two peoples in Ireland was really +far wider than the gulf between Ireland and Great Britain." He then +dealt <a name="Page_91"></a>specifically with the threatened resistance of Ulster. "These +people in Ulster," he said, "are under no illusion. They know they +cannot fight the British Army. The people of Ulster know that, if the +soldiers receive orders to shoot, it will be their duty to obey. They +will have no ill-will against them for obeying. But they are ready, in +what they believe to be the cause of justice and liberty, to lay down +their lives. How are you going to overcome that resistance? Do +Honourable Members believe that any Prime Minister could give orders to +shoot down men whose only crime is that they refuse to be driven out of +our community and be deprived of the privilege of British citizenship? +The thing is impossible. All your talk about details, the union of +hearts and the rest of it, is a sham. This is a reality. It is a rock, +and on that rock this Bill will inevitably make shipwreck."</p> + +<p>The Unionist leader then made a searching exposure of the traffic and +bargaining between the Cabinet and the Nationalists by which the support +of the latter had been bought for a Budget which they hated, the price +paid being the Premier's improper advice to the Crown, leading to the +mutilation of the Constitution; the acknowledgment in the preamble to +the Parliament Act that an immediate reform of the Second Chamber was a +"debt of honour"; the omission to redeem that debt, which had provided a +new proverb—"Lying as a preamble"; and, finally, the determination to +carry Home Rule after deliberately keeping it out of sight during the +elections. The Prime Minister's "debt of honour must wait until he has +paid his debt of shame"; and the latter debt was being paid by the +proposals they were then debating. If those proposals had been submitted +to the electors, "there would be a difference," said Mr. Bonar Law, +"between the Unionists in England and the Unionists in Ireland. Now +there is none. We can imagine nothing which the Unionists in Ireland can +do which will not be justified against a trick of this kind."</p> + +<p>Dissatisfaction with the financial clauses of the Bill was expressed at +once by the General Council of County Councils in Ireland, a purely +Nationalist body; but <a name="Page_92"></a>on the 23rd of April a Nationalist Convention in +Dublin, under the influence of Mr. Redmond's oratory, accepted the whole +of the Government's proposals with enthusiasm. The first and second +readings of the Bill were duly carried by the normal Government majority +of about a hundred Liberal, Labour, and Irish Nationalist votes, and the +committee stage opened on the 11th of June. On that day an amendment was +down for debate which required the most careful consideration by the +representatives of Ulster, since their attitude now might have an +important bearing on their future policy, and a false step at this stage +might easily prove embarrassing later on. The author of this amendment +was Mr. Agar-Robartes, a Cornish Liberal Member, whose proposal was to +exclude the four counties of Antrim, Derry, Down, and Armagh from the +jurisdiction of the proposed Irish Parliament, a gratifying proof that +Craigavon and Balmoral were bearing fruit.</p> + +<p>A conference of Ulster Members and Peers, and some English Members +closely identified with Irish affairs, of whom Mr. Walter Long was one, +met at Londonderry House before the sitting of the House on the 11th of +June to decide what course to take on this proposal.</p> + +<p>It was not surprising to find that there were sharp differences of +opinion among those present, for there were obvious objections to +supporting the amendment and equally obvious objections to voting +against it. The opposition of Ulster for more than a quarter of a +century had been directed against Home Rule for any part of Ireland and +in any shape or form. No suggestion had ever been made by any of her +spokesmen that the Protestant North, or any part of it, should be dealt +with separately from the rest of the island, although Carson and others +had pointed out that all the arguments in support of Home Rule were +equally valid for treating Ulster as a unit. There were both economic +and administrative difficulties in such a scheme which were sufficiently +obvious, though by no means insuperable; but what weighed far more +heavily in the minds of the Ulster members was the anticipation that +their acceptance of the proposal would <a name="Page_93"></a>probably be represented by +enemies as a desertion of all the Irish Loyalists outside the four +counties named in the amendment, with whom there was in every part of +Ulster the most powerful sentiment of solidarity. The idea of taking any +action apart from these friends and associates, and of adopting a policy +that might seem to imply the abandonment of their opposition to the main +principle of the Bill, was one that could not be entertained except +under the most compelling necessity.</p> + +<p>But, had not that necessity now arisen? The Ulster members had to keep +in view the ultimate policy to which they were already committed. That +policy, as laid down at Craigavon, was to take over, in the event of the +Home Rule Bill being carried, the government "of those districts which +they could control" in trust for the Imperial Parliament, and to resist +by force if necessary the establishment of the Dublin jurisdiction over +those districts. The policy of resistance was always recognised as being +strictly limited in area; no one ever supposed that Ulster could +forcibly resist Home Rule being set up in the south and west. The +likelihood of failure to bring about a dissolution before the Bill +became law had to be faced, and if no General Election took place there +would be no alternative to resistance. If, then, it were decided to vote +against an amendment offering salvation to the four most loyalist +counties, what would be their position if ultimately driven to take up +arms? Except as to a matter of detail concerning the precise area +proposed to be excluded from the Bill, would they not be told that they +were fighting for what they might have had by legislation, and what they +had deliberately refused to accept? And if they so acted, could they +expect not to forfeit the support of the great and growing volume of +public opinion which now sympathised with Ulster? They could not, of +course, secure themselves against malicious misrepresentation of their +motives, but the Ulster members sincerely believed, and many in the +South shared the opinion, that if it came to the worst they could be of +more use to the Southern Unionists outside a Dublin Parliament than as +members of it, where they would be an impotent minority. Moreover, <a name="Page_94"></a>it +was perfectly understood that Ulster was resolved in any case not to +enter a legislature in College Green, and there would, therefore, be no +more "desertion" of Unionists outside the excluded area if the exclusion +were effected by an amendment to the Bill, than if it were the result of +what Mr. Bonar Law had called "trusting to themselves."</p> + +<p>The considerations thus briefly summarised were thoroughly discussed in +all their bearings at the conference at Londonderry House. It was one of +many occasions when Sir Edward Carson's colleagues had an opportunity of +perceiving how his penetrating intellect explored the intricate windings +of a complicated political problem, weighing all the alternatives of +procedure with a clear insight into the appearance that any line of +conduct would present to other and perhaps hostile minds, calculating +like a chess-master move and counter-move far ahead of the present, and, +while adhering undeviatingly to principle, using the judgment of a +consummate strategist to decide upon the action to be taken at any given +moment. He had an astonishing faculty of discarding everything that was +unessential and fastening on the thing that really mattered in any +situation. His strength in counsel lay in the rare combination of these +qualities of the trained lawyer with the gift of intuition, which women +claim as their distinguishing characteristic; and it often extorted from +Nationalists the melancholy admission that if Carson had been on their +side their cause would have triumphed long ago.</p> + +<p>His advice now was that the Agar-Robartes amendment should be supported; +and, although some of those present required a good deal of persuasion, +it was ultimately decided unanimously that this course should be +followed. The wisdom of the decision was never afterwards questioned, +and, indeed, was abundantly confirmed by subsequent events.</p> + +<p>Mr. Agar-Robartes moved his amendment the same afternoon, summarising +his argument in the dictum, denied by Mr. William Redmond, that "Orange +bitters will not mix with Irish whisky." The debate, which <a name="Page_95"></a>lasted three +days, was the most important that took place in committee on the Bill, +for in the course of it the whole Ulster question was exhaustively +discussed. Sir Edward Grey and Mr. Churchill had thrown out hints in the +second reading debate that the Government might do something to meet the +Ulster case. The Prime Minister was now pressed to say what these hints +meant. Had the Government any policy in regard to Ulster? Had they +considered how they could deal with the threatened resistance? Mr. Bonar +Law told the Government that they must know that, if they employed +troops to coerce the Ulster Loyalists, Ministers who gave the order +"would run a greater risk of being lynched in London than the Loyalists +of Ulster would run of being shot in Belfast." Every argument in favour +of Home Rule was, he said, equally cogent against subjecting Ulster to +Home Rule contrary to her own desire. If the South of Ireland objected +to being governed from Westminster, the North of Ireland quite as +strongly objected to being ruled from Dublin. If England, as was +alleged, was incapable of governing Ireland according to Irish ideas, +the Nationalists were fully as incapable of governing the northern +counties according to Ulster ideas. If Ireland, with only one-fifteenth +of the population of the United Kingdom, had a right to choose its own +form of government, by what equity could the same right be denied to +Ulster, with one-fourth of the population of Ireland?</p> + +<p>As had been anticipated at Londonderry House, Mr. Asquith and some of +his followers did their best to drive a wedge between the Ulstermen and +the Southern Unionists, by contending that the former, in supporting the +amendment, were deserting their friends. Mr. Balfour declared in answer +to this that "nothing could relieve Unionists in the rest of Ireland +except the defeat of the measure as a whole"; and a crushing reply was +given by Mr. J.H. Campbell and Mr. Walter Guinness, both of whom were +Unionists from the South of Ireland. Mr. Guinness frankly acknowledged +that "it was the duty of Ulster members to take this opportunity of +trying to secure for their constituents freedom from this iniquitous +measure.<a name="Page_96"></a> It would be merely a dog-in-the-manger policy for those who +lived outside Ulster to grudge relief to their co-religionists merely +because they could not share it. Such self-denial on Ulster's part would +in no way help them (the Southerners) and it would only injure their +compatriots in the North."</p> + +<p>Sir Edward Carson, in supporting the amendment, insisted that "Ulster +was not asking for anything" except to be left within the Imperial +Constitution; she "had not demanded any separate Parliament." He +accepted the "basic principle" of the amendment, but would not be +content with the four counties which alone it proposed to exclude from +the Bill. He only accepted it, however, on two assumptions—first, that +the Bill was to become law; and, second, that it was to be, as Mr. +Asquith had assured them, part of a federal system for the United +Kingdom. If the first steps were being taken to construct a federal +system, there was no precedent for coercing Ulster to form part of a +federal unit which she refused to join. He had been Solicitor-General +when the Act establishing the Commonwealth of Australia was being +discussed, and it never would have passed, he declared, "if every single +clause had not been agreed to by every single one of the communities +concerned." Ministers were always basing their Irish policy on Dominion +analogies, but could anyone, Carson asked, imagine the Imperial +Government sending troops to compel the Transvaal or New South Wales to +come into a federal system against their will?</p> + +<p>The arguments in favour of the amendment were also stated with +uncompromising force by Mr. William Moore, Mr. Charles Craig, and his +brother Captain James Craig, the last-mentioned taking up a challenge +thrown down by Mr. Birrell in a maladroit speech which had expressed +doubt as to the reality of the danger to be apprehended in Ulster. +Captain Craig said they would immediately take steps in Ulster to +convince the Chief Secretary of their sincerity. Lord Hugh Cecil, in an +outspoken speech, greatly to the taste of English Unionists, "had no +hesitation in saying that Ulster would be perfectly right in resisting, +and he hoped she would be successful."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_97"></a>In the division on Mr. Agar-Robartes's amendment the Government +majority fell to sixty-nine, both the "Tellers" being usual supporters +of the Ministry. Mr. F.E. Smith, in a vigorous speech to the Belfast +Orangemen on the 12th of July, declared that "on the part of the +Government the discussion (on Mr. Agar-Robartes's amendment) was a trap. +... The Government hoped that Ulster would decline the amendment in +order that the Coalition might protest to the constituencies: 'We +offered Ulster exclusion and Ulster refused exclusion—where is the +grievance of Ulster? where her justification for armed revolt?'" The +snare was avoided; but the debate was a landmark in the movement, for it +was then that the spokesmen of Ulster for the first time publicly +accepted the idea of separate treatment for themselves as a possible +alternative policy to the integral maintenance of the Union.</p> + +<p>The Government, for their part, made no response to the demand of Bonar +Law and Carson that they should declare their intentions for dealing +with resistance in Ulster. It was clearly more than ever necessary for +the Ulstermen to "trust in themselves." The debates on the Bill occupied +Parliament till the end of the year, and beyond it, and great blocks of +clauses were carried under the guillotine closure without a word of +discussion, although they were packed with constitutional points, many +of which were of the highest moment. Over in Ulster, at the same time, +those preparations were industriously carried forward which Captain +Craig told the House of Commons would be necessary to cure the +scepticism of the Chief Secretary.</p> + +<p>In England and Scotland, also, Unionists did their utmost to make public +opinion realise the gravity of the crisis towards which the country was +drifting under the Wait-and-See Ministry. Never before, probably, had so +many great political meetings been held in any year as were held in +every part of the country in 1912. With the exception of those that took +place in Ireland, the most striking was a monster gathering at Blenheim +on the 27th of July, which was attended by delegates from every Unionist +Association in the United Kingdom.</p><a name="Page_98"></a> + +<p>A notable defeat of the Government in a by-election at Crewe, news of +which reached the meeting while the audience of some fifteen thousand +people was assembling, was an encouraging sign of the trend of opinion +in the country, and added confidence to the note of defiance that +sounded in the speeches of Mr. Bonar Law, Mr. F.E. Smith, and Sir Edward +Carson.</p> + +<p>The Unionist leader repeated, with added emphasis, what he had already +said in the House of Commons, that he could imagine no length of +resistance to which Ulster might go in which he and the overwhelming +majority of the British people would not be ready to give support. He +again said that resistance would be justified only because the people +had not been consulted, and the Government's policy was "part of a +corrupt parliamentary bargain." He refused to acknowledge the right of +the Government "to carry such a Revolution by such means," and as they +appeared to be resolved to do so, Mr. Bonar Law and the party he led +"would use any means to deprive them of the power they had usurped, and +to compel them to face the people they had deceived." Mr. F.E. Smith +expressed the same thought in a more epigrammatic antithesis: "We have +come to a clear issue between the party which says 'We will judge for +the democracy,' and the party which says 'The democracy shall judge +you.'"</p> + +<p>The tremendous enthusiasm evoked by Mr. Bonar Law's pledge of support to +Ulster, and by Sir Edward Carson's announcement that they in Ulster +"would shortly challenge the Government to interfere with them if they +dared, and would with equanimity await the result," was a sufficient +proof, if proof were needed, that the intention of the Ulstermen to +offer forcible resistance to Home Rule had the whole-hearted sympathy +and approval of the entire Unionist party in Great Britain, whose +representatives from every corner of the country were assembled at +Blenheim.</p> + +<p>Liberals hoped and believed that this promise of support for the +"rebellious" attitude of Ulster would alienate British opinion from the +Unionist party. The supporters of the Government in the Press daily +proclaimed that it <a name="Page_99"></a>was doing so. When Parliament adjourned for the +summer recess, at the beginning of what journalists call "the silly +season," Mr. Churchill published two letters to a constituent in +Scotland which were intended to be a crushing indictment both of Ulster +and of her sympathisers in Great Britain. The Ulster menace was in his +eyes nothing but "melodramatic stuff," and he sneeringly suggested that +the Unionist leaders would be "unspeakably shocked and frightened" if +anything came of their "foolish and wicked words." The letter was +lengthy, and contained some telling phrases such as Mr. Churchill has +always been skilful in coining; but the "turgid homily—a mixture of +sophistry, insult, and menace," as <i>The Times</i> not unfairly described +it, was less effective than the terse and simple rejoinder in which Mr. +Bonar Law pointed out that Mr. Churchill's onslaught wounded his +father's memory more deeply than it touched his living opponents, since +Lord Randolph's "incitement" of Ulster was at a time when Ulster could +not be cast out from the Union without the consent of the British +electors.</p> + +<p>Mr. Churchill's epistles to Scottish Liberals started a correspondence +which reverberated through the Press for weeks, breaking the monotony of +the holiday season; but they entirely failed in their purpose, which was +to break the sympathy for Ulster in England and Scotland. In March the +Unionists had won a seat at a by-election in South Manchester; the +victory at Crewe in July, which so cheered the gathering at Blenheim, +was followed by still more striking victories in North-west Manchester +in August, and in Midlothian—Gladstone's old constituency—in +September; and perhaps a not less significant indication of the trend of +opinion so far as the Unionist party was concerned, was given by the +local Unionist Association at Rochdale, which promptly repudiated its +selected candidate who had ventured to protest against the Blenheim +speech of the Unionist leader. In an analysis of electoral statistics +published by <i>The Times</i> on the 24th of August it was shown that, in +thirty-eight contests since the General Election in December 1910, the +Unionists had gained an advantage of more than 32,000 votes over<a name="Page_100"></a> +Liberals. And shortly afterwards, at a dinner in London to three newly +elected Unionists, Mr. Bonar Law pointed out that the results of +by-elections, if realised in the same proportion all over the country, +would have given a substantial Unionist majority in the House of +Commons.</p> + +<p>The Ulster people had, therefore, much to encourage them at a time when +they were preparing the most significant forward step in the movement, +and the most solemn pronouncement of their unfaltering resolution never +to submit to the Dublin Parliament—the signing of the Ulster Covenant. +Their policy of resistance, first propounded at Craigavon, reiterated at +Balmoral, endorsed by British sympathisers at Blenheim, and specifically +defended in Parliament both by Unionist leaders like Mr. Bonar Law and +Mr. Long and by prominent members of the Unionist rank and file like +Lord Hugh Cecil, had won the approval and support of great popular +constituencies in Lancashire and in Scotland, and had alienated no +section of Unionist opinion or of the Unionist Press. It was in no +merely satirical spirit that Carson wrote in August that he was grateful +to Mr. Churchill "for having twice within a few weeks done something to +focus public opinion on the stern realities of the situation in +Ulster."<a name="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27"><sup>[27]</sup></a> For that was the actual result of the "turgid homily." It +proved of real service to the Ulster cause by bringing to light the +complete solidarity of Unionist opinion in its support. That meant, in +the light of the electoral returns, that certainly more than half the +nation sympathised with the measures that were being taken in Ulster, +and that Ulster could well afford to smile at the mockery which English +Home Rulers deemed a sufficient weapon to demolish the "wooden guns" and +the "military play-acting of King Carson's Army."</p> +<a name="Page_101"></a> +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27">[27]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>The Times</i>, August 19th, 1912.</p></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h4>THE EVE OF THE COVENANT</h4> + + +<p>There was one Liberal statesman, formerly the favourite lieutenant of +Gladstone and the closest political ally of Asquith, who was under no +illusion as to the character of the men with whom Asquith was now +provoking a conflict. Speaking in Edinburgh on the 1st of November, +1911, that is, shortly after the Craigavon meeting, Lord Rosebery told +his Scottish audience that "he loved Highlanders and he loved +Lowlanders, but when he came to the branch of their race which had been +grafted on to the Ulster stem he took off his hat with reverence and +awe. They were without exception the toughest, the most dominant, the +most irresistible race that existed in the universe."<a name="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28"><sup>[28]</sup></a></p> + +<p>The kinship of this tough people with the Lowlanders of Scotland, in +character as in blood, was never more signally demonstrated than when +they decided, in one of the most intense crises of their history, to +emulate the example of their Scottish forefathers in binding themselves +together by a solemn League and Covenant to resist what they deemed to +be a tyrannical encroachment on their liberties and rights.</p> + +<p>The most impressive moment at the Balmoral meeting at Easter 1912 was +when the vast assemblage, with uncovered heads, raised their hands and +repeated after Sir Edward Carson words abjuring Home Rule. The incident +suggested to some of the local Unionist leaders that the spirit of +enthusiastic solidarity and determination thus manifested should not be +allowed to evaporate, and the people so animated to disperse to the four +corners of Ulster without any bond of mutual obligation. The idea of an +oath of fidelity to the cause and to each other was<a name="Page_102"></a> mooted, and +appeared to be favoured by many. The leader was consulted. He gave deep, +anxious, and prolonged consideration to the proposal, calculating all +the consequences which, in various possible eventualities, might follow +its adoption. He was not only profoundly conscious of the moral +responsibility which he personally, and his colleagues, would be +undertaking by the contemplated measure; he realised the numerous +practical difficulties there might be in honouring the bond, and he +would have nothing to do with a device which, under the guise of a +solemn covenant, would be nothing more than a verbal manifesto. If the +people were to be invited to sign anything of the sort, it must be a +reality, and he, as leader, must first see his way to make it a reality, +whatever might happen.</p> + +<p>For, although Carson never shrank from responsibility, he never assumed +it with levity, or without full consideration of all that it might +involve. Many a time, especially before he had fully tested for himself +the temper of the Ulster people, he expressed to his intimates his +wonder whether the bulk of his followers sufficiently appreciated the +seriousness of the course they had set out upon. Sometimes in private he +seemed to be hypersensitive as to whether in any particular he was +misleading those who trusted him; he was scrupulously anxious that they +should not be carried away by unreflecting enthusiasm, or by personal +devotion to himself. About the only criticism of his leadership that was +ever made directly to himself by one of the rank and file in Ulster was +that it erred on the side of patience and caution; and this criticism +elicited the sharpest reproof he was ever heard to administer to any of +his followers.<a name="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29"><sup>[29]</sup></a> His expressions of regard, almost amounting to +affection, for the men and women who thronged round him for a touch of +his hand wherever he appeared in the streets might have been ignorantly +set down as the arts of a demagogue had they ever been spoken in public, +but were capable of no such misconstruction when reserved, as they +invariably were, for the ears of his closest associates. The truth is +that <a name="Page_103"></a>no popular leader was ever less of a demagogue than Sir Edward +Carson. He had no "arts" at all—unless indeed complete simplicity is +the highest of all "arts" in one whom great masses of men implicitly +trust. He never sought to gain or augment the confidence of his +followers by concealing facts, minimising difficulties, or overcolouring +expectations.</p> + +<p>It is not surprising, then, that the decision to invite the Ulster +people to bind themselves together by some form of written bond or oath +was one which Carson did not come to hastily. While the matter was still +only being talked about by a few intimate friends, and had not been in +any way formally proposed, Captain James Craig happened to be occupying +himself one day at the Constitutional Club in London with pencil and +paper, making experimental drafts that might do for the proposed +purpose, when he was joined by Mr. B.W.D. Montgomery, Secretary of the +Ulster Club in Belfast, who asked what he was doing. "Trying to draft an +oath for our people at home," replied Craig, "and it's no easy matter to +get at what will suit." "You couldn't do better," said Montgomery, "than +take the old Scotch Covenant. It is a fine old document, full of grand +phrases, and thoroughly characteristic of the Ulster tone of mind at +this day." Thereupon the two men went to the library, where, with the +help of the club librarian, they found a History of Scotland containing +the full text of the celebrated bond of the Covenanters (first drawn up, +by a curious coincidence of names, by John Craig, in 1581), a verbatim +copy of which was made from the book.</p> + +<p>The first idea was to adapt this famous manifesto of militant +Protestantism by making only such abbreviations and alterations as would +render it suitable for the purpose in view. But when it was ultimately +decided to go forward with the proposal, and the task of preparing the +document was entrusted to the Special Commission,<a name="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30"><sup>[30]</sup></a> it was at once +realised that, however strongly the fine old Jacobean language and the +historical associations of the Solemn League and Covenant might appeal +to the imagina<a name="Page_104"></a>tion of a few, it was far too involved and long-winded, +no matter how drastically revised, to serve as an actual working +agreement between men of to-day, or as a rallying-point for a modern +democratic community. What was needed was something quite short and +easily intelligible, setting forth in as few words as possible a purpose +which the least learned could grasp at a glance, and which all who so +desired could sign with full comprehension of what they were doing.</p> + +<p>Mr. Thomas Sinclair, one of the Special Commission, was himself a +draughtsman of exceptional skill, and in a matter of this kind his +advice was always invaluable, and it was under his hand that the Ulster +Covenant, after frequent amendment, took what was, with one important +exception, its final shape. The last revision cut down the draft by more +than one-half; but the portion discarded from the Covenant itself, in +the interest of brevity, was retained as a Resolution of the Ulster +Unionist Council which accompanied the Covenant and served as a sort of +declaratory preamble to it<a name="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31"><sup>[31]</sup></a>. The exception referred to was an +amendment made to meet an objection raised by prominent representatives +of the Presbyterian Church. The Special Commission, realising that the +proposed Covenant ought not to be promulgated without the consent and +approval of the Protestant Churches, submitted the agreed draft to the +authorities of the Church of Ireland and of the Presbyterian, Methodist, +and Congregational Churches. The Moderator, and other leaders of the +Presbyterians, including Mr. (afterwards Sir Alexander) McDowell, a man +endowed with much of the wisdom of the serpent, while supporting without +demur the policy of the Covenant, took exception to its terms in a +single particular. They pointed out that the obligation to be accepted +by the signatories would be, as the text then stood, of unlimited +duration. They objected to undertaking such a responsibility without the +possibility of modifying it to meet the changes which time and +circumstance might bring about; and they insisted that, before they +could advise their congregations to contract so solemn <a name="Page_105"></a>an engagement, +the text of the Covenant must be amended by the introduction of words +limiting its validity to the crisis which then confronted them.</p> + +<p>This was accordingly done. Words were introduced which declared the +pledge to be binding "throughout this our time of threatened calamity," +and its purpose to be the defeat of "the present conspiracy." The +language was as precise, and was as carefully chosen, as the language of +a legal deed; but in an unhappy crisis which arose in 1916, in +circumstances which no one in the world could have foreseen in 1912, +there were some in Ulster who were not only tempted to strain the +interpretation which the Covenant as a whole could legitimately bear, +but who failed to appreciate the significance of the amendments that had +been made in its text at the instance of the Presbyterian Church.<a name="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32"><sup>[32]</sup></a></p> + +<p>When these amendments had been incorporated in the Covenant by the +Special Commission, a meeting of the Standing Committee was convened at +Craigavon on the 19th of September to adopt it for recommendation to the +Council. The Committee, standing in a group outside the door leading +from the arcade at Craigavon to the tennis-lawn, listened while Sir +Edward Carson read the Covenant aloud from a stone step which now bears +an inscription recording the event. Those present showed by their +demeanour that they realised the historic character of the transaction +in which they were taking part, and the weight of responsibility they +were about to assume. But no voice expressed dissent or hesitation. The +Covenant was adopted unanimously and without amendment. Its terms were +as follows:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"ULSTER'S SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT</p> + +<p> "Being convinced in our consciences that Home Rule would be + disastrous to the material well-being of Ulster as well as of the + whole of Ireland, subversive of our civil and religious freedom, + destructive of our citizenship, and perilous to the unity of the + Empire, we, whose names are underwritten, men of Ulster, loyal + subjects of His Gracious<a name="Page_106"></a> Majesty King George V, humbly relying on + the God whom our fathers in days of stress and trial confidently + trusted, do hereby pledge ourselves in solemn Covenant throughout + this our time of threatened calamity to stand by one another in + defending for ourselves and our children our cherished position of + equal citizenship in the United Kingdom, and in using all means + which may be found necessary to defeat the present conspiracy to + set up a Home Rule Parliament in Ireland. And in the event of such + a Parliament being forced upon us we further solemnly and mutually + pledge ourselves to refuse to recognise its authority. In sure + confidence that God will defend the right we hereto subscribe our + names. And further, we individually declare that we have not + already signed this Covenant. God save the King."</p></blockquote> + +<p>On Monday, the 23rd of September, the Ulster Unionist Council, the body +representing the whole loyalist community on an elective and thoroughly +democratic basis, held its annual meeting in the Ulster Hall, the chief +business being the ratification of the Covenant prior to its being +presented for general signature throughout the province on Ulster Day. +Upwards of five hundred delegates attended the meeting, and unanimously +approved the terms of the document recommended for their acceptance by +their Standing Committee. They then adopted, on the motion of Lord +Londonderry, the Resolution which, as already mentioned, had originally +formed part of the draft of the Covenant itself. This Resolution, as +well as the Covenant, was the subject of extensive comment in the +English and Scottish Press. Some opponents of Ulster directed against it +the flippant ridicule which appeared to be their only weapon against a +movement the gravity of which was admitted by Ministers of the Crown; +but, on the whole, the British Press acknowledged the important +enunciation of political principle which it contained. It placed on +record that:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Inasmuch as we, the duly elected delegates and members of the + Ulster Unionist Council, representing all parts of Ulster, are + firmly persuaded that by no law can the right to govern those whom + we represent be bartered <a name="Page_107"></a>away without their consent; that although + the present Government, the services and sacrifices of our race + having been forgotten, may drive us forth from a Constitution which + we have ever loyally upheld, they may not deliver us bound into the + hands of our enemies; and that it is incompetent for any authority, + party, or people to appoint as our rulers a Government dominated by + men disloyal to the Empire and to whom our faith and traditions are + hateful; and inasmuch as we reverently believe that, as in times + past it was given our fathers to save themselves from a like + calamity, so now it may be ordered that our deliverance shall be by + our own hands, to which end it is needful that we be knit together + as one man, each strengthening the other, and none holding back or + counting the cost—therefore we, Loyalists of Ulster, ratify and + confirm the steps so far taken by the Special Commission this day + submitted and explained to us, and we reappoint the Commission to + carry on its work on our behalf as in the past.</p> + +<p> "We enter into the Solemn Covenant appended hereto, and, knowing + the greatness of the issues depending on our faithfulness, we + promise each to the others that, to the uttermost of the strength + and means given us, and not regarding any selfish or private + interest, our substance or our lives, we will make good the said + Covenant; and we now bind ourselves in the steadfast determination + that, whatever may befall, no such domination shall be thrust upon + us, and in the hope that by the blessing of God our Union with + Great Britain, upon which are fixed our affections and trust, may + yet be maintained, and that for ourselves and for our children, for + this Province and for the whole of Ireland, peace, prosperity, and + civil and religious liberty may be secured under the Parliament of + the United Kingdom and of the King whose faithful subjects we are + and will continue all our days."</p></blockquote> + +<p>It had been known for some weeks that it was the intention of the Ulster +Loyalists to dedicate the 28th of September as "Ulster Day," by holding +special religious services, after which they were to "pledge themselves +to a solemn Covenant," the terms of which were not yet published or, +indeed, finally settled. This announcement, which appeared in the Press +on the 17th of August, was <a name="Page_108"></a>hailed in England as an effective reply to +the recent "turgid homily" of Mr. Churchill, but there was really no +connection between them in the intentions of Ulstermen, who had been too +much occupied with their own affairs to pay much attention to the attack +upon them in the Dundee letters. The Ulster Day celebration was to be +preceded by a series of demonstrations in many of the chief centres of +Ulster, at which the purpose of the Covenant was to be explained to the +people by the leader and his colleagues, and a number of English Peers +and Members of Parliament arranged to show their sympathy with the +policy embodied in the Covenant by taking part in the meetings.</p> + +<p>It would not be true to say that the enthusiasm displayed at this great +series of meetings in September eclipsed all that had gone before, for +it would not be possible for human beings greatly to exceed in that +emotion what had been seen at Craigavon and Balmoral; but they exhibited +an equally grave sense of responsibility, and they proved that the same +exaltation of mind, the same determined spirit, that had been displayed +by Loyalists collected in the populous capital of their province, +equally animated the country towns and rural districts.</p> + +<p>The campaign opened at Enniskillen on the 18th of September, where the +leader was escorted by two squadrons of mounted and well-equipped yeomen +from the station to Portora Gate, at which point 40,000 members of +Unionist Clubs drawn from the surrounding agricultural districts marched +past him in military order. During the following nine days +demonstrations were held at Lisburn, Derry, Coleraine, Ballymena, +Dromore, Portadown, Crumlin, Newtownards, and Ballyroney, culminating +with a meeting in the Ulster Hall—loyalist headquarters—on the eve of +the signing of the Covenant on Ulster Day. At six of these meetings, +including, of course, the last, Sir Edward Carson was the principal +speaker, while all the Ulster Unionist Members of Parliament took part +in their several constituencies. Lord Londonderry was naturally +prominent among the speakers, and presided as usual, when the Duke of +Abercorn was prevented by illness from being present, in the Ulster +Hall. Mr. F.E. Smith, who had <a name="Page_109"></a>closely identified himself with the +Ulster Movement, delighting with his fresh and vigorous eloquence the +meetings at Balmoral and Blenheim, as well as the Orange Lodges whom he +had addressed on the 12th of July, crossed the Channel to lend a helping +hand, and spoke at five meetings on the tour. Others who took part—in +addition to local men like Mr. Thomas Sinclair and Mr. John Young, whose +high character always made their appearance on political platforms of +value to the cause they supported—were Lord Charles Beresford, Lord +Salisbury, Mr. James Campbell, Lord Hugh Cecil, Lord Willoughby de +Broke, and Mr. Harold Smith; while the Marquis of Hamilton and Lord +Castlereagh, by the part which they took in the programme, showed their +desire to carry on the traditions which identified the two leading +Ulster families with loyalist principles.</p> + +<p>A single resolution, identical in the simplicity of its terms, was +carried without a dissenting voice at every one of these meetings: "We +hereby reaffirm the resolve of the great Ulster Convention of 1892: 'We +will not have Home Rule.'" These words became so familiar that the +laconic phrase "We won't have it," was on everybody's lips as the Alpha +and Omega of Ulster's attitude, and was sometimes heard with unexpected +abruptness in no very precise context. A ticket-collector, when clipping +the tickets of the party who were starting from Belfast in a saloon for +Enniskillen, made no remark and no sign of recognition till he reached +Carson, when he said almost in a whisper and without a glimmer of a +smile, as he took a clip out of the leader's ticket: "Tell the +station-master at Clones, Sir Edward, that we won't have it." He +doubtless knew that the political views of that misguided official were +of the wrong colour. A conversation overheard in the crowd at +Enniskillen before the speaking began was a curious example of the habit +so characteristic of Ulster—and indeed of other parts of Ireland +also—of thinking of</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Old, unhappy, far-off things, and battles long ago"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>as if they had occurred last week, and were a factor <a name="Page_110"></a>to be taken into +account in the conduct of to-day. The demonstration was in the open air, +and the sunshine was gleaming on the grass of a hill close at hand. "It +'ud be a quare thing," said a peasant to his neighbour in the crowd, "if +the rebels would come out and hould a meetin' agin us on yon hill." +"What matter if they would," was the reply, "wouldn't we let on that we +won't have it? an' if that wouldn't do them, isn't there hundreds o' +King James's men at the bottom o' the lough, an' there's plenty o' room +yet." It was not spoken in jest, but in grim conviction that the issue +of 1689 was the issue of 1912, and that another Newtown Butler might +have to be fought.</p> + +<p>This series of meetings in preparation for the Covenant brought Carson +much more closely in touch with the Loyalists in outlying districts than +he had been hitherto, and when it was over their wild devotion to him +personally equalled what it was in Belfast itself. The appeal made to +the hearts of men as quick as any living to detect and resent humbug or +boastfulness, by the simplicity, uncompromising directness, and courage +of his character was irresistible. He never spoke better than during +this tour of the Province. The Special Correspondent of <i>The Times</i>, who +sent to his paper vivid descriptive articles on each meeting, said in +his account of the meeting at Coleraine that "Sir Edward Carson was +vigorous, fresh, and picturesque. His command over the feelings of his +Ulster audiences is unquestionable, and never a phrase passes his lips +which does not tell." And when the proceedings of the meeting were over, +the same observer "was at the station to witness the 'send-off' of the +leaders, and for ten minutes before the train for Belfast came in the +tumult of the cheers, the thanks, and the farewells never faltered for +an instant."<a name="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33"><sup>[33]</sup></a> Two days later another English commentator declared +that "The Ulster campaign has been conducted up to the present with a +combination of wisdom, ability, and restraint which has delighted all +the Unionists of the province, and exasperated their Radical and +Nationalist enemies. From its opening at Enniskillen <a name="Page_111"></a>not a speech has +been delivered unworthy of a great movement in defence of civil and +religious liberty."<a name="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34"><sup>[34]</sup></a></p> + +<p>It was characteristic of Sir Edward Carson that neither at these +meetings nor at any time did he use his unmatched power of persuasion to +induce his followers to come forward and sign the Covenant. On the +contrary, he rather warned them only to do so after mature reflection +and with full comprehension of the responsibility which signature would +entail. He told the Unionist Council a few days before the memorable +28th of September: "How often have I thought over this Covenant—how +many hours have I spent, before it was published that we would have one, +in counting the cost that may result! How many times have I thought of +what it may mean to all that we care about up here! Does any man believe +that I lightly took this matter in hand without considering with my +colleagues all that it may mean either in the distant or the not too +distant future? No, it is the gravest matter in all the grave matters in +the various offices I have held that I have ever had to consider." And +he went on to advise the delegates, "responsible men from every district +in Ulster, that it is your duty, when you go back to your various +districts, to warn your people who trust you that, in entering into this +solemn obligation, they are entering into a matter which, whatever may +happen in the future, is the most serious matter that has ever +confronted them in the course of their lives."<a name="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35"><sup>[35]</sup></a></p> + +<p>A political campaign such as that of September 1912 could not be a +success, however spontaneous the enthusiasm of the people, however +effective the oratory, unless the arrangements were based on good +organisation. It was by general consent a triumph of organisation, the +credit for which was very largely due to Mr. Richard Dawson Bates, the +Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council. Sir Edward Carson himself very +wisely paid little attention to detail; happily there was no need for +him to do so, for he had beside him in Captain James Craig and Mr. Bates +two men with real genius for organ<a name="Page_112"></a>isation, and indefatigable in +relieving "the chief" of all unnecessary work and worry. Mr. Bates had +all the threads of a complex network of organisation in his hands; he +kept in close touch with leading Unionists in every district; he always +knew what was going on in out-of-the-way corners, and where to turn for +the right man for any particular piece of work. Anyone whose duty it has +been to manage even a single political demonstration on a large scale +knows what numerous details have to be carefully foreseen and provided +for. In Ulster a succession of both outdoor and indoor demonstrations, +seldom if ever equalled in this country in magnitude and complexity of +arrangement, besides an amazing quantity of other miscellaneous work +inseparable from the conduct of a political movement in which crisis +followed crisis with bewildering rapidity, were managed year after year +from Mr. Bates's office in the Old Town Hall with a quiet, +unostentatious efficiency which only those could appreciate who saw the +machine at work and knew the master mechanic behind it. Of this +efficiency the September demonstrations in 1912 were a conspicuous +illustration.</p> + +<p>Nor did the Loyalist women of Ulster lag an inch behind the men either +in organisation or in zeal for the Unionist cause, and their keenness at +every town visited in this September tour was exuberantly displayed. +Women had not yet been enfranchised, of course, and the Ulster women had +shown but little interest in the suffragette agitation which was raging +at this time in England; but they had organised themselves in defence of +the Union very effectively on parallel lines to the men, and if the +latter had needed any stimulus to their enthusiasm they would certainly +have got it from their mothers, sisters, and wives. The Marchioness of +Londonderry threw herself whole-heartedly into the movement. Having +always ably seconded her husband's many political and social activities, +she made no exception in regard to his devotion to Ulster. Lord +Londonderry, she was fond of saying, was an Ulsterman born and bred, and +she was an Ulsterwoman "by adoption and grace." Her energy was +inexhaustible, and her enthusiasm contagious; she used her influence and +<a name="Page_113"></a>her wonderful social gifts unsparingly in the Unionist cause.</p> + +<p>A meeting of the Ulster Women's Unionist Council, of which the Dowager +Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava, widow of the great diplomat, was +president, was held on the 17th of September, the day before the +demonstration at Enniskillen, when a resolution proposed by Lady +Londonderry declaring the determination of Ulster women to stand by +their men in the policy to be embodied in the Covenant, was carried with +immense enthusiasm and without dissent. No women were so vehement in +their support of the Loyalist cause as the factory workers, who were +very numerous in Belfast. Indeed, their zeal, and their manner of +displaying it, seemed sometimes to illustrate a well-known line of +Kipling's, considered by some to be anything but complimentary to the +female sex. Anyhow, there was no divergence of opinion or sympathy +between the two sexes in Ulster on the question of Union or Home Rule; +and the women who everywhere attended the meetings in large numbers were +no idle sightseers—though they were certainly hero-worshippers of the +Ulster leader—but a genuine political force to be taken into account.</p> + +<p>It was during the September campaign that the "wooden guns" and "dummy +rifles" appeared, which excited so much derision in the English Radical +Press, whose editors little dreamed that the day was not far distant +when Mr. Asquith's Government would be glad enough to borrow those same +dummy rifles for training the new levies of Kitchener's Army to fight +the Germans. So far as the Ulstermen were concerned the ridicule of +their quasi-military display and equipment never had any sting in it. +They were conscious of the strength given to their cause by the +discipline and military organisation of the volunteers, even if the +weapons with which they drilled should never be replaced by the real +thing; and many of them had an instinctive belief that their leaders +would see to it that they were effectively armed all in good time. And +so with grim earnestness they recruited the various battalions of +volunteers, gave up their evenings to drilling, provided <a name="Page_114"></a>cyclist corps, +signalling corps, ambulances and nurses; they were proud to receive +their leader with guards of honour at the station, and bodyguards while +he drove through their town or district to the meetings where he spoke. +Few of them probably ever so much as heard of the gibes of <i>The Irish +News</i>, <i>The Daily News</i>, or <i>The Westminster Gazette</i> at the "royal +progresses" of "King Carson"; but they would have been in no way upset +by them if they had, for they were far too much in earnest themselves to +pay heed to the cheap sneers of others. At each one of the September +meetings there was a military setting to the business of the day. At +Enniskillen Carson was conducted by a cavalry escort to the ground where +he was to address the people; at Coleraine, Portadown, and other places +volunteers lined the route and marched in column to and from the +meeting. They were, it is true, but "half-baked" levies, with more zeal +than knowledge of military duties. But competent critics—and there were +many such amongst the visitors—praised their bearing and physique and +the creditable measure of discipline they had already acquired. And it +must be remembered that in September 1912 the Ulster Volunteer Force was +still in its infancy. In the following two years its improvement in +efficiency was very marked; and within three years of the time when its +battalions paraded before Sir Edward Carson, with dummy rifles, and +marched before him to his meetings in Lisburn, Newtownards, Enniskillen, +and Belfast on the eve of the Covenant, those same men had gloriously +fought against the flower of the Prussian Army, and many of them had +fallen in the battle of the Somme.</p> + +<p>The final meeting in the Ulster Hall on Friday the 27th of September was +an impressive climax to the tour. Many English journalists and other +visitors were present, and some of them admitted that, in spite of all +they had heard of what an Ulster Hall meeting was like, they were +astonished by the soul-stirring fervour they witnessed, and especially +by the wonderful spectacle presented at the overflow meeting in the +street outside, which was packed as far as the eye could reach in either +direction with <a name="Page_115"></a>upturned faces, eager to catch the words addressed to +them from a platform erected for the speakers outside an upper window of +the building.<a name="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36"><sup>[36]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Messages of sympathy and approval at this supreme moment were read from +Mr. Bonar Law and Lord Lansdowne, Mr. Long, Mr. Balfour, and Mr. Austen +Chamberlain. Then, after brief speeches by four local Belfast men, one +of whom was a representative of Labour, and while the audience were +waiting eagerly for the speech of their leader, there occurred what <i>The +Times</i> next day described as "two entirely delightful, and, as far as +the crowd was concerned, two entirely unexpected episodes." The first +was the presentation to Sir Edward Carson of a faded yellow silk banner +by Colonel Wallace, Grand Master of the Belfast Orangemen, who explained +that it was the identical banner that had been carried before King +William III at the battle of the Boyne, and was now lent by its owner, a +lineal descendant of the original standard-bearer, to be carried before +Carson to the signing of the Covenant; the second was the presentation +to the leader of a silver key, symbolic of Ulster as "the key of the +situation," and a silver pen wherewith to sign the Covenant on the +morrow, by Captain James Craig. "The two incidents," continued the +Correspondent of <i>The Times</i>, "were followed by the audience with +breathless excitement, and made a remarkably effective prelude to Sir +Edward Carson's speech. Premeditated, no doubt, that incident of the +banner—yet entirely graceful, entirely fitting to the spirit of the +occasion—a plan carried through with the sense of ceremony which +Ulstermen seem to have always at their command in moments of emotion."</p> + +<p>And if ever there was a "moment of emotion" for the Loyalists of +Ulster—those descendants of the Plantation men who had been +deliberately sent to Ireland with a commission from the first sovereign +of a united Britain to uphold British interests, British honour, and the +Reformed Faith across the narrow sea—Loyalists who were conscious <a name="Page_116"></a>that +throughout the generations they had honestly striven to be faithful to +their mission—if ever in their long and stormy history they experienced +a "moment of emotion," it was assuredly on this evening before the +signing of their Covenant.</p> + +<p>The speeches delivered by their leader and others were merely a vent for +that emotion. There was nothing that could be said about their cause +that they did not know already; but all felt that the heart of the +matter was touched—the whole situation, so far as they were concerned, +summed up in a single sentence of Carson's speech: "We will take +deliberately a step forward, not in defiance but in defence; and the +Covenant which we will most willingly sign to-morrow will be a great +step forward, in no spirit of aggression, in no spirit of ascendancy, +but with a full knowledge that, if necessary, you and I—you trusting +me, and I trusting you—will follow out everything that this Covenant +means to the very end, whatever the consequences." Every man and woman +who heard these words was filled with an exalted sense of the solemnity +of the occasion. The mental atmosphere was not that of a political +meeting, but of a religious service—and, in fact, the proceedings had +been opened by prayer, as had become the invariable custom on such +occasions in Ulster. It was felt to be a time of individual preparation +for the <i>Sacramentum</i> of the following day, which Protestant Ulster had +set apart as a day of self-dedication to a cause for which they were +willing to make any sacrifice.</p><a name="Page_117"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28">[28]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Scotsman</i>, November 2nd, 1911.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29">[29]</a><div class="note"><p> See Sir B. Carson's speech in <i>Belfast Newsletter</i>, +September 24th, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30">[30]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>ante</i>, p. 53.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31">[31]</a><div class="note"><p> See p. 106.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32">[32]</a><div class="note"><p> See p. 248.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33">[33]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Times</i>, September 23rd, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34">[34]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Daily Telegraph</i>, September 25th, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35">[35]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Belfast Newsletter</i>, September 24th, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36">[36]</a><div class="note"><p> The article which appeared on the following Sunday in <i>The +Observer</i>, showed how profoundly a distinguished London editor and +writer had been moved by what he saw in Belfast.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_X"></a><h2>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h4>THE SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT</h4> + +<p>Ulster Day, Saturday the 28th of September, 1912, was kept as a day of +religious observance by the Northern Loyalists. So far as the +Protestants of all denominations were concerned, Ulster was a province +at prayer on that memorable Saturday morning. In Belfast, not only the +services which had more or less of an official character—those held in +the Cathedral, in the Ulster Hall, in the Assembly Hall—but those held +in nearly all the places of worship in the city, were crowded with +reverent worshippers. It was the same throughout the country towns and +rural districts—there was hardly a village or hamlet where the parish +church and the Presbyterian and Methodist meeting-houses were not +attended by congregations of unwonted numbers and fervour. Not that +there was any of the religious excitement such as accompanies revivalist +meetings; it was simply that a population, naturally religious-minded, +turned instinctively to divine worship as the fitting expression of +common emotion at a moment of critical gravity in their history. "One +noteworthy feature," commented upon by one of the English newspaper +correspondents in a despatch telegraphed during the day, "is the silence +of the great shipyards. In these vast industrial establishments on both +sides of the river, 25,000 men were at work yesterday performing their +task at the highest possible pressure, for the order-books of both firms +are full of orders. Now there is not the sound of a hammer; all is as +silent as the grave. The splendid craftsmen who build the largest ships +in the world have donned their Sunday clothes, and, with Unionist +buttons on the lapels of their coats, or Orange sashes on their +shoulders, are about to engage on what to them is an even more important +<a name="Page_118"></a>task." He also noticed that although the streets were crowded there was +no excitement, for "the average Ulsterman performs his religious and +political duties with calm sobriety. He has no time to-day for mirth or +merriment, for every minute is devoted to proving that he is still the +same man—devoted to the Empire, to the King, and Constitution."<a name="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37"><sup>[37]</sup></a></p> + +<p>There is at all times in Ulster far less sectarian enmity between the +Episcopal and other Reformed Churches than in England; on Ulster Day the +complete harmony and co-operation between them was a marked feature of +the observances. At the Cathedral in Belfast the preacher was the Bishop +of Down,<a name="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38"><sup>[38]</sup></a> while a Presbyterian minister representing the Moderator of +the General Assembly, and the President of the Methodist College took +part in the conduct of the service. At the Ulster Hall the same unity +was evidenced by a similar co-operation between clergy of the three +denominations, and also at the Assembly Hall (a Presbyterian place of +worship), where Dr. Montgomery, the Moderator, was assisted by a +clergyman of the Church of Ireland representing the Bishop.</p> + +<p>The service in the Ulster Hall was attended by Sir Edward Carson, the +Lord Mayor of Belfast (Mr. McMordie, M.P.), most of the distinguished +visitors from England, and by those Ulster members whose constituencies +were in or near the city; those representing country seats went thither +to attend local services and to sign the Covenant with their own +constituents.</p> + +<p>One small but significant detail in the day's proceedings was much +noticed as a striking indication of the instinctive realisation by the +crowd of the exceptional character of the occasion. Bedford Street, +where the Ulster Hall is, was densely packed with spectators, but when +the leader arrived, instead of the hurricane of cheers that invariably +greeted his appearance in the streets, there was nothing but a general +uncovering of heads and respectful silence. It is true that the people +abundantly compensated themselves for this moment of self-restraint +later on, until in <a name="Page_119"></a>the evening one wondered how human throats could +survive so many hours of continuous strain; but the contrast only made +the more remarkable that almost startling silence before the religious +service began.</p> + +<p>The "sense of ceremony" which <i>The Times</i> Correspondent on another +occasion had declared to be characteristic of Ulstermen "in moments of +emotion," was certainly displayed conspicuously on Ulster Day. Ceremony +at large public functions is naturally cast in a military +mould—marching men, bands of music, display of flags, guards of honour, +and so forth—and although on this occasion there was, it is true, more +than mere decorative significance in the military frame to the picture, +it was an admirably designed and effective spectacle. It is but a few +hundred yards from the Ulster Hall to the City Hall, where the signing +of the Covenant was to take place. When the religious service ended, +about noon, Sir Edward Carson and his colleagues proceeded from one hall +to the other on foot. The Boyne standard, which had been presented to +the leader the previous evening, was borne before him to the City Hall. +He was escorted by a guard consisting of a hundred men from the Orange +Lodges of Belfast and a like number representing the Unionist clubs of +the city. These clubs had also provided a force of 2,500 men, whose +duty, admirably performed throughout the day, was to protect the gardens +and statuary surrounding the City Hall from injury by the crowd, and to +keep a clear way to the Hall for the endless stream of men entering to +sign the Covenant.</p> + +<p>The City Hall in Belfast is a building of which Ulster is justly proud. +It is, indeed, one of the few modern public buildings in the British +Islands in which the most exacting critic of architecture finds nothing +to condemn. Standing in the central site of the city with ample garden +space in front, its noble proportions and beautiful façade and dome fill +the view from the broad thoroughfare of Donegal Place. The main entrance +hall, leading to a fine marble stairway, is circular in shape, +surrounded by a marble colonnade carrying the dome, to which the hall is +open through the full height of the building. It was in this central +space <a name="Page_120"></a>beneath the dome that a round table covered with the Union Jack +was placed for the signing of the Covenant by the Ulster leaders and the +most prominent of their supporters.</p> + +<p>To those Englishmen who have never been able to grasp the Ulster point +of view, and who have, therefore, persisted in regarding the Ulster +Movement as a phase of party politics in the ordinary sense, it must +appear strange and even improper that the City Hall, the official +quarters of the Corporation, should have been put to the use for which +it was lent on Ulster Day, 1912. The vast majority of the citizens, +whose property it was, thought it could be used for no better purpose +than to witness their signatures to a deed securing to them their +birthright in the British Empire.</p> + +<p>At the entrance to the City Hall Sir Edward Carson was received by the +Lord Mayor and members of the Corporation wearing their robes of office, +and by the Harbour Commissioners, the Water Board, and the Poor Law +Guardians, by whom he was accompanied into the hall. The text of +Ulster's Solemn League and Covenant had been printed on sheets with +places for ten signatures on each; the first sheet lay on the table for +Edward Carson to sign.</p> + +<p>No man but a dullard without a spark of imagination could have witnessed +the scene presented at that moment without experiencing a thrill which +he would have found it difficult to describe. The sunshine, sending a +beam through the stained glass of the great window on the stairway, +threw warm tints of colour on the marbles of the columns and the +tesselated floor of the hall, sparkled on the Lord Mayor's chain, lent a +rich glow to the scarlet gowns of the City Fathers, and lit up the red +and the blue and the white of the Imperial flag which draped the table +and which was the symbol of so much that they revered to those who stood +looking on. They were grouped in a semicircle behind the leader as he +stepped forward to sign his name—men of substance, leaders in the +commercial life of a great industrial city, elderly men many of them, +lovers of peace and order; men of mark who had served <a name="Page_121"></a>the Crown, like +Londonderry and Campbell and Beresford; Doctors of Divinity, guides and +teachers of religion, like the Bishop and the Moderator of the General +Assembly; Privy Councillors; members of the Imperial Parliament; +barristers and solicitors, shopkeepers and merchants,—there they all +stood, silent witnesses of what all felt to be one of the deeds that +make history, assembled to set their hands, each in his turn, to an +Instrument which, for good or evil, would influence the destiny of their +race; while behind them through the open door could be seen a vast +forest of human heads, endless as far as eye could reach, every one of +whom was in eager accord with the work in hand, and whose blended +voices, while they waited to perform their own part in the great +transaction, were carried to the ears of those in the hall like the +inarticulate noise of moving waters.</p> + +<p>When Carson had signed the Covenant he handed the silver pen to +Londonderry, and the latter's name was followed in order by the +signatures of the Moderator of the General Assembly, the Lord Bishop of +Down, Connor, and Dromore (afterwards Primate of All Ireland), the Dean +of Belfast (afterwards Bishop of Down), the General Secretary of the +Presbyterian Church, the President of the Methodist Conference, the +ex-Chairman of the Congregational Union, Viscount Castlereagh, and Mr. +James Chambers, M.P. for South Belfast; and the rest of the company, +including the Right Hon. Thomas Sinclair and the veteran Sir William +Ewart, as well as the members of the Corporation and other public +authorities and boards, having attached their signatures to other +sheets, the general public waiting outside were then admitted.</p> + +<p>The arrangements for signature by the general public had fully taxed the +organising ability of the specially appointed Ulster Day Committee, and +their three hon. secretaries, Mr. Dawson Bates, Mr. McCammon, and Mr. +Frank Hall. They made provision for signatures to be received in many +hundreds of localities throughout Ulster, but it was impossible to +estimate closely the numbers that would require accommodation at the +City Hall. Lines of desks, giving a total desk-space of more than a +third of a <a name="Page_122"></a>mile, were placed along both sides of the corridors on the +upper and lower floors of the building, which enabled 540 persons to +sign the Covenant simultaneously. It all worked wonderfully smoothly, +largely because every individual in the multitude outside was anxious to +help in maintaining orderly procedure, and behaved with the greatest +patience and willingness to follow directions. The people were admitted +to the Hall in batches of 400 or 500 at a time, and as there was no +confusion there was no waste of time. All through the afternoon and up +to 11 p.m., when the Hall was closed, there was an unceasing flow of men +eager to become Covenanters. Immense numbers who belonged to the Orange +Lodges, Unionist clubs, or other organised bodies, marched to the Hall +in procession, and those whose route lay through Royal Avenue had an +opportunity, of which they took the fullest advantage, of cheering +Carson, who watched the memorable scene from the balcony of the Reform +Club, the quondam headquarters of Ulster Liberalism.</p> + +<p>Prominent and influential men in the country districts refrained from +coming to Belfast, preferring to sign the Covenant with their neighbours +in their own localities. The Duke of Abercorn, who had been prevented by +failing health from taking an active part in the movement of late, and +whose life unhappily was drawing to a close, signed the Covenant at +Barons Court; his son, the Marquis of Hamilton, M.P. for Derry, attached +his signature in the Maiden City together with the Bishop; another +prelate, the Bishop of Clogher, signed at Enniskillen with the Grand +Master of the Orangemen, Lord Erne; at Armagh, the Primate of All +Ireland, the Dean, and Sir John Lonsdale, M.P. (afterwards Lord +Armaghdale), headed the list of signatures; the Provost of Trinity +College signed in Dublin; and at Ballymena the veteran Presbyterian +Privy Councillor, Mr. John Young, and his son Mr. William Robert Young, +Hon. Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council, and for thirty years one +of the most zealous and active workers for the Loyalist cause, were the +first to sign. But a more notable Covenanter than any of these local +leaders was Lord Macnaghten, one of the most <a name="Page_123"></a>illustrious of English +Judges, whose great position as Lord of Appeal did not deter him from +wholly identifying himself with his native Ulster, by accepting the full +responsibility of the signatories of the Covenant.</p> + +<p>Ulstermen living in other parts of Ireland, and in Great Britain, were +not forgotten. Arrangements were made enabling such to sign the Covenant +in Dublin, London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, +and York. Two curious details may be added, which no reader who is alive +to the picturesqueness of historical associations will deem too trivial +to be worth recording. In Edinburgh a number of Ulstermen signed the +Covenant in the old Greyfriars' Churchyard on the "Covenanters' Stone," +the well-known memorial of the Scottish Covenant of the seventeenth +century; and the other incident was that, among some twenty men who +signed the Covenant in Belfast with their own blood, Major Crawford was +able to claim that he was following a family tradition, inasmuch as a +lineal ancestor had in the same grim fashion emphasised his adherence to +the Solemn League and Covenant in 1638.</p> + +<p>The most careful precautions were taken to ensure that all who signed +were properly entitled to do so, by requiring evidence to be furnished +of their Ulster birth or domicile, and references able to corroborate +it. The declaration in the Covenant itself that the person signing had +not already done so was in order to make sure that none of the +signatures should be duplicates. When the lists were closed—they were +kept open for some days after Ulster Day—they were very carefully +scrutinised by a competent staff at the Old Town Hall, and it is certain +that the numbers as eventually published included no duplicate signature +and none that was not genuine. Precisely the same care was taken in the +case of the Declaration by which, in words similar to the Covenant but +without its pledge for definite action, the women of Ulster associated +themselves with the men "in their uncompromising opposition to the Home +Rule Bill now before Parliament."</p> + +<p>It was not until the 22nd of November that the scrutiny and verification +of the signatures was completed, and the actual numbers published. They +were as follows: In<a name="Page_124"></a> Ulster itself 218,206 men had registered themselves +as Covenanters, and 228,991 women had signed the Declaration; in the +rest of Ireland and in Great Britain 19,162 men and 5,055 women had +signed. Thus, a grand total of 471,414 Ulster men and women gave their +adherence to the policy of which the Ulster Covenant was the solemn +pledge. To every one of these was given a copy of the document printed +on parchment, to be retained as a memento, and in thousands of cottages +throughout Ulster the framed Covenant hangs to-day in an honoured place, +and is the householder's most treasured possession.</p> + +<p>Although the main business of the day was over, so far as Carson and the +other leaders were concerned, when they had signed the Covenant in the +City Hall at noon, every hour, and every minute in the hour, until they +took their departure in the Liverpool packet in the evening, was full of +incident and excitement. The multitude in the streets leading to the +City Hall was so densely packed that they had great difficulty in making +their way to the Reform Club, where they were to be entertained at +lunch. And, as every man and woman in the crowd was desperately anxious +the moment they saw him to get near enough to Carson to shake him by the +hand, the pressure of the swaying mass of humanity was a positive +danger. Happily the behaviour of the people was as exemplary as it was +tumultuously enthusiastic. <i>The Times</i> Special Correspondent thus summed +up his impressions of the scene:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Belfast did all that a city could do for such an occasion. I do + not well see how its behaviour could have been more impressive. The + tirelessness of the crowd—it was that perhaps which struck me + most; and, secondly, the good conduct of the crowd. Belfast had one + of the lowest of its Saturday records for drunkenness and + disorderliness yesterday. I was in the Reform Club between one and + three o'clock. Again and again I went out on the balcony and + watched the streets. I saw the procession of thousands upon + thousands come down Royal Avenue. But this was not the only line of + march, for all Belfast was now converging upon the City Hall, the + arrangements in which must have been elaborate. It was a procession + a descrip<a name="Page_125"></a>tion of which would have been familiar to the Belfast + public, but the like of which is only seen in Ulster."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The tribute here paid to the conduct of the Belfast crowd was well +merited. But in this respect the day of the Covenant was not so +exceptional as it would have been before the beginning of the Ulster +Movement. Before that period neither Belfast nor any part of Ulster +could have been truthfully described as remarkable for its sobriety. But +by the universal testimony of those qualified to judge in such +matters—police, clergy of all denominations, and workers for social +welfare—the political movement had a sobering and steadying influence +on the people, which became more and more noticeable as the movement +developed, and especially as the volunteers grew in numbers and +discipline. The "man in the street" gained a sense of responsibility +from the feeling that he formed one of a great company whom it was his +wish not to discredit, and he found occupation for mind and body which +diminished the temptations of idle hours.</p> + +<p>From the Reform Club Carson, Londonderry, Beresford, and F.E. Smith went +to the Ulster Club, just across the street, where they dined as the +guests of Lord Mayor McMordie before leaving for Liverpool; and it was +outside that dingy building that the enthusiasm of the people reached a +climax. None who witnessed it can ever forget the scene, which the +English newspaper correspondents required all their superlatives to +describe for London readers next day. Those superlatives need not be +served up again here. One or two bald facts will perhaps give to anyone +possessing any faculty of visualisation as clear an idea as they could +get from any number of dithyrambic pages. The distance from the Ulster +Club to the quay where the Liverpool steamer is berthed is ordinarily +less than a ten minutes' walk. The wagonette in which the Ulster leader +and his friends were drawn by human muscles took three minutes short of +an hour to traverse it. It was estimated that into that short space of +street some 70,000 to 100,000 people had managed to jam themselves. +Movement was almost out of the question, yet everyone <a name="Page_126"></a>within reach +tried to press near enough to grasp hands with the occupants of the +carriage. When at last the shed was reached the people could not bear to +let Carson disappear through the gates. <i>The Times</i> Correspondent heard +them shout, "Don't leave us," "You mustn't leave us," and, he added, "It +was seriously meant; it was only when someone pointed out that Sir +Edward Carson had work to do in England for Ulster, that the crowd +finally gave way and made an opening for their hero."<a name="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39"><sup>[39]</sup></a> There had been +speeches from the balcony of the Reform Club in the afternoon; speeches +from the window of the Ulster Club in the evening; speeches outside the +dock gates; speeches from the deck of the steamer before departure; +speeches by Carson, by Londonderry, by F.E. Smith, by Lord Charles +Beresford—and the purport of one and all of them could be summed up in +the familiar phrase, "We won't have it." But this simple theme, +elaborated through all the modulations of varied oratory, was one of +which the Belfast populace was no more capable of becoming weary than is +the music lover of tiring of a recurrent <i>leitmotif</i> in a Wagner opera.</p> + +<p>At last the ship moved off, and speech was no longer possible. It was +replaced by song, "Rule Britannia"; then, as the space to the shore +widened, "Auld Lang Syne"; and finally, when the figures lining the quay +were growing invisible in the darkness, those on board heard thousands +of Loyalists fervently singing "God save the King."</p> +<a name="Page_127"></a> +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37">[37]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Standard</i>, September 30th, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38">[38]</a><div class="note"><p> Dr. D'Arcy, now (1922) Primate of All Ireland.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39">[39]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Times</i>, September 30th, 1912.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h4>PASSING THE BILL</h4> + +<p>No part of Great Britain displayed a more constant and whole-hearted +sympathy with the attitude of Ulster than the city of Liverpool. There +was much in common between Belfast and the great commercial port on the +Mersey. Both were the home of a robust Protestantism, which perhaps was +reinforced by the presence in both of a quarter where Irish Nationalists +predominated. Just as West Belfast gave a seat in Parliament to the most +forceful of the younger Nationalist generation, Mr. Devlin, the Scotland +Division of Liverpool had for a generation been represented by Mr. T.P. +O'Connor, one of the veteran leaders of the Parnellite period. In each +case the whole of the rest of the city was uncompromisingly +Conservative, and among the members for Liverpool at the time was Mr. +F.E. Smith, unquestionably the most brilliant of the rising generation +of Conservatives, who had already conspicuously identified himself with +the Ulster Movement, and was a close friend as well as a political +adherent of Carson. Among local leaders of opinion in Liverpool Alderman +Salvidge exercised a wide and powerful influence on the Unionist side.</p> + +<p>It was in accordance with the fitness of things, therefore, that +Liverpool should have wished to associate itself in no doubtful manner +with the men who had just subscribed to the Covenant on the other side +of the Channel. Having left Belfast amid the wonderful scenes described +in the last chapter, Carson, Londonderry, F.E. Smith, Beresford, and the +rest of the distinguished visitors awoke next morning—if the rollers of +the Irish Sea permitted sleep—in the oily waters of the Mersey, to find +at the landing-stage a crowd that in dimensions and demeanour seemed to +be a duplicate of the one they had left outside the dock gates <a name="Page_128"></a>at +Belfast. Except that the point round which everything had centred in +Belfast, the signing of the Covenant, was of course missing in +Liverpool, the Unionists of Liverpool were not to be outdone by the +Ulstermen themselves in their demonstration of loyalty to the Union.</p> + +<p>The packet that carried the group of leaders across the Channel happened +to be, appropriately enough, the R.M.S. <i>Patriotic</i>. As she steamed +slowly up the river towards Prince's Landing-stage in the chilly +atmosphere of early morning it was at once evident that more than the +members of the deputation who had arranged to present addresses to +Carson were out to welcome him to Liverpool, and when the workers who +thronged the river bank started singing "O God, our help in ages past," +the sound was strangely familiar in ears fresh from Ulster.</p> + +<p>An address from the Unionist working men of Liverpool and district, +presented by Alderman Salvidge, thanked Carson for his "magnificent +efforts to preserve the integrity of the Empire," and assured him that +they, "Unionist workers of the port which is connected with Belfast in +so many ways, stand by Ulster in this great struggle." Scenes of intense +enthusiasm in the streets culminated in a monster demonstration in Shiel +Park, at which it was estimated that close on 200,000 people were +present. In all the speeches delivered and the resolutions adopted +during this memorable Liverpool visit the same note was sounded, of full +approval of the Covenanters and of determination to support them +whatever might befall.</p> + +<p>The events of the last three months, and especially the signing of the +Covenant, had concentrated on Ulster the attention of the whole United +Kingdom, not to speak of America and the British oversea Dominions. This +was not of unmixed advantage to the cause for which Ulster was making so +determined a stand. There was a tendency more and more to regard the +opposition to Irish Home Rule as an Ulster question, and nothing else. +The Unionist protagonists of the earlier, the Gladstonian, period of the +struggle, men like Salisbury, Randolph Churchill, Devonshire, +Chamberlain, and Goschen, had treated it mainly as an Imperial question, +which it certainly was. In their <a name="Page_129"></a>eyes the Irish Loyalists, of whom the +Ulstermen were the most important merely because they happened to be +geographically concentrated, were valuable allies in a contest vital to +the safety and prosperity of the British Empire; but, although the +particular interests of these Loyalists were recognised as possessing a +powerful claim on British sympathy and support, this was a consideration +quite secondary in comparison with the larger aspects of Imperial policy +raised by the demand for Home Rule. It was an unfortunate result of the +prominence into which Ulster was forced after the introduction of Mr. +Asquith's measure that these larger aspects gradually dropped away, and +the defence of the Union came to be identified almost completely in +England and Scotland with support of the Ulster Loyalists. It was to +this aspect of the case that Mr. Kipling gave prominence in the poem +published on the day of the Balmoral meeting,<a name="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40"><sup>[40]</sup></a> although no one was +less prone than he to magnify a "side-show" in Imperial policy; and it +was the same note that again was sounded on the eve of the Covenant by +another distinguished English poet. The general feeling of bewilderment +and indignation that the only part of Ireland which had consistently +upheld the British connection should now be not only thrown over by the +British Government but denounced for its obstinate refusal to co-operate +in a separatist movement, was finely expressed in Mr. William Watson's +challenging poem, "Ulster's Reward," which appeared in <i>The Times</i> a few +days before the signing of the Covenant in Belfast:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"What is the wage the faithful earn?<br /></span> +<span>What is a recompense fair and meet?<br /></span> +<span>Trample their fealty under your feet—<br /></span> +<span>That, is a fitting and just return.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Flout them, buffet them, over them ride,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Fling them aside!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Ulster is ours to mock and spurn,<br /></span> +<span>Ours to spit upon, ours to deride.<br /></span> +<span>And let it be known and blazoned wide<br /></span> +<span>That this is the wage the faithful earn:<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Did she uphold us when others defied?<br /></span> +<span>Then fling her aside.<br /></span><a name="Page_130"></a> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Where on the Earth was the like of it done<br /></span> +<span>In the gaze of the sun?<br /></span> +<span>She had pleaded and prayed to be counted still<br /></span> +<span>As one of our household through good and ill,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And with scorn they replied;<br /></span> +<span>Jeered at her loyalty, trod on her pride,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Spurned her, repulsed her,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Great-hearted Ulster;<br /></span> +<span>Flung her aside."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Appreciating to the full the sympathy and support which their cause +received from leading men of letters in England, it was not the fault of +the Ulstermen themselves that the larger Imperial aspects of the +question thus dropped into the background. They continually strove to +make Englishmen realise that far more was involved than loyal support of +England's only friends in Ireland; they quoted such pronouncements as +Admiral Mahan's that "it is impossible for a military man, or a +statesman with appreciation of military conditions, to look at a map and +not perceive that if the ambition of the Irish Separatists were +realised, it would be even more threatening to the national life of +Britain than the secession of the South was to that of the American +Republic.... An independent Parliament could not safely be trusted even +to avowed friends"; and they showed over and over again, quoting chapter +and verse from Nationalist utterances, and appealing to acknowledged +facts in recent and contemporary history, that it was not to "avowed +friends," but to avowed enemies, that Mr. Asquith was prepared to +concede an independent Parliament.</p> + +<p>But those were the days before the rude awakening from the dream that +the world was to repose for ever in the soft wrappings of universal +peace. Questions of national defence bored Englishmen. The judgment of +the greatest strategical authority of the age weighed less than one of +Lord Haldane's verbose platitudes, and the urgent warnings of Lord +Roberts less than the impudent snub administered to him by an +Under-Secretary. Speakers on public platforms found that sympathy with +Ulster carried a more potent appeal to their audience than any other +they could make on the Irish question, and they naturally therefore +concentrated attention upon it.<a name="Page_131"></a> Liberals, excited alternately to fury +and to ridicule by the proceedings in Belfast, heaped denunciation on +Carson and the Covenant, thereby impelling their opponents to vehement +defence of both; and the result of all this was that before the end of +1912 the sun of Imperial policy which had drawn the homage of earlier +defenders of the Union was almost totally eclipsed by the moon of +Ulster.</p> + +<p>When Parliament reassembled for the autumn session in October the Prime +Minister immediately moved a "guillotine" resolution for allotting time +for the remaining stages of the Home Rule Bill, and, in resisting this +motion, Mr. Bonar Law made one of the most convincing of his many +convincing speeches against the whole policy of the Bill. It stands for +all time as the complete demonstration of a proposition which he argued +over and over again—that Home Rule had never been submitted to the +British electorate, and that that fact alone was full justification for +Ulster's resolve to resist it. It was impossible for any democratic +Minister to refute the contention that even if the principle of the +Government's policy had been as frankly submitted to the electorate as +it had in fact been carefully withheld, it would still remain true that +the intensity of the Ulster opposition was itself a new factor in the +situation upon Which the people were entitled to be consulted. There was +a limit, said Mr. Bonar Law, to the obligation to submit to legally +constituted authority, and that limit was reached "in a free country +when a body of men, whether they call themselves a Cabinet or not, +propose to make a great change like this for which they have never +received the sanction of the people."</p> + +<p>It was, however, thoroughly understood by every member of the House of +Commons that argument, no matter how irrefutable, had no effect on the +situation, which was governed by the simple fact that the life of the +Ministry depended on the good-will of the Nationalist section of the +Coalition, which rigorously demanded the passage of the Bill in the +current session, and feared nothing so much as the judgment of the +English people upon it. Consequently, under the guillotine, great blocks +of the Bill, containing the most far-reaching constitutional issues, +<a name="Page_132"></a>and matters vital to the political and economic structure of the centre +of the British Empire, were passed through the House of Commons by the +ringing of the division bells without a word of discussion, exactly as +they had come from the pen of the official draftsman, and destined under +the exigencies of the Parliament Act procedure to be forced through the +Legislature in the same raw condition in the two following sessions.</p> + +<p>This last-mentioned fact suggested a consideration which weighed heavily +on the minds of the Ulster leaders as the year 1912 drew to a close, and +with it the debates on the Bill in Committee. Had the time come when +they ought to put forward in Parliament an alternative policy to the +absolute rejection of the Bill? They had not yet completely abandoned +hope that Ministers, however reluctantly, might still find it impossible +to stave off an appeal to the country; but the opposite hypothesis was +the more probable. If the Bill became law in its present form they would +have to fall back on the policy disclosed at Craigavon and embodied in +the Covenant. But, although it is true that they had supported Mr. +Agar-Robartes's amendment to exclude certain Ulster counties from the +jurisdiction to be set up in Dublin, the Ulster representatives were +reluctant to make proposals of their own which might be misrepresented +as a desire to compromise their hostility to the principle of Home Rule. +Under the Parliament Act procedure, however, they realised that no +material change would be allowed to be made in the Bill after it first +left the House of Commons, although two years would have to elapse +before it could reach the Statute-book; if they were to propound any +alternative to "No Home Rule" it was, therefore, a case of now or never.</p> + +<p>Having regard to the extreme gravity of the course to be followed in +Ulster in the event of the measure passing into law, it was decided that +the most honest and straightforward thing to do was to put forward at +the juncture now reached a policy for dealing with Ulster separately +from the rest of Ireland. But in fulfilment of the promise, from which +he never deviated, to take no important step <a name="Page_133"></a>without first consulting +his supporters in Ulster, Carson went over to attend a meeting of the +Standing Committee in Belfast on the 13th of December, where he +explained fully the reasons why this policy was recommended by himself +and all his parliamentary colleagues. It was not accepted by the +Standing Committee without considerable discussion, but in the end the +decision was unanimous, and the resolution adopting it laid it down that +"in taking this course the Standing Committee firmly believes the +interests of Unionists in the three other provinces of Ireland will be +best conserved." In order to emphasise that the course resolved upon +implied no compromise of their opposition to the Bill as a whole, Sir +Edward Carson wrote a letter to the Prime Minister during the Christmas +recess, which was published in the Press, and which made this point +clear; and he pressed it home in the House of Commons on the 1st of +January, 1913, when he moved to exclude "the Province of Ulster" from +the operation of the Bill in a speech of wonderfully persuasive +eloquence which deeply impressed the House, and which was truly +described by Mr. Asquith as "very powerful and moving," and by Mr. +Redmond as "serious and solemn."</p> + +<p>Carson's proposal was altogether different from what was subsequently +enacted in 1920. It was consistent with the uninterrupted demand of +Ulster to be let alone, it asked for no special privilege, except the +privilege, which was also claimed as an inalienable right, to remain a +part of the United Kingdom with full representation at Westminster and +nowhere else; it required the creation of no fresh subordinate +constitution raising the difficult question as to the precise area which +its jurisdiction could effectively administer.</p> + +<p>Carson's amendment was, of course, rejected by the Government's +invariably docile majority, and on the 16th of January the Home Rule +Bill passed the third reading in the House of Commons, without the +smallest concession having been made to the Ulster opposition, or the +slightest indication as to how the Government intended to meet the +opposition of a different character which was being organised in the +North of Ireland.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_134"></a>When the Bill went to the Upper House at the end of January the whole +subject was threshed out in a series of exceedingly able speeches; but +the impotence of the Second Chamber under the Parliament Act gave an air +of pathetic unreality to the proceedings, which was neatly epitomised by +Lord Londonderry in the sentence: "The position is, that while the House +of Commons can vote but not speak, the Lords can speak but not vote." +Nevertheless, such speeches as those of the Archbishop of York, Earl +Grey, the Duke of Devonshire, and Lord Londonderry, were not without +effect on opinion outside. Earl Grey, an admitted authority on federal +constitutions, urged that if, as the Government were continually +assuring the country, Home Rule was the first step in the federalisation +of the United Kingdom, there was every reason why Ulster should be a +distinct unit in the federal system. The Archbishop dealt more fully +with the Ulster question. Admitting that he had formerly believed "that +this attitude of Ulster was something of a scarecrow made up out of old +and outworn prejudices," he had now to acknowledge that the men of +Ulster were "of all men the least likely to be 'drugged with the wine of +words,' and were men who of all other men mean and do what they say." +Behind all the glowing eloquence of Mr. Asquith and Mr. Redmond, he +discerned "this figure of Ulster, grim, determined, menacing, which no +eloquence can exorcise and no live statesmanship can ignore." If the +result of this legislation should be actual bloodshed, then, on +whomsoever might rest the responsibility for it, it would mean the +shattering of all the hopes of a united and contented Ireland which it +was the aim of the Bill to create. If Ulster made good her threat of +forcible resistance there was, said the Archbishop, one condition, and +one condition only, on which her coercion could be justified, and that +was that the Government "should have received from the people of this +country an authority clear and explicit" to carry it out.</p> + +<p>But among the numerous striking passages in the debate which occupied +the Peers for four days, none was more telling than Lord Curzon's +picturesque description of how<a name="Page_135"></a> Ulster was to be treated. "You are +compelling Ulster," he said, "to divorce her present husband, to whom +she is not unfaithful, and you compel her to marry someone else whom she +cordially dislikes, with whom she does not want to live; and you do it +because she happens to be rich, and because her new partner has a large +and ravenous offspring to provide for. You are asking rather too much of +human nature."</p> + +<p>That the Home Rule Bill would be rejected on second reading by the Lords +was a foregone conclusion, and it was so rejected by a majority of 257 +on the 31st of January, 1913. The Bill then entered into its period of +gestation under the Parliament Act. The session did not come to an end +until the 7th of March, and the new session began three days afterwards. +It is unnecessary to follow the fortunes of the Bill in Parliament in +1913, for the process was purely mechanical, in order to satisfy the +requirements of the Parliament Act. The preparations for dealing with +the mischief it would work went forward with unflagging energy +elsewhere.</p><a name="Page_136"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40">[40]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>ante</i>, p. 79.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h4>WAS RESISTANCE JUSTIFIABLE?</h4> + + +<p>A story is told of Queen Victoria that in her youthful days, when +studying constitutional history, she once asked Lord Melbourne whether +under any circumstances citizens were justified in resisting legal +authority; to which the old courtier replied: "When asked that question +by a Sovereign of the House of Hanover I feel bound to answer in the +affirmative." If one can imagine a similar question being asked of an +Ulsterman by Mr. Asquith, Mr. Lloyd George, or Sir Edward Grey, in 1912, +the reply would surely have been that such a question asked by a +statesman claiming to be a guardian of Liberal principles and of the +Whig tradition could only be answered in the affirmative. This, at all +events, was the view of the late Duke of Devonshire, who more than any +other statesman of our time could claim to be a representative in his +own person of the Whig tradition handed down from 1688.<a name="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41"><sup>[41]</sup></a> Passive +obedience has, indeed, been preached as a political dogma in the course +of English history, but never by apostles of Liberalism. Forcible +resistance to legally constituted authority, even when it involved +repudiation of existing allegiance, has often, both in our own and in +foreign countries, won the approval and sympathy of English Liberals. A +long line of illustrious names, from Cromwell and Lord Halifax in +England to Kossuth and Mazzini on the Continent, might be quoted in +support of such a proposition if anyone were likely to challenge it.</p> + +<p>When, then, Liberals professed to be unutterably shocked by Ulster's +declared intention to resist Home Rule both actively and passively, they +could not have based their attitude on the principle that under no +circumstances <a name="Page_137"></a>could such resistance be morally justified. Indeed, in +the case in question, there were circumstances that would have made the +condemnation of Ulster by the English Liberal Party not a little +hypocritical if referred to any general ethical principle. For that +party had itself been for a generation in the closest political alliance +with Irishmen whose leader had boasted that they were as much rebels as +their fathers were in 1798, and whose power in Ireland had been built up +by long-sustained and systematic defiance of the law. Yet the same +politicians who had excused, if they had not applauded, the "Plan of +Campaign," and the organised boycotting and cattle-driving which had for +years characterised the agitation for Home Rule, were unspeakably +shocked when Ulster formed a disciplined Volunteer force which never +committed an outrage, and prepared to set up a Provisional Government +rather than be ruled by an assembly of cattle-drivers in Dublin. +Moreover, many of Mr. Asquith's supporters, and one at least of his most +distinguished colleagues in the Cabinet of 1912, had themselves +organised resistance to an Education Act which they disliked but had +been unable to defeat in Parliament.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, it must, of course, be freely admitted that the question +as to what conditions justify resistance to the legal authority in the +State—or rebellion, if the more blunt expression be preferred—is an +exceedingly difficult one to answer. It would sound cynical to say, +though Carlyle hardly shrinks from maintaining, that success, and +success alone, redeems rebellion from wickedness and folly. Yet it would +be difficult to explain on any other principle why posterity has +applauded the Parliamentarians of 1643 and the Whigs of 1688, while +condemning Monmouth and Charles Edward; or why Mr. Gladstone sympathised +with Jefferson Davis when he looked like winning and withdrew that +sympathy when he had lost. But if success is not the test, what is? Is +it the aim of the men who resist? The aim that appears honourable and +heroic to one onlooker appears quite the opposite to another, and so the +test resolves itself into a matter of personal partisanship.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_138"></a>That is probably as near as one can get to a solution of the question. +Those who happen to agree with the purpose for which a rebellion takes +place think the rebels in the right; those who disagree think them in +the wrong. As Mr. Winston Churchill succinctly puts it when commenting +on the strictures passed on his father for "inciting" Ulster to resist +Home Rule, "Constitutional authorities will measure their censures +according to their political opinions." He reminds us, moreover, that +when Lord Randolph was denounced as a "rebel in the skin of a Tory," the +latter "was able to cite the authority of Lord Althorp, Sir Robert Peel, +Mr. Morley, and the Prime Minister (Gladstone) himself, in support of +the contention that circumstances might justify morally, if not +technically, violent resistance and even civil war."<a name="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42"><sup>[42]</sup></a></p> + +<p>To this distinguished catalogue of authorities an Ulster apologist might +have added the name of the Chief Secretary for Ireland in Mr. Asquith's +own Cabinet, who admitted in 1912 that "if the religion of the +Protestants were oppressed or their property despoiled they would be +right to fight<a name="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43"><sup>[43]</sup></a>;" which meant that Mr. Birrell did not condemn +fighting in itself, provided he were allowed to decide when the occasion +for it had arisen. Greater authorities than Mr. Birrell held that the +Ulster case for resistance was a good and valid one as it stood. No +English statesman of the last half-century has deservedly enjoyed a +higher reputation for political probity, combined with sound common +sense, than the eighth Duke of Devonshire. As long ago as 1893, when +this same issue had already been raised in circumstances much less +favourable to Ulster than after the passing of the Parliament Act in +1911, the Duke of Devonshire said:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The people of Ulster believe, rightly or wrongly, that under a + Government responsible to an Imperial Parliament they possess at + present the fullest security which they can possess of their + personal freedom, their liberties, and their right to transact + their own business in their own way. You have no right to offer + them any inferior security to <a name="Page_139"></a>that; and if, after weighing the + character of the Government which it is sought to impose upon them, + they resolve that they are no longer bound to obey a law which does + not give them equal and just protection with their fellow subjects, + who can say—how at all events can the descendants of those who + resisted King James II say, that they have not a right, if they + think fit, to resist, if they think they have the power, the + imposition of a Government put upon them by force?"<a name="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44"><sup>[44]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>All the same, there never was a community on the face of the earth to +whom "rebellion" in any real sense of the word was more hateful than to +the people of Ulster. They traditionally were the champions of "law and +order" in Ireland; they prided themselves above all things on their +"loyalty" to their King and to the British flag. And they never +entertained the idea that the movement which they started at Craigavon +in 1911, and to which they solemnly pledged themselves by their Covenant +in the following year, was in the slightest degree a departure from +their cherished "loyalty"—on the contrary, it was an emphatic assertion +of it. They held firmly, as Mr. Bonar Law and the whole Unionist party +in Great Britain held also, that Mr. Asquith and his Government were +forcing Home Rule upon them by unconstitutional methods. They did not +believe that loyalty in the best sense—loyalty to the Sovereign, to the +Empire, to the majesty of the law—required of them passive obedience to +an Act of Parliament placed by such means on the Statute-book, which +they were convinced, moreover, was wholly repugnant to the great +majority of the British people.</p> + +<p>This aspect of the matter was admirably and soberly presented by <i>The +Times</i> in one of the many weighty articles in which that great journal +gave undeviating support to the Ulster cause.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"A free community cannot justly, or even constitutionally, be + deprived of its privileges or its position in the realm by any + measure that is not stamped with the considered and unquestionable + approval of the great body of electors of the United Kingdom. Any + attempt so to <a name="Page_140"></a>deprive them is a fraud upon their fundamental + rights, which they are justified in resisting, as an act of + violence, by any means in their power. This is elementary doctrine, + borne out by the whole course of English history."<a name="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45"><sup>[45]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>That the position was paradoxical calls for no denial; but the pith of +the paradox lay in the fact that a movement denounced as "rebellious" by +its political opponents was warmly supported not only by large masses, +probably by the majority, of the people of this country, but by numbers +of individuals of the highest character, occupying stations of great +responsibility. Whatever may be thought of men engaged in actual +political conflict, whom some people appear to think capable of any +wickedness, no one can seriously suggest that men like Lord Macnaghten, +like the late and present Primates of Ireland, like the late Provost of +Trinity, like many other sober thinkers who supported Ulster, were men +who would lightly lend themselves to "rebellion," or any other wild and +irresponsible adventure. As <i>The Times</i> very truly observed in a leading +article in 1912:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"We remember no precedent in our domestic history since the + Revolution of 1688 for a movement among citizens, law-abiding by + temperament and habit, which resembles the present movement of the + Ulster Protestants. It is no rabble who have undertaken it. It is + the work of orderly, prosperous, and deeply religious men."<a name="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46"><sup>[46]</sup></a></p></blockquote> +<br /> + +<p>Nor did the paradox end there. If the Ulster Movement was "rebellious," +its purpose was as paradoxical as its circumstances. It had in it no +subversive element. In this respect it stands (so far as the writer's +knowledge goes) without precedent, a solitary instance in the history of +mankind. The world has witnessed rebellions without number, designed to +bring about many different results—to emancipate a people from +oppression, to upset an obnoxious form of Government, to expel or to +restore a rival dynasty, to transfer allegiance from one Sovereign <a name="Page_141"></a>or +one State to another. But has there ever been a "rebellion" the object +of which was to maintain the <i>status quo</i>? Yet that was the sole purpose +of the Ulstermen in all they did from 1911 to 1914. That fact, which +distinguished their movement from every rebellion or revolution in +history, placed them on a far more solid ground of reasonable +justification than the excuse offered by Mr. Churchill for their +bellicose attitude in his father's day. Although he is no doubt right in +saying that "When men are sufficiently in earnest they will back their +words with more than votes," it is a plea that would cover alike the +conduct of Halifax and the other Whigs who resisted the legal authority +of James II, of the Jacobites who fought for his grandson, and of the +contrivers of many another bloody or bloodless Revolution. But there was +nothing revolutionary in the Ulster Movement. It was resistance to the +transfer of a people's allegiance without their consent; to their +forcible expulsion from a Constitution with which they were content and +their forcible inclusion in a Constitution which they detested. This was +the very antithesis of Revolution. English Radical writers and +politicians might argue that no "transfer of allegiance" was +contemplated; but Ulstermen thought they knew better, and the later +development of the Irish question proved how right they were. Even had +they been proved wrong instead of right in their conviction that the +true aim of Irish Nationalism (a term in which Sinn Fein is included) +was essentially separatist, they knew better than Englishmen how little +reality there was in the theory that under the proposed Home Rule their +allegiance would be unaffected and their political <i>status</i> suffer no +degradation. They claimed to occupy a position similar to that of the +North in the American Civil War—with this difference, which, so far as +it went, told in their favour, that whereas Lincoln took up arms to +resist secession, they were prepared to do so to resist expulsion, the +purpose in both cases, however, being to preserve union. The practical +view of the question, as it would appear in the eyes of ordinary men, +was well expressed by Lord Curzon in the House of Lords, when he said:</p><a name="Page_142"></a> + +<blockquote><p>"The people of this country will be very loth to condemn those + whose only disloyalty it will be to have been excessive in their + loyalty to the King. Do not suppose that the people of this country + will call those 'rebels' whose only form of rebellion is to insist + on remaining under the Imperial Parliament."<a name="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47"><sup>[47]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>Of course, men like Sir Edward Carson, Lord Londonderry, Mr. Thomas +Sinclair, and other Ulster leaders were too far-seeing not to realise +that the course they were taking would expose them to the accusation of +having set a bad example which others without the same grounds of +justification might follow in very different circumstances. But this was +a risk they had to shoulder, as have all who are not prepared to +subscribe to the dogma of Passive Obedience without limit. They accepted +it as the less of two evils. But there was something humorous in the +pretence put forward in 1916 and afterwards that the violence to which +the adherents of Sinn Fein had recourse was merely copying Ulster. As if +Irish Nationalism in its extreme form required precedent for +insurrection! Even the leader of "Constitutional Nationalism" himself +had traced his political pedigree to convicted rebels like Tone and +Emmet, and since the date of those heroes there had been at least two +armed risings in Ireland against the British Crown and Government. If +the taunt flung at Ulstermen had been that they had at last thrown +overboard law and order and had stolen the Nationalist policy of active +resistance, there would at least have been superficial plausibility in +it. But when it was suggested or implied that the Ulster example was +actually responsible in any degree whatever for violent outbreaks in the +other provinces, a supercilious smile was the only possible retort from +the lips of representatives of Ulster.</p> + +<p>But what caused them some perplexity was the disposition manifested in +certain quarters in England to look upon the two parties in Ireland in +regard to "rebellion" as "six of one and half a dozen of the other." It +has always, unhappily, been characteristic of a certain type of +Englishman to see no difference between the friends and <a name="Page_143"></a>the enemies of +his country, and, if he has a preference at all, to give it to the +latter. Apart from all other circumstances which in the eyes of +Ulstermen justified them up to the hilt in the policy they pursued, +apart from everything that distinguished them historically and morally +from Irish "rebels," there was the patent and all-important fact that +the motive of their opponents was hostility to England, whereas their +own motive was friendliness and loyalty to England. In that respect they +never wavered. If the course of events had ever led to the employment of +British troops to crush the resistance of Ulster to Home Rule, the +extraordinary spectacle would have been presented to the wondering world +of the King's soldiers shooting down men marching under the British flag +and singing "God save the King."</p> + +<p>It was no doubt because this was very generally understood in England +that the sympathies of large masses of law-loving people were never for +a moment alienated from the men of Ulster by all the striving of their +enemies to brand them as rebels. Constitutional authorities may, as Mr. +Churchill says, "measure their censures according to their political +opinions," but the generality of men, who are not constitutional +authorities, whose political opinions, if they have any, are +fluctuating, and who care little for "juridical niceties," will measure +their censures according to their instinctive sympathies. And the sound +instinct of Englishmen forbade them to blame men who, if rebels in law, +were their firm friends in fact, for taking exceptional and even illegal +measures, when all others failed, to preserve the full unity which they +regarded as the fruit of that friendship.</p><a name="Page_144"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41">[41]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>Life of the Eighth Duke of Devonshire,</i> by Bernard +Holland, ii, pp. 249-51.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42">[42]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Life of Lord Randolph Churchill</i>, vol. ii, p. 65.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43">[43]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1912, p. 82.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44">[44]</a><div class="note"><p> Bernard Holland's <i>Life of the Eighth Duke of Devonshire</i>, +ii, 250.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45">[45]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Times</i>, July 14th, 1913.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46">[46]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., August 22nd, 1912.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47">[47]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Parliamentary Debates</i> (House of Lords), July 15th, +1913.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h4>PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT AND PROPAGANDA</h4> + + +<p>By the death of the Duke of Abercorn on the 3rd of January, 1913, the +Ulster Loyalists lost a leader who had for many years occupied a very +special place in their affection and confidence. Owing to failing health +he had been unable to take an active part in the exciting events of the +past two years, but the messages of encouragement and support which were +read from him at Craigavon, Balmoral, and other meetings for organising +resistance, were always received with an enthusiasm which showed, and +was intended to show, that the great part he had played in former years, +and especially his inspiring leadership as Chairman of the Ulster +Convention in 1893, had never been forgotten.</p> + +<p>His death inflicted also, indirectly, another blow which at this +particular moment was galling to loyalists out of all proportion to its +intrinsic importance. The removal to the House of Lords of the Marquis +of Hamilton, the member for Derry city, created a vacancy which was +filled at the ensuing by-election by a Liberal Home Ruler. To lose a +seat anywhere in the north-eastern counties at such a critical time in +the movement was bad enough, but the unfading halo of the historic siege +rested on Derry as on a sanctuary of Protestantism and loyalty, so that +the capture of the "Maiden City" by the enemy wounded loyalist sentiment +far more deeply than the loss of any other constituency. The two parties +had been for some time very nearly evenly balanced there, and every +electioneering art and device, including that of bringing to the poll +voters who had long rested in the cemetery, was practised in Derry with +unfailing zeal and zest by party managers. For some time past trade, +especially ship-building, had been in a state of depression in Derry, +with <a name="Page_145"></a>the result that a good many of the better class of artisans, who +were uniformly Unionist, had gone to Belfast and elsewhere to find work, +leaving the political fortunes of the city at the mercy of the casual +labourer who drifted in from the wilds of Donegal, and who at this +election managed to place the Home Rule candidate in a majority of +fifty-seven.</p> + +<p>It was a matter of course that the late Duke's place as President of the +Ulster Unionist Council should be taken by Lord Londonderry, and it +happened that the annual meeting at which he was formally elected was +held on the same day that witnessed the rejection of the Home Rule Bill +by the House of Lords.</p> + +<p>It was also at this annual meeting (31st January, 1913) that the special +Commission who had been charged to prepare a scheme for the Provisional +Government, presented their draft Report. The work had been done with +great thoroughness and was adopted without substantial alteration by the +Council, but was not made public for several months. The Council itself +was, in the event of the Provisional Government being set up, to +constitute a "Central Authority," and provision was made, with complete +elaboration of detail, for carrying on all the necessary departments of +administration by different Committees and Boards, whose respective +functions were clearly defined. Among those who consented to serve in +these departmental Committees, in addition to the recognised local +leaders in the Ulster Movement, were Dr. Crozier, Archbishop of Armagh, +the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in +Ireland, Lord Charles Beresford, Major-General Montgomery, Colonel +Thomas Hickman, M.P., Lord Claud Hamilton, M.P., Sir Robert Kennedy, +K.C.M.G., and Sir Charles Macnaghten, K.C., son of Lord Macnaghten, the +distinguished Lord of Appeal. Ulster at this time gave a lead on the +question of admitting women to political power, at a time when their +claim to enfranchisement was being strenuously resisted in England, by +including several women in the Provisional Government.</p> + +<p>A most carefully drawn scheme for a separate judiciary <a name="Page_146"></a>in Ulster had +been prepared with the assistance of some of the ablest lawyers in +Ireland. It was in three parts, dealing respectively with (a) the +Supreme Court, (b) the Land Commission, and (c) County Courts; it was +drawn up as an Ordinance, in the usual form of a Parliamentary Bill, and +it is an indication of the spirit in which Ulster was preparing to +resist an Act of Parliament that the Ordinance bore the introductory +heading: "<i>It is Hereby Enacted by the Central Authority in the name of +the King's Most Excellent Majesty that</i>———" Similarly, the form of +"Oath or Declaration of Adherence" to be taken by Judges, Magistrates, +Coroners, and other officers of the Courts, set out in a Schedule to the +Ordinance, was: "I ... of ... being about to serve in the Courts of the +Provisional Government as the Central Authority for His Majesty the +King, etc."</p> + +<p>It will be remembered that the original resolution by which the Council +decided to set up a Provisional Government limited its duration until +Ulster should "again resume unimpaired her citizenship in the United +Kingdom,"<a name="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48"><sup>[48]</sup></a> and at a later date it was explicitly stated that it was +to act as trustee for the Imperial Parliament. All the forms prepared +for use while it remained in being purported to be issued in the name of +the King. And the Resolution adopted by the Unionist Council immediately +after constituting itself the Central Authority of the Provisional +Government, in which the reasons for that policy were recorded, +concluded with the statement that "we, for our part, in the course we +have determined to pursue, are inspired not alone by regard to the true +welfare of our own country, but by devotion to the interests of our +world-wide Empire and loyalty to our beloved King." If this was the +language of rebels, it struck a note that can never before have been +heard in a chorus of disaffection.</p> + +<p>The demonstrations against the Government's policy which had been held +during the last eighteen months, of which some account has been given, +were so impressive that those which followed were inevitably less +remarkable <a name="Page_147"></a>by comparison. They were, too, necessarily to a large +extent, repetitions of what had gone before. There might be, and there +were, plenty of variations on the old theme, but there was no new theme +to introduce. Propaganda to the extent possible with the resources at +the disposal of the Ulster Unionist Council was carried on in the +British constituencies in 1913, the cost being defrayed chiefly through +generous subscriptions collected by the energy and influence of Mr. +Walter Long; but many were beginning to share the opinion of Mr. Charles +Craig, M.P., who scandalised the Radicals by saying at Antrim in March +that, while it was incumbent on Ulstermen to do their best to educate +the electorate, "he believed that, as an argument, ten thousand pounds +spent on rifles would be a thousand times stronger than the same amount +spent on meetings, speeches, and pamphlets."</p> + +<p>On the 27th of March a letter appeared in the London newspapers +announcing the formation of a "British League for the support of Ulster +and the Union," with an office in London. It was signed by a hundred +Peers and 120 Unionist Members of the House of Commons. The manifesto +emphasised the Imperial aspect of the great struggle that was going on, +asserting that it was "quite clear that the men of Ulster are not +fighting only for their own liberties. Ulster will be the field on which +the privileges of the whole nation will be lost or won." A small +executive Committee was appointed, with the Duke of Bedford as Chairman, +and within a few weeks large numbers of people in all parts of the +country joined the new organisation. A conference attended by upwards of +150 honorary agents from all parts of the country was held at +Londonderry House on the 4th of June, where the work of the League was +discussed, and its future policy arranged. Its operations were not +ostentatious, but they were far from being negligible, especially in +connection with later developments of the movement in the following +year. This proof of British support was most encouraging to the people +of Ulster, and the Dublin correspondent of <i>The Times</i> reported that it +gave no less satisfaction to loyalists in other parts of Ireland, among +whom, as the position <a name="Page_148"></a>became more desperate every day, there was "not +the least sign of giving way, of accepting the inevitable."</p> + +<p>Every month that passed in uncertainty as to what fate was reserved for +Ulster, and especially every visit of the leader to Belfast, endeared +him more intensely to his followers, who had long since learnt to give +him their unquestioning trust; and his bereavement by the death of his +wife in April 1913 brought him the profound and affectionate sympathy of +a warm-hearted people, which manifested itself in most moving fashion at +a great meeting a month later on the 16th of May, when, at the opening +of a new drill hall in the most industrial district of Belfast, Sir +Edward exclaimed, in response to a tumultuous reception, "Heaven knows, +my one affection left me is my love of Ireland."</p> + +<p>He took occasion at the same meeting to impress upon his followers the +spirit by which all their actions should be guided, and which always +guided his own. With a significant reference to the purposes for which +the new drill hall might be used, he added, "Always remember—this is +essential—always remember you have no quarrel with individuals. We +welcome and we love every individual Irishman, even though he may be +opposed to us. Our quarrel is with the Government." When the feelings of +masses of men are deeply stirred in political conflict such exhortations +are never superfluous; and there never was a leader who could give them +with better grace than Sir Edward Carson, who himself combined to an +extraordinary degree strength of conviction with entire freedom from +bitterness towards individual opponents.<a name="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49"><sup>[49]</sup></a></p> + +<p>In this same speech he showed that there was no slackening of +determination to pursue to the end the policy of the Covenant. There had +been rumours that the Government were making secret inquiries with a +view to taking legal proceedings, and in allusion to them Carson moved +his audience to one of the most wonderful demonstrations of personal +devotion that even he ever evoked, by saying: "If they want to test the +legality of anything we are<a name="Page_149"></a> doing, let them not attack humble men—I am +responsible for everything, and they know where to find me."</p> + +<p>The Bill was running its course for the second time through Parliament, +a course that was now farcically perfunctory, and Carson returned to +London to repeat in the House of Commons on the 10th of June his defiant +acceptance of responsibility for the Ulster preparations. He was back in +Belfast for the 12th of July celebrations, when 150,000 Orangemen +assembled at Craigavon to hear another speech from their leader full of +confident challenge, and to receive another message of encouragement +from Mr. Bonar Law, who assured them that "whatever steps they might +feel compelled to take, whether they were constitutional, or whether in +the long run they were unconstitutional, they had the whole of the +Unionist Party under his leadership behind them."</p> + +<p>The leader of the Unionist Party had good reason to know that his +message to Ulster was endorsed by his followers. That had been +demonstrated beyond all possibility of doubt during the preceding month. +The Ulster Unionist Members of the House of Commons, with Carson at +their head, had during June made a tour of some of the principal towns +of Scotland and the North of England, receiving a resounding welcome +wherever they went. The usual custom of political meetings, where one or +two prominent speakers have the platform to themselves, was departed +from; the whole parliamentary contingent kept together throughout the +tour as a deputation from Ulster to the constituencies visited, taking +in turn the duty of supporting Carson, who was everywhere the principal +speaker.</p> + +<p>There were wonderful demonstrations at Glasgow and Edinburgh, both in +the streets and the principal halls, proving, as was aptly said by <i>The +Yorkshire Post</i>, that "the cry of the new Covenanters is not unheeded by +the descendants of the old"; and thence they went south, drawing great +cheering crowds to welcome them and to present encouraging addresses at +the railway stations at Berwick, Newcastle, Darlington, and York, to +Leeds, where the two largest buildings in the city were packed to +over<a name="Page_150"></a>flowing with Yorkshiremen eager to see and hear the Ulster leader, +and to show their sympathy with the loyalist cause. Similar scenes were +witnessed at Norwich and Bristol, and the tour left no doubt in the +minds of those who followed it, and who studied the comments of the +Press upon it, that not only was the whole Unionist Party in Great +Britain solidly behind the Ulstermen in their resolve to resist being +subjected to a Parliament in Dublin, but that the general drift of +opinion detached from party was increasingly on the same side.</p><a name="Page_151"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48">[48]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>ante</i>, p. 53.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49">[49]</a><div class="note"><p> But he could be moved to stern indignation by the +treachery of former friends, as he showed in December 1921.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIV"></a><h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h4>LORD LOREBURN'S LETTER</h4> + + +<p>Whatever might be the state of public opinion in England, it was +realised that the Government, if they chose, were in a position to +disregard it; and in Ulster the tension was becoming almost unbearable. +The leaders were apprehensive lest outbreaks of violence should occur, +which they knew would gravely prejudice the movement; and there is no +doubt that it was only the discipline which the rank and file had now +gained, and the extraordinary restraining influence which Carson +exercised, that prevented serious rioting in many places. Incidents like +the attack by Nationalist roughs in Belfast on a carriage conveying +crippled children to a holiday outing on the 31st of May because it was +decorated with Union Jacks might at any moment lead to trouble. There +was some disorder in Belfast in the early hours of the 12th of July; and +an outbreak occurred in August in Derry, always a storm centre, when a +procession was attacked, and a Protestant was shot while watching it +from his own upper window. The incident started rioting, which continued +for several days, and a battalion of troops had to be called in to +restore order.</p> + +<p>Meantime, throughout the summer, while the Government were complacently +carrying their Bill through Parliament for the second time, the Press +was packed with suggestions for averting the crisis which everybody +except the Cabinet recognised as impending.</p> + +<p>It began to be whispered in the clubs and lobbies that the King might +exercise the prerogative of veto, and even men like Lord St. Aldwyn and +the veteran Earl of Halsbury, both of them ex-Cabinet Ministers, +encouraged the idea; but there was no widespread acceptance of the +notion that <a name="Page_152"></a>even in so exceptional a case His Majesty would reject the +advice of his responsible Ministers. But in a letter to <i>The Times</i> on +the 4th of September, Mr. George Cave, K.C., M.P. (afterwards Home +Secretary, and ultimately Lord of Appeal), suggested that the King might +"exercise his undoubted right" to dissolve Parliament before the +beginning of the next session, in order to inform himself as to whether +the policy of his Ministers was endorsed by the people.</p> + +<p>But a much greater sensation was created a few days later by a letter +which appeared in <i>The Times</i> on the 11th of the same month over the +signature of Lord Loreburn. Lord Loreburn had been Lord Chancellor at +the time the Home Rule Bill was first introduced, but had retired from +the Government in June 1912, being replaced on the Woolsack by Lord +Haldane. When the first draft of the Home Rule Bill was under discussion +in the Cabinet in preparation for its introduction in the House of +Commons, two of the younger Ministers, Mr. Lloyd George and Mr. Winston +Churchill, proposed that an attempt should be made to avert the stern +opposition to be expected from Ulster, by treating the northern +Province, or a portion of it, separately from the rest of Ireland. This +proposal was not acceptable to the Cabinet as a whole, and its authors +were roundly rated by Lord Loreburn for so unprincipled a lapse from +orthodox Gladstonian doctrine. What, therefore, must have been the +astonishment of the heretics when they found their mentor, less than two +years later, publicly reproving the Government which he had left for +having got into such a sad mess over the Ulster difficulty! They might +be forgiven some indignation at finding themselves reproved by Lord +Loreburn for faulty statesmanship of which Lord Loreburn was the +principal author.</p> + +<p>Those, however, who had not the same ground for exasperation as Mr. +Lloyd George and Mr. Churchill thought Lord Loreburn's letter very sound +sense. He pointed out that if the Bill were to become law in 1914, as it +stood in September 1913, there would be, if not civil war, at any rate +very serious rioting in the North of Ireland, and when the riots had +been quelled by the Government the spirit <a name="Page_153"></a>that prompted them would +remain. Everybody concerned would suffer from fighting it out to a +finish. The Ex-Chancellor felt bound to assume that "up to the last, +Ministers, who assuredly have not taken leave of their senses, would be +willing to consider proposals for accommodation," and he therefore +suggested that a Conference should be held behind closed doors with a +view to a settlement by consent. If Lord Loreburn had perceived at the +time the draft Bill was before the Cabinet that it was not the Ministers +who proposed separate treatment for Ulster who had "taken leave of their +senses," but those, including himself, who had resisted that proposal, +his wisdom would have been more timely; but it was better late than +never, and his unexpected intervention had a decided influence on +opinion in the country.</p> + +<p>The comment of <i>The Times</i> was very much to the point:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"On the eve of a great political crisis, it may be of national + disaster, a distinguished Liberal statesman makes public confession + of his belief that, as a permanent solution, the Irish policy of + the Government is indefensible."</p></blockquote> + +<p>This letter of the ex-Lord Chancellor gave rise to prolonged discussion +in the Press and on the platform. At Durham, on the 13th of September, +Carson declared that he would welcome a Conference if the question was +how to provide a genuine expansion of self-government, but that, if +Ulster was to be not only expelled from the Union but placed under a +Parliament in Dublin, then "they were going to make Home Rule impossible +by steady and persistent opposition." The Government seemed unable to +agree whether a conciliatory or a defiant attitude was their wiser +policy, though it is true that the latter recommended itself mostly to +the least prominent of its members, such as Mr. J.M. Robertson, +Secretary of the Board of Trade, who in a speech at Newcastle on the +25th of September announced scornfully that Ministers were not going to +turn "King Carson" into "Saint Carson" by prosecuting him, and that "the +Government would know how <a name="Page_154"></a>to deal with him."<a name="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50"><sup>[50]</sup></a> But more important +Ministers were beginning to perceive the unwisdom of this sort of +bluster. Lord Morley, in the House of Lords, denied that he had ever +underrated the Ulster difficulty, and said that for twenty-five years he +had never thought that Ulster was guilty of bluff. Mr. Churchill, at +Dundee, on the 9th of October, no longer talked as he had the previous +year about "not taking Sir Edward Carson too seriously," though he still +appeared to be ignorant of the fact that there was in Ulster anybody +except Orangemen. "The Orange Leaders," he said, "used violent language, +but Liberals should try to understand their position. Their claim for +special consideration, if put forward with sincerity, could not be +ignored by a Government depending on the existing House."<a name="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51"><sup>[51]</sup></a></p> + +<p>The Prime Minister, less assured than his subordinate at the Board of +Trade that "King Carson" was negligible, also displayed a somewhat +chastened spirit at Ladybank on the 25th of October, when he +acknowledged that it was "of supreme importance to the future well-being +of Ireland that the new system should not start with the apparent +triumph of one section over another," and he invited a "free and frank +exchange of views."<a name="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52"><sup>[52]</sup></a> Sir Edward Grey held out another little twig of +olive two days later at Berwick.</p> + +<p>To these overtures, if they deserve the name, Mr. Bonar Law replied in +an address to a gathering of fifteen thousand people at Wallsend on the +29th, in the presence of Sir Edward Carson. Having repeated the Blenheim +pledge, he praised the discipline and restraint shown by the Ulster +people and their leaders, but warned his hearers that the nation was +drifting towards the tragedy of civil war, the responsibility for which +would rest on the Government. He expressed his readiness to respond to +Mr. Asquith's invitation, but pointed out that there were only three +alternatives open to the Government. They must either (1) go on as they +were doing and provoke Ulster to resist—that was madness; (2) they +could consult the electorate, <a name="Page_155"></a>whose decision would be accepted by the +Unionist Party as a whole; or (3) they could try to arrange a settlement +which would at least avert civil war.</p> + +<p>There had been during the past six or eight months an unusual dearth of +by-elections to test public opinion in regard to the Irish policy of the +Government, and it must be borne in mind that the Unionist Party in +Great Britain was still distracted by disputes over the Tariff question, +which in January 1913 had very nearly led to the retirement of Mr. Bonar +Law from the leadership. Nevertheless, in May the Unionists won two +signal victories, one in Cambridgeshire, and one in Cheshire, where the +Altrincham Division sent a staunch friend of Ulster to Parliament in the +person of Mr. George C. Hamilton, who in his maiden speech declared that +he had won the contest entirely on the Ulster Question. Even more +significant, perhaps, were two elections which were fought while the +interchange of party strokes over the Loreburn letter was in progress, +and the results of both were declared on the 8th of November. At +Reading, where the Unionists retained the seat, the Liberal candidate +was constrained by pressure of opinion in the constituency to promise +support for a policy of "separate and generous treatment for Ulster." At +Linlithgow, a Liberal stronghold, where no such promise was forthcoming, +the Liberal majority, in spite of a large Nationalist vote, was reduced +by 1,500 votes as compared with the General Election. There were signs +that Nonconformists, whose great leaders like Spurgeon and Dale had been +hostile to Home Rule in Gladstone's time, were again becoming uneasy +about handing over the Ulster Presbyterians and Methodists to the Roman +hierarchy. A memorial against Home Rule, signed by 131,000 people, which +had been presented to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in +June, had no doubt had some effect on Nonconformist opinion in England, +and it was just about the time when these elections took place that +Carson was described at a large gathering of Nonconformists in London as +"the best embodiment at this moment of the ancient spirit of +Nonconformity."<a name="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53"><sup>[53]</sup></a></p> + +<p><a name="Page_156"></a>Meanwhile the people in Ulster were steadily maturing their plans. The +arrangements already mentioned for setting up a Provisional Government +were confirmed and finally adopted by the Unionist Council in Belfast on +the 24th of September, and the Council by resolution delegated its +powers to the Standing Committee, while the Commission of Five was at +the same time appointed to act as an Executive. Carson, in accepting the +chairmanship of the Central Authority, used the striking phrase, which +precisely epitomised the situation, that "Ulster might be coerced into +submission, but in that case would have to be governed as a conquered +country." The Nationalist retort that the rest of Ireland was now being +so treated, appeared forcible to those Englishmen only who could see no +difference between controlling a disaffected population and chastising a +loyal one.</p> + +<p>At the same meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council on the 24th of +September a guarantee fund was established for providing means to +compensate members of the U.V.F. for any loss or disability they might +suffer as a result of their service, and the widows and dependents of +any who might lose their lives. This was a matter that had caused Carson +anxiety for some time. He was extremely sensitive to the moral +responsibility he would incur towards those who so eagerly followed his +lead, in the event of their suffering loss of life or limb in the +service of Ulster. His proposal that a guarantee fund of a million +sterling should be started, met with a ready response from the Council, +and from the wealthier classes in and about Belfast. The form of +"Indemnity Guarantee" provided for the payment to those entitled to +benefit under it of sums not less than they would have been entitled to +under the Fatal Accidents Act, the Employers' Liability Act, and the +Workman's Compensation Act, as the circumstances of the case might be. +The list was headed by Sir Edward Carson, Lord Londonderry, Captain +Craig, Sir John Lonsdale, Sir George Clark, and Lord Dunleath, with a +subscription of £10,000 each, and their example was followed by Mr. Kerr +Smiley, M.P., Mr. R.M. Liddell, Mr. George Preston, Mr. Henry Musgrave, +Mr. C.E. Allen, <a name="Page_157"></a>and Mr. Frank Workman, who entered their names +severally for the same amount. A quarter of a million sterling was +guaranteed in the room before the Council separated; by the end of a +week it had grown to £387,000; and before the 1st of January, 1914, the +total amount of the Indemnity Guarantee Fund was £1,043,816.</p> + +<p>It gave Carson and the other leaders the greatest possible satisfaction +that the response to this appeal was so prompt and adequate. Not only +was their anxiety relieved in regard to their responsibility to loyal +followers of the rank and file who might become "casualties" in the +movement, but they had been given a striking proof that the business +community of Belfast did not consider its pocket more sacred than its +principles. Moreover, if there had been doubt on that score in anyone's +mind, it was set at rest by a memorable meeting for business men only +held in Belfast on the 3rd of November. Between three and four thousand +leaders of industry and commerce, the majority of whom had never +hitherto taken any active share in political affairs, presided over by +Mr. G.H. Ewart, President of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, gave an +enthusiastic reception to Carson, who told them that he had come more to +consult them as to the commercial aspects of the great political +controversy than to impress his own views on the gathering. It was said +that the men in the hall represented a capital of not less than +£145,000,000 sterling,<a name="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54"><sup>[54]</sup></a> and there can be no doubt that, even if that +were an exaggerated estimate, they were not of a class to whom +revolution, rebellion, or political upheaval could offer an attractive +prospect. Nevertheless, the meeting passed with complete unanimity a +resolution expressing confidence in Carson and approval of everything he +had done, including the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force, and +declaring that they would refuse to pay "all taxes which they could +control" to an Irish Parliament in Dublin. This meeting was very +satisfactory, for it proved that the "captains of industry" were +entirely in accord with the working classes, whose support of the +movement had never been in doubt. It <a name="Page_158"></a>showed that Ulster was solid +behind Carson; and the unanimity was emphasised rather than disturbed by +a little handful of cranks, calling themselves "Protestant Home Rulers," +who met on the 24th of October at the village of Ballymoney "to protest +against the lawless policy of Carsonism." The principal stickler for +propriety of conduct in public life on this occasion was Sir Roger +Casement.</p> + +<p>While the unity and steadfastness—which enemies called obstinacy—of +the Ulster people were being thus made manifest, the public in England +were hearing a good deal about the growth of the Ulster Volunteer Force +in numbers and efficiency. As will be seen later, the anniversary of the +Covenant was celebrated with great military display at the very time +when the newspapers across the Channel were busy discussing Lord +Loreburn's letter, and at a parade service in the Ulster Hall, Canon +Harding, after pronouncing the Benediction, called on the congregation +to raise their right hands and pledge themselves thereby "to follow +wherever Sir Edward Carson shall lead us."</p> + +<p>The events of September 1913—the setting up of the Provisional +Government, the wonderful and instantaneous response to the appeal for +an Indemnity Guarantee Fund, the rapid formation of an effective +volunteer army—were given the fullest publicity in the English Press. +Every newspaper of importance had its special correspondent in Belfast, +whose telegrams filled columns every day, adorned with all the varieties +of sensational headline type. The Radicals were becoming restive. The +idea that Carson was "not to be taken too seriously," had apparently +missed fire. It was the Ministerial affectation of contempt that no one +was taking seriously; in fact, to borrow an expression from current +slang, the "King Carson" stunt was a "wash-out."</p> + +<p><i>The Nation</i> suggested that, instead of being laughed at, the Ulster +leader should be prosecuted, or, at any rate, removed from the Privy +Council, and other Liberal papers feverishly took up the suggestion, +debating whether the indictment should be under the Treason Felony Act +of<a name="Page_159"></a> 1848, the Crimes Act of 1887, or the Unlawful Drilling Act of 1819. +One of them, however, which succeeded in keeping its head, did not +believe that a prosecution would succeed; and, as to the Privy Council, +if Carson's name were removed, what about Londonderry and F.E. Smith, +Walter Long, and Bonar Law? In fact, "it would be difficult to know +where to stop."<a name="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55"><sup>[55]</sup></a> It would have been. The Privy Council would have had +to be reduced to a committee of Radical politicians; and, if Carson had +been prosecuted, room would have had to be found in the dock, not only +for the whole Unionist Party, but for the proprietors and editors of +most of the leading journals. The Government stopped short of that +supreme folly; but their impotence was the measure of the prevailing +sympathy with Ulster.</p> +<a name="Page_160"></a> +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50">[50]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1913, p. 205.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51">[51]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., p. 209.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52">[52]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., p. 220.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53">[53]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1913, p. 225.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54">[54]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1913, p. 225.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55">[55]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Liverpool Daily Post and Mercury</i>, September 22nd, 1913.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XV"></a><h2>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h4>PREPARATIONS AND PROPOSALS</h4> + + +<p>We have seen in a former chapter how the Ulster Volunteer Force +originated. It was never formally established by the act of any +recognised authority, but rather grew spontaneously from the zeal of the +Unionist Clubs and the Orange Lodges to present an effective and +formidable appearance at the demonstrations which marked the progress of +the movement after the meeting at Craigavon in 1911. By the following +summer it had attained considerable numbers and respectable efficiency, +and was becoming organised, without violation of the law, on a +territorial basis under local officers, many of whom had served in the +Army. Early in 1913 the Standing Committee resolved that these units +should be combined into a single force, to be called The Ulster +Volunteer Force, which was to be raised and limited to a strength of +100,000 men, all of whom should be men who had signed the Covenant. When +this organisation took place it became obvious that a serious defect was +the want of a Commander-in-Chief of the whole force, to give it unity +and cohesion. This defect was pressed on the attention of the leaders of +the movement, who then began to look about for a suitable officer of +rank and military experience to take command of the U.V.F. Among English +Members of the House of Commons there was no firmer friend of Ulster +than Colonel Thomas Hickman, C.B., D.S.O., who has been mentioned as one +of those who consented to serve in the Provisional Government. Hickman +had seen a lot of active service, having served with great distinction +in Egypt and the Soudan under Kitchener, and in the South African War. +It was natural to take him into confidence in the search for a general; +and, when he was approached, <a name="Page_161"></a>it was decided that he should consult Lord +Roberts, whose warm sympathy with the Ulster cause was well known to the +leaders of the movement, and whose knowledge of army officers of high +rank was, of course, unequalled. Moreover, the illustrious Field-Marshal +had dropped hints which led those concerned to conjecture that in the +last resort he might not himself be unwilling to lend his matchless +prestige and genius to the loyalist cause in Ireland. The contingency +which might bring about such an accession had not, however, yet arisen, +and might never arise; in the meantime, Lord Roberts gave a ready ear to +Hickman's application, which, after some weeks of delay, he answered in +the following letter, which was at once communicated to Carson and those +in his immediate confidence:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"ENGLEMERE, ASCOT, BERKS.</p> + +<p> "<i>4th June</i>, 1913.</p> + +<p> "DEAR HICKMAN,</p> + +<p> "I have been a long time finding a Senior Officer to help in the + Ulster business, but I think I have got one now. His name is + Lieut.-General Sir George Richardson, K.C.B., c/o Messrs. Henry S. + King & Co., Pall Mall, S.W. He is a retired Indian officer, active + and in good health. He is not an Irishman, but has settled in + Ireland.... Richardson will be in London for about a month, and is + ready to meet you at any time.</p> + +<p> "I am sorry to read about the capture of rifles.</p> + +<p> "Believe me,</p> + +<p> "Yours sincerely,</p> + +<p> "ROBERTS."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The matter was quickly arranged, and within a few weeks Sir George +Richardson had taken up his residence in Belfast, and his duties as +G.O.C. the Ulster Volunteer Force.</p> + +<p>He was a distinguished soldier. He served under Roberts in the Afghan +Campaign of 1879-80; he took part in the Waziri Expedition of 1881, and +the Zhob Valley Field Force operations of 1890. He was in command of a +Flying Column in the Tirah Expedition of 1897-8, and of a Cavalry +Brigade in the China Expeditionary Force in 1900, and had commanded a +Division <a name="Page_162"></a>at Poona for three years before retiring in 1907. He had been +three times mentioned in despatches, besides receiving a brevet and many +medals and clasps. He was at this time sixty-six years of age, but, like +the great soldier who recommended him to Ulster, he was an active little +man both in body and mind, with no symptom of approaching old age.</p> + +<p>General Richardson was not long in making himself popular, not only with +the force under his command, but with all classes in Ulster. There were +unavoidable difficulties in handling troops whose officers had no +statutory powers of discipline, who had inherited no military +traditions, and who formed part of a population conspicuously +independent in character. But Sir George Richardson was as full of tact +as of good humour, and he soon found that the keenness of the officers +and men, to whom dismissal from the U.V.F. would have been the severest +of punishments, more than counterbalanced the difficulties referred to.</p> + +<p>When the new G.O.C. went to Belfast in July, 1913, he found his command +between fifty and sixty thousand strong, with recruits joining every +day. In September a number of parades were held in different localities, +at which the General was accompanied by Sir Edward Carson, Mr. F.E. +Smith, Captain James Craig, and other Members of Parliament. The local +battalions were in many cases commanded by retired or half-pay officers +of the regular army. At all these inspections Carson addressed the men, +many of whom were now seeing their Commander-in-Chief for the first +time, and pointed out that the U.V.F., being now under a single command, +was no longer a mere collection of unrelated units, but an army. At an +inspection at Antrim on the 21st of September, he made a disclosure +which startled the country not a little next day when it appeared in the +headlines of English newspapers. "I tell the Government," he said, "that +we have pledges and promises from some of the greatest generals in the +army, who have given their word that, when the time comes, if it is +necessary, they will come over and help us to keep the old flag flying." +These <a name="Page_163"></a>promises were entirely spontaneous and unsolicited. More than one +of those who made them did fine service to the Empire in the impending +time of trial which none of them foresaw in 1913.</p> + +<p>Of the men inspected on that day, numbering about 5,000, it was said by +the Special Correspondent of <i>The Yorkshire Post</i>, who was present—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"As far as I could detect in a very careful observation, there were + not half a dozen of them unqualified by physique or age to play a + manly part. They reminded me more than anything else—except that + but few of them were beyond the best fighting age—of the finest + class of our National Reserve. There was certainly nothing of the + mock soldier about them. Led by keen, smart-looking officers, they + marched past in quarter column with fine, swinging steps, as if + they had been in training for years. Officers who have had the + teaching of them tell me that the rapidity with which they have + become efficient is greater than has ever come within their + experience in training recruits for either the Territorials or the + Regular Service."<a name="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56"><sup>[56]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>The 24th of September, it will be remembered, was the day when the +formation of the Provisional Government and the Indemnity Fund (with the +subscription of a quarter of a million sterling in two hours) was made +public; on Saturday the 27th, the country parades of Volunteers of the +preceding weeks reached a climax in a grand review in Belfast itself, +when some 15,000 men were drawn up on the same ground where the Balmoral +meeting had been held eighteen months before. They were reviewed by Sir +George Richardson, G.O.C., and it was on this occasion that Mr. F.E. +Smith became famous as "galloper" to the General. The Commanders of the +four regiments on parade—one from each parliamentary division of the +city—comprising fourteen battalions, were: Colonel Wallace, Major F.H. +Crawford, Major McCalmont, M.P., and Captain the Hon. A.C. Chichester. +More than 30,000 sympathetic spectators watched the arrival and the +review of the troops.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_164"></a>Among these spectators were a large number of special military +correspondents of English newspapers, whose impressions of this +memorable event were studied in every part of the United Kingdom on the +following Monday morning. That which appeared in a great Lancashire +journal may be quoted as a fair and dispassionate account of the scene:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"It is quite certain that the review of Volunteers at Balmoral + to-day will go down into history as one of the most extraordinary + events in the annals of these islands. Not since the marshalling of + Cromwell's Puritan army have we had anything approaching a + parallel; but, whereas the Puritans took up arms against a king of + whom they disapproved, the men of Ulster strongly protest their + loyalty to the British Throne. The great crowd which lined the + enclosure was eager, earnest, and sympathetic. It was not a + boisterous crowd. On the contrary, beyond the demonstration + following the call for cheers for the Union there was comparatively + little cheering. The crowd seemed burdened with a heavy sense of + the importance of the occasion. The conduct of the gathering was + serious to the point of positive solemnity.</p> + +<p> "The Volunteers from their own ranks policed the grounds, not a + solitary member of the Royal Irish Constabulary being seen in the + enclosure. The sun shone brilliantly as Colonel Wallace led the men + of the North division into the enclosure. Amidst subdued cheers he + marched them across the field in fours, forming up in quarter + column by the right, facing left. For an hour and a quarter the + procession filed through the gates, the men taking up their + positions with perfect movement and not the faintest suggestion of + confusion. As the men from the West took up their position the + crowd broke into a great cheer. They mustered only two battalions, + but they had come from Mr. Devlin's constituency!</p> + +<p> "As a body the men were magnificent. The hardy sons of toil from + shipyards and factories marched shoulder to shoulder with clergy + and doctors, professional men and clerks. From the saluting base + General Richardson took command, and almost immediately Sir Edward + Carson took up his position on the platform, with Lord Londonderry + and Captain Craig in attendance. Then followed <a name="Page_165"></a>a scene that will + live long in the memories of that vast concourse of people. With + the men standing to 'Attention,' the bands struck up the 'British + Grenadiers,' and the whole division advanced in review order, in + perfect lines and unison.</p> + +<p> "The supreme moment had arrived. The men took off their hats, and + the G.O.C. shouted, 'I call upon the men to give three cheers for + the Union, taking their time from me. Hip, hip——'</p> + +<p> "Well, people who were not there must imagine the rest. Out of the + deafening cheers came the strains of 'Rule, Britannia!' from the + bands; the monster Union Jack was unfurled in the centre of the + ground, and the mighty gathering stood bare-headed to 'God save the + King.' It was solemn, impressive, thrilling."<a name="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57"><sup>[57]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>The following day, Sunday, was "Ulster Day," the first anniversary of +the signing of the Covenant, and it was celebrated in Belfast and many +other places in Ulster by holding special services in all places of +worship, which had the effect of sustaining that spirit of high +seriousness which struck all observers as remarkable in the behaviour of +the people.</p> + +<p>This week, in which occurred the proclamation of the Provisional +Government, the great review of the Belfast Volunteers, and the second +celebration of Ulster Day, was a notable landmark in the movement. The +Press in England and Scotland gave the widest publicity to every +picturesque and impressive detail, and there can be little doubt that +the idea of attempting to arrive at some agreed settlement, started by +Lord Loreburn's letter to <i>The Times</i>, was greatly stimulated by these +fresh and convincing proofs of the grim determination of the Ulster +people.</p> + +<p>At all events, the autumn produced more than the usual plethora of +political meetings addressed by "front bench" politicians on both sides, +each answering each like an antiphonal choir; scraps of olive-branch +were timidly held out, only to be snatched back next day in panic lest +someone had blundered in saying too much; while day by day a clamorous +Liberal Press, to whom Ulster's loyalty <a name="Page_166"></a>to King and Empire was an +unforgivable offence, alternated between execration of Ulster wickedness +and affected ridicule of Ulster bluff. But it was evident that genuine +misgiving was beginning to be felt in responsible Liberal quarters. A +Correspondent of <i>The Manchester Guardian</i> on the 25th of November made +a proposal for special treatment of Ulster; on the 1st of December Mr. +Massingham, in <i>The Daily News</i>, urged that an effort should be made to +conciliate the northern Protestants; and on the 6th Mr. Asquith +displayed a more conciliatory spirit than usual in a speech at +Manchester. A most active campaign of propaganda in England and Scotland +was also carried on during the autumn by Ulster speakers, among whom +women bore their full share. The Ulster Women's Unionist Association +employed 93 voluntary workers, who visited over 90 constituencies in +Great Britain, addressing 230 important meetings. It was reckoned that +not less than 100,000 electors heard the Ulster case from the lips of +earnest Ulster women.</p> + +<p>On the 5th of December two Royal Proclamations were issued by the +Government, prohibiting the importation of arms and ammunition into +Ireland. But during the Christmas holidays the impression gained ground +that the Government contemplated making concessions to Ulster, and +communications in private between the Prime Minister and Sir Edward +Carson did in fact take place at this time. The truth, however, was that +the Government were not their own masters, and, as Mr. Bonar Law bluntly +declared at Bristol on the 15th of January, 1914, they were compelled by +the Nationalists, on whom they depended for existence, to refuse any +genuine concession. In the same speech Mr. Bonar Law replied to the +allegation that Ulster was crying out before she was hurt, by saying +that the American colonies had done the same thing—they had revolted on +a question of principle while suffering was still distant, and for a +cause that in itself was trivial in comparison with that of Ulster.<a name="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58"><sup>[58]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Most of the leaders on both sides were speaking on various platforms in +January. On the 17th Carson, at <a name="Page_167"></a>an inspection of the East Belfast +U.V.F., said he had lately visited Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, and that the +dying statesman, clear-sighted and valiant as ever, had said to him at +parting, "I would fight it out." In the same spirit Mr. Austen +Chamberlain, in a speech at Skipton a fortnight later, ridiculed any +concession that fell short of the exclusion of Ulster from the Irish +Parliament, and asserted that what the policy of the Government amounted +to was that England was to conquer a province and hold it down at the +expense of her friends for the benefit of her enemies.<a name="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59"><sup>[59]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Public attention was, however, not allowed to concentrate wholly on +Ireland. The Radicals, instigated by Sir John Brunner, President of the +National Liberal Federation, were doing their best to prevent the +strengthening of the Navy, the time being opportune for parsimony in Mr. +Lloyd George's opinion because our relations with Germany were "far more +friendly than for years past."<a name="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60"><sup>[60]</sup></a> The militant women suffragists were +carrying on a lively campaign of arson and assault all over the country. +Labour unrest was in a condition of ferment. Land agitation was exciting +the "single-taxers" and other fanatics; and the Tariff question had not +ceased to be a cause of division in the Unionist Party. But, while these +matters were sharing with the Irish problem the attention of the Press +and the public, "conversations" were being held behind the scenes with a +view to averting what everyone now agreed would be a dangerous crisis if +Ulster proved implacable.</p> + +<p>When Parliament met on the 10th of February, 1914, Mr. Asquith referred +to these conversations; but while he congratulated everyone concerned on +the fact that the Press had been successfully kept in the dark for +months regarding them, he had to admit that they had produced no result. +But there were, he said, "schemes and suggestions of settlement in the +air," among them the exclusion of Ulster from the Bill, a proposal on +which he would not at that moment "pronounce, or attempt to pronounce, +any final judgment", and he then announced that, as soon as the +financial business of the year was disposed of, <a name="Page_168"></a>he would bring forward +proposals for the purpose of arriving at an agreement "which will +consult not only the interests but the susceptibilities of all +concerned."</p> + +<p>This appeared to be a notable change of attitude on the part of the +Government; but it was received with not a little suspicion by the +Unionist leaders. Whether or not the change was due, as Mr. William +Moore bluntly asserted, to the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force, +which had now reached its full strength of 100,000 men, the question of +interest was whether the promised proposals would render that force +unnecessary. Mr. Austen Chamberlain asked why the Government's proposals +should be kept bottled up until a date suspiciously near All Fools' Day; +and Sir Edward Carson, in one of the most impressive speeches he ever +made in Parliament, which wrung from Mr. Lloyd George the acknowledgment +that it had "entranced the House," joined Chamberlain in demanding that +the country should not be kept in anxious suspense. The only proper way +of making the proposals known was, he said, by embodying them at once in +a Bill to amend the Home Rule Bill. He confirmed Chamberlain's statement +that nothing short of the exclusion of Ulster would be of the slightest +use. The Covenanters were not men who would have acted as they had done +for the sake of minor details that could be adjusted by "paper +safeguards," they were "fighting for a great principle and a great +ideal," and if their determination to resist was not morally justified +he "did not see how resistance could ever be justified in history at +all." But if the exclusion of Ulster was to be offered, he would +immediately go to Belfast and lay the proposal before his followers. He +did not intend "that Ulster should be a pawn in any political game," and +would not allow himself to be manoeuvred into a position where it could +afterwards be said that Ulster had resorted to arms to secure something +that had been rejected when offered by legislation. The sympathy of +Ulstermen with Loyalists in other parts of Ireland was as deep and +sincere as ever, but no one had ever supposed that Ulster could by force +of arms do more than preserve her own territory from subjection to +Dublin. As for the<a name="Page_169"></a> Nationalists, they would never succeed in coercing +Ulster, but "by showing that good government can come under Home Rule +they might try and win her over to the case of the rest of Ireland." +That was a plan that had never yet been tried.</p> + +<p>The significance of the announcement which Mr. Asquith had now made lay +in the fact that it was an acknowledgment by the Government for the +first time that there was an "Ulster Question" to be dealt with—that +Ulster was not, as had hitherto been the Liberal theory, like any other +minority who must submit to the will of the majority opposed to it, but +a distinct community, conditioned by special circumstances entitling it +to special treatment. The Prime Minister had thus, as Mr. Bonar Law +insisted, "destroyed utterly the whole foundation on which for the last +two years the treatment extended to Ulster in this Bill has been +justified." From that day it became impossible ever again to contend +that Ulster was merely a recalcitrant minority in a larger unity, +without rights of her own.</p> + +<p>The speeches of the Unionist leaders in the House of Commons showed +clearly enough how little faith they had that the Government intended to +do anything that could lead to an agreed settlement. The interval that +passed before the nature of the Government's proposals was made known +increased rather than diminished this distrust. The air was full of +suggestions, the most notable of which was put forward by the veteran +constitutional lawyer, Mr. Frederic Harrison, who proposed that Ulster +should be governed by a separate committee elected by its own +constituencies, with full legislative, administrative, and financial +powers, subject only to the Crown and the Imperial Parliament.<a name="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61"><sup>[61]</sup></a> +Unionists did not believe that the Liberal Cabinet would be allowed by +their Nationalist masters to offer anything so liberal to Ulster; nor +did that Province desire autonomy for itself. They believed that the +chief desire of the Government was not to appease Ulster, but to put her +in a tactically indefensible position. This fear had been expressed by +Lord Lansdowne as long <a name="Page_170"></a>before as the previous October, when he wrote +privately to Carson in reference to Lord Loreburn's suggested Conference +that he suspected the intention of the Government to be "to offer us +terms which they know we cannot accept, and then throw on us the odium +of having obstructed a settlement." Mr. Walter Long had the same +apprehension in March 1914 as to the purpose of Mr. Asquith's unknown +proposals. Both these leaders herein showed insight and prescience, for +not only Mr. Asquith's Government, but also that which succeeded it, had +resort on many subsequent occasions to the manoeuvre suspected by Lord +Lansdowne.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, there were encouraging signs in the country. To the +intense satisfaction of Unionists, Mr. C.F.G. Masterman, who had just +been promoted to the Cabinet, lost his seat in East London when he +sought re-election in February, and a day or two later the Government +suffered another defeat in Scotland. On the 27th of February Lord +Milner, a fearless supporter of the Ulster cause, wrote to Carson that a +British Covenant had been drawn up in support of the Ulster Covenanters, +and that the first signatures, in addition to his own, were those of +Field-Marshal Lord Roberts, Admiral of the Fleet Sir E. Seymour, the +Duke of Portland, Lord Balfour of Burleigh, Lord Desborough, Lord Lovat, +Mr. Rudyard Kipling, Sir W. Ramsay, F.R.S., the Dean of Canterbury, +Professors Dicey and Goudy, Sir George Hayter Chubb, and Mr. Salvidge, +the influential alderman of Liverpool. On the 6th of March Mr. Walter +Long, writing from the office of the Union Defence League, of which he +was President, was able to inform Carson that there was "a rush to sign +the Covenant—we are really almost overpowered." This was supplemented +by a women's Covenant, which, like the men's, "had been numerously and +influentially signed, about 3 or 4 per cent, of the signatories, it was +said, being Liberals."<a name="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62"><sup>[62]</sup></a> Long believed from this and other evidence +that had reached him that "public opinion was now really aroused in the +country," and that the steadfast policy of Ulster had the undoubted +support of the electorate.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_171"></a>Only those who were in the confidence of Mr. Asquith and his colleagues +at the beginning of 1914 can know whether the "proposals" they then made +were ever seriously put forward as an effort towards appeasement. If +they were sincerely meant for such, it implied a degree of ignorance of +the chief factor in the problem with which it is difficult to credit +able Ministers who had been face to face with that problem for years. +They must have supposed that their leading opponents were capable of +saying emphatically one thing and meaning quite another. For the +Unionist leaders had stated over and over again in the most unmistakable +terms, both in the recent debate on the Address, and on innumerable +former occasions, that nothing except the "exclusion of Ulster" could +furnish a basis for negotiation towards settlement.</p> + +<p>And yet, when the Prime Minister at last put his cards on the table on +the 9th of March, in moving the second reading of the Home Rule +Bill—which now entered on its third and last lap under the Parliament +Act—it was found that his much-trumpeted proposals were derisory to the +last degree. The scheme was that which came to be known as county option +with a time limit. Any county in Ulster, including the cities of Belfast +and Derry, was to be given the right to vote itself out of the Home Rule +jurisdiction, on a requisition signed by a specified proportion of its +parliamentary electorate, for a period of six years.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bonar Law said at once, on behalf of the Unionist Party, that apart +from all other objections to the Government scheme, and they were many, +the time limit for exclusion made the whole proposal a mockery. All that +it meant was that when the preparations in Ulster for resistance to Home +Rule had been got rid of—for it would be practically impossible to keep +them in full swing for six years—Ulster should then be compelled to +submit to the very thing to which she refused to submit now. Carson +described the proposal as a "sentence of death with a stay of execution +for six years." He noted with satisfaction indeed the admission of the +principle of exclusion, but expressed his conviction that the time limit +had been introduced merely in order to make it impossible for Ulster <a name="Page_172"></a>to +accept. Ulster wanted the question settled once for all, so that she +might turn her attention from politics to her ordinary business. The +time limit would keep the fever of political agitation at a high +temperature for six years, and at the end of that period forcible +resistance would be as necessary as ever, while in the interval all +administration would be paralysed by the unworkable nature of the system +to be introduced for six years. Although there were other gross blots on +the scheme outlined by the Prime Minister, yet, if the time limit were +dropped, Carson said he would submit it to a convention in Belfast; but +he utterly declined to do so if the time limit was to be retained.</p> + +<p>The debate was adjourned indefinitely, and before it could be resumed +the whole situation was rendered still more grave by the events to be +narrated in the next chapter, and by a menacing speech delivered by Mr. +Churchill at Bradford on the 14th of March. He hinted that, if Ulster +persisted in refusing the offer made by the Prime Minister, which was +the Government's last word, the forces of the Crown would have to be +employed against her; there were, he said, "worse things than bloodshed +even on an extended scale"; and he ended by saying, "Let us go forward +together and put these grave matters to the proof."<a name="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63"><sup>[63]</sup></a> Two days later +Mr. Asquith, in answer to questions in the House of Commons, announced +that no particulars of the Government scheme would be given unless the +principle of the proposals were accepted as a basis of agreement.</p> + +<p>The leader of the Unionist Party replied by moving a vote of censure on +the Government on the 19th of March. Mr. Churchill's Bradford speech, +and one no less defiant by Mr. Devlin the day following it, had charged +with inflammable material the atmosphere in which the debate was +conducted. Sir Edward Carson began his speech by saying that, after +these recent events, "I feel that I ought not to be here, but in +Belfast." There were some sharp passages between him and Churchill, whom +he accused of being anxious to provoke the Ulster people to make an +attack <a name="Page_173"></a>on the soldiers. A highly provocative speech by Mr. Devlin +followed, at the end of which Carson rose and left the House, saying +audibly, "I am off to Belfast." He was accompanied out of the Chamber by +eight Ulster members, and was followed by ringing and sustained cheers +of encouragement and approval from the crowded Unionist benches. It was +a scene which those who witnessed it are not likely to forget.</p> + +<p>The idea of accommodation between the combatant parties was at an end.</p><a name="Page_174"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56">[56]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Yorkshire Post</i>, September 22nd, 1913.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57">[57]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Liverpool Daily Courier</i>, September 29th, 1913.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58">[58]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1914, p. 6.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59">[59]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1914, p. 12.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60">[60]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., p. 1.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61">[61]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Annual Register</i>, 1914, p. 33.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62">[62]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1914, pp. 51-2.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63">[63]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Times</i>, March 16th, 1914.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h4>THE CURRAGH INCIDENT</h4> + + +<p>When Mr. Bonar Law moved the vote of censure on the Government on the +19th of March he had no idea that the Cabinet had secretly taken in hand +an enterprise which, had it been known, would have furnished infinitely +stronger grounds for their impeachment than anything relating to their +"proposals" for amending the Home Rule Bill. It was an enterprise that, +when it did become known, very nearly brought about their fall from +power.</p> + +<p>The whole truth about the famous "Curragh Incident" has never been +ascertained, and the answers given by the Ministers chiefly concerned, +under cross-examination in the House of Commons, were so evasive and in +several instances so contradictory as to make it certain that they were +exceedingly anxious that the truth should be concealed. But when the +available evidence is pieced together it leads almost irresistibly to +the conclusion that in March 1914 the Cabinet, or at any rate some of +the most prominent members of it, decided to make an imposing +demonstration of military force against Ulster, and that they expected, +if they did not hope, that this operation would goad the Ulstermen into +a clash with the forces of the Crown, which, by putting them morally in +the wrong, would deprive them of the popular sympathy they enjoyed in so +large and increasing a measure.</p> + +<p>When Mr. Churchill spoke at Bradford on the 14th of March of "putting +these grave matters to the proof" he was already deeply involved in what +came to be known as "the plot against Ulster," to which his words were +doubtless an allusion. That plot may perhaps have originated at Mr. +Lloyd George's breakfast-table on the 11th, when he entertained Mr. +Redmond, Mr. Dillon, Mr. Devlin, Mr. O'Connor, and the Chief Secretary +for Ireland, Mr.<a name="Page_175"></a> Birrell; for on the same day it was decided to send a +squadron of battleships with attendant cruisers and destroyers from the +coast of Spain to Lamlash, in the Isle of Arran, opposite Belfast Lough; +and a sub-committee of the Cabinet, consisting of Lord Crewe, Mr. +Churchill, Colonel Seely, Mr. Birrell, and Sir John Simon, was appointed +to deal with affairs connected with Ulster. This sub-committee held its +first meeting the following day, and the next was the date of Mr. +Churchill's threatening speech at Bradford, with its reference to the +prospect of bloodshed and of putting grave matters to the proof. Bearing +in mind this sequence of events, it is not easy to credit the contention +of the Government, after the plot had been discovered, that the despatch +of the fleet to the neighbourhood of the Ulster coast had no connection +with the other naval and military operations which immediately followed.</p> + +<p>For on the 14th, while Churchill was travelling in the train to +Bradford, Seely, the Secretary of State for War, was drafting a letter +to Sir Arthur Paget, the Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, informing him of +reports (it was never discovered where the reports, which were without +the smallest foundation, came from) that attempts might be made "in +various parts of Ireland by evil-disposed persons" to raid Government +stores of arms and ammunition, and instructing the General to "take +special precautions" to safeguard the military depots. It was added that +"information shows that Armagh, Omagh, Carrickfergus, and Enniskillen +are insufficiently guarded."<a name="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64"><sup>[64]</sup></a> It is permissible to wonder, if there +was danger from evil-disposed persons "in various parts of Ireland," +from whom came the information that the places particularly needing +reinforcements were a ring of strategically important towns round the +outskirts of the loyalist counties of Ulster.</p> + +<p>Whatever the source of the alleged "information"—whether it originated +at Mr. Lloyd George's breakfast-table or elsewhere—Seely evidently +thought it alarmingly urgent, for within forty-eight hours he +telegraphed to Paget asking for a reply before 8 a.m. next morning as to +<a name="Page_176"></a>what steps he had taken, and ordering the General to come at once to +London, bringing with him detailed plans. On the 16th Sir A. Paget +telegraphed that he "had taken all available steps"; but, on second +thoughts, he wrote on the 17th saying that there were sufficient troops +at Enniskillen to guard the depot, that he was making a small increase +to the detachment at Carrickfergus, and that, instead of strengthening +the garrisons of Omagh and Armagh, the stores there were being +removed—an operation that would take eight days. He explained his +reason for this departure from instructions to be that such a movement +of troops as had been ordered by the War Office would, "in the present +state of the country, create intense excitement in Ulster and possibly +precipitate a crisis."<a name="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65"><sup>[65]</sup></a></p> + +<p>As soon as this communication reached the War Office orders were sent +that the arms and ammunition at Omagh and Armagh, for the safety of +which from evil-disposed persons Seely had been so apprehensive, were +not to be removed, although they had already been packed for transport. +This order was sent on the 18th of March, and on the same day Sir Arthur +Paget arrived in London from Ireland and had a consultation with the +Ulster sub-committee of the Cabinet, and with Sir John French and other +members of the Army Council at the War Office.</p> + +<p>News of this meeting reached the ears of Sir Edward Carson, who was also +aware that a false report was being spread of attempts by Unionists to +influence the Army, and in his speech on the vote of censure on the 19th +he said: "I have never suggested that the Army should not be sent to +Ulster. I have never suggested that it should not do its duty when sent +there. I hope and expect it will." At the same time reports were +circulating in Dublin—did they come from Downing Street?—that the +Government were preparing to take strong measures against the Ulster +Unionist Council, and to arrest the leaders. In allusion to these +reports the Dublin Correspondent of <i>The Times</i> telegraphed on the 18th +of March: "Any man or Government that increases the danger by blundering +or hasty action will accept a terrible responsibility."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_177"></a>What passed at the interviews which Sir Arthur Paget had with Ministers +on the 18th and 19th has never been disclosed. But it is clear, from the +events which followed, either that an entirely new plan on a much larger +scale was now inaugurated, or that a development now took place which +Churchill and Seely, and perhaps other Ministers also, had contemplated +from the beginning and had concealed behind the pretended insignificance +of precautions to guard depots. It is noteworthy, at all events, that +the measures contemplated happened to be the stationing of troops in +considerable strength in important strategical positions round Ulster, +simultaneously with the despatch of a powerful fleet to within a few +hours of Belfast.</p> + +<p>The orders issued by the War Office, at any rate, indicated something on +a far bigger scale than the original pretext could justify. Paget's fear +of precipitating a crisis was brushed aside, and General Friend, who was +acting for him in Dublin during his absence, was instructed by telegram +to send to the four Ulster towns more than double the number of men that +Paget had deemed would be sufficient to protect the Government stores. +But still more significant was another order given to Friend on the +18th. The Dorset Regiment, quartered in the Victoria Barracks in +Belfast, were to be moved four miles out to Holywood, taking with them +their stores and ammunition, amounting to some thirty tons; and such was +the anxiety of the Government to get the troops out of the city that +they were told to leave their rifles behind, if necessary, after +rendering them useless by removing the bolts.<a name="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66"><sup>[66]</sup></a> The Government had +vetoed Paget's plan of removing the stores from Omagh and Armagh, +because their real object was to increase the garrisons at those places; +but, as they had no scruple about moving the much larger supply from the +Victoria Barracks through the most intensely Orange quarter of Belfast, +it could hardly be wondered at if such an order, under the +circumstances, was held to give colour to the idea that Ministers wished +to provoke violent opposition to the troops. Not less inconsistent with +the original pretext was the despatch of a battalion to Newry and<a name="Page_178"></a> +Dundalk. At the latter place there was already a brigade of artillery, +with eighteen guns, which would prove a tough nut for "evil-disposed +persons" to crack; and although both towns would be important points to +hold with an army making war on Ulster, they were both in Nationalist +territory where there could be no fear of raids by Unionists. Yet the +urgency was considered so great at the War Office to occupy these places +in strength not later than the 20th that two cruisers were ordered to +Kingstown to take the troops to Dundalk by sea, if there should be +difficulty about land transport.</p> + +<p>Whatever may have been the actual design of Mr. Churchill and Colonel +Seely, who appear to have practically taken the whole management of the +affair into their own hands, the dispositions must have suggested to +anyone with elementary knowledge of military matters that nothing less +than an overpowering attack on Belfast was in contemplation. The +transfer of the troops from Victoria Barracks, where they would have +been useful to support the civil power in case of rioting, to Holywood, +where they would be less serviceable for that purpose but where they +would be in rapid communication by water with the garrison of +Carrickfergus on the opposite shore of the Lough; the ordering of H.M.S. +<i>Pathfinder</i> and <i>Attentive</i> to Belfast Lough, where they were to arrive +"at daybreak on Saturday the 21st instant" with instructions to support +the soldiers if necessary "by guns and search-lights from the +ships<a name="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67"><sup>[67]</sup></a>"; the secret and rapid garrisoning of strategic points on all +the railways leading to Belfast,—all this pointed, not to the +safeguarding of stores of army boots and rifles, but to operations of an +offensive campaign.</p> + +<p>It was in this light that the Commander-in-Chief in Ireland himself +interpreted his instructions, and, seeing that he had taken the +responsibility of not fully obeying the much more modest orders he had +received in Ireland on the 14th, it is easy to understand that he +thought the steps now to be taken would lead to serious consequences. He +also foresaw that he might have trouble with some of the officers under +his command, for before leaving London he persuaded <a name="Page_179"></a>the Secretary of +State and Sir John French to give the following permission: "Officers +actually domiciled in Ulster would be exempted from taking part in any +operation that might take place. They would be permitted to 'disappear' +[that being the exact phrase used by the War Office], and when all was +over would be allowed to resume their places without their career or +position being affected."<a name="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68"><sup>[68]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Having obtained this concession, Sir Arthur Paget returned the same +night to Dublin, where he arrived on the 20th and had a conference with +his general officers.</p> + +<p>He told them of the instructions he had received, which the Government +called "precautionary" and believed "would be carried out without +resistance." The Commander-in-Chief did not share the Government's +optimism. He thought "that the moves would create intense excitement," +that by next day "the country would be ablaze," and that the result +might be "active operations against organised bodies of the Ulster +Volunteer Force under their responsible leaders." With regard to the +permission for officers domiciled in Ulster to "disappear," he informed +his generals that any other officers who were not prepared to carry out +their duty would be dismissed the Service.</p> + +<p>There was, apparently, some misunderstanding as to whether officers +without an Ulster domicile who objected to fight against Ulster were to +say so at once and accept dismissal, or were to wait until they received +some specific order which they felt unable to obey. Many of the officers +understood the General to mean the former of these two alternatives, and +the Colonel of one line regiment gave his officers half an hour to make +up their minds on a question affecting their whole future career; every +one of them objected to going against Ulster, and "nine or ten refused +under any condition" to do so.<a name="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69"><sup>[69]</sup></a> Another regimental commanding officer +told his subordinates that "steps have been taken in Ulster so that any +aggression must come from the Ulsterites, and they will have to shed the +first blood," on which his comment was: "The idea of provoking Ulster is +hellish."<a name="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70"><sup>[70]</sup></a></p> + +<p><a name="Page_180"></a>In consequence of what he learnt at the conference with his generals on +the morning of the 20th Sir Arthur Paget telegraphed to the War Office: +"Officer Commanding 5th Lancers states that all officers except two, and +one doubtful, are resigning their commissions to-day. I much fear same +conditions in the 16th Lancers. Fear men will refuse to move<a name="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71"><sup>[71]</sup></a>"; and +later in the day he reported that the "Brigadier and 57 officers, 3rd +Cavalry Brigade, prefer to accept dismissal if ordered north."<a name="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72"><sup>[72]</sup></a> Next +day he had to add that the Colonel and all the officers of the 4th +Hussars had taken up the same attitude.<a name="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73"><sup>[73]</sup></a></p> + +<p>This was very disconcerting news for the War Office, where it had been +taken for granted that very few, if any, officers, except perhaps a few +natives of Ulster, would elect to wreck their careers, if suddenly +confronted with so terrible a choice, rather than take part in +operations against the Ulster Loyalists. Instructions were immediately +wired to Paget in Dublin to "suspend any senior officers who have +tendered their resignations"; to refuse to accept the resignation of +junior officers; and to send General Gough, the Brigadier in command of +the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, and the commanding officers of the two Lancer +regiments and the 4th Hussars, to report themselves promptly at the War +Office after relieving them of their commands.</p> + +<p>Had the War Office made up its mind what to do with General Gough and +the other cavalry officers when they arrived in London? The inference to +be drawn from the correspondence published by the Government makes it +appear probable that the first intention was to punish these officers +severely <i>pour encourager les autres</i>. An officer to replace Gough had +actually been appointed and sent to Ireland, though Mr. Asquith denied +in the House of Commons that the offending generals had been dismissed. +But, if that was the intention, it was abandoned. The reason is not +plain; but the probability is that it had been discovered that sympathy +with Gough was widespread in the Army, and that his dismissal would +bring about very numerous resignations. It was said that a large part of +the<a name="Page_181"></a> Staff of the War Office itself would have laid down their +commissions, and that Aldershot would have been denuded of officers.<a name="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74"><sup>[74]</sup></a> +Colonel Seely himself described it as a "situation of grave peril to the +Army."<a name="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75"><sup>[75]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Anyhow, no disciplinary action of any kind was taken. It was decided to +treat the matter as one of "misunderstanding," and when Gough and his +brother officers appeared at the War Office on Monday the 23rd they were +told that it was all a mistake to suppose that the Government had ever +intended warlike operations against Ulster (the orders to the fleet had +been cancelled by wireless on the 21st), and that they might return at +once to their commands, with the assurance that they would not be +required to serve against Ulster Loyalists. General Gough, who before +leaving Ireland had asked Sir A. Paget for a clear definition in writing +of the duties that officers would be expected to perform if they went to +Ulster,<a name="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76"><sup>[76]</sup></a> thought that in view of the "misunderstanding" it would be +wise to have Colonel Seely's assurance also in black and white. Seely +had to hurry off to a Cabinet Meeting, and in his absence the +Adjutant-General reduced to writing the verbal statement of the +Secretary of State. A very confused story about the subsequent fortunes +of this piece of paper made it the central mystery round which raged +angry debates. This much, however, is not doubtful. Seely went from the +Cabinet to Buckingham Palace; when he returned to Downing Street the +paper was there, but the Cabinet had broken up. He looked at the paper, +saw that it did not accurately reproduce the assurance he had verbally +given to Gough, and with the help of Lord Morley he thereupon added two +paragraphs (which Mr. Balfour designated "the peccant paragraphs") to +make it conform to his promise. The addition so made was the only part +of the document that gave the assurance that the officers would not be +called upon "to crush political opposition to the policy or principles +of the Home Rule Bill." With this paper in his pocket General Gough +returned to his command at the Curragh.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_182"></a>There the matter might have ended had not some of the facts become +known to Unionist members of the House of Commons, and to the Press. On +Sunday, the 22nd, Mr. Asquith sent a communication to <i>The Times</i> +(published on the 23rd) in which he minimised the whole matter, putting +forward the original pretext of movements of troops solely to protect +Government property—an account at variance with a statement two days +later by Churchill in regard to the reason for naval movements—and on +the 23rd Seely also made a statement in the House of Commons on the same +lines as the Prime Minister's, which ended by saying that all the +movements of troops were completed "and all orders issued have been +punctually and implicitly obeyed." This was an hour or two after his +interview with the generals who had been summoned from Ireland to be +dismissed for refusal to obey orders.</p> + +<p>But Mr. Bonar Law had his own information, which was much fuller than +the Government imagined. A long and heated debate followed Colonel +Seely's statement, and was continued on the two following days, +gradually dragging to light the facts with a much greater profusion of +detail than is necessary for this narrative. On the 24th Mr. L.S. Amery +made a speech which infuriated the Radicals and Labour members, but the +speaker, as was his intention, made them quite as angry with the +Government as with himself. The cause of offence was that the Government +was thought to have allowed itself to be coerced by the soldiers, while +the latter had been allowed to make their obedience to orders contingent +on a bargain struck with the Government. This aspect of the case was +forcibly argued by Mr. J. Ward, the Labour member for Stoke, in a speech +greatly admired by enthusiasts for "democratic" principles. Although Mr. +Ward's invective was mainly directed against the Unionist Opposition, +the latter listened to it with secret pleasure, perceiving that it was +in reality more damaging to the Government than to themselves, since +Ministers were forced into an attitude of defence against their own +usually docile supporters. It may here be mentioned that at a much later +date, when Mr. John Ward, in the light of experience gained by his own +distinguished <a name="Page_183"></a>service as an officer in the Great War, had come to the +conviction that "the possibility of forcing Ulster within the ambit of a +Dublin Parliament has now become unthinkable," he acknowledged that in +1914 the only way by which Mr. Asquith's Home Rule Act could have been +enforced was through and by the power of the Army.<a name="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77"><sup>[77]</sup></a></p> + +<p>So much shaken were the Government by these attacks that on the next +day, the 25th of March, Colonel Seely, at the end of a long narrative of +the transaction, announced his resignation from the Government. He had, +he said, unintentionally misled his colleagues by adding without their +knowledge to the paper given to General Gough; the Cabinet as a whole +was quite innocent of the great offence given to democratic sentiment. +This announcement having had the desired effect of relieving the +Ministry as a whole from responsibility for the "peccant paragraphs," +and averting Radical wrath from their heads, the Prime Minister later in +the debate said he was not going to accept Seely's resignation. Yet Mr. +Churchill exhibited a fine frenzy of indignation against Mr. Austen +Chamberlain for describing it as a "put-up job."</p> + +<p>Only a fairly fertile imagination could suggest a transaction to which +the phrase would be more justly applicable. The idea that Seely, in +adding the paragraphs, was tampering in any way with the considered +policy of the Cabinet was absurd, although it served the purpose of +averting a crisis in the House of Commons. He had been in constant and +close communication with Churchill, who had himself been present at the +War Office Conference with Gough, and who had seen the Prime Minister +earlier in company with Sir John French. The whole business had been +discussed at the Cabinet Meeting, and when Seely returned from his +audience of the King he found the Prime Minister, Mr. Churchill, and +Lord Morley still in the Cabinet room. Mr. Asquith said on the 25th in +the House of Commons that no Minister except Seely had seen the added +paragraphs, and almost at the same moment in the House of Lords Lord +Morley was saying that he had helped Seely to draft them.<a name="Page_184"></a> Moreover, +Lord Morley actually took a copy of them, which he read in the House of +Lords, and he included the substance of them in his exposition of the +Government policy in the Upper House.</p> + +<p>Furthermore, General Gough was on his way to Ireland that night, and if +it had been true that the Prime Minister, or any other Minister, +disapproved of what Seely had done, there was no reason why Gough should +not have found a telegram waiting for him at the Curragh in the morning +cancelling Seely's paragraphs and withdrawing the assurance they +contained. No step of that kind was taken, and the Government, while +repudiating in the House of Commons the action for which Seely was +allowed to take the sole responsibility, permitted Gough to retain in +his despatch-box the document signed by the Army Council.</p> + +<p>For it was not only the Secretary of State for War who was involved. The +memorandum had been written by the Adjutant-General, and it bore the +initials of Sir John French and Sir Spencer Ewart as well as Colonel +Seely's. These members of the Army Council knew that the verbal +assurance given by the Secretary of State to Gough had not been +completely embodied in the written memorandum without the paragraph +which had been repudiated after the debate in the Commons on the 24th, +and they were not prepared to go back on their written word, or to be +satisfied by the "put-up job" resignation of their civilian Chief. They +both sent in their resignations; and, as they refused even under +pressure to withdraw them, the Secretary of State had no choice but to +do the same on the 30th of March, this time beyond recall. Mr. Asquith +announced on the same day that he had himself become Secretary of State +for War, and would have to go to Scotland for re-election.</p> + +<p>The facts as here related were only extracted by the most persistent and +laborious cross-examination of the Government, who employed all the +familiar arts of official evasion in order to conceal the truth from the +country. Day after day Ministers were bombarded by batteries of +questions in the House of Commons, in addition to the lengthy debates +that occupied the House for several consecutive days. This pressure +compelled the Prime Minister <a name="Page_185"></a>to produce a White Paper, entitled +"Correspondence relating to Recent Events in the Irish Command."<a name="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78"><sup>[78]</sup></a> It +was published on the 25th of March, the third day of the continuous +debates, and, although Mr. Asquith said it contained "all the material +documents," it was immediately apparent to members who had closely +studied the admissions that had been dragged from the Ministers chiefly +concerned, that it was very far from doing so. Much the most important +documents had, in fact, been withheld. Suspicion as to the good faith of +the Government was increased when it was found that the Lord Chancellor, +Lord Haldane, had interpolated into the official Report of his speech in +the House of Lords a significant word which transformed his definite +pledge that Ulster would not be coerced, into a mere statement that no +"immediate" coercion was contemplated.</p> + +<p>In the face of such evasion and prevarication it was out of the question +to let the matter drop. On the 22nd of April the Government was forced +to publish a second White Paper,<a name="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79"><sup>[79]</sup></a> which contained a large number of +highly important documents omitted from the first. But it was evident +that much was still being kept back, and, in particular, that what had +passed between Sir Arthur Paget and his officers at a conference +mentioned in the published correspondence was being carefully concealed. +Mr. Bonar Law demanded a judicial inquiry, where evidence could be taken +on oath. Mr. Asquith refused, saying that an insinuation against the +honour of Ministers could only be properly investigated by the House of +Commons itself, and that a day would be given for a vote of censure if +the leader of the Opposition meant that he could not trust the word of +Ministers of the Crown. Mr. Bonar Law sharply retorted that he "had +already accused the Prime Minister of making a statement which was +false."<a name="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80"><sup>[80]</sup></a> But even this did not suffice to drive the Government to +face the ordeal of having their own account of the affair at the Curragh +sifted by the sworn evidence of others who knew the facts. They +preferred to take cover under the dutiful cheers of <a name="Page_186"></a>their parliamentary +majority when they repeated their explanations, which had already been +proved to be untrue.</p> + +<p>But the Ulster Unionist Council had, meantime, been making inquiries on +their own account. There was nothing in the least improper, although the +supporters of the Government tried to make out that there was, in the +officers at the Curragh revealing what the Commander-in-Chief had said +to them, so long as they did not communicate anything to the Press. They +were not, and could not be, pledged to secrecy. It thus happened that it +was possible for the Old Town Hall in Belfast to put together a more +complete account of the whole affair than it suited the Government to +reveal to Parliament. On the 17th of April the Standing Committee issued +to the Press a statement giving the main additional facts which a sworn +inquiry would have elicited. It bore the signatures of Lord Londonderry +and Sir Edward Carson, and there can have been few foolhardy enough to +suggest that these were men who would be likely to take such a step +without first satisfying themselves as to the trustworthiness of the +evidence, a point on which the judgment of one of them at all events was +admittedly unrivalled.</p> + +<p>From this statement it appeared that Sir Arthur Paget, so far from +indicating that mere "precautionary measures" for the protection of +Government stores were in contemplation, told his generals that +preparations had been made for the employment of some 25,000 troops in +Ulster, in conjunction with naval operations. The gravity of the plan +was revealed by the General's use of the words "battles" and "the +enemy," and his statement that he would himself be "in the firing line" +at the first "battle." He said that, when some casualties had been +suffered by the troops, he intended to approach "the enemy" with a flag +of truce and demand their surrender, and if this should be refused he +would order an assault on their position. The cavalry, whose pro-Ulster +sentiments must have been well known to the Commander-in-Chief, were +told that they would only be required to prevent the infantry "bumping +into the enemy," or in other words to act as a cavalry screen; that they +would not be called upon to fire on "the <a name="Page_187"></a>enemy"; and that as soon as +the infantry became engaged, they would be withdrawn and sent to Cork, +where "a disturbance would be arranged" to provide a pretext for the +movement. A Military Governor of Belfast was to be appointed, and the +general purpose of the operations was to blockade Ulster by land and +sea, and to provoke the Ulster men to shed the first blood.</p> + +<p>The publication of this statement with the authority of the two Ulster +leaders created a tremendous sensation. But it probably strengthened the +resolution of the Government to refuse at all costs a judicial inquiry, +which they knew would only supply sworn corroboration of the Ulster +Unionist Council's story. In this they were assisted in an unexpected +way. Just when the pressure was at its highest, relief came by the +diversion of attention and interest caused by another startling event in +Ulster, which will be described in the following chapters.</p> + +<p>This Curragh Incident, which caused intense and prolonged excitement in +March 1914, and nearly upset the Asquith Government, had more than +momentary importance in connection with the Ulster Movement. It proved +to demonstration the intense sympathy with the loyalist cause that +pervaded the Army. That sympathy was not, as Radical politicians like +Mr. John Ward believed, an aristocratic sentiment only to be found in +the mess-rooms of smart cavalry regiments. It existed in all branches of +the Service, and among the rank and file as well as the commissioned +ranks. Sir Arthur Paget's telegram reporting to the War Office the +feeling in the 5th and 16th Lancers, said, "Fear men will refuse to +move."<a name="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81"><sup>[81]</sup></a> The men had not the same facility as the officers in making +their sentiments known at headquarters, but their sympathies were the +same.</p> + +<p>The Government had no excuse for being ignorant of this feeling in the +Army. It had been a matter of notoriety for a long time. Its existence +and its danger had been reported by Lord Wolseley to the Duke of +Cambridge, back in the old days of Gladstonian Home Rule, in a letter +that had been since published. In July 1913 <i>The Times</i> gave <a name="Page_188"></a>the +warning in a leading article that "the crisis, the approach of which +Ministers affect to treat with unconcern, is already causing uneasiness +and apprehension in the public Services, and especially in the Army.... +It is notorious that some officers have already begun to speak of +sending in their papers." Lord Roberts had uttered a significant warning +in the House of Lords not long before the incident at the Curragh. +Colonel Seely himself had been made aware of it in the previous December +when he signed a War Office Memorandum on the subject<a name="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82"><sup>[82]</sup></a>; and, indeed, +no officer could fail to be aware of it who had ever been quartered in +Ireland.</p> + +<p>Nor was it surprising that this sympathy should manifest itself. No one +is quicker to appreciate the difference between loyalty and disloyalty +than the soldier. There were few regiments in the Army that had not +learnt by experience that the King's uniform was constantly insulted in +Nationalist Ireland, and as invariably welcomed and honoured in Ulster. +In the vote of censure debate on the 19th of March Mr. Cave quoted an +Irish newspaper, which had described the British Army as "the most +immoral and degraded force in Europe," and warned Irishmen that, by +joining it, all they would get was "a red coat, a dishonoured name, a +besmirched character." On the other hand, the very troops who were sent +North from the Curragh against the advice of Sir Arthur Paget, to +provoke "the Ulsterites to shed the first blood," had, as the +Commander-in-Chief reported, "everywhere a good reception."<a name="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83"><sup>[83]</sup></a></p> + +<p>The welcoming cheers at Holywood and Carrickfergus and Armagh were +probably a pleasant novelty to men fresh from the Curragh or Fermoy. +Even in Belfast itself the contrast was brought home to troops quartered +in Victoria Barracks, all of whom were well aware that on the death of a +comrade his coffin would have to be borne by a roundabout route to the +cemetery, to avoid the Nationalist quarter of the city where a military +funeral would be exposed to insult.</p> + +<p>Such experiences, as they harden into traditions, sink deep into the +consciousness of an Army and breed senti<a name="Page_189"></a>ments that are not easily +eradicated. Soldiers ought, of course, to have no politics; but when it +appeared that they might be called upon to open fire on those whom they +had always counted "on our side," in order to subject them forcibly to +men who hated the sight of a British flag and were always ready to spit +upon it, human nature asserted itself. And the incident taught the +Government something as to the difficulty they would have in enforcing +the Home Rule Bill in Ulster.</p><a name="Page_190"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64">[64]</a><div class="note"><p> See White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. II.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65">[65]</a><div class="note"><p> See White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. VI.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66">[66]</a><div class="note"><p> See White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. VII.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67">[67]</a><div class="note"><p> White Paper (Cd. 7329), Part II, No. II.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68">[68]</a><div class="note"><p> White Paper (Cd. 7329), Part III.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69">[69]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>Parliamentary Debates</i>, vol. lx, p. 73.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70">[70]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., p. 426.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71">[71]</a><div class="note"><p> Cd. 7329, No. XVII.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72">[72]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., Nos. XVIII, XX.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73">[73]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., Nos. XXII, XXIII.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74">[74]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>Parliamentary Debates</i>, vol. lx, p. 246.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75">[75]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., p. 400.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76">[76]</a><div class="note"><p> White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. XX.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77">[77]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Nineteenth Century and After</i>, January 1921, art. +"The Army and Ireland," by Lieut.-Colonel John Ward, C.B., C.M.G., M.P.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78">[78]</a><div class="note"><p> Cd. 7318.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79">[79]</a><div class="note"><p> Cd. 7329.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80">[80]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Parliamentary Debate</i>, vol. lxi, p. 765.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81">[81]</a><div class="note"><p> White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. XVII. See <i>ante</i>, p. 180.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82">[82]</a><div class="note"><p> White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. I.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83">[83]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., No. XXVII.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h4>ARMING THE U.V.F.</h4> + + +<p>If the "evil-disposed persons" who so excited the fancy of Colonel Seely +were supposed to be Ulster Loyalists, the whole story was an absurdity +that did no credit to the Government's Intelligence in Ireland; and if +there ever was any "information," such as the War Office alleged, it +must have come from a source totally ignorant of Ulster psychology. +Raids on Government stores were never part of the Ulster programme. The +excitement of the Curragh Incident passed off without causing any sort +of disturbance, and, as we have seen, the troops who were sent North +received everywhere in Ulster a loyal welcome. This was a fine tribute +to the discipline and restraint of the people, and was a further proof +of their confidence in their leaders.</p> + +<p>Those leaders, it happened, were at that very moment taking measures to +place arms in the hands of the U.V.F. without robbing Government depots +or any one else. That method was left to their opponents in Ireland at a +later date, who adopted it on an extensive scale accompanied by +systematic terrorism. The Ulster plan was quite different. All the arms +they obtained were paid for, and their only crime was that they +successfully hoodwinked Mr. Asquith's colleagues and agents.</p> + +<p>Every movement has its Fabius, and also its Hotspur. Both are +needed—the men of prudence and caution, anxious to avoid extreme +courses, slow to commit themselves too far or to burn their boats with +the river behind them; and the impetuous spirits, who chafe at +half-measures, cannot endure temporising, and are impatient for the +order to advance against any odds. Major F.H. Crawford had more of the +temperament of a Hotspur than of a Fabius, but he nevertheless possessed +qualities of patience, re<a name="Page_191"></a>ticence, discretion, and coolness which +enabled him to render invaluable service to the Ulster cause in an +enterprise that would certainly have miscarried in the hands of a man +endowed only with impetuosity and reckless courage. If the story of his +adventures in procuring arms for the U.V.F. be ever told in minute +detail, it will present all the features of an exciting novel by Mr. +John Buchan.</p> + +<p>Fred Crawford, the man who followed a family tradition when he signed +the Covenant with his own blood,<a name="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84"><sup>[84]</sup></a> began life as a premium apprentice +in Harland and Wolf's great ship-building yard, after which he served +for a year as an engineer in the White Star Line, before settling down +to his father's manufacturing business in Belfast. Like so many ardent +Loyalists in Ulster, he came of Liberal stock. He was for years honorary +Secretary of the Reform Club in Belfast. The more staid members of this +highly respectable establishment were not a little startled and +perplexed when it was brought to their attention in 1907 that +advertisements in the name of one "Hugh Matthews," giving the Belfast +Reform Club as his address, had appeared in a number of foreign +newspapers—French, Belgian, Italian, German, and Austrian—inquiring +for "10,000 rifles and one million rounds of small-arm ammunition." The +membership of the Club included no Hugh Matthews; but inquiry showed +that the name covered the identity of the Hon. Secretary; and Crawford, +who sought no concealment in the matter, justified the advertisements by +pointing out that the Liberal Government which had lately come into +power had begun its rule in Ireland by repealing the Act prohibiting the +importation of arms, and that there was therefore nothing illegal in +what he was doing. But he resigned his secretaryship, which he felt +might hamper future transactions of the same kind. The advertisement was +no doubt half bravado and half practical joke; he wanted to see whether +it would attract notice, and if anything would come of it. But it had +also an element of serious purpose.</p> + +<p>Crawford regarded the advent to power of the Liberal Party as ominous, +as indeed all Ulster did, for the Liberal Party was a Home Rule Party; +and he had from his youth <a name="Page_192"></a>been convinced that the day would come when +Ulster would have to carry out Lord Randolph Churchill's injunction. +That being so, he was not the man to tarry till solemn assemblies of +merchants, lawyers, and divines should propound a policy; if there was +to be fighting, Crawford was going to be ready for it, and thought that +preparation for such a contingency could not begin too soon. And the +advertisements were not barren of practical result. There was an +astonishing number of replies; Crawford purchased a few rifles, and +obtained samples of others; and, what was more important, he gained +knowledge of the Continental trade in second-hand firearms, which had +its centre in the free port of Hamburg, and of the men engaged in that +trade. This knowledge he turned to account in 1912 and the two following +years.</p> + +<p>He had been for nearly twenty years an officer of Artillery Militia, and +when the U.V.F. was organised in 1912 he became its Director of Ordnance +on the headquarters staff. He was also a member of the Standing +Committee of the Ulster Unionist Council, where he persistently +advocated preparation for armed resistance long before most of his +colleagues thought such a policy necessary. But early in 1912 he +obtained leave to get samples of procurable firearms, and his +promptitude in acting on it, and in presenting before certain members of +the Committee a collection of gleaming rifles with bayonets fixed, took +away the breath of the more cautious of his colleagues.</p> + +<p>From this time forward Crawford was frequently engaged in this business. +He got into communication with the dealers in arms whose acquaintance he +had made six years before. He went himself to Hamburg, and, after +learning something of the chicanery prevalent in the trade, which it +took all his resourcefulness to overcome, he fell in with an honest Jew +by whose help he succeeded in sending a thousand rifles safely to +Belfast. Other consignments followed from time to time in larger or +smaller quantities, in the transport of which all the devices of +old-time smuggling were put to the test. Crawford bought a schooner, +which for a year or more proved very useful, and, while employing her in +bringing arms to Ulster, he <a name="Page_193"></a>made acquaintance with a skipper of one of +the Antrim Iron Ore Company's coasting steamers, whose name was Agnew, a +fine seaman of the best type produced by the British Mercantile Marine, +who afterwards proved an invaluable ally, to whose loyalty and ability +Crawford and Ulster owed a deep debt of gratitude, as they also did to +Mr. Robert Browne, Managing Director of the Antrim Iron Ore Company, for +placing at their disposal both vessels and seamen from time to time.</p> + +<p>Now and then the goods fell a victim to Custom House vigilance; for +although there was at this time nothing illegal in importing firearms, +it was not considered prudent to carry on the trade openly, which would +certainly have led to prohibition being introduced and enforced; and, +consequently, infringements of shipping regulations had to be risked, +which gave the authorities the right to interfere if they discovered +rifles where zinc plates or musical instruments ought to have been.</p> + +<p>On one occasion a case of arms was shipped on a small steamer from +Glasgow to Portrush, but was not entered in the manifest, so that the +skipper (being a worthy man) knew nothing—officially—of this box which +lay on deck instead of descending into the hold. But two Customs +officials, who noticed it with unsatisfied curiosity, decided, just as +the boat cast off, to make the trip to Portrush. Happily it was a dirty +night, and they, being bad sailors, were constrained to take refuge from +the elements in the Captain's cabin. But when Portrush was reached +search and research proved unavailing to find the mysterious box; the +skipper could find no mention of it in the manifest and thought the +Customs House gentlemen must have been dreaming; they, on the other +hand, threatened to seize the ship if the box did not materialise, and +were told to do so at their peril. But exactly off Ballycastle, which +had been passed while the officials were poorly, there was a float in +the sea attached to a line, which in due course led to the recovery of a +case of valuable property that was none the worse for a few hours' rest +on the bottom of the Moyle.</p> + +<p>Qualities of a different sort were called into play in <a name="Page_194"></a>negotiating the +purchase of machine-guns from Messrs. Vickers & Co., at Woolwich. Here a +strong American accent, combined with the providential circumstance that +Mexico happened to be in the grip of revolutionary civil war, overcame +all difficulties, and Mr. John Washington Graham, U.S.A. (otherwise Fred +H. Crawford of Belfast) played his part so effectively that he did not +fail to finish the deal by extracting a handsome commission for himself, +which found its way subsequently to the coffers of the Ulster Unionist +Council. But he compensated the Company by making a suggestion for +improving the mechanism of the Maxim-gun which the great ordnance +manufacturers permanently adopted without having to pay for any patent +rights.</p> + +<p>Major Crawford was, however, by no means the only person who was at this +time bringing arms and ammunition into Ulster, which, as already +explained, although not illegal, could not be safely done openly on a +large scale. Ammunition in small quantities dribbled into Belfast pretty +constantly, many amateur importers deriving pleasurable excitement from +feeling themselves conspirators, and affording amusement to others by +the tales told of the ingenious expedients resorted to by the smugglers.</p> + +<p>There was a dock porter at Belfast, an intense admirer of Sir Edward +Carson, who was the retailer of one of the best of these stories. He was +always on the look-out for the leader arriving by the Liverpool steamer, +and would allow no one else, if he could help it, to handle the great +man's hand-baggage; and when Carson was not a passenger, any of his +satellites who happened to be travelling came in for vicarious +attention. Thus, it happened on one occasion that the writer, arriving +alone from Liverpool, was hailed from the shore before the boat was made +fast. "Is Sir Edward on board?" A shake of the head brought a look of +pathetic disappointment to the face of the hero-worshipper; but he was +on board before the gangway was down and busy collecting the belongings +of the leader's unworthy substitute. When laden with these and half-way +down the gangway he <a name="Page_195"></a>stopped, and, entirely careless of the fact that he +was obstructing a number of passengers impatient to land, he turned and +whispered—a whisper that might be heard thirty yards off—with a +knowing wink of the eye:</p> + +<p>"We're getting in plenty of stuff now."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," was the reply. "Never mind about that now; put those things +on a car."</p> + +<p>But he continued, without budging from the gangway, "Och aye, we're +getting in plenty; but my God, didn't Mrs. Blank o' Dungannon bate all? +Did ye hear about her?"</p> + +<p>"No, I never heard of Mrs. Blank of Dungannon. But do hurry along, my +good man; you're keeping back all the passengers."</p> + +<p>"What! ye never heard o' Mrs. Blank o' Dungannon? Wait now till I tell +ye. Mrs. Blank came off this boat not a fortnight ago, an' as she came +down this gangway I declare to God you'd ha' swore she was within a week +of her time—and divil a ha'porth the matter with her, only cartridges. +An' the fun was that the Custom House boys knowed rightly what it was, +but they dursn't lay a hand on her nor search her, for fear they were +wrong."</p> + +<p>This admiring tribute to the heroic matron of Dungannon—whose real name +was not concealed by the porter—was heard by a number of people, and +probably most of them thought themselves compensated by the story for +the delay it caused them in leaving the steamer.</p> + +<p>By the summer of 1913 several thousands of rifles had been brought into +Ulster; but in May of that year the mishap occurred to which Lord +Roberts referred in his letter to Colonel Hickman on the 4th of June, +when he wrote: "I am sorry to read about the capture of rifles."<a name="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85"><sup>[85]</sup></a> +Crawford had been obliged to find some place in London for storing the +arms which he was procuring from his friends in Hamburg, and with the +help of Sir William Bull, M.P. for Hammersmith, the yard of an +old-fashioned inn in that district was found where it was believed they +would be safe until means of transporting them to the North of Ireland +could be devised. The inn was taken <a name="Page_196"></a>by a firm calling itself John +Ferguson & Co., the active member of which was Sir William Bull's +brother-in-law, Captain Budden; and the business appeared to consist of +dealing in second-hand scientific instruments and machinery, +curiosities, antique armour and weapons, old furniture, and so forth, +which were brought in very heavy cases and deposited in the yard. For a +time it proved useful, and the Maxims from Woolwich passed safely +through the Hammersmith store. But the London police got wind of the +Hammersmith Armoury, and seized a consignment of between six and seven +thousand excellent Italian rifles. A rusty and little-known Act of +Parliament had to be dug up to provide legal authority for the seizure. +Many sportsmen and others then learnt for the first time that, under the +Gun-barrel Proof Act, 1868, every gun-barrel in England must bear the +Gun-makers' Company's proof-mark showing that its strength has been +tested and approved. As the penalty for being in possession of guns not +so marked was a fine of £2 per barrel, to have put in a claim for the +Italian rifles seized at Hammersmith would have involved a payment of +more than £12,000, and would have given the Government information as to +the channel through which they had been imported. No move was made, +therefore, so far as the firearms were concerned, but the bayonets +attached to them, for the seizure of which there was no legal +justification, were claimed by Crawford's agent in Hamburg, and +eventually reached Ulster safely by another route. About the same time a +consignment of half a million rounds of small-arm ammunition, which was +discovered by the authorities through faulty packing in cement-bags, was +also confiscated in another part of the country.</p> + +<p>These losses convinced Crawford that a complete change of method must be +adopted if faith was to be kept with the Ulster Volunteers, who were +implicitly trusting their leaders to provide them with weapons to enable +them to make good the Covenant. More than a year before this time he had +told the special Committee dealing with arms, to which he was +immediately responsible, that, in his judgment, the only way of dealing +effectively with the <a name="Page_197"></a>problem was not by getting small quantities +smuggled from time to time by various devices and through disguised +ordinary trade channels, but by bringing off a grand <i>coup</i>, as if +running a blockade in time of war. He had crossed the Channel on purpose +to submit this view to Sir Edward Carson and Captain Craig early in +1912, but at that time nothing was done to give effect to it.</p> + +<p>But the seizure of so large a number as six thousand rifles at a time +when the political situation looked like moving towards a crisis in the +near future, made necessary a bolder attempt to procure the necessary +arms. When General Sir George Richardson took command of the U.V.F. in +July 1913 he placed Captain (afterwards Lieut.-Colonel) Wilfrid Bliss +Spender on his staff, and soon afterwards appointed him A.Q.M.G. of the +Forces. Captain Spender's duties comprised the supply of equipment, +arms, and ammunition, the organisation of transport, and the supervision +of communications. He was now requested to confer with Major Fred +Crawford with a view to preparing a scheme for procuring arms and +ammunition, to be submitted to a special sub-committee appointed to deal +with this matter, of which Captain James Craig was chairman. Spender +gave his attention mainly to the difficulties that would attend the +landing and distribution of arms if they reached Ulster in safety; +Crawford said he could undertake to purchase and bring them from a +foreign port. Crawford's proposed <i>modus operandi</i> may be given in his +own words:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I would immediately go to Hamburg and see B.S. [the Hebrew dealer + in firearms with whom he had been in communication for some six or + seven years, and whom he had found perfectly honest, and not at all + grasping], and consult him as to what he had to offer. I would + purchase 25,000 to 30,000 rifles, modern weapons if possible, and + not the Italian Vetteli rifles we had been getting, all to take the + same ammunition and fitted with bayonets. I would purchase a + suitable steamer of 600 tons in some foreign port and load her up + with the arms, and either bring her in direct or transfer the cargo + to a local steamer in some estuary or bay on the Scottish coast. I + felt confident, <a name="Page_198"></a>though I knew the difficulties in front of me, + that I could carry it through all right."<a name="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86"><sup>[86]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>The sub-committee accepted Crawford's proposal, and, when it had been +confirmed by Headquarters Council, he was commissioned to go to Hamburg +to see how the land lay. On arriving there he found that B.S. had still +in store ten thousand Vetteli rifles and a million rounds of ammunition +for them, which he had been holding for Crawford for two years. After a +day or two the dealer laid three alternative proposals before his Ulster +customer: (a) Twenty thousand Vetteli rifles, with bayonets (ammunition +would have to be specially manufactured).(6) Thirty thousand Russian +rifles with bayonets (lacking scabbards) and ammunition, (c) Fifteen +thousand new Austrian, and five thousand German army rifles with +bayonets, both to take standard Mannlicher cartridges.</p> + +<p>The last mentioned of these alternatives was much the most costly, being +double the price of the first and nearly treble that of the second; but +it had great advantages over the other two. Ammunition for the Italian +weapons was only manufactured in Italy, and, if further supplies should +be required, could only be got from that country. The Russian rifles +were perfectly new and unused, but were of an obsolete pattern; they +were single-loaders, and fresh supplies of cartridges would be nearly as +difficult to procure for them as for the Italian. The Austrian and +German patterns were both first-rate; the rifles were up-to-date +clip-loaders, and, what was the most important consideration, ammunition +for them would be easily procurable in the United Kingdom or from +America or Canada.</p> + +<p>But the difference in cost was so great that Crawford returned to +Belfast to explain matters to his Committee, calling in London on his +way to inform Carson and Craig. He strongly urged the acceptance of the +third alternative offer, laying stress, among other considerations, on +the moral effect on men who knew they had in their hands the most modern +weapon with all latest improvements. Carson was content to be guided on +a technical matter of this <a name="Page_199"></a>sort by the judgment of a man whom he knew +to be an expert, and as James Craig, who was in control of the fund +ear-marked for the purchase of arms, also agreed, Crawford had not much +difficulty in persuading the Committee when he reached Belfast, although +at first they were rather staggered by the difference in cost between +the various proposals.</p> + +<p>It was not until the beginning of February 1914 that Crawford returned +to Hamburg to accept this offer, and to make arrangements with B.S. for +carrying out the rest of his scheme for transporting his precious but +dangerous cargo to Ulster. On his way through London he called again on +Carson.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I pointed out to Sir Edward, my dear old Chief," says Crawford in + a written account of the interview, "that some of my Committee had + no idea of the seriousness of the undertaking, and, when they did + realise what they were in for, might want to back out of it. I + said, 'Once I cross this time to Hamburg there is no turning back + with me, no matter what the circumstances are so far as my personal + safety is concerned; and no contrary orders from the Committee to + cancel what they have agreed to with me will I obey. I shall carry + out the <i>coup</i> if I lose my life in the attempt. Now, Sir Edward, + you know what I am about to undertake, and the risks those who back + me up must run. Are you willing to back me to the finish in this + undertaking? If you are not, I don't go. But, if you are, I would + go even if I knew I should not return; it is for Ulster and her + freedom I am working, and this alone.' I so well remember that + scene. We were alone; Sir Edward was sitting opposite to me. When I + had finished, his face was stern and grim, and there was a glint in + his eye. He rose to his full height, looking me in the eye; he + advanced to where I was sitting and stared down at me, and shook + his clenched fist in my face, and said in a steady, determined + voice, which thrilled me and which I shall never forget: 'Crawford, + I'll see you through this business, if I should have to go to + prison for it.' I rose from my chair; I held out my hand and said, + 'Sir Edward, that is all I want. I leave to-night; good-bye.'"</p></blockquote> + +<p>Next day Crawford was in Hamburg. He immediately <a name="Page_200"></a>concluded his +agreement with B.S., and began making arrangements for carrying out the +plan he had outlined to the Committee in Belfast. As will be seen in the +next chapter, he was actually in the middle of this adventure at the +very time when Seely and Churchill were worrying lest "evil-disposed +persons" should raid and rob the scantily stocked Government Stores at +Omagh and Enniskillen.</p><a name="Page_201"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84">[84]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Ante</i>, p. 123.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85">[85]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Ante</i>, p. 161.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86">[86]</a><div class="note"><p> From a manuscript narrative by Colonel F.H. Crawford.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h4>A VOYAGE OF ADVENTURE</h4> + + +<p>Although Mr. Lloyd George's message to mankind on New Year's Day, 1914, +was that "Anglo-German relations were far more friendly than for years +past,"<a name="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87"><sup>[87]</sup></a> and that there was therefore no need to strengthen the +British Navy, it may be doubted, with the knowledge we now possess, +whether the German Government would have been greatly incensed at the +idea of a cargo of firearms finding its way from Hamburg to Ireland in +the spring of that year without the knowledge of the British Government. +But if that were the case Fred Crawford had no reason to suspect it. +German surveillance was always both efficient and obtrusive, and he had +to make his preparations under a vigilance by the authorities which +showed no signs of laxity. Those preparations involved the assembling +and the packing of 20,000 modern rifles, 15,000 of which had to be +brought from a factory in Austria; 10,000 Italian rifles previously +purchased, which B.S. had in store; bayonets for all the firearms; and +upwards of 3,000,000 rounds of small-arm ammunition. The packing of the +arms was a matter to which Crawford gave particular attention. He kept +in mind the circumstances under which he expected them to be landed in +Ulster. Avoidance of confusion and rapidity of handling were of the +first importance. Rifles, bayonets, and ammunition must be not separated +in bulk, requiring to be laboriously reassembled at their destination. +He therefore insisted that parcels should be made up containing five +rifles in each, with bayonets to match, and 100 rounds of ammunition per +rifle, each parcel weighing about 75 lbs. He attached so much importance +to this system of packing that he adhered to it <a name="Page_202"></a>even after discovering +that it would cost about £2,000, and would take more than a month to +complete.</p> + +<p>While the work of packing was going on, Crawford, who found he was +exciting the curiosity of the Hamburg police, kept out of sight as much +as possible, and he paid more than one visit to the Committee in +Belfast, leaving the supervision to the skipper and packer, whom he had +found he could trust. In the meantime, by advertisements in the +Scandinavian countries, he was looking out for a suitable steamer to +carry the cargo. For a crew his thoughts turned to his old friend, +Andrew Agnew, skipper in the employment of the Antrim Iron Ore Company. +Happily he was not only able to secure the services of Agnew himself, +but Agnew brought with him his mate and his chief and second engineers. +This was a great gain; for they were not only splendid men at their job, +but were men willing to risk their liberty or their lives for the Ulster +cause. Deck-hands and firemen would be procurable at whatever port a +steamer was to be bought.</p> + +<p>Several vessels were offered in response to Crawford's advertisements, +and on the 16th of March, when the packing of the arms was well +advanced, Crawford, Agnew, and his chief engineer went to Norway to +inspect these steamers. Eventually they selected the s.s. <i>Fanny</i>, which +had just returned to Bergen with a cargo of coal from Newcastle. She was +only an eight-knot vessel, but her skipper, a Norwegian, gave a +favourable report of her sea-going qualities and coal consumption, and +Agnew and his engineer were satisfied by their inspection of her. The +deal was quickly completed, and the Captain and his Norwegian crew +willingly consented to remain in charge of the <i>Fanny</i>; and, in order to +enable her to sail under the Norwegian flag, as a precaution against +possible confiscation in British waters, it was arranged that the +Captain should be the nominal purchaser, giving Crawford a mortgage for +her full value.</p> + +<p>Then, leaving Agnew to get sufficient stores on board the <i>Fanny</i> for a +three-months' cruise, Crawford returned to Hamburg on the 20th, and +thence to Belfast to report progress. Agnew's orders were to bring the +<i>Fanny</i> in three weeks' time to a rendezvous marked on the chart +<a name="Page_203"></a>between the Danish islands of Langeland and Fünen, where he was to pick +up the cargo of arms, which Crawford would bring in lighters from +Hamburg through the Kiel Canal.</p> + +<p>While Crawford was in Belfast arrangements were made to enable him to +keep in communication with Spender, so that in case of necessity he +could be warned not to approach the Irish coast, but to cruise in the +Baltic till a more favourable opportunity. He was to let Spender know +later where he could be reached with final instructions as to landing +the arms; the rendezvous so agreed upon subsequently was Lough Laxford, +a wild and inaccessible spot on the west coast of Sutherlandshire. +Crawford was warned by B.S. that he was far from confident of a +successful end to their labours at Hamburg. He had never before shipped +anything like so large a number of firearms; and the long process of +packing, and Crawford's own mysterious coming and going, would be +certain to excite suspicion, which would reach the secret agents of the +British Government, and lead either to a protest addressed to the German +authorities, followed by a prohibition on shipping the arms, or to +confiscation by the British authorities when the cargo entered British +territorial waters.</p> + +<p>These fears must have been present to the mind of B.S. when he met +Crawford at the station in Hamburg on the 27th on his return from +Belfast, for the precautions taken to avoid being followed gave their +movements the character of an adventure by one of Stanley Weyman's +heroes of romance. Whether any suspicion had in fact been aroused +remains unknown. Anyhow, the barges were ready laden, with a tug waiting +till the tide should serve about midnight for making a start down the +Elbe, and through the canal to Kiel. The modest sum of £10 procured an +order authorising the tug and barges to proceed through the canal +without stopping, and requiring other shipping to let them pass. A black +flag was the signal of this privileged position, which suggested the +"Jolly Roger" to Crawford's thoughts, and gave a sense of insolent +audacity when great liners of ten or fifteen thousand tons were seen +making way for a tug-boat towing a couple of lighters.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_204"></a>For the success of the enterprise up to this point Crawford was greatly +indebted to the Jew, B.S. From first to last this gentleman "played the +game" with sterling honesty and straightforward dealing that won his +customers' warm admiration. Several times he accepted Crawford's word as +sufficient security when cash was not immediately forthcoming, and in no +instance did he bear out the character traditionally attributed to his +race.</p> + +<p>On arrival at Kiel, Crawford, after a short absence from the tug, was +informed that three men had been inquiring from the lightermen and the +tug's skipper about the nature and destination of the cargo. All such +evidences of curiosity on the subject were rather alarming, but it +turned out that the visitors were probably Mexicans—of what political +party there it would be impossible to guess—whose interest had been +aroused by the rumour, which Crawford had encouraged, that guns were +being shipped to that distracted Republic. Still more alarming was the +arrival on board the tug of a German official in resplendent uniform, +who insisted that he must inspect the cargo. Crawford knew no German, +but the shipping agent who accompanied him produced papers showing that +all formalities had been complied with, and all requisite authorisation +obtained. Neither official papers, however, nor arguments made any +impression on the officer until it occurred to Crawford to produce a +100-marks note, which proved much more persuasive, and sent the official +on his way rejoicing, with expressions of civility on both sides.</p> + +<p>The relief of the Ulsterman when the last of the Kiel forts was left +behind, and he knew that his cargo was clear of Germany, may be +imagined. A night was spent crossing Kiel Bay, and in the morning of the +29th they were close to Langeland, and approaching the rendezvous with +the <i>Fanny</i>. She was there waiting, and Agnew, in obedience to orders, +had already painted out her name on bows and stern. The next thing was +to transfer the arms from the lighters to the <i>Fanny</i>. Crawford was +apprehensive lest the Danish authorities should take an interest in the +proceedings if the work was carried out in the narrow <a name="Page_205"></a>channel between +the islands, and he proposed, as it was quite calm, to defer operations +till they were further from the shore. But the Norwegian Captain +declared that he had often transhipped cargo at this spot, and that +there was no danger whatever. Nevertheless, Crawford's fears were +realised. Before the work was half finished a Danish Port Officer came +on board, asked what the cargo comprised, and demanded to see the ship's +papers. According to the manifest the <i>Fanny</i> was bound for Iceland with +a general cargo, part of which was to be shipped at Bergen. The Danish +officer then spent half an hour examining the bales, and, although he +did not open any of them, Crawford felt no doubt he knew perfectly the +nature of their contents. Finally he insisted on carrying off the +papers, both of the <i>Fanny</i> and the tug-boat, saying that all the +information must be forwarded to Copenhagen to be dealt with by the +Government authorities, but that the papers would be returned early next +morning.</p> + +<p>One can well believe Crawford when he says that he suffered "mental +agony" that night. After all that he had planned, and all that he had +accomplished by many months of personal energy and resource, he saw +complete and ignominious failure staring him in the face. He realised +the heavy financial loss to the Ulster Loyalists, for his cargo +represented about £70,000 of their money; and he realised the bitter +disappointment of their hopes, which was far worse than any loss of +money. He pictured to himself what must happen in the morning—"to have +to follow a torpedo-boat into the naval base and lie there till the +whole Ulster scheme was unravelled and known to the world as a ghastly +failure, and the Province and Sir Edward and all the leaders the +laughing stock of the world"—and the thought of it all plunged him +almost into despair.</p> + +<p>Almost, but not quite. He was not the man to give way to despair. If it +came to the worst he would "put all the foreign crew and their +belongings into the boats and send them off; Agnew and I would arm +ourselves with a bundle of rifles, and cut it open and have 500 rounds +to fight any attempt to board us, and if we slipped this <a name="Page_206"></a>by any chance, +he and I would bring her to England together, he on deck and I in the +engine-room. He knew all about navigation and I knew all about engines, +having been a marine engineer in my youth."</p> + +<p>But a less desperate job called for immediate attention. The men engaged +in transferring the cargo from the barges to the steamer wanted to knock +off work for the night; but the offer of double pay persuaded them to +stick to it, and they worked with such good will that by midnight every +bale was safely below hatches in the <i>Fanny</i>. Crawford then instructed +the shipping agent to be off in the tug at break of day, giving him +letters to post which would apprise the Committee in Belfast of what had +happened, and give them the means of communicating with himself +according to previously concerted plans.</p> + +<p>Before morning a change occurred in the weather, which Crawford regarded +as providential. He was gladdened by the sight of a sea churned white by +half a gale, while a mist lay on the water, reducing visibility to about +300 yards. It would be impossible for the Port Officer's motor-boat to +face such a sea, or, if it did, to find the <i>Fanny</i>, unless guided by +her fog-whistle. As soon as eight o'clock had passed—the hour by which +the return of the ship's papers had been promised—Crawford weighed +anchor, and crept out of the narrow channel under cover of the fog, only +narrowly escaping going aground on the way among the banks and shallows +that made it impossible to sail before daylight, but eventually the open +sea was safely reached. But the <i>Fanny</i> was now without papers, and in +law was a pirate ship. It was therefore desirable for her to change her +costume. As many hands as possible were turned to the task of giving a +new colour to the funnel and making some other effective alterations in +her appearance, including a new name on her bows and stern. Thus +renovated, and after a delay of some days, caused by trifling mishaps, +she left the Cattegat behind and steered a course for British waters.</p> + +<p>The original plan had been to set a course for Iceland, and, when north +of the Shetlands, to turn to the southward to Lough Laxford, the agreed +rendezvous with Spender.<a name="Page_207"></a> But the incident at Langeland, which had made +the Danish authorities suspect illegal traffic with Iceland, made a +change of plan imperative. Before leaving Danish waters Crawford tried +to communicate this change to Belfast. But, meantime, information had +reached Belfast of certain measures being taken by the Government, and +Spender, hoping to catch Crawford before he left Kiel, went to Dublin to +telegraph from there. In Dublin he was dismayed to read in the +newspapers that a mysterious vessel called the <i>Fanny</i>, said to be +carrying arms for Ulster, had been captured by the Danish authorities in +the Baltic. For several days no further news reached Belfast, where it +was assumed that the whole enterprise had failed; and then a code +message informed the Committee that Crawford was in London.</p> + +<p>Spender at once went over to see him, in order to warn him not to bring +the arms to Ireland for the present. He was to take them back to +Hamburg, or throw them overboard, or sink the <i>Fanny</i> and take to her +boats, according to circumstances. But in London, instead of Crawford, +Spender found the Hamburg skipper and packer, who told him of Crawford's +escape from Langeland with the loss of the ship's papers. Spender, +knowing nothing of Crawford's change of plan, and anxious to convey to +him the latest instructions, went off on a wild-goose chase to the +Highlands of Scotland, where he spent the best part of an unhappy week +watching the waves tumbling in Lough Laxford, and looking as anxiously +as Tristan for the expected ship.</p> + +<p>Meantime the <i>Fanny</i> had crossed the North Sea, and Crawford sent Agnew +ashore at Yarmouth on the 7th of April with orders to hurry to Belfast, +where he was to procure another steamer and bring it to a rendezvous at +Lundy Island, in the Bristol Channel. Crawford himself, having +rechristened the <i>Fanny</i> for the second time (this time the <i>Doreen</i>), +proceeded down the English Channel, where he had a rather adventurous +cruise in a gale of wind. He kept close to the French coast, to avoid +any unwelcome attentions in British waters, but on the way had an attack +of malaria, which the Captain thought so <a name="Page_208"></a>grave that, no doubt with the +most humane motives, he declared his intention of putting Crawford +ashore at Dunkirk to save his life, a design which no persuasion short +of Crawford's handling of his revolver in true pirate fashion would make +the Norwegian abandon.</p> + +<p>In the heavy seas of the Channel the <i>Doreen</i> could not make more than +four knots, and she was consequently twenty-four hours late for the +rendezvous with Agnew at Lundy, where she arrived on the 11th of April. +The Bristol Channel seemed to swarm with pilot boats eager to be of +service, whose inquisitive and expert eyes were anything but welcome to +the custodian of Ulster's rifles; and to his highly strung imagination +every movement of every trawler appeared to betoken suspicion. And, +indeed, they were not without excuse for curiosity; for, a foreign +steamer whose course seemed indeterminate, now making for Cardiff and +now for St. Ives, observed at one time north-east of Lundy and a few +hours later south of the island—a tramp, in fact, that was obviously +"loitering" with no ascertainable destination, was enough to keep +telescopes to the eyes of Devon pilots and fisher-folk, and to set their +tongues wagging. But there was no help for it. Crawford could not leave +the rendezvous till Agnew arrived, and was forced to wander round Lundy +and up and down the Bristol Channel for two days and nights, until, at 5 +a.m. on Monday morning, the 13th of April, a signal from a passing +steamer, the <i>Balmerino</i>, gave the welcome tidings that Agnew was on +board and was proceeding to sea.</p> + +<p>When the two steamers were sufficiently far from Lundy lighthouse and +other prying eyes to make friendly intercourse safe, Agnew came on board +the <i>Doreen</i>, bringing with him another North Irish seaman whom he +introduced to Crawford. This man handed to Crawford a paper he had +brought from Belfast. It was typewritten; it bore no address and no +signature; it was no doubt a duplicate of what Spender had taken to the +Highlands, for its purport, as given by Crawford from memory, was to the +following effect: "Owing to great changes since you left, and altered +circumstances, the Committee think it would be <a name="Page_209"></a>unwise to bring the +cargo here at present, and instruct you to proceed to the Baltic and +cruise there for three months, keeping in touch with the Committee, or +else to store the goods at Hamburg till required."</p> + +<p>The "great changes" referred to were the operations that led to the +Curragh incident, the story of which Crawford now learnt from Agnew. The +presence of the fleet at Lamlash, and of destroyers off Carrickfergus, +was enough to make the Committee deem it an inopportune moment for +Crawford to bring his goods to Belfast Lough. But the latter was hardly +in a condition to appreciate the gravity of the situation, and the +indignation which the missive aroused in him is intelligible. After all +he had come through, the ups and downs, dangers and escapes—far more +varied than have been here recorded—the disappointment at being ordered +back was cruel; and in his eyes such instructions were despicably +pusillanimous. The caution that had prompted his instructors to leave +the order unsigned moved him to contempt, and in his wrath he was +confident that "the Chief at any rate had nothing to do with it." He +told the messenger that he did not know who had sent the paper, and did +not want to know, and instructed him to take it back and inform the +senders that, as it bore no signature, no date, no address, and no +official stamp, he declined to recognise it and refused to obey it; and, +further, that unless he received within six days properly authenticated +instructions for delivering his cargo, he would run his ship ashore at +high water in the County Down, and let the Ulstermen salve as much as +they could when the tide ebbed.</p> + +<p>But Crawford determined to make another effort first to accomplish his +task by less desperate methods. He therefore decided to accompany the +messenger back to Belfast. The <i>Doreen</i>, late <i>Fanny</i>, was too +foreign-looking to pass unchallenged up Belfast Lough, but he believed +that if the cargo could be transhipped to a vessel known to all watchers +on the North Irish coast, a policy of audacity would have a good chance +of success. The s.s. <i>Balmerino</i>, which had brought Agnew and the +messenger to Lundy, was such a vessel; her owner, Mr. Sam Kelly, was <a name="Page_210"></a>an +intimate friend of Crawford's; and if he could see Kelly the matter, he +hoped, might be quickly arranged. The reliance which Crawford placed in +Mr. Sam Kelly was fully justified, for the assistance rendered by this +gentleman was essential to the success of the enterprise. He it was who +freely supplied two steamers, with crews and stevedores, thereby +enabling the last part of this adventurous voyage to be carried through; +and the willingness with which Mr. Kelly risked financial loss, and much +besides, placed Ulster under an obligation to him for which he sought no +recompense.</p> + +<p>Crawford accordingly went off in the <i>Balmerino</i>, landed in South Wales +on Tuesday, the 14th of April, and hastened by the quickest route to +Belfast. Agnew took charge of the <i>Doreen</i>, with instructions to be at +the Tuskar Light, on the Wexford coast, on the following Friday night, +the 17th, and to return there every night until Crawford rejoined him. A +friend of Crawford's, Mr. Richard Cowser, with whom he had a +conversation on the telephone from Dublin, met him at the railway +station in Belfast and told him that he had a motor waiting to take him +to Craigavon, where the Council was expecting him, and that he would see +Mr. Sam Kelly, the owner of the <i>Balmerino</i>, there also. This news made +Crawford very angry. He accused his friend of breach of confidence in +letting anyone know that he was coming to Belfast; he declared he would +have nothing to do with the Council after the unsigned orders he had +received at Lundy; and he besought his friend to take his car to +Craigavon and bring back Kelly, repeating his determination to bring in +his cargo, even if he had to run his ship ashore to do so. Mr. Cowser +replied that this would be very disappointing to Sir Edward Carson, who +was waiting for Crawford at Craigavon, having come from London on +purpose for this Council Meeting. "What!" exclaimed Crawford, "is Sir +Edward there? Why did you not say so at once? Where is your car? Let us +waste no time till I see the Chief and report to him."</p> + +<p>That evening of the 14th of April, at Craigavon, was a memorable one for +all who were present at the meeting. Carson invited Crawford to relate +all he had done, and to <a name="Page_211"></a>explain how he proposed to proceed. The latter +did not mince matters in saying what he thought of the Lundy +instructions, which he again declared angrily he intended to disobey. +When he had finished his narrative and his protestations against what he +considered a cowardly policy—a policy that would deprive Ulster of +succour as sorely needed as Derry needed the <i>Mountjoy</i> to break the +boom—Carson put a few questions to him in regard to the feasibility of +his plans. Crawford explained the advantage it would be to transfer the +cargo from the <i>Fanny</i> to a local steamer, which he felt confident he +could bring into Larne, and after the transhipment he would send the +<i>Fanny</i> straight back to the Baltic, where she could settle her account +with the Danish authorities and recover her papers.</p> + +<p>Some members of the Council were sceptical about the possibility of +transhipping the cargo at sea, but Crawford, who had fully discussed it +with Agnew, believed that if favoured by calm weather it could be done. +When Carson, after hearing all that was to be said on both sides in the +long debate between Fabius and Hotspur, finally supported the latter, +the question was decided. There was no split—there never was in these +deliberations in Ulster; those whose judgment was overruled always +supported loyally the policy decided upon.</p> + +<p>Immediate measures were then taken to give effect to the decision. Kelly +knew of a suitable craft, the s.s. <i>Clydevalley</i>, for sale at that +moment in Glasgow, which would be in Belfast next morning with a cargo +of coal. This was providential. A collier familiar to every longshoreman +in Belfast Lough, carrying on her usual trade this week, could hardly be +suspected of carrying rifles when she returned next week ostensibly in +the same line of business. It was settled that Crawford should cross to +Glasgow at once and buy her; the steamer, when bought, was to go from +Belfast to Llandudno, where she would pick up Crawford on the sands, and +proceed to keep the rendezvous with Agnew at the Tuskar Light on Friday; +and, after taking over the <i>Fanny's</i> cargo, would then steam boldly up +Belfast Lough and through the Musgrave Channel to <a name="Page_212"></a>the Belfast docks, +where he undertook to arrive on the Friday week, the 24th of April, the +various proposals which named Larne, Bangor, and Donaghadee as ports of +discharge having all been rejected after full discussion. This last +decision was not approved by Crawford, for he and Spender had long +before this time agreed that Larne harbour was the proper place to land +the arms, both because the large number of country roads leading to it +would facilitate rapid distribution, and because it would be more +difficult for the authorities to interfere with the disembarkation there +than at any of the other ports.</p> + +<p>Before parting from the Council Crawford made it quite clear that during +the remainder of the adventure he would recognise no orders of any kind +unless they bore the autograph signature of Sir Edward Carson. On this +understanding he set out for Glasgow, bought the <i>Clydevalley</i>, and went +by train to Llandudno to await her arrival. These affairs had left very +little margin of time to spare. The <i>Clydevalley</i> could not be at +Llandudno before the morning of the 17th, and Agnew would be looking for +her at the Tuskar the same evening. As it actually turned out she only +arrived at the Welsh watering-place late that night, and, after picking +up Crawford, who had spent an anxious day on the beach, arrived off the +Wexford coast at daybreak on Saturday, the 18th. Not a sign of the +<i>Fanny</i> was to be seen all that day, or the following night; and when +the skipper of the <i>Clydevalley</i>, who had been on the <i>Balmerino</i> and +was privy to the arrangements with Agnew, gave Crawford reason to think +there might have been a misunderstanding as to the rendezvous, Yarmouth +having been also mentioned in that connection, Crawford was in a +condition almost of desperation.</p> + +<p>It was, indeed, a situation to test the nerves, to say nothing of the +temper, of even the most resolute. It was Sunday, and Crawford had +undertaken to be at Copeland Island, at the mouth of Belfast Lough, on +Friday evening for final landing instructions. The precious cargo, which +had passed safely through so many hazards, had vanished and was he knew +not where. He had heard nothing of the <i>Fanny</i> (or <i>Doreen</i>) since he +landed at Tenby five days <a name="Page_213"></a>previously. Had she been captured by a +destroyer from Pembroke, or overhauled, pirate as she was without +papers, by Customs officials from Rosslare? Or had Agnew mistaken his +instructions, and risked all the dangers of the English Channel in a +fruitless voyage to Yarmouth, where, even if still undetected, the +<i>Fanny</i> would be too far away to reach Copeland by Friday, unless Agnew +could be communicated with at once?</p> + +<p>There was only one way in which such communication could be managed, and +that way Crawford now took with characteristic promptitude and energy. +The <i>Clydevalley</i> crossed the Irish Sea to Fishguard, where he took +train on Sunday night to London and Yarmouth, having first made +arrangements with the skipper for keeping in touch. But there was no +trace of the <i>Fanny</i> at Yarmouth, and no word from Agnew at the Post +Office. There appeared to be no solution of the problem, and every +precious hour that slipped away made ultimate failure more menacing. But +at two o'clock the outlook entirely changed. A second visit to the Post +Office was rewarded by a telegram in code from Agnew saying all was +well, and that he would be at Holyhead to pick up Crawford on Tuesday +evening. There was just time to catch a London train that arrived in +time for the Irish mail from Euston. On Tuesday morning Crawford was +pacing the breakwater at Holyhead, and a few hours later he was +discussing matters with Agnew in the little cabin of the <i>Clydevalley</i>.</p> + +<p>The latter had amply made up for the loss of time caused by some +misunderstanding as to the rendezvous at the Tuskar, for he was able to +show Crawford, to his intense delight, that the cargo had all been +safely and successfully transferred to the hold of the <i>Clydevalley</i> in +a bay on the Welsh coast, mainly at night. Some sixteen transport +labourers from Belfast, willing Ulster hands, had shifted the stuff in +less than half the time taken by Germans at Langeland over the same job. +There was, therefore, nothing more to be done except to steam leisurely +to Copeland, for which there was ample time before Friday evening. The +<i>Fanny</i> had departed to an appointed rendezvous on the Baltic coast of +Denmark.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_214"></a>It was now the turn of the <i>Clydevalley</i> to yield up her obscure +identity, and to assume an historic name appropriate to the adventure +she was bringing to a triumphant climax—a name of good omen in Ulster +ears. Strips of canvas, 6 feet long, were cut and painted with white +letters on a black ground, and affixed to bows and stern, so that the +men waiting at Copeland might hail the arrival of the <i>Mountjoy II</i>.</p> + +<p>Off Copeland Island a small vessel was waiting, which Agnew recognised +as a tender belonging to Messrs. Workman & Clark. The men on board, as +soon as they could make out the name of the approaching vessel, +understood at once, and raised a ringing cheer. Two of them were seen +gesticulating and hailing the <i>Mountjoy</i>. Crawford, suspecting fresh +orders to retreat, paid no attention, and told Agnew to hold on his +course; and even when presently he was able to recognise Mr. Cowser and +Mr. Dawson Bates on board the tender, and to hear them shouting that +they had important instructions for him, he still refused to let them +come on board. "If the orders are not signed by Sir Edward Carson," he +shouted back, "you can take them back to where they came from." But the +orders they brought had been signed by the leader, a special messenger +having been sent to London to obtain his signature, and the change of +plan they indicated was, in fact, just what Crawford desired. The bulk +of the arms were to be landed at Larne, the port he had always favoured, +and lesser quantities were to be taken to Bangor and Donaghadee.</p> + +<p>It was 10.30 that night, the 24th of April 1914, when the <i>Mountjoy II</i> +steamed alongside the landing-stage at Larne, where she had been eagerly +awaited for a couple of hours. The voyage of adventure was over. Fred +Crawford, with the able and zealous help of Andrew Agnew, had +accomplished the difficult and dangerous task he had undertaken, and a +service had been rendered to Ulster not unworthy to rank beside the +breaking of the boom across the Foyle by the first and more renowned +<i>Mountjoy</i>.</p><a name="Page_215"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87">[87]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1914, p. 1.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIX"></a><h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h4>ON THE BRINK OF CIVIL WAR</h4> + + +<p>The arrangements that had been made for the landing and disposal of the +arms when they arrived in port were the work of an extremely efficient +and complete organisation. In the previous summer Captain Spender, it +will be remembered, had been appointed to a position on Sir George +Richardson's staff which included in its duties that of the organisation +of transport. A railway board, a supply board, and a transport board had +been formed, on which leading business men willingly served; every +U.V.F. unit had its horse transport, and in addition a special motor +corps, organised in squadrons, and a special corps of motor-lorries were +formed.</p> + +<p>More than half the owners of motor-cars in Ulster placed their cars at +the disposal of the motor corps, to be used as and when required. The +corps was organised in sections of four cars each, and in squadrons of +seventeen cars each, with motor cyclist despatch-riders; a signalling +corps of despatch-riders and signallers completed the organisation. The +lively interest aroused by the practice and displays of the +last-mentioned corps did much to promote the high standard of +proficiency attained by its "flag-waggers," many of whom were women and +girls. In particular the signalling-station at Bangor gained a +reputation which attracted many English sympathisers with Ulster to pay +it a visit when they came to Belfast for the great Unionist +demonstrations.</p> + +<p>The despatch-riders on motor-cycles made the Ulster Council independent +of the Post Office, which for very good reasons they used as little as +possible. Post-houses were opened at all the most important centres in +Ulster, between which messages were transmitted by despatch-rider or +<a name="Page_216"></a>signal according to the nature of the intervening country. Along the +coast of Down and Antrim the organisation of signals was complete and +effective. The usefulness of the despatch-riders' corps was fully tested +and proved during the Curragh Incident, when news of all that was taking +place at the Curragh was received by this means two or three times a day +at the Old Town Hall in Belfast, where there was much information of +what was going on that was unknown at the Irish Office in London.</p> + +<p>All this organisation was at the disposal of the leaders for handling +the arms brought in the hold of the <i>Mountjoy II</i>. The perfection of the +arrangements for the immediate distribution of the rifles and ammunition +among the loyalist population, and the almost miraculous precision with +which they were carried out on that memorable Friday night, extorted the +admiration even of the most inveterate political enemies of Ulster. The +smoothness with which the machinery of organisation worked was only +possible on account of the hearty willingness of all the workers, +combined with the discipline to which they gladly submitted themselves.</p> + +<p>The whole U.V.F. was warned for a trial mobilisation on the evening of +the 24th of April, and the owners of all motor-cars and lorries were +requested to co-operate. Very few either of the Volunteers or the motor +owners knew that anything more than manoeuvres by night for practice +purposes was to take place. All motors from certain specified districts +were ordered to be at Larne by 8 o'clock in the evening; from other +districts the vehicles were to assemble at Bangor and Donaghadee +respectively, at a later hour. All the roads leading to these ports were +patrolled by volunteers, and at every cross-roads over the greater part +of nine counties men of the local battalions were stationed to give +directions to motor-drivers who might not be familiar with the roads. At +certain points these men were provided with reserve supplies of petrol, +and with repairing tools that might be needed in case of breakdown. It +is a remarkable testimony to the zeal of these men for the cause that, +although none of them knew he was taking part in an exciting adventure, +not one, so <a name="Page_217"></a>far as is known, left his post throughout a cold and wet +night, having received orders not to go home till daybreak. And these +were men, it must be remembered, who before putting on the felt hats, +puttees, and bandoliers which constituted their uniform, had already +done a full day's work, and were not to receive a sixpence for their +night's job.</p> + +<p>At the three ports of discharge large forces of volunteers were +concentrated. Sir George Richardson, G.O.C. in C., remained in Belfast +through the night, being kept fully and constantly informed of the +progress of events by signal and motor-cyclist despatch-riders. Captain +James Craig was in charge of the operations at Bangor; at Larne General +Sir William Adair was in command, with Captain Spender as Staff officer.</p> + +<p>The attention of the Customs authorities in Belfast was diverted by a +clever stratagem. A tramp steamer was brought up the Musgrave Channel +after dark, her conduct being as furtive and suspicious as it was +possible to make it appear. At the same time a large wagon was brought +to the docks as if awaiting a load. The skipper of the tramp took an +unconscionable time, by skilful blundering, in bringing his craft to her +moorings. The suspicions of the authorities were successfully aroused; +but every possible hindrance was put in their way when they began to +investigate. The hour was too late: could they not wait till daylight? +No? Well, then, what was their authority? When that was settled, it +appeared that the skipper had mislaid his keys and could not produce the +ship's papers—and so on. By these devices the belief of the officers +that they had caught the offender they were after was increasingly +confirmed every minute, while several hours passed before they were +allowed to realise that they had discovered a mare's-nest. For when at +last they "would stand no more nonsense," and had the hatches opened and +the papers produced, the latter were quite in order, and the +cargo—which they wasted a little additional time in turning +over—contained nothing but coal.</p> + +<p>Meantime the real business was proceeding twenty miles away. All +communications by wire from the three ports <a name="Page_218"></a>were blocked by "earthing" +the wires, so as to cause short circuit. The police and coast-guards +were "peacefully picketed," as trade unionists would call it, in their +various barracks—they were shut in and strongly guarded. No conflict +took place anywhere between the authorities and the volunteers, and the +only casualty of any kind was the unfortunate death of one +coast-guardsman from heart disease at Donaghadee.</p> + +<p>At Larne, where much the largest portion of the <i>Mountjoy's</i> cargo was +landed, a triple cordon of Volunteers surrounded the town and harbour, +and no one without a pass was allowed through. The motors arrived with a +punctuality that was wonderful, considering that many of them had come +from long distances. As the drivers arrived near the town and found +themselves in an apparently endless procession of similar vehicles, +their astonishment and excitement became intense. Only when close to the +harbour did they learn what they were there for, and received +instructions how to proceed. They had more than two hours to wait in +drizzling rain before the <i>Mountjoy</i> appeared round the point of +Islandmagee, although her approach had been made known to Spender by +signal at dusk. There were about five hundred motor vehicles assembled +at Larne alone, and such an invasion of flaring head-lights gave the +inhabitants of the little town unwonted excitement. Practically all the +able-bodied men of the place were either on duty as Volunteers or were +willing workers in the landing of the arms. The women stood at their +doors and gave encouraging greeting to the drivers; many of them ran +improvised canteens, which supplied the workers with welcome +refreshments during the night.</p> + +<p>There was a not unnatural tendency at first on the part of some of the +motor-drivers to look upon the event more in the light of a meet of +hounds than of the gravest possible business, and to hang about +discussing the adventure with the other "sportsmen." But the use of +vigorous language brought them back to recognition of the seriousness of +the work before them, and the discharge of the cargo proceeded hour +after hour with the utmost rapidity and with <a name="Page_219"></a>the regularity of a +well-oiled machine. The cars drew up beside the <i>Mountjoy</i> in an endless +<i>queue</i>; each received its quota of bales according to its carrying +capacity, and was despatched on its homeward journey without a moment's +delay.</p> + +<p>The wisdom of Crawford's system of packing was fully vindicated. There +was no confusion, no waiting to bring ammunition from one part of the +ship's hold to match with rifles brought from another, and bayonets from +a third. The packages, as they were carried from the steamer or the +cranes, were counted by checking clerks, and their destination noted as +each car received its load. But even the large number of vehicles +available would have been insufficient for the purpose on hand if each +had been limited to a single load; dumps had therefore been formed at a +number of selected places in the surrounding districts, where the arms +were temporarily deposited so as to allow the cars to return and perform +the same duty several times during the night.</p> + +<p>While the <i>Mountjoy</i> was discharging the Larne consignment on to the +quay, she was at the same time transhipping a smaller quantity into a +motor-boat, moored against her side, which when laden hurried off to +Donaghadee; and she left Larne at 5 in the morning to discharge the last +portion of her cargo at Bangor, which was successfully accomplished in +broad daylight after her arrival there about 7.30.</p> + +<p>Crawford refused to leave the ship at either Larne or Bangor, feeling +himself bound in honour to remain with the crew until they were safe +from arrest by the naval authorities. It was well known in Belfast that +a look-out was being kept for the <i>Fanny</i>, which had figured in the +Press as "the mystery ship" ever since the affair at Langeland, and had +several times been reported to have been viewed at all sorts of odd +places on the map, from the Orkneys to Tory Island. Just as Agnew was +casting off from Bangor, when the last bale of arms had gone ashore, a +message from U.V.F. headquarters informed him that a thirty-knot cruiser +was out looking for the <i>Fanny</i>. To mislead the coast-guards on shore a +course was immediately <a name="Page_220"></a>set for the Clyde—the very quarter from which a +cruiser coming from Lamlash was to be expected—and when some way out to +sea Crawford cut the cords holding the canvas sheets that bore the name +of the <i>Mountjoy</i>, so that within five minutes the filibustering pirate +had again become the staid old collier <i>Clydevalley</i>, which for months +past had carried her regular weekly cargo of coal from Scotland to +Belfast. As before at Langeland, so now at Copeland, fog providentially +covered retreat, and through it the <i>Clydevalley</i> made her way +undetected down the Irish Sea. At daybreak next morning Crawford landed +at Rosslare; and Agnew then proceeded along the French and Danish coasts +to the Baltic to the rendezvous with the <i>Fanny</i>, in order to bring back +the Ulstermen members of her crew, after which "the mystery ship" was +finally disposed of at Hamburg.</p> + +<p>Sir Edward Carson and Lord Londonderry were both in London on the 24th +of April. At an early hour next morning a telegram was delivered to each +of them, containing the single word "Lion." It was a code message +signifying that the landing of the arms had been carried out without a +hitch. Before long special editions of the newspapers proclaimed the +news to all the world, and as fresh details appeared in every successive +issue during the day the public excitement grew in intensity. Wherever +two or three Unionists were gathered together exultation was the +prevailing mood, and eagerness to send congratulations to friends in +Ulster.</p> + +<p>Soon after breakfast a visitor to Sir Edward Carson found a motor +brougham standing at his door, and on being admitted was told that "Lord +Roberts is with Sir Edward." The great little Field-Marshal, on learning +the news, had lost not a moment in coming to offer his congratulations +to the Ulster leader. "Magnificent!" he exclaimed, on entering the room +and holding out his hand, "magnificent! nothing could have been better +done; it was a piece of organisation that any army in Europe might be +proud of."</p> + +<p>But it was not to be expected that the Government and its supporters +would relish the news. The Radical Press, of course, rang all the +changes of angry vituperation, especially those papers which had been +prominent in ridi<a name="Page_221"></a>culing "Ulster bluff" and "King Carson's wooden guns"; +and they now speculated as to whether Carson could be "convicted of +complicity" in what Mr. Asquith in the House of Commons described as +"this grave and unprecedented outrage." Carson soon set that question at +rest by quietly rising in his place in the House and saying that he took +full responsibility for everything that had been done. The Prime +Minister, amid the frenzied cheers of his followers, assured the House +that "His Majesty's Government will take, without delay, appropriate +steps to vindicate the authority of the law." For a short time there was +some curiosity as to what the appropriate steps would be. None, however, +of any sort were taken; the Government contented itself with sending a +few destroyers to patrol for a short time the coasts of Antrim and Down, +where they were saluted by the Ulster Signalling Stations, and their +officers hospitably entertained on shore by loyalist residents.</p> + +<p>On the 28th of April a further debate on the Curragh Incident took place +in the House of Commons, which was a curious example of the rapid +changes of mood that characterise that Assembly. Most of the speeches +both from the front and back benches were, if possible, even more +bitter, angry, and defiant than usual. But at the close of one of the +bitterest of them all Mr. Churchill read a typewritten passage that was +recognised as a tiny olive-branch held out to Ulster. Carson responded +next day in a conciliatory tone, and the Prime Minister was thought to +suggest a renewal of negotiations in private. For some time nothing came +of this hint; but on the 12th of May Mr. Asquith announced that the +third reading of the Home Rule Bill (for the third successive year, as +required by the Parliament Act before being presented for the signature +of the King) would be taken before Whitsuntide, but that the Government +intended to make another attempt to appease Ulster by introducing "an +amending proposal, in the hope that a settlement by agreement may be +arrived at"; and that the two Bills—the Home Rule Bill and the Bill to +amend it—might become law practically at the same time. But he gave no +hint as to what the "amending <a name="Page_222"></a>proposal" was to be, and the reception of +the announcement by the Opposition did not seem to presage agreement.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bonar Law insisted that the House of Commons ought to be told what +the Amending Bill would propose, before it was asked finally to pass the +Home Rule Bill. But the real fact was, as every member of the House of +Commons fully realised, that Mr. Asquith was not a free agent in this +matter. The Nationalists were not at all pleased at the attempts already +made, trivial as they were, to satisfy Ulster, and Mr. Redmond protested +against the promise of an Amending Bill of any kind. Mr. Asquith could +make no proposal sufficient to allay the hostility of Ulster that would +not alienate the Nationalists, whose support was essential to the +continuance of his Government in office.</p> + +<p>On the same day as this debate in Parliament the result of a by-election +at Grimsby was announced in which the Unionist candidate retained the +seat; a week later the Unionists won a seat in Derbyshire; and two days +afterwards crowned these successes with a resounding victory at Ipswich. +The last-mentioned contest was considered so important that Mr. Lloyd +George and Sir Edward Carson went down to speak the evening before the +poll for their respective sides. Mr. Lloyd George, the Chancellor of the +Exchequer, made his appeal to the cupidity of the constituency, which +was informed that it would gain £15,000 a year from his new Budget, in +addition to large sums, of which he gave the figure, for old age +pensions and under the Government's Health Insurance Act.<a name="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88"><sup>[88]</sup></a> Sir Edward +Carson laid stress on Ulster's determination to resist Home Rule by +force. The Unionist candidate won the seat next day in this essentially +working-class constituency by a substantial majority, although his +Liberal opponent, Mr. Masterman, was a Cabinet Minister trying for the +second time to return to Parliament. Out of seven elections since the +beginning of the session the Government had lost four.</p> + +<p>It happened that the two latest new members took their seats on the 25th +of May, on which date the Home Rule Bill was passed by the House of +Commons on third reading <a name="Page_223"></a>for the last time. The occasion was celebrated +by the Nationalists, not unnaturally, by a great demonstration of +triumph, both in the House itself and outside in Palace Yard. Men on the +other side reflected that the tragedy of civil war had been brought one +stage nearer.</p> + +<p>The reply of Ulster to the passing of the Bill was a series of reviews +of the U.V.F. during the Whitsuntide recess. Carson, Londonderry, Craig, +and most of the other Ulster members attended these parades, which +excited intense enthusiasm through the country, more especially as the +arms brought by the <i>Mountjoy</i> were now seen for the first time in the +hands of the Volunteers. Several battalions were presented with Colours +which had been provided by Lady Londonderry, Lady Massereene, Mrs. +Craig, and other local ladies, and the ceremony included the dedication +of these Colours by the Bishop of Down and the Moderator of the +Presbyterian Church. Many visitors from England witnessed these +displays, and among them were several deputations of Liberal and Labour +working men, who reported on their return that what they had seen had +converted them to sympathy with Ulster.<a name="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89"><sup>[89]</sup></a></p> + +<p>After the recess the promised Amending Bill was introduced in the House +of Lords on the 23rd of June by the Marquis of Crewe, who explained that +it embodied Mr. Asquith's proposals of the 9th of March, and that he +invited amendments. Lord Lansdowne at once declared that these +proposals, which had been rejected as inadequate three months ago, were +doubly insufficient now. But the invitation to amend the Bill was +accepted, Lord Londonderry asking the pertinent question whether the +Government would tell Mr. Redmond that they would insist on acceptance +of any amendments made in response to Lord Crewe's invitation—a +question to which no answer was forthcoming. Lord Milner, in the course +of the debate, said the Bill would have to be entirely remodelled, and +he laid stress on the point that if Ulster were coerced to join the rest +of Ireland it would make a united Ireland for ever impossible, and that +the employment of the Army and Navy for the purpose of coercion would +give a shock to the Empire <a name="Page_224"></a>which it would not long survive; to which +Lord Roberts added that such a policy would mean the utter destruction +of the Army, as he had warned the Prime Minister before the incident at +the Curragh.</p> + +<p>On the 8th of July the Bill was amended by substituting the permanent +exclusion of the whole province of Ulster—which Mr. Balfour had named +"the clean cut"—for the proposed county option with a time limit; and +several other alterations of minor importance were also made. The Bill +as amended passed the third reading on the 14th, when Lord Lansdowne +predicted that, whatever might be the fate of the measure and of the +Home Rule Bill which it modified, the one thing certain was that the +idea of coercing Ulster was dead.</p> + +<p>In Ulster itself, meanwhile, the people were bent on making Lord +Lansdowne's certainty doubly sure. Carson went over for the Boyne +celebration on the 12th of July. The frequency of his visits did nothing +to damp the ardour with which his arrival was always hailed by his +followers. The same wonderful scenes, whether at Larne or at the Belfast +docks, were repeated time after time without appearing to grow stale by +repetition. They gave colour to the Radical jeer at "King Carson," for +no royal personage could have been given a more regal reception than was +accorded to "Sir Edward" (as everybody affectionately called him in +Belfast) half a dozen times within a few months.</p> + +<p>This occasion, when he arrived on the 10th by the Liverpool steamer, +accompanied by Mr. Walter Long, was no exception. His route had been +announced in the Press. Countless Union Jacks were displayed in every +village along both shores of the Lough. Every vessel at anchor, +including the gigantic White Star Liner <i>Britannic</i>, was dressed; every +fog-horn bellowed a welcome; the multitude of men at work in the great +ship-yards crowded to places commanding a view of the incoming packet, +and waved handkerchiefs and raised cheers for Sir Edward; fellow +passengers jostled each other to get sight of him as he went down the +gangway and to give him a parting cheer from the deck; the dock sheds +were packed with people, <a name="Page_225"></a>many of them bare-headed and bare-footed +women, who pressed close in the hope of touching his hand, or hearing +one of his kindly and humorous greetings. It was the same in the streets +all the way from the docks to the centre of the city, and out through +the working-class district of Ballymacarret to the country beyond, and +in every hamlet on the road to Newtownards and Mount Stewart—people +congregating to give him a cheer as he passed in Lord Londonderry's +motor-car, or pausing in their work on the land to wave a greeting from +fields bordering the road.</p> + +<p>Radical newspapers in England believed—or at any rate tried to make +their readers believe—that the "Northcliffe Press," particularly <i>The +Times</i> and <i>Daily Mail</i>, gave an exaggerated account of these +extraordinary demonstrations of welcome to Carson, and of the +impressiveness of the great meetings which he addressed. But the +accounts in Lord Northcliffe's papers did not differ materially from +those in other journals like <i>The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Express, +The Standard, The Morning Post, The Observer, The Scotsman</i>, and <i>The +Spectator</i>. There was no exaggeration. The special correspondents gave +faithful accounts of what they saw and heard, and no more. Editorial +support was a different matter. Lord Northcliffe's papers were unfailing +in their support of the Ulster cause, as were many other great British +journals; and even when at a later period Lord Northcliffe's attitude on +the general question of Irish government underwent a change that was +profoundly disappointing to Ulstermen, his papers never countenanced the +idea of applying coercion to Ulster. In the years 1911 to 1914 <i>The +Times</i> remained true to the tradition started by John Walter, who, +himself a Liberal, went personally to Belfast in 1886 to inform himself +on the question, then for the first time raised by Gladstone; and, +having done so, supported the loyalist cause in Ireland till his death. +A series of weighty articles in 1913 and 1914 approved and encouraged +the resistance threatened by Ulster to Home Rule, and justified the +measures taken in preparation for it. Whatever may have been the reason +for a different attitude at a later date, Ulster owed a debt of +gratitude to <i>The Times</i> in those troubled years.</p><a name="Page_226"></a> + +<p>The long-expected crisis appeared to be very close when Carson arrived +in Belfast on the 10th of July, 1914. He had come to attend a meeting of +the Ulster Unionist Council—sitting for the first time as the +Provisional Government. Craig communicated to the Press the previous day +the Preamble and some of the articles of the Constitution of the +Provisional Government, hitherto kept strictly secret, one article being +that the administration would be taken over "in trust for the +Constitution of the United Kingdom," and that "upon the restoration of +direct Imperial Government, the Provisional Government shall cease to +exist."</p> + +<p>At this session on the 10th, the proceedings of which were private, +Carson explained the extreme gravity of the situation now reached. The +Home Rule Bill would become law probably in a few weeks. It was pretty +certain that the Nationalists would not permit the Government to accept +the Amending Bill in the altered form in which it had left the Upper +House. In that case, nothing remained for them in Ulster but to carry +out the policy they had resolved upon long ago, and to make good the +Covenant. After his forty minutes' speech a quiet and business-like +discussion followed. Plenary authority to take any action necessary in +emergency was conferred unanimously on the executive. The course to be +followed in assuming the administration was explained and agreed to, and +when they separated all the members felt that the crisis for which they +had been preparing so long had at last come upon them. There was no +flinching.</p> + +<p>Next day there was a parade of 3,000 U.V.F. at Larne. A distinguished +American who was present said after the march past, "You could destroy +these Volunteers, but you could not conquer them." Carson spoke with +exceptional solemnity to the men, telling them candidly that, "unless +something happens the evidence of which is not visible at present," he +could discern nothing but darkness ahead, and no hope of peace. He ended +by exhorting his followers throughout Ulster to preserve their +self-control and to "commit no act against any individual or against any +man's property which would sully the great name you have already won."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_227"></a>As usual, his influence was powerful enough to prevent disturbance. The +Government had made extensive military preparations to maintain order on +the 12th of July; but, as a well-known "character" in Belfast expressed +it, "Sir Edward was worth twenty battalions in keeping order." The +anniversary was celebrated everywhere by enormous masses of men in a +state of tense excitement. Lord Londonderry addressed an immense +gathering at Enniskillen; seventy thousand Orangemen marched from +Belfast to Drumbeg to hear Carson, who sounded the same warning note as +at Larne two days before. But nowhere throughout the Province was a +single occurrence reported that called for action by the police.</p> + +<p>When the Ulster leaders returned to London on the 14th they were met by +reports of differences in the Cabinet over the Amending Bill, which was +to be brought before the House of Commons on the following Monday. +Nationalist pressure no doubt dictated the deletion of the amendments +made by the Peers and the restoration of the Bill to its original shape. +A minority of the Cabinet was said to be opposed to this course. Whether +that was true or false, the Prime Minister must by this time have +realised that he had allowed the country to drift to the brink of civil +war, and that some genuine effort must be made to arrive at a peaceable +solution.</p> + +<p>Accordingly on Monday, the 20th, instead of introducing the Amending +Bill, Mr. Asquith announced in the House of Commons that His Majesty the +King, "in view of the grave situation which has arisen, has thought it +right to summon representatives of parties, both British and Irish, to a +conference at Buckingham Palace, with the object of discussing +outstanding issues in relation to the problem of Irish Government." The +Prime Minister added that at the King's suggestion the Speaker, Mr. +James Lowther, would preside over the Conference, which would begin its +proceedings the following day.</p> + +<p>The Liberals, the British Unionists, the Nationalists, and the Ulstermen +were respectively represented at the Buckingham Palace Conference by Mr. +Asquith and Mr. Lloyd George, Lord Lansdowne and Mr. Bonar Law, Mr.<a name="Page_228"></a> +Redmond and Mr. Dillon, Sir Edward Carson and Captain James Craig. The +King opened the Conference in person on the 21st with a speech +recognising the extreme gravity of the situation, and making an +impressive appeal for a peaceful settlement of the question at issue. +His Majesty then withdrew. The Conference deliberated for four days, but +were unable to agree as to what area in Ulster should be excluded from +the jurisdiction of the Parliament in Dublin. On the 24th Mr. Asquith +announced the breakdown of the Conference, and said that in consequence +the Amending Bill would be introduced in the House of Commons on +Thursday, the 30th of July.</p> + +<p>Here was the old deadlock. The last glimmer of hope that civil war might +be averted seemed to be extinguished. Only ten days had elapsed since +Carson had gloomily predicted at Larne that peace was impossible "unless +something happens, the evidence of which is not visible at present." But +that "something" did happen—though it was something infinitely more +dreadful, infinitely more devastating in its consequences, even though +less dishonouring to the nation, than the alternative from which it +saved us. Balanced, as it seemed, on the brink of civil war, Great +Britain and Ireland together toppled over on the other side into the +maelstrom of world-wide war.</p> + +<p>On the 30th of July, when the Amending Bill was to be discussed, the +Prime Minister said that, with the concurrence of Mr. Bonar Law and Sir +Edward Carson, it would be indefinitely postponed, in order that the +country at this grave crisis in the history of the world "should present +a united front and be able to speak and act with the authority of an +undivided nation." To achieve this, all domestic quarrels must be laid +aside, and he promised that "no business of a controversial character" +would be undertaken.</p> + +<p>Thus it happened that the Amending Bill was never seen by the House of +Commons. Four days later the United Kingdom was at war with the greatest +military Empire in the world. The opportunity had come for Ulster to +prove whether her cherished loyalty was a reality or a sham.</p><a name="Page_229"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88">[88]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1914, p. 110.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89">[89]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1914, p. 114.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XX"></a><h2>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<h4>ULSTER IN THE WAR</h4> + + +<p>More than a year before the outbreak of the Great War a writer in <i>The +Morning Post</i>, describing the Ulster Volunteers who were then beginning +to attract attention in England, used language which was more accurately +prophetic than he can have realised in May 1913:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"What these men have been preparing for in Ulster," he wrote, "may + be of value as a military asset in time of national emergency. I + have seen the men at drill, I have seen them on parade, and experts + assure me that in the matter of discipline, physique, and all + things which go to the making of a military force they are worthy + to rank with our regular soldiers. It is an open secret that, once + assured of the maintenance unimpaired of the Union between Great + Britain and Ireland under the Imperial Parliament alone, a vast + proportion of the citizen army of Ulster would cheerfully hold + itself at the disposal of the Imperial Government and volunteer for + service either at home or abroad!"<a name="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90"><sup>[90]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>The only error in the prediction was that the writer underestimated the +sacrifice Ulster would be willing to make for the Empire. When the +testing time came fifteen months after this appreciation was published +all hope of unimpaired maintenance of the Union had to be sorrowfully +given up, and only those who were in a position to comprehend, with +sympathy, the depth and intensity of the feeling in Ulster on the +subject could realise all that this meant to the people there. Yet, all +the same, their "citizen army" did not hesitate to "hold itself at the +disposal of the Imperial Government, and volunteer for service at home +or abroad."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_230"></a>In August 1914 the U.V.F., of 100.000 men, was without question the +most efficient force of infantry in the United Kingdom outside the +Regular Army. The medical comb did not seriously thin its ranks; and +although the age test considerably reduced its number, it still left a +body of fine material for the British Army. Some of the best of its +officers, like Captain Arthur O'Neill, M.P., of the Life Guards, and +Lord Castlereagh of the Blues, had to leave the U.V.F. to rejoin the +regiments to which they belonged, or to take up staff appointments at +the front. In spite of such losses there was a strong desire in the +force, which was shared by the political leaders, that it should be kept +intact as far as possible and form a distinct unit for active service, +and efforts were at once made to get the War Office to arrange for this +to be done. Pressure of work at the War Office, and Lord Kitchener's +aversion from anything that he thought savoured of political +considerations in the organisation of the Army, imposed a delay of +several weeks before this was satisfactorily arranged; and the +consequence was that in the first few weeks of the war a large number of +the keenest young men in Ulster enlisted in various regiments before it +was known that an Ulster Division was to be formed out of the U.V.F.</p> + +<p>It was the beginning of September before Carson was in a position to go +to Belfast to announce that such an arrangement had been made with Lord +Kitchener. And when he went he had also the painful duty of telling the +people of Ulster that the Government was going to give them the meanest +recompense for the promptitude with which they had thrown aside all +party purposes in order to assist the Empire.</p> + +<p>When war broke out a "party truce" had been proclaimed. The Unionist +leaders promised their support to the Government in carrying on the war, +and Mr. Asquith pledged the Government to drop all controversial +legislation. The consideration of the Amending Bill had been shelved by +agreement, Mr. Asquith stating that the postponement "must be without +prejudice to the domestic and political position of any party." On this +understanding the Unionist Party supported, almost without so much as <a name="Page_231"></a>a +word of criticism, all the emergency measures proposed by the +Government. Yet on the 10th of August Mr. Asquith astonished the +Unionists by announcing that the promise to take no controversial +business was not to prevent him advising the King to sign the Home Rule +Bill, which had been hung up in the House of Lords by the introduction +of the Amending Bill, and had never been either rejected or passed by +that House.</p> + +<p>Mr. Balfour immediately protested against this conduct as a breach of +faith; but Mr. Redmond's speech on that occasion contained the +explanation of the Government's conduct. The Nationalist leader gave a +strong hint that any help in the war from the southern provinces of +Ireland would depend on whether or not the Home Rule Bill was to become +law at once. Although the personal loyalty of Mr. Redmond was beyond +question, and although he was no doubt sincere when he subsequently +denied that his speech was so intended, it was in reality an application +of the old maxim that England's difficulty is Ireland's opportunity. In +any case, the Cabinet knew that, however unjustly Ulster might be +treated, she could be relied upon to do everything in her power to +further the successful prosecution of the war, and they cynically came +to the conclusion that the best thing to do was to placate those whose +loyalty was less assured.</p> + +<p>This was the unpleasant tale that Sir Edward Carson had to unfold to the +Ulster Unionist Council on the 3rd of September. After explaining how +and why he had consented to the indefinite postponement of the Amending +Bill, he continued:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"And so, without any condition of any kind, we agreed that the Bill + should be postponed without prejudice to the position of either + party. England's difficulty is not Ulster's opportunity. England's + difficulty is our difficulty; and England's sorrows have always + been, and always will be, our sorrows. I have seen it stated that + the Germans thought they had hit on an opportune moment, owing to + our domestic difficulties, to make their bullying demand against + our country. They little understood for what we were fighting. We + were not fighting to get away from<a name="Page_232"></a> England; we were fighting to + stay with England, and the Power that attempted to lay a hand upon + England, whatever might be our domestic quarrels, would at once + bring us together—as it has brought us together—as one man."</p></blockquote> + +<p>In order to avoid controversy at such a time, Carson declared he would +say nothing about their opponents. He insisted that, however unworthily +the Government might act in a great national emergency, Ulstermen must +distinguish between the Prime Minister as a party leader and the Prime +Minister as the representative of the whole nation. Their duty was to +"think not of him or his party, but of our country," and they must show +that "we do not seek to purchase terms by selling our patriotism." He +then referred to the pride they all felt in the U.V.F.; how he had +"watched them grow from infancy," through self-sacrificing toil to their +present high efficiency, with the purpose of "allowing us to be put into +no degraded position in the United Kingdom." But under the altered +conditions their duty was clear:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Our country and our Empire are in danger. And under these + circumstances, knowing that the very basis of our political faith + is our belief in the greatness of the United Kingdom and of the + Empire, I say to our Volunteers without hesitation, go and help to + save your country. Go and win honour for Ulster and for Ireland. To + every man that goes, or has gone, and not to them only, but to + every Irishman, you and I say, from the bottom of our hearts, 'God + bless you and bring you home safe and victorious.'"</p></blockquote> + +<p>The arrangements with the War Office for forming a Division from the +Ulster Volunteers were then explained, which would enable the men "to go +as old comrades accustomed to do their military training together." +Carson touched lightly on fears that had been expressed lest political +advantage should be taken by the Government or by the Nationalists of +the conversion of the U.V.F. into a Division of the British Army, which +would leave Ulster defenceless. "We are quite strong enough," he said, +"to take care of ourselves, and so I say to men, so far as they <a name="Page_233"></a>have +confidence and trust in me, that I advise them to go and do their duty +to the country, and we will take care of politics hereafter." He +concluded by moving a resolution, which was unanimously carried by the +Council, urging "all Loyalists who owe allegiance to our cause" to join +the Army at once if qualified for military service.</p> + +<p>From beginning to end of this splendidly patriotic oration no allusion +was made to the Nationalist attitude to the war. Few people in Ulster +had any belief that the spots on the leopard were going to disappear, +even when the Home Rule Bill had been placed on the Statute-book. The +"difficulty" and the "opportunity" would continue in their old +relations. People in Belfast, as elsewhere, did justice to the patriotic +tone of Mr. Redmond's speech in the House of Commons on the 3rd of +August, which made so deep an impression in England; but they believed +him mistaken in attributing to "the democracy of Ireland" a complete +change of sentiment towards England, and their scepticism was more than +justified by subsequent events.</p> + +<p>But they also scrutinised more carefully than Englishmen the precise +words used by the Nationalist leader. Englishmen, both in the House of +Commons and in the country, were carried off their feet in an ecstasy of +joy and wonder at Mr. Redmond's confident offer of loyal help from +Ireland to the Empire in the mighty world conflict. Ireland was to be +"the one bright spot." Ulstermen, on the other hand, did not fail to +observe that the offer was limited to service at home. "I say to the +Government," said Mr. Redmond, "that they may to-morrow withdraw every +one of their troops from Ireland. I say that the coast of Ireland will +be defended from foreign invasion by her armed sons, and for this +purpose armed Nationalist Catholics in the South will be only too glad +to join arms with the armed Protestant Ulstermen in the North."</p> + +<p>These sentences were rapturously applauded in the House of Commons. When +they were read in Ulster the shrewd men of the North asked what danger +threatened the "coast of Ireland"; and whether, supposing there were a +danger, the British Navy would not be a surer defence than the "armed +sons" of Ireland whether from South or North.<a name="Page_234"></a> It was not on the coast +of Ireland but the coast of Flanders that men were needed, and it was +thither that the "armed Protestant Ulstermen" were preparing to go in +thousands. They would not be behind the Catholics of the South in the +spirit of comradeship invoked by Mr. Redmond if they were to stand +shoulder to shoulder under the fire of Prussian batteries; but they +could not wax enthusiastic over the suggestion that, while they went to +France, Mr. Redmond's Nationalist Volunteers should be trained and armed +by the Government to defend the Irish coast—and possibly, later, to +impose their will upon Ulster.</p> + +<p>The organisation and the training of the Ulster Division forms no part +of the present narrative, but it must be stated that after Carson's +speech on the 3rd of September, recruiting went on uninterruptedly and +rapidly, and the whole energies of the local leaders and of the rank and +file were thrown into the work of preparation. Captain James Craig, +promoted to be Lieutenant-Colonel, was appointed Q.M.G. of the Division; +but the arduous duties of this post, in which he tried to do the work of +half a dozen men, brought about a complete breakdown of health some +months later, with the result that, to his deep disappointment, he was +forbidden to go with the Division to France. No one displayed a finer +spirit than his brother, Mr. Charles Craig, M.P. for South Antrim. He +had never done any soldiering, as his brother had in South Africa, and +he was over military age in 1914; but he did not allow either his age, +his military inexperience, or his membership of the House of Commons to +serve as excuse for separating himself from the men with whom he had +learnt the elements of drill in the U.V.F. He obtained a commission as +Captain in the Ulster Division, and went with it to France, where he was +wounded and taken prisoner in the great engagement at Thiepval in the +battle of the Somme, and had to endure all the rigours of captivity in +Germany till the end of the war. There was afterwards not a little +pungent comment among his friends on the fact that, when honours were +descending in showers on the heads of the just and the unjust alike, a +full share of which reached members of Parliament, sometimes for no very +conspicuous merit, no <a name="Page_235"></a>recognition of any kind was awarded to this +gallant Ulster officer, who had set so fine an example and +unostentatiously done so much more than his duty.</p> + +<p>The Government's act of treachery in regard to "controversial business" +was consummated on the 18th of September, when the Home Rule Bill +received the Royal Assent. On the 15th Mr. Asquith put forward his +defence in the House of Commons. In a sentence of mellifluous optimism +that was to be woefully falsified in a not-distant future, he declared +his confidence that the action his Ministry was taking would bring "for +the first time for a hundred years Irish opinion, Irish sentiment, Irish +loyalty, flowing with a strong and a continuous and ever-increasing +stream into the great reservoir of Imperial resources and Imperial +unity." He acknowledged, however, that the Government had pledged itself +not to put the Home Rule Bill on the Statute-book until the Amending +Bill had been disposed of. That promise was not now to be kept; instead +he gave another, which, when the time came, was equally violated, +namely, to introduce the Amending Bill "in the next session of +Parliament, before the Irish Government Bill can possibly come into +operation." Meantime, there was to be a Suspensory Bill to provide that +the Home Rule Bill should remain in abeyance till the end of the war, +and he gave an assurance "which would be in spirit and in substance +completely fulfilled, that the Home Rule Bill will not and cannot come +into operation until Parliament has had the fullest opportunity, by an +Amending Bill, of altering, modifying, or qualifying its provisions in +such a way as to secure the general consent both of Ireland and of the +United Kingdom." The Prime Minister, further, paid a tribute to "the +patriotic and public spirit which had been shown by the Ulster +Volunteers," whose conduct has made "the employment of force, any kind +of force, for what you call the coercion of Ulster, an absolutely +unthinkable thing."</p> + +<p>But a verbal acknowledgment of the public spirit shown by the U.V.F. in +the first month of the war was a paltry recompense for the Government's +breach of faith, as Mr. Bonar Law immediately pointed out in a stinging +rejoinder.<a name="Page_236"></a> The leader of the Opposition concluded his powerful +indictment by saying that such conduct by the Government could not be +allowed to pass without protest, but that at such a moment of national +danger debate in Parliament on this domestic quarrel, forced upon them +by Ministers, was indecent; and that, having made his protest, neither +he nor his party would take further part in that indecency. Thereupon +the whole Unionist Party followed Mr. Bonar Law out of the Chamber.</p> + +<p>But that was not the end of the incident. It had been decided, with Sir +Edward Carson's approval, that "Ulster Day," the second anniversary of +the Covenant, should be celebrated in Ulster by special religious +services. The intention had been to focus attention on the larger +aspects of Imperial instead of local patriotism; but what had just +occurred in Parliament could not be ignored, and it necessitated a +reaffirmation of Ulster's unchanged attitude in the domestic quarrel. +Mr. Bonar Law now determined to accompany Sir Edward Carson to Belfast +to renew and to amplify under these circumstances the pledges of British +Unionists to Ulster.</p> + +<p>The occasion was a memorable one in several respects. On the 17th of +September Sir Edward Carson had been quietly married in the country to +Miss Frewen, and he was accompanied to Belfast a few days later by the +new Lady Carson, who then made acquaintance with Ulster and her +husband's followers for the first time. The scenes that invariably +marked the leader's arrival from England have been already described; +but the presence of his wife led to a more exuberant welcome than ever +on this occasion; and the recent Parliamentary storm, with its sequel in +the visit of the leader of the Unionist Party, contributed further to +the unbounded enthusiasm of the populace.</p> + +<p>There was a meeting of the Council on the morning of the 28th, Ulster +Day, at which Carson told the whole story of the conferences, +negotiations, conversations, and what not, that had been going on up to, +and even since, the outbreak of war, in the course of which he observed +that, if he had committed any fault, "it was that he believed the Prime +Minister." He paid a just tribute to Mr. Bonar Law, <a name="Page_237"></a>whose constancy, +patience, and "resolution to be no party even under these difficult +circumstances to anything that would be throwing over Ulster, were +matters which would be photographed upon his mind to the very end of his +life."</p> + +<p>But while, naturally, resentment at the conduct of the Government found +forcible expression, and the policy that would be pursued "after the +war" was outlined, the keynote of the speeches at this Council Meeting, +and also at the overwhelming demonstration addressed by Mr. Bonar Law in +the Ulster Hall in the evening, was "country before party." As the +Unionist leader truly said: "This is not an anti-Home Rule meeting. That +can wait, and you are strong enough to let it wait with quiet +confidence." But before passing to the great issues raised by the war, +introduced by a telling allusion to the idea that Germany had calculated +on Ulster being a thorn in England's side, Mr. Bonar Law gave the +message to Ulster which he had specially crossed the Channel to deliver +in person.</p> + +<p>He reminded the audience that hitherto the promise of support to Ulster +by the Unionists of Great Britain, given long before at Blenheim, had +been coupled with the condition that, if an appeal were made to the +electorate, the Unionist Party would bow to the verdict of the country. +"But now," he went on, "after the way in which advantage has been taken +of your patriotism, I say to you, and I say it with the full authority +of our party, we give the pledge without any condition."</p> + +<p>During the two days which he spent in Belfast Mr. Bonar Law, and other +visitors from England, paid visits to the training camps at Newcastle +and Ballykinler, where the 1st Brigade of the Ulster Division was +undergoing training for the front. Both now, and for some time to come, +there was a good deal of unworthy political jealousy of the Division, +which showed itself in a tendency to belittle the recruiting figures +from Ulster, and in sneers in the Nationalist Press at the delay in +sending to the front a body of troops whose friends had advertised their +supposed efficiency before the war. These troops were themselves +fretting to get to France; and they believed, rightly or <a name="Page_238"></a>wrongly, that +political intrigue was at work to keep them ingloriously at home, while +other Divisions, lacking their preliminary training, were receiving +preference in the supply of equipment.</p> + +<p>One small circumstance, arising out of the conditions in which +"Kitchener's Army" had to be raised, afforded genuine enjoyment in +Ulster. Men were enlisting far more rapidly than the factories could +provide arms, uniforms, and other equipment. Rifles for teaching the +recruits to drill and manoeuvre were a long way short of requirements. +It was a great joy to the Ulstermen when the War Office borrowed their +much-ridiculed "dummy rifles" and "wooden guns," and took them to +English training camps for use by the "New Army."</p> + +<p>But this volume is not concerned with the conduct of the Great War, nor +is it necessary to enter in detail into the controversy that arose as to +the efforts of the rest of Ireland, in comparison with those of Ulster, +to serve the Empire in the hour of need. It will be sufficient to cite +the testimony of two authorities, neither of whom can be suspected of +bias on the side of Ulster. The chronicler of the <i>Annual Register</i> +records that:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"In Ulster, as in England, the flow of recruits outran the + provision made for them by the War Office, and by about the middle + of October the Protestant districts had furnished some 21,000, of + which Belfast alone had contributed 7,581, or 305 per 10,000 of the + population—the highest proportion of all the towns in the United + Kingdom."<a name="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91"><sup>[91]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>The second witness is the democratic orator who took a foremost part in +the House of Commons in denouncing the Curragh officers who resigned +their Commissions rather than march against Ulster. Colonel John Ward, +M.P., writing two years after the war, in which he had not kept his eyes +shut, said:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"It would be presumptuous for a mere Englishman to praise the + gallantry and patriotism of Scotland, Wales, and Ulster; their + record stands second to none in the annals of the war. The case of + the South of Ireland, her most <a name="Page_239"></a>ardent admirer will admit, is not + as any other in the whole British Empire. To the everlasting credit + of the great leader of the Irish Nationalists, Mr. John Redmond, + his gallant son, and his very lovable brother—together with many + real, great-souled Irish soldiers whose loss we so deeply + deplore—saw the light and followed the only course open to good + men and true. But the patriotism and devotion of the few only show + up in greater and more exaggerated contrast the sullen indifference + of the majority, and the active hostility of the minority, who + would have seen our country and its people overrun and defeated not + only without regret, but with fiendish delight."<a name="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92"><sup>[92]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>No generous-minded Ulsterman would wish to detract a word from the +tribute paid by Colonel Ward to the Redmond family and other gallant +Catholic Nationalists who stood manfully for the Empire in the day of +trial; but the concluding sentence in the above quotation cannot be +gainsaid. And the pathetic thing was that Mr. Redmond himself never +seems to have understood the true sentiments of the majority of those +who had been his followers before the war. In a speech in the House on +the 15th of September he referred contemptuously to a "little group of +men who never belonged to the National Constitutional party, who were +circulating anti-recruiting handbills and were publishing little +wretched rags once a week or once a month," which were not worth a +moment's notice.</p> + +<p>The near future was to show that these adherents of Sinn Fein were not +so negligible as Mr. Redmond sincerely believed. The real fact was that +his own patriotic attitude at the outbreak of war undermined his +leadership in Ireland. The "separatism" which had always been, as Ulster +never ceased to believe, the true underlying, though not always the +acknowledged, motive power of Irish Nationalism, was beginning again to +assert itself, and to find expression in "handbills" and "wretched +rags." It was discovering other leaders and spokesmen than Mr. Redmond +and his party, whom it was destined before long to sweep utterly away.</p> +<a name="Page_240"></a> +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90">[90]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Morning Post</i>, May 19th, 1913.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91">[91]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Annual Register</i>, 1914, p. 259.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92">[92]</a><div class="note"><p> "The Army and Ireland," <i>Nineteenth Century and After</i>, +January 1921, by Lieut.-Colonel John Ward, C.B., C.M.G., M.P.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<h4>NEGOTIATIONS FOR SETTLEMENT</h4> + + +<p>The position in which Ulster was now placed was, from the political +point of view, a very anxious one. Had the war not broken out when it +did, there was a very prevalent belief that the Government could not +have avoided a general election either before, or immediately after, the +placing of Home Rule on the Statute-book; and as to the result of such +an election no Unionist had any misgiving. Even if the Government had +remained content to disregard the electorate, it would have been +impossible for them to subject Ulster to a Dublin Parliament. The +organisation there was powerful enough to prevent it, by force if +necessary, and the Curragh Incident had proved that the Army could not +be employed against the Loyalists.</p> + +<p>But the whole outlook had now changed. The war had put off all thought +of a General Election till an indefinite future; the Ulster Volunteers, +and every other wheel in the very effective machinery prepared for +resistance to Home Rule, were now diverted to a wholly different +purpose; and at the same time the hated Bill had become an Act, and the +only alleviation was the promise, for what it might be worth, of an +Amending Bill the scope of which remained undefined. While, therefore, +the Ulster leaders and people threw themselves with all their energy +into the patriotic work to which the war gave the call, the situation so +created at home caused them much uneasiness.</p> + +<p>No one felt it more than Lord Londonderry. Indeed, as the autumn of 1914 +wore on, the despondency he fell into was so marked that his friends +could not avoid disquietude on his personal account in addition to all +the other grounds for anxiety. He and Lady Londonderry, it is true, took +a leading part in all the activities to which the war gave rise<a name="Page_241"></a> +—encouraging recruiting, organising hospitals, and making provision of +every kind for soldiers and their dependents, in Ulster and in the +County of Durham. But when in London in November, Lord Londonderry would +sit moodily at the Carlton Club, speaking to few except intimate +friends, and apparently overcome by depression. He was pessimistic about +the war. His only son was at the front, and he seemed persuaded he would +never return. The affairs of Ulster, to which he had given his whole +heart, looked black; and he went about as if all his purpose in life was +gone. He went with Lady Londonderry to Mount Stewart for Christmas, and +one or two intimate friends who visited him there in January 1915 were +greatly disturbed in mind on his account. But the public in Belfast, who +saw him going in and out of the Ulster Club as usual, did not know +anything was amiss, and were terribly shocked as well as grieved when +they heard of his sudden death at Wynyard on the 8th of February.</p> + +<p>The death of Lord Londonderry was felt by many thousands in Ulster as a +personal bereavement. If he did not arouse the unbounded, and almost +delirious, devotion which none but Sir Edward Carson ever evoked in the +North of Ireland, the deep respect and warm affection felt towards him +by all who knew him, and by great numbers who did not, was a tribute +which his modesty and integrity of character and genial friendliness of +disposition richly deserved. He was faithfully described by Carson +himself to the Ulster Unionist Council several months after his death as +"a great leader, a great and devoted public servant, a great patriot, a +great gentleman, and above all the greatest of great friends."</p> + +<p>Ulster, meantime, had already had a foretaste of the sacrifices the war +was to demand when the Division should go to the front. In November 1914 +Captain the Hon. Arthur O'Neill, M.P. for Mid Antrim, who had gone to +the front with the first expeditionary force, was killed in action in +France. There was a certain sense of sad pride in the reflection that +the first member of the House of Commons to give his life for King and +country was a representative of Ulster; and the constituency which +suffered the loss of <a name="Page_242"></a>a promising young member by the death of this +gallant Life Guardsman consoled itself by electing in his place his +younger brother, Major Hugh O'Neill, then serving in the Ulster +Division, who afterwards proved himself a most valuable member of the +Ulster Parliamentary Party, and eventually became the first Speaker of +the Ulster Parliament created by the Act of 1920.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the bitter outbreak of party passion caused by the +Government's action in putting the Home Rule Bill on the Statute-book in +September, the party truce was well maintained throughout the autumn and +winter. And the most striking proof of the transformation wrought by the +war was seen when Mr. Asquith, when constrained to form a truly national +Administration in May 1915, included Sir Edward Carson in his Cabinet +with the office of Attorney-General. Mr. Redmond was at the same time +invited to join the Government, and his refusal to do so when the +British Unionists, the Labour leaders, and the Ulster leaders all +responded to the Prime Minister's appeal to their patriotism, did not +appear in the eyes of Ulstermen to confirm the Nationalist leader's +profession of loyalty to the Empire; though they did him the justice of +believing that he would have accepted office if he had felt free to +follow his own inclination. His inability to do so, and the complaints +of his followers, including Mr. Dillon, at the admission of Carson to +the Cabinet, revealed the incapacity of the Nationalists to rise to a +level above party.</p> + +<p>Carson, however, did not remain very long in the Government. +Disapproving of the policy pursued in relation to our Allies in the +Balkans, he resigned on the 20th of October, 1915. But he had remained +long enough to prove his value in council to the most energetic of his +colleagues in the Cabinet. Men like Mr. Churchill and Mr. Lloyd George, +although they had been the bitterest of Carson's opponents eighteen +months previously, seldom omitted from this time forward to seek his +advice in times of difficulty; and the latter of these two, when things +were going badly with the Allies more than a year later, endeavoured to +persuade Mr. Asquith to include Carson in a Committee of four to be +charged with the entire conduct of the war.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_243"></a>It was, perhaps, fortunate that the Ulster leader was not a member of +the Government when the rebellion broke out in the South of Ireland at +Easter 1916. For this event suddenly brought to the front again the +whole Home Rule question, which everybody had hoped might be allowed to +sleep till the end of the war; and it would have been a misfortune if +Carson had not then been in a position of independence to play his part +in this new act of the Irish drama.</p> + +<p>The Government had many warnings of what was brewing. But Mr. Birrell, +the Chief Secretary, who in frivolity seemed a contemporary embodiment +of Nero, deemed cheap wit a sufficient reply to all remonstrances, and +had to confess afterwards that he had utterly miscalculated the forces +with which he had to deal. He was completely taken by surprise when, on +the 20th of April, an attempt to land weapons from a German vessel, +escorted by a submarine from which Sir Roger Casement landed in the West +of Ireland, proved that the Irish rebels were in league with the enemy; +and even after this ominous event, he did nothing to provide against the +outbreak that occurred in Dublin four days later. The rising in the +capital, and in several other places in the South of Ireland, was not +got under for a week, during which time more than 170 houses had been +burnt, £2,000,000 sterling worth of property destroyed or damaged, and +1,315 casualties had been suffered, of which 304 were fatal.</p> + +<p>The aims of the insurgents were disclosed in a proclamation which +referred to the administration in Ireland as a "long usurpation by a +foreign people and government." It declared that the Irish Republican +Brotherhood—the same organisation that planned and carried out the +Phoenix Park murders in 1882—had now seized the right moment for +"reviving the old traditions of Irish nationhood," and announced that +the new Irish Republic was a sovereign independent State, which was +entitled to claim the allegiance of every Irish man and woman.</p> + +<p>The rebellion was the subject of debates in both Houses of Parliament on +the 10th and 11th of May—Mr. Birrell having in the interval, to use a +phrase of Carlyle's, "taken <a name="Page_244"></a>himself and his incompetence +elsewhere"—when Mr. Dillon, speaking for the Nationalist Party, poured +forth a flood of passionate sympathy with the rebels, declaring that he +was proud of youths who could boast of having slaughtered British +soldiers, and he denounced the Government for suppressing the rising in +"a sea of blood." The actual fact was, that out of a large number of +prisoners taken red-handed in the act of armed rebellion who were +condemned to death after trial by court-martial, the great majority were +reprieved, and thirteen in all were executed. Whether such measures +deserved the frightful description coined by Mr. Dillon's flamboyant +rhetoric everybody can judge for himself, after considering whether in +any other country or at any other period of the world's history, active +assistance of a foreign enemy—for that is what it amounted to—has been +visited with a more lenient retribution.</p> + +<p>On the same day that Mr. Dillon thus justified the whole basis of +Ulster's unchanging attitude towards Nationalism by blurting out his +sympathy with England's enemies, Mr. Asquith announced that he was +himself going to Ireland to investigate matters on the spot. These two +events, Mr. Dillon's speech and the Prime Minister's visit to +Dublin—where he certainly exhibited no stern anger against the rebels, +even if the stories were exaggerated which reported him to have shown +them ostentatious friendliness—went far to transform what had been a +wretched fiasco into a success. Cowed at first by their complete +failure, the rebels found encouragement in the complacency of the Prime +Minister, and the fear or sympathy, whichever it was, of the Nationalist +Party. From that moment they rapidly increased in influence, until they +proved two years later that they had become the predominant power all +over Ireland except in Ulster.</p> + +<p>In Ulster the rebellion was regarded with mixed feelings. The strongest +sentiment was one of horror at the treacherous blow dealt to the Empire +while engaged in a life-and-death struggle with a foreign enemy. But, +was it unpardonably Pharisaic if there was also some self-glorification +in the thought that Ulstermen in this respect were not as other <a name="Page_245"></a>men +were? There was also a prevalent feeling that after what had occurred +they would hear no more of Home Rule, at any rate during the war. It +appeared inconceivable that any sane Government could think of handing +over the control of Ireland in time of war to people who had just proved +their active hostility to Great Britain in so unmistakable a fashion.</p> + +<p>But they were soon undeceived. Mr. Asquith, on his return, told the +House of Commons what he had learnt during his few days' sojourn in +Ireland. His first proposition was that the existing machinery of +Government in Ireland had completely broken down. That was undeniable. +It was the natural fruit of the Birrell regime. Mr. Asquith was himself +responsible for it. But no more strange or illogical conclusion could be +drawn from it than that which Mr. Asquith proceeded to propound. This +was that there was now "a unique opportunity for a new departure for the +settlement of outstanding problems "—which, when translated from +Asquithian into plain English, meant that now was the time for Home +Rule. The pledge to postpone the question till after the war was to be +swept aside, and, instead of building up by sound and sensible +administration what Mr. Birrel's abnegation of government had allowed to +crumble into "breakdown," the rebels were to be rewarded for traffic +with the enemy and destruction of the central parts of Dublin, with +great loss of life, by being allowed to point to the triumphant success +of their activity, which was certain to prove the most effective of all +possible propaganda for their political ideals in Ireland.</p> + +<p>Some regard, however, was still to be paid to the promise of an Amending +Bill. The Prime Minister repeated that no one contemplated the coercion +of Ulster; that an attempt must be made to come to agreement about the +terms on which the Home Rule Act could be brought into immediate +operation; and that the Cabinet had deputed to Mr. Lloyd George the task +of negotiating to this end with both parties in Ireland. Accordingly, +Mr. Lloyd George, then Secretary of State for War, interviewed Sir +Edward Carson on the one hand and Mr. Redmond and Mr. Devlin on the +<a name="Page_246"></a>other, and submitted to them separately the proposals which he said the +Cabinet were prepared to make.<a name="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93"><sup>[93]</sup></a></p> + +<p>On the 6th of June Carson explained the Cabinet's proposals at a special +meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council held in private. His task was an +extremely difficult one, for the advice he had to offer was utterly +detestable to himself, and he knew it would be no less so to his +hearers. And the latter, profound as was their trust in him as their +leader, were men of singularly independent judgment and quite capable of +respectfully declining to take any course they did not themselves +approve. Indeed, Carson emphasised the fact that he could not, and had +not attempted to, bind the Council to take the same view of the +situation as himself. At the same time he clearly and frankly stated +what his own opinion was, saying: "I would indeed be a poor leader of a +great movement if I hesitated to express my own views of any proposition +put before you."<a name="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94"><sup>[94]</sup></a></p> + +<p>His speech, which took nearly two hours in delivery, was a perfect model +of lucid exposition and convincing argument. He reviewed in close detail +the course of events that had led to the present situation. He +maintained from first to last the highest ground of patriotism. +Mentioning that numerous correspondents had asked why he did not +challenge the Nationalist professions of loyalty two years before at the +beginning of the war, which had since then been so signally falsified, +he answered:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Because I had no desire to show a dissentient Ireland to the + Germans. I am glad, even with what has happened, that we played the + game, and if we had to do it again we would play the game. And then + suddenly came the rebellion in Dublin. I cannot find words to + describe my own horror when I heard of it. For I am bound to admit + to you that I was not thinking merely of Ulster; I was thinking of + the war; I was thinking, as I am always thinking, of what will + happen if we are beaten in the war. I was <a name="Page_247"></a>thinking of the + sacrifice of human lives at the front, and in Gallipoli, and at + Kut, when suddenly I heard that the whole thing was interrupted by, + forsooth, an Irish rebellion—by what Mr. Dillon in the House of + Commons called a clean fight! It is not Ulster or Ireland that is + now at stake: it is the British Empire. We have therefore to + consider not merely a local problem, but a great Imperial + problem—how to win the war."</p></blockquote> + +<p>He then outlined the representations that had been made to him by the +Cabinet as to the injury to the Allied cause resulting from the +unsettled Irish question—the disturbance of good relations with the +United States, whence we were obtaining vast quantities of munitions; +the bad effect of our local differences on opinion in Allied and neutral +countries. He admitted that these evil effects were largely due to false +and hostile propaganda to which the British Government weakly neglected +to provide an antidote; he believed they were grossly exaggerated. But +in time of war they could not contend with their own Government nor be +deaf to its appeals, especially when that Government contained all their +own party leaders, on whose support they had hitherto leaned.</p> + +<p>One of Carson's chief difficulties was to make men grasp the +significance of the fact that Home Rule was now actually established by +Act of Parliament. The point that the Act was on the Statute-book was +constantly lost sight of, with all that it implied. He drove home the +unwelcome truth that simple repeal of that Act was not practical +politics. The only hope for Ulster to escape going under a Parliament in +Dublin lay in the promised Amending Bill. But they had no assurance how +much that Bill, when produced, would do for them. Was it likely, he +asked, to do more than was now offered by the Government?</p> + +<p>He then told the Council what Mr. Lloyd George's proposals were. The +Cabinet offered on the one hand a "clean cut," not indeed of the whole +of Ulster, but of the six most Protestant counties, and on the other to +bring the Home Rule Act, so modified, into immediate operation. He +pointed out that none of them could contemplate using the U.V.F. for +fighting purposes at home after the war; and <a name="Page_248"></a>that, even if such a thing +were thinkable, they could not expect to get more by forcible resistance +to the Act than what was now offered by legislation.</p> + +<p>But to Carson himself, and to all who listened to him that day, the +heartrending question was whether they could suffer a separation to be +made between the Loyalists in the six counties and those in the other +three counties of the Province. It could only be done, Carson declared, +if, after considering all the circumstances of the case as he unfolded +it to them, the delegates from Cavan, Monaghan, and Donegal could make +the self-sacrifice of releasing the other counties from the obligation +to stand or fall together. Carson ended by saying that he did not intend +to take a vote—he "could be no party to having Ulstermen vote one +against the other." What was to be done must be done by agreement, or +not at all. He offered to confer separately with the delegates from the +three omitted counties, and the Council adjourned till the 12th of June +to enable this conference to be held.</p> + +<p>In the interval a large number of the delegates held meetings of their +local associations, most of which passed resolutions in favour of +accepting the Government's proposals. But there was undoubtedly a +widespread feeling that it would be a betrayal of the Loyalists of +Cavan, Monaghan, and Donegal, and even a positive breach of the +Covenant, to accept exclusion from the Home Rule Act for only a portion +of Ulster. This was, it is true, a misunderstanding of the strict +meaning of the Covenant, which had been expressly conditioned so as not +to extend to such unforeseen circumstances as the war had brought +about<a name="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95"><sup>[95]</sup></a>; but there was a general desire to avoid if possible taking +technical points, and both Carson himself and the Council were ready to +sacrifice the opportunity for a tolerable settlement should the +representatives of the three counties not freely consent to what was +proposed.</p> + +<p>In a spirit of self-sacrifice which deeply touched every member of the +Council, this consent was given. Carson had obtained leave for Lord +Farnham to return from the Army in France to be present at the meeting. +Lord<a name="Page_249"></a> Farnham, as a delegate from Cavan, made a speech at the adjourned +meeting on the 12th which filled his hearers with admiration. That he +was almost heart-broken by the turn events had taken he made no attempt +to conceal; and his distress was shared by those who heard his moving +words. But he showed that he possessed the instinct of statesmanship +which compelled him to recognise, in spite of the powerful pull of +sentiment and self-interest in the opposite direction, that the course +recommended by Carson was the path of wisdom. With breaking voice he +thanked the latter "for the clearness, and the fairness, and the +manliness with which he has put the deplorable situation that has arisen +before us, and for his manly advice as leader "; and he then read a +resolution that had been passed earlier in the day by the delegates of +the three counties, which, after recording a protest against any +settlement excluding them from Ulster, expressed sorrowful acquiescence, +on grounds of the larger patriotism, in whatever decision might be come +to in the matter by their colleagues from the six counties.</p> + +<p>It was the saddest hour the Ulster Unionist Council ever spent. Men not +prone to emotion shed tears. It was the most poignant ordeal the Ulster +leader ever passed through. But it was just one of those occasions when +far-seeing statesmanship demands the ruthless silencing of promptings +that spring from emotion. Many of those who on that terrible 12th of +June were most torn by doubt as to the necessity for the decision +arrived at, realised before long that their leader had never been guided +by surer insight than in the counsel he gave them that day.</p> + +<p>The Resolution adopted by the Council was a lengthy one. After reciting +the unaltered attachment of Ulster to the Union, it placed on record the +appeal that had been made by the Government on patriotic grounds for a +settlement of the Irish difficulty, which the Council did not think it +right at such a time of national emergency to resist; but it was careful +to reserve, in case the negotiations should break down from any other +cause, complete freedom to revert to "opposition to the whole policy of +Home Rule for Ireland."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_250"></a>Meantime the Nationalist leaders had been submitting Mr. Lloyd George's +proposals to their own people, and on the 10th of June Mr. Redmond made +a speech in Dublin from which it appeared that he was submitting a very +different proposal to that explained by Carson in Belfast. For Mr. +Redmond told his Dublin audience that, while the Home Rule Act was to +come into operation at once, the exclusion of the six counties was to be +only for the period of the war and twelve months afterwards. That would, +of course, have been even less favourable to Ulster than the terms +offered by Mr. Asquith and rejected by Carson in March 1914. Exclusion +for the period of the war meant nothing; it would have been useless to +Ulster; it was no concession whatever; and Carson would have refused, as +he did in 1914, even to submit it to the Unionist Council in Belfast. +Mr. Lloyd George, who must have known this, had told him quite clearly +that there was to be a "definite clean cut," with no suggestion of a +time limit. There was, however, an idea that after the war an Imperial +Conference would be held, at which the whole constitutional relations of +the component nations of the British Empire would be reviewed, and that +the permanent status of Ireland would then come under reconsideration +with the rest. In this sense the arrangement now proposed was spoken of +as "provisional"; but both Mr. Lloyd George and the Prime Minister made +it perfectly plain that the proposed exclusion of the six Ulster +counties from Home Rule could never be reversed except by a fresh Act of +Parliament.</p> + +<p>But when the question was raised by Mr. Redmond in the House of Commons +on the 24th of July, in a speech of marked moderation, he explained that +he had understood the exclusion, like all the rest of the scheme, to be +strictly "provisional," with the consequence that it would come to an +end automatically at the end of the specified period unless prolonged by +new legislation; and he refused to respond to an earnest appeal by Mr. +Asquith not to let slip this opportunity of obtaining, with the consent +of the Unionist Party, immediate Home Rule for the greater part of +Ireland, more especially as Mr. Redmond himself <a name="Page_251"></a>had disclaimed any +desire to bring Ulster within the Home Rule jurisdiction without her own +consent.</p> + +<p>The negotiations for settlement thus fell to the ground, and the bitter +sacrifice which Ulster had brought herself to offer, in response to the +Government's urgent appeal, bore no fruit, unless it was to afford one +more proof of her loyalty to England and the Empire. She was to find +that such proofs were for the most part thrown away, and merely were +used by her enemies, and by some who professed to be her friends, as a +starting-point for demands on her for further concessions. But, although +all British parties in turn did their best to impress upon Ulster that +loyalty did not pay, she never succeeded in learning the lesson +sufficiently to be guided by it in her political conduct.</p><a name="Page_252"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93">[93]</a><div class="note"><p> Mr. Lloyd George's memory was at fault when he said in the +House of Commons on the 7th of February, 1922, that on the occasion +referred to in the text he had seen Sir Edward Carson and Mr. Redmond +together.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94">[94]</a><div class="note"><p> The quotations from this speech, which was never +published, are from a report privately taken by the Ulster Unionist +Council.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95">[95]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>ante</i>, p. 105.</p></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<h4>THE IRISH CONVENTION</h4> + + +<p>After the failure of Mr. Lloyd George's negotiations for settlement in +the summer of 1916 the Nationalists practically dropped all pretence of +helping the Government to carry on the war. They were, no doubt, +beginning to realise how completely they were losing hold of the people +of Southern Ireland, and that the only chance of regaining their +vanishing popularity was by an attitude of hostility to the British +Government.</p> + +<p>Frequently during the autumn and winter they raised debates in +Parliament on the demand that the Home Rule Act should immediately come +into operation, and threatened that if this were not done recruits from +Ireland would not be forthcoming, although the need for men was now a +matter of great national urgency. They ignored the fact that Mr. Redmond +was a consenting party to Mr. Asquith's policy of holding Home Rule in +abeyance till after the war, and attempted to explain away their own +loss of influence in Ireland by alleging that the exasperation of the +Irish people at the delay in obtaining "self-government" was the cause +of their alienation from England, and of the growth of Sinn Fein.</p> + +<p>In December 1916 the Asquith Government came to an end, and Mr. Lloyd +George became Prime Minister. He had shown his estimate of Sir Edward +Carson's statesmanship by pressing Mr. Asquith to entrust the entire +conduct of the war to a Committee of four, of whom the Ulster leader +should be one; and, having failed in this attempt to infuse energy and +decision into the counsels of his Chief, he turned him out and formed a +Ministry with Carson in the office of First Lord of the Admiralty, at +that time one of the most vital in the Government. Colonel James<a name="Page_253"></a> Craig +also joined the Ministry as Treasurer of the Household.</p> + +<p>The change of Government did nothing to alter the attitude of the +Nationalists, unless, indeed, the return of Carson to high office added +to the fierceness of their attacks. On the 26th of February 1917—just +when "unrestricted submarine warfare" was bringing the country into its +greatest peril—Mr. Dillon called upon the Government to release +twenty-eight men who had been deported from Ireland, and who were +declared by Mr. Duke, the Chief Secretary, to have been deeply +implicated in the Easter rebellion of the previous year; and a week +later Mr. T.P. O'Connor returned to the charge with another demand for +Home Rule without further ado.</p> + +<p>The debate on Mr. O'Connor's motion on the 7th of March was made +memorable by the speech of Major William Redmond, home on leave from the +trenches in France, whose sincere and impassioned appeal for oblivion of +old historic quarrels between Irish Catholics and Protestants, who were +at that moment fighting and dying side by side in France, made a deep +impression on the House of Commons and the country. And when this +gallant officer fell in action not long afterwards and was carried out +of the firing line by Ulster soldiers, his speech on the 7th of March +was recalled and made the peg on which to hang many adjurations to +Ulster to come into line with their Nationalist fellow-countrymen of the +South.</p> + +<p>Such appeals revealed a curious inability to grasp the realities of the +situation. Men spoke and wrote as if it were something new and wonderful +for Irishmen of the "two nations" to be found fighting side by side in +the British Army—as if the same thing had not been seen in the +Peninsula, in the Crimea, on the Indian frontier, in South Africa, and +in many another fight. Ulstermen, like everybody else who knew Major +Redmond, deplored the loss of a very gallant officer and a very lovable +man. But they could not understand why his death should be made a reason +for a change in their political convictions. When Major Arthur O'Neill, +an Ulster member, was killed in action in 1914, no one had suggested +that Nationalists <a name="Page_254"></a>should on that account turn Unionists. Why, they +wondered, should Unionists any more turn Nationalists because a +Nationalist M.P. had made the same supreme sacrifice? All this +sentimental talk of that time was founded on the misconception that +Ulster's attachment to the Union was the result of personal prejudice +against Catholics of the South, instead of being, as it was, a +deliberate and reasoned conviction as to the best government for +Ireland.</p> + +<p>This distinction was clearly brought out in the same debate by Sir John +Lonsdale, who, when Carson became a member of the Cabinet, had been +elected leader of the Ulster Party in the House of Commons; and an +emphatic pronouncement, which went to the root of the controversy, was +made in reply to the Nationalists by the Prime Minister. In the +north-eastern portion of Ireland, he said:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"You have a population as hostile to Irish rule as the rest of + Ireland is to British rule, yea, and as ready to rebel against it + as the rest of Ireland is against British rule—as alien in blood, + in religious faith, in traditions, in outlook—as alien from the + rest of Ireland in this respect as the inhabitants of Fife or + Aberdeen. To place them under National rule against their will + would be as glaring an outrage on the principles of liberty and + self-government as the denial of self-government would be for the + rest of Ireland."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The Government were, therefore, prepared, said Mr. Lloyd George, to +bring in Home Rule immediately for that part of Ireland that wanted it, +but not for the Northern part which did not want it. Mr. Redmond made a +fine display of indignation at this refusal to coerce Ulster; and, in +imitation of the Unionists in 1914, marched out of the House at the head +of his party. Next day he issued a manifesto to men of Irish blood in +the United States and in the Dominions, calling on them to use all means +in their power to exert pressure on the British Government. It was clear +that this sort of thing could not be tolerated in the middle of a war in +which Great Britain was fighting for her life, and at a crisis in it +when her fortunes were far from prosperous. Accordingly, on the 16th of +March Mr. Bonar<a name="Page_255"></a> Law warned the Nationalists that their conduct might +make it necessary to appeal to the country on the ground that they were +obstructing the prosecution of the war. But he also announced that the +Cabinet intended to make one more attempt to arrive at a settlement of +the apparently insoluble problem of Irish government.</p> + +<p>Two months passed before it was made known how this attempt was to be +made. On the 16th of May the Prime Minister addressed a letter in +duplicate to Mr. Redmond and Sir John Lonsdale, representing the two +Irish parties respectively, in which he put forward for their +consideration two alternative methods of procedure, after premising that +the Government felt precluded from proposing during the war any measures +except such as "would be substantially accepted by both sides."</p> + +<p>These alternatives were: <i>(a)</i> a "Bill for the immediate application of +the Home Rule Act to Ireland, but excluding therefrom the six counties +of North-East Ulster," or, <i>(b)</i> a Convention of Irishmen "for the +purpose of drafting a Constitution ... which should secure a just +balance of all the opposing interests." Sir John Lonsdale replied to the +Prime Minister that he would take the Government's first proposal to +Belfast for consideration by the Council; but as Mr. Redmond, on the +other hand, peremptorily refused to have anything to say to it, it +became necessary to fall back on the other alternative, namely the +assembling of an Irish Convention.</p> + +<p>The members chosen to sit in the Convention were to be "representative +men" in Emerson's meaning of the words, but not in the democratic sense +as deriving their authority from direct popular election. Certain +political organisations and parties were each invited to nominate a +certain number; the Churches were represented by their leading clergy; +men occupying public positions, such as chairmen of local authorities, +were given <i>ex-officio</i> seats; and a certain number were nominated by +the Government. The total membership of this variegated assembly was +ninety-five. The Sinn Fein party were invited to join, but refused to +have anything to do with it, declaring that they would consider nothing +short of complete independence for<a name="Page_256"></a> Ireland. The majority of the Irish +people thus stood aloof from the Convention altogether.</p> + +<p>As the purpose for which the Convention was called was quickly lost +sight of by many, and by none more than its Chairman, it is well to +remember what that purpose was. If it had not been for the opposition of +Ulster, the Home Rule Act of 1914 would have been in force for years, +and none of the many attempts at settlement would have been necessary. +The one and only thing required was to reconcile, if possible, the +aspirations of Ulster with those of the rest of Ireland. That was the +purpose, and the only purpose, of the Convention; and in the letter +addressed to Sir John Lonsdale equally with Mr. Redmond, the Prime +Minister distinctly laid it down that unless its conclusions were +accepted "by both sides," nothing could come of it. To leave no shadow +of doubt on this point Mr. Bonar Law, in reply to a specific question, +said that there could be no "substantial agreement" to which Ulster was +not a party.</p> + +<p>It is necessary to emphasise this point, because for such a purpose the +heterogeneous conglomeration of Nationalists of all shades that formed +the great majority of the Convention was worse than useless. The +Convention was in reality a bi-lateral conference, in which one of the +two sides was four times as numerous as the other. Yet much party +capital was subsequently made of the fact that the Nationalist members +agreed upon a scheme of Home Rule—an achievement which had no element +of the miraculous or even of the unexpected about it.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding that the Sinn Fein party had displayed their contempt +for the Convention, and under the delusion that it would "create an +atmosphere of good-will" for its meeting, the Government released +without condition or reservation all the prisoners concerned in the +Easter rebellion of 1916. It was like playing a penny whistle to +conciliate a cobra. The prisoners, from whose minds nothing was further +than any thought of good-will to England, were received by the populace +in Dublin with a rapturous ovation, their triumphal procession being +headed by Mr. De Valera, who was soon afterwards elected member for East +Clare by a majority of nearly thirty thousand.<a name="Page_257"></a> Four months later, the +Chief Secretary told Parliament that the young men of Southern Ireland, +who had refused to serve in the Army, were being enrolled in preparation +for another rebellion.</p> + +<p>It was only after some hesitation that the Ulster Unionist Council +decided not to hold aloof from the Convention, as the Sinn Feiners did. +Carson accompanied Sir John Lonsdale to Belfast and explained the +explicit pledges by Ministers that participation would not commit them +to anything, that they would not be bound by any majority vote, and that +without their concurrence no legislation was to be founded on any +agreement between the other groups in the Convention; he also urged that +Ulster could not refuse to do what the Government held would be helpful +in the prosecution of the war.</p> + +<p>The invitation to nominate five delegates was therefore accepted; and +when the membership of the Convention was complete there were nineteen +out of ninety-five who could be reckoned as supporters in general of the +Ulster point of view. Among them were the Primate, the Moderator of the +General Assembly, the Duke of Abercorn, the Marquis of Londonderry, Mr. +H.M. Pollock, Chairman of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, one Labour +representative, Mr J. Hanna, and the Lord Mayors of Belfast and Derry. +It was agreed that Mr. H.T. Barrie, member for North Derry, should act +as chairman and leader of the Ulster group, and he discharged this +difficult duty with unfailing tact and ability.</p> + +<p>There was some difficulty in finding a suitable Chairman, for no party +was willing to accept any strong man opposed to their own views, while +an impartial man was not to be found in Ireland. Eventually the choice +fell on Sir Horace Plunkett as a gentleman who, if eagerly supported by +none, was accepted by each group as preferable to a more formidable +opponent. Sir Horace made no pretence of impartiality. Whatever +influence he possessed was used as a partisan of the Nationalists. He +was not, like the Speaker of the House of Commons, a silent guardian of +order; he often harangued the assembly, which, on one occasion at least, +he addressed for over an hour; and <a name="Page_258"></a>he issued manifestos, +<i>questionnaires</i>, and letters to members, one of which was sharply +censured as misleading both by Mr. Barrie and the Bishop of Raphoe.</p> + +<p>The procedure adopted was described by the Chairman himself as +"unprecedented." It was not only that, but was unsuitable in the last +degree for the purpose in view. When it is borne in mind what that +purpose was, it is clear that the only business-like method would have +been to invite the Ulster delegates at the outset to formulate their +objections to coming under the Home Rule Act of 1914, and then to see +whether Mr. Redmond could make any concessions which would persuade +Ulster to accept something less than the permanent exclusion of six +counties, which had been their <i>minimum</i> hitherto.</p> + +<p>The procedure actually followed was ludicrously different. The object, +as stated by the chairman, was "to avoid raising contentious issues in +such a way as to divide the Convention on party lines,"<a name="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96"><sup>[96]</sup></a> which, to +say the least, was a curious method of handling the most contentious +problem in British politics. A fine opportunity was offered to amateur +constitution-mongers. Anyone was allowed to propound a scheme for the +future government of Ireland, which, of course, was an encouragement to +endless wide-ranging debate, with the least conceivable likelihood of +arriving at definite decisions. Neither of the leaders of the two +parties whose agreement was essential if the Convention was to have any +result took the initiative in bringing forward proposals. Mr. Redmond +was invited to do so, but declined. Mr. Barrie had no reason to do so, +because the Ulster scheme for the government of Ireland was the +legislative union. So it was left to individuals with no official +responsibility to set forth their ideas, which became the subject of +protracted debates of a general character.</p> + +<p>It was further arranged that while contentious issues—the only ones +that mattered—should be avoided, any conclusions reached on minor +matters should be purely provisional, and contingent on agreement being +come to ultimately on fundamentals. Month after month was spent in thus +discussing such questions as the powers which <a name="Page_259"></a>an Irish Parliament ought +to wield, while the question whether Ulster was to come into that +Parliament was left to stand over. Committees and sub-committees were +appointed to thresh out these details, and some of them relieved the +tedium by wandering into such interesting by-ways of irrelevancy as +housing and land purchase, all of which, in Gilbertian phrase, "had +nothing to do with the case."</p> + +<p>The Ulster group raised no objection to all this expenditure of time and +energy. For they saw that it was not time wasted. From the standpoint of +the highest national interest it was, indeed, more useful than anything +the Convention could have accomplished by business-like methods. The +summer and autumn of 1917, and the early months of 1918, covered a +terribly critical period of the war. The country was never in greater +peril, and the attitude of the Nationalists in the House of Commons +added to the difficulties of the Government, as Mr. Bonar Law had +complained in March. It was to placate them that the Convention had been +summoned. It was a bone thrown to a snarling dog, and the longer there +was anything to gnaw the longer would the dog keep quiet. The Ulster +delegates understood this perfectly, and, as their chief desire was to +help the Government to get on with the war, they had no wish to curtail +the proceedings of the Convention, although they were never under the +delusion that it could lead to anything in Ireland.</p> + +<p>Having regard to the origin of this strange assembly of Irishmen it +might have been supposed that its ingenuity would be directed to finding +some modification of Mr. Asquith's Home Rule Act which Ulster could +accept. That Act was the point of departure for its investigation, and +the quest was <i>ex hypothesi</i> for some amendment that would not be an +enlargement of the authority to be delegated to the subordinate +Parliament, or any further loosening of the tie with Great Britain. Any +proposal of the latter sort would be in the opposite direction from that +in which the Convention was intended to travel. Yet this is precisely +what was done from the very outset. The Act of 1914 was brushed aside as +beneath contempt; and the Ulster delegates had to listen with amazement +week after week <a name="Page_260"></a>to proposals for giving to the whole of Ireland, +including their own Province, a constitution practically as independent +of Great Britain as that of the Dominions.</p> + +<p>But what astonished the Ulstermen above everything was to find these +extravagant demands of the Nationalists supported by those who were +supposed to be representatives of Southern Unionism, with Lord Midleton, +a prominent member of the Unionist Party in England, at their head. The +only material point on which Lord Midleton differed from the extremists +led by the Bishop of Raphoe was that he wished to limit complete fiscal +autonomy for Ireland by reserving the control of Customs duties to the +Imperial Parliament. Save in this single particular he joined forces +with the Nationalists, and shocked the Unionists of the North by giving +his support to a scheme of Home Rule going beyond anything ever +suggested at Westminster by any Radical from Gladstone to Asquith.</p> + +<p>This question of the financial powers to be exercised by the +hypothetical Irish Parliament occupied the Convention and its committees +for the greater part of its eight months of existence. In January 1918 +Lord Midleton and Mr. Redmond came to an agreement on the subject which +proved the undoing of them both, and produced the only really impressive +scene in the Convention.</p> + +<p>For some time Mr. Redmond had given the impression of being a tired man +who had lost his wonted driving-force. He took little or no part in the +lobbying and canvassing that was constantly going on behind the scenes +in the Convention; he appeared to be losing grip as a leader. But he +cannot be blamed for his anxiety to come to terms with Lord Midleton; +and when he found, no doubt greatly to his surprise, that a Unionist +leader was ready to abandon Unionist principles and to accept Dominion +Home Rule for Ireland, subject to a single reservation on the subject of +Customs, he naturally jumped at it, and assumed that his followers would +do the same.</p> + +<p>But, while Mr. Redmond had been losing ground, the influence of the +Catholic Bishop of Raphoe had been on the increase, and that able and +astute prelate was entirely opposed to the compromise on which Mr. +Redmond and<a name="Page_261"></a> Lord Midleton were agreed. On the evening of the 14th of +January it came to the knowledge of Mr. Redmond that when the question +came up for decision next day, he would find Mr. Devlin, his principal +lieutenant, in league with the ecclesiastics against him. He was +personally too far committed to retrace his steps; to go forward meant +disaster, for it would produce a deep cleavage in the Nationalist ranks; +and, as the state of affairs was generally known to members of the +Convention, the sitting of the following day was anticipated with +unusual interest.</p> + +<p>There was an atmosphere of suppressed excitement when the Chairman took +his seat on the 15th. Mr. Redmond entered a few seconds later and took +his usual place without betraying the slightest sign of disturbed +equanimity. The Bishop of Raphoe strode past him, casting to left and +right swift, challenging glances. Mr. Devlin slipped quietly into his +seat beside the leader he had thrown over, without a word or gesture of +greeting. All over the room small groups of members engaged in whispered +conversation; an air of mysterious expectancy prevailed. The Ulster +members had been threatened that it was to be for them a day of disaster +and dismay—a little isolated group, about to be deserted by friends and +crushed by enemies. The Chairman, in an agitated voice, opened +proceedings by inviting questions. There was no response. A minute or so +of tense pause ensued. Then Mr. Redmond rose, and in a perfectly even +voice and his usual measured diction, stated that he was aware that his +proposal was repudiated by many of his usual followers; that the bishops +were against him, and some leading Nationalists, including Mr. Devlin; +that, while he believed if he persisted he would have a majority, the +result would be to split his party, a thing he wished to avoid; and that +he had therefore decided not to proceed with his amendment, and under +these circumstances felt he could be of no further use to the Convention +in the matter.</p> + +<p>For a minute or two the assembly could not grasp the full significance +of what had happened. Then it broke upon them that this was the fall of +a notable leader, although they did not yet know that it was also the +close <a name="Page_262"></a>of a distinguished career. Mr. Redmond's demeanour throughout +what must have been a painful ordeal was beyond all praise. There was +not a quiver in his voice, nor a hesitation for word or phrase. His +self-possession and dignity and high-bred bearing won the respect and +sympathy of the most strenuous of political opponents, even while they +recognised that the defeat of the Nationalist leader meant relief from +pressure on themselves. Mr. Redmond took no further part in the work of +the Convention; his health was failing, and the members were startled by +the news of his death on the 6th of March.</p> + +<p>Not a single vote was taken in the Convention until the 12th of March, +1918, when it had been sitting for nearly seven months, and two days +later the question which it had been summoned to consider, namely, the +relation of Ulster to the rest of Ireland, was touched for the first +time. The first clause in the Bishop of Raphoe's scheme, establishing a +Home Rule constitution for all Ireland, having been carried with Lord +Midleton's help against the vote of the nineteen representatives of +Ulster, the latter proposed an amendment for the exclusion of the +Province, and were, of course, defeated by the combined forces of +Nationalism and Southern Unionism.</p> + +<p>Thus, on the only issue that really mattered, there was no such +"substantial agreement" as the Government had postulated as essential +before legislation could be undertaken; and on the 5th of April the +Convention came to an end without having achieved any useful result, +except that it gave the Government a breathing space from the Irish +question to get on with the war.</p> + +<p>It served, however, to bring prominently forward two of the Ulster +representatives whose full worth had not till then been sufficiently +appreciated. Mr. H.M. Pollock had, it is true, been a valued adviser of +Sir Edward Carson on questions touching the trade and commerce of +Belfast. But in the Convention he made more than one speech which proved +him to be a financier with a comprehensive grasp of principle, and an +extensive knowledge of the history and the intricate details of the +financial relations between Great Britain and Ireland.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_263"></a>Lord Londonderry (the 7th Marquis), who during his father's lifetime +had represented an English constituency in the House of Commons and +naturally took no very prominent part in Ulster affairs, although he +made many excellent speeches on Home Rule both in Parliament and on +English platforms, and was Colonel of a regiment of U.V.F., gave proof +at once, on succeeding to the peerage in 1915, that he was desirous of +doing everything in his power to fill his father's place in the Ulster +Movement. He displayed the same readiness to subordinate personal +convenience, and other claims on his time and energy, to the cause so +closely associated historically with his family. But it was his work in +the Convention that first convinced Ulstermen of his capacity as well as +his zeal. Several of Lord Londonderry's speeches, and especially one in +which he made an impromptu reply to Mr. Redmond, impressed the +Convention with his debating power and his general ability; and it gave +the greatest satisfaction in Ulster when it was realised that the son of +the leader whose loss they mourned so deeply was as able as he was +willing to carry on the hereditary tradition of service to the loyalist +cause.</p> + +<p>In another respect, too, the Convention had an indirect influence on the +position in Ulster. When it appeared likely, in January 1918, that a +deadlock would be reached in the Convention, the Prime Minister himself +intervened. A letter to the Chairman was drafted and discussed in the +Cabinet; but the policy which appeared to commend itself to his +colleagues was one that Sir Edward Carson was unable to support, and he +accordingly resigned office on the 21st, and was accompanied into +retirement by Colonel Craig, the other Ulster member of the Ministry. +Sir John Lonsdale, who for many years had been the very efficient +Honorary Secretary and "Whip" of the Ulster Parliamentary Party, and its +leader while Carson was in office, had been raised to the peerage at the +New Year, with the title of Lord Armaghdale, so that the Ulster +leadership was vacant for Carson to resume when he left the Government, +and he was formally re-elected to the position on the 28th of January. +It was fortunate for Ulster that the old <a name="Page_264"></a>helmsman was again free to +take his place at the wheel, for there was still some rough weather +ahead.</p> + +<p>The official Report of the Convention which was issued on the 10th of +April was one of the most extraordinary documents ever published in a +Government Blue Book.<a name="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97"><sup>[97]</sup></a> It consisted for the most part of a confused +bundle of separate Notes and Reports by a number of different groups and +individuals, and numerous appendices comprising a mass of miscellaneous +memoranda bristling with cross-references. The Chairman was restricted +to providing a bald narrative of the proceedings without any of the +usual critical estimate of the general results attained; but he made up +for this by setting forth his personal opinions in a letter to the Prime +Minister, which, without the sanction of the Convention, he prefixed to +the Report. As it was no easy matter to gain any clear idea from the +Report as to what the Convention had done, its proceedings while in +session having been screened from publicity by drastic censorship of the +Press, many people contented themselves with reading Sir Horace +Plunkett's unauthorised letter to Mr. Lloyd George; and, as it was in +some important respects gravely misleading, it is not surprising that +the truth in regard to the Convention was never properly understood, and +the Ulster Unionist Council had solid justification for its resolution +censuring the Chairman's conduct as "unprecedented and unconstitutional."</p> + +<p>In this personal letter, as was to be expected of a partisan of the +Nationalists, Sir Horace Plunkett laid stress on the fact that Lord +Midleton had "accepted self-government for Ireland "—by which was +meant, of course, not self-government such as Ireland always enjoyed +through her representation, and indeed over-representation, in the +Imperial Parliament, but through separate institutions. But if it had +not been for this support of separate institutions by the Southern +Unionists there would not have been even a colourable pretext for the +assertion of Sir Horace Plunkett that "a larger measure of agreement has +been reached upon the principles and details of Irish self-government +than has ever yet been attained." The really <a name="Page_265"></a>surprising thing was how +little agreement was displayed even among the Nationalists themselves, +who on several important issues were nearly equally divided.</p> + +<p>It was soon seen how little the policy of Lord Midleton was approved by +those whom he was supposed to represent. Although it was exceedingly +difficult to obtain accurate information about what was going on in the +Convention, enough became known in Dublin to cause serious misgiving to +Southern Unionists. The Council of the Irish Unionist Alliance, who had +nominated Lord Midleton as a delegate, asked him to confer with them on +the subject; but he refused. On the 4th of March, 1918, a "Call to +Unionists," a manifesto signed by twenty-four influential Southern +Unionists, appeared in the Press. A Southern Unionist Committee was +formed which before the end of May was able to publish the names of 350 +well-known men in all walks of life who were in accord with the "Call," +and to announce that the supporters of their protest against Lord +Midleton's proceedings numbered upwards of fourteen thousand, of whom +more than two thousand were farmers in the South and West.</p> + +<p>This Committee then took steps to purge the Irish Unionist Alliance by +making it more truly representative of Southern Unionist opinion. A +special meeting of the Council of the organisation on the 24th of +January, 1919, brought on a general engagement between Lord Midleton and +his opponents. The general trend of opinion was disclosed when, after +the defeat of a motion by Lord Midleton for excluding Ulster Unionists +from full membership of the Alliance, Sir Edward Carson was elected one +of its Presidents, and Lord Farnham was chosen Chairman of the Executive +Committee. The Executive Committee was then entirely reconstituted, by +the rejection of every one of Lord Midleton's supporters; and the new +body issued a statement explaining the grounds of dissatisfaction with +Lord Midleton's action in the Convention, and declaring that he had +"lost the confidence of the general body of Southern Unionists." +Thereupon Lord Midleton and a small aristocratic clique associated with +him seceded from the Alliance, and set up a little organisation of their +own.</p><a name="Page_266"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96">[96]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Report of the Proceedings of the Irish Convention</i> (Cd. +9019), p. 10.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97">[97]</a><div class="note"><p> Cd. 9019.</p></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> + +<h4>NATIONALISTS AND CONSCRIPTION</h4> + + +<p>While the Irish Convention was toilfully bringing to a close its eight +months' career of futility, the British Empire was in the grip of the +most terrible ordeal through which it has ever passed. On the 21st of +March, 1918, the assembled Irishmen in Dublin were discussing whether or +not proportional representation should form part of the hypothetical +constitution of Ireland, and on the same day the Germans well-nigh +overwhelmed the 5th Army at the opening of the great offensive campaign +which threatened to break irretrievably the Allied line by the capture +of Amiens. The world held its breath. Englishmen hardly dared to think +of the fate that seemed impending over their country. Irishmen continued +complacently debating the paltry details of the Bishop of Raphoe's +clauses. Irishmen and Englishmen together were being killed or maimed by +scores of thousands in a supreme effort to stay the advance of the Boche +to Paris and the sea.</p> + +<p>It happened that on the very day when the Report of the Convention was +laid on the table of the House of Commons, the Prime Minister made a +statement of profound gravity, beginning with words such as the British +Parliament can never before have been compelled to hear from the lips of +the head of the Government. For the moment, said Mr. Lloyd George, there +was a lull in the storm; but more attacks were to come, and—</p> + +<blockquote><p>The "fate of the Empire, the fate of Europe, and the fate of + liberty throughout the world may depend on the success with which + the very last of these attacks is resisted and countered."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Mr. Asquith struck the same note, urging the House—</p><a name="Page_267"></a> + +<blockquote><p>"With all the earnestness and with all the solemnity of which I am + capable, to realise that never before in the experience of any man + within these walls, or of his fathers and his forefathers, has this + country and all the great traditions and ideals which are embodied + in our history—never has this, the most splendid inheritance ever + bequeathed to a people, been in greater peril, or in more need of + united safeguarding than at this present time."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Not Demosthenes himself, in his most impassioned appeal to the +Athenians, more fitly matched moving words to urgent occasion than these +two statesmen in the simple, restrained sentences, in which they warned +the Commons of the peril hanging over England.</p> + +<p>But was eloquent persuasion really required at such a moment to still +the voice of faction in the British House of Commons? Let those who +would assume the negative study the official Parliamentary Report of the +debate on the 9th of April, 1918. They will find a record which no loyal +Irishman will ever be able to read without a tingling sense of shame. +The whole body of members, with one exception, listened to the Prime +Minister's grave words in silence touched with awe, feeling that perhaps +they were sitting there on the eve of the greatest tragedy in their +country's history. The single exception was the Nationalist Party. From +those same benches whence arose nineteen years back the never-forgotten +cheers that greeted the tale of British disaster in South Africa, now +came a shower of snarling interruptions that broke persistently into the +Prime Minister's speech, and with angry menace impeded his unfolding of +the Government's proposals for meeting the supreme ordeal of the war.</p> + +<p>What was the reason? It was because Ireland, the greater part of which +had till now successfully shirked its share of privation and sacrifice, +was at last to be asked to take up its corner of the burden. The need +for men to replace casualties at the front was pressing, urgent, +imperative. Many indeed blamed the Government for having delayed too +long in filling the depleted ranks of our splendid armies in France; the +moment had come when another day's delay would have been criminal. As +Mr. Lloyd<a name="Page_268"></a> George pointed out, the battle that was being waged in front +of Amiens "proves that the enemy has definitely decided to seek a +military decision this year, whatever the consequences to himself." The +Germans had just called up a fresh class of recruits calculated to place +more than half a million of efficient young men in the line. The +collapse of Russia had released the vast German armies of the East for +use against England and France. It was under such circumstances that the +Prime Minister proposed</p> + +<blockquote><p>"to submit to Parliament to-day certain recommendations in order to + assist this country and the Allies to weather the storm. They will + involve," continued Mr. Lloyd George, "extreme sacrifices on the + part of large classes of the population, and nothing would justify + them but the most extreme necessity, and the fact that we are + fighting for all that is essential and most sacred in the national + life."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The age limit for compulsory military service was to be raised from +forty-two to fifty, and Ireland was to be included under the new +Military Service Bill now introduced. England, Scotland, and Wales had +cheerfully submitted to conscription when first enacted by Mr. Asquith +in 1916, and to all the additional combings of industry and extension of +obligation that had been required in the past two years. Agriculture and +other essential industries were being starved for want of labour, and +men had actually been brought back from the sorely pressed armies to +produce supplies imperatively needed at home.</p> + +<p>But from all this Ireland had hitherto been exempt. To escape the call +of the country a man had only to prove that he was "ordinarily resident +in Ireland"; for conscription did not cross the Irish Sea. From most of +the privations cheerfully borne in Great Britain the Irishman had been +equally free. Food rationing did not trouble him, and, lest he should go +short of accustomed plenty, it was even forbidden to carry a parcel of +butter across the Channel from Ireland. Horse-racing went on as usual. +Emigration had been suspended during the war, so that Ireland was +unusually full of young men who, owing to the unwonted prosperity of the +country resulting from war <a name="Page_269"></a>prices for its produce, were "having the +time of their lives." Mr. Bonar Law, in the debates on the Military +Service Bill, gave reasons for the calculation that there were not far +short of 400,000 young men of military age, and of "Al" physique, in +Ireland available for the Army.</p> + +<p>No wonder that Mr. Lloyd George said it would be impossible to leave +this reservoir of man-power untouched when men of fifty, whose sons were +already with the colours, were to be called up in Great Britain! But the +bare suggestion of doing such a thing raised a hurricane of angry +vituperation and menace from the Nationalists in the House of Commons. +When Mr. Lloyd George, in conciliatory accents, observed that he had no +wish to raise unnecessary controversy, as Heaven knew they had trouble +enough already, "You will get more of it," shouted Mr. Flavin. "You will +have another battle front in Ireland," interjected Mr. Byrne. Mr. +Flavin, getting more and more excited, called out, with reference to the +machinery for enrolment explained by the Prime Minister—"It will never +begin. Ireland will not have it at any price"; and again, a moment +later, "You come across and try to take them." Mr. Devlin was fully as +fierce as these less prominent members of his party, and after many +wrathful interruptions he turned aside the debate into a discussion +about a trumpery report of one of the sub-committees of the Irish +Convention.</p> + +<p>It was truly a sad and shameful scene to be witnessed in the House of +Commons at such a moment. It would have been so even if the contention +of the Nationalists had been reasonably tenable. But it was not. They +maintained that only an Irish Parliament had the right to enforce +conscription in Ireland. But at the beginning of the war they had +accepted the proviso that it should run its course before Home Rule came +into operation. And even if it had been in operation, and a Parliament +had been sitting in Dublin under Mr. Asquith's Act, which the +Nationalists had accepted as a settlement of their demands, that +Parliament would have had nothing to do with the raising of military +forces by conscription or otherwise, this being a duty reserved, as in +every federal or quasi-<a name="Page_270"></a>federal constitution, for the central +legislative authority alone.</p> + +<p>But it was useless to point this out to the infuriated Nationalist +members. Mr. William O'Brien denounced the idea of compelling Irishmen +to bear the same burden as their British fellow-subjects as "a +declaration of war against Ireland"; and he and Mr. Healy joined Mr. +Dillon and his followers in opposing with all their parliamentary skill, +and all their voting power, the extension to Ireland of compulsory +service. Mr. Healy, whose vindictive memory had not forgotten the +Curragh Incident before the war, could not forbear from having an +ungenerous fling at General Gough, who had just been driven back by the +overwhelming numerical superiority of the German attack, and who, at the +moment when Mr. Healy was taunting him in the House of Commons, was +re-forming his gallant 5th Army to resist the enemy's further advance.</p> + +<p>In comparison with this Mr. Healy's stale gibe at "Carson's Army," +however inappropriate to the occasion, was a venial offence. Carson +himself replied in a gentle and conciliatory tone to Mr. Healy's coarse +diatribe.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"My honourable friend," he said, "talked of Carson's Army. You may, + if you like, call it with contempt Carson's Army. But it has just + gone into action for the fourth time, and many of them have paid + the supreme sacrifice. They have covered themselves with glory, + and, what is more, they have covered Ireland with glory, and they + have left behind sad homes throughout the small hamlets of Ulster, + as I well know, losing three or four sons in many a home."</p></blockquote> + +<p>On behalf of Ulster Carson gave unhesitating support to the Government. +He and his colleagues from Ulster had always voted against the exemption +of Ireland from the Military Service Acts. It was true, no doubt, as the +Nationalists jeeringly maintained, that conscription was no more desired +in Ulster than in any other part of the United Kingdom. Of course it was +not; it was liked nowhere. But Carson declared that "equality of +sacrifice" was the principle to be acted upon, and Ulster <a name="Page_271"></a>accepted it. +He "would go about hanging his head in shame," if his own part of the +United Kingdom were absolved from sacrifice which the national necessity +imposed on the inhabitants of Great Britain.</p> + +<p>The Bill was carried through by the 16th of April in the teeth of +Nationalist opposition maintained through all its stages. Mr. Bonar Law +announced emphatically that the Government intended to enforce the +compulsory powers in Ireland; but he also said that yet another attempt +was to be made to settle the constitutional question by bringing in "at +an early date" a measure of Home Rule which the Government hoped might +be carried at once and "without violent controversy."</p> + +<p>After the experience of the past this seemed an amazingly sanguine +estimate of the prospects of any proposals that ingenuity could devise. +But what the nature of the measure was to have been was never made +known; for the Bill was still in the hands of a drafting committee when +a dangerous German intrigue in Ireland was discovered; and the +Lord-Lieutenant made a proclamation on the 18th of May announcing that +the Government had information "that certain of the King's subjects in +Ireland had entered into a treasonable communication with the German +enemy, and that strict measures must be taken to put down this German +plot."<a name="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98"><sup>[98]</sup></a> On the same day one hundred and fifty Sinn Feiners were +arrested, including Mr. De Valera and Mr. Arthur Griffith, and on the +25th a statement was published indicating the connection between this +conspiracy and Casement's designs in 1916. The Government had definitely +ascertained some weeks earlier, and must have known at the very time +when they were promising a new Home Rule Bill, that a plan for landing +arms in Ireland was ripe for execution.<a name="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99"><sup>[99]</sup></a> Indeed, on the 12th of April +a German agent who had landed in Ireland was arrested, with papers in +his possession showing that De Valera had worked out a detailed +organisation of the rebel army, and expected to be in a position to +muster half a million of trained men.<a name="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100"><sup>[100]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Such was the fruit of the Government's infatuation which, <a name="Page_272"></a>under the +delusion of "creating an atmosphere of good-will" for the Convention, +had released a few months previously a number of dangerous men who had +been proved to be in league with the Germans, and who now took advantage +of this clemency to conspire afresh with the foreign enemy. It was not +surprising that Mr. Bonar Law said it was impossible for the Government, +under these circumstances, to proceed with their proposals for a new +Home Rule Bill.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, no sooner was the Military Service Act on the +Statute-book than the Government began to recede from Mr. Bonar Law's +declaration that they would at all costs enforce it in Ireland. They +intimated that if voluntary recruiting improved it might be possible to +dispense with compulsion. But although Mr. Shortt—who succeeded Mr. +Duke as Chief Secretary in May, at the same time as Lord Wimborne was +replaced in the Lord-Lieutenancy by Field-Marshal Lord French—complained +on the 29th of July that the Nationalists had given no help to the +Government in obtaining voluntary recruits in Ireland, and, "instead of +taking Sinn Fein by the throat, had tried to go one better,"<a name="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101"><sup>[101]</sup></a> the +compulsory powers of the Military Service Act remained a dead letter.</p> + +<p>The fact was that the Nationalists had followed up their fierce +opposition to the Bill by raising a still more fierce agitation in +Ireland against conscription. In this they joined hands with Sinn Fein, +and the whole weight of the Catholic Church was thrown into the same +scale. From the altars of that Church the thunderbolts of ecclesiastical +anathema were loosed against the Government, and—what was more +effective—against any who should obey the call to arms. The Government +gave way before the violence of the storm, and the lesson to be learnt +from their defeat was not thrown away on the rebel party in Ireland. +There was, naturally, widespread indignation in England at the spectacle +of the youth of Ireland taking its ease at home and earning +extravagantly high war-time wages while middle-aged bread-winners in +England were compulsorily called to the colours; but the marvellously +easy-<a name="Page_273"></a>going disposition of Englishmen submitted to the injustice with no +more than a legitimate grumble.</p> + +<p>In June 1918, while this agitation against conscription was at its +height, the hostility of the Nationalists took a new turn. A manifesto, +intended as a justification of their resistance to conscription, was +issued in the form of a letter to Mr. Wilson, President of the United +States, signed by Mr. Dillon, Mr. Devlin, Mr. William O'Brien, Mr. +Healy, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, and some others, including leaders of +Sinn Fein. It was a remarkable document, the authorship of which was +popularly attributed to Mr. T.M. Healy. If it ever came under the eye of +Mr. Wilson, a man of literary taste and judgment, it must have afforded +him a momentary diversion from the cares of his exalted office. A longer +experience than his of diplomatic correspondence would fail to produce +from the pigeon-holes of all the Chanceries a rival to this +extraordinary composition, the ill-arranged paragraphs of which formed +an inextricable jumble of irrelevant material, in which bad logic, bad +history, and barren invective were confusedly intermingled in a torrent +of turgid rhetoric. The extent of its range may be judged from the fact +that Shakespeare's allusions to Joan of Arc were not deemed too remote +from the subject of conscription in Ireland during the Great War to find +a place in this amazing despatch. For the amusement of anyone who may +care to examine so rare a curiosity of English prose, it will be found +in full in the Appendix to this volume, where it may be compared by way +of contrast with the restrained rejoinder sent also to President Wilson +by Sir Edward Carson, the Lord Mayor of Belfast, the Mayor of Derry, and +several loyalist representatives of Labour in Ulster.</p> + +<p>In the Nationalist letter to President Wilson reference was made more +than once to the sympathy that prevailed in Ireland in the eighteenth +century with the American colonists in the War of Independence. The use +made of it was a good example of the way in which a half-truth may, for +argumentative purposes, be more misleading than a complete falsehood. +"To-day, as in the days of George Washington"—so Mr. Wilson was +informed—"nearly half <a name="Page_274"></a>the American forces have been furnished from the +descendants of our banished race." No mention was made of the fact that +the members of the "banished race" in Washington's army were +Presbyterian emigrants from Ulster, who formed almost the entire +population of great districts in the American Colonies at that +time.<a name="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102"><sup>[102]</sup></a> The late Mr. Whitelaw Reid told an Edinburgh audience in 1911 +that more than half the Presbyterian population of Ulster emigrated to +America between 1730 and 1770, and that at the date of the Revolution +they made more than one-sixth of the population of the Colonies. The +Declaration of Independence itself, he added—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Is sacredly preserved in the handwriting of an Ulsterman, who was + Secretary of Congress. It was publicly read by an Ulsterman, and + first printed by another. Washington's first Cabinet had four + members, of whom one was an Ulsterman."<a name="FNanchor_103_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103_103"><sup>[103]</sup></a></p></blockquote> + +<p>It is, of course, true that not all Ulster Presbyterians of that period +were the firm and loyal friends of Great Britain that their descendants +became after a century's experience of the legislative Union. But it is +the latter who best in Ireland can trace kinship with the founders of +the United States, and who are entitled—if any Irishmen are—to base on +that kinship a claim to the sympathy and support of the American people.</p> +<br /><a name="Page_275"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98">[98]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1918, p, 87.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99">[99]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid., p. 88</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100">[100]</a><div class="note"><p> Ibid.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101">[101]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1918, p. 90.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102">[102]</a><div class="note"><p> See Lecky's <i>History of England in the Eighteenth +Century</i>, vol. iv, p. 430.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_103_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103_103">[103]</a><div class="note"><p> See Lecture to the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution by +Whitelaw Reid, reported in <i>The Scotsman</i>, November 2nd, 1911.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXIV</h2> + +<h4>THE ULSTER PARLIAMENT</h4> + + +<p>ON the 25th of November, 1918, the Parliament elected in December 1910 +was at last dissolved, a few days after the Armistice with Germany. The +new House of Commons was very different from the old. Seventy-two Sinn +Fein members were returned from Ireland, sweeping away all but half a +dozen of the old Nationalist party; but, in accordance with their fixed +policy, the Sinn Fein members never presented themselves at Westminster +to take the oath and their seats. That quarter of the House of Commons +which for thirty years had been packed with the most fierce and +disciplined of the political parties was therefore now given over to +mild supporters of the Coalition Government, the only remnant of +so-called "constitutional Nationalism" being Mr. T.P. O'Connor, Mr. +Devlin, Captain Redmond, and two or three less prominent companions, who +survived like monuments of a bygone age.</p> + +<p>Ulster Unionists, on the other hand, were greatly strengthened by the +recent Redistribution Act. Sir Edward Carson was elected member for the +great working-class constituency of the Duncairn Division of Belfast, +instead of for Dublin University, which he had so long represented, and +twenty-two ardent supporters accompanied him from Ulster to Westminster. +In the reconstruction of the Government which followed the election, +Carson was pressed to return to office, but declined. Colonel James +Craig, whose war services in connection with the Ulster Division were +rewarded by a baronetcy, became Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry +of Pensions, and the Marquis of Londonderry accepted office as +Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Air Ministry.</p> + +<p>Although the termination of hostilities by the Armistice <a name="Page_276"></a>was not in the +legal sense the "end of the war," it brought it within sight. No one in +January 1919 dreamt that the process of making peace and ratifying the +necessary treaties would drag on for a seemingly interminable length of +time, and it was realised, with grave misgiving in Ulster, that the Home +Rule Act of 1914 would necessarily come into force as soon as peace was +finally declared, while as yet nothing had been done to redeem the +promise of an Amending Bill given by Mr. Asquith, and reiterated by Mr. +Lloyd George. The compact between the latter and the Unionist Party, on +which the Coalition had swept the country, had made it clear that fresh +Irish legislation was to be expected, and the general lines on which it +would be based were laid down; but there was also an intimation that a +settlement must wait till the condition of Ireland should warrant +it.<a name="FNanchor_104_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104_104"><sup>[104]</sup></a></p> + +<p>The state of Ireland was certainly not such as to make it appear +probable that any sane Government would take the risk of handing over +control of the country immediately to the Sinn Feiners, whom the recent +elections had proved to be in an overwhelming majority in the three +southern provinces. By the law, not of England alone, but of every +civilised State, that party was tainted through and through with high +treason. It had attempted to "succour the King's enemies" in every way +in its power. The Government had in its possession evidence of two +conspiracies, in which, during the late frightful war, these Irishmen +had been in league with the Germans to bring defeat and disaster upon +England and her Allies, and the second of these plots was only made +possible by the misconceived clemency of the Government in releasing +from custody the ring-leaders in the first.</p> + +<p>And these Sinn Fein rebels left the Government no excuse for any +illusion as to their being either chastened or contrite in spirit. +Contemptuously ignoring their election as members of the Imperial +Parliament, where they never put in an appearance because it would +require them to take an oath of allegiance to the Crown, they openly +held a Congress in Dublin in January 1919 where a Declaration <a name="Page_277"></a>of +Independence was read, and a demand made for the evacuation of Ireland +by the forces of the Crown. A "Ministry" was also appointed, which +purported to make itself responsible for administration in Ireland. +Outrages of a daring character became more and more frequent, and gave +evidence of being the work of efficient organisation.</p> + +<p>President Wilson's coinage of the unfortunate and ambiguous expression +"self-determination" made it a catch-penny cry in relation to Ireland; +but, in reply to Mr. Devlin's demand for a recognition of that +"principle," Mr. Lloyd George pointed out that it had been tried in the +Convention, with the result that both Nationalists and Unionists had +been divided among themselves, and he said he despaired of any +settlement in Ireland until Irishmen could agree. Nevertheless, in +October 1919 he appointed a Cabinet Committee, with Mr. Walter Long as +Chairman, to make recommendations for dealing with the question of Irish +Government.</p> + +<p>But murders of soldiers and police had now become so scandalously +frequent that in November a Proclamation was issued suppressing Sinn +Fein and kindred organisations. It did nothing to improve the state of +the country, which grew worse than ever in the last few weeks of the +year. On the 19th of December a carefully planned attempt on the life of +the Lord-Lieutenant, Lord French, proved how complete was the impunity +relied upon by the organised assassins who, calling themselves an Irish +Republican Army, terrorised the country.</p> + +<p>It was in such conditions that, just before the close of the +parliamentary session, the Prime Minister disclosed the intentions of +the Government. He laid down three "basic facts," which he said governed +the situation: (1) Three-fourths of the Irish people were bitterly +hostile, and were at heart rebels against the Crown and Government. (2) +Ulster was a complete contrast, which would make it an outrage to place +her people under the rest of Ireland.<a name="FNanchor_105_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105_105"><sup>[105]</sup></a> (3) No separation from the +Empire could be tolerated, and any attempt to force it would be fought +as the United States<a name="Page_278"></a> had fought against secession. On these +considerations he based the proposals which were to be embodied in +legislation in the next session. Sir Edward Carson, who in the light of +past experience was too wary to take all Mr. Lloyd George's declarations +at their face value, said at once that he could give no support to the +policy outlined by the Prime Minister until he was convinced that the +latter intended to go through with it to the end.</p> + +<p>The Bill to give effect to these proposals (which became the Government +of Ireland Act, 1920) was formally introduced on the 25th of February, +1920, and Carson then went over to Belfast to consult with the Unionist +Council as to the action to be taken by the Ulster members.</p> + +<p>The measure was a long and complicated one of seventy clauses and six +schedules. Its effect, stated briefly, was to set up two Parliaments in +Ireland, one for the six Protestant counties of Ulster and the other for +the rest of Ireland. In principle it was the "clean cut" which had been +several times proposed, except that, instead of retaining Ulster in +legislative union with Great Britain, she was to be endowed with local +institutions of her own in every respect similar to, and commensurate +with, those given to the Parliament in Dublin. In addition, a Council of +Ireland was created, composed of an equal number of members from each of +the two legislatures. This Council was given powers in regard to private +bill legislation, and matters of minor importance affecting both parts +of the island which the two Parliaments might mutually agree to commit +to its administration. Power was given to the two Parliaments to +establish by identical Acts at any time a Parliament for all Ireland to +supersede the Council, and to form a single autonomous constitution for +the whole of Ireland.</p> + +<p>The Council of Ireland occupied a prominent place in the debates on the +Bill. It was held up as a symbol of the "unity of Ireland," and the +authors of the measure were able to point to it as supplying machinery +by which "partition" could be terminated as soon as Irishmen agreed +among themselves in wishing to have a single national Government. It was +not a feature of the Bill that found favour in Ulster; but, as it could +do no harm and <a name="Page_279"></a>provided an argument against those who denounced +"partition," the Ulster members did not think it worth while to oppose +it.</p> + +<p>But when Carson met the Ulster Unionist Council on the 6th of March the +most difficult point he had to deal with was the same that had given so +much trouble in the negotiations of 1916. The Bill defined the area +subject to the "Parliament of Northern Ireland" as the six counties +which the Ulster Council had agreed four years earlier to accept as the +area to be excluded from the Home Rule Act. The question now to be +decided was whether this same area should still be accepted, or an +amendment moved for including in Northern Ireland the other three +counties of the Province of Ulster. The same harrowing experience which +the Council had undergone in 1916 was repeated in an aggravated +form.<a name="FNanchor_106_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_106_106"><sup>[106]</sup></a> To separate themselves from fellow loyalists in Monaghan, +Cavan, and Donegal was hateful to every delegate from the other six +counties, and it was heartrending to be compelled to resist another +moving appeal by so valued a friend as Lord Farnham. But the inexorable +index of statistics demonstrated that, although Unionists were in a +majority when geographical Ulster was considered as a unit, yet the +distribution of population made it certain that a separate Parliament +for the whole Province would have a precarious existence, while its +administration of purely Nationalist districts would mean unending +conflict.</p> + +<p>It was, therefore, decided that no proposal for extending the area +should be made by the Ulster members. Carson made it clear in the +debates on the Bill that Ulster had not moved from her old position of +desiring nothing except the Union; that he was still convinced there was +"no alternative to the Union unless separation"; but that, while he +would take no responsibility for a Bill which Ulster did not want, he +and his colleagues would not actively oppose its progress to the +Statute-book.</p> + +<p>It did not, however, receive the Royal Assent until two days before +Christmas, and during all these months the condition of Ireland was one +of increasing anarchy. The<a name="Page_280"></a> Act provided that, if the people of Southern +Ireland refused to work the new Constitution, the administration should +be carried on by a system similar to Crown Colony government. Carson +gave an assurance that in Ulster they would do their best to make the +Act a success, and immediate steps were taken in Belfast to make good +this undertaking.</p> + +<p>To the people of Ulster the Act of 1920, though it involved the +sacrifice of much that they had ardently hoped to preserve, came as a +relief to their worst fears. It was represented as a final settlement, +and finality was what they chiefly desired, if they could get it without +being forced to submit to a Dublin Parliament. The disloyal conduct of +Nationalist Ireland during the war, and the treason and terrorism +organised by Sinn Fein after the war, had widened the already broad gulf +between North and South. The determination never to submit to an +all-Ireland Parliament was more firmly fixed than ever. The Act of 1920, +which repealed Mr. Asquith's Act of 1914, gave Ulster what she had +prepared to fight for, if necessary, before the war. It was the +fulfilment of the Craigavon resolution—to take over the government "of +those districts which they could control."<a name="FNanchor_107_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_107_107"><sup>[107]</sup></a> The Parliament of +Northern Ireland established by the Act was in fact the legalisation of +the Ulster Provisional Government of 1913. It placed Ulster in a +position of equality with the South, both politically and economically. +The two Legislatures in Ireland possessed the same powers, and were +subject to an equal reservation of authority to the Imperial Parliament.</p> + +<p>But with the passing of the Act the long and consummate leadership of +Sir Edward Carson came to an end. If he had not succeeded in bringing +the Ulster people into a Promised Land, he had at least conducted an +orderly retreat to a position of safety. The almost miraculous skill +with which he had directed all the operations of a protracted and +harassing campaign, avoiding traps and pitfalls at every step, +foreseeing and providing against countless crises, frustrating with +unfailing adroitness the manoeuvres both of implacable enemies and +treacherous<a name="Page_281"></a> "friends," was fully appreciated by his grateful followers, +who had for years past regarded him with an intensity of personal +devotion seldom given even to the greatest of political leaders. But he +felt that the task of opening a new chapter in the history of Ulster, +and of inaugurating the new institutions now established, was work for +younger hands. Hard as he was pressed to accept the position of first +Prime Minister of Ulster, he firmly persisted in his refusal; and on his +recommendation the man who had been his able and faithful lieutenant +throughout the long Ulster Movement was unanimously chosen to succeed +him in the leadership.</p> + +<p>Sir James Craig did not hesitate to respond to the call, although to do +so he had to resign an important post in the British Government, that of +Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty, with excellent prospects of +further promotion. As soon as the elections in "Northern Ireland," +conducted under the system of Proportional Representation, as provided +by the Act of 1920, were complete, Sir James, whose followers numbered +forty as against a Nationalist and Sinn Fein minority of twelve, was +sent for by the Viceroy and commissioned to form a Ministry. He +immediately set himself to his new and exceedingly difficult duties with +characteristic thoroughness. The whole apparatus of government +administration had to be built up from the foundation. Departments, for +which there was no existing office accommodation or personnel, had to +be called into existence and efficiently organised, and all this +preliminary work had to be undertaken at a time when the territory +subject to the new Government was beset by open and concealed enemies +working havoc with bombs and revolvers, with which the Government had +not yet legal power to cope.</p> + +<p>But Sir James Craig pressed on with the work, undismayed by the +difficulties, and resolved that the Parliament in Belfast should be +opened at the earliest possible date. The Marquis of Londonderry gave a +fresh proof of his Ulster patriotism by resigning his office in the +Imperial Government and accepting the portfolio of Education in Sir +James Craig's Cabinet, and with it the leadership of the<a name="Page_282"></a> Ulster Senate; +in which the Duke of Abercorn also, to the great satisfaction of the +Ulster people, consented to take a seat. Mr. Dawson Bates, the +indefatigable Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council during the whole +of the Ulster Movement, was appointed Minister for Home Affairs, and Mr. +E.M. Archdale became Minister for Agriculture. The first act of the +House of Commons of Northern Ireland was to choose Major Hugh O'Neill as +their Speaker, while the important position of Chairman of Committees +was entrusted to Mr. Thomas Moles, one of the ablest recruits of the +Ulster Parliamentary Party, whom the General Election of 1918 had sent +to Westminster as one of the members for Belfast, and who had given +ample evidence of his capacity both in the Imperial Parliament and on +the Secretarial Staff of the Irish Convention of 1917.</p> + +<p>Meantime, in the South the Act of 1920 was treated with absolute +contempt; no step was taken to hold elections or to form an +Administration, although it must be remembered that the flouted Act +conferred a larger measure of Home Rule than had ever been offered by +previous Bills. Thus by one of those curious ironies that have +continually marked the history of Ireland, the only part of the island +where Home Rule operated was the part that had never desired it, while +the provinces that had demanded Home Rule for generations refused to use +it when it was granted them.</p> + +<p>In Ulster the new order of things was accepted with acquiescence rather +than with enthusiasm. But the warmer emotion was immediately called +forth when it became known that His Majesty the King had decided to open +the Ulster Parliament in person on the 22nd of June, 1921, especially as +it was fully realised that, owing to the anarchical condition of the +country, the King's presence in Belfast would be a characteristic +disregard of personal danger in the discharge of public duty. And when, +on the eve of the royal visit, it was intimated that the Queen had been +graciously pleased to accede to Sir James Craig's request that she +should accompany the King to Belfast, the enthusiasm of the loyal people +of the North rose to fever heat.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_283"></a>At any time, and under any circumstances, the reigning Sovereign and +his Consort would have been received by a population so noted for its +sentiment of loyalty to the Throne as that of Ulster with demonstrations +of devotion exceeding the ordinary. But the present occasion was felt to +have a very special significance. The opening of Parliament by the King +in State is one of the most ancient and splendid of ceremonial pageants +illustrating the history of British institutions. It was felt in Ulster +that the association of this time-honoured ceremonial with the baptism, +so to speak, of the latest offspring of the Mother of Parliaments +stamped the Royal Seal upon the achievement of Ulster, and gave it a +dignity, prestige, and promise of permanence which might otherwise have +been lacking. No city in the United Kingdom had witnessed so many +extraordinary displays of popular enthusiasm in the last ten years as +Belfast, some of which had left on the minds of observers a firm belief +that such intensity of emotion in a great concourse of people could not +be exceeded. The scene in the streets when the King and Queen drove from +the quay, on the arrival of the royal yacht, to the City Hall, was held +by general consent to equal, since it could not surpass, any of those +great demonstrations of the past in popular fervour. At any rate, +persons of long experience in attendance on the Royal Family gave it as +their opinion in the evening that they had never before seen so +impressive a display of public devotion to the person of the Sovereign.</p> + +<p>Two buildings in Belfast inseparably associated with Ulster's stand for +union, the City Hall and the Ulster Hall, were the scenes of the chief +events of the King's visit. The former, described by one of the English +correspondents as "easily the most magnificent municipal building in the +three Kingdoms,"<a name="FNanchor_108_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_108_108"><sup>[108]</sup></a> was placed at the disposal of the Ulster +Government by the Corporation for temporary use as a Parliament House. +The Council Chamber, a fine hall of dignified proportions with a dais +and canopied chair at the upper end, made an appropriate frame for the +ceremony of opening Parliament, and the arrangements both of the<a name="Page_284"></a> +Chamber itself and of the approaches and entrances to it made it a +simple matter to model the procedure as closely as possible on that +followed at Westminster.</p> + +<p>Among the many distinguished people who assembled in the Ulster Capital +for the occasion, there was one notable absentee. Lord Carson of +Duncairn—for this was the title that Sir Edward Carson had assumed on +being appointed a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary a few weeks previously—was +detained in London by judicial duty in the House of Lords; and possibly +reasons of delicacy not difficult to understand restrained him from +making arrangements for absence. But the marked ovation given to Lady +Carson wherever she was recognised in the streets of Belfast showed that +the great leader was not absent from the popular mind at this moment of +vindication of his statesmanship.</p> + +<p>Such an event as that which brought His Majesty to Belfast was naturally +an occasion for bestowing marks of distinction for public service. Sir +James Craig wisely made it also an occasion for letting bygones be +bygones by recommending Lord Pirrie for a step in the Peerage. Among +those who received honours were several whose names have appeared in the +preceding chapters of this book. Mr. William Robert Young, for thirty +years one of the most indefatigable workers for the Unionist cause in +Ulster, and Colonel Wallace, one of the most influential of Carson's +local lieutenants, were made Privy Councillors, as was also Colonel +Percival-Maxwell, who raised and commanded a battalion of the Ulster +Division in the war. Colonel F.H. Crawford and Colonel Spender were +awarded the C.B.E. for services to the nation during the war; but +Ulstermen did not forget services of another sort to the Ulster cause +before the Germans came on the scene.<a name="FNanchor_109_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_109_109"><sup>[109]</sup></a> A knighthood was given to Mr. +Dawson Bates, who had exchanged the Secretaryship of the Ulster Unionist +Council for the portfolio of a Cabinet Minister.</p> + +<p>These honours were bestowed by the King in person at an investiture held +in the Ulster Hall in the afternoon. There must have been many present +whose minds went <a name="Page_285"></a>back to some of the most stirring events of Ulster's +domestic history which had been transacted in the same building within +recent years. Did Sir Hamar Greenwood, the Chief Secretary, as he stood +in attendance on the Sovereign in the resplendent uniform of a Privy +Councillor, look in curiosity round the walls which he and Mr. Churchill +had been prohibited from entering on a memorable occasion when they had +to content themselves with an imported tent in a football field instead? +Did Colonel Wallace's thoughts wander back to the scene of wild +enthusiasm in that hall on the evening before the Covenant, when he +presented the ancient Boyne flag to the Ulster leader? Did those who +spontaneously started the National Anthem in the presence of the King +without warrant from the prearranged programme, and made the Queen smile +at the emphasis with which they "confounded politics" and "frustrated +knavish tricks," remember the fervour with which on many a past occasion +the same strains testified to Ulster's loyalty in the midst of +perplexity and apprehension? If these memories crowded in, they must +have added to the sense of relief arising from the conviction that the +ceremony they were now witnessing was the realisation of the policy +propounded by Carson, when he declared that Ulster must always be ruled +either by the Imperial Parliament or by a Government of her own.</p> + +<p>But the moment of all others on that memorable day that must have been +suggestive of such reflections was when the King formally opened the +first Parliament of Northern Ireland in the same building that had +witnessed the signing of the Ulster Covenant. Without the earlier event +the later could not have been. If 1921 could have been fully foreseen in +1912 it might have appeared to many Covenanters as the disappointment of +a cherished ideal. But those who lived to listen to the King's Speech in +the City Hall realised that it was the dissipation of foreboding. +However regarded, it was, as King George himself pronounced, "a +profoundly moving occasion in Irish history."</p> + +<p>The Speech from the Throne in which these words occurred made a deep +impression all over the world, and nowhere more than in Ulster itself. +No people more <a name="Page_286"></a>ardently shared the touchingly expressed desire of the +King that his coming to Ireland might "prove to be the first step +towards an end of strife amongst her people, whatever their race or +creed." So, too, when His Majesty told the Ulster Parliament that he +"felt assured they would do their utmost to make it an instrument of +happiness and good government for all parts of the community which they +represented," the Ulster people believed that the King's confidence in +them would not prove to have been misplaced.</p> + +<p>Happily, no prophetic vision of those things that were shortly to come +to pass broke in to disturb the sense of satisfaction with the haven +that had been reached. The future, with its treachery, its alarms, its +fresh causes of uncertainty and of conflict, was mercifully hidden from +the eyes of the Ulster people when they acclaimed the inauguration of +their Parliament by their King. They accepted responsibility for the +efficient working of institutions thus placed in their keeping by the +highest constitutional Authority in the British Empire, although they +had never asked for them, and still believed that the system they had +been driven to abandon was better than the new; and they opened this +fresh chapter in their history in firm faith that what had received so +striking a token of the Sovereign's sympathy and approval would never be +taken from them except with their own consent.</p><a name="Page_287"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_104_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104_104">[104]</a><div class="note"><p> See Letter from Mr. Lloyd George to Mr. Bonar Law, +published in the Press on November 18th, 1918.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_105_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105_105">[105]</a><div class="note"><p> Precisely twenty-four months later this outrage was +committed by Mr. Lloyd George himself, with the concurrence of Mr. +Austen Chamberlain.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_106_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_106_106">[106]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Ante</i>, p. 248.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_107_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_107_107">[107]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>ante</i>, p. 51.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_108_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_108_108">[108]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Morning Post</i>, June 23rd, 1921.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_109_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_109_109">[109]</a><div class="note"><p> See <i>ante</i>, Chapter XVIII.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="APPENDIX_A"></a><h2>APPENDIX A</h2> + +<h3>NATIONALIST LETTER TO PRESIDENT WILSON</h3> + +<h4>To THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</h4> + +<p>SIR,</p> + +<p>When, a century and a half ago, the American Colonies dared to assert +the ancient principle that the subject should not be taxed without the +consent of his representatives, England strove to crush them. To-day +England threatens to crush the people of Ireland if they do not accept a +tax, not in money but in blood, against the protest of their +representatives.</p> + +<p>During the American Revolution the champions of your liberties appealed +to the Irish Parliament against British aggression, and asked for a +sympathetic judgment on their action. What the verdict was, history +records.</p> + +<p>To-day it is our turn to appeal to the people of America. We seek no +more fitting prelude to that appeal than the terms in which your +forefathers greeted ours:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"We are desirous of possessing the good opinion of the virtuous and + humane. We are peculiarly desirous of furnishing you with the true + state of our motives and objects, the better to enable you to judge + of our conduct with accuracy, and determine the merits of the + controversy with impartiality and precision."</p></blockquote> + +<p>If the Irish race had been conscriptable by England in the war against +the United Colonies is it certain that your Republic would to-day +flourish in the enjoyment of its noble Constitution?</p> + +<p>Since then the Irish Parliament has been destroyed, by methods described +by the greatest of British statesmen as those of "black-guardism and +baseness." Ireland, deprived of its protection and overborne by more +than six to one in the British Lower House, and by more than a hundred +to one in the Upper House, is summoned by England to submit to a +hitherto-unheard-of decree against her liberties.</p> + +<p>In the fourth year of a war ostensibly begun for the defence of small +nations, a law conscribing the manhood of Ireland has been passed, in +defiance of the wishes of our people. The British Parlia<a name="Page_288"></a>ment, which +enacted it, had long outrun its course, being in the eighth year of an +existence constitutionally limited to five. To warrant the coercive +statute, no recourse was had to the electorate of Britain, much less to +that of Ireland. Yet the measure was forced through within a week, +despite the votes of Irish representatives, and under a system of +closure never applied to the debates which established conscription for +Great Britain on a milder basis.</p> + +<p>To repel the calumnies invented to becloud our action, we venture to +address the successors of the belligerents who once appealed to Ireland. +The feelings which inspire America deeply concern our race; so, in the +forefront of our remonstrance, we feel bound to set forth that this +Conscription Act involves for Irishmen questions far larger than any +affecting mere internal politics. They raise a sovereign principle +between a nation that has never abandoned her independent rights, and an +adjacent nation that has persistently sought to strangle them.</p> + +<p>Were Ireland to surrender that principle, she must submit to a usurped +power, condone the fraudulent prostration of her Parliament in 1800, and +abandon all claim to distinct nationality. Deep-seated and far-reaching +are the problems remorselessly aroused by the unthinking and violent +courses taken at Westminster.</p> + +<p>Thus the sudden and unlooked-for departure of British politicians from +their past military procedure towards this island provokes acutely the +fundamental issue of Self-determination. That issue will decide whether +our whole economic, social, and political life must lie at the +uncontrolled disposition of another race whose title to legislate for us +rests on force and fraud alone.</p> + +<p>Ireland is a nation more ancient than England, and is one of the oldest +in Christendom. Its geographical boundaries are clearly defined. It +cherishes its own traditions, history, language, music, and culture. It +throbs with a national consciousness sharpened not only by religious +persecution, but by the violation of its territorial, juristic, and +legislative rights. The authority of which its invaders boasted rests +solely on an alleged Papal Bull. The symbols of attempted conquest are +roofless castles, ruined abbeys, and confiscated cathedrals.</p> + +<p>The title of King of Ireland was first conferred on the English monarch +by a statute of the Parliament held in Ireland in 1542, when only four +of our counties lay under English sway. That title originated in no +English enactment. Neither did the Irish Parliament so originate. Every +military aid granted by that Parliament to English kings was purely +voluntary. Even when the Penal Code denied representation to the +majority of the Irish population, military service was never enforced +against them.</p> + +<p>For generations England claimed control over both legislative and +judicial functions in Ireland, but in 1783 these pretensions were +altogether renounced, and the sovereignty of the Irish Legislature was +solemnly recognised. A memorable British statute declared it—</p><a name="Page_289"></a> + +<blockquote><p>"Established and ascertained for ever, and shall at no time + hereafter be questioned or questionable."</p></blockquote> + +<p>For this, the spirit evoked by the successful revolt of the United +States of America is to be thanked, and Ireland won no mean return for +the sympathy invited by your Congress. Yet scarcely had George III +signified his Royal Assent to that "scrap of paper," when his Ministers +began to debauch the Irish Parliament. No Catholic had, for over a +century, been allowed to sit within its walls; and only a handful of the +population enjoyed the franchise. In 1800, by shameless bribery, a +majority of corrupt Colonists was procured to embrace the London +subjugation and vote away the existence of their Legislature for +pensions, pelf, and titles.</p> + +<p>The authors of the Act of Union, however, sought to soften its shackles +by limiting the future jurisdiction of the British Parliament. Imposed +on "a reluctant and protesting nation," it was tempered by articles +guaranteeing Ireland against the coarser and more obvious forms of +injustice. To guard against undue taxation, "exemptions and abatements" +were stipulated for; but the "predominant partner" has long since +dishonoured that part of the contract, and the weaker side has no power +to enforce it. No military burdens were provided for, although Britain +framed the terms of the treaty to her own liking. That an obligation to +yield enforced service was thereby undertaken has never hitherto been +asserted. We therefore cannot neglect to support this protest by citing +a main proviso of the Treaty of Union. Before the destruction of the +Irish Parliament no standing army or navy was raised, nor was any +contribution made, except by way of gift, to the British Army or Navy. +No Irish law for the levying of drafts existed; and such a proposal was +deemed unconstitutional. Hence the 8th Article of the Treaty provides +that—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"All laws in force at the time of the Union shall remain as now by + law established, subject only to such alterations and regulations + from time to time as circumstances may appear to the Parliament of + the United Kingdom to require."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Where there was no law establishing military service for Ireland, what +"alteration or regulation" respecting such a law can legally bind? Can +an enactment such as Conscription, affecting the legal and moral rights +of an entire people, be described as an "alteration" or "regulation" +springing from a pre-existing law? Is the Treaty to be construed as +Britain pleases, and always to the prejudice of the weaker side?</p> + +<p>British military statecraft has hitherto rigidly held by a separate +tradition for Ireland. The Territorial military system, created in 1907 +for Great Britain, was not set up in Ireland. The Irish Militia was then +actually disbanded, and the War Office insisted that no<a name="Page_290"></a> Territorial +force to replace it should be embodied. Stranger still, the Volunteer +Acts (Naval or Military) from 1804 to 1900 (some twenty in all) were +never extended to Ireland. In 1880, when a Conservative House of Commons +agreed to tolerate volunteering, the measure was thrown out by the House +of Lords on the plea that Irishmen must not be allowed to learn the use +of arms.</p> + +<p>For, despite the Bill of Rights, the privilege of free citizens to bear +arms in self-defence has been refused to us. The Constitution of America +affirms that right as appertaining to the common people, but the men of +Ireland are forbidden to bear arms in their own defence. Where, then, +lies the basis of the claim that they can be forced to take them up for +the defence of others?</p> + +<p>It will suffice to present such considerations in outline without +disinterring the details of the past misgovernment of our country. Mr. +Gladstone avowed that these were marked by "every horror and every shame +that could disgrace the relations between a strong country and a weak +one." After an orgy of Martial Law the Scottish General, Abercromby, +Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, wrote: "Every crime, every cruelty that +could be committed by Cossacks or Calmucks has been transacted here.... +The abuses of all kinds I found can scarcely be believed or enumerated." +Lord Holland recalls that many people "were sold at so much a head to +the Prussians."</p> + +<p>We shall, therefore, pass by the story of the destruction of our +manufactures, of artificial famines, of the fomentation of uprisings, of +a hundred Coercion Acts, culminating in the perpetual "Act of +Repression" obtained by forgery, which graced Queen Victoria's Jubilee +Year in 1887. In our island the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, the +repression of free speech, gibbetings, shootings, and bayonetings, are +commonplace events. The effects of forced emigration and famine American +generosity has softened; and we do not seek a verdict on the general +merits of a system which enjoys the commendation of no foreigner except +Albert, Prince Consort, who declared that the Irish "were no more worthy +of sympathy than the Poles."</p> + +<p>It is known to you how our population shrank to its present fallen +state. Grants of money for emigration, "especially of families," were +provided even by the Land Act of 1881. Previous Poor Law Acts had +stimulated this "remedy." So late as 1891 a "Congested District" Board +was empowered to "aid emigration," although millions of Irishmen had in +the nineteenth century been evicted from their homes or driven abroad.</p> + +<p>Seventy years ago our population stood at 8,000,000, and, in the normal +ratio of increase, it should to-day amount to 16,000,000. Instead, it +has dwindled to 4,500,000; and it is from this residuum that our manhood +between the ages of eighteen and fifty-one is to be delivered up in such +measure as the strategists of the English War Cabinet may demand.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_291"></a>To-day, as in the days of George Washington, nearly half the American +forces have been furnished from the descendants of our banished race. If +England could not, during your Revolution, regard that enrolment with +satisfaction, might she not set something now to Ireland's credit from +the racial composition of your Army or Navy? No other small nation has +been so bereft by law of her children, but in vain for Ireland has the +bread of exile been thrown upon the waters.</p> + +<p>Yet, while Self-determination is refused, we are required by law to +bleed to "make the world safe for democracy "—in every country except +our own. Surely this cannot be the meaning of America's message to +mankind glowing from the pen of her illustrious President?</p> + +<p>In the 750 years during which the stranger sway has blighted Ireland her +people have never had occasion to welcome an unselfish or generous deed +at the hands of their rulers. Every so-called "concession" was but the +loosening of a fetter. Every benefit sprang from a manipulation of our +own money by a foreign Treasury denying us an honest audit of accounts. +None was yielded as an act of grace. All were the offspring of +constraint, tumult, or political necessity. Reason and arguments fell on +deaf ears. To England the Union has brought enhanced wealth, population, +power, and importance; to Ireland increased taxation, stunted +industries, swollen emigration, and callous officialism.</p> + +<p>Possessing in this land neither moral nor intellectual pre-eminence, nor +any prestige derived from past merit or present esteem, the British +Executive claims to restrain our liberties, control our fortunes, and +exercise over our people the power of life and death. To obstruct the +recent Home Rule Bill it allowed its favourites to defy its Parliament +without punishment, to import arms from suspect regions with impunity, +to threaten "to break every law" to effectuate their designs to infect +the Army with mutiny and set up a rival Executive backed by military +array to enforce the rule of a caste against the vast majority of the +people. The highest offices of State became the guerdon of the +organisers of rebellion, boastful of aid from Germany. To-day they are +pillars of the Constitution, and the chief instrument of law. The only +laurels lacking to the leaders of the Mutineers are those transplanted +from the field of battle!</p> + +<p>Are we to fight to maintain a system so repugnant, and must Irishmen be +content to remain slaves themselves after freedom for distant lands has +been purchased by their blood?</p> + +<p>Heretofore in every clime, whenever the weak called for a defender, +wherever the flag of liberty was unfurled, that blood freely flowed. +Profiting by Irish sympathy with righteous causes Britain, at the +outbreak of war, attracted to her armies tens of thousands of our youth +ere even the Western Hemisphere had awakened to the wail of "small +nations."</p> + +<p>Irishmen, in their chivalrous eagerness, laid themselves open to <a name="Page_292"></a>the +reproach from some of their brethren of forgetting the woes of their own +land, which had suffered from its rulers, at one time or another, almost +every inhumanity for which Germany is impeached. It was hard to bear the +taunt that the army they were joining was that which held Ireland in +subjection; but fresh bitterness has been added to such reproaches by +what has since taken place.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, in the face of persistent discouragements, Irish chivalry +remained ardent and aflame in the first years of the war. Tens of +thousands of the children of the Gael have perished in the conflict. +Their bones bleach upon the soil of Flanders or moulder beneath the +waves of Suvla Bay. The slopes of Gallipoli, the sands of Egypt, +Mesopotamia and Judasa afford them sepulture. Mons and Ypres provide +their monuments. Wherever the battle-line extends from the English +Channel to the Persian Gulf their ghostly voices whisper a response to +the roll-call of the guardian-spirits of Liberty. What is their reward?</p> + +<p>The spot on earth they loved best, and the land to which they owed their +first duty, and which they hoped their sacrifices might help to freedom, +lies unredeemed under an age-long thraldom. So, too, would it for ever +lie, were every man and every youth within the shores of Ireland to +immolate himself in England's service, unless the clamour of a dominant +caste be rebuked and stilled.</p> + +<p>Yet proof after proof accumulates that British Cabinets continue to be +towards our country as conscienceless as ever. They deceive frankly +nations throughout the world as to their Irish policy, while withholding +from us even the Act of Home Rule which in 1914 was placed on the +Statute-book. The recent "Convention," which they composed to initiate +reform, was brought to confusion by a letter from the Prime Minister +diminishing his original engagements.</p> + +<p>Such insincere manoeuvres have left an indelible sense of wrong rankling +in the hearts of Ireland.</p> + +<p>Capitulations are observed with French Canadians, with the Maltese, with +the Hindoos, with the Mohammedan Arabs, or the African Boers; but never +has the word of England, in any capital case, been kept towards the +"sister" island.</p> + +<p>The Parliaments of Australia and of South Africa—both of which (unlike +our ancient Legislature) were founded by British enactments—refused to +adopt conscription. This was well known when the law against Ireland was +resolved on. For opposing the application of that law to Irishmen, and +while this appeal to you, sir, was being penned, members of our +Conference have been arrested and deported without trial. It was even +sought to poison the wells of American sympathy by levelling against +them and others an allegation which its authors have failed to submit to +the investigation of any tribunal.</p> + +<p>To overlay malpractice by imputing to its victims perverse or criminal +conduct is the stale but never-failing device of tyranny.</p> + +<p>A claim has also been put forward by the British Foreign Office <a name="Page_293"></a>to +prevent you, Mr. President, as the head of a great allied Republic, from +acquiring first-hand information of the reasons why Ireland has +rejected, and will resist, conscription except in so far as the Military +Governor of Ireland, Field-Marshal Lord French, may be pleased to allow +you to peruse his version of our opinions.</p> + +<p>America's present conflict with Germany obstructs no argument that we +advance. "Liberty and ordered peace" we, too, strive for; and +confidently do we look to you, sir, and to America—whose freedom +Irishmen risked something to establish—to lend ear and weight to the +prayer that another unprovoked wrong against the defenceless may not +stain this sorry century.</p> + +<p>We know that America entered the war because her rights as a neutral, in +respect of ocean navigation, were interfered with, and only then. Yet +America in her strength had a guarantee that in victory she would not be +cheated of that for which she joined in the struggle. Ireland, having no +such strength, has no such guarantee; and experience has taught us that +justice (much less gratitude) is not to be wrung from a hostile +Government. What Ireland is to give, a free Ireland must determine.</p> + +<p>We are sadly aware, from recent proclamations and deportations, of the +efforts of British authorities to inflame prejudice against our country. +We therefore crave allowance briefly to notice the insinuation that the +Irish coasts, with native connivance, could be made a base for the +destruction of American shipping.</p> + +<p>An official statement asserts that:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"An important feature in every plan was the establishment of + submarine bases in Ireland to menace the shipping of all nations."</p></blockquote> + +<p>On this it is enough to say that every creek, inlet, or estuary that +indents our shores, and every harbour, mole, or jetty is watchfully +patrolled by British authority. Moreover, Irish vessels, with their +cargoes, crews, and passengers, have suffered in this war +proportionately to those of Britain.</p> + +<p>Another State Paper palliates the deportations by blazoning the descent +of a solitary invader upon a remote island on the 12th of April, +heralded by mysterious warnings from the Admiralty to the Irish Command. +No discussion is permitted of the tryst of this British soldier with the +local coast-guards, of his speedy bent towards a police barrack, and his +subsequent confidences with the London authorities.</p> + +<p>Only one instance exists in history of a project to profane our coasts +by making them a base to launch attacks on international shipping. That +plot was framed, not by native wickedness, but by an English Viceroy, +and the proofs are piled up under his hand in British State Papers.</p> + +<p>For huge bribes were proffered by Lord Falkland, Lord-Lieutenant of +Ireland, to both the Royal Secretary and the Prince of Wales, <a name="Page_294"></a>to obtain +consent for the use of Irish harbours to convenience Turkish and +Algerine pirates in raiding sea-going commerce. The plot is old, but the +plea of "increasing his Majesty's revenues" by which it was commended is +everlasting. Nor will age lessen its significance for the citizens of +that Republic which, amidst the tremors and greed of European diplomacy, +extirpated the traffic of Algerine corsairs ninety years ago. British +experts cherish Lord Falkland's fame as the sire of their most knightly +cavalier, and in their eyes its lustre shines undimmed, though his +Excellency, foiled of marine booty, enriched himself by seizing the +lands of his untried prisoners in Dublin Castle.</p> + +<p>Moving are other retrospects evoked by the present outbreak of malignity +against our nation. The slanders of the hour recall those let loose to +cloak previous deportations in days of panic less ignoble. Then it was +the Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Oliver Plunkett, who was dragged +to London and arraigned for high treason. Poignant memories quicken at +every incident which accompanied his degradation before the Lord Chief +Justice of England. A troop of witnesses was suborned to swear that his +Grace "endeavoured and compassed the King's death," sought to "levy war +in Ireland and introduce a foreign Power," and conspired "to take a view +of all the several ports and places in Ireland where it would be +convenient to land from France." An open trial, indeed, was not denied +him; but with hasty rites he was branded a base and false traitor and +doomed to be hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. That desperate +felon, after prolonged investigation by the Holy See, has lately been +declared a martyr worthy of universal veneration.</p> + +<p>The fathers of the American Revolution were likewise pursued in turn by +the venom of Governments. Could they have been snatched from their homes +and haled to London, what fate would have befallen them? There your +noblest patriots might also have perished amidst scenes of shame, and +their effigies would now bedeck a British chamber of horrors. Nor would +death itself have shielded their reputations from hatchments of +dishonour. For the greatest of Englishmen reviled even the sacred name +of Joan of Arc, the stainless Maid of France, to belittle a fallen foe +and spice a ribald stage-play.</p> + +<p>It is hardly thirty years since every Irish leader was made the victim +of a special Statute of Proscription, and was cited to answer vague +charges before London judges. During 1888 and 1889 a malignant and +unprecedented inquisition was maintained to vilify them, backed by all +the resources of British power. No war then raged to breed alarms, yet +no weapon that perjury or forgery could fashion was left unemployed to +destroy the characters of more than eighty National +representatives—some of whom survive to join in this Address. That plot +came to an end amidst the confusion of their persecutors, but fresh +accusations may be daily contrived and buttressed by the chicanery of +State.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_295"></a>In every generation the Irish nation is challenged to plead to a new +indictment, and to the present summons answer is made before no narrow +forum but to the tribunal of the world. So answering, we commit our +cause, as did America, to "the virtuous and humane," and also more +humbly to the providence of God.</p> + +<p>Well assured are we that you, Mr. President, whose exhortations have +inspired the Small Nations of the world with fortitude to defend to the +last their liberties against oppressors, will not be found among those +who would condemn Ireland for a determination which is irrevocable to +continue steadfastly in the course mapped out for her, no matter what +the odds, by an unexampled unity of National judgment and National +right.</p> + +<p>Given at the Mansion House, Dublin, this 11th day of June, 1918.</p> + +LAURENCE O'NEILL, Lord Mayor of Dublin,<br /> +Chairman of a Conference of representative +Irishmen whose names stand hereunder.<br /> +JOSEPH DEVLIN,<br /> +JOHN DILLON,<br /> +MICHAEL JOHNSON,<br /> +WILLIAM O'BRIEN (Lab.),<br /> +T.M. HEALY,<br /> +WILLIAM O'BRIEN,<br /> +THOMAS KELLY, and JOHN MACNEILL:<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">{Acting in the place E. DE +VALERA and A. GRIFFITH, +deported 18th of May, 1918, +to separate prisons in England, +without trial or accusation—communication +with whom has been cut off.}</span> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="Page_296"></a><a name="APPENDIX_B"></a><h2>APPENDIX B</h2> + +<h3>UNIONIST LETTER TO PRESIDENT WILSON</h3> + +CITY HALL, BELFAST,<br /> +<i>August 1st</i>, 1918.<br /> + +<h4>To THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</h4> + +<p>SIR,</p> + +<p>A manifesto signed by the leader of the Irish Nationalist Party and +certain other Irish gentlemen has been widely circulated in the United +Kingdom, in the form of a letter purporting to have been addressed to +your Excellency.<a name="FNanchor_110_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_110_110"><sup>[110]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Its purpose appears to be to offer an explanation of, and an excuse for, +the conduct of the Nationalist Party in obstructing the extension to +Ireland of compulsory military service, which the rest of the United +Kingdom has felt compelled to adopt as the necessary means of defeating +the German design to dominate the world. At a time when all the free +democracies of the world have, with whatever reluctance, accepted the +burden of conscription as the only alternative to the destruction of +free institutions and of international justice, it is easily +intelligible that those who maintain Ireland's right to solitary and +privileged exemption from the same obligation should betray their +consciousness that an apologia is required to enable them to escape +condemnation at the bar of civilised, and especially of American, +opinion. But, inasmuch as the document referred to would give to anyone +not intimately familiar with British domestic affairs the impression +that it represents the unanimous opinion of Irishmen, it is important +that your Excellency and the American people should be assured that this +is very far from being the case.</p> + +<p>There is in Ireland a minority, whom we claim to represent, comprising +one-fourth to one-third of the total population of the island, located +mainly, but not exclusively, in the province of Ulster, who dissent +emphatically from the views of Mr. Dillon and his associates. This +minority, through their representatives in Parliament, have maintained +throughout the present war that the same obligations should in all +respects be borne by Ireland as by Great Britain, and it has caused them +as Irishmen a keen sense of shame that their country has not submitted +to this equality of sacrifice.</p> + +<p>Your Excellency does not need to be informed that this question has +become entangled in the ancient controversy concerning the +<a name="Page_297"></a>constitutional status of Ireland in the United Kingdom. This is, +indeed, sufficiently clear from the terms of the Nationalist manifesto +addressed to you, every paragraph of which is coloured by allusion to +bygone history and threadbare political disputes.</p> + +<p>It is not our intention to traverse the same ground. There is in the +manifesto almost no assertion with regard to past events which is not +either a distortion or a misinterpretation of historical fact. But we +consider that this is not the moment for discussing the faults and +follies of the past, still less for rehearsing ancient grievances, +whether well or ill founded, in language of extravagant rhetoric. At a +time when the very existence of civilisation hangs in the balance, all +smaller issues, whatever their merits or however they may affect our +internal political problems, should in our judgment have remained in +abeyance, while the parties interested in their solution should have +joined in whole-hearted co-operation against the common enemy.</p> + +<p>There is, however, one matter to which reference must be made, in order +to make clear the position of the Irish minority whom we represent. The +Nationalist Party have based their claim to American sympathy on the +historic appeal addressed to Irishmen by the British colonists who +fought for independence in America a hundred and fifty years ago. By no +Irishmen was that appeal received with a more lively sympathy than by +the Protestants of Ulster, the ancestors of those for whom we speak +to-day—a fact that was not surprising in view of the circumstance that +more than one-sixth part of the entire colonial population in America at +the time of the Declaration of Independence consisted of emigrants from +Ulster.</p> + +<p>The Ulstermen of to-day, forming as they do the chief industrial +community in Ireland, are as devoted adherents to the cause of +democratic freedom as were their forefathers in the eighteenth century. +But the experience of a century of social and economic progress under +the legislative Union with Great Britain has convinced them that under +no other system of government could more complete liberty be enjoyed by +the Irish people. This, however, is not the occasion for a reasoned +defence of "Unionist" policy. Our sole purpose in referring to the +matter is to show, whatever be the merits of the dispute, that a very +substantial volume of Irish opinion is warmly attached to the existing +Constitution of the United Kingdom, and regards as wholly unwarranted +the theory that our political status affords any sort of parallel to +that of the "small nations" oppressed by alien rule, for whose +emancipation the Allied democracies are fighting in this war.</p> + +<p>The Irish representation in the Imperial Parliament throws a significant +sidelight on this prevalent fiction. Whereas England is only represented +by one member for every 75,000 of population, and Scotland by one for +every 65,000, Ireland has a member for every 42,000 of her people. With +a population below that of Scotland,<a name="Page_298"></a> Ireland has 31 more members in the +House of Commons, and 89 more than she could claim on a basis of +representation strictly proportionate to population in the United +Kingdom.</p> + +<p>Speaking in Dublin on the 1st of July, 1915, the late Mr. John Redmond +gave the following description of the present condition of Ireland, +which offers a striking contrast to the extravagant declamation that +represents that country as downtrodden by a harsh and unsympathetic +system of government:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"To-day," he said, "the people, broadly speaking, own the soil. + To-day the labourers live in decent habitations. To-day there is + absolute freedom in local government and local taxation of the + country. To-day we have the widest parliamentary and municipal + franchise. The congested districts, the scene of some of the most + awful horrors of the old famine days, have been transformed. The + farms have been enlarged, decent dwellings have been provided, and + a new spirit of hope and independence is to-day among the people. + In towns legislation has been passed facilitating the housing of + the working classes—a piece of legislation far in advance of + anything obtained for the town tenants of England. We have a system + of old-age pensions in Ireland whereby every old man and woman over + seventy is safe from the workhouse and free to spend their last + days in comparative comfort."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Such are the conditions which, in the eyes of Nationalist politicians, +constitute a tyranny so intolerable as to justify Ireland in repudiating +her fair share in the burden of war against the enemies of civilisation.</p> + +<p>The appeal which the Nationalists make to the principle of +"self-determination" strikes Ulster Protestants as singularly +inappropriate. Mr. Dillon and his co-signatories have been careful not +to inform your Excellency that it was their own opposition that +prevented the question of Irish Government being settled in accordance +with that principle in 1916. The British Government were prepared at +that time to bring the Home Rule Act of 1914 into immediate operation, +if the Nationalists had consented to exclude from its scope the +distinctively Protestant population of the North, who desired to adhere +to the Union. This compromise was rejected by the Nationalist leaders, +whose policy was thus shown to be one of "self-determination" for +themselves, combined with coercive domination over us.</p> + +<p>It is because the British Government, while prepared to concede the +principle of self-determination impartially to both divisions in +Ireland, has declined to drive us forcibly into such subjection that the +Nationalist Party conceive themselves entitled to resist the law of +conscription. And the method by which this resistance has been made +effective is, in our view, not less deplorable than the spirit that +dictated it. The most active opponents of conscription in Ireland are +men who have been twice detected during the war in treasonable traffic +with the enemy, and their most powerful support has been that of +ecclesiastics, who have not scrupled to employ <a name="Page_299"></a>weapons of spiritual +terrorism which have elsewhere in the civilised world fallen out of +political use since the Middle Ages.</p> + +<p>The claim of these men, in league with Germany on the one hand, and with +the forces of clericalism on the other, to resist a law passed by +Parliament as necessary for national defence is, moreover, inconsistent +with any political status short of independent sovereignty—status which +could only be attained by Ireland by an act of secession from the United +Kingdom, such as the American Union averted only by resort to civil war. +In every Federal or other Constitution embracing subordinate +legislatures the raising and control of military forces are matters +reserved for the supreme legislative authority alone, and they are so +reserved for the Imperial Parliament of the United Kingdom in the Home +Rule Act of 1914, the "withholding" of which during the war is +complained of by the Nationalists who have addressed your Excellency. +The contention of these gentlemen that until the internal government of +Ireland is changed in accordance with their demands, Ireland is +justified in resisting the law of Conscription, is one that finds +support in no intelligible theory of political science.</p> + +<p>To us as Irishmen—convinced as we are of the righteousness of the cause +for which we are fighting, and resolved that no sacrifice can be too +great to "make the world safe for democracy"—it is a matter of poignant +regret that the conduct of the Nationalist leaders in refusing to lay +aside matters of domestic dispute, in order to put forth the whole +strength of the country against Germany should have cast a stain on the +good name of Ireland. We have done everything in our power to dissociate +ourselves from their action, and we disclaim responsibility for it at +the bar of posterity and history.</p> + +EDWARD CARSON.<br /> +JAMES JOHNSTON, Lord Mayor of Belfast.<br /> +H.M. POLLOCK, President Belfast Chamber of Commerce.<br /> +R.N. ANDERSON, Mayor of Londonderry, and +President Londonderry Chamber of Commerce.<br /> +JOHN M. ANDREWS, Chairman Ulster Unionist Labour Association.<br /> +JAMES A. TURKINGTON, Vice-Chairman Ulster Unionist Labour Association, and Secretary +Power-loom and Allied Trades Friendly +Society, and ex-Secretary Power-loom +Tenters' Trade Union of Ireland.<br /> +THOMPSON DONALD, Hon. Secretary Ulster +Unionist Labour Association, and ex-District +Secretary Shipwrights' Association.<br /> +HENRY FLEMING, Hon. Secretary Ulster Unionist +Labour Association, Member of Boilermakers' +Iron and Steel Shipbuilders' Society.<br /><a name="Page_300"></a> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_110_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_110_110">[110]</a><div class="note"><p> See Appendix A.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="INDEX"></a><h2>INDEX</h2> + +<ul><li>Abercorn, James, 2nd Duke of,</li> +<li><ul><li>at the Belfast Convention, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>;</li> +<li>President of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li>illness, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>;</li> +<li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>;</li> +<li>death, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Abercorn, James, 3rd Duke of, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a></li> +<li>Abercorn, Mary, Duchess of,</li> +<li><ul><li>President of the Women's Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Adair, Gen. Sir Wm., at Larne, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a></li> +<li>Afghan Campaign, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a></li> +<li>Africa, South, War, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a></li> +<li>Agar-Robartes, Hon. Thomas,</li> +<li><ul><li>amendment on the Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>-<a href='#Page_97'>97</a>, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Agnew, Capt. Andrew, <a href="#Page_viii">viii</a>, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a>, <a href='#Page_202'>202</a>, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a>, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a></li> +<li>Albert Hall, meetings at, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a>, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a></li> +<li>Alexander, Dr., Bishop of Derry, at the Albert Hall, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a></li> +<li>Allen, C.E., <a href='#Page_156'>156</a></li> +<li>Allen, W.J., <a href='#Page_35'>35</a></li> +<li>Althorp, Lord, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a></li> +<li>Altrincham, election, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a></li> +<li>Amending Bill, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>postponed, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a>, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a>;</li> +<li><i>see</i> Home Rule</li></ul></li> + +<li>America, War of Independence, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a></li> +<li>Amery, L.C.S.,</li> +<li><ul><li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li> +<li>on the Curragh Incident, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Amiens, threatened capture of, <a href='#Page_266'>266</a></li> +<li>Anderson, R.N., Mayor of Londonderry,</li> +<li><ul><li>letter to President Wilson, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>-<a href='#Page_299'>299</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Andrews, John M., letter to President Wilson, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>-<a href='#Page_299'>299</a></li> +<li>Andrews, Thomas, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a></li> +<li>Anglo-German relations, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a></li> +<li><i>Annual Register</i>, <a href="#Page_viii">viii</a>, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>, + <a href='#Page_154'>154</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a><i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a> <i>note</i>, + <a href='#Page_170'>170</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_238'>238</a>, <a href='#Page_271'>271</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_272'>272</a> <i>note</i></li> +<li>Archdale, E.M., <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Chairman of the Standing Committee, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li>Minister for Agriculture, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Armagh, military depot, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a></li> +<li>Armaghdale, Lord, <a href='#Page_263'>263</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>:</li> +<li><i>see</i> Lonsdale</li></ul></li> + +<li>Armistice, the, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a></li> +<li>Army, British, sympathy with Ulster Loyalists, <a href='#Page_187'>187</a>-<a href='#Page_189'>189</a></li> +<li>Arran, Isle of, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a></li> +<li>Asquith, Rt. Hon. H.H.,</li> +<li><ul><li>on the opposition of Ulster to Home Rule, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a>, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>;</li> +<li>at the Albert Hall, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>;</li> +<li>Hull, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>;</li> +<li>Reading, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>;</li> +<li>Bury St. Edmunds, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>;</li> +<li>opinion of Sir E. Carson's speech, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>;</li> +<li>at Ladybank, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>;</li> +<li>Manchester, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>;</li> +<li>policy on the Ulster Question, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>-<a href='#Page_170'>170</a>;</li> +<li>on the Curragh Incident, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>;</li> +<li>Secretary of State for War, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a>;</li> +<li>promises an Amending Bill, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>;</li> +<li>on the landing of arms, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>;</li> +<li>at the Buckingham Palace Conference, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>;</li> +<li>on the postponement of the Amending Bill, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a>, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a>;</li> +<li>defence of Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_235'>235</a>;</li> +<li>in Dublin, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>;</li> +<li>on the settlement of the Irish question, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a>;</li> +<li>on the national danger, <a href='#Page_266'>266</a></li></ul></li> + +<li><i>Attentive</i>, H.M.S., <a href='#Page_178'>178</a></li> +<li>Austrian rifles, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Baird, J.D., at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Balfour, Rt. Hon. A.J.,</li> +<li><ul><li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li> +<li>on election tactics, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>;</li> +<li>on exclusion of Ulster, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>;</li> +<li>resigns leadership of the Unionist Party, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>;</li> +<li>how regarded in Ulster, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>;</li> +<li>message from, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>;</li> +<li>the "peccant paragraphs," <a href='#Page_181'>181</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Balfour, Lord, of Burleigh, signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>Ballycastle, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a></li> +<li>Ballykinler, training camp, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a></li> +<li>Ballymacarret, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> +<li>Ballymena, meeting at, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a></li> +<li>Ballymoney, meeting at, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a></li> +<li>Ballyroney, meeting at, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a></li> +<li><i>Balmerino</i>, s.s., <a href='#Page_208'>208</a>, <a href='#Page_209'>209</a></li> +<li>Balmoral, Belfast, meeting at, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>-<a href='#Page_86'>86</a>, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a></li> +<li>Bangor, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>, <a href='#Page_219'>219</a></li> +<li>Barrie, H.T., <a href='#Page_257'>257</a></li> +<li>Bates, Richard Dawson, Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>organises demonstration, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>;</li> +<li>on board a tender, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>;</li> +<li>Minister for Home Affairs, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a>;</li> +<li>knighthood, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Bedford, Duke of, Chairman of the British League for the support of Ulster, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a></li> +<li>Belfast, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Convention of 1892, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>-<a href='#Page_34'>34</a>, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>;</li> +<li>meetings at, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a>;</li> +<li>services on Ulster Day, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>;</li> +<li>City Hall, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a>;</li> +<li>Covenant signed, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>-<a href='#Page_122'>122</a>;</li> +<li>drill hall, opened, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>;</li> +<li>riots, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>;</li> +<li>review of the Ulster Volunteer Force at, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>;</li> +<li>Customs Authorities, stratagem against, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a>;</li> +<li>reception of the King and Queen, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Belfast Lough, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a></li> +<li><i>Belfast Newsletter</i>, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a></li> +<li>Benn, Sir John, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a></li> +<li>Beresford, Lord Charles,</li> +<li><ul><li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>;</li> +<li>at the Ulster Club, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>;</li> +<li>Liverpool, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>;</li> +<li>member of a Committee of the Provisional Government, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Berwick, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a></li> +<li>Birrell, Rt. Hon. Augustine, Chief Secretary for Ireland,</li> +<li><ul><li>on the character of Sinn Feinism, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>;</li> +<li>at Ilfracombe, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>;</li> +<li>on the Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>;</li> +<li>the right to fight, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>;</li> +<li>member of a sub-committee on Ulster, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>;</li> +<li>conduct in the Irish rebellion, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>;</li> +<li>character of his administration, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Blenheim, meeting at, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a></li> +<li>Boyne, the, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>battle of, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>;</li> +<li>celebration, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Bradford, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a></li> +<li>Bristol, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>;</li> +<li>Channel, <a href='#Page_208'>208</a></li> +<li><i>Britannic</i>, H.M.S., <a href='#Page_224'>224</a></li> +<li>British Covenant, signing the, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>British League for the support of Ulster and the Union, formation, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a></li> +<li>Browne, Robert, Managing Director of the Antrim Iron Ore Company, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a></li> +<li>Brunner, Sir John, President of the National Liberal Federation, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a></li> +<li>Buckingham Palace Conference, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a></li> +<li>Budden, Captain, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a></li> +<li>Budget, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>; "The People's," <a href='#Page_20'>20</a></li> +<li>"Budget League," formed, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a></li> +<li>Bull, Sir William, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a></li> +<li>Bury St. Edmunds, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a></li> +<li>Butcher, Sir J.G., at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Cambridge, H.R.H. Duke of, <a href='#Page_187'>187</a></li> +<li>Cambridgeshire, election, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a></li> +<li>Campbell, James, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a></li> +<li>Canterbury, Dean of, signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>Carlyle, Thomas, <a href='#Page_137'>137</a></li> +<li>Carrickfergus, military depot, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a></li> +<li>Carson, Lady, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li> +<li>Carson, Rt. Hon. Sir Edward, <a href="#Page_viii">viii</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>accepts leadership, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>-<a href='#Page_41'>41</a>;</li> +<li>political views, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a>;</li> +<li>at the Ulster Hall, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>;</li> +<li>at the Ulster Unionist Council meetings, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>, <a href='#Page_246'>246</a>-<a href='#Page_248'>248</a>;</li> +<li>relations with Lord Londonderry, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>;</li> +<li>on the Parliament Bill, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>;</li> +<li>at the Craigavon meeting, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>-<a href='#Page_51'>51</a>, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>;</li> +<li>character of his speaking, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>;</li> +<li>at the Conference at Belfast, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>;</li> +<li>at Dublin, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>;</li> +<li>Portrush, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a>;</li> +<li>refuses leadership of Unionist Party, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>;</li> +<li>meetings in Lancashire, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a>;</li> +<li>popularity, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a>, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>;</li> +<li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a>, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a>-<a href='#Page_226'>226</a>, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a>;</li> +<li>criticism of W. Churchill's speech, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>;</li> +<li>on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>;</li> +<li>at the Balmoral meeting, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>;</li> +<li>ovation, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>;</li> +<li>attacks on, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>;</li> +<li>on the Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>;</li> +<li>at the Londonderry House Conference, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>;</li> +<li>on the resistance of Ulster, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>;</li> +<li>character of his leadership, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>;</li> +<li>reads the Ulster Covenant, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>;</li> +<li>tour of the Province, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>;</li> +<li>opinion of the Covenant, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>;</li> +<li>presentation to, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>;</li> +<li>speech on the Covenant, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>;</li> +<li>at the service in the Ulster Hall, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>;</li> +<li>at the City Hall, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>-<a href='#Page_124'>124</a>;</li> +<li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>;</li> +<li>at Liverpool, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>;</li> +<li>on the exclusion of Ulster, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>;</li> +<li>death of his wife, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>;</li> +<li>at opening of drill hall, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>;</li> +<li>in Scotland and England, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>;</li> +<li>at Durham, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a>;</li> +<li>Chairman of the Central Authority, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>;</li> +<li>Indemnity Guarantee Fund, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>;</li> +<li>inspection of the Ulster Volunteer Force, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>, <a href='#Page_226'>226</a>;</li> +<li>on the time limit for exclusion, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a>;</li> +<li>leaves the House of Commons, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a>;</li> +<li>on the plot against Ulster, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a>;</li> +<li>signs statement on the Curragh Incident, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a>;</li> +<li>interview with Major F.H. Crawford, <a href='#Page_199'>199</a>, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>;</li> +<li>congratulations from Lord Roberts, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a>;</li> +<li>at Ipswich, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>;</li> +<li>at the Buckingham Palace Conference, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>;</li> +<li>on the patriotism of Ulster, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>-<a href='#Page_233'>233</a>;</li> +<li>tribute to B. Law, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>;</li> +<li>second marriage, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>;</li> +<li>tribute to Lord Londonderry, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>;</li> +<li>appointed Attorney-General, <a href='#Page_242'>242</a>;</li> +<li>resignation, <a href='#Page_242'>242</a>;</li> +<li>on the Irish rebellion, <a href='#Page_246'>246</a>;</li> +<li>appointed First Lord of the Admiralty, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>;</li> +<li>resignation, <a href='#Page_263'>263</a>;</li> +<li>re-elected leader of the Ulster Party, <a href='#Page_263'>263</a>;</li> +<li>member of the Irish Unionist Alliance, <a href='#Page_265'>265</a>;</li> +<li>on the Military Service Bill, <a href='#Page_270'>270</a>;</li> +<li>letter to President Wilson, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>-<a href='#Page_299'>299</a>;</li> +<li>M.P. for Duncairn, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>;</li> +<li>declines office, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>;</li> +<li>on the Government of Ireland Act, <a href='#Page_279'>279</a>;</li> +<li>conclusion of his leadership, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a>;</li> +<li>Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a>;</li> +<li>unable to be present at the opening of the Ulster Parliament, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Casement, Sir Roger, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>in league with Germany, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Cassel, Felix, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Castlereagh, Viscount, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li> +<li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Cavan, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a>, <a href='#Page_279'>279</a></li> +<li>Cave, Rt. Hon. George, <a href='#Page_188'>188</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li> +<li>letter to <i>The Times</i>, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Cecil, Lord Hugh, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at the Balmoral meeting, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>;</li> +<li>on the resistance of Ulster, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. Austen,</li> +<li><ul><li>candidate for the leadership of the Unionist Party, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>;</li> +<li>message from, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>;</li> +<li>at Skipton, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>;</li> +<li>on the policy of the Government, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. Joseph, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>views on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>;</li> +<li>tariff policy, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>;</li> +<li>his advice to Sir E. Carson, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Chambers, James, signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a></li> +<li>Chichester, Capt. the Hon. A.C.,</li> +<li>Commander in the Ulster Volunteer Force, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a></li> +<li>Childers, Mr. Erskine, on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a></li> +<li>China Expeditionary Force, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a></li> +<li>Chubb, Sir George Hayter, signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>Churchill, Mrs., at Belfast, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a></li> +<li>Churchill, Lord Randolph, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at the Ulster Hall meeting, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>;</li> +<li>saying of, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>;</li> +<li>reception at Larne, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>;</li> +<li>views on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>;</li> +<li><i>Life of,</i> <a href='#Page_138'>138</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Churchill, Rt. Hon. Winston S., at Manchester, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li><i>Life of Lord Randolph Churchill</i>, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>;</li> +<li>at Dundee, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>;</li> +<li>views on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>;</li> +<li>projected visit to Belfast, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>-<a href='#Page_69'>69</a>;</li> +<li>letter to Lord Londonderry, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>;</li> +<li>change of plan, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>;</li> +<li>reception at Belfast, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>;</li> +<li>departure from, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>;</li> +<li>on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>;</li> +<li>letters on the Ulster menace, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>;</li> +<li>on the resistance of Ulster, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>;</li> +<li>the policy of exclusion, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>;</li> +<li>at Bradford, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>City Hall, Belfast, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a></li> +<li>Clark, Sir George, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a></li> +<li>Clogher, Bishop of, signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a></li> +<li><i>Clydevalley, s.s.,</i> <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>-<a href='#Page_213'>213</a>, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>renamed, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Coleraine, meeting at, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a></li> +<li>Comber, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a></li> +<li>Copeland Island, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a>, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a></li> +<li><i>Correspondence relating to Recent Events in the Irish Command</i>, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a></li> +<li>Covenant, British, signing the, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>Covenant, Ulster, draft, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>terms, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>-<a href='#Page_107'>107</a>;</li> +<li>series of demonstrations, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>-<a href='#Page_110'>110</a>;</li> +<li>meeting in the Ulster Hall, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>;</li> +<li>signing the, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>-<a href='#Page_124'>124</a>;</li> +<li>anniversary, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a>, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Cowser, Richard, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a></li> +<li>Craig, Charles, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>serves in the war, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a>;</li> +<li>taken prisoner, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Craig, James, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>meeting at Craigavon, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>;</li> +<li>gift for organisation, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>;</li> +<li>member of the Commission of Five, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>;</li> +<li>on the resistance of Ulster, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>;</li> +<li>draft of the Covenant, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a>;</li> +<li>organises the demonstration, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>;</li> +<li>presentation of a silver key and pen to Sir E. Carson, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>;</li> +<li>Indemnity Guarantee Fund, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>;</li> +<li>at the reviews of the U.V.F., <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>;</li> +<li>at Bangor, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a>;</li> +<li>at the Buckingham Palace Conference, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a>;</li> +<li>appointed Q.M.G. of the Ulster Division, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a>;</li> +<li>Treasurer of the Household, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a>;</li> +<li>resignation, <a href='#Page_263'>263</a>;</li> +<li>baronetcy, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>;</li> +<li>Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>;</li> +<li>Secretary to the Admiralty, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a>;</li> +<li>resignation, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a>;</li> +<li>Prime Minister of the Northern Parliament, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Craig, John, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a></li> +<li>Craig, Mrs., presents colours to the U.V.F., <a href='#Page_223'>223</a></li> +<li>Craigavon, meeting at, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>-<a href='#Page_51'>51</a>, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a></li> +<li>Crawford, Colonel F.H., <a href="#Page_viii">viii</a>;</li> +<li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Commander in the U.V.F., <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>;</li> +<li>characteristics, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a>; career, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a>;</li> +<li>Secretary of the Reform Club, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a>;</li> +<li>advertises for rifles, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a>;</li> +<li>Director of Ordnance, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>;</li> +<li>method of procuring arms, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>-<a href='#Page_200'>200</a>;</li> +<li>schooner, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>;</li> +<li>agreement with B.S., <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>-<a href='#Page_200'>200</a>;</li> +<li>interview with Sir E. Carson, <a href='#Page_199'>199</a>, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>;</li> +<li>voyage in s.s. <i>Fanny</i>, <a href='#Page_202'>202</a>-<a href='#Page_210'>210</a>;</li> +<li>conveys arms from Hamburg, <a href='#Page_203'>203</a>-<a href='#Page_213'>213</a>;</li> +<li>attack of malaria, <a href='#Page_207'>207</a>;</li> +<li>declines to obey unsigned orders, <a href='#Page_209'>209</a>;</li> +<li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>;</li> +<li>purchases s.s. <i>Clydevalley</i>, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a>;</li> +<li>lands the arms, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>;</li> +<li>at Rosslare, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a>;</li> +<li>awarded the O.B.E., <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Crewe, election, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a></li> +<li>Crewe, Marq. of, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on the Amending Bill, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Cromwell, Oliver, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a></li> +<li>Crozier, Dr., Archbp. of Armagh, member of Provisional Government, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a></li> +<li>Crumlin, meeting at, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a></li> +<li>Curragh Incident, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>-<a href='#Page_189'>189</a>, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a></li> +<li>Curzon, Marq., on the Parliament Bill, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>the Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>;</li> +<li>the loyalty of Ulster, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a></li></ul></li></ul> + + + + +<ul><li><i>Daily Express, The</i>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> +<li><i>Daily Mail, The</i>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> +<li><i>Daily News, The</i>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a></li> +<li><i>Daily Telegraph, The</i>, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> +<li>D'Arcy, Dr., Primate of All Ireland, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Darlington, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a></li> +<li>Davis, Jefferson, <a href='#Page_137'>137</a></li> +<li>Democracy, axiom of, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a></li> +<li>Derbyshire, election, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a></li> +<li>Derry, relief of, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>meeting at, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>;</li> +<li>election, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a>;</li> +<li>riots, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Desborough, Lord, signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>Devlin, Joseph, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>with Mr. W. Churchill in Belfast, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>;</li> +<li>the Irish Convention, <a href='#Page_261'>261</a>;</li> +<li>on the Military Service Bill, <a href='#Page_269'>269</a>;</li> +<li>letter to President Wilson, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>-<a href='#Page_295'>295</a>;</li> +<li>demands self-determination, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Devonshire, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>th Duke of, views on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on the resistance of Ulster, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>;</li> +<li><i>Life of</i>, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a> <i>note</i></li></ul></li> + +<li>Dicey, Prof., signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>Dickson, Scott, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at the Balmoral meeting, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a></li> +<li>"Die Hards" party, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Dillon, John, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at the Buckingham Palace Conference, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>;</li> +<li>on the Irish Rebellion, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>;</li> +<li>letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>-<a href='#Page_293'>293</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Donaghadee, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>, <a href='#Page_219'>219</a></li> +<li>Donald, Thompson, letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>-<a href='#Page_299'>299</a></li> +<li>Donegal, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a>, <a href='#Page_279'>279</a></li> +<li><i>Doreen</i>, s.s., <a href='#Page_207'>207</a>, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at Lundy, <a href='#Page_208'>208</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Dorset Regiment, transferred to Holywood, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a>, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a></li> +<li>Dromore, meeting at, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a></li> +<li>Dublin, insurrection, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Unionist demonstration at, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>;</li> +<li>Nationalist Convention, meeting, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>;</li> +<li>Congress in, <a href='#Page_276'>276</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Dufferin and Ava, Dow. Marchioness of, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a></li> +<li>Duke, Rt. Hon. H.E., Chief Secretary for Ireland, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a></li> +<li>Duncairn, election, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a></li> +<li>Dundalk, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a></li> +<li>Dundee, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a></li> +<li>Dunleath, Lord, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a></li> +<li>Durham, Sir E. Carson at, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>East Fife, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a></li> +<li>Edinburgh, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Ulstermen sign the Covenant, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>;</li> +<li>meeting at, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>;</li> +<li>Philosophical Institution, lecture at the, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Edward VII, King, death, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a></li> +<li>Election, General, of 1886, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>of 1895, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a>;</li> +<li>of Jan. 1910, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>;</li> +<li>of Dec. 1910, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>;</li> +<li>of 1918, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Elections, result of, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a></li> +<li>Emmet, Robert, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a></li> +<li>Enniskillen, meeting at, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>military depot, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Erne, Earl of, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at the Craigavon meeting, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>;</li> +<li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ewart, G.H., President of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a></li> +<li>Ewart, Sir William, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a></li></ul></li></ul> + + +<ul><li><i>Fanny</i>, s.s., voyage, <a href="#Page_viii">viii</a>, <a href='#Page_202'>202</a>-<a href='#Page_213'>213</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>alterations in her appearance, <a href='#Page_206'>206</a>;</li> +<li>rechristened, <a href='#Page_207'>207</a>;</li> +<li>transference of the cargo, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Farnham, Lord, at the Ulster Unionist Council meeting, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a>, <a href='#Page_279'>279</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Irish Unionist Alliance, <a href='#Page_265'>265</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ferguson, John, & Co., <a href='#Page_196'>196</a></li> +<li>Fiennes, Mr., at Belfast, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a></li> +<li>Finance Bill, rejected, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a></li> +<li>Finlay, Sir Robert, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at the Balmoral meeting, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Fishguard, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a></li> +<li>Flavin, Mr., on the Military Service Bill, <a href='#Page_269'>269</a></li> +<li>Fleming, Henry, letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>-<a href='#Page_299'>299</a></li> +<li>Flood, Henry, patriotism, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a></li> +<li>Foyle, the, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a></li> +<li><i>Freemason's Journal, The</i>, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a></li> +<li>French, F.M., Viscount, member of the Army Council, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>resignation, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a>;</li> +<li>Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, <a href='#Page_272'>272</a>;</li> +<li>attempt on his life, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Frewen, Miss, marriage, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>; <i>see</i> Carson</li> +<li>Friend, General, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Gambetta, Léon, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a></li> +<li>George V, King, Conference at Buckingham Palace, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>opens the Ulster Parliament, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a>, <a href='#Page_286'>286</a>;</li> +<li>reception in Belfast, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>George, Rt. Hon. D. Lloyd, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Budget, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at Edinburgh, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>;</li> +<li>on the exclusion of Ulster, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>;</li> +<li>Anglo-German relations, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a>;</li> +<li>opinion of Sir E. Carson's speech, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>;</li> +<li>plot against Ulster, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>;</li> +<li>at Ipswich, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>;</li> +<li>the Buckingham Palace Conference, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>;</li> +<li>Secretary of State for War, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a>;</li> +<li>negotiations for the settlement of the Irish question, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a>, <a href='#Page_247'>247</a>, <a href='#Page_250'>250</a>;</li> +<li>Prime Minister, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>;</li> +<li>on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_254'>254</a>;</li> +<li>alternative proposals, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a>;</li> +<li>statement on the war, <a href='#Page_266'>266</a>, <a href='#Page_268'>268</a>;</li> +<li>Military Service Bill, <a href='#Page_268'>268</a>;</li> +<li>letter to B. Law, <a href='#Page_276'>276</a> <i>note</i>;</li> +<li>basic facts on the Irish Question, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a>;</li> +<li>Government of Ireland Act, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a></li></ul></li> +<li>German rifles, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a></li> +<li>Gibson, T.H., Sec. of Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>resignation, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Gilmour, Captain, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Gladstone, Rt. Hon. W.E., <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on the character of the Nationalists, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>;</li> +<li>conversion to Home Rule, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>;</li> +<li>Home Rule Bills, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>;</li> +<li>personality, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Glasgow, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>meeting at, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Goschen, Viscount, views on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a></li> +<li>Goudy, Prof., signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>Gough, General Sir Hugh, commanding the <a href='#Page_3'>3</a>rd Cavalry Brigade, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at the War Office, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>;</li> +<li>return to the Curragh, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>;</li> +<li>driven back by the Germans, <a href='#Page_270'>270</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Government of Ireland Act, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a></li> +<li>Graham, John Washington, <a href='#Page_194'>194</a></li> +<li>Grattan, Henry, patriotism, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a></li> +<li>Greenwood, Sir Hamar, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Chief Secretary for Ireland, <a href='#Page_285'>285</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Grey, Earl, on the Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a></li> +<li>Grey, Sir Edward, on the Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at Berwick, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Griffith, Arthur, arrested, <a href='#Page_271'>271</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>deported, <a href='#Page_295'>295</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Griffith-Boscawen, Sir Arthur, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Grimsby, election, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a></li> +<li>Guest, Capt. Frederick, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a></li> +<li>Guinness, Walter, supports exclusion of Ulster, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a></li> +<li>Gun-barrel Proof Act, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Haldane, Viscount, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a></li> +<li>Halifax, Lord, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a></li> +<li>Hall, Frank, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a></li> +<li>Halsbury, Earl of, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a></li> +<li>Hamburg, Col. Crawford at, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a></li> +<li>Hamilton, Lord Claud, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Provisional Government, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Hamilton, George C., M.P. for Altrincham, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a></li> +<li>Hamilton, Gustavus, Governor of Enniskillen, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a></li> +<li>Hamilton, Marq. of, interest in the Ulster Movement, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Hammersmith Armoury, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>seizure of arms at, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Hanna, J., <a href='#Page_257'>257</a></li> +<li>Harding, Canon, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a></li> +<li>Harland and Wolff, Messrs., <a href='#Page_191'>191</a></li> +<li>Harrison, Frederic, on the Ulster Question, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a></li> +<li>Hartington, Marq. of, views on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a></li> +<li>Health Insurance Act, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a></li> +<li>Healy, T.M., <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on the Military Service Bill, <a href='#Page_270'>270</a>;</li> +<li>letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>-<a href='#Page_295'>295</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Henry, Denis, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a></li> +<li>Hickman, Colonel Thomas, member of Provisional Government, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>career, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>;</li> +<li>letter from Lord Roberts, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Hills, J.W., at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Holland, Bernard, <i>Life of the Eighth Duke of Devonshire</i>, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a> <i>note</i></li> +<li>Holywood, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a>, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a></li> +<li>Home Rule, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>-<a href='#Page_29'>29</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>a separatist movement, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>;</li> +<li>memorial against, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>-<a href='#Page_97'>97</a>, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>political meetings, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>;</li> +<li>under the "guillotine," <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>;</li> +<li>in the House of Lords, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>;</li> +<li>rejected, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>;</li> +<li>time limit for exclusion, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a>;</li> +<li>passed, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a>;</li> +<li>receives the Royal Assent, <a href='#Page_235'>235</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Home Rule Bill, Amending Bill, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a>, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a></li> +<li>Hull, Mr. Asquith at, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Ilfracombe, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a></li> +<li>Indemnity Guarantee Fund, subscriptions, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a></li> +<li>Ipswich, election, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a></li> +<li>Ireland, two nations, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>rebellions, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>;</li> +<li>animosity of rival creeds, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>;</li> +<li>condition, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a>;</li> +<li>insurrection, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>;</li> +<li>fiscal autonomy, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>-<a href='#Page_78'>78</a>;</li> +<li>financial clauses of the Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>;</li> +<li>prohibition of the importation of arms, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>;</li> +<li>Easter Rebellion, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>;</li> +<li>exemption from conscription, <a href='#Page_268'>268</a>;</li> +<li>German plot in, <a href='#Page_271'>271</a>;</li> +<li>agitation against conscription, <a href='#Page_272'>272</a>;</li> +<li>anarchy, <a href='#Page_279'>279</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ireland, Council of, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a></li> +<li>Ireland, Government of, Act, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a>-<a href='#Page_280'>280</a></li> +<li>Ireland, Northern, Parliament, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a>-<a href='#Page_282'>282</a></li> +<li>Irish Convention, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a>-<a href='#Page_262'>262</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>members, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a>, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>;</li> +<li>Report, <a href='#Page_264'>264</a>, <a href='#Page_266'>266</a></li></ul></li> + +<li><i>Irish News, The</i>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a></li> +<li>Irish Republican Army, system of terrorism, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a></li> +<li>Irish Republican Brotherhood, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a></li> +<li>Irish Unionist Alliance, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_265'>265</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>co-operation with the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Islandmagee, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a></li> +<li>Italian Vetteli rifles, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a>, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>James II, King, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a>, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a></li> +<li>Johnston, James, Lord Mayor of Belfast, letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>-<a href='#Page_299'>299</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul><li>Kelly, Sam, <a href='#Page_209'>209</a></li> +<li>Kelly, Thomas, letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>-<a href='#Page_295'>295</a></li> +<li>Kennedy, Sir Robert, member of Provisional Government, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a></li> +<li>Kettle, Prof. T.M., on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a></li> +<li>Kiel, <a href='#Page_204'>204</a></li> +<li>Kingstown, cruisers at, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a></li> +<li>Kipling, Rudyard, "Ulster 1912," <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Kitchener, F.M. Earl, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a>, <a href='#Page_238'>238</a></li> +<li>Kossuth, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Labour Party, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a></li> +<li>Ladybank, Mr. Asquith at, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a></li> +<li>Lamlash, battleships at, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a></li> +<li>Lane-Fox, George, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Langeland, <a href='#Page_204'>204</a></li> +<li>Lansdowne, Marq. of, scheme of reform for the House of Lords, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on the Parliament Bill, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>;</li> +<li>message from, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>;</li> +<li>on the Ulster Question, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a>;</li> +<li>the Amending Bill, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>;</li> +<li>at the Buckingham Palace Conference, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Larne, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a>, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a></li> +<li>Law, Rt. Hon. A. Bonar, leader of Unionist Party, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>;</li> +<li>at the Albert Hall, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>;</li> +<li>on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>;</li> +<li>at the Balmoral meeting, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>-<a href='#Page_86'>86</a>;</li> +<li>reception at Larne, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li> +<li>his speech, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>;</li> +<li>indictment against the Government, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>, <a href='#Page_235'>235</a>;</li> +<li>on the resistance of Ulster, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>;</li> +<li>messages from, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>;</li> +<li>at Wallsend, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>;</li> +<li>Bristol, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>;</li> +<li>on the exclusion of Ulster, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a>, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a>;</li> +<li>demands inquiry into the Curragh Incident, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a>;</li> +<li>on the Amending Bill, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>;</li> +<li>at the Buckingham Palace Conference, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>;</li> +<li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>;</li> +<li>tribute to, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>;</li> +<li>at the Ulster Hall, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a>;</li> +<li>warning to the Nationalists, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a>;</li> +<li>on the Military Service Bill, <a href='#Page_269'>269</a>, <a href='#Page_271'>271</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Lecky, W.E.H., <i>History of England in the Eighteenth Century</i>, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a> <i>note</i></li> +<li>Leeds, meeting at, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a></li> +<li>Leo XIII, Pope, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a></li> +<li>Leslie, Shane, <i>Henry Edward Manning</i>, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a> <i>note</i></li> +<li>Liberal Party, policy, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>victory in 1906, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>;</li> +<li>majority, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>;</li> +<li>tactics, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>;</li> +<li>number of votes, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>;</li> +<li>defeated in 1895, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Liddell, R.M., <a href='#Page_156'>156</a></li> +<li>Lincoln, Abraham, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>saying of, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Linlithgow, election, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a></li> +<li>Lisburn, meeting at, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a></li> +<li>Liverpool, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a></li> +<li><i>Liverpool Daily Courier, The</i>, extract from, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a></li> +<li><i>Liverpool Daily Post and Mercury,</i> <a href='#Page_159'>159</a> <i>note</i></li> +<li>Llandudno, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a></li> +<li>Lloyd, Mr. George, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Logue, Cardinal, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a></li> +<li>London School of Economics, conference at, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a></li> +<li>Londonderry House, conference at, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a></li> +<li>Londonderry, Marchioness of,</li> +<li><ul><li>member of the Ulster Women's Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>;</li> +<li>on the Covenant, <a href='#Page_112'>112</a>;</li> +<li>presents colours to the U.V.F., <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>;</li> +<li>work in the war, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Londonderry, 6th Marq. of, <a href="#Page_viii">viii</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>;</li> +<li>Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li>popularity, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a>;</li> +<li>character, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>;</li> +<li>relations with Sir E. Carson, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>;</li> +<li>on the Parliament Bill, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>;</li> +<li>Conference at Belfast, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>;</li> +<li>at the Ulster Hall meeting, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>;</li> +<li>the Ulster Unionist Council meetings, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a>, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>;</li> +<li>reply to W. Churchill, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>;</li> +<li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>;</li> +<li>at the Balmoral meeting, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>;</li> +<li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>;</li> +<li>at the Ulster Club, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>;</li> +<li>Liverpool, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>;</li> +<li>on the House of Lords, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>;</li> +<li>President of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>;</li> +<li>Indemnity Guarantee Fund, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>;</li> +<li>at the reviews of the U.V.F., <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>;</li> +<li>on the Curragh Incident, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a>;</li> +<li>on the Amending Bill, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>;</li> +<li>at Enniskillen, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>;</li> +<li>despondency, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>;</li> +<li>death, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>;</li> +<li>tribute to, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a></li></ul></li> +<li>Londonderry, 7th Marq. of, <a href="#Page_viii">viii</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>member of the Irish Convention, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>, <a href='#Page_263'>263</a>;</li> +<li>Under-Secretary of State in the Air Ministry, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>;</li> +<li>resignation, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a>;</li> +<li>Minister of Education, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Long, Rt. Hon. Walter, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>founder of the Union Defence League, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>;</li> +<li>leader of the Irish Unionists, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>;</li> +<li>at the Ulster Hall, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>;</li> +<li>candidate for the leadership of the Unionist Party, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>;</li> +<li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a>;</li> +<li>at the Balmoral meeting, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>;</li> +<li>the Londonderry House conference, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>;</li> +<li>message from, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>;</li> +<li>on the policy of the Government, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a>;</li> +<li>signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a>;</li> +<li>chairman of a Cabinet Committee on the Irish Question, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Lonsdale, Sir John B., member of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Hon. Sec. of the Irish Unionist Party, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>;</li> +<li>signs Covenant, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>;</li> +<li>Indemnity Guarantee Fund, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>;</li> +<li>leader of the Ulster Party, <a href='#Page_254'>254</a>;</li> +<li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>;</li> +<li>raised to the peerage, <a href='#Page_263'>263</a>;</li> +<li><i>see</i> Armaghdale</li></ul></li> + +<li>Lords, House of,</li> +<li><ul><li>rejection of the Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>;</li> +<li>of the Finance Bill, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>;</li> +<li>forced to accept the Parliament Bill, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>;</li> +<li>position under the Parliament Act, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>;</li> +<li>debates on the Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Loreburn, Lord, letters to <i>The Times</i>, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a></li> +<li>Lough Laxford, <a href='#Page_203'>203</a>, <a href='#Page_206'>206</a>, <a href='#Page_207'>207</a></li> +<li>Lough, Thomas, on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a></li> +<li>Lovat, Lord, signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>Lowther, Rt. Hon. James, at the Buckingham Palace Conference, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a></li> +<li>Loyal Orange Institution, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a></li> +<li>Lundy, <a href='#Page_208'>208</a></li> +<li>Lyons, W.H.H., <a href='#Page_35'>35</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Macdonnell, Lord, on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a></li> +<li>Mackinder, H.J., at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Macnaghten, Sir Charles, member Provisional Government, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a></li> +<li>Macnaghten, Lord, Lord of Appeal, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>MacNeill, John, letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>-<a href='#Page_295'>295</a></li> +<li>Mahan, Admiral, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a></li> +<li>Maine, Sir H., <i>Popular Government</i>, extract from, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a></li> +<li>Malcolm, Sir Ian, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Manchester, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>election, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a></li></ul></li> + +<li><i>Manchester Guardian, The</i>, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a></li> +<li>Manning, Cardinal, on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a></li> +<li>Mary, H.M., Queen, at the opening of the Ulster Parliament, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>reception in Belfast, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Massereene, Lady, presents colours to the Ulster Volunteer Force, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a></li> +<li>Massingham, Mr., <a href='#Page_166'>166</a></li> +<li>Masterman, Rt. Hon. C.F.G., <a href='#Page_170'>170</a>, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a></li> +<li>Mazzini, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a></li> +<li>McCalmont, Col. James, Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Commander of a U.V.F regiment, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>McCammon, Mr., <a href='#Page_121'>121</a></li> +<li>McDowell, Sir Alexander, criticism of the Ulster Covenant, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a></li> +<li>McMordie, Mr., Lord Mayor of Belfast,</li> +<li><ul><li>at the service in the Ulster Hall, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>;</li> +<li>receives Sir E. Carson, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>;</li> +<li>at the Ulster Club, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Meath election petition in 1892, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a></li> +<li>Melbourne, Lord, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a></li> +<li>Mersey, the, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a></li> +<li>Midleton, Earl of, at the Irish Convention, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>supports Home Rule, <a href='#Page_262'>262</a>;</li> +<li>secedes from the Irish Unionist Alliance, <a href='#Page_265'>265</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Midlothian, election, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a></li> +<li>Military Service Act, ii., <a href='#Page_268'>268</a>-<a href='#Page_272'>272</a></li> +<li>Milner, Viscount, signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on the Amending Bill, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Moles, Thomas, <a href="#Page_viii">viii</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Chairman of Committee in the Northern Parliament, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a></li></ul></li> +<li>Molyneux, patriotism, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a></li> +<li>Monaghan, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a>, <a href='#Page_279'>279</a></li> +<li>Montgomery, B.W.D., Secretary of the Ulster Club, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a></li> +<li>Montgomery, Dr., <a href='#Page_118'>118</a></li> +<li>Montgomery, Major-Gen., member of Provisional Government, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a></li> +<li>Moore, William, Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on the amendment to the Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>;</li> +<li>exclusion of Ulster, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Morley, Viscount, <i>Life of Gladstone</i>, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on the resistance of Ulster, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>;</li> +<li>helps Colonel Seely to draft the "peccant paragraphs," <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a></li> +<li><i>Morning Post, The</i>, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a>, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a> <i>note</i></li></ul> +</li> +<li><i>Motu Proprio</i>, Vatican decree, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a></li> +<li>Mount Stewart, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> +<li><i>Mountjoy</i>, the, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a></li> +<li><i>Mountjoy II</i>, s.s., cargo landed at Larne, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a></li> +<li>Moyle, the, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a></li> +<li>Musgrave Channel, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a></li> +<li>Musgrave, Henry, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li><i>Nation, The</i>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a></li> +<li>National Insurance Bill, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a></li> +<li>Nationalist Party, in the House of Commons, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>attitude on the war, <a href='#Page_267'>267</a>;</li> +<li>opposition to conscription, <a href='#Page_269'>269</a>-<a href='#Page_273'>273</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Nationalists, the, compared with the Ulster Unionists, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>disloyalty, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>-<a href='#Page_6'>6</a>;</li> +<li>policy, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a>;</li> +<li>ancestry, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>;</li> +<li>demand dissolution of the Union, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>;</li> +<li>attitude on the war, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>, <a href='#Page_233'>233</a>, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>;</li> +<li>members of the Irish Convention, <a href='#Page_256'>256</a>-<a href='#Page_262'>262</a>;</li> +<li>letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>-<a href='#Page_295'>295</a>;</li> +<li>demand "self-determination," <a href='#Page_291'>291</a>, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Nationality, root of, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>plea of <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Navy, reduction of, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a></li> +<li><i>Nec Temere</i>, Vatican decree, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a></li> +<li>Neild, Herbert, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Newcastle, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>training camp, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Newman, Cardinal, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a></li> +<li>Newry, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a></li> +<li>Newtownards, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>meeting at, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a></li></ul></li> + +<li><i>Nineteenth Century, The</i>, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a> <i>note</i></li> +<li>Nonconformists, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>opposition to Home Rule, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Northcliffe, Viscount, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> +<li>Norwich, Ulster members at, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>O'Brien, William, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on the Military Service Bill, <a href='#Page_270'>270</a>;</li> +<li>letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>-<a href='#Page_295'>295</a></li></ul></li> + +<li><i>Observer, The</i>, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> +<li>O'Connell, Daniel, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a></li> +<li>O'Connor, T.P., <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Omagh, military depot, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a></li> +<li>Omash, Miss, <a href="#Page_viii">viii</a></li> +<li>O'Neill, Capt. Hon. Arthur, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>killed in the war, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>O'Neill, Major Hugh, serves in the war, <a href='#Page_242'>242</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Speaker of the Northern Parliament, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>O'Neill, Hugh, Earl of Tyrone, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a></li> +<li>O'Neill, Laurence, Lord Mayor of Dublin,</li> +<li><ul><li>letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>-<a href='#Page_295'>295</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>O'Neill, Hon. R.T., member of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a></li> +<li>Ormsby-Gore, Capt. the Hon. W.G.A., at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>O'Shea, divorce, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Paget, Sir Arthur, Commander-in-Chief in Ireland,</li> +<li><ul><li>letter from Colonel Seely, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>;</li> +<li>in London, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a>;</li> +<li>interviews with Ministers, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a>;</li> +<li>instructions from the War Office, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>;</li> +<li>conference with his officers, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a>;</li> +<li>on the employment of troops in Ulster, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Parliament, assembled, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>dissolved, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>;</li> +<li>adjourned, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Parliament Act, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a>-<a href='#Page_45'>45</a>, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a></li> +<li><i>Parliamentary Debates</i>, <a href="#Page_viii">viii</a>, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a> <i>note,</i> <a href='#Page_142'>142</a>, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a> <i>note</i></li> +<li>Parnell, Charles, saying of, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>leader of the Nationalist Party, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>;</li> +<li>downfall, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a></li></ul></li> + +<li><i>Pathfinder</i>, H.M.S., <a href='#Page_178'>178</a></li> +<li><i>Patriotic</i>, R.M.S., <a href='#Page_128'>128</a></li> +<li>Peel, Sir Robert, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a></li> +<li>Peel, W., at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>"People's Budget," <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>rejection, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Percival-Maxwell, Col., Privy Councillor, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li> +<li>Phoenix Park murders, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a></li> +<li>Pirrie, Lord, unpopularity in Belfast, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>peerage conferred, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Pitt, Rt. Hon. William, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a></li> +<li>Plunkett, Sir Horace, Chairman of the Irish Convention, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>, <a href='#Page_261'>261</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>letter to Lloyd George, <a href='#Page_264'>264</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Pollock, Sir Ernest, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Pollock, H.M., member of the Irish Convention, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>, <a href='#Page_262'>262</a></li> +<li>Portadown, meeting at, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a></li> +<li>Portland, Duke of, signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>Portrush, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a>, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a></li> +<li>Presbyterian Church, General Assembly of the, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a></li> +<li>Presbyterians, political views, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a></li> +<li>Preston, George, subscription to the Indemnity Guarantee Fund, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a></li> +<li>Prisoners, release of, <a href='#Page_256'>256</a></li> +<li>Protestants, Irish, distrust of Roman Catholics, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>dislike of clerical influence, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a></li></ul></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Ramsay, Sir W., signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>Ranfurly, Earl of, organises the Ulster Loyalist Union, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>member of the Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Raphoe, Bishop of, member of the Irish Convention, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a>, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a>-<a href='#Page_262'>262</a></li> +<li>Rawlinson, J.F.P., at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Reade, R.H., <a href='#Page_35'>35</a></li> +<li>Reading, Mr. Asquith at, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>election, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Redistribution Act, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a></li> +<li>Redmond, Capt., <a href='#Page_275'>275</a></li> +<li>Redmond, John, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on the national movement, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>;</li> +<li>policy, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>;</li> +<li>on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>;</li> +<li>with Mr. W. Churchill in Belfast, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>;</li> +<li>opinion of Sir E. Carson's speech, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>;</li> +<li>protests against Amending Bill, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>;</li> +<li>at Buckingham Palace Conference, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>;</li> +<li>conditional offer of help in the war, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>, <a href='#Page_233'>233</a>;</li> +<li>tribute to, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a>;</li> +<li>patriotism, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a>;</li> +<li>refuses office, <a href='#Page_242'>242</a>;</li> +<li>at Dublin, <a href='#Page_249'>249</a>;</li> +<li>on the exclusion of Ulster, <a href='#Page_250'>250</a>;</li> +<li>manifesto, <a href='#Page_254'>254</a>;</li> +<li>at the Irish Convention, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a>-<a href='#Page_262'>262</a>;</li> +<li>death, <a href='#Page_262'>262</a>;</li> +<li>on the condition of Ireland, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Redmond, Major W., his speech in the House, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>killed in the war, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Reform Club, Belfast, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a></li> +<li>Reid, Whitelaw, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a></li> +<li>Renan, E., on the root of nationality, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a></li> +<li><i>Reynolds's Newspaper</i>, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a></li> +<li>Richardson, Gen. Sir George, Commander-in-Chief of the U.V.F., <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>career, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>;</li> +<li>characteristics, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>;</li> +<li>at Belfast, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a>;</li> +<li>reviews the U.V.F., <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>-<a href='#Page_165'>165</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Rifles, seized by Government, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>purchase of, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a>;</li> +<li>packing, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a>;</li> +<li>landed in Ulster, <a href='#Page_219'>219</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Roberts, F.M. Earl, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>, <a href='#Page_188'>188</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>letter to Col. Hickman, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a>;</li> +<li>signs British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a>;</li> +<li>congratulations to Sir E. Carson, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a>;</li> +<li>on the result of coercing Ulster, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Robertson, Rt. Hon. J.M., Secretary to the Board of Trade,</li> +<li><ul><li>on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>;</li> +<li>at Newcastle, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Rochdale, Unionist Association at, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a></li> +<li>Roe, Owen, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a></li> +<li>Roman Catholics, Irish, disloyalty <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>character of the priest, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a>;</li> +<li>methods of enforcing obedience, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a>-<a href='#Page_12'>12</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Rosebery, Earl of, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>at Glasgow, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>;</li> +<li>on the characteristics</li> +<li>of the Ulster race, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Rosslare, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a></li> +<li>Royal Irish Rifles, the <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>th, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a></li> +<li>Russia, collapse of, <a href='#Page_268'>268</a></li> +<li>Russian rifles, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>S.B., the Hebrew dealer in firearms, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>agreement with Major F.H. Crawford, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>-<a href='#Page_200'>200</a>;</li> +<li>honesty, <a href='#Page_204'>204</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>St. Aldwyn, Viscount, on the King's Prerogative, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a></li> +<li>Salisbury, Marq. of, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>message from, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>;</li> +<li>views on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Salvidge, Mr., Alderman of Liverpool, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>signs the British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Samuel, Mr. Herbert, at Belfast, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a></li> +<li>Sanderson, Colonel, Chairman of the Ulster Parliamentary Party, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a></li> +<li><i>Saturday Review, The</i>, extract from, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a></li> +<li>Sclater, Edward, Secretary of the Unionist Clubs, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a></li> +<li>Scotland, the Covenant, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a></li> +<li><i>Scotsman, The</i>, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a> <i>note</i></li> +<li>Seely, Col. Sec. of State for War, letter to Sir A. Paget, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>statement to Gen. Gough, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>;</li> +<li>adds paragraphs, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>;</li> +<li>on the Curragh Incident, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>;</li> +<li>resignation, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Seymour, Adm. Sir E., signs British Covenant, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> +<li>Sharman-Crawford, Col., member of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>of the Commission of Five, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Shaw, Lord, <i>Letters to Isabel</i>, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a> <i>note</i></li> +<li>Shiel Park, meeting at, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a></li> +<li>Shipyards, observance of Ulster Day, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a></li> +<li>Shortt, Rt. Hon. E., Chief Secretary for Ireland, <a href='#Page_272'>272</a></li> +<li>Simon, Sir John, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a></li> +<li>Sinclair, Rt. Hon. Thomas, at the Ulster Convention, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>member of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>;</li> +<li>on Home Rule, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>;</li> +<li>member of a Commission, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>;</li> +<li>on the Covenant, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>;</li> +<li>signs it, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Sinn Fein party, refuse to join the Convention, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>in league with Germany, <a href='#Page_271'>271</a>, <a href='#Page_276'>276</a>;</li> +<li>arrests, <a href='#Page_271'>271</a>;</li> +<li>members of Parliament, <a href='#Page_276'>276</a>, <a href='#Page_276'>276</a>;</li> +<li>treason of, <a href='#Page_276'>276</a>;</li> +<li>congress in Dublin, <a href='#Page_276'>276</a>; outrages, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Sinn Feinism, spirit of, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a></li> +<li>Skipton, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a></li> +<li>Smiley, Kerr, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a></li> +<li>Smith, Rt. Hon. F.E. (Lord Birkenhead), on the policy of Ulster, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>on the Covenant, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>;</li> +<li>at the Ulster Club, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>;</li> +<li>at Liverpool, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>;</li> +<li>at the inspection of the U.V.F., <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>;</li> +<li>"galloper" to Gen. Sir G. Richardson, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Smith, Mr. Harold, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a></li> +<li>Solemn League and Covenant, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li><i>see</i> Ulster</li></ul></li> + +<li>Somme, battle of the, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a></li> +<li><i>Spectator, The</i>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> +<li>Spender, Col. W. Bliss, U.V.F., <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>, <a href='#Page_203'>203</a>, <a href='#Page_207'>207</a>, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>awarded the O.B.E., <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li></ul></li> + +<li><i>Standard, The</i>, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a>, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> +<li><i>Star, The</i>, extract from, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a></li> +<li>Stronge, Sir James, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a></li> +<li>Stuart-Wortley, Mr., at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> +<li>Submarine warfare, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a></li> +<li>Suffragists' campaign, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a></li> +<li>Swift, patriotism, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Tariff Reform policy, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>controversy, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Templetown, Lord, founds the Unionist Clubs, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a></li> +<li>Thiepval, battle at, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a></li> +<li><i>Times, The</i>, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>, <a href='#Page_64'>64</a>, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>,139, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a>, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a>, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>, <a href='#Page_187'>187</a>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>letters in, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Tirah Expedition, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a></li> +<li>Tone, Wolfe, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a></li> +<li>Tramp steamer, diverts suspicion, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a></li> +<li>Turkington, James A., letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>-<a href='#Page_299'>299</a></li> +<li>Tuskar Light, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a></li> +<li>Tyrone, contingent of Orangemen, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Ulster, use of the term, vii;</li> +<li><ul><li>opposition to Home Rule, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a>, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>;</li> +<li>loyalty, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>-<a href='#Page_4'>4</a>, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a>-<a href='#Page_143'>143</a>, <a href='#Page_251'>251</a>;</li> +<li>ancestry, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>;</li> +<li>political views, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>;</li> +<li>landlords and tenants, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>;</li> +<li>mottoes, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>;</li> +<li>reluctant acceptance of a separate constitution, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>;</li> +<li>organisations, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>-<a href='#Page_38'>38</a>;</li> +<li>policy, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>-<a href='#Page_100'>100</a>, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>-<a href='#Page_143'>143</a>;</li> +<li>military drilling, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>;</li> +<li>characteristics of the people, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>;</li> +<li>time limit for exclusion, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a>;</li> +<li>plot against, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>;</li> +<li>emigrants in America, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a>, <a href='#Page_297'>297</a>;</li> +<li>result of the Government of Ireland Act, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ulster, British League for the support of, formed, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a></li> +<li>Ulster Club, Belfast, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a></li> +<li>Ulster, Convention of 1892, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a></li> +<li>Ulster Covenant, draft, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>terms, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>-<a href='#Page_107'>107</a>;</li> +<li>series of demonstrations, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>-<a href='#Page_110'>110</a>;</li> +<li>meeting in the Ulster Hall, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>;</li> +<li>signing the, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>-<a href='#Page_124'>124</a>;</li> +<li>anniversary, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a>, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ulster Day, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a>, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>; religious observance, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a></li> +<li>Ulster Division, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a>st Brigade, training, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>recruiting, <a href='#Page_238'>238</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ulster Hall, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>meetings, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a>;</li> +<li>service, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ulster Loyalist Anti-Repeal Union, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a></li> +<li>Ulster Loyalist and Patriotic Union, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a></li> +<li>Ulster Movement, vii, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a></li> +<li>Ulster Parliament, appointment of Ministers, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a>-<a href='#Page_2'>2</a>;</li> +<li>opened, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a>-<a href='#Page_6'>6</a></li> +<li>Ulster Provisional Government, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>judiciary, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a>;</li> +<li>constitution, <a href='#Page_226'>226</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ulster Unionist Clubs, founded, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>-<a href='#Page_1'>1</a></li> +<li>Ulster Unionist Council, vii, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>meetings, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a>-<a href='#Page_67'>67</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>, <a href='#Page_226'>226</a>, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>, <a href='#Page_246'>246</a>-<a href='#Page_249'>249</a>, <a href='#Page_279'>279</a>;</li> +<li>members, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>, <a href='#Page_36'>36</a>;</li> +<li>co-operation with the Irish Unionist Alliance, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>;</li> +<li>resolution adopted, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>-<a href='#Page_71'>71</a>;</li> +<li>character, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>;</li> +<li>scheme for the Provisional Government, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>;</li> +<li>statement on the Curragh Incident, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ulster Unionist Members of Parliament, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>tour in Scotland and England, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ulster Unionists, letter to Pres. Wilson, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>-<a href='#Page_299'>299</a></li> +<li>Ulster Volunteer Force, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a>, <a href='#Page_137'>137</a>, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Indemnity Guarantee Fund, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>;</li> +<li>growth, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>;</li> +<li>parades, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>-<a href='#Page_165'>165</a>, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>, <a href='#Page_226'>226</a>;</li> +<li>strength, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>;</li> +<li>arming the, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>-<a href='#Page_200'>200</a>, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>;</li> +<li>organisation, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>;</li> +<li>despatch-riders' corps, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>;</li> +<li>trial mobilisation, <a href='#Page_216'>216</a>;</li> +<li>presentation of colours, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>;</li> +<li>volunteer for service in the war, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a>;</li> +<li>organisation and training of the Division, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ulster Women's Unionist Association, work of the, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a></li> +<li>Ulster Women's Unionist Council, formed, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>meeting, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>"Ulster 1912," Rudyard Kipling's, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a></li> +<li>"Ulster's Reward," William Watson's, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a></li> +<li>Union Defence League, in London, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a></li> +<li>Unionist Associations of Ireland, joint committee, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a></li> +<li>Unionist Party, administration, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>defeated, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>;</li> +<li>number of votes, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>;</li> +<li>dissensions on Tariff Reform, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>;</li> +<li>members at Belfast, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Unionists, Southern manifesto, <a href='#Page_265'>265</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>Committee formed, <a href='#Page_265'>265</a>;</li> +<li>result of the Government Act, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a></li></ul></li></ul> + + + + +<ul><li>Valera, E. De, M.P. for East Clare, <a href='#Page_256'>256</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>arrested, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a>;</li> +<li>deported, <a href='#Page_295'>295</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Vatican decrees, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a></li> +<li>Vickers & Co., Messrs., <a href='#Page_194'>194</a></li> +<li>Victoria, Queen, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Wallace, Col. R.H., member of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>member of a Commission, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>;</li> +<li>Grand Master of the Belfast Lodges, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>;</li> +<li>popularity, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>;</li> +<li>career, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>;</li> +<li>applies for leave to drill, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>;</li> +<li>at the Ulster Unionist Council meeting, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>;</li> +<li>presentation of a banner to Sir E. Carson, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>;</li> +<li>Command in the U.V.F., <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>;</li> +<li>Privy Councillor, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Wallsend, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a></li> +<li>Walter, Mr. John, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> +<li>War, the Great, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a>, <a href='#Page_266'>266</a></li> +<li>War Office, treatment of Gen. Gough, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a></li> +<li>Ward, Lieut.-Col. John,</li> +<li><ul><li>on the Curragh Incident, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>;</li> +<li>"The Army and Ireland," <a href='#Page_183'>183</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_238'>238</a></li></ul> +</li> +<li>Warden, F.W., <a href='#Page_72'>72</a> <i>note</i></li> +<li>Washington, George, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_291'>291</a></li> +<li>Watson, Sir William, "Ulster's Reward," <a href='#Page_129'>129</a></li> +<li>Waziri Expedition, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a></li> +<li><i>Westminster Gazette</i>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>cartoon, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Whig Revolution of 1688, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a></li> +<li>White Paper, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a> <i>note</i>,180 <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a>, <a href='#Page_187'>187</a> <i>note</i>, <a href='#Page_188'>188</a></li> +<li>William III, King, banner, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a></li> +<li>Willoughby de Broke, Lord, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a></li> +<li>Wilson, President,</li> +<li><ul><li>letter from the Nationalists, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>-<a href='#Page_295'>295</a>;</li> +<li>from the Unionists, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>-<a href='#Page_299'>299</a>;</li> +<li>phrase of "self-determination," <a href='#Page_277'>277</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Wimborne, Lord, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, resignation, <a href='#Page_272'>272</a></li> +<li>Wolff, G., <a href='#Page_35'>35</a></li> +<li>Wolseley, Viscount, <a href='#Page_187'>187</a></li> +<li>Women's Unionist Council, Ulster,</li> +<li><ul><li>formed, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>;</li> +<li>meeting, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Workman and Clark, Messrs., <a href='#Page_214'>214</a></li> +<li>Workman, Frank, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a></li> +<li>Wynyard, Lord Londonderry's death at, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a></li></ul> + + + +<ul><li>Yarmouth, <a href='#Page_207'>207</a></li> +<li>York, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a></li> +<li>York, Archbp. of, on the Home Rule Bill, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a></li> +<li><i>Yorkshire Post, The</i>, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a></li> +<li>Young, Rt. Hon. John,</li> +<li><ul><li>member of the Ulster Unionist Council, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> +<li>at the meeting, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>;</li> +<li>takes part in the campaign, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>;</li> +<li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Young, W.R.,</li> +<li><ul><li>organises the Ulster Loyalist and Patriotic Union, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>;</li> +<li>signs the Covenant, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>;</li> +<li>Privy Councillor, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li></ul></li></ul> + + + + +<ul><li>Zhob Valley Field Force, expedition, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a></li></ul> + +<br /> +<br /> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ULSTER'S STAND FOR UNION***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 14326-h.txt or 14326-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/3/2/14326">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/3/2/14326</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL">https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/old/14326-h/images/image01.png b/old/14326-h/images/image01.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ad734f5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14326-h/images/image01.png diff --git a/old/14326.txt b/old/14326.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d84a021 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14326.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12209 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Ulster's Stand For Union, by Ronald McNeill + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Ulster's Stand For Union + +Author: Ronald McNeill + +Release Date: December 11, 2004 [eBook #14326] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ULSTER'S STAND FOR UNION*** + + +E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, Susan Skinner, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +ULSTER'S STAND FOR UNION + +by + +RONALD McNEILL + +With Frontispiece + +London +John Murray, +Albemarle Street, W. + +1922 + + + + + + + +DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF THE UNIONIST PARTY + + + + +PREFACE + + +The term "Ulster," except when the context proves the contrary, is used +in this book not in the geographical, but the political meaning of the +word, which is quite as well understood. + +The aim of the book is to present an account of what I have occasionally +in its pages referred to as "the Ulster Movement." The phrase is perhaps +somewhat paradoxical when applied to a political ideal which was the +maintenance of the _status quo_; but, on the other hand, the steps taken +during a period of years to organise an effective opposition to +interference with the established constitution in Ireland did involve a +movement, and it is with these measures, rather than with the policy +behind them, that the book is concerned. + +Indeed, except for a brief introductory outline of the historical +background of the Ulster standpoint, I have taken for granted, or only +referred incidentally to the reasons for the unconquerable hostility of +the Ulster Protestants to the idea of allowing the government of +Ireland, and especially of themselves, to pass into the control of a +Parliament in Dublin. Those reasons were many and substantial, based +upon considerations both of a practical and a sentimental nature; but I +have not attempted an exposition of them, having limited myself to a +narrative of the events to which they gave rise. + +Having been myself, during the most important part of the period +reviewed, a member of the Standing Committee of the Ulster Unionist +Council, and closely associated with the leaders of the movement, I have +had personal knowledge of practically everything I have had to record. I +have not, however, trusted to unaided memory for any statement of fact. +It is not, of course, a matter where anything that could be called +research was required; but, in addition to the _Parliamentary Reports_, +the _Annual Register_, and similar easily accessible books of reference, +there was a considerable mass of private papers bearing on the subject, +for the use of some of which I am indebted to friends. + +I was permitted to consult the Minute-books of the Ulster Unionist +Council and its Standing Committee, and also verbatim reports made for +the Council of unpublished speeches delivered at private meetings of +those bodies. A large collection of miscellaneous documents accumulated +by the late Lord Londonderry was kindly lent to me by the present +Marquis; and I also have to thank Lord Carson of Duncairn for the use of +letters and other papers in his possession. Colonel F.H. Crawford, +C.B.E., was good enough to place at my disposal a very detailed account +written by himself of the voyage of the _Fanny_, and the log kept by +Captain Agnew. My friend Mr. Thomas Moles, M.P., took full shorthand +notes of the proceedings of the Irish Convention and the principal +speeches made in it, and he kindly allowed me to use his transcript. And +I should not like to pass over without acknowledgment the help given me +on several occasions by Miss Omash, of the Union Defence League, in +tracing references. + +R. McN. + +February 1922. + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + + I. INTRODUCTION: THE ULSTER STANDPOINT + + II. THE ELECTORATE AND HOME RULE + + III. ORGANISATION AND LEADERSHIP + + IV. THE PARLIAMENT ACT: CRAIGAVON + + V. THE CRAIGAVON POLICY AND THE U.F.V. + + VI. MR. CHURCHILL IN BELFAST + + VII. "WHAT ANSWER FROM THE NORTH?" + + VIII. THE EXCLUSION OF ULSTER + + IX. THE EVE OF THE COVENANT + + X. THE SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT + + XI. PASSING THE BILL + + XII. WAS RESISTANCE JUSTIFIABLE? + + XIII. PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT AND PROPAGANDA + + XIV. LORD LOREBURN'S LETTER + + XV. PREPARATIONS AND PROPOSALS + + XVI. THE CURRAGH INCIDENT + + XVII. ARMING THE U.V.F. + +XVIII. A VOYAGE OF ADVENTURE + + XIX. ON THE BRINK OF CIVIL WAR + + XX. ULSTER IN THE WAR + + XXI. NEGOTIATIONS FOR SETTLEMENT + + XXII. THE IRISH CONVENTION + +XXIII. NATIONALISTS AND CONSCRIPTION + + XXIV. THE ULSTER PARLIAMENT + +APPENDIX + + +A. NATIONALIST LETTER TO PRESIDENT WILSON + +B. UNIONIST LETTER TO PRESIDENT WILSON + +INDEX + + + + +ULSTER'S STAND FOR UNION + + + + +CHAPTER I + +INTRODUCTION: THE ULSTER STANDPOINT + + +Like all other movements in human affairs, the opposition of the +Northern Protestants of Ireland to the agitation of their Nationalist +fellow-countrymen for Home Rule can only be properly understood by those +who take some pains to get at the true motives, and to appreciate the +spirit, of those who engaged in it. And as it is nowhere more true than +in Ireland that the events of to-day are the outcome of events that +occurred longer ago than yesterday, and that the motives of to-day have +consequently their roots buried somewhat deeply in the past, it is no +easy task for the outside observer to gain the insight requisite for +understanding fairly the conduct of the persons concerned. + +It was Mr. Asquith who very truly said that the Irish question, of which +one of the principal factors is the opposition of Ulster to Home Rule, +"springs from sources that are historic, economic, social, racial, and +religious." It would be a hopeless undertaking to attempt here to probe +to the bottom an origin so complex; but, whether the sympathies of the +reader be for or against the standpoint of the Irish Loyalists, the +actual events which make up what may be called the Ulster Movement would +be wholly unintelligible without some introductory retrospect. Indeed, +to those who set out to judge Irish political conditions without +troubling themselves about anything more ancient than their own memory +can recall, the most fundamental factor of all--the line of cleavage +between Ulster and the rest of the island--- is more than +unintelligible. In the eyes of many it presents itself as an example of +perversity, of "cussedness" on the part of men who insist on magnifying +mere differences of opinion, which would be easily composed by +reasonable people, into obstacles to co-operation which have no reality +behind them. + +Writers and speakers on the Nationalist side deride the idea of "two +nations" in Ireland, calling in evidence many obvious identities of +interest, of sentiment, or of temperament between the inhabitants of the +North and of the South. The Ulsterman no more denies these identities +than the Greek, the Bulgar, and the Serb would deny that there are +features common to all dwellers in the Balkan peninsula; but he is more +deeply conscious of the difference than of the likeness between himself +and the man from Munster or Connaught. His reply to those who denounced +the Irish Government Act of 1920 on the ground that it set up a +"partition of Ireland," is that the Act did not "set up," but only +recognised, the partition which history made long ago, and which wrecked +all attempts to solve the problem of Irish Government that neglected to +take it into account. If there be any force in Renan's saying that the +root of nationality is "the will to live together," the Nationalist cry +of "Ireland a Nation" harmonises ill with the actual conditions of +Ireland north and south of the Boyne. This dividing gulf between the two +populations in Ireland is the result of the same causes as the political +dissension that springs from it, as described by Mr. Asquith in words +quoted above. The tendencies of social and racial origin operate for the +most part subconsciously--though not perhaps less powerfully on that +account; those connected with economic considerations, with religious +creeds, and with events in political history enter directly and +consciously into the formation of convictions which in turn become the +motives for actions. + +In the mind of the average Ulster Unionist the particular point of +contrast between himself and the Nationalist of which he is more +forcibly conscious than of any other, and in which all other +distinguishing traits are merged, is that he is loyal to the British +Crown and the British Flag, whereas the other man is loyal to neither. +Religious intolerance, so far as the Protestants are concerned, of +which so much is heard, is in actual fact mainly traceable to the same +sentiment. It is unfortunately true that the lines of political and of +religious division coincide; but religious dissensions seldom flare up +except at times of political excitement; and, while it is undeniable +that the temper of the creeds more resembles what prevailed in England +in the seventeenth than in the twentieth century, yet when overt +hostility breaks out it is because the creed is taken--and usually taken +rightly--as _prima facie_ evidence of political opinion--political +opinion meaning "loyalty" or "disloyalty," as the case may be. The label +of "loyalist" is that which the Ulsterman cherishes above all others. It +means something definite to him; its special significance is reinforced +by the consciousness of its wearers that they are a minority; it +sustains the feeling that the division between parties is something +deeper and more fundamental than anything that in England is called +difference of opinion. This feeling accounts for much that sometimes +perplexes even the sympathetic English observer, and moves the hostile +partisan to scornful criticism. The ordinary Protestant farmer or +artisan of Ulster is by nature as far as possible removed from the being +who is derisively nicknamed the "noisy patriot" or the "flag-wagging +jingo." If the National Anthem has become a "party tune" in Ireland, it +is not because the loyalist sings it, but because the dis-loyalist shuns +it; and its avoidance at gatherings both political and social where +Nationalists predominate, naturally makes those who value loyalty the +more punctilious in its use. If there is a profuse display of the Union +Jack, it is because it is in Ulster not merely "bunting" for decorative +purposes as in England, but the symbol of a cherished faith. + +There may, perhaps, be some persons, unfamiliar with the Ulster cast of +mind, who find it hard to reconcile this profession of passionate +loyalty with the methods embarked upon in 1912 by the Ulster people. It +is a question upon which there will be something to be said when the +narrative reaches the events of that date. Here it need only be stated +that, in the eyes of Ulstermen at all events, constitutional orthodoxy +is quite a different thing from loyalty, and that true allegiance to +the Sovereign is by them sharply differentiated from passive obedience +to an Act of Parliament. + +The sincerity with which this loyalist creed is held by practically the +entire Protestant population of Ulster cannot be questioned by anyone +who knows the people, however much he may criticise it on other grounds. +And equally sincere is the conviction held by the same people that +disloyalty is, and always has been, the essential characteristic of +Nationalism. The conviction is founded on close personal contact +continued through many generations with the adherents of that political +party, and the tradition thus formed draws more support from authentic +history than many Englishmen are willing to believe. Consequently, when +the General Election of 1918 revealed that the whole of Nationalist +Ireland had gone over with foot, horse, and artillery, with bag and +baggage, from the camp of so-called Constitutional Home Rule, to the +Sinn Feiners who made no pretence that their aim was anything short of +complete independent sovereignty for Ireland, no surprise was felt in +Ulster. It was there realised that nothing had happened beyond the +throwing off of the mask which had been used as a matter of political +tactics to disguise what had always been the real underlying aim, if not +of the parliamentary leaders, at all events of the great mass of +Nationalist opinion throughout the three southern provinces. The whole +population had not with one consent changed their views in the course of +a night; they had merely rallied to support the first leaders whom they +had found prepared to proclaim the true objective. Curiously enough, +this truth was realised by an English politician who was in other +respects conspicuously deficient in insight regarding Ireland. The +Easter insurrection of 1916 in Dublin was only rendered possible by the +negligence or the incompetence of the Chief Secretary; but, in giving +evidence before the Commission appointed to inquire into it, Mr. Birrell +said: "The spirit of what to-day is called Sinn Feinism is mainly +composed of the old hatred and distrust of the British connection ... +always there as the background of Irish politics and character"; and, +after recalling that Cardinal Newman had observed the same state of +feeling in Dublin more than half a century before, Mr. Birrell added +quite truly that "this dislike, hatred, disloyalty (so unintelligible to +many Englishmen) is hard to define but easy to discern, though incapable +of exact measurement from year to year." This disloyal spirit, which +struck Newman, and which Mr. Birrell found easy to discern, was of +course always familiar to Ulstermen as characteristic of "the South and +West," and was their justification for the badge of "loyalist," their +assumption of which English Liberals, knowing nothing of Ireland, held +to be an unjust slur on the Irish majority. + +If this belief in the inherent disloyalty of Nationalist Ireland to the +British Empire did any injustice to individual Nationalist politicians, +they had nobody but themselves to blame for it. Their pronouncements in +America, as well as at home, were scrutinised in Ulster with a care that +Englishmen seldom took the trouble to give them. Nor must it be +forgotten that, up to the date when Mr. Gladstone made Home Rule a plank +in an English party's programme--which, whatever else it did, could not +alter the facts of the case--the same conviction, held in Ulster so +tenaciously, had prevailed almost universally in Great Britain also; and +had been proclaimed by no one so vehemently as by Mr. Gladstone himself, +whose famous declarations that the Nationalists of that day were +"steeped to the lips in treason," and were "marching through rapine to +the dismemberment of the Empire," were not so quickly forgotten in +Ulster as in England, nor so easily passed over as either meaningless or +untrue as soon as they became inconvenient for a political party to +remember. English supporters of Home Rule, when reminded of such +utterances, dismissed with a shrug the "unedifying pastime of unearthing +buried speeches"; and showed equal determination to see nothing in +speeches delivered by Nationalist leaders in America inconsistent with +the purely constitutional demand for "extended self-government." + +Ulster never would consent to bandage her own eyes in similar fashion, +or to plug her ears with wool. The "two voices" of Nationalist leaders, +from Mr. Parnell to Mr. Dillon, were equally audible to her; and, of the +two, she was certain that the true aim of Nationalist policy was +expressed by the one whose tone was disloyal to the British Empire. +Look-out was kept for any change in the direction of moderation, for any +real indication that those who professed to be "constitutional +Nationalists" were any less determined than "the physical force party" +to reach the goal described by Parnell in the famous sentence, "None of +us will be ... satisfied until we have destroyed the last link which +keeps Ireland bound to England." + +No such indication was ever discernible. On the contrary, Parnell's +phrase became a refrain to be heard in many later pronouncements of his +successors, and the policy he thus described was again and again +propounded in after-years on innumerable Nationalist platforms, in +speeches constantly quoted to prove, as was the contention of Ulster +from the first, that Home Rule as understood by English Liberals was no +more than an instalment of the real demand of Nationalists, who, if they +once obtained the "comparative freedom" of an Irish legislature--to +quote the words used by Mr. Devlin at a later date--would then, with +that leverage, "operate by whatever means they should think best to +achieve the great and desirable end" of complete independence of Great +Britain. + +This was an end that could not by any juggling be reconciled with the +Ulsterman's notion of "loyalty." Moreover, whatever knowledge he +possessed of his country's history--and he knows a good deal more, man +for man, than the Englishman--confirmed his deep distrust of those whom, +following the example of John Bright, he always bluntly described as +"the rebel party." He knew something of the rebellions in Ireland in the +seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, and was under no +illusion as to the design for which arms had been taken up in the past. +He knew that that design had not changed with the passing of +generations, although gentler methods of accomplishing it might +sometimes find favour. Indeed, one Nationalist leader himself took +pains, at a comparatively recent date, to remove any excuse there may +ever have been for doubt on this point. Mr. John Redmond was an orator +who selected his words with care, and his appeals to historical +analogies were not made haphazard. When he declared (in a speech in +1901) that, "in its essence, the national movement to-day is the same as +it was in the days of Hugh O'Neill, of Owen Roe, of Emmet, or of Wolfe +Tone," those names, which would have had but a shadowy significance for +a popular audience in England, carried very definite meaning to the ears +of Irishmen, whether Nationalist or Unionist. Mr. Gladstone, in the +fervour of his conversion to Home Rule, was fond of allusions to the +work of Molyneux and Swift, Flood and Grattan; but these were men whose +Irish patriotism never betrayed them into disloyalty to the British +Crown or hostility to the British connection. They were reformers, not +rebels. But it was not with the political ideals of such men that Mr. +Redmond claimed his own to be identical, nor even with that of +O'Connell, the apostle of repeal of the Union, but with the aims of men +who, animated solely by hatred of England, sought to establish the +complete independence of Ireland by force of arms, and in some cases by +calling in (like Roger Casement in our own day) the aid of England's +foreign enemies. + +In the face of appeals like this to the historic imagination of an +impressionable people, it is not surprising that by neither Mr. +Redmond's followers nor by his opponents was much account taken of his +own personal disapproval of extremes both of means and ends. His +opponents in Ulster simply accepted such utterances as confirmation of +what they had known all along from other sources to be the actual facts, +namely, that the Home Rule agitation was "in its essence" a separatist +movement; that its adherents were, as Mr. Redmond himself said on +another occasion, "as much rebels as their fathers were in 1798"; and +that the men of Ulster were, together with some scattered sympathisers +in the other Provinces, the depositaries of the "loyal" tradition. + +The latter could boast of a pedigree as long as that of the rebels. If +Mr. Redmond's followers were to trace their political ancestry, as he +told them, to the great Earl of Tyrone who essayed to overthrow England +with the help of the Spaniard and the Pope, the Ulster Protestants could +claim descent from the men of the Plantation, through generation after +generation of loyalists who had kept the British flag flying in Ireland +in times of stress and danger, when Mr. Redmond's historical heroes were +making England's difficulty Ireland's opportunity. + +There have been, and are, many individual Nationalists, no doubt, +especially among the more educated and thoughtful, to whom it would be +unjust to impute bad faith when they professed that their political +aspirations for Ireland were really limited to obtaining local control +of local affairs, and who resented being called "Separatists," since +their desire was not for separation from Great Britain but for the +"union of hearts," which they believed would grow out of extended +self-government. But the answer of Irish Unionists, especially in +Ulster, has always been that, whatever such "moderate," or +"constitutional" Nationalists might dream, it would be found in +practice, if the experiment were made, that no halting-place could be +found between legislative union and complete separation. Moreover, the +same view was held by men as far as possible removed from the standpoint +of the Ulster Protestant. Cardinal Manning, for example, although an +intimate personal friend of Gladstone, in a letter to Leo XIII, wrote: +"As for myself, Holy Father, allow me to say that I consider a +Parliament in Dublin and a separation to be equivalent to the same +thing. Ireland is not a Colony like Canada, but it is an integral and +vital part of one country."[1] + +It is improbable that identical lines of reasoning led the Roman +Catholic Cardinal and the Belfast Orangeman and Presbyterian to this +identical conclusion; but a position reached by convergent paths from +such distant points of departure is defensible presumably on grounds +more solid than prejudice or passion. It is unnecessary here to examine +those grounds at length, for the present purpose is not to argue the +Ulster case, but to let the reader know what was, as a matter of fact, +the Ulster point of view, whether that point of view was well or ill +founded. + +But, while the opinion that a Dublin Parliament meant separation was +shared by many who had little else in common with the Ulster +Protestants, the latter stood alone in the intensity of their conviction +that "Home Rule meant Rome Rule." It has already been mentioned that it +is the "disloyalty" attributed rightly or wrongly to the Roman Catholics +as a body that has been, in recent times at all events, the mainspring +of Protestant distrust. But sectarian feeling, everywhere common between +rival creeds, is, of course, by no means absent. Englishmen find it hard +to understand what seems to them the bigoted and senseless animosity of +the rival faiths in Ireland. This is due to the astonishing shortness of +their memory in regard to their own history, and their very limited +outlook on the world outside their own island. If, without looking +further back in their history, they reflected that the "No Popery" +feeling in England in mid-Victorian days was scarcely less intense than +it is in Ulster to-day; or if they realised the extent to which +Gambetta's "Le clericalisme, voila l'ennemi" continues still to +influence public life in France, they might be less ready to censure the +Irish Protestant's dislike of priestly interference in affairs outside +the domain of faith and morals. It is indeed remarkable that +Nonconformists, especially in Wales, who within living memory have +displayed their own horror of the much milder form of sacerdotalism to +be found in the Anglican Church, have no sympathy apparently with the +Presbyterian and the Methodist in Ulster when the latter kick against +the encompassing pressure of the Roman Catholic priesthood, not in +educational matters alone, but in all the petty activities of every-day +life. + +Whenever this aspect of the Home Rule controversy was emphasised +Englishmen asked what sort of persecution Irish Protestants had to fear +from a Parliament in Dublin, and appeared to think all such fear +illusory unless evidence could be adduced that the Holy Office was to be +set up at Maynooth, equipped with faggot and thumb-screw. Of persecution +of that sort there never has been, of course, any apprehension in +modern times. Individual Catholics and Protestants live side by side in +Ireland with fully as much amity as elsewhere, but whereas the Catholic +instinctively, and by upbringing, looks to the parish priest as his +director in all affairs of life, the Protestant dislikes and resists +clerical influence as strongly as does the Nonconformist in England and +Wales--and with much better reason. For the latter has never known +clericalism as it exists in a Roman Catholic country where the Church is +wholly unrestrained by the civil power. He has resented what he regards +as Anglican arrogance in regard to educational management or the use of +burying-grounds, but he has never experienced a much more aggressive +clerical temper exercised in all the incidents of daily life--in the +market, the political meeting, the disposition of property, the +amusements of the people, the polling booth, the farm, and the home. + +This involves no condemnation of the Irish priest as an individual or as +a minister of his Church. He is kind-hearted, charitable, and +conscientious; and, except that it does not encourage self-reliance and +enterprise, his influence with his own people is no more open to +criticism than that of any other body of religious ministers. But the +Roman Catholic Church has always made a larger claim than any other on +the obedience of its adherents, and it has always enforced that +obedience whenever it has had the power by methods which, in Protestant +opinion, are extremely objectionable. In theory the claim may be limited +to affairs concerned with faith and morals; but the definition of such +affairs is a very elastic one. Cardinal Logue not many years ago said: +"When political action trenches upon faith or morals or affects +religion, the Vicar of Christ, as the supreme teacher and guardian of +faith and morals, and as the custodian of the immunities of religion, +has, by Divine Right, authority to interfere and to enforce his +decisions." How far this principle is in practice carried beyond the +limits so denned was proved in the famous Meath election petition in +1892, in which the Judge who tried it, himself a devout Catholic, +declared: "The Church became converted for the time being into a vast +political agency, a great moral machine moving with resistless +influence, united action, and a single will. Every priest who was +examined was a canvasser; the canvas was everywhere--on the altar, in +the vestry, on the roads, in the houses." And while an election was in +progress in County Tyrone in 1911 a parish priest announced that any +Catholic who should vote for the Unionist candidate "would be held +responsible at the Day of Judgment." A still more notorious example of +clericalism in secular affairs, within the recollection of Englishmen, +was the veto on the Military Service Act proclaimed from the altars of +the Catholic Churches, which, during the Great War, defeated the +application to Ireland of the compulsory service which England, +Scotland, and Wales accepted as the only alternative to national defeat +and humiliation. + +But these were only conspicuous examples of what the Irish Protestant +sees around him every day of his life. The promulgation in 1908 of the +Vatican decree, _Nec Temere_, a papal reassertion of the canonical +invalidity of mixed marriages, followed as it was by notorious cases of +the victimisation of Protestant women by the application of its +principles, did not encourage the Protestants to welcome the prospect of +a Catholic Parliament that would have control of the marriage law; nor +did they any more readily welcome the prospect of national education on +purely ecclesiastical lines. Another Vatican decree that was equally +alarming to Protestants was that entitled _Motu Proprio_, by which any +Catholic layman was _ipso facto_ excommunicated who should have the +temerity to bring a priest into a civil court either as defendant or +witness. Medievalism like this was felt by Ulster Protestants to be +irreconcilable with modern ideas of democratic freedom, and to indicate +a temper that boded ill for any regime which would be subject to its +inspiration. These were matters, it is true,--and there were perhaps +some others of a similar nature--on which it is possible to conceive +more or less satisfactory legislative safeguards being provided; but as +regards the indefinable but innumerable minutiae in which the prevailing +ecclesiastical standpoint creates an atmosphere in which daily life has +to be carried on, no safeguards could be devised, and it was the +realisation of this truth in the light of their own experience that made +the Ulstermen continually close their ears to allurements of that sort. + +The Roman Church is quite consistent, and from its own point of view +praiseworthy, in its assertion of its right, and its duty, to control +the lives and thoughts of men; but this assertion has produced a clash +with the non-ecclesiastical mind in almost every country, where +Catholicism is the dominant religious faith. But in Ireland, unlike +Continental countries, there is no Catholic lay opinion--or almost +none--able to make its voice heard against clerical dictation, and +consequently the Protestants felt convinced, with good reason, that any +legislature in Ireland must take its tone from this pervading mental and +moral atmosphere, and that all its proceedings would necessarily be +tainted by it. + +Prior to 1885 the political complexion of Ulster was in the main +Liberal. The Presbyterians, who formed the majority of the Protestant +population, collateral descendants of the men who emigrated in the +eighteenth century and formed the backbone of Washington's army, and +direct descendants of those who joined the United Irishmen in 1798, were +of a pronounced Liberal type, and their frequently strong disapproval of +Orangeism made any united political action an improbable occurrence. But +the crisis brought about by Gladstone's declaration in favour of Home +Rule instantly swept all sections of Loyalists into a single camp. There +was practically not a Liberal left who did not become Unionist, and, +although a separate organisation of Liberal Unionists was maintained, +the co-operation with Conservatives was so whole-hearted and complete as +almost to amount to fusion from the outset. + +The immediate cessation of class friction was still more remarkable. For +more than a decade the perennial quarrel between landlord and tenant had +been increasing in intensity, and the recent land legislation had +disposed the latter to look upon Gladstone as a deliverer. Their +gratitude was wiped out the moment he hoisted the green flag, while the +labourers enfranchised by the Act of 1884 eagerly enrolled themselves +as the bitterest enemies of his new Irish policy. The unanimity of the +country-side was matched in the towns, and especially in Belfast, where, +with the single exception of a definitely Catholic quarter, employer and +artisan were as whole-heartedly united as were landlord and tenant in +passionate resentment at what they regarded as the betrayal by England's +foremost statesman of England's only friends in Ireland. + +The defeat of the Home Rule Bill of 1886 brought relief from the +immediate strain of anxiety. But it was at once realised that the +encouragement and support given to Irish disloyalty for the first time +by one of the great political parties in Great Britain was a step that +could never be recalled. Henceforth the vigilance required to prevent +being taken unawares, and the untiring organisation necessary for making +effective defence against an attack which, although it had signally +failed at the first onslaught, was certain to be renewed, welded all the +previously diverse social and political elements in Ulster into a single +compact mass, tempered to the maximum power of resistance. There was +room for no other thought in the minds of men who felt as if living in a +beleaguered citadel, whose flag they were bound in honour to keep flying +to the last. The "loyalist" tradition acquired fresh meaning and +strength, and its historical setting took a more conscious hold on the +public mind of Ulster, as men studied afresh the story of the Relief of +Derry or the horrors of 1641. Visits of encouragement from the leaders +of Unionism across the Channel, men like Lord Salisbury, Mr. Balfour, +Mr. Chamberlain, Lord Randolph Churchill, fortified the resolution of a +populace that came more and more to regard themselves as a bulwark of +the Empire, on whom destiny, while conferring on them the honour of +upholding the flag, had imposed the duty of putting into actual practice +the familiar motto of the Orange Lodges--"No surrender." + +From a psychology so bred and nourished sprang a political temper which, +as it hardened with the passing years, appeared to English Home Rulers +to be "stiff-necked," "bigoted," and "intractable." It certainly was a +state of mind very different from those shifting gusts of transient +impression which in England go by the name of public opinion; and, if +these epithets in the mouths of opponents be taken as no more than +synonyms for "uncompromising," they were not undeserved. At a memorable +meeting at the Albert Hall in London on the 22nd of April, 1893, Dr. +Alexander, Bishop of Derry, poet, orator, and divine, declared in an +eloquent passage that was felt to be the exact expression of Ulster +conviction, that the people of Ulster, when exhorted to show confidence +in their southern fellow-countrymen, "could no more be confiding about +its liberty than a pure woman can be confiding about her honour." + +Here was the irreconcilable division. The Nationalist talked of +centuries of "oppression," and demanded the dissolution of the Union in +the name of liberty. The Ulsterman, while far from denying the +misgovernment of former times, knew that it was the fruit of false ideas +which had passed away, and that the Ireland in which he lived enjoyed as +much liberty as any land on earth; and he feared the loss of the true +liberty he had gained if put back under a regime of Nationalist and +Utramontane domination. And so for more than thirty years the people of +Ulster for whom Bishop Alexander spoke made good his words. If in the +end compromise was forced upon them it was not because their standpoint +had changed, and it was only in circumstances which involved no +dishonour, and which preserved them from what they chiefly dreaded, +subjection to a Dublin Parliament inspired by clericalism and disloyalty +to the Empire. + +The development which brought about the change from Ulster's resolute +stand for unimpaired union with Great Britain to her reluctant +acceptance of a separate local constitution for the predominantly +Protestant portion of the Province, presents a deeply interesting +illustration of the truth of a pregnant dictum of Maine's on the working +of democratic institutions. + +"Democracies," he says, "are quite paralysed by the plea of nationality. +There is no more effective way of attacking them than by admitting the +right of the majority to govern, but denying that the majority so +entitled is the particular majority which claims the right."[2] + +This is precisely what occurred in regard to Ulster's relation to Great +Britain and to the rest of Ireland respectively. The will of the +majority must prevail, certainly. But what majority? Unionists +maintained that only the majority in the United Kingdom could decide, +and that it had never in fact decided in favour of repealing the Act of +Union; Lord Rosebery at one time held that a majority in Great Britain +alone, as the "Predominant Partner," must first give its consent; Irish +Nationalists argued that the majority in Ireland, as a distinct unit, +was the only one that should count. Ulster, whilst agreeing with the +general Unionist position, contended ultimately that her own majority +was as well entitled to be heard in regard to her own fate as the +majority in Ireland as a whole. To the Nationalist claim that Ireland +was a nation she replied that it was either two nations or none, and +that if one of the two had a right to "self-determination," the other +had it equally. Thus the axiom of democracy that government is by the +majority was, as Maine said, "paralysed by the plea of nationality," +since the contending parties appealed to the same principle without +having any common ground as to how it should be applied to the case in +dispute. + +If the Union with Great Britain was to be abrogated, which Pitt had only +established when "a full measure of Home Rule" had produced a bloody +insurrection and Irish collusion with England's external enemies, Ulster +could at all events in the last resort take her stand on Abraham +Lincoln's famous proposition which created West Virginia: "A minority of +a large community who make certain claims for self-government cannot, in +logic or in substance, refuse the same claims to a much larger +proportionate minority among themselves." + +The Loyalists of Ulster were successful in holding this second line, +when the first was no longer tenable; but they only retired from the +first line--the maintenance of the legislative union--after a long and +obstinate defence which it is the purpose of the following pages to +relate. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _Henry Edward Manning_, by Shane Leslie, p. 406. + +[2] Sir S.H. Maine, _Popular Government_, p. 28. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE ELECTORATE AND HOME RULE + + +We profess to be a democratic country in which the "will of the people" +is the ultimate authority in determining questions of policy, and the +Liberal Party has been accustomed to regard itself as the most zealous +guardian of democratic principles. Yet there is this curious paradox in +relation to the problem which more than any other taxed British +statesmanship during the thirty-five years immediately following the +enfranchisement of the rural democracy in 1884, that the solution +propounded by the Liberal Party, and inscribed by that party on the +Statute-book in 1914, was more than once emphatically rejected, and has +never been explicitly accepted by the electorate. + +No policy ever submitted to the country was more decisively condemned at +the polls than Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule proposals in the General +Election of 1886. The issue then for the first time submitted to the +people was isolated from all others with a completeness scarcely ever +practicable--a circumstance which rendered the "mandate" to Parliament +to maintain the legislative union exceptionally free from ambiguity. The +party which had brought forward the defeated proposal, although led by a +statesman of unrivalled popularity, authority, and power, was shattered +in the attempt to carry it, and lost the support of numbers of its most +conspicuous adherents, including Chamberlain, Hartington, Goschen, and +John Bright, besides a multitude of its rank and file, who entered into +political partnership with their former opponents in order to withstand +the new departure of their old Chief. + +The years that followed were a period of preparation by both sides for +the next battle. The improvement in the state of Ireland, largely the +result of legislation carried by Lord Salisbury's Government, especially +that which promoted land purchase, encouraged the confidence felt by +Unionists that the British voter would remain staunch to the Union. The +downfall of Parnell in 1890, followed by the break-up of his party, and +by his death in the following year, seemed to make the danger of Home +Rule still more remote. The only disquieting factor was the personality +of Mr. Gladstone, which, the older he grew, exercised a more and more +incalculable influence on the public mind. And there can be no doubt +that it was this personal influence that made him, in spite of his +policy, and not because of it, Prime Minister for the fourth time in +1892. In Great Britain the electors in that year pronounced against Home +Rule again by a considerable majority, and it was only by coalition with +the eighty-three Irish Nationalist Members that Gladstone and his party +were able to scrape up a majority of forty in support of his second Home +Rule Bill. Whether there was any ground for Gladstone's belief that but +for the O'Shea divorce he would have had a three-figure majority in 1892 +is of little consequence, but the fall of his own majority in Midlothian +from 4,000 to below 700, which caused him "intense chagrin,"[3] does not +lend it support. Lord Morley says Gladstone was blamed by some of his +friends for accepting office "depending on a majority not large enough +to coerce the House of Lords"[4]; but a more valid ground of censure was +that he was willing to break up the constitution of the United Kingdom, +although a majority of British electors had just refused to sanction +such a thing being done. That Gladstone's colleagues realised full well +the true state of public opinion on the subject, if he himself did not, +was shown by their conduct when the Home Rule Bill, after being carried +through the House of Commons by diminutive majorities, was rejected on +second reading by the Peers. Even their great leader's entreaty could +not persuade them to consent to an appeal to the people[5]; and when +they were tripped up over the cordite vote in 1895, after Gladstone had +disappeared from public life, none of them probably were surprised at +the overwhelming vote by which the constituencies endorsed the action of +the House of Lords, and pronounced for the second time in ten years +against granting Home Rule to Ireland. + +If anything except the personal ascendancy of Gladstone contributed to +his small coalition majority in 1892 it was no doubt the confidence of +the electors that the House of Lords could be relied upon to prevent the +passage of a Home Rule Bill. It is worth noting that nearly twenty years +later Lord Crewe acknowledged that the Home Rule Bill of 1893 could not +have stood the test of a General Election or of a Referendum.[6] + +During the ten years of Unionist Government from 1895 to 1905 the +question of Home Rule slipped into the background. Other issues, such as +those raised by the South African War and Mr. Chamberlain's tariff +policy, engrossed the public mind. English Home Rulers showed a +disposition to hide away, if not to repudiate altogether, the legacy +they had inherited from Gladstone. Lord Rosebery acknowledged the +necessity to convert "the predominant partner," a mission which every +passing year made appear a more hopeless undertaking. At by-elections +Home Rule was scarcely mentioned. In the eyes of average Englishmen the +question was dead and buried, and most people were heartily thankful to +hear no more about it. Mr. T.M. Healy's caustic wit remarked that "Home +Rule was put into cold storage."[7] + +Then came the great overthrow of the Unionists in 1906. Home Rule, +except by its absence from Liberal election addresses, contributed +nothing at all to that resounding Liberal victory. The battle of +"terminological inexactitudes" rang with cries of Chinese "slavery," +Tariff Reform, Church Schools, Labour Dispute Bills, and so forth; but +on Ireland silence reigned on the platforms of the victors. The event +was to give the successors of Mr. Gladstone a House of Commons in +complete subjection to them. For the first time since 1885 they had a +majority independent of the Nationalists, a majority, if ever there was +one, "large enough to coerce the House of Lords," as they would have +done in 1893, according to Lord Morley, if they had had the power. But +to do that would involve the danger of having again to appeal to the +country, which even at this high tide of Liberal triumph they could not +face with Home Rule as an election cry. So, with the tame acquiescence +of Mr. Redmond and his followers, they spent four years of unparalleled +power without laying a finger on Irish Government, a course which was +rendered easy for them by the fact that, on their own admission, they +had found Ireland in a more peaceful, prosperous, and contented +condition than it had enjoyed for several generations. Occasionally, +indeed, as was necessary to prevent a rupture with the Nationalists, +some perfunctory mention of Home Rule as a _desideratum_ of the future +was made on Ministerial platforms--by Mr. Churchill, for example, at +Manchester in May 1909. But by that date even the contest over Tariff +Reform--which had raged without intermission for six years, and by +rending the Unionist Party had grievously damaged it as an effective +instrument of opposition--had become merged in the more immediately +exciting battle of the Budget, provoked by Mr. Lloyd George's financial +proposals for the current year, and by the possibility that they might +be rejected by the House of Lords. This the House of Lords did, on the +30th of November, 1909, and the Prime Minister at once announced that he +would appeal to the country without delay. + +Such a turn of events was a wonderful windfall for the Irish +Nationalists, beyond what the most sanguine of them can ever have hoped +for. The rejection of a money Bill by the House of Lords raised a +democratic blizzard, the full force of which was directed against the +constitutional power of veto possessed by the hereditary Chamber in +relation not merely to money Bills, but to general legislation. For a +long time the Liberal Party had been threatening that part of the +Constitution without much effect. Sixteen years had passed since Mr. +Gladstone in his last speech in the House of Commons declared that +issue must be joined with the Peers; but the emphatic endorsement by the +constituencies in 1895 of the Lords' action which he had denounced, +followed by ten years of Unionist Government, damped down the ardour of +attack so effectually that, during the four years in which the Liberals +enjoyed unchallengeable power, from 1906 to 1910, they did nothing to +carry out Gladstone's parting injunction. Had they done so at any time +when Home Rule was a living issue in the country an attack on the Lords +would in all probability have proved disastrous to themselves. For there +was not a particle of evidence that the electors of Great Britain had +changed their minds on this subject, and there were great numbers of +voters in the country--those voters, unattached to party, who constitute +"the swing of the pendulum," and decide the issue at General +Elections--who felt free to vote Liberal in 1906 because they believed +Home Rule was practically dead, and if revived would be again given its +_quietus_, as in 1893, by the House of Lords. But the defeat of the +Budget in November 1909 immediately opened a line of attack wholly +unconnected with Ireland, and over the most favourable ground that could +have been selected for the assault. + +Nothing could have been more skilful than the tactics employed by the +Liberal leaders. Concentrating on the constitutional question raised by +the alleged encroachment of the Lords on the exclusive privilege of the +Commons to grant supply, they tried to excite a hurricane of popular +fury by calling on the electorate to decide between "Peers and People." +The rejected Finance Bill was dubbed "The People's Budget." A "Budget +League" was formed to expatiate through the constituencies on the +democratic character of its provisions, and on the personal and class +selfishness of the Peers in throwing it out. As little as possible was +said about Ireland, and probably not one voter in ten thousand who went +to the poll in January 1910 ever gave a thought to the subject, or +dreamed that he was taking part in reversing the popular verdict of 1886 +and 1895. Afterwards, when it was complained that an election so +conducted had provided no "mandate" for Home Rule, it was found that in +the course of a long speech delivered by Mr. Asquith at the Albert Hall +on the 10th of December there was a sentence in which the Prime Minister +had declared that "the Irish problem could only be solved by a policy +which, while explicitly safeguarding the supreme authority of the +Imperial Parliament, would set up self-government in Ireland in regard +to Irish affairs." The rest of the speech dealt with Tariff Reform and +with the constitutional question of the House of Lords, on which the +public mind was focused throughout the election. + +In the unprecedented deluge of oratory that flooded the country in the +month preceding the elections the Prime Minister's sentence on Ireland +at the Albert Hall passed almost unnoticed in English and Scottish +constituencies, or was quickly lost sight of, like a coin in a +cornstack, under sheaves of rhetoric about the dear loaf and the +intolerable arrogance of hereditary legislators. Here and there a +Unionist candidate did his best to warn a constituency that every +Liberal vote was a vote for Home Rule. He was invariably met with an +impatient retort that he was attempting to raise a bogey to divert +attention from the iniquity of the Lords and the Tariff Reformers. Home +Rule, he was told, was dead and buried. + +On the 19th of January, 1910, when the elections were over in the +boroughs, Mr. Asquith claimed that "the great industrial centres had +mainly declared for Free Trade," and the impartial chronicler of the +_Annual Register_ stated that "the Liberals had fought on Free Trade and +the constitutional issue." The twice-repeated decision of the country +against Home Rule for Ireland was therefore in no sense reversed by the +General Election of January 1910. + +But from the very beginning of the agitation over the Budget and the +action of the House of Lords in relation to it, in the summer of 1909, +the gravity of the situation so created was fully appreciated by both +political parties in Ireland itself. Only the most languid interest was +there taken in the questions which stirred the constituencies across +the Channel. Neither Nationalist nor Unionist cared anything whatever +for Free Trade; neither of them shed a tear over the rejected Budget. +Indeed, Mr. Lloyd George's new taxes were so unpopular in Ireland that +Mr. Redmond was violently attacked by Mr. William O'Brien and Mr. Healy +for his neglect of obvious Irish interests in supporting the Government. +Mr. Redmond, for his part, made no pretence that his support was given +because he approved of the proposals for which he and his followers gave +their votes in every division. The clauses of the Finance Bill were +trifles in his eyes that did not matter. His gaze was steadily fixed on +the House of Peers, which he saw before him as a huntsman views a fox +with bedraggled brush, reduced to a trot a field or two ahead of the +hounds. That House was, as he described it, "the last obstacle to Home +Rule," and he was determined to do all he could to remove the obstacle. +Lord Rosebery said at Glasgow in September 1909 that he believed +Ministers wanted the House of Lords to reject the Budget. Whether they +did or not, there can be no doubt that Mr. Redmond did, for he knew +that, in that event, the whole strength of the Liberal Party would be +directed to the task of beating down the "last obstacle," and that then +it would be possible to carry Home Rule without the British +constituencies being consulted. It was with this end in view that he +took his party into the lobby in support of a Budget that was detested +in Ireland, and threw the whole weight of his influence in British +constituencies on to the Liberal side in the elections of January 1910. + +But, notwithstanding the torrent of class prejudice and democratic +passion that was stirred up by six weeks of Liberal oratory, the result +of the elections was a serious loss of strength to the Government. The +commanding Liberal majority of 1906 over all parties in the House of +Commons disappeared, and Mr. Asquith and his Cabinet were once more +dependent on a coalition of Labour Members and Nationalists. The +Liberals by themselves had a majority of two only over the Unionists, +who had won over one hundred seats, so that the Nationalists were +easily in a position to enforce their leader's threat to make Mr. +Asquith "toe the line." + +When the Parliament elected in January 1910 assembled disputes arose +between the Government and the Nationalists as to whether priority was +to be given to passing the Budget rejected in the previous session, or +to the Parliament Bill which was to deprive the House of Lords of its +constitutional power to reject legislation passed by the Commons; and +Mr. Redmond expressed his displeasure that "guarantees" had not yet been +obtained from the King, or, in plain language, that a promise had not +been extorted from the Sovereign that he would be prepared to create a +sufficient number of Peers to secure the acceptance of the Parliament +Bill by the Upper House. + +The whole situation was suddenly changed by the death of King Edward in +May 1910. Consideration for the new and inexperienced Sovereign led to +the temporary abandonment of coercion of the Crown, and resort was had +to a Conference of party leaders, with a view to settlement of the +dispute by agreement. But no agreement was arrived at, and the +Conference broke up on the 10th of November. Parliament was again +dissolved in December, "on the assumption," as Lord Crewe stated, "that +the House of Lords would reject the Parliament Bill." + +During the agitation of this troubled autumn preceding the General +Election, the question of Home Rule was not quite so successfully +concealed from view as in the previous year. The Liberals, indeed, +maintained the same tactical reserve on the subject, alike in their +writings and their speeches. The Liberal Press of the period may be +searched in vain for any clear indication that the electors were about +to be asked to decide once more this momentous constitutional question. +Such mention of it as was occasionally to be found in ministerial +speeches seemed designed to convey the idea that, while the door leading +to Home Rule was still formally open, there was no immediate prospect of +its being brought into use. The Prime Minister in particular did +everything in his power to direct the attention of the country to the +same issues as in the preceding January, among which Ireland had had no +place. In presenting the Government's case at Hull on the 25th of +November, he reminded the country that in the January elections the veto +of the Peers was "the dominant issue"; in the intervening months the +Government, he said, had brought forward proposals for dealing with the +veto, and had given the Lords an opportunity to make proposals of their +own; a defeat of the Liberals in the coming elections would bring in +"Protection disguised as Tariff Reform"; but he (Mr. Asquith) preferred +to concentrate his criticism on Lord Lansdowne's "crude and complex +scheme" for Second Chamber reform; he made a passing mention of +"self-government for Ireland" as a policy that would have the sympathy +of the Dominions, but added that "the immediate task was to secure fair +play for Liberal legislation and popular government." And in his +election address Mr. Asquith declared that "the appeal to the country +was almost narrowed to a single issue, and on its determination hung the +whole future of democratic Government." + +This zeal for "popular," or "democratic" government was, however, not +inconsistent apparently with a determination to avoid at all hazards +consulting the will of the people, before doing what the people had +hitherto always refused to sanction. The suggestion had been made +earlier in the autumn that a Referendum, or "Poll of the People" might +be taken on the question of Home Rule. The very idea filled the Liberals +with dismay. Speaking at Edinburgh on the 2nd of December, Mr. Lloyd +George, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, made the curiously naive +admission, for a "democratic" politician, that the Referendum would +amount to "a prohibitive tariff against Liberalism." A few days earlier +at Reading (November 29th) his Chief sought to turn the edge of this +disconcerting proposal by asking whether the Unionists, if returned to +power, would allow Tariff Reform to be settled by the same mode of +appeal to the country; and when Mr. Balfour promptly accepted the +challenge by promising that he would do so Mr. Asquith retreated under +cover of the excuse that no bargain had been intended. + +While the Liberal leaders were thus doing all they could to hold down +the lid of the Home Rule Jack-in-the-box, the Unionists were warning the +country that as soon as Mr. Asquith secured a majority his thumb would +release the spring. Speakers from Ulster carried the warning into many +constituencies, but it was noticed that they were constantly met with +the same retort as in January--that Home Rule was a "bogey," or a "red +herring" dragged across the trail of Tariff Reform and the Peers' veto; +and it is a significant indication of the straits to which the +Government afterwards felt themselves driven to find justification for +dealing with so fundamental a question as the repeal of the Union +without the explicit approval of the electorate, that they devised the +strange doctrine that speeches by their opponents provided them with a +mandate for a policy about which they had themselves kept silence, even +although those speeches had been disbelieved and derided on the very +ground that it would be impossible for Ministers to bring forward a +policy they had not laid before the country during the election. + +The extent to which this ministerial reserve was carried was shown by a +question put to Mr. Asquith in his own constituency in East Fife on the +6th of December. Scottish "hecklers" are intelligent and well informed +on current politics, and no one who knows them can imagine one of them +asking the Prime Minister whether he intended to introduce a Home Rule +Bill if Home Rule had been proclaimed as one of the chief items in the +policy of the Government. Mr. Asquith gave an affirmative reply; but the +elections were by this time half over, and in the following week Mr. +Balfour laid stress on the fact that five hundred contests had been +decided before any Minister had mentioned Home Rule. Even after giving +this memorable answer in East Fife Mr. Asquith, speaking at Bury St. +Edmunds on the 12th of December, declared that "the sole issue at that +moment was the supremacy of the people," and he added, in deprecation of +all the talk about Ireland, that "it was sought to confuse this issue by +catechising Ministers on the details of the next Home Rule Bill." + +Even if this had been, as it was not, a true description of the +attempts that had been made to extract a frank declaration from the +Government as to their intentions in regard to this vitally important +matter--far more important to hundreds of thousands of people than any +question of Tariff, or of limiting the functions of the Second Chamber +--it was surely a curious doctrine to be propounded by a statesman +zealous to preserve "popular government "! There had been two Home Rule +Bills in the past, differing one from the other in not a few important +respects; discussion had shown that many even of those who supported the +principle of Home Rule objected strongly to this or that proposal for +embodying it in legislation Language had been used by Mr. Asquith +himself, as well as by some of his principal colleagues, which implied +that any future Home Rule Bill would be part of a general scheme of +"devolution," or federation, or "Home Rule All Round"--a solution of the +question favoured by many who hotly opposed separate treatment for +Ireland Yet here was the responsible Minister, in the middle of a +General Election, complaining that the issue was being "confused" by +presumptuous persons who wanted to know what sort of Home Rule, if any, +he had in contemplation in the event of obtaining a majority sufficient +to keep him in power. + +Under such circumstances it would have been a straining of +constitutional principles, and a flagrant violation of the canons of +that "democratic government" of which Mr Asquith had constituted himself +the champion, to pass a Home Rule Bill by means of a majority so +obtained, even if the majority had been one that pointed to a sweeping +turnover of public opinion to the side of the Government The elections +of December 1910, in point of fact, gave no such indication. The +Government gained nothing whatever by the appeal to the country. +Liberals and Unionists came back in almost precisely the same strength +as in the previous Parliament. They balanced each other within a couple +of votes in the new House of Commons, and the Ministry could not have +remained twenty-four hours in office except in coalition with Labour and +the Irish Nationalists. + +The Parliament so elected and so constituted was destined not merely to +destroy the effective power of the House of Lords, and to place on the +Statute-book a measure setting up an Irish Parliament in Dublin, but to +be an assembly longer in duration and more memorable in achievement than +any in English history since the Long Parliament. During the eight years +of its reign the Great War was fought and won; the "rebel party" in +Ireland once more, as in the Napoleonic Wars, broke into armed +insurrection in league with the enemies of England; and before it was +dissolved the political parties in Great Britain, heartily supported by +the Loyalists of Ulster, composed the party differences which had raged +with such passion over Home Rule and other domestic issues, and joined +forces in patriotic resistance to the foreign enemy. + +But before this transformation took place nearly four years of agitation +and contest had to run their course. In the first session of the +Parliament, by a violent use of the Royal Prerogative, the Parliament +Bill became law, the Peers accepting the measure under duress of the +threat that some four or five hundred peerages would, if necessary, be +created to form a majority to carry it. It was then no longer possible +for the Upper House to force an appeal to the country on Home Rule, as +it had done in 1893. All that was necessary was for a Bill to be carried +in three successive sessions through the House of Commons, to become +law. "The last obstacle to Home Rule," as Mr. Redmond called it, had +been removed. The Liberal Government had taken a hint from the procedure +of the careful burglar, who poisons the dog before breaking into the +house. + +The significance of the manner in which the Irish question had been kept +out of view of the electorate by the Government and their supporters was +not lost upon the people of Ulster. In January 1911, within a month of +the elections, a meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council was held at +which a comprehensive resolution dealing with the situation that had +arisen was adopted, and published as a manifesto. One of its clauses +was: + + "The Council has observed with much surprise the singular reticence + as regards Home Rule maintained by a large number of Radical + candidates in England and Scotland during the recent elections, and + especially by the Prime Minister himself, who barely referred to + the subject till almost the close of his own contest. In view of + the consequent fact that Home Rule was not at the late appeal to + the country placed as a clear issue before the electors, it is the + judgment of the Council that the country has given no mandate for + Home Rule, and that any attempt in such circumstances to force + through Parliament a measure enacting it would be for His Majesty's + Ministers a grave, if not criminal, breach of constitutional duty." + +The great importance, in relation to the policy subsequently pursued by +Ulster, of the historical fact here made clear--namely, that the "will +of the people" constitutionally expressed in parliamentary elections has +never declared itself in favour of granting Home Rule to Ireland, lies, +first, in the justification it afforded to the preparations for active +resistance to a measure so enacted; and, secondly, in the influence it +had in procuring for Ulster not merely the sympathy but the open support +of the whole Unionist Party in Great Britain. Lord Londonderry, one of +Ulster's most trusted leaders, who afterwards gave the whole weight of +his support to the policy of forcible resistance, admitted in the House +of Lords in 1911, in the debates on the Parliament Bill, that the +verdict of the country, if appealed to, would have to be accepted. The +leader of the Unionist Party, Mr. Bonar Law, made it clear in February +1914, as he had more than once stated before, that the support he and +his party were pledging themselves to give to Ulster in the struggle +then approaching a climax, was entirely due to the fact that the +electorate had never sanctioned the policy of the Government against +which Ulster's resistance was threatened. The chance of success in that +resistance "depended," he said, "upon the sympathy of the British +people, and an election would undoubtedly make a great difference in +that respect"; he denied that Mr. Asquith had a "right to pass any form +of Home Rule without a mandate from the people of this country, which +he has never received"; and he categorically announced that "if you get +the decision of the people we shall obey it." And if, as then appeared +likely, the unconstitutional conduct of the Government should lead to +bloodshed in Ireland, the responsibility, said Mr. Bonar Law, would be +theirs, "because you preferred to face civil war rather than face the +people."[8] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] Morley's _Life of Gladstone_, in, 492. + +[4] Ibid., 493. + +[5] Ibid., 505. + +[6] _Annual Register_, 1910, p. 240. + +[7] See _Letters to Isabel_, by Lord Shaw of Dunfermline, p. 130. + +[8] _Parliamentary Debates_ (5th Series), vol. I viii, pp. 279-84. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +ORGANISATION AND LEADERSHIP + + +From the day when Gladstone first made Home Rule for Ireland the leading +issue in British politics, the Loyalists of Ulster--who, as already +explained, included practically all the Protestant population of the +Province both Conservative and Liberal, besides a small number of +Catholics who had no separatist sympathies--set to work to organise +themselves for effective opposition to the new policy. In the hour of +their dismay over Gladstone's surrender Lord Randolph Churchill, +hurrying from London to encourage and inspirit them, told them in the +Ulster Hall on the 22nd of February, 1886, that "the Loyalists in Ulster +should wait and watch--organise and prepare."[9] They followed his +advice. Propaganda among themselves was indeed unnecessary, for no one +required conversion except those who were known to be inconvertible. The +chief work to be done was to send speakers to British constituencies; +and in the decade from 1885 to 1895 Ulster speakers, many of whom were +ministers of the different Protestant Churches, were in request on +English and Scottish platforms. + +A number of organisations were formed for this purpose, some of which, +like the Irish Unionist Alliance, represented Unionist opinion +throughout Ireland, and not in Ulster alone. Others were exclusively +concerned with the northern Province, where from the first the +opposition was naturally more concentrated than elsewhere. In the early +days, the Ulster Loyalist and Patriotic Union, organised by Lord +Ranfurly and Mr. W.R. Young, carried on an active and sustained campaign +in Great Britain, and the Unionist Clubs initiated by Lord Templetown +provided a useful organisation in the smaller country towns, which still +exists as an effective force. The Loyal Orange Institution, founded at +the end of the eighteenth century to commemorate, and to keep alive the +principles of, the Whig Revolution of 1688, had fallen into not +unmerited disrepute prior to 1886. Few men of education or standing +belonged to it, and the lodge meetings and anniversary celebrations had +become little better than occasions for conviviality wholly inconsistent +with the irreproachable formularies of the Order. But its system of +local Lodges, affiliated to a Grand Lodge in each county, supplied the +ready-made framework of an effective organisation. Immediately after the +introduction of Gladstone's first Bill in 1886 it received an immense +accession of strength. Large numbers of country gentlemen, clergymen of +all Protestant denominations, business and professional men, farmers, +and the better class of artisans in Belfast and other towns, joined the +local Lodges, the management of which passed into capable hands; the +character of the Society was thereby completely and rapidly transformed, +and, instead of being a somewhat disreputable and obsolete survival, it +became a highly respectable as well as an exceedingly powerful political +organisation, the whole weight of whose influence has been on the side +of the Union. + +A rallying cry was given to the Ulster Loyalists in the famous phrase +contained in a letter from Lord Randolph Churchill to a correspondent in +May 1886: "Ulster will fight, and Ulster will be right." From this time +forward the idea that resort to physical resistance would be preferable +to submission to a Parliament in Dublin controlled by the "rebel party" +took hold of the popular mind in Ulster, although after the elections of +1886 there was no serious apprehension that the necessity would arise, +until the return to power of Mr. Gladstone at the head of a small +majority in 1892 brought about a fresh crisis. + +The work of organisation was then undertaken with greater energy and +thoroughness than before. It was now that Lord Templetown founded the +Unionist Clubs, which spread in an affiliated network through Ulster, +and proved so valuable that, after falling into neglect during the ten +years of Conservative Government, they were revived at the special +request of the Ulster Unionist Council in December 1910. Nothing, +however, did so much to stimulate organisation and concentration of +effort as the great Convention held in Belfast on the 19th of June 1892, +representing on a democratic basis all the constituencies in Ulster. +Numerous preliminary meetings were arranged for the purpose of electing +the delegates; and of these the Special Correspondent of _The Times_ +wrote: + + "Nothing has struck me more in the present movement than the + perfect order and regularity with which the preliminary meetings + for the election of delegates has been conducted. From city and + town and village come reports of crowded and enthusiastic + gatherings, all animated by an equal ardour, all marked by the same + spirit of quiet determination. There has been no 'tall talk,' no + over-statement; the speeches have been dignified, sensible, and + practical. One of the most marked features in the meetings has been + the appearance of men who have never before taken part in public + life, who have never till now stood on a public platform. Now for + the first time they have broken with the tranquil traditions of a + lifetime, and have come forward to take their share and their + responsibility in the grave danger which threatens their + country."[10] + +There being no building large enough to hold the delegates, numbering +nearly twelve thousand, every one of whom was a registered voter +appointed by the polling districts to attend the Convention, a pavilion, +the largest ever used for a political meeting in the kingdom, was +specially constructed close to the Botanical Gardens in Belfast. It +covered 33,000 square feet, and, owing to the enthusiasm of the workmen +employed on the building, it was erected (at a cost of over L3,000) +within three weeks. It provided seating accommodation for 13,000 people, +but the number who actually gained admittance to the Convention was +nearly 21,000, while outside an assemblage, estimated by the +correspondent of _The Times_ at 300,000, was also addressed by the +principal speakers. + +The commencement of the proceedings with prayer, conducted by the +Primate of all Ireland and the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church, set +a precedent which was extensively followed in later years throughout +Ulster, marking the spirit of seriousness which struck numerous +observers as characteristic of the Ulster Movement. The speakers were +men representative of all the varied interests of the Province--- +religious, agricultural, commercial, and industrial--and among them were +two men, Mr. Thomas Sinclair and Mr. Thomas Andrews, who had been +life-long Liberals, but who from this time forward were distinguished +and trusted leaders of Unionist opinion in Ulster. It was Mr. Andrews +who touched a chord that vibrated through the vast audience, making them +leap to their feet, cheering for several minutes. "As a last resource," +he cried, "we will be prepared to defend ourselves." But the climax of +this memorable assembly was reached when the chairman, the Duke of +Abercorn, with upraised arm, and calling on the audience solemnly to +repeat the words one by one after him, gave out what became for the +future the motto and watchword of Ulster loyalty: "We will not have Home +Rule." It was felt that this simple negation constituted a solemn vow +taken by the delegates, both for themselves and for those they +represented--an act of self-dedication to which every loyal man and +woman in Ulster was committed, and from which there could be no turning +back. + +The principal Resolution, adopted unanimously by the Convention, +formulated the grounds on which the people of the Province based their +hostility to the separatist policy of Home Rule; and as frequent +reference was made to it in after-years as an authoritative definition +of Ulster policy, it may be worth while to recall its terms: + + "That this Convention, consisting of 11,879 delegates representing + the Unionists of every creed, class, and party throughout Ulster, + appointed at public meetings held in every electoral division of + the Province, hereby solemnly resolves and declares: 'That we + express the devoted loyalty of Ulster Unionists to the Crown and + Constitution of the United Kingdom; that we avow our fixed resolve + to retain unchanged our present position as an integral portion of + the United Kingdom, and protest in the most unequivocal manner + against the passage of any measure that would rob us of our + inheritance in the Imperial Parliament, under the protection of + which our capital has been invested and our homes and rights + safeguarded; that we record our determination to have nothing to do + with a Parliament certain to be controlled by men responsible for + the crime and outrages of the Land League, the dishonesty of the + Plan of Campaign, and the cruelties of boycotting, many of whom + have shown themselves the ready instruments of clerical domination; + that we declare to the people of Great Britain our conviction that + the attempt to set up such a Parliament in Ireland will inevitably + result in disorder, violence, and bloodshed, such as have not been + experienced in this century, and announce our resolve to take no + part in the election or proceedings of such a Parliament, the + authority of which, should it ever be constituted, we shall be + forced to repudiate; that we protest against this great question, + which involves our lives, property, and civil rights, being treated + as a mere side-issue in the impending electoral struggle; that we + appeal to those of our fellow countrymen who have hitherto been in + favour of a separate Parliament to abandon a demand which + hopelessly divides Irishmen, and to unite with us under the + Imperial Legislature in developing the resources and furthering the + best interests of our common country.'" + +There can be no doubt that the Ulster Convention of 1892, and the +numerous less imposing demonstrations which followed on both sides of +the Channel and took their tone from it, of which the most notable was +the great meeting at the Albert Hall in London on the 22nd of April, +1893, had much effect in impressing and instructing public opinion, and +thus preparing the way for the smashing defeat of the Liberal Home Rule +Party in the General Election of 1895. After that event vigilance again +relaxed during the ten years of Unionist predominance which followed. +But the organisation was kept intact, and its democratic method of +appointing delegates in every polling district provided a permanent +electoral machinery for the Unionist Party in the constituencies, as +well as the framework for the Ulster Unionist Council, which was brought +into existence in 1905, largely through the efforts of Mr. William +Moore, M.P. for North Armagh. This Council, with its executive Standing +Committee, was thenceforward the acknowledged authority for determining +all questions of Unionist policy in Ulster. + +Its first meeting was held on the 3rd of March, 1905, under the +presidency of Colonel James McCalmont, M.P. for East Antrim. The first +ten members of the Standing Committee were nominated by Colonel +Saunderson, M.P., as chairman of the Ulster Parliamentary Party. They +were, in addition to the chairman himself, the Duke of Abercorn, the +Marquis of Londonderry, the Earl of Erne, the Earl of Ranfurly, Colonel +James McCalmont, M.P., the Hon. R.T. O'Neill, M.P., Mr. G. Wolff, M.P., +Mr. J.B. Lonsdale, M.P., and Mr. William Moore, K.C., M.P. These +nominations were confirmed by a ballot of the members of the Council, +and twenty other members were elected forthwith to form the Standing +Committee. This first Executive Committee of the organisation which for +the next fifteen years directed the policy of Ulster Unionism included +several names that were from this time forward among the most prominent +in the movement. There were the two eminent Liberals, Mr. Thomas +Sinclair and Mr. Thomas Andrews, and Mr. John Young, all three of whom +were members of the Irish Privy Council; Colonel R.H. Wallace, C.B., Mr. +W.H.H. Lyons, and Sir James Stronge, leaders of the Orangemen; Colonel +Sharman-Crawford, Mr. E.M. Archdale, Mr. W.J. Allen, Mr. R.H. Reade, and +Sir William Ewart. Among several "Unionist candidates for Ulster +constituencies" who were at the same meeting co-opted to the Council, we +find the names of Captain James Craig and Mr. Denis Henry, K.C. The Duke +of Abercorn accepted the position of President of the Council, and Mr. +E.M. Archdale was elected chairman of the Standing Committee. Mr. T.H. +Gibson was appointed secretary. In October 1906 the latter resigned his +post owing to failing health, and, on the motion of Mr. William Moore, +M.P., Mr. Richard Dawson Bates, a solicitor practising in Belfast, was +"temporarily" appointed to fill the vacancy. This temporary appointment +was never formally made permanent, but no question in regard to the +secretaryship was ever raised, for Mr. Bates performed the duties year +after year to the complete satisfaction of everyone connected with the +organisation, and in a manner that earned the gratitude of all Ulster +Unionists. The funds at the disposal of the Council in 1906 only enabled +a salary of L100 a year to be paid to the secretary--a salary that was +purely nominal in the case of a professional gentleman of Mr. Bates's +standing; but the spirit in which he took up his duties was seen two +years later, when it was found that out of this salary he had himself +been paying for clerical assistance; and then, of course, this matter +was properly adjusted, which the improved financial position of the +Council happily rendered possible. + +The declared purpose of the Ulster Unionist Council was to form a union +of all local Unionist Associations in Ulster; to keep the latter in +constant touch with their parliamentary representatives; and "to be the +medium of expressing Ulster Unionist opinion as current events may from +time to time require." It consisted at first of not more than 200 +members, of whom 100 represented local Associations, and 50 represented +the Orange Lodges, the remaining 50 being made up of Ulster members of +both Houses of Parliament and of certain "distinguished residents in or +natives of Ulster" to be co-opted by the Council. As time went on the +Council was considerably enlarged, and its representative character +improved. In 1911 the elected membership was raised to 370, and included +representatives of local Associations, Orange Lodges, Unionist Clubs, +and the Derry Apprentice Boys. In 1918 representatives of the Women's +Associations were added, and the total elected membership was increased +to 432. The delegates elected by the various constituent bodies were in +the fullest sense representative men; they were drawn from all classes +of the population; and, by the regularity with which they attended +meetings of the Council whenever business of any importance was to be +transacted, they made it the most effective political organisation in +the United Kingdom. + +A campaign of public meetings in England and Scotland conducted jointly +by the Ulster Unionist Council and the Irish Unionist Alliance in 1908 +led to a scheme of co-operation between the two bodies, the one +representing Unionists in the North and the other those in the southern +Provinces, which worked smoothly and effectively. A joint Committee of +the Unionist Associations of Ireland was therefore formed in the same +year, the organisations represented on it being the two already named +and the Ulster Loyalist Anti-Repeal Union. The latter, which in earlier +years had done excellent spade-work under the fostering zeal of Lord +Ranfurly and Mr. William Robert Young, was before 1911 amalgamated with +the Unionist Council, so that all rivalry and overlapping was +thenceforward eliminated from the organisation of Unionism in Ulster. +The Council in the North and the Irish Unionist Alliance in Dublin +worked in complete harmony both with each other and with the Union +Defence League in London, whose operations were carried on under the +direction of its founder, Mr. Walter Long. + +The women of Ulster were scarcely less active than the men in the matter +of organisation. Although, of course, as yet unenfranchised, they took +as a rule a keener interest in political matters--meaning thereby the +one absorbing question of the Union--than their sex in other parts of +the United Kingdom. When critical times for the Union arrived there was, +therefore, no apathy to be overcome by the Protestant women in Ulster. +Early in 1911 the "Ulster Women's Unionist Council" was formed under the +presidency of the Duchess of Abercorn, and very quickly became a most +effective organisation side by side with that of the men. The leading +spirit was the Marchioness of Londonderry, but that it was no +aristocratic affair of titled ladies may be inferred from the fact that +within twelve months of its formation between forty and fifty thousand +members were enrolled. A branch in Mr. Devlin's constituency of West +Belfast, which over four thousand women joined in its first month of +existence, of whom over 80 per cent, were mill-workers and shop-girls in +the district, held a very effective demonstration on the 11th of +January, 1912, at which Mr. Thomas Sinclair, the most universally +respected of Belfast's business men, made one of his many telling +speeches which familiarised the people with the commercial and financial +aspects of Home Rule, as it would be felt in Ulster. The central Women's +Council followed this up with a more imposing gathering in the Ulster +Hall on the 18th, which adopted with intense enthusiasm the declaration: +"We will stand by our husbands, our brothers, and our sons, in whatever +steps they may be forced to take in defending our liberties against the +tyranny of Home Rule." + +Thus before the end of 1911 men and women alike were firmly organised in +Ulster for the support of their loyalist principles. But the most +effective organisation is impotent without leadership. Among the +declared "objects" of the Ulster Unionist Council was that of acting "as +a connecting link between Ulster Unionists and their parliamentary +representatives." In the House of Commons the Ulster Unionist Members, +although they recognised Colonel Edward Saunderson, M.P., as their +leader until his death in 1906, did not during his lifetime, or for some +years afterwards, constitute a separate party or group. When Colonel +Saunderson died the Right Hon. Walter Long, who had held the office of +Chief Secretary in the last year of the Unionist Administration, and who +had been elected for South Dublin in 1906, became leader of the Irish +Unionists--with whom those representing Ulster constituencies were +included. But in the elections of January 1910 Mr. Long was returned for +a London seat, and it therefore became necessary for Irish Unionists to +select another leader. + +By this time the Home Rule question had, as the people of Ulster +perceived, become once more a matter of vital urgency, although, as +explained in the preceding chapter, the electors of Great Britain were +too engrossed by other matters to give it a thought, and the Liberal +Ministers were doing everything in their power to keep it in the +background. The Ulster Members of the House of Commons realised, +therefore, the grave importance of finding a leader of the calibre +necessary for dealing on equal terms with such orators and +Parliamentarians as Mr. Asquith and Mr. John Redmond. They did not +deceive themselves into thinking that such a leader was to be found +among their own number. They could produce several capable speakers, and +men of judgment and good sense; but something more was needed for the +critical times they saw ahead. After careful consideration, they took a +step which in the event proved to be of momentous importance, and of +extreme good fortune, for the enterprise that the immediate future had +in store for them. Mr. J.B. Lonsdale, Member for Mid Armagh, Hon. +Secretary of the Irish Unionist Parliamentary Party, was deputed to +request Sir Edward Carson, K.C., to accept the leadership of the Irish +Unionist party in the House of Commons. + +Several days elapsed before they received an answer; but when it came it +was, happily for Ulster, an acceptance. It is easy to understand Sir +Edward Carson's hesitation before consenting to assume the leadership. +After carrying all before him in the Irish Courts, where he had been Law +Officer of the Crown, he had migrated to London, where he had been +Solicitor-General during the last six years of the Unionist +Administration, and by 1910 had attained a position of supremacy at the +English Bar, with the certain prospect of the highest legal advancement, +and with an extremely lucrative practice, which his family circumstances +made it no light matter for him to sacrifice, but which he knew it would +be impossible for him to retain in conjunction with the political duties +he was now urged to undertake. Although only in his fifty-seventh year, +he was never one of those who feel younger than their age; nor did he +minimise in his own mind the disability caused by his too frequent +physical ailments, which inclined him to shrink from embarking upon +fresh work the extent and nature of which could not be exactly foreseen. +As to ambition, there are few men who ever were less moved by it, but he +could not leave altogether out of consideration his firm +conviction--which ultimately proved to have been ill-founded--that +acceptance of the Ulster leadership would cut him off from all +promotion, whether political or legal.[11] + +Moreover, although for the moment it was the leadership of a +parliamentary group to which he was formally invited, it was obvious +that much more was really involved; the people in Ulster itself needed +guidance in the crisis that was visibly approaching. Ever since Lord +Randolph Churchill, with the concurrence of Lord Salisbury, first +inspired them in 1886 with the spirit of resistance in the last resort +to being placed under a Dublin Parliament, and assured them of British +sympathy and support if driven to that extremity, the determination of +Ulster in this respect was known to all who had any familiarity with the +temper of her people. Any man who undertook to lead them at such a +juncture as had been reached in 1910 must make that determination the +starting-point of his policy. It was a task that would require not only +statesmanship, but political courage of a high order. Lord Randolph +Churchill, in his famous Ulster Hall speech, had said that "no +portentous change such as the repeal of the Union, no change so +gigantic, could be accomplished by the mere passing of a law; the +history of the United States will teach us a different lesson." Ulster +always took her stand on the American precedent, though the exemplar was +Lincoln rather than Washington. But although the scale of operations +was, of course, infinitely smaller, the Ulster leader would, if it came +to the worst, be confronted by certain difficulties from which Abraham +Lincoln was free. He might have to follow the example of the latter in +forcibly resisting secession, but his legal position would be very +different. He might be called upon to resist technically legal +authority, whereas Lincoln had it at his back. To guide and control a +headstrong people, smarting under a sense of betrayal, when entering on +a movement pregnant with these issues, and at the same time to stand up +against a powerful Government on the floor of the House of Commons, was +an enterprise upon which any far-seeing man might well hesitate to +embark. + +Pondering over the invitation conveyed to him in his Chambers in the +Temple, Carson may, therefore, well have asked himself what inducement +there was for him to accept it. He was not an Ulsterman. As a Southerner +he was not familiar with the psychology of the northern Irish; the +sectarian narrowness popularly attributed to them outside their province +was wholly alien to his character; he was as far removed by nature from +a fire-eater as it was possible for man to be; he was not fond of +unnecessary exertion; he preferred the law to politics, and disliked +addressing political assemblies. In Parliament he represented, not a +popular constituency, but the University of Dublin. But, on the other +hand, he was to the innermost core of his nature an Irish Loyalist. His +youthful political sympathies had, indeed, been with the Liberal Party, +but he instantly severed his connection with it when Gladstone joined +hands with Parnell. He had made his name at the Irish Bar as Crown +Prosecutor in the troubled period of Mr. Balfour's Chief Secretaryship, +and this experience had bred in him a hearty detestation of the whining +sentimentality, the tawdry and exaggerated rhetoric, and the +manufactured discontent that found vent in Nationalist politics. A +sincere lover of Ireland, he had too much sound sense to credit the +notion that either the freedom or the prosperity of the country would be +increased by loosening the tie with Great Britain. Although he as yet +knew little of Ulster, he admired her resolute stand for the Union, her +passionate loyalty to the Crown; he watched with disgust the way in +which her defences were being sapped by the Liberal Party in England; +and the thought that such a people were perhaps on the eve of being +driven into subjection to the men whose character he had had so much +opportunity to gauge in the days of the Land League filled him with +indignation. + +If, therefore, he could be of service in helping to avert so great a +wrong Sir Edward Carson came to the conclusion that it would be shirking +a call of duty were he to decline the leadership that had been offered +him. Realising to the full all that it meant for himself--inevitable +sacrifice of income, of ease, of chances of promotion, a burden of +responsibility, a probability of danger--he gave his consent; and the +day he gave it--the 21st of February, 1910--should be marked for all +time as a red-letter day in the Ulster calendar. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[9] _Lord Randolph Churchill_, by the Right Hon. W.S. Churchill, vol. +ii, p. 62. + +[10] _The Times_, June 16th, 1892. + +[11] He expressed this conviction to the author in 1911. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE PARLIAMENT ACT: CRAIGAVON + + +A good many months were to elapse before the Unionist rank and file in +Ulster were brought into close personal touch with the new leader of the +Irish Unionist Parliamentary Party. The work to be done in 1910 lay +chiefly in London, where the constitutional struggle arising out of the +rejection of the "People's Budget" was raging. But shortly before the +General Election of December a demonstration was held in the Ulster Hall +in Belfast, in the hope of opening the eyes of the English and Scottish +electors to the danger of Home Rule. Mr. Walter Long was the principal +speaker, and Sir Edward Carson, in supporting the resolution, ended his +speech by quoting Lord Randolph Churchill's famous jingling phrase, +"Ulster will fight, and Ulster will be right." + +On the 31st of January, 1911, when the elections were over, he went over +from London to preside at an important meeting of the Ulster Unionist +Council. The Annual Report of the Standing Committee, in welcoming his +succession to Mr. Long in the leadership, spoke of his requiring no +introduction to Ulstermen; and it is true that he had occasionally +spoken at meetings in Belfast, and that his recent speech in the Ulster +Hall had made an excellent impression. But he was not yet a really +familiar figure even in Belfast, while outside the city he was +practically unknown, except of course by repute. That a man of his +sagacity would quickly make his weight felt was never in doubt; but few +at that time can have anticipated the extent to which a stranger--with +an accent proclaiming an origin south of the Boyne--was in a short time +to captivate the hearts, and become literally the idolised leader, of +the Ulster democracy. + +For the latter are a people who certainly do not wear their hearts on +their sleeves for daws to peck at. In the eyes of the more volatile +southern Celts they seem a "dour" people. They are naturally reserved, +laconic of speech, without "gush," far from lavish in compliment, slow +to commit themselves or to give their confidence without good and proved +reason. + +Opportunity for the populace to get into closer touch with the leader +did not, however, come till the autumn. He was unable to attend the +Orange celebration on the 12th of July, when the anniversary, which +preceded by less than a month the "removal of the last obstacle to Home +Rule" by the passing of the Parliament Act, was kept with more than the +usual fervour, and the speeches proved that the gravity of the situation +was fully appreciated. The Marquis of Londonderry, addressing an immense +concourse of Belfast Lodges, stated that it was the first time an +Ex-Viceroy had been present at an Orange gathering, but that he had +deliberately created the precedent owing to his sense of the danger +threatening the Loyalist cause. + +It was the first of innumerable similar actions by which Lord +Londonderry identified himself whole-heartedly with the popular +movement, throwing aside all the conventional restraints of rank and +wealth, and thereby endearing himself to every man and woman in +Protestant Ulster. There was no more familiar figure in the streets of +Belfast. Barefooted street urchins, catching sight of him on the steps +of the Ulster Club, would gather round and, with free-and-easy +familiarity, shout "Three cheers for Londonderry." He knew everybody and +was everybody's friend. There was no aristocratic hauteur or aloofness +about his genial personality. He was in the habit of entertaining the +whole Unionist Council, some five hundred strong, at luncheon or dinner +as the occasion required, when important meetings of the delegates took +place. Distinguished political visitors from England could always be +invited over without thought for their entertainment, since a welcome at +Mount Stewart was never wanting. His financial support of the political +movement was equally open-handed. + +But, helpful as were his hospitality and his subscriptions, it was the +countenance and support of a man who had held high Cabinet office, and +especially the great position of Viceroy of Ireland, that made Lord +Londonderry's full participation an asset of incalculable value to the +cause he espoused. Moreover, while he was always ready to cross the +Channel, even if for a few hours only, when wanted for any conference or +public meeting, never pleading his innumerable social and political +engagements in London or the North of England as an excuse for absence, +his natural modesty of character made it easy for him to act under the +leadership of another. Indeed, he underrated his own abilities; but +there are probably not many men of his prominence and antecedents who, +if similarly placed, would have been able to give, without a trace of +_amour-propre,_ to a leader who had in former years been his own +official subordinate, the consistently loyal backing that Lord +Londonderry gave to Sir Edward Carson. + +But, although there never was the slightest friction between the two +men, a difference of opinion between them on an important point showed +itself within a few months of Carson's acceptance of the leadership. In +July 1911 the excitement over the Parliament Bill reached its climax. +When the Government announced that the King had given his assent to the +creation of whatever number of peerages might be required for carrying +the measure through the Upper House, the party known as "Die Hards" were +for rejecting it and taking the consequences; while against this policy +were ranged Lord Lansdowne, Lord Curzon, and other Unionist leaders, who +advocated the acceptance of the Bill under protest. On the 20th of July +Carson told Lansdowne that in his judgment "the disgrace and ignominy of +surrender on the question far outweighed any temporary advantage" to be +gained by the two years' delay of Home Rule which the Parliament Bill +would secure.[12] Lord Londonderry, on the other hand, supported the +view taken by Lord Lansdowne, and he voted with the majority who carried +the Bill on the 10th of August. This step temporarily clouded his +popularity in Ulster, but not many weeks passed before he completely +regained the confidence and affection of the people, and the difference +of opinion never in the smallest degree interrupted the harmony of his +relations with Sir Edward Carson. + +The true position of affairs in relation to Home Rule had not yet been +grasped by the British public. As explained in a former chapter, it had +not been in any real sense an issue in the two General Elections of the +previous year, and throughout the spring and summer of 1911 popular +interest in England and Scotland was still wholly occupied with the +fight between "Peers and People" and the impending blow to the power of +the Second Chamber; and the coronation festivities also helped to divert +attention from the political consequences to which the authors of the +Parliament Bill intended it to lead. + +The first real awakening was brought about by an immense demonstration +held at Craigavon, on the outskirts of Belfast, on the 23rd of +September. The main purpose of this historic gathering was to bring the +populace of Ulster face to face with their new leader, and to give him +an opportunity of making a definite pronouncement of a policy for +Ulster, in view of the entirely novel situation resulting from the +passing of the Parliament Act. + +For that Act made it possible for the first time for the Liberal Home +Rule Party to repeal the Act of Union without an appeal to the country. +It enacted that any Bill which in three successive sessions was passed +without substantial alteration through the House of Commons might be +presented for the Royal Assent without the consent of the Lords; and an +amendment to exclude a Home Rule Bill from its operation had been +successfully resisted by the Government. It also reduced the maximum +legal duration of a Parliament from seven to five years; but the +existing Parliament was still in its first session, and there was +therefore ample time, under the provisions of the new Constitution, to +pass a Home Rule Bill before the next General Election, as the coalition +of parties in favour of Home Rule constituted a substantial majority in +the House of Commons. + +The question, therefore, which the Ulster people had now to decide was +no longer simply how they could bring about the rejection of a Home Rule +Bill by propaganda in the British constituencies, as they had hitherto +done with unfailing success, although that object was still kept in +view, but what course they should adopt if a Home Rule Act should be +placed on the Statute-book without those constituencies being consulted. +Was the day at last approaching when Lord Randolph Churchill's +exhortation must be obeyed? Or were they to be compelled, because the +Cabinet had coerced the Sovereign and tricked the people by straining +the royal prerogative in a manner described by Mr. Balfour as "a gross +violation of constitutional liberty," to submit with resignation to the +government of their country by the "rebel party "--the party controlled +by clerical influence, and boasting of the identity of its aims with +those of Wolfe Tone and Robert Emmet? This was the real problem in the +minds of those who flocked to Craigavon on Saturday, the 23rd of +September, 1911, to hear what proposals Sir Edward Carson had to lay +before his followers. + +Craigavon was the residence of Captain James Craig, Member of Parliament +for East Down. It is a spacious country house standing on a hill above +the road leading from Belfast to Holywood, with a fine view of Belfast +Lough and the distant Antrim coast beyond the estuary. The lawn in front +of the house, sloping steeply to the shore road, forms a sort of natural +amphitheatre offering ideal conditions for out-of-door oratory to an +unlimited audience. At the meeting on the 23rd of September the platform +was erected near the crest of the hill, enabling the vast audience to +spread out fan-wise over the lower levels, where even the most distant +had the speakers clearly in view, even if many of them, owing to the +size of the gathering, were unable to hear the spoken word. + +It was on this occasion that Captain Craig, by the care with which every +minute detail of the arrangements was thought out and provided for, +first gave evidence of his remarkable gift for organisation that was to +prove so invaluable to the Ulster cause in the next few years. The +greater part of the audience arrived in procession, which, starting +from the centre of the city of Belfast, took over two hours to pass a +given point, at the quick march in fours. All the Belfast Orange Lodges, +and representative detachments from the County Grand Lodges, together +with Lord Templetown's Unionist Clubs, and other organisations, +including the Women's Association, took part in the procession. But +immense numbers of people attended the meeting independently; it was +calculated that not less than a hundred thousand were present during the +delivery of Sir Edward Carson's speech, and although there must have +been very many of them who could hear nothing, the complete silence +maintained by all was a remarkable proof--or so it appeared to men +experienced in out-door political demonstrations--of the earnestness of +spirit that prevailed. To some it may appear still more remarkable that, +with such a concourse of people within a couple of miles of Belfast, not +a single policeman was present, and that none was required; no +disturbance of any sort occurred during the day, nor was a single case +of drunkenness observed. + +It had been intended that the Duke of Abercorn, whose inspiring +exhortation as chairman of the Ulster Convention in 1892 had never been +forgotten, should preside over the meeting; but, as he was prevented by +a family bereavement from being present, his place was taken by the Earl +of Erne, Grand Master of the Orange Order. The scene, when he rose to +open the proceedings, was indescribable in its impressiveness. Some +members of the Eighty Club happened to be in Ireland at the time, for +the purpose of "seeing for themselves" in the familiar fashion of such +political tourists; but they did not think it worth while to witness +what Ulster was doing at Craigavon. If they had, they could have made a +report to their political leaders which, had it been truthful, might +have averted some irreparable blunders; for they could hardly have +looked upon that sea of eager faces, or have observed the enthusiasm +that possessed such a host of earnest and resolute men, without revising +the opinion, which they had accepted from Mr. Redmond, that there was +"no Ulster question." + +The meeting took the form of according a welcome to Sir Edward Carson +as the new leader of Irish Loyalism, and of Ulster in particular. But +before he rose to speak a significant note had already been sounded. +Lord Erne struck it when he quoted words which were to become very +familiar in Ulster--the letter from Gustavus Hamilton, Governor of +Enniskillen in 1689, to "divers of the nobility and gentry in the +north-east part of Ulster," in which he declared: "We stand upon our +guard, and do resolve by the blessing of God to meet our danger rather +than to await it." And the veteran Liberal, Mr. Thomas Andrews, in +moving the resolution of welcome to the leader, expressed the universal +sentiment of the multitude when he exclaimed, "We will never, never bow +the knee to the disloyal factions led by Mr. John Redmond. We will never +submit to be governed by rebels who acknowledge no law but the laws of +the Land League and illegal societies." + +A great number of Addresses from representative organisations were then +presented to Sir Edward Carson, in many of which the determination to +resist the jurisdiction of a Dublin Parliament was plainly declared. But +such declarations, although they undoubtedly expressed the mind of the +people, were after all in quite general terms. For a quarter of a +century innumerable variations on the theme "Ulster will fight, and +Ulster will be right," had been fiddled on Ulster platforms, so that +there was some excuse for the belief of those who were wholly ignorant +of North Irish character that these utterances were no more than the +commonplaces of Ulster rhetoric. The time had only now come, however, +when their reality could be put to the test. Carson's speech at +Craigavon crystallised them into practical politics. + +Sir Edward Carson's public speaking has always been entirely free from +rhetorical artifice. He seldom made use of metaphor or imagery, or +elaborate periods, or variety of gesture. His language was extremely +simple and straightforward; but his mobile expression--so variable that +his enemies saw in it a suggestion of Mephistopheles, and his friends a +resemblance to Dante--his measured diction, and his skilful use of a +deep-toned voice, gave a remarkable impressiveness to all he said--even, +indeed, to utterances which, if spoken by another, would sometimes have +sounded commonplace or obvious. Sarcasm he could use with effect, and a +telling point was often made by an epigrammatic phrase which delighted +his hearers. And, more than all else, his meaning was never in doubt. In +lucidity of statement he excelled many much greater orators, and was +surpassed by none; and these qualities, added to his unmistakable +sincerity and candour, made him one of the most persuasive of speakers +on the platform, as he was also, of course, in the Law Courts. + +The moment he began to speak at Craigavon the immense multitude who had +come to welcome him felt instinctively the grip of his power. The +contrast to all the previous scene--the cheering, the enthusiasm, the +marching, the singing, the waving of handkerchiefs and flags--was deeply +impressive, when, after a hushed pause of some length, he called +attention without preface to the realities of the situation in a few +simple sentences of slow and almost solemn utterance: + + "I know full well what the Resolution you have just passed means; I + know what all these Addresses mean; I know the responsibility you + are putting upon me to-day. In your presence I cheerfully accept + it, grave as it is, and I now enter into a compact with you, and + every one of you, and with the help of God you and I joined + together--giving you the best I can, and you giving me all your + strength behind me--we will yet defeat the most nefarious + conspiracy that has ever been hatched against a free people. But I + know full well that this Resolution has a still wider meaning. It + shows me that you realise the gravity of the situation that is + before us, and it shows me that you are here to express your + determination to see this fight out to a finish." + +He went on to expose the hollowness of the allegation, then current in +Liberal circles, that Ulster's repugnance to Home Rule was less +uncompromising than it formerly had been. On the contrary, he believed +that "there never was a moment at which men were more resolved than at +the present, with all the force and strength that God has given them, +to maintain the British connection and their rights as citizens of the +United Kingdom." Apart from principle or sentiment, that was an +attitude, he maintained, dictated by practical good sense. He showed how +Ireland had been "advancing in prosperity in an unparalleled measure," +for which he could quote the authority of Mr. Redmond himself, although +the Nationalist leader had omitted to notice that this advance had taken +place under the legislative Union, and, as Carson contended, in +consequence of it. He laid special emphasis on the point, never +forgotten, that the danger in which they stood was due to the +hoodwinking of the British constituencies by Mr. Asquith's Ministry. + + "Make no mistake; we are going to fight with men who are prepared + to play with loaded dice. They are prepared to destroy their own + Constitution, so that they may pass Home Rule, and they are + prepared to destroy the very elements of constitutional government + by withdrawing the question from the electorate, who on two + previous occasions refused to be a party to it." + +He ridiculed the "paper safeguards" which Liberal Ministers tried to +persuade them would amply protect Ulster Protestants under a Dublin +Parliament, giving a vivid picture of the plight they would be in under +a Nationalist administration, which, he declared, meant "a tyranny to +which we never can and never will submit"; and then, in a pregnant +passage, he summarised the Ulster case: + + "Our demand is a very simple one. We ask for no privileges, but we + are determined that no one shall have privileges over us. We ask + for no special rights, but we claim the same rights from the same + Government as every other part of the United Kingdom. We ask for + nothing more; we will take nothing less. It is our inalienable + right as citizens of the British Empire, and Heaven help the men + who try to take it from us." + +It was all no doubt a mere restatement--though an admirably lucid and +forcible restatement--of doctrine with which his hearers had long been +familiar. The great question still awaited an answer--how was effect to +be given to this resolve, now that there was no longer hope of +salvation through the sympathy and support of public opinion in Great +Britain? This was what the eager listeners at Craigavon hoped in hushed +expectancy to hear from their new leader. He did not disappoint them: + + "Mr. Asquith, the Prime Minister, says that we are not to be + allowed to put our case before the British electorate. Very well. + By that determination he drives you in the ultimate result to rely + upon your own strength, and we must follow all that out to its + logical conclusion.... That involves something more than that we do + not accept Home Rule. We must be prepared, in the event of a Home + Rule Bill passing, with such measures as will carry on for + ourselves the government of those districts of which we have + control. We must be prepared--and time is precious in these + things--the morning Home Rule passes, ourselves to become + responsible for the government of the Protestant Province of + Ulster. We ask your leave at the meeting of the Ulster Unionist + Council, to be held on Monday, there to discuss the matter, and to + set to work, to take care that at no time and at no intervening + interval shall we lack a Government in Ulster, which shall be a + Government either by the Imperial Parliament, or by ourselves." + +Here, then, was the first authoritative declaration of a definite policy +to be pursued by Ulster in the circumstances then existing or foreseen, +and it was a policy that was followed with undeviating consistency under +Carson's leadership for the next nine years. To be left under the +government of the Imperial Parliament was the alternative to be +preferred, and was asserted to be an inalienable right; but, if all +their efforts to that end should be defeated, then "a government by +ourselves" was the only change that could be tolerated. Rather than +submit to the jurisdiction of a Nationalist legislature and +administration, they would themselves set up a Government "_in those +districts of which they had control_." It was because, when the first of +these alternatives had to be sorrowfully abandoned, the second was +offered in the Government of Ireland Act of 1920 that Ulster did not +actively oppose the passing of that statute. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[12] _Annual Register_, 1911, p. 175. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE CRAIGAVON POLICY AND THE U.F.V. + + +No time was lost in giving practical shape to the policy outlined at +Craigavon, and in taking steps to give effect to it. On the 25th of +September a meeting of four hundred delegates representing the Ulster +Unionist Council, the County Grand Orange Lodges, and the Unionist +Clubs, was held in Belfast, and, after lengthy discussion in private, +when the only differences of opinion were as to the most effective +methods of proceeding, two resolutions were unanimously adopted and +published. It is noteworthy that, at this early stage in the movement, +out of nearly four hundred popularly elected delegates, numbers of whom +were men holding responsible positions or engaged in commercial +business, not one raised an objection to the policy itself, although its +grave possibilities were thoroughly appreciated by all present. Both +Lord Londonderry, who presided, and Sir Edward Carson left no room for +doubt in that respect; the developments they might be called upon to +face were thoroughly searched and explained, and the fullest opportunity +to draw back was offered to any present who might shrink from going on. + +The first Resolution registered a "call upon our leaders to take any +steps they may consider necessary to resist the establishment of Home +Rule in Ireland, solemnly pledging ourselves that under no conditions +shall we acknowledge any such Government"; and it gave an assurance that +those whom the delegates represented would give the leaders "their +unwavering support in any danger they may be called upon to face." The +second decided that "the time has now come when we consider it our +imperative duty to make arrangements for the provisional government of +Ulster," and for that purpose it went on to appoint a Commission of +five leading local men, namely, Captain James Craig, M.P., Colonel +Sharman Crawford, M.P., the Right Hon. Thomas Sinclair, Colonel R.H. +Wallace, C.B., and Mr. Edward Sclater, Secretary of the Unionist Clubs, +whose duties were _(a)_ "to keep Sir Edward Carson in constant and close +touch with the feeling of Unionist Ulster," and _(b)_ "to take immediate +steps, in consultation with Sir Edward Carson, to frame and submit a +Constitution for a Provisional Government of Ulster, having due regard +to the interests of the Loyalists in other parts of Ireland: the powers +and duration of such Provisional Government to come into operation on +the day of the passage of any Home Rule Bill, to remain in force until +Ulster shall again resume unimpaired her citizenship in the United +Kingdom." + +At the luncheon given by Lord Londonderry after this business +conference, Carson took occasion to refer to a particularly contemptible +slander to which currency had been given some days previously by Sir +John Benn, one of the Eighty Club strolling seekers after truth. It was +perhaps hardly worth while to notice a statement so silly as that the +Ulster leader had been ready a few weeks previously to betray Ulster in +order to save the House of Lords, but Carson did not yet realise the +degree to which he had already won the confidence of his followers; +moreover, the incident proved useful as an opportunity of emphasising +the uninterrupted mutual confidence between Lord Londonderry and +himself, in spite of their divergence of opinion over the Parliament +Bill. It also gave those present a glimpse of their leader's power of +shrivelling meanness with a few caustic drops of scorn. + +The proceedings at Craigavon and at the Conference naturally created a +sensation on both sides of the Channel. They brought the question of +Ireland once more, for the first time since 1895, into the forefront of +British politics. The House of Commons might spend the autumn ploughing +its way through the intricacies of the National Insurance Bill, but +everyone knew that the last and bitterest battle against Home Rule was +now approaching. And, now that the Parliament Act was safely on the +Statute-book, Ministers had no further interest in concealment. During +the elections, from which alone they could procure authority for +legislation of so fundamental a character, Mr. Asquith, as we have seen, +regarded any inquiry as to his intentions as "confusing the issue." But +now that he had the constituencies in his pocket for five years and +nothing further was to be feared from that quarter, his cards were +placed on the table. + +On the 3rd of October Mr. Winston Churchill told his followers at Dundee +that the Government would introduce a Home Rule Bill next session "and +press it forward with all their strength," and he added the +characteristic injunction that "they must not take Sir Edward Carson too +seriously." But that advice did not prevent Mr. Herbert Samuel, another +member of the Cabinet, from putting in an appearance in Belfast four +days later, where he threw himself into a ludicrously unequal combat +with Carson, exerting himself to calm the fears of business men as to +the effect of Home Rule on their prosperity; while, in the same week, +Carson himself, at a great Unionist demonstration in Dublin, described +the growth of Irish prosperity in the last twenty years as "almost a +fairy tale," which would be cut short by Home Rule. On the 19th of the +same month Mr. Birrell, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, in a speech at +Ilfracombe, gave some scraps of meagre information in regard to the +provisions that would be included in the coming Home Rule Bill; and on +the 21st Mr. Redmond announced that the drafting of the Bill was almost +completed, and that the measure would be "satisfactory to Nationalists +both in principle and detail."[13] + +So the autumn of 1911 wore through--Ministers doling out snippets of +information; members of Parliament and the Press urging them to give +more. The people of Ulster, on the other hand, were not worrying over +details. They did not require to be told that the principle would be +"satisfactory to Nationalists," for they knew that the Government had to +"toe the line"; nor were they in doubt that what was satisfactory to +Nationalists must be unsatisfactory to themselves. What they were +thinking about was not what the Bill would or would not contain, but the +preparations they were making to resist its operation. + +A day or two after Craigavon the leader spoke at a great meeting in +Portrush, after receiving, at every important station he passed _en +route_ from Belfast, enthusiastic addresses expressing confidence in +himself and approval of the Craigavon declaration; and in this speech he +considerably amplified what he had said at Craigavon. After explaining +how the whole outlook had been changed by the Parliament Act, which cut +them off from appeal to the sympathies of Englishmen, he pointed out to +his hearers the only course now open to them, namely, that resolved upon +at Craigavon. + + "Some people," he continued, "say that I am preaching disorder. No, + in the course I am advising I am preaching order, because I believe + that, unless we are in a position ourselves to take over the + government of those places we are able to control, the people of + Ulster, if let loose without that organisation, and without that + organised determination, might in a foolish moment find themselves + in a condition of antagonism and grips with their foes which I + believe even the present Government would lament. And therefore I + say that the course we recommend--and it has been solemnly adopted + by your four hundred representatives, after mature discussion in + which every man understood what it was he was voting about--is the + only course that I know of that is possible under the circumstances + of this Province which is consistent with the maintenance of law + and order and the prevention of bloodshed." + +Superficially, these words may appear boldly paradoxical; but in fact +they were prophetic, for the closest observers of the events of the next +three years, familiar with Irish character and conditions, were in no +doubt whatever that it was the disciplined organisation of the Ulster +Unionists alone that prevented the outbreak of serious disorders in the +North. There was, on the contrary, a diminution even of ordinary crime, +accompanied by a marked improvement in the general demeanour, and +especially in the sobriety, of the people. + +The speaker then touched upon a question which naturally arose out of +the Craigavon policy of resistance to Home Rule. He had been asked, he +said, whether Ulster proposed to fight against the forces of the Crown. +He had already contrasted their own methods with those of the +Nationalists, saying that Ulstermen would never descend to action "from +behind hedges or by maiming cattle, or by boycotting of individuals"; he +now added that they were "not going to fight the Army and the Navy ... +God forbid that any loyal Irishman should ever shoot or think of +shooting the British soldier or sailor. But, believe me, any Government +will ponder long before it dares to shoot a loyal Ulster Protestant, +devoted to his country and loyal to his King." + +In newspaper reports of public meetings, sayings of pith and moment are +often attributed to "A Voice" from the audience. On this occasion, when +Sir Edward Carson referred to the Army and the Navy, "A Voice" cried +"They are on our side." It was the truth, as subsequent events were to +show. It would indeed have been strange had it been otherwise. Men +wearing His Majesty's uniform, who had been quartered at one time in +Belfast or Carrickfergus and at another in Cork or Limerick, could be +under no illusion as to where that uniform was held in respect and where +it was scorned. The certainty that the reality of their own loyalty was +understood by the men who served the King was a sustaining thought to +Ulstermen through these years of trial. + +This Portrush speech cleared the air. It made known the _modus +operandi_, as Craigavon had made known the policy. Henceforward Ulster +Unionists had a definite idea of what was before them, and they had +already unbounded confidence both in the sagacity and in the courage of +the man who had become their leader. + +The Craigavon meeting led, almost by accident as it were, to a +development the importance of which was hardly foreseen at the time. +Among the processionists who passed through Captain Craig's grounds +there was a contingent of Orangemen from County Tyrone who attracted +general attention by their smart appearance and the orderly precision of +their marching. On inquiry it was learnt that these men had of their own +accord been learning military drill. The spirit of emulation naturally +suggested to others to follow the example of the Tyrone Lodges. It was +soon followed, not by Orangemen alone, but by members of the Unionist +Clubs, very many of whom belonged to no Orange Lodge. Within a few +months drilling--of an elementary kind, it is true--had become popular +in many parts of the country. Colonel R.H. Wallace, C.B., who had served +with distinction in the South African War, where he commanded the 5th +Royal Irish Rifles, was a prominent member of the Orange Institution, in +which he was in 1911 Grand Master of the Belfast Lodges, and Grand +Secretary of the Provincial Grand Orange Lodge of Ulster; and, being a +man of marked ability and widespread popularity, his influence was +powerful and extensive. He was a devoted adherent of Carson, and there +was no keener spirit among the Ulster Loyalist leaders. Colonel Wallace +was among the first to perceive the importance of this military drilling +that was taking place throughout Ulster, and through his leading +position in the Orange Institution his encouragement did much to extend +the practice. + +Having been a lawyer by profession before South Africa called him to +serve his country in arms, Wallace was careful to ascertain how the law +stood with regard to the drilling that was going on. He consulted Mr. +James Campbell (afterwards Lord Chancellor of Ireland), who advised that +any two Justices of the Peace had power to authorise drill and other +military exercises within the area of their jurisdiction on certain +conditions. The terms of the application made by Colonel Wallace himself +to two Belfast magistrates show what the conditions were, and, under the +circumstances of the time, are not without a flavour of humour. The +request stated that Wallace and another officer of the Belfast Grand +Lodge were-- + +"Authorised on behalf of the members thereof to apply for lawful +authority to them to hold meetings of the members of the said Lodge and +the Lodges under its jurisdiction for the purpose of training and +drilling themselves and of being trained and drilled to the use of arms, +and for the purpose of practising military exercises, movements, and +evolutions. And we are authorised, on their behalf, to give their +assurance that they desire this authority as faithful subjects of His +Majesty the King, and their undertaking that such authority is sought +and will be used by them only to make them more efficient citizens for +the purpose of maintaining the constitution of the United Kingdom as now +established and protecting their rights and liberties thereunder." + +The _bona fides_ of an application couched in these terms, which +followed well-established precedent, could not be questioned by any +loyal subject of His Majesty. The purpose for which the licence was +requested was stated with literal exactness and without subterfuge. +There was nothing seditious or revolutionary in it, and the desire of +men to make themselves more efficient citizens for maintaining the +established government of their country, and their rights and liberties +under it, was surely not merely innocent of offence, but praiseworthy. + +Such, at all events, was the view taken by numbers of strictly +conscientious holders of the Commission of the Peace throughout Ulster, +with the result that the Ulster Volunteer Force sprang into existence +within a few months without the smallest violation of the law. +Originating in the Orange Lodges and the Unionist Clubs, it soon +enrolled large numbers of men outside both those organisations. Men with +military experience interested themselves in training the volunteers in +their districts; the local bodies were before long drawn into a single +coherent organisation on a territorial basis, which soon gave rise to an +_esprit de corps_ leading to friendly rivalry in efficiency between the +local battalions. + +This Ulster Volunteer Force had as yet no arms in their hands, but, as +the first act of the Liberal Government on coming into power in 1906 had +been to drop the "coercion" Act which prohibited the importation of +firearms into Ireland, there was no reason why, in the course of time, +the U.V.F. should not be fully armed with as complete an avoidance of +illegality as that with which in the meantime they were acquiring some +knowledge of military duties. But for the present they had to be content +with wooden "dummy" rifles with which to learn their drill, an expedient +which, as will be seen later on, excited the derisive mirth of the +English Radical Press. + +The application to the Belfast Justices for leave to drill the Orange +Lodges was dated the 5th of January, 1912. For some months both before +and after that date the formation of new battalions proceeded rapidly, +so that by the summer of 1912 the force was of considerable strength and +decent efficiency; but already in the autumn of 1911 it soon became +apparent that the existence of such a force would give a backing to the +Craigavon policy which nothing else could provide. At Craigavon the +leader of the movement had foreshadowed the possibility of having to +take charge of the government of those districts which the Loyalists +could control. The U.V.F. made such control a practical proposition, and +the consciousness of this throughout Ulster gave a solid reality to the +movement which it must otherwise have lacked. + +The special Commission of Five set to work immediately after the +Craigavon meeting to carry out the task entrusted to them by the +Council. But, as more than two years must elapse before the Home Rule +Bill could become law under the Parliament Act, there was no immediate +urgency in making arrangements for setting up the Provisional Government +resolved upon by the Council on the 25th of September, 1911, and the +outside public heard nothing about what was being done in the matter for +many months to come. + +Meantime the Ulster Loyalists watched with something akin to dismay the +dissensions in the Unionist party in England over the question of Tariff +Reform, which made impossible a united front against the revived attack +on the Union, and woefully weakened the effective force of the +Opposition both in Parliament and the country. Public opinion was +diverted from the one thing that really mattered--had Englishmen been +able to realise it--from an Imperial standpoint, no less than from the +standpoint of Irish Loyalists. On the 8th of November, 1911, mainly in +consequence of these dissensions, Mr. Balfour resigned the leadership of +the Unionist Party. This event was regarded in Ulster as a calamity. Mr. +Balfour was the ablest and most zealous living defender of the Union, +and the great services he had rendered to the country during his +memorable Chief Secretaryship were not forgotten. Ulstermen, in whose +eyes the tariff question was of very subordinate importance, feared that +no one could be found to take command of the Unionist forces comparable +with the Achilles who, as they supposed, was now retiring to his tent. + +What happened in regard to the vacant leadership is well known--how Mr. +Walter Long and Mr. Austen Chamberlain, after presenting themselves for +a day or two as rival candidates, patriotically agreed to stand aside +and give united support to Mr. Bonar Law in order to avoid a division in +the ranks of the party. It is less generally known that Mr. Bonar Law, +before consenting to his name being proposed, wrote and asked Sir Edward +Carson if he would accept the leadership, and that it was only when he +received an emphatic reply in the negative that he assumed the +responsibility himself. If this had been known at the time in Ulster +there can be little doubt that consternation would have been caused by +the refusal of their own leader to place himself at the head of the +whole Unionist Party. It is quite certain that Sir Edward Carson would +have been acceptable to the party meeting at the Carlton Club, for he +was then much better known to the party both in the House of Commons and +in the country than was Mr. Bonar Law, whose great qualities as +parliamentarian and statesman had not yet been revealed; but it is not +less certain that, if his first thought was to be of service to Ulster, +Carson acted wisely in maintaining a position of independence, in which +all his powers could continue to be concentrated on a single aim of +statecraft. + +At all events, the new leader of the Unionist Party was not long in +proving that the Ulster cause had suffered no set-back by the change, +and his constant and courageous backing of the Ulster leader won him +the unstinted admiration and affection of every Irish Loyalist. Mr. +Balfour also soon showed that he was no sulking Achilles; his loyalty to +the Unionist cause was undimmed; he never for a moment acted, as a +meaner man might, as if his successor were a supplanter; and within the +next few months he many times rose from beside Mr. Bonar Law in the +House of Commons to deliver some of the best speeches he ever made on +the question of Irish Government, full of cogent and crushing criticism +of the Home Rule proposals of Mr. Asquith. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[13] _Annual Register_, 1911, p. 228. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +MR. CHURCHILL IN BELFAST + + +At the women's meeting at the Ulster Hall on the 18th of January, +1912,[14] Lord Londonderry took occasion to recall once more to the +memory of his audience the celebrated speech delivered by Lord Randolph +Churchill in the same building twenty-six years before. That clarion +was, indeed, in no danger of being forgotten; but there happened at that +particular moment to be a very special reason for Ulstermen to remember +it, and the incident which was present in Londonderry's mind--a +Resolution passed by the Standing Committee of the Ulster Unionist +Council two days earlier--proved to be so distinct a turning-point in +the history of Ulster's stand for the Union that it claims more than a +passing mention. + +"Diligence and vigilance should be your watchword, so that the blow, if +it is coming, may not come upon you as a thief in the night, and may not +find you unready and taken by surprise." Such had been Lord Randolph's +warning. It was now learnt, with feelings in which disgust and +indignation were equally mingled, that Lord Randolph's son was bent on +coming to Belfast, not indeed as a thief in the night, but with +challenging audacity, to give his countenance, encouragement, and +support to the adherents of disloyalty whom Lord Randolph had told +Ulster to resist to the death. And not only was he coming to Belfast; he +was coming to the Ulster Hall--to the very building which his father's +oration had, as it were, consecrated to the Unionist cause, and which +had come to be regarded as almost a loyalist shrine. + +It is no doubt difficult for those who are unfamiliar with the +psychology of the North of Ireland to understand the anger which this +projected visit of Mr. Winston Churchill aroused in Belfast. His change +of political allegiance from the party which his father had so +brilliantly served and led, to the party which his father had so +pitilessly chastised, was of course displeasing to Conservatives +everywhere. Politicians who leave their friends to join their opponents +are never popular with those they abandon, and Mr. Winston Churchill was +certainly no exception. But such desertions, after the first burst of +wrath has evaporated, are generally accepted with a philosophic shrug in +what journalists call "political circles" in London, where plenty of +precedents for lapses from party virtue can be quoted. In the provinces, +even in England, resentment dies down less easily, and forgiveness is of +slow growth; but in Ulster, where a political creed is held with a +religious fervour, or, as a hostile critic might put it, with an +intolerance unknown in England, and where the dividing line between +"loyalty" and "disloyalty" is regarded almost as a matter of faith, the +man who passes from the one to the other arouses the same bitterness of +anger and contempt which soldiers feel for a deserter in face of the +enemy. + +To such sentiments there was added, in the case of Mr. Winston +Churchill, a shocked feeling that his appearance in the Ulster Hall as +an emissary of Home Rule would be an act not only of political apostasy +but of filial impiety. The prevailing sentiment in Belfast at the time +was expressed somewhat brutally, perhaps, in the local Press--"he is +coming to dance on his father's coffin." It was an outrage on their +feelings which the people of Belfast could not and would not tolerate. +If Mr. Churchill was determined to flaunt the green flag let him find a +more suitable site than the very citadel in which they had been exhorted +by his father to keep the Union Jack flying to the last. + +If anything could have added to the anger excited by this announcement +it would have been the fact that the Cabinet Minister was to be +accompanied on the platform of the Ulster Hall by Mr. Redmond and Mr. +Devlin, and that Lord Pirrie was to be his chairman. There was no more +unpopular citizen of Belfast than Lord Pirrie; and the reason was neatly +explained to English readers by the Special Correspondent of _The +Times_. "Lord Pirrie," he wrote, "deserted Unionism about the time the +Liberals acceded to power, and soon afterwards was made a Peer; whether +_propter hoc_ or only _post hoc_ I am quite unable to say, though no +Ulster Unionist has any doubts on the subject."[15] But that was not +quite the whole reason. That Lord Pirrie was an example of apostasy +"just for a riband to stick in his coat," was the general belief; but it +was also resented that a man who had amassed, not "a handful of silver," +but an enormous fortune, through a trade created by an eminent Unionist +firm, and under conditions brought about in Belfast by the Union with +Great Britain, should have kicked away the ladder by which he had +climbed from obscurity to wealth and rank. An additional cause of +offence, moreover, was that he was at that time trying to persuade +credulous people in England that there was in Ulster a party of Liberals +and Protestant Home Rulers, of which he posed as leader, although +everyone on the spot knew that the "party" would not fill a tramcar. Of +this party the same Correspondent of _The Times_ very truly said: + + "Nearly every prominent man in it has received an office or a + decoration--and the fact that, with all the power of patronage in + their hands for the last six years, the Government had been able to + make so small an inroad into the solid square of Ulster Unionism is + a remarkable testimony to the strength of the sentiment which gives + it cohesion." + +But a score of individuals in possession of an office equipped with +stamped stationery, and with a titled chairman of fabulous wealth, have +no difficulty in deluding strangers at a distance into the belief that +they are an influential and representative body of men. It was in +furtherance of the scheme for creating this false impression across the +Channel that Lord Pirrie and his so-called "Ulster Liberal Association" +invited Mr. Winston Churchill and the two Nationalist leaders to speak +in the Ulster Hall on the 8th of February, 1912, and that the +announcement of the fixture was made in the Press some three weeks +earlier. + +The Unionist leaders were not long left in ignorance of the public +excitement which this news created in the city. A specially summoned +meeting of the Standing Committee, with Londonderry in the chair, was +held on the 16th of January to consider what action, if any, should be +taken; but it was no simple matter they had to decide, especially in the +absence of their leader, Sir Edward Carson, who was kept in England by +great Unionist meetings which he was addressing in Lancashire. + +The reasons, on the one hand, for doing nothing were obvious enough. No +one, of course, suggested the possibility of preventing Mr. Churchill +coming to Belfast; but could even the Ulster Hall itself, the Loyalist +sanctuary, be preserved from the threatened desecration? It was the +property of the Corporation, and the Unionist political organisation had +no exclusive title to its use. The meeting could only be frustrated by +force in some form, or by a combination of force and stratagem. The +Standing Committee, all men of solid sense and judgment, several of whom +were Privy Councillors, were very fully alive to the objections to any +resort to force in such a matter. They valued freedom of speech as +highly as any Englishman, and they realised the odium that interference +with it might bring both on themselves and their cause; and the last +thing they desired at the present crisis was to alienate public sympathy +in Great Britain. The force of such considerations was felt strongly by +several members, indeed by all, of the Committee, and not least by Lord +Londonderry himself, whose counsel naturally carried great weight. + +But, on the other hand, the danger of a passive attitude was also fully +recognised. It was perfectly well understood that one of the chief +desires of the Liberal Government and its followers at this time was to +make the world believe that Ulster's opposition to Home Rule had +declined in strength in recent years; that there really was a +considerable body of Protestant opinion in agreement with Lord Pirrie, +and prepared to support Home Rule on "Liberal," if not on avowedly +"Nationalist" principles, and that the policy for which Carson, +Londonderry, and the Unionist Council stood was a gigantic piece of +bluff which only required to be exposed to disappear in general +derision. + +From this point of view the Churchill meeting could only be regarded as +a deliberate challenge and provocation to Ulster. It seemed probable +that the First Lord of the Admiralty had been selected for the mission +in preference to any other Minister precisely because he was Lord +Randolph's son. All this bluster about "fight and be right" was +traceable, so Liberal Ministers doubtless reasoned, to that unhappy +speech of "Winston's father"; let Winston go over to the same place and +explain his father away. If he obtained a hearing in the Ulster Hall in +the company of Redmond, Devlin, and Pirrie the legend of Ulster as an +impregnable loyalist stronghold would be wiped out, and Randolph's rant +could be made to appear a foolish joke in comparison with the more +mature and discriminating wisdom of Winston. + +It cannot, of course, be definitely asserted that the situation was thus +weighed deliberately by the Cabinet, or by Mr. Churchill himself. But, +if it was not, they must have been deficient in foresight; for there can +be no doubt, as several writers in the Press perceived, that the +transaction would so have presented itself to the mind of the public; +the psychological result would inure to the benefit of the Home Rulers. + +But there was also another consideration which could not be ignored by +the Standing Committee--namely, the attitude of that important +individual, the "man in the street." Among the innumerable +misrepresentations levelled at the Ulster Movement none was more common +than that it was confined to a handful of lords, landlords, and wealthy +employers of labour; and, as a corollary, that all the trouble was +caused by the perversity of a few individuals, of whom the most guilty +was Sir Edward Carson. The truth was very different. Even at the zenith +of his influence and popularity Sir Edward himself would have been +instantly disowned by the Ulster democracy if he had given away anything +fundamental to the Unionist cause. More than to anything else he owed +his power to his pledge, never violated, that he would never commit his +followers to any irretraceable step without the consent of the Council, +in which they were fully represented on a democratic basis. At the +particular crisis now reached popular feeling could not be safely +disregarded, and it was clearly understood by the Standing Committee +that public excitement over the coming visit of Mr. Churchill was only +being kept within bounds by the belief of the public that their leaders +would not "let them down." + +All these considerations were most carefully balanced at the meeting on +the 16th of January, and there were prolonged deliberations before the +decision was arrived at that some action must be taken to prevent the +Churchill meeting being held in the Ulster Hall, but that no obstacle +could, of course, be made to his speaking in any other building in +Belfast. The further question as to what this action should be was under +discussion when Colonel R.H. Wallace, C.B., Grand Master of the Belfast +Orangemen, and a man of great influence with all classes in the city as +well as in the neighbouring counties, entered the room and told the +Committee that people outside were expecting the Unionist Council to +devise means for stopping the Ulster Hall meeting; that they were quite +resolved to take matters into their own hands if the Council remained +passive; and that, in his judgment, the result in that event would +probably be very serious disorder and bloodshed, and the loss of all +control over the Unionist rank and file by their leaders. + +This information arrived too late to influence the decision on the main +question, but it confirmed its wisdom and set at rest the doubts which +some of the Committee had at first entertained. It was reported at the +time that there had been a dissenting minority consisting of Lord +Londonderry, Mr. Sinclair, and Mr. John Young, the last-mentioned being +a Privy Councillor, a trusted leader of the Presbyterians, and a man of +moderate views whose great influence throughout the north-eastern +counties was due to his high character and the soundness of his +judgment. There was, however, no truth in this report, which +Londonderry publicly contradicted; but it is probable that the +concurrence of the men mentioned, and perhaps of others, was owing to +their well-founded conviction that the course decided upon, however +high-handed it might appear to onlookers at a distance, was in reality +the only means of averting much more deplorable consequences. + +On the following day, January 17th, an immense sensation was created by +the publication of the Resolution which had been unanimously adopted on +the motion of Captain James Craig, M.P. It was: + + "That the Standing Committee of the Ulster Unionist Council + observes with astonishment the deliberate challenge thrown down by + Mr. Winston Churchill, Mr. John Redmond, Mr. Joseph Devlin, and + Lord Pirrie in announcing their intention to hold a Home Rule + meeting in the centre of the loyal city of Belfast, and resolves to + take steps to prevent its being held." + +There was an immediate outpouring of vituperation by the Ministerial +Press in England, as had been anticipated by the Standing Committee. +Special Correspondents trooped over to Belfast, whence they filled their +papers with telegrams, articles, and interviews, ringing the changes on +the audacity of this unwarranted interference with freedom of speech, +and speculating as to the manner in which the threat, was likely to be +carried out. Scribes of "Open Letters" had a fine opportunity to display +their gift of insolent invective. Cartoonists and caricaturists had a +time of rare enjoyment, and let their pencils run riot. Writers in the +Liberal Press for the most part assumed that Mr. Churchill would bid +defiance to the Ulster Unionist Council; others urged him to do so and +to fulfil his engagement; some, with more prudence, suggested that he +might be extricated from the difficulty without loss of dignity if the +Chief Secretary would prohibit the meeting, as likely to produce a +breach of peace, and it was pointed out that Dublin Castle would +certainly forbid a meeting in Tipperary organised by the Ulster Unionist +Council, with Sir Edward Carson as principal speaker. + +However, on the 25th of January Mr. Churchill addressed a letter, dated +from the Admiralty, to Lord Londonderry at Mount Stewart, in which he +said he was prepared to give up the idea of speaking in the Ulster Hall, +and would arrange for his meeting to be held elsewhere in the city, as +"it was not a point of any importance to him where he spoke in Belfast." +He did not explain why, if that were the case, he had ever made a plan +that so obviously constituted a direct premeditated challenge to Ulster. +Lord Londonderry, in his reply, said that the Ulster Unionist Council +had no intention of interfering with any meeting Mr. Churchill might +arrange "outside the districts which passionately resent your action," +but that, "having regard to the intense state of feeling" which had been +aroused, the Council could accept no responsibility for anything that +might occur during the visit. Mr. Churchill's prudent change of plan +relieved the extreme tension of the situation, and there was much +speculation as to what influence had produced a result so satisfactory +to the Ulster Unionist Council. The truth seems to be that the Council's +Resolution had impaled the Government on the horns of a very awkward +dilemma, completely turning the tables on Ministers, whose design had +been to compel the Belfast Unionists either to adopt, on the one hand, +an attitude of apparent intolerance which would put them in the wrong in +the eyes of the British public, or, on the other, to submit to the +flagrant misrepresentation of their whole position which would be the +outcome of a Nationalist meeting in the Ulster Hall presided over by the +President of the illusory "Ulster Liberal Association," and with Lord +Randolph Churchill's son as the protagonist of Home Rule. The threat to +stop the meeting forced the Government to consider how the First Lord of +the Admiralty and his friends were to be protected and enabled to fulfil +their programme. The Irish Executive, according to the Dublin +Correspondent of _The Times_, objected to the employment of troops for +this purpose; because-- + + "If the Belfast Unionists decided to resist the soldiers, bloodshed + and disorder on a large scale must have ensued. If, on the other + hand, they yielded to the _force majeure_ of British bayonets, and + Mr. Churchill was enabled to speak in the Ulster Hall, they would + still have carried their point; they would have proved to the + English people that Home Rule could only be thrust upon Ulster by + an overwhelming employment of military force. The Executive + preferred to depend on the services of a large police force. And + this meant that Mr. Churchill could not speak in the Ulster Hall; + for the Belfast democracy, though it might yield to soldiers, would + certainly offer a fierce resistance to the police. It seemed, + therefore, that the Government's only safe and prudent course was + to prevent Mr. Churchill from trying to speak in that Hall."[16] + +The Government, in fact, had been completely out-manoeuvred. They had +given the Ulster Unionist Council an opportunity to show its own +constituents and the outside world that, where the occasion demanded +action, it could act with decision; and they had failed utterly to drive +a wedge between Ulster and the Unionist Party in England and in the +South of Ireland, as they hoped to do by goading Belfast into +illegality. On the other hand, they had aroused some misgiving in the +ranks of their own supporters. A political observer in London reported +that the incident had-- + + "Caused a feeling of considerable apprehension in Radical circles. + The pretence that Ulster does not mean to fight is now almost + abandoned even by the most fanatical Home Rulers."[17] + +Unionist journals in Great Britain, almost without exception, applauded +the conduct of the Council, and proved by their comments that they +understood its motive, and sympathised with the feelings of Ulster. _The +Saturday Review_ expressed the general view when it wrote: + + "With the indignation of the loyal Ulstermen at this proposal we + are in complete sympathy. Where there is a question of Home Rule, + the Ulster Hall is sacred ground, and to the Ulster mind and, + indeed, to the mind of any calm outsider, there is something both + impudent and impious in the proposal that this temple of Unionism + should be profaned by the son of a man who assisted at its + consecration."[18] + +The southern Unionists of Ireland thoroughly appreciated the difficulty +that had confronted their friends in the North, and approved the way it +had been met. This was natural enough, since, as the Dublin +Correspondent of _The Times_ pointed out-- + + "They understand Ulster's position better than it can be understood + in England. They realise that the provocation has been extreme. + There has been a deliberate conspiracy to persuade the English + people, first, that Ulster is weakening in its opposition to Home + Rule; and, next, that its declared refusal to accept Home Rule in + any form is mere bluff. It became necessary for Ulster to defeat + this conspiracy, and the Ulster Council's Resolution has defeated + it."[19] + +A few days later a still more valuable token of sympathy and support +from across the Channel gave fresh encouragement to Ulster. On the 26th +of January Mr. Bonar Law made his first public speech as leader of the +Unionist Party, when he addressed an audience of ten thousand people in +the Albert Hall in London. In the course of a masterly analysis of the +dangers inseparable from Home Rule, he once more drew attention to "the +dishonesty with which the Government hid Home Rule before the election, +and now propose to carry it after the election"; but the passage which +gave the greatest satisfaction in Ulster was that in which, speaking for +the whole Unionist Party--which meant at least half, and probably more +than half, the British nation--Mr. Bonar Law, in reference to the recent +occurrence in Belfast, said: + + "We hear a great deal about the intolerance of Ulster. It is easy + to be tolerant for other people. We who represent the Unionist + Party in England and Scotland have supported, and we mean to + support to the end, the loyal minority. We support them not because + we are intolerant, but because their claims are just." + +Meanwhile, Mr. Churchill's friends were seeking a building in Belfast +where the baffled Minister could hold his meeting on the 8th of +February, and in the course of the search the director of the Belfast +Opera-house was offered a knighthood as well as a large sum of money for +the use of his theatre,[20] a fact that possibly explains the statement +made by the London Correspondent of _The Freeman's Journal_ on the 28th +of January, that the Government's Chief Whip and Patronage Secretary was +busying himself with the arrangement.[21] Captain Frederick Guest, M.P., +one of the junior whips, arrived in Belfast on the 25th to give +assistance on the spot; but no suitable hall with an auspicious _genius +loci_ could apparently be found, for eventually a marquee was imported +from Scotland and erected on the Celtic football ground, in the +Nationalist quarter of the city. + +The question of maintaining order on the day of the meeting was at the +same time engaging the attention both of the Government in Dublin and +the Unionist Council in Belfast. The former decided to strengthen the +garrison of Belfast by five battalions of infantry and two squadrons of +cavalry, while at the Old Town Hall anxious consultations were held as +to the best means of securing that the soldiers should have nothing to +do. The Unionist leaders had not yet gained the full influence they were +able to exercise later, nor were their followers as disciplined as they +afterwards became. The Orange Lodges were the only section of the +population in any sense under discipline; and this section was a much +smaller proportion of the Unionist rank and file than English Liberals +supposed, who were in the habit of speaking as if "Orangemen" were a +correct cognomen of the whole Protestant population of Ulster. It was, +however, only through the Lodges and the Unionist Clubs that the +Standing Committee could hope to exert influence in keeping the peace. +That Committee, accordingly, passed a Resolution on the 5th of February, +moved by Colonel Wallace, the most influential of the Belfast +Orangemen, which "strongly urged all Unionists," in view of the Ulster +Hall victory, "to abstain from any interference with the meeting at the +Celtic football ground, and to do everything in their power to avoid any +action that might lead to any disturbance." + +The Resolution was circulated to all the Orange Lodges and Unionist +Clubs in Belfast and the neighbouring districts--for it was expected +that some 30,000 or 40,000 people might come into the city from outside +on the day of the meeting--with urgent injunctions to the officers to +bring it to the notice of all members; it was also extensively placarded +on all the hoardings of Belfast. Of even greater importance perhaps, in +the interests of peace, was the decision that Carson and Londonderry +should themselves remain in Belfast on the 8th. This, as _The Times_ +Correspondent in Belfast had the insight to observe, was "the strongest +guarantee of order" that could be given, and there is no doubt that +their appearance, together with Captain Craig, M.P., and Lord +Templetown, on the balcony of the Ulster Club had a calming effect on +the excited crowd that surged round Mr. Churchill's hotel, and served as +a reminder throughout the day of the advice which these leaders had +issued to their adherents. + +The First Lord of the Admiralty was accompanied to Belfast by Mrs. +Churchill, his Secretary, and two Liberal Members of Parliament, Mr. +Fiennes and Mr. Hamar Greenwood--for the last-mentioned of whom fate was +reserving a more intimate connection with Irish trouble than could be +got from a fleeting flirtation with disloyalty in West Belfast. They +were greeted at Larne by a large crowd vociferously cheering Carson, and +singing the National Anthem. A still larger concourse of people, though +it could not be more hostile, awaited Mr. Churchill at the Midland +Station in Belfast and along the route to the Grand Central Hotel. When +he started from the hotel early in the afternoon for the football field +the crowd in Royal Avenue was densely packed and actively demonstrating +its unfavourable opinion of the distinguished visitor; on whom, however, +none desired or attempted to inflict any physical injury, although the +involuntary swaying of so great a mass of men was in danger for a +moment of overturning the motor-car in which he and his wife were +seated. + +The way to the meeting took the Minister from the Unionist to the +Nationalist district and afforded him a practical demonstration of the +gulf between the "two nations" which he and his colleagues were bent +upon treating as one. The moment he crossed the boundary, the booing and +groaning of one area was succeeded by enthusiastic cheers in the other; +grotesque effigies of Redmond and of himself in one street were replaced +by equally unflattering effigies of Londonderry and Carson in the next; +in Royal Avenue both men and women looked like tearing him in pieces, in +Falls Road they thronged so close to shake his hand that "Mr. Hamar +Greenwood found it necessary" (so the _Times_ Correspondent reported) +"to stand on the footboard outside the car and relieve the pressure." + +It was expected that Mr. Churchill would return to his hotel after the +meeting, and there had been no shrinkage in the crowd in the interval, +nor any change in its sentiments. The police decided that it would be +wiser for him to depart by another route. He was therefore taken by back +streets to the Midland terminus, and without waiting for the ordinary +train by which he had arranged to travel, was as hastily as possible +despatched to Larne by a special train before it was generally known +that Royal Avenue and York Street were to see him no more. Mr. Churchill +tells us in his brilliant biography of his father that when Lord +Randolph arrived at Larne in 1886 "he was welcomed like a King." His own +arrival at the same port was anything but regal, and his departure more +resembled that of the "thief in the night," of whom Lord Randolph had +bidden Ulster beware. + +So this memorable pilgrimage ended. Of the speech itself which Mr. +Churchill delivered to some thousands of Nationalists, many of whom were +brought by special train from Dublin, it is unnecessary here to say more +than that Sir Edward Carson described it a few days later as a "speech +full of eloquent platitudes," and that it certainly did little to +satisfy the demand for information about the Home Rule Bill which was to +be produced in the coming session of Parliament. + +The undoubted importance which this visit of Mr. Churchill to Belfast +and its attendant circumstances had in the development of the Ulster +Movement is the justification for treating it in what may appear to be +disproportionate detail. From it dates the first clear realisation even +by hostile critics in England, and probably by Ministers themselves, +that the policy of Ulster as laid down at Craigavon could not be +dismissed with a sneer, although it is true that there were many Home +Rulers who never openly abandoned the pretence that it could. Not less +important was the effect in Ulster itself. The Unionist Council had +proved itself in earnest; it could, and was prepared to, do more than +organise imposing political demonstrations; and so the rank and file +gained confidence in leaders who could act as well as make speeches, and +who had shown themselves in an emergency to be in thorough accord with +popular sentiment; the belief grew that the men who met in the Old Town +Hall would know how to handle any crisis that might arise, would not +timidly shrink from acting as occasion might require, and were quite +able to hold their own with the Government in tactical manoeuvres. This +confidence improved discipline. The Lodges and the Clubs and the general +body of shipyard and other workers had less temptation to take matters +into their own hands; they were content to wait for instructions from +headquarters now that they could trust their leaders to give the +necessary instructions at the proper time. + +The net result, therefore, of an expedition which was designed to expose +the hollowness and the weakness of the Ulster case was to augment the +prestige of the Ulster leaders and the self-confidence of the Ulster +people, and to make both leaders and followers understand better than +before the strength of the position in which they were entrenched. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[14] See _ante_, p. 38. + +[15] _The Times_, January 18th, 1912. + +[16] _The Times_, January 26th, 1912. + +[17] _The Standard_, January 18th, 1912. + +[18] _The Saturday Review_, January 27th, 1912. + +[19] _The Times_, January 20th, 1912. + +[20] See Interview with Mr. F.W. Warden in _The Standard_, February 8th, +1912. + +[21] See Dublin Correspondent's telegram in _The Times_, January 29th, +1912. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +"WHAT ANSWER FROM THE NORTH?" + + +Public curiosity as to the proposals that the coming Home Rule Bill +might contain was not set at rest by Mr. Churchill's oration in Belfast. +The constitution-mongers were hard at work with suggestions. Attempts +were made to conciliate hesitating opinion by representing Irish Home +Rule as a step in the direction of a general federal system for the +United Kingdom, and by tracing an analogy with the constitutions already +granted to the self-governing Dominions. Closely connected with the +federal idea was the question of finance. There was lively speculation +as to what measure of control over taxation the Bill would confer on the +Irish Parliament, and especially whether it would be given the power to +impose duties of Customs and Excise. Home Rulers themselves were sharply +divided on the question. At a conference held at the London School of +Economics on the 10th of January, 1912, Professor T.M. Kettle, Mr. +Erskine Childers, and Mr. Thomas Lough, M.P., declared themselves in +favour of Irish fiscal autonomy, while Lord Macdonnell opposed the idea +as irreconcilable with the fiscal policy of Great Britain.[22] The +latter opinion was very forcibly maintained a few weeks later by a +member of the Government with some reputation as an economist. Speaking +to a branch of the United Irish League in London, Mr. J.M. Robertson, +Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, summarily rejected fiscal +autonomy for Ireland, which, he said, "really meant a claim for +separation." "To give fiscal autonomy," he added, "would mean +disintegration of the United Kingdom. Fiscal autonomy for Ireland put +an end altogether to all talk of Federal Home Rule, and he could see no +hope for a Home Rule Bill if it included fiscal autonomy."[23] + +Although the Secretary to the Board of Trade was probably not in the +confidence of the Cabinet, many people took Mr. Robertson's speech as an +indication of the limits of financial control that the Bill would give +to Ireland. On the same day that it was delivered the Dublin +Correspondent of _The Times_ reported that the demand of the +Nationalists for control of Customs and Excise was rapidly growing, and +that any Bill which withheld it, even if it could scrape through a +National Convention, "would never survive the two succeeding years of +agitation and criticism"; and he agreed with Mr. Robertson that if, on +the other hand, fiscal autonomy should be conceded, it would destroy all +prospect of a settlement on federal lines, and would "establish virtual +separation between Ireland and Great Britain." He predicted that +"Ulster, of course, would resist to the bitter end."[24] + +Ulster, in point of fact, took but a secondary interest in the question. +Her people were indeed opposed to anything that would enlarge the +separation from England, or emphasise it, and, as they realised, like +the Secretary to the Board of Trade, that fiscal autonomy would have +this effect, they opposed fiscal autonomy; but they cared little about +the thing in itself one way or the other. Nor did they greatly concern +themselves whether Home Rule proceeded on federal lines or any other +lines; nor whether some apt analogy could or could not be found between +Ireland and the Dominions of the Crown thousands of miles oversea. +Having made up their minds that no Dublin Parliament should exercise +jurisdiction over themselves, they did not worry themselves much about +the powers with which such a Parliament might be endowed. It is +noteworthy, however, in view of the importance which the question +afterwards attained, that so early as January 1912 Sir Edward Carson, +speaking in Manchester, maintained that without fiscal autonomy Home +Rule was impossible,[25] and that some months later Mr. Bonar Law, in a +speech at Glasgow on the 21st of May, said that if the Unionist Party +were in a position where they had to concede Home Rule to Ireland they +would include fiscal autonomy in the grant.[26] These leaders, who, +unlike the Liberal Ministers, had some knowledge of the Irish +temperament, realised from the first the absurdity of Mr. Asquith's +attempt to satisfy the demands of "the rebel party" by offering +something very different from what that party demanded. The Ulster +leader and the leader of the Unionist Party knew as well as anybody that +fiscal autonomy meant "virtual separation between Ireland and Great +Britain," but they also knew that separation was the ultimate aim of +Nationalist policy, and that there could be no finality in the Liberal +compromise; and they no doubt agreed with the forcible language used by +Mr. Balfour in the previous autumn, when he said that "the rotten hybrid +system of a Parliament with municipal duties and a national feeling +seemed to be the dream of political idiots." + +The ferment of speculation as to the Government's intentions continued +during the early weeks of the Parliamentary session, which opened on the +14th of February, but all inquiries by members of the House of Commons +were met by variations on the theme "Wait and See." Unionists, however, +realised that it was not in Parliament, but outside, that the only +effective work could be done, in the hope of forcing a dissolution of +Parliament before the Bill could become law. A vigorous campaign was +conducted throughout the country, especially in Lancashire, and +arrangements were made for a monster demonstration in Belfast, which +should serve both as a counter-blast to the Churchill fiasco, and for +enabling English and Scottish Unionists to test for themselves the +temper of the Ulster resistance. In the belief that the Home Rule Bill +would be introduced before Easter, it was decided to hold this meeting +in the Recess, as Mr. Bonar Law had promised to speak, and a number of +English Members of Parliament wished to be present. At the last moment +the Government announced that the Bill would not be presented till the +11th of April, after Parliament reassembled, and its provisions were +therefore still unknown when the demonstration took place on the 9th in +the Show Ground of the Royal Agricultural Society at Balmoral, a suburb +of Belfast. + +Feeling ran high as the date of the double event approached, and the +indignant sense of wrong that prevailed in Ulster was finely voiced in a +poem, entitled "Ulster 1912," written by Mr. Kipling for the occasion +which appeared in _The Morning Post_ on the day of the Balmoral +demonstration, of which the first and last stanzas were: + + "The dark eleventh hour + Draws on, and sees us sold + To every evil Power + We fought against of old. + Rebellion, rapine, hate, + Oppression, wrong, and greed + Are loosed to rule our fate, + By England's act and deed. + + "Believe, we dare not boast, + Believe, we do not fear-- + We stand to pay the cost + In all that men hold dear. + What answer from the North? + One Law, One Land, One Throne. + If England drive us forth + We shall not fall alone!" + +The preparations for the Unionist leader's coming visit to Belfast had +excited the keenest interest throughout England and Scotland. Coinciding +as it did with the introduction of the Government's Bill, it was +recognised to be the formal countersigning by the whole Unionist Party +of Great Britain of Ulster's proclamation of her determination to resist +her forcible degradation in constitutional status. The same note of +mingled reproach and defiance which sounded in Kipling's verses was +heard in the grave warning addressed by _The Times_ to the country in a +leading article on the morning of the meeting: + + "Nobody of common judgment and common knowledge of political + movements can honestly doubt the exceptional gravity of the + occasion, and least of all can any such doubt be felt by any who + know the men of Ulster. To make light of the deep-rooted + convictions which fill the minds of those who will listen to Mr. + Bonar Law to-day is a shallow and an idle affectation, or a token + of levity and of ignorance. Enlightened Liberalism may smile at the + beliefs and the passions of the Ulster Protestants, but it was + those same beliefs and passions, in the forefathers of the men who + will gather in Belfast to-day, which saved Ireland for the British + Crown, and freed the cause of civil and religious liberty in these + islands from its last dangerous foes.... It is useless to argue + that they are mistaken. They have reasons, never answered yet, for + believing that they are not mistaken.... Their temper is an + ultimate fact which British statesmen and British citizens have to + face. These men cannot be persuaded to submit to Home Rule. Are + Englishmen and Scotchmen prepared to fasten it upon them by + military force? That is the real Ulster question." + +Other great English newspapers wrote in similar strain, and the support +thus given was of the greatest possible encouragement to the Ulster +people, who were thereby assured that their standpoint was not +misunderstood and that the justice of their "loyalist" claims was +appreciated across the Channel. + +Among the numberless popular demonstrations which marked the history of +Ulster's stand against Home Rule, four stand out pre-eminent in the +impressiveness of their size and character. Those who attended the +Ulster Convention of 1892 were persuaded that no political meeting could +ever be more inspiring; but many of them lived to acknowledge that it +was far surpassed at Craigavon in 1911. The Craigavon meeting, though in +some respects as important as any of the series, was, from a spectacular +point of view, much less imposing than the assemblage which listened to +Mr. Bonar Law at Balmoral on Easter Tuesday, 1912; and the latter +occasion, though never surpassed in splendour and magnitude by any +single gathering, was in significance but a prelude to the magnificent +climax reached in the following September on the day when the Covenant +was signed throughout Ulster. + +The Balmoral demonstration had, however, one distinctive feature. At it +the Unionist Party of Great Britain met and grasped the hand of Ulster +Loyalism. It gave the leader and a large number of his followers an +opportunity to judge for themselves the strength and sincerity of +Ulster, and at the same time it served to show the Ulstermen the weight +of British opinion ready to back them. Mr. Bonar Law was accompanied to +Belfast by no less than seventy Members of Parliament, representing +English, Scottish, and Welsh constituencies, not a few of whom had +already attained, or afterwards rose to, political distinction. Among +them were Mr. Walter Long, Lord Hugh Cecil, Sir Robert Finlay, Lord +Charles Beresford, Lord Castlereagh, Mr. Amery, Mr. J.D. Baird, Sir +Arthur Griffith-Boscawen, Mr. Ian Malcolm, Lord Claud Hamilton, Mr. J.G. +Butcher, Mr. Ernest Pollock, Mr. George Cave, Mr. Felix Cassel, Mr. +Ormsby-Gore, Mr. Scott Dickson, Mr. W. Peel, Captain Gilmour, Mr. George +Lloyd, Mr. J.W. Hills, Mr. George Lane-Fox, Mr. Stuart-Wortley, Mr. +J.F.P. Rawlinson, Mr. H.J. Mackinder, and Mr. Herbert Nield. + +The reception of the Unionist Leader at Larne on Easter Monday was +wonderful, even to those who knew what a Larne welcome to loyalist +leaders could be, and who recalled the scenes there during the historic +visits of Lord Randolph Churchill, Lord Salisbury, and Mr. Balfour. "If +this is how you treat your friends," said Mr. Bonar Law simply, in reply +to one of the innumerable addresses presented to him, "I am glad I am +not an enemy." Before reaching Belfast he had ample opportunity at every +stopping-place of his train to note the fervour of the populace. "Are +all these people landlords?" he asked (in humorous allusion to the +Liberal legend that Ulster Unionism was manufactured by a few +aristocratic landowners), as he saw every platform thronged with +enthusiastic crowds of men and women, the majority of whom were +evidently of the poorer classes. In Belfast the concourse of people was +so dense in the streets that the motor-car in which Mr. Bonar Law and +Sir Edward Carson sat side by side found it difficult to make its way +to the Reform Club, the headquarters of what had once been Ulster +Liberalism, where an address was presented in which it was stated that +the conduct of the Government "will justify loyal Ulster in resorting to +the most extreme measures in resisting Home Rule." In his reply Mr. +Bonar Law gave them "on behalf of the Unionist Party this +message--though the brunt of the battle will be yours, there will not be +wanting help from 'across the Channel.'" At Comber, where a stop was +made on the way to Mount Stewart, he asked himself how Radical Scotsmen +would like to be treated as the Government were treating Protestant +Ulster. "I know Scotland well," he replied to his own question, "and I +believe that, rather than submit to such fate, the Scottish people would +face a second Bannockburn or a second Flodden." + +These few quotations from the first utterances of Mr. Bonar Law on his +arrival are sufficient to show how complete was the understanding +between him and the Ulster people even before the great demonstration of +the following day. He had, as _The Times_ Correspondent noted, "already +found favour with the Belfast crowd. All the way from Larne by train to +Belfast and through Belfast by motor-car to Newtownards and Mount +Stewart, his progress was a triumph." + +The remarks of the same experienced observer on the eve of the Balmoral +meeting are worth recording, especially as his anticipations were amply +fulfilled. + + "To-morrow's demonstration," he telegraphed from Belfast, "both in + numbers and enthusiasm, promises to be the most remarkable ever + seen in Ireland. If expectations are realised the assemblage of men + will be twice as numerous as the whole white population of the + Witwatersrand, whose grievances led to the South African War, and + they will represent a community greater in numbers than the white + population of South Africa as a whole. Unless all the signs are + misleading, it will be the demonstration of a community in the + deadliest earnest. By the Protestant community of Ulster, Home Rule + is regarded as a menace to their faith, to their material + well-being and prosperity, and to their freedom and national + traditions, and thus all the most potent motives which in history + have stirred men to their greatest efforts are here in operation." + +No written description, unless by the pen of some gifted imaginative +writer, could convey any true impression of the scenes that were +witnessed the following day in the Show Ground at Balmoral and the roads +leading to it from the heart of the city. The photographs published at +the time give some idea of the apparently unbounded ocean of earnest, +upturned faces, closely packed round the several platforms, and +stretching away far into a dim and distant background; but even they +could not record the impressive stillness of the vast multitude, its +orderliness, which required the presence of not a single policeman, its +spirit of almost religious solemnity which struck every observant +onlooker. No profusion of superlative adjectives can avail to reproduce +such scenes, any more than words, no matter how skilfully chosen, can +convey the tone of a violin in the hands of a master. Even the mere +number of those who took part in the demonstration cannot be guessed +with any real accuracy. There was a procession of men, whose fine +physique and military smartness were noticed by visitors from England, +which was reported to have taken three hours to pass a given point +marching in fours, and was estimated to be not less than 100,000 strong, +while those who went independently to the ground or crowded the route +were reckoned to be at least as many more. The Correspondent of _The +Times_ declared that "it was hardly by hyperbole that Sir Edward Carson +claimed that it was one of the largest assemblies in the history of the +world." + +But the moral effect of such gatherings is not to be gauged by numbers +alone. The demeanour of the people, which no organisation or stage +management could influence, impressed the English journalists and +Members of Parliament even more than the gigantic scale of the +demonstration. There was not a trace of the picnic spirit. There was no +drunkenness, no noisy buffoonery, no unseemly behaviour. The Ulster +habit of combining politics and prayer--which was not departed from at +Balmoral, where the proceedings were opened by the Primate of All +Ireland and the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church--was jeered at by +people who never witnessed an Ulster loyalist meeting; but the Editor of +_The Observer_, himself a Roman Catholic, remarked with more insight +that "the Protestant mind does not use prayer simply as part of a +parade;" and _The Times_ Correspondent, who has already been more than +once quoted, was struck by the fervour with which at Balmoral "the whole +of the vast gathering joined in singing the 90th Psalm," and he added +the very just comment that "it is the custom in Ulster to mark in this +solemn manner the serious nature of the issue when the Union is the +question, as something different from a question of mere party +politics." + +The spectacular aspect of the demonstration was admirably managed. A +saluting point was so arranged that the procession, on entering the +enclosure, could divide into two columns, one passing each side of a +small pavilion where Mr. Bonar Law, Sir Edward Carson, Lord Londonderry, +and Mr. Walter Long stood to take the salute before proceeding to the +stand which held the principal platform for the delivery of the +speeches. In the centre of the ground was a signalling-tower with a +flagstaff 90 feet high, on which a Union Jack measuring 48 feet by 25 +and said to be the largest ever woven, was broken at the moment when the +Resolution against Home Rule was put to the meeting. + +Mr. Bonar Law, visibly moved by the scene before him, made a speech that +profoundly affected his audience, although it was characteristically +free from rhetorical display. A recent incident in Dublin, where the +sight of the British Flag flying within view of a Nationalist meeting +had been denounced as "an intolerable insult," supplied him, when he +compared it with the spectacle presented by the meeting, with an apt +illustration of the contrast between "the two nations" in Ireland--the +loyal and the disloyal. He told the Ulstermen that he had come to them +as the leader of the Unionist Party to give them the assurance that +"that party regard your cause, not as yours alone, nor as ours alone, +but as the cause of the Empire"; the meeting, which he had expected to +be a great gathering but which far exceeded his expectation, proved +that Ulster's hostility to Home Rule, far from having slackened, as +enemies had alleged, had increased and solidified with the passing +years; they were men "animated by a unity of purpose, by a fixity of +resolution which nothing can shake and which must prove irresistible," +to whom he would apply Cromwell's words to his Ironsides: "You are men +who know what you are fighting for, and love what you know." Then, after +an analysis of the practical evils that Home Rule would engender and the +benefits which legislative union secured, he again emphasised the lack +of mandate for the Government policy. His hearers, he said, "knew the +shameful story": how the Radicals had twice failed to obtain the +sanction of the British people for Home Rule, "and now for the third +time they were trying to carry it not only without the sanction, but +against the will, of the British people." + +The peroration which followed made an irresistible appeal to a people +always mindful of the glories of the relief of Derry. Mr. Bonar Law +warned them that the Ministerial majority in the House of Commons, "now +cemented by L400 a year," could not be broken up, but would have their +own way. He therefore said to them: + + "With all solemnity--you must trust in yourselves. Once again you + hold the pass--the pass for the Empire. You are a besieged city. + The timid have left you; your Lundys have betrayed you; but you + have closed your gates. The Government have erected by their + Parliament Act a boom against you to shut you off from the help of + the British people. You will burst that boom. That help will come, + and when the crisis is over men will say to you in words not unlike + those used by Pitt--you have saved yourselves by your exertions and + you will save the Empire by your example." + +The overwhelming ovation with which Sir Edward Carson was received upon +taking the president's chair at the chief platform, in the absence +through illness of the Duke of Abercorn, proved that he had already won +the confidence and the affection of the Ulster people to a degree that +seemed to leave little room for growth, although every subsequent +appearance he made among them in the years that lay ahead seemed to add +intensity to their demonstrations of personal devotion. The most +dramatic moment at Balmoral--if for once the word so hackneyed and +misused by journalists may be given its true signification--the most +dramatic moment was when the Ulster leader and the leader of the whole +Unionist Party each grasped the other's hand in view of the assembled +multitude, as though formally ratifying a compact made thus publicly on +the eve of battle. It was the consummation of the purpose of this +assembly of the Unionist hosts on Ulster soil, and gave assurance of +unity of aim and undivided command in the coming struggle. + +Of the other speeches delivered, many of them of a high quality, +especially, perhaps, those of Lord Hugh Cecil, Sir Robert Finlay, and +Mr. Scott Dickson, it is enough to say that they all conveyed the same +message of encouragement to Ulster, the same promise of undeviating +support. One detail, however, deserves mention, because it shows the +direction in which men's thoughts were then moving. Mr. Walter Long, +whose great services to the cause of the Union procured him a welcome +second in warmth to that of no other leader, after thanking Londonderry +and Carson "for the great lead they have given us in recent difficult +weeks "--an allusion to the Churchill incident that was not lost on the +audience--added with a blunt directness characteristic of the speaker: +"If they are going to put Lord Londonderry and Sir Edward Carson into +the dock, they will have to find one large enough to hold the whole +Unionist Party." + +The Balmoral demonstration was recognised on all sides as one of the +chief landmarks in the Ulster Movement. The Craigavon policy was not +only reaffirmed with greater emphasis than before by the people of +Ulster themselves, but it received the deliberate endorsement of the +Unionist Party in England and Scotland. Moreover, as Mr. Long's speech +explicitly promised, and Mr. Bonar Law's speech unmistakably implied, +British support was not to be dependent on Ulster's opposition to Home +Rule being kept within strictly legal limits. Indeed, it had become +increasingly evident that opposition so limited must be impotent, since, +as Mr. Bonar Law pointed out, Ministers and their majority in the House +of Commons were in Mr. Redmond's pocket, and had no choice but to "toe +the line," while the "boom" which they had erected by the Parliament Act +cut off Ulster from access to the British constituencies, unless that +boom could be burst as the boom across the Foyle was broken by the +_Mountjoy_ in 1689. The Unionist leader had warned the Ulstermen that +in these circumstances they must expect nothing from Parliament, but +must trust in themselves. They did not mistake his meaning, and they +were quite ready to take his advice. + +Coming, as it did, two days before the introduction of the Government's +Bill, the Balmoral demonstration profoundly influenced opinion in the +country. The average Englishman, when his political party is in a +minority, damns the Government, shrugs his shoulders, and goes on his +way, not rejoicing indeed, but with apathetic resignation till the +pendulum swings again. He now awoke to the fact that the Ulstermen meant +business. He realised that a political crisis of the first magnitude was +visible on the horizon. The vague talk about "civil war" began to look +as if it might have something in it, and it was evident that the +provisions of the forthcoming Bill, about which there had been so much +eager anticipation, would be of quite secondary importance since neither +the Cabinet nor the House of Commons would have the last word. + +Supporters of the Government in the Press could think of nothing better +to do in these circumstances than to pour out abuse, occasionally varied +by ridicule, on the Unionist leaders, of which Sir Edward Carson came in +for the most generous portion. He was by turns everything that was bad, +dangerous, and absurd, from Mephistopheles to a madman. "F.C.G." +summarised the Balmoral meeting pictorially in a _Westminster Gazette_ +cartoon as a costermonger's donkey-cart in which Carson, Londonderry, +and Bonar Law, refreshed by "Orangeade," took "an Easter Jaunt in +Ulster," and other caricaturists used their pencils with less humour and +more malice with the same object of belittling the demonstration with +ridicule. But ridicule is not so potent a weapon in England or in Ulster +as it is said to be in France. It did nothing to weaken the Ulster +cause; it even strengthened it in some ways. It was about this time that +hostile writers began to refer to "King Carson," and to represent him as +exercising regal sway over his "subjects" in Ulster. Those "subjects" +were delighted; they took it as a compliment to their leader's position +and power, and did not in the least resent the role assigned to +themselves. + +On the other hand, they did resent very hotly the vulgar insolence often +levelled at their "Sir Edward." He himself was always quite indifferent +to it, sometimes even amused by it. On one occasion, when something +particularly outrageous had appeared with reference to him in some +Radical paper, he delighted a public meeting by solemnly reading the +passage, and when the angry cries of "Shame, shame" had subsided, saying +with a smile: "This sort of thing is only the manure that fertilises my +reputation with you who know me." + +And that was true. If Home Rulers, whether in Ireland or in Great +Britain, ever seriously thought of conciliating Ulster, as Mr. Redmond +professed to desire, they never made a greater mistake than in saying +and writing insulting things about Carson. It only endeared him more and +more to his followers, and it intensified the bitterness of their +feeling against the Nationalists and all their works. An almost equally +short-sighted error on the part of hostile critics was the idea that the +attitude of Ulster as exhibited at Craigavon and Balmoral should be +represented as mere bluster and bluff, to which the only proper reply +was contempt. There never was anything further removed from the truth, +as anyone ought to have known who had the smallest acquaintance with +Irish history or with the character of the race that had supplied the +backbone of Washington's army; but, if there had been at any time an +element of bluff in their attitude, their contemptuous critics took the +surest means of converting it into grim earnestness of purpose. Mr. +Redmond himself was ill-advised enough to set an example in this +respect. In an article published by _Reynold's Newspaper_ in January he +had scoffed at the "stupid, hollow, and unpatriotic bellowings" of the +Loyalists in Belfast. Some few opponents had enough sense to take a +different line in their comments on Balmoral. One article in particular +which appeared in _The Star_ on the day of the demonstration attracted +much attention for this reason. + + "We have never yielded," it said, "to the temptation to deride or + to belittle the resistance of Ulster to Home Rule.... The + subjugation of Protestant Ulster by force is one of those things + that do not happen in our politics.... It is, we know, a popular + delusion that Ulster is a braggart whose words are empty bluff. We + are convinced that Ulster means what she says, and that she will + make good every one of her warnings." + +_The Star_ went on to implore Liberals not to be driven "into an +attitude of bitter hostility to the Ulster Protestants," with whom it +declared they had much in common. + +After Balmoral there was certainly more disposition than before on the +part of Liberal Home Rulers to acknowledge the sincerity of Ulster and +the gravity of the position created by her opposition, and this +disposition showed itself in the debates on the Bill; but, speaking +generally, the warning of _The Star_ was disregarded by its political +adherents, and its neglect contributed not a little to the embitterment +of the controversy. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[22] _Annual Register_, 1912, p. 3. + +[23] _The Times_, February 3rd, 1912. + +[24] Ibid. + +[25] _Annual Register_, 1912, p. 7. + +[26] Ibid., p. 126. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE EXCLUSION OF ULSTER + + +Within forty-eight hours of the Balmoral meeting the Prime Minister +moved for leave to introduce the third Home Rule Bill in the House of +Commons. Carson immediately stated the Ulster case in a powerful speech +which left no room for doubt that, while every clause in the Bill would +be contested, it was the setting up of an executive administration +responsible to a Parliament in Dublin--that is to say, the central +principle of the measure--that would be most strenuously opposed. + +There is no occasion here to explain in detail the proposals contained +in Mr. Asquith's Home Rule Bill. They form part of the general history +of the period, and are accessible to all who care to examine them. Our +concern is with the endeavour of Ulster to prevent, if possible, the +passage of the Bill to the Statute-book, and, if that should prove +impracticable, to prevent its enforcement "in those districts of which +they had control." But one or two points that were made in the course of +the debates which occupied Parliament for the rest of the year 1912 +claim a moment's notice in their bearing on the subject in hand. + +Mr. Bonar Law lost no time in fully redeeming the promises he made at +Balmoral. Challenged to repeat in Parliament the charges he had made +against the Government in Ulster, he not only repeated them with +emphasis, but by closely-knit reasoning justified them with chapter and +verse. As to Balmoral, "it really was not like a political +demonstration; it was the expression of the soul of a people." He +declared that "the gulf between the two peoples in Ireland was really +far wider than the gulf between Ireland and Great Britain." He then +dealt specifically with the threatened resistance of Ulster. "These +people in Ulster," he said, "are under no illusion. They know they +cannot fight the British Army. The people of Ulster know that, if the +soldiers receive orders to shoot, it will be their duty to obey. They +will have no ill-will against them for obeying. But they are ready, in +what they believe to be the cause of justice and liberty, to lay down +their lives. How are you going to overcome that resistance? Do +Honourable Members believe that any Prime Minister could give orders to +shoot down men whose only crime is that they refuse to be driven out of +our community and be deprived of the privilege of British citizenship? +The thing is impossible. All your talk about details, the union of +hearts and the rest of it, is a sham. This is a reality. It is a rock, +and on that rock this Bill will inevitably make shipwreck." + +The Unionist leader then made a searching exposure of the traffic and +bargaining between the Cabinet and the Nationalists by which the support +of the latter had been bought for a Budget which they hated, the price +paid being the Premier's improper advice to the Crown, leading to the +mutilation of the Constitution; the acknowledgment in the preamble to +the Parliament Act that an immediate reform of the Second Chamber was a +"debt of honour"; the omission to redeem that debt, which had provided a +new proverb--"Lying as a preamble"; and, finally, the determination to +carry Home Rule after deliberately keeping it out of sight during the +elections. The Prime Minister's "debt of honour must wait until he has +paid his debt of shame"; and the latter debt was being paid by the +proposals they were then debating. If those proposals had been submitted +to the electors, "there would be a difference," said Mr. Bonar Law, +"between the Unionists in England and the Unionists in Ireland. Now +there is none. We can imagine nothing which the Unionists in Ireland can +do which will not be justified against a trick of this kind." + +Dissatisfaction with the financial clauses of the Bill was expressed at +once by the General Council of County Councils in Ireland, a purely +Nationalist body; but on the 23rd of April a Nationalist Convention in +Dublin, under the influence of Mr. Redmond's oratory, accepted the whole +of the Government's proposals with enthusiasm. The first and second +readings of the Bill were duly carried by the normal Government majority +of about a hundred Liberal, Labour, and Irish Nationalist votes, and the +committee stage opened on the 11th of June. On that day an amendment was +down for debate which required the most careful consideration by the +representatives of Ulster, since their attitude now might have an +important bearing on their future policy, and a false step at this stage +might easily prove embarrassing later on. The author of this amendment +was Mr. Agar-Robartes, a Cornish Liberal Member, whose proposal was to +exclude the four counties of Antrim, Derry, Down, and Armagh from the +jurisdiction of the proposed Irish Parliament, a gratifying proof that +Craigavon and Balmoral were bearing fruit. + +A conference of Ulster Members and Peers, and some English Members +closely identified with Irish affairs, of whom Mr. Walter Long was one, +met at Londonderry House before the sitting of the House on the 11th of +June to decide what course to take on this proposal. + +It was not surprising to find that there were sharp differences of +opinion among those present, for there were obvious objections to +supporting the amendment and equally obvious objections to voting +against it. The opposition of Ulster for more than a quarter of a +century had been directed against Home Rule for any part of Ireland and +in any shape or form. No suggestion had ever been made by any of her +spokesmen that the Protestant North, or any part of it, should be dealt +with separately from the rest of the island, although Carson and others +had pointed out that all the arguments in support of Home Rule were +equally valid for treating Ulster as a unit. There were both economic +and administrative difficulties in such a scheme which were sufficiently +obvious, though by no means insuperable; but what weighed far more +heavily in the minds of the Ulster members was the anticipation that +their acceptance of the proposal would probably be represented by +enemies as a desertion of all the Irish Loyalists outside the four +counties named in the amendment, with whom there was in every part of +Ulster the most powerful sentiment of solidarity. The idea of taking any +action apart from these friends and associates, and of adopting a policy +that might seem to imply the abandonment of their opposition to the main +principle of the Bill, was one that could not be entertained except +under the most compelling necessity. + +But, had not that necessity now arisen? The Ulster members had to keep +in view the ultimate policy to which they were already committed. That +policy, as laid down at Craigavon, was to take over, in the event of the +Home Rule Bill being carried, the government "of those districts which +they could control" in trust for the Imperial Parliament, and to resist +by force if necessary the establishment of the Dublin jurisdiction over +those districts. The policy of resistance was always recognised as being +strictly limited in area; no one ever supposed that Ulster could +forcibly resist Home Rule being set up in the south and west. The +likelihood of failure to bring about a dissolution before the Bill +became law had to be faced, and if no General Election took place there +would be no alternative to resistance. If, then, it were decided to vote +against an amendment offering salvation to the four most loyalist +counties, what would be their position if ultimately driven to take up +arms? Except as to a matter of detail concerning the precise area +proposed to be excluded from the Bill, would they not be told that they +were fighting for what they might have had by legislation, and what they +had deliberately refused to accept? And if they so acted, could they +expect not to forfeit the support of the great and growing volume of +public opinion which now sympathised with Ulster? They could not, of +course, secure themselves against malicious misrepresentation of their +motives, but the Ulster members sincerely believed, and many in the +South shared the opinion, that if it came to the worst they could be of +more use to the Southern Unionists outside a Dublin Parliament than as +members of it, where they would be an impotent minority. Moreover, it +was perfectly understood that Ulster was resolved in any case not to +enter a legislature in College Green, and there would, therefore, be no +more "desertion" of Unionists outside the excluded area if the exclusion +were effected by an amendment to the Bill, than if it were the result of +what Mr. Bonar Law had called "trusting to themselves." + +The considerations thus briefly summarised were thoroughly discussed in +all their bearings at the conference at Londonderry House. It was one of +many occasions when Sir Edward Carson's colleagues had an opportunity of +perceiving how his penetrating intellect explored the intricate windings +of a complicated political problem, weighing all the alternatives of +procedure with a clear insight into the appearance that any line of +conduct would present to other and perhaps hostile minds, calculating +like a chess-master move and counter-move far ahead of the present, and, +while adhering undeviatingly to principle, using the judgment of a +consummate strategist to decide upon the action to be taken at any given +moment. He had an astonishing faculty of discarding everything that was +unessential and fastening on the thing that really mattered in any +situation. His strength in counsel lay in the rare combination of these +qualities of the trained lawyer with the gift of intuition, which women +claim as their distinguishing characteristic; and it often extorted from +Nationalists the melancholy admission that if Carson had been on their +side their cause would have triumphed long ago. + +His advice now was that the Agar-Robartes amendment should be supported; +and, although some of those present required a good deal of persuasion, +it was ultimately decided unanimously that this course should be +followed. The wisdom of the decision was never afterwards questioned, +and, indeed, was abundantly confirmed by subsequent events. + +Mr. Agar-Robartes moved his amendment the same afternoon, summarising +his argument in the dictum, denied by Mr. William Redmond, that "Orange +bitters will not mix with Irish whisky." The debate, which lasted three +days, was the most important that took place in committee on the Bill, +for in the course of it the whole Ulster question was exhaustively +discussed. Sir Edward Grey and Mr. Churchill had thrown out hints in the +second reading debate that the Government might do something to meet the +Ulster case. The Prime Minister was now pressed to say what these hints +meant. Had the Government any policy in regard to Ulster? Had they +considered how they could deal with the threatened resistance? Mr. Bonar +Law told the Government that they must know that, if they employed +troops to coerce the Ulster Loyalists, Ministers who gave the order +"would run a greater risk of being lynched in London than the Loyalists +of Ulster would run of being shot in Belfast." Every argument in favour +of Home Rule was, he said, equally cogent against subjecting Ulster to +Home Rule contrary to her own desire. If the South of Ireland objected +to being governed from Westminster, the North of Ireland quite as +strongly objected to being ruled from Dublin. If England, as was +alleged, was incapable of governing Ireland according to Irish ideas, +the Nationalists were fully as incapable of governing the northern +counties according to Ulster ideas. If Ireland, with only one-fifteenth +of the population of the United Kingdom, had a right to choose its own +form of government, by what equity could the same right be denied to +Ulster, with one-fourth of the population of Ireland? + +As had been anticipated at Londonderry House, Mr. Asquith and some of +his followers did their best to drive a wedge between the Ulstermen and +the Southern Unionists, by contending that the former, in supporting the +amendment, were deserting their friends. Mr. Balfour declared in answer +to this that "nothing could relieve Unionists in the rest of Ireland +except the defeat of the measure as a whole"; and a crushing reply was +given by Mr. J.H. Campbell and Mr. Walter Guinness, both of whom were +Unionists from the South of Ireland. Mr. Guinness frankly acknowledged +that "it was the duty of Ulster members to take this opportunity of +trying to secure for their constituents freedom from this iniquitous +measure. It would be merely a dog-in-the-manger policy for those who +lived outside Ulster to grudge relief to their co-religionists merely +because they could not share it. Such self-denial on Ulster's part would +in no way help them (the Southerners) and it would only injure their +compatriots in the North." + +Sir Edward Carson, in supporting the amendment, insisted that "Ulster +was not asking for anything" except to be left within the Imperial +Constitution; she "had not demanded any separate Parliament." He +accepted the "basic principle" of the amendment, but would not be +content with the four counties which alone it proposed to exclude from +the Bill. He only accepted it, however, on two assumptions--first, that +the Bill was to become law; and, second, that it was to be, as Mr. +Asquith had assured them, part of a federal system for the United +Kingdom. If the first steps were being taken to construct a federal +system, there was no precedent for coercing Ulster to form part of a +federal unit which she refused to join. He had been Solicitor-General +when the Act establishing the Commonwealth of Australia was being +discussed, and it never would have passed, he declared, "if every single +clause had not been agreed to by every single one of the communities +concerned." Ministers were always basing their Irish policy on Dominion +analogies, but could anyone, Carson asked, imagine the Imperial +Government sending troops to compel the Transvaal or New South Wales to +come into a federal system against their will? + +The arguments in favour of the amendment were also stated with +uncompromising force by Mr. William Moore, Mr. Charles Craig, and his +brother Captain James Craig, the last-mentioned taking up a challenge +thrown down by Mr. Birrell in a maladroit speech which had expressed +doubt as to the reality of the danger to be apprehended in Ulster. +Captain Craig said they would immediately take steps in Ulster to +convince the Chief Secretary of their sincerity. Lord Hugh Cecil, in an +outspoken speech, greatly to the taste of English Unionists, "had no +hesitation in saying that Ulster would be perfectly right in resisting, +and he hoped she would be successful." + +In the division on Mr. Agar-Robartes's amendment the Government +majority fell to sixty-nine, both the "Tellers" being usual supporters +of the Ministry. Mr. F.E. Smith, in a vigorous speech to the Belfast +Orangemen on the 12th of July, declared that "on the part of the +Government the discussion (on Mr. Agar-Robartes's amendment) was a trap. +... The Government hoped that Ulster would decline the amendment in +order that the Coalition might protest to the constituencies: 'We +offered Ulster exclusion and Ulster refused exclusion--where is the +grievance of Ulster? where her justification for armed revolt?'" The +snare was avoided; but the debate was a landmark in the movement, for it +was then that the spokesmen of Ulster for the first time publicly +accepted the idea of separate treatment for themselves as a possible +alternative policy to the integral maintenance of the Union. + +The Government, for their part, made no response to the demand of Bonar +Law and Carson that they should declare their intentions for dealing +with resistance in Ulster. It was clearly more than ever necessary for +the Ulstermen to "trust in themselves." The debates on the Bill occupied +Parliament till the end of the year, and beyond it, and great blocks of +clauses were carried under the guillotine closure without a word of +discussion, although they were packed with constitutional points, many +of which were of the highest moment. Over in Ulster, at the same time, +those preparations were industriously carried forward which Captain +Craig told the House of Commons would be necessary to cure the +scepticism of the Chief Secretary. + +In England and Scotland, also, Unionists did their utmost to make public +opinion realise the gravity of the crisis towards which the country was +drifting under the Wait-and-See Ministry. Never before, probably, had so +many great political meetings been held in any year as were held in +every part of the country in 1912. With the exception of those that took +place in Ireland, the most striking was a monster gathering at Blenheim +on the 27th of July, which was attended by delegates from every Unionist +Association in the United Kingdom. + +A notable defeat of the Government in a by-election at Crewe, news of +which reached the meeting while the audience of some fifteen thousand +people was assembling, was an encouraging sign of the trend of opinion +in the country, and added confidence to the note of defiance that +sounded in the speeches of Mr. Bonar Law, Mr. F.E. Smith, and Sir Edward +Carson. + +The Unionist leader repeated, with added emphasis, what he had already +said in the House of Commons, that he could imagine no length of +resistance to which Ulster might go in which he and the overwhelming +majority of the British people would not be ready to give support. He +again said that resistance would be justified only because the people +had not been consulted, and the Government's policy was "part of a +corrupt parliamentary bargain." He refused to acknowledge the right of +the Government "to carry such a Revolution by such means," and as they +appeared to be resolved to do so, Mr. Bonar Law and the party he led +"would use any means to deprive them of the power they had usurped, and +to compel them to face the people they had deceived." Mr. F.E. Smith +expressed the same thought in a more epigrammatic antithesis: "We have +come to a clear issue between the party which says 'We will judge for +the democracy,' and the party which says 'The democracy shall judge +you.'" + +The tremendous enthusiasm evoked by Mr. Bonar Law's pledge of support to +Ulster, and by Sir Edward Carson's announcement that they in Ulster +"would shortly challenge the Government to interfere with them if they +dared, and would with equanimity await the result," was a sufficient +proof, if proof were needed, that the intention of the Ulstermen to +offer forcible resistance to Home Rule had the whole-hearted sympathy +and approval of the entire Unionist party in Great Britain, whose +representatives from every corner of the country were assembled at +Blenheim. + +Liberals hoped and believed that this promise of support for the +"rebellious" attitude of Ulster would alienate British opinion from the +Unionist party. The supporters of the Government in the Press daily +proclaimed that it was doing so. When Parliament adjourned for the +summer recess, at the beginning of what journalists call "the silly +season," Mr. Churchill published two letters to a constituent in +Scotland which were intended to be a crushing indictment both of Ulster +and of her sympathisers in Great Britain. The Ulster menace was in his +eyes nothing but "melodramatic stuff," and he sneeringly suggested that +the Unionist leaders would be "unspeakably shocked and frightened" if +anything came of their "foolish and wicked words." The letter was +lengthy, and contained some telling phrases such as Mr. Churchill has +always been skilful in coining; but the "turgid homily--a mixture of +sophistry, insult, and menace," as _The Times_ not unfairly described +it, was less effective than the terse and simple rejoinder in which Mr. +Bonar Law pointed out that Mr. Churchill's onslaught wounded his +father's memory more deeply than it touched his living opponents, since +Lord Randolph's "incitement" of Ulster was at a time when Ulster could +not be cast out from the Union without the consent of the British +electors. + +Mr. Churchill's epistles to Scottish Liberals started a correspondence +which reverberated through the Press for weeks, breaking the monotony of +the holiday season; but they entirely failed in their purpose, which was +to break the sympathy for Ulster in England and Scotland. In March the +Unionists had won a seat at a by-election in South Manchester; the +victory at Crewe in July, which so cheered the gathering at Blenheim, +was followed by still more striking victories in North-west Manchester +in August, and in Midlothian--Gladstone's old constituency--in +September; and perhaps a not less significant indication of the trend of +opinion so far as the Unionist party was concerned, was given by the +local Unionist Association at Rochdale, which promptly repudiated its +selected candidate who had ventured to protest against the Blenheim +speech of the Unionist leader. In an analysis of electoral statistics +published by _The Times_ on the 24th of August it was shown that, in +thirty-eight contests since the General Election in December 1910, the +Unionists had gained an advantage of more than 32,000 votes over +Liberals. And shortly afterwards, at a dinner in London to three newly +elected Unionists, Mr. Bonar Law pointed out that the results of +by-elections, if realised in the same proportion all over the country, +would have given a substantial Unionist majority in the House of +Commons. + +The Ulster people had, therefore, much to encourage them at a time when +they were preparing the most significant forward step in the movement, +and the most solemn pronouncement of their unfaltering resolution never +to submit to the Dublin Parliament--the signing of the Ulster Covenant. +Their policy of resistance, first propounded at Craigavon, reiterated at +Balmoral, endorsed by British sympathisers at Blenheim, and specifically +defended in Parliament both by Unionist leaders like Mr. Bonar Law and +Mr. Long and by prominent members of the Unionist rank and file like +Lord Hugh Cecil, had won the approval and support of great popular +constituencies in Lancashire and in Scotland, and had alienated no +section of Unionist opinion or of the Unionist Press. It was in no +merely satirical spirit that Carson wrote in August that he was grateful +to Mr. Churchill "for having twice within a few weeks done something to +focus public opinion on the stern realities of the situation in +Ulster."[27] For that was the actual result of the "turgid homily." It +proved of real service to the Ulster cause by bringing to light the +complete solidarity of Unionist opinion in its support. That meant, in +the light of the electoral returns, that certainly more than half the +nation sympathised with the measures that were being taken in Ulster, +and that Ulster could well afford to smile at the mockery which English +Home Rulers deemed a sufficient weapon to demolish the "wooden guns" and +the "military play-acting of King Carson's Army." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[27] See _The Times_, August 19th, 1912. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE EVE OF THE COVENANT + + +There was one Liberal statesman, formerly the favourite lieutenant of +Gladstone and the closest political ally of Asquith, who was under no +illusion as to the character of the men with whom Asquith was now +provoking a conflict. Speaking in Edinburgh on the 1st of November, +1911, that is, shortly after the Craigavon meeting, Lord Rosebery told +his Scottish audience that "he loved Highlanders and he loved +Lowlanders, but when he came to the branch of their race which had been +grafted on to the Ulster stem he took off his hat with reverence and +awe. They were without exception the toughest, the most dominant, the +most irresistible race that existed in the universe."[28] + +The kinship of this tough people with the Lowlanders of Scotland, in +character as in blood, was never more signally demonstrated than when +they decided, in one of the most intense crises of their history, to +emulate the example of their Scottish forefathers in binding themselves +together by a solemn League and Covenant to resist what they deemed to +be a tyrannical encroachment on their liberties and rights. + +The most impressive moment at the Balmoral meeting at Easter 1912 was +when the vast assemblage, with uncovered heads, raised their hands and +repeated after Sir Edward Carson words abjuring Home Rule. The incident +suggested to some of the local Unionist leaders that the spirit of +enthusiastic solidarity and determination thus manifested should not be +allowed to evaporate, and the people so animated to disperse to the four +corners of Ulster without any bond of mutual obligation. The idea of an +oath of fidelity to the cause and to each other was mooted, and +appeared to be favoured by many. The leader was consulted. He gave deep, +anxious, and prolonged consideration to the proposal, calculating all +the consequences which, in various possible eventualities, might follow +its adoption. He was not only profoundly conscious of the moral +responsibility which he personally, and his colleagues, would be +undertaking by the contemplated measure; he realised the numerous +practical difficulties there might be in honouring the bond, and he +would have nothing to do with a device which, under the guise of a +solemn covenant, would be nothing more than a verbal manifesto. If the +people were to be invited to sign anything of the sort, it must be a +reality, and he, as leader, must first see his way to make it a reality, +whatever might happen. + +For, although Carson never shrank from responsibility, he never assumed +it with levity, or without full consideration of all that it might +involve. Many a time, especially before he had fully tested for himself +the temper of the Ulster people, he expressed to his intimates his +wonder whether the bulk of his followers sufficiently appreciated the +seriousness of the course they had set out upon. Sometimes in private he +seemed to be hypersensitive as to whether in any particular he was +misleading those who trusted him; he was scrupulously anxious that they +should not be carried away by unreflecting enthusiasm, or by personal +devotion to himself. About the only criticism of his leadership that was +ever made directly to himself by one of the rank and file in Ulster was +that it erred on the side of patience and caution; and this criticism +elicited the sharpest reproof he was ever heard to administer to any of +his followers.[29] His expressions of regard, almost amounting to +affection, for the men and women who thronged round him for a touch of +his hand wherever he appeared in the streets might have been ignorantly +set down as the arts of a demagogue had they ever been spoken in public, +but were capable of no such misconstruction when reserved, as they +invariably were, for the ears of his closest associates. The truth is +that no popular leader was ever less of a demagogue than Sir Edward +Carson. He had no "arts" at all--unless indeed complete simplicity is +the highest of all "arts" in one whom great masses of men implicitly +trust. He never sought to gain or augment the confidence of his +followers by concealing facts, minimising difficulties, or overcolouring +expectations. + +It is not surprising, then, that the decision to invite the Ulster +people to bind themselves together by some form of written bond or oath +was one which Carson did not come to hastily. While the matter was still +only being talked about by a few intimate friends, and had not been in +any way formally proposed, Captain James Craig happened to be occupying +himself one day at the Constitutional Club in London with pencil and +paper, making experimental drafts that might do for the proposed +purpose, when he was joined by Mr. B.W.D. Montgomery, Secretary of the +Ulster Club in Belfast, who asked what he was doing. "Trying to draft an +oath for our people at home," replied Craig, "and it's no easy matter to +get at what will suit." "You couldn't do better," said Montgomery, "than +take the old Scotch Covenant. It is a fine old document, full of grand +phrases, and thoroughly characteristic of the Ulster tone of mind at +this day." Thereupon the two men went to the library, where, with the +help of the club librarian, they found a History of Scotland containing +the full text of the celebrated bond of the Covenanters (first drawn up, +by a curious coincidence of names, by John Craig, in 1581), a verbatim +copy of which was made from the book. + +The first idea was to adapt this famous manifesto of militant +Protestantism by making only such abbreviations and alterations as would +render it suitable for the purpose in view. But when it was ultimately +decided to go forward with the proposal, and the task of preparing the +document was entrusted to the Special Commission,[30] it was at once +realised that, however strongly the fine old Jacobean language and the +historical associations of the Solemn League and Covenant might appeal +to the imagination of a few, it was far too involved and long-winded, +no matter how drastically revised, to serve as an actual working +agreement between men of to-day, or as a rallying-point for a modern +democratic community. What was needed was something quite short and +easily intelligible, setting forth in as few words as possible a purpose +which the least learned could grasp at a glance, and which all who so +desired could sign with full comprehension of what they were doing. + +Mr. Thomas Sinclair, one of the Special Commission, was himself a +draughtsman of exceptional skill, and in a matter of this kind his +advice was always invaluable, and it was under his hand that the Ulster +Covenant, after frequent amendment, took what was, with one important +exception, its final shape. The last revision cut down the draft by more +than one-half; but the portion discarded from the Covenant itself, in +the interest of brevity, was retained as a Resolution of the Ulster +Unionist Council which accompanied the Covenant and served as a sort of +declaratory preamble to it[31]. The exception referred to was an +amendment made to meet an objection raised by prominent representatives +of the Presbyterian Church. The Special Commission, realising that the +proposed Covenant ought not to be promulgated without the consent and +approval of the Protestant Churches, submitted the agreed draft to the +authorities of the Church of Ireland and of the Presbyterian, Methodist, +and Congregational Churches. The Moderator, and other leaders of the +Presbyterians, including Mr. (afterwards Sir Alexander) McDowell, a man +endowed with much of the wisdom of the serpent, while supporting without +demur the policy of the Covenant, took exception to its terms in a +single particular. They pointed out that the obligation to be accepted +by the signatories would be, as the text then stood, of unlimited +duration. They objected to undertaking such a responsibility without the +possibility of modifying it to meet the changes which time and +circumstance might bring about; and they insisted that, before they +could advise their congregations to contract so solemn an engagement, +the text of the Covenant must be amended by the introduction of words +limiting its validity to the crisis which then confronted them. + +This was accordingly done. Words were introduced which declared the +pledge to be binding "throughout this our time of threatened calamity," +and its purpose to be the defeat of "the present conspiracy." The +language was as precise, and was as carefully chosen, as the language of +a legal deed; but in an unhappy crisis which arose in 1916, in +circumstances which no one in the world could have foreseen in 1912, +there were some in Ulster who were not only tempted to strain the +interpretation which the Covenant as a whole could legitimately bear, +but who failed to appreciate the significance of the amendments that had +been made in its text at the instance of the Presbyterian Church.[32] + +When these amendments had been incorporated in the Covenant by the +Special Commission, a meeting of the Standing Committee was convened at +Craigavon on the 19th of September to adopt it for recommendation to the +Council. The Committee, standing in a group outside the door leading +from the arcade at Craigavon to the tennis-lawn, listened while Sir +Edward Carson read the Covenant aloud from a stone step which now bears +an inscription recording the event. Those present showed by their +demeanour that they realised the historic character of the transaction +in which they were taking part, and the weight of responsibility they +were about to assume. But no voice expressed dissent or hesitation. The +Covenant was adopted unanimously and without amendment. Its terms were +as follows: + + "ULSTER'S SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT + + "Being convinced in our consciences that Home Rule would be + disastrous to the material well-being of Ulster as well as of the + whole of Ireland, subversive of our civil and religious freedom, + destructive of our citizenship, and perilous to the unity of the + Empire, we, whose names are underwritten, men of Ulster, loyal + subjects of His Gracious Majesty King George V, humbly relying on + the God whom our fathers in days of stress and trial confidently + trusted, do hereby pledge ourselves in solemn Covenant throughout + this our time of threatened calamity to stand by one another in + defending for ourselves and our children our cherished position of + equal citizenship in the United Kingdom, and in using all means + which may be found necessary to defeat the present conspiracy to + set up a Home Rule Parliament in Ireland. And in the event of such + a Parliament being forced upon us we further solemnly and mutually + pledge ourselves to refuse to recognise its authority. In sure + confidence that God will defend the right we hereto subscribe our + names. And further, we individually declare that we have not + already signed this Covenant. God save the King." + +On Monday, the 23rd of September, the Ulster Unionist Council, the body +representing the whole loyalist community on an elective and thoroughly +democratic basis, held its annual meeting in the Ulster Hall, the chief +business being the ratification of the Covenant prior to its being +presented for general signature throughout the province on Ulster Day. +Upwards of five hundred delegates attended the meeting, and unanimously +approved the terms of the document recommended for their acceptance by +their Standing Committee. They then adopted, on the motion of Lord +Londonderry, the Resolution which, as already mentioned, had originally +formed part of the draft of the Covenant itself. This Resolution, as +well as the Covenant, was the subject of extensive comment in the +English and Scottish Press. Some opponents of Ulster directed against it +the flippant ridicule which appeared to be their only weapon against a +movement the gravity of which was admitted by Ministers of the Crown; +but, on the whole, the British Press acknowledged the important +enunciation of political principle which it contained. It placed on +record that: + + "Inasmuch as we, the duly elected delegates and members of the + Ulster Unionist Council, representing all parts of Ulster, are + firmly persuaded that by no law can the right to govern those whom + we represent be bartered away without their consent; that although + the present Government, the services and sacrifices of our race + having been forgotten, may drive us forth from a Constitution which + we have ever loyally upheld, they may not deliver us bound into the + hands of our enemies; and that it is incompetent for any authority, + party, or people to appoint as our rulers a Government dominated by + men disloyal to the Empire and to whom our faith and traditions are + hateful; and inasmuch as we reverently believe that, as in times + past it was given our fathers to save themselves from a like + calamity, so now it may be ordered that our deliverance shall be by + our own hands, to which end it is needful that we be knit together + as one man, each strengthening the other, and none holding back or + counting the cost--therefore we, Loyalists of Ulster, ratify and + confirm the steps so far taken by the Special Commission this day + submitted and explained to us, and we reappoint the Commission to + carry on its work on our behalf as in the past. + + "We enter into the Solemn Covenant appended hereto, and, knowing + the greatness of the issues depending on our faithfulness, we + promise each to the others that, to the uttermost of the strength + and means given us, and not regarding any selfish or private + interest, our substance or our lives, we will make good the said + Covenant; and we now bind ourselves in the steadfast determination + that, whatever may befall, no such domination shall be thrust upon + us, and in the hope that by the blessing of God our Union with + Great Britain, upon which are fixed our affections and trust, may + yet be maintained, and that for ourselves and for our children, for + this Province and for the whole of Ireland, peace, prosperity, and + civil and religious liberty may be secured under the Parliament of + the United Kingdom and of the King whose faithful subjects we are + and will continue all our days." + +It had been known for some weeks that it was the intention of the Ulster +Loyalists to dedicate the 28th of September as "Ulster Day," by holding +special religious services, after which they were to "pledge themselves +to a solemn Covenant," the terms of which were not yet published or, +indeed, finally settled. This announcement, which appeared in the Press +on the 17th of August, was hailed in England as an effective reply to +the recent "turgid homily" of Mr. Churchill, but there was really no +connection between them in the intentions of Ulstermen, who had been too +much occupied with their own affairs to pay much attention to the attack +upon them in the Dundee letters. The Ulster Day celebration was to be +preceded by a series of demonstrations in many of the chief centres of +Ulster, at which the purpose of the Covenant was to be explained to the +people by the leader and his colleagues, and a number of English Peers +and Members of Parliament arranged to show their sympathy with the +policy embodied in the Covenant by taking part in the meetings. + +It would not be true to say that the enthusiasm displayed at this great +series of meetings in September eclipsed all that had gone before, for +it would not be possible for human beings greatly to exceed in that +emotion what had been seen at Craigavon and Balmoral; but they exhibited +an equally grave sense of responsibility, and they proved that the same +exaltation of mind, the same determined spirit, that had been displayed +by Loyalists collected in the populous capital of their province, +equally animated the country towns and rural districts. + +The campaign opened at Enniskillen on the 18th of September, where the +leader was escorted by two squadrons of mounted and well-equipped yeomen +from the station to Portora Gate, at which point 40,000 members of +Unionist Clubs drawn from the surrounding agricultural districts marched +past him in military order. During the following nine days +demonstrations were held at Lisburn, Derry, Coleraine, Ballymena, +Dromore, Portadown, Crumlin, Newtownards, and Ballyroney, culminating +with a meeting in the Ulster Hall--loyalist headquarters--on the eve of +the signing of the Covenant on Ulster Day. At six of these meetings, +including, of course, the last, Sir Edward Carson was the principal +speaker, while all the Ulster Unionist Members of Parliament took part +in their several constituencies. Lord Londonderry was naturally +prominent among the speakers, and presided as usual, when the Duke of +Abercorn was prevented by illness from being present, in the Ulster +Hall. Mr. F.E. Smith, who had closely identified himself with the +Ulster Movement, delighting with his fresh and vigorous eloquence the +meetings at Balmoral and Blenheim, as well as the Orange Lodges whom he +had addressed on the 12th of July, crossed the Channel to lend a helping +hand, and spoke at five meetings on the tour. Others who took part--in +addition to local men like Mr. Thomas Sinclair and Mr. John Young, whose +high character always made their appearance on political platforms of +value to the cause they supported--were Lord Charles Beresford, Lord +Salisbury, Mr. James Campbell, Lord Hugh Cecil, Lord Willoughby de +Broke, and Mr. Harold Smith; while the Marquis of Hamilton and Lord +Castlereagh, by the part which they took in the programme, showed their +desire to carry on the traditions which identified the two leading +Ulster families with loyalist principles. + +A single resolution, identical in the simplicity of its terms, was +carried without a dissenting voice at every one of these meetings: "We +hereby reaffirm the resolve of the great Ulster Convention of 1892: 'We +will not have Home Rule.'" These words became so familiar that the +laconic phrase "We won't have it," was on everybody's lips as the Alpha +and Omega of Ulster's attitude, and was sometimes heard with unexpected +abruptness in no very precise context. A ticket-collector, when clipping +the tickets of the party who were starting from Belfast in a saloon for +Enniskillen, made no remark and no sign of recognition till he reached +Carson, when he said almost in a whisper and without a glimmer of a +smile, as he took a clip out of the leader's ticket: "Tell the +station-master at Clones, Sir Edward, that we won't have it." He +doubtless knew that the political views of that misguided official were +of the wrong colour. A conversation overheard in the crowd at +Enniskillen before the speaking began was a curious example of the habit +so characteristic of Ulster--and indeed of other parts of Ireland +also--of thinking of + + "Old, unhappy, far-off things, and battles long ago" + +as if they had occurred last week, and were a factor to be taken into +account in the conduct of to-day. The demonstration was in the open air, +and the sunshine was gleaming on the grass of a hill close at hand. "It +'ud be a quare thing," said a peasant to his neighbour in the crowd, "if +the rebels would come out and hould a meetin' agin us on yon hill." +"What matter if they would," was the reply, "wouldn't we let on that we +won't have it? an' if that wouldn't do them, isn't there hundreds o' +King James's men at the bottom o' the lough, an' there's plenty o' room +yet." It was not spoken in jest, but in grim conviction that the issue +of 1689 was the issue of 1912, and that another Newtown Butler might +have to be fought. + +This series of meetings in preparation for the Covenant brought Carson +much more closely in touch with the Loyalists in outlying districts than +he had been hitherto, and when it was over their wild devotion to him +personally equalled what it was in Belfast itself. The appeal made to +the hearts of men as quick as any living to detect and resent humbug or +boastfulness, by the simplicity, uncompromising directness, and courage +of his character was irresistible. He never spoke better than during +this tour of the Province. The Special Correspondent of _The Times_, who +sent to his paper vivid descriptive articles on each meeting, said in +his account of the meeting at Coleraine that "Sir Edward Carson was +vigorous, fresh, and picturesque. His command over the feelings of his +Ulster audiences is unquestionable, and never a phrase passes his lips +which does not tell." And when the proceedings of the meeting were over, +the same observer "was at the station to witness the 'send-off' of the +leaders, and for ten minutes before the train for Belfast came in the +tumult of the cheers, the thanks, and the farewells never faltered for +an instant."[33] Two days later another English commentator declared +that "The Ulster campaign has been conducted up to the present with a +combination of wisdom, ability, and restraint which has delighted all +the Unionists of the province, and exasperated their Radical and +Nationalist enemies. From its opening at Enniskillen not a speech has +been delivered unworthy of a great movement in defence of civil and +religious liberty."[34] + +It was characteristic of Sir Edward Carson that neither at these +meetings nor at any time did he use his unmatched power of persuasion to +induce his followers to come forward and sign the Covenant. On the +contrary, he rather warned them only to do so after mature reflection +and with full comprehension of the responsibility which signature would +entail. He told the Unionist Council a few days before the memorable +28th of September: "How often have I thought over this Covenant--how +many hours have I spent, before it was published that we would have one, +in counting the cost that may result! How many times have I thought of +what it may mean to all that we care about up here! Does any man believe +that I lightly took this matter in hand without considering with my +colleagues all that it may mean either in the distant or the not too +distant future? No, it is the gravest matter in all the grave matters in +the various offices I have held that I have ever had to consider." And +he went on to advise the delegates, "responsible men from every district +in Ulster, that it is your duty, when you go back to your various +districts, to warn your people who trust you that, in entering into this +solemn obligation, they are entering into a matter which, whatever may +happen in the future, is the most serious matter that has ever +confronted them in the course of their lives."[35] + +A political campaign such as that of September 1912 could not be a +success, however spontaneous the enthusiasm of the people, however +effective the oratory, unless the arrangements were based on good +organisation. It was by general consent a triumph of organisation, the +credit for which was very largely due to Mr. Richard Dawson Bates, the +Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council. Sir Edward Carson himself very +wisely paid little attention to detail; happily there was no need for +him to do so, for he had beside him in Captain James Craig and Mr. Bates +two men with real genius for organisation, and indefatigable in +relieving "the chief" of all unnecessary work and worry. Mr. Bates had +all the threads of a complex network of organisation in his hands; he +kept in close touch with leading Unionists in every district; he always +knew what was going on in out-of-the-way corners, and where to turn for +the right man for any particular piece of work. Anyone whose duty it has +been to manage even a single political demonstration on a large scale +knows what numerous details have to be carefully foreseen and provided +for. In Ulster a succession of both outdoor and indoor demonstrations, +seldom if ever equalled in this country in magnitude and complexity of +arrangement, besides an amazing quantity of other miscellaneous work +inseparable from the conduct of a political movement in which crisis +followed crisis with bewildering rapidity, were managed year after year +from Mr. Bates's office in the Old Town Hall with a quiet, +unostentatious efficiency which only those could appreciate who saw the +machine at work and knew the master mechanic behind it. Of this +efficiency the September demonstrations in 1912 were a conspicuous +illustration. + +Nor did the Loyalist women of Ulster lag an inch behind the men either +in organisation or in zeal for the Unionist cause, and their keenness at +every town visited in this September tour was exuberantly displayed. +Women had not yet been enfranchised, of course, and the Ulster women had +shown but little interest in the suffragette agitation which was raging +at this time in England; but they had organised themselves in defence of +the Union very effectively on parallel lines to the men, and if the +latter had needed any stimulus to their enthusiasm they would certainly +have got it from their mothers, sisters, and wives. The Marchioness of +Londonderry threw herself whole-heartedly into the movement. Having +always ably seconded her husband's many political and social activities, +she made no exception in regard to his devotion to Ulster. Lord +Londonderry, she was fond of saying, was an Ulsterman born and bred, and +she was an Ulsterwoman "by adoption and grace." Her energy was +inexhaustible, and her enthusiasm contagious; she used her influence and +her wonderful social gifts unsparingly in the Unionist cause. + +A meeting of the Ulster Women's Unionist Council, of which the Dowager +Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava, widow of the great diplomat, was +president, was held on the 17th of September, the day before the +demonstration at Enniskillen, when a resolution proposed by Lady +Londonderry declaring the determination of Ulster women to stand by +their men in the policy to be embodied in the Covenant, was carried with +immense enthusiasm and without dissent. No women were so vehement in +their support of the Loyalist cause as the factory workers, who were +very numerous in Belfast. Indeed, their zeal, and their manner of +displaying it, seemed sometimes to illustrate a well-known line of +Kipling's, considered by some to be anything but complimentary to the +female sex. Anyhow, there was no divergence of opinion or sympathy +between the two sexes in Ulster on the question of Union or Home Rule; +and the women who everywhere attended the meetings in large numbers were +no idle sightseers--though they were certainly hero-worshippers of the +Ulster leader--but a genuine political force to be taken into account. + +It was during the September campaign that the "wooden guns" and "dummy +rifles" appeared, which excited so much derision in the English Radical +Press, whose editors little dreamed that the day was not far distant +when Mr. Asquith's Government would be glad enough to borrow those same +dummy rifles for training the new levies of Kitchener's Army to fight +the Germans. So far as the Ulstermen were concerned the ridicule of +their quasi-military display and equipment never had any sting in it. +They were conscious of the strength given to their cause by the +discipline and military organisation of the volunteers, even if the +weapons with which they drilled should never be replaced by the real +thing; and many of them had an instinctive belief that their leaders +would see to it that they were effectively armed all in good time. And +so with grim earnestness they recruited the various battalions of +volunteers, gave up their evenings to drilling, provided cyclist corps, +signalling corps, ambulances and nurses; they were proud to receive +their leader with guards of honour at the station, and bodyguards while +he drove through their town or district to the meetings where he spoke. +Few of them probably ever so much as heard of the gibes of _The Irish +News_, _The Daily News_, or _The Westminster Gazette_ at the "royal +progresses" of "King Carson"; but they would have been in no way upset +by them if they had, for they were far too much in earnest themselves to +pay heed to the cheap sneers of others. At each one of the September +meetings there was a military setting to the business of the day. At +Enniskillen Carson was conducted by a cavalry escort to the ground where +he was to address the people; at Coleraine, Portadown, and other places +volunteers lined the route and marched in column to and from the +meeting. They were, it is true, but "half-baked" levies, with more zeal +than knowledge of military duties. But competent critics--and there were +many such amongst the visitors--praised their bearing and physique and +the creditable measure of discipline they had already acquired. And it +must be remembered that in September 1912 the Ulster Volunteer Force was +still in its infancy. In the following two years its improvement in +efficiency was very marked; and within three years of the time when its +battalions paraded before Sir Edward Carson, with dummy rifles, and +marched before him to his meetings in Lisburn, Newtownards, Enniskillen, +and Belfast on the eve of the Covenant, those same men had gloriously +fought against the flower of the Prussian Army, and many of them had +fallen in the battle of the Somme. + +The final meeting in the Ulster Hall on Friday the 27th of September was +an impressive climax to the tour. Many English journalists and other +visitors were present, and some of them admitted that, in spite of all +they had heard of what an Ulster Hall meeting was like, they were +astonished by the soul-stirring fervour they witnessed, and especially +by the wonderful spectacle presented at the overflow meeting in the +street outside, which was packed as far as the eye could reach in either +direction with upturned faces, eager to catch the words addressed to +them from a platform erected for the speakers outside an upper window of +the building.[36] + +Messages of sympathy and approval at this supreme moment were read from +Mr. Bonar Law and Lord Lansdowne, Mr. Long, Mr. Balfour, and Mr. Austen +Chamberlain. Then, after brief speeches by four local Belfast men, one +of whom was a representative of Labour, and while the audience were +waiting eagerly for the speech of their leader, there occurred what _The +Times_ next day described as "two entirely delightful, and, as far as +the crowd was concerned, two entirely unexpected episodes." The first +was the presentation to Sir Edward Carson of a faded yellow silk banner +by Colonel Wallace, Grand Master of the Belfast Orangemen, who explained +that it was the identical banner that had been carried before King +William III at the battle of the Boyne, and was now lent by its owner, a +lineal descendant of the original standard-bearer, to be carried before +Carson to the signing of the Covenant; the second was the presentation +to the leader of a silver key, symbolic of Ulster as "the key of the +situation," and a silver pen wherewith to sign the Covenant on the +morrow, by Captain James Craig. "The two incidents," continued the +Correspondent of _The Times_, "were followed by the audience with +breathless excitement, and made a remarkably effective prelude to Sir +Edward Carson's speech. Premeditated, no doubt, that incident of the +banner--yet entirely graceful, entirely fitting to the spirit of the +occasion--a plan carried through with the sense of ceremony which +Ulstermen seem to have always at their command in moments of emotion." + +And if ever there was a "moment of emotion" for the Loyalists of +Ulster--those descendants of the Plantation men who had been +deliberately sent to Ireland with a commission from the first sovereign +of a united Britain to uphold British interests, British honour, and the +Reformed Faith across the narrow sea--Loyalists who were conscious that +throughout the generations they had honestly striven to be faithful to +their mission--if ever in their long and stormy history they experienced +a "moment of emotion," it was assuredly on this evening before the +signing of their Covenant. + +The speeches delivered by their leader and others were merely a vent for +that emotion. There was nothing that could be said about their cause +that they did not know already; but all felt that the heart of the +matter was touched--the whole situation, so far as they were concerned, +summed up in a single sentence of Carson's speech: "We will take +deliberately a step forward, not in defiance but in defence; and the +Covenant which we will most willingly sign to-morrow will be a great +step forward, in no spirit of aggression, in no spirit of ascendancy, +but with a full knowledge that, if necessary, you and I--you trusting +me, and I trusting you--will follow out everything that this Covenant +means to the very end, whatever the consequences." Every man and woman +who heard these words was filled with an exalted sense of the solemnity +of the occasion. The mental atmosphere was not that of a political +meeting, but of a religious service--and, in fact, the proceedings had +been opened by prayer, as had become the invariable custom on such +occasions in Ulster. It was felt to be a time of individual preparation +for the _Sacramentum_ of the following day, which Protestant Ulster had +set apart as a day of self-dedication to a cause for which they were +willing to make any sacrifice. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[28] _The Scotsman_, November 2nd, 1911. + +[29] See Sir B. Carson's speech in _Belfast Newsletter_, September 24th, +1912. + +[30] See _ante_, p. 53. + +[31] See p. 106. + +[32] See p. 248. + +[33] _The Times_, September 23rd, 1912. + +[34] _The Daily Telegraph_, September 25th, 1912. + +[35] _Belfast Newsletter_, September 24th, 1912. + +[36] The article which appeared on the following Sunday in _The +Observer_, showed how profoundly a distinguished London editor and +writer had been moved by what he saw in Belfast. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT + +Ulster Day, Saturday the 28th of September, 1912, was kept as a day of +religious observance by the Northern Loyalists. So far as the +Protestants of all denominations were concerned, Ulster was a province +at prayer on that memorable Saturday morning. In Belfast, not only the +services which had more or less of an official character--those held in +the Cathedral, in the Ulster Hall, in the Assembly Hall--but those held +in nearly all the places of worship in the city, were crowded with +reverent worshippers. It was the same throughout the country towns and +rural districts--there was hardly a village or hamlet where the parish +church and the Presbyterian and Methodist meeting-houses were not +attended by congregations of unwonted numbers and fervour. Not that +there was any of the religious excitement such as accompanies revivalist +meetings; it was simply that a population, naturally religious-minded, +turned instinctively to divine worship as the fitting expression of +common emotion at a moment of critical gravity in their history. "One +noteworthy feature," commented upon by one of the English newspaper +correspondents in a despatch telegraphed during the day, "is the silence +of the great shipyards. In these vast industrial establishments on both +sides of the river, 25,000 men were at work yesterday performing their +task at the highest possible pressure, for the order-books of both firms +are full of orders. Now there is not the sound of a hammer; all is as +silent as the grave. The splendid craftsmen who build the largest ships +in the world have donned their Sunday clothes, and, with Unionist +buttons on the lapels of their coats, or Orange sashes on their +shoulders, are about to engage on what to them is an even more important +task." He also noticed that although the streets were crowded there was +no excitement, for "the average Ulsterman performs his religious and +political duties with calm sobriety. He has no time to-day for mirth or +merriment, for every minute is devoted to proving that he is still the +same man--devoted to the Empire, to the King, and Constitution."[37] + +There is at all times in Ulster far less sectarian enmity between the +Episcopal and other Reformed Churches than in England; on Ulster Day the +complete harmony and co-operation between them was a marked feature of +the observances. At the Cathedral in Belfast the preacher was the Bishop +of Down,[38] while a Presbyterian minister representing the Moderator of +the General Assembly, and the President of the Methodist College took +part in the conduct of the service. At the Ulster Hall the same unity +was evidenced by a similar co-operation between clergy of the three +denominations, and also at the Assembly Hall (a Presbyterian place of +worship), where Dr. Montgomery, the Moderator, was assisted by a +clergyman of the Church of Ireland representing the Bishop. + +The service in the Ulster Hall was attended by Sir Edward Carson, the +Lord Mayor of Belfast (Mr. McMordie, M.P.), most of the distinguished +visitors from England, and by those Ulster members whose constituencies +were in or near the city; those representing country seats went thither +to attend local services and to sign the Covenant with their own +constituents. + +One small but significant detail in the day's proceedings was much +noticed as a striking indication of the instinctive realisation by the +crowd of the exceptional character of the occasion. Bedford Street, +where the Ulster Hall is, was densely packed with spectators, but when +the leader arrived, instead of the hurricane of cheers that invariably +greeted his appearance in the streets, there was nothing but a general +uncovering of heads and respectful silence. It is true that the people +abundantly compensated themselves for this moment of self-restraint +later on, until in the evening one wondered how human throats could +survive so many hours of continuous strain; but the contrast only made +the more remarkable that almost startling silence before the religious +service began. + +The "sense of ceremony" which _The Times_ Correspondent on another +occasion had declared to be characteristic of Ulstermen "in moments of +emotion," was certainly displayed conspicuously on Ulster Day. Ceremony +at large public functions is naturally cast in a military +mould--marching men, bands of music, display of flags, guards of honour, +and so forth--and although on this occasion there was, it is true, more +than mere decorative significance in the military frame to the picture, +it was an admirably designed and effective spectacle. It is but a few +hundred yards from the Ulster Hall to the City Hall, where the signing +of the Covenant was to take place. When the religious service ended, +about noon, Sir Edward Carson and his colleagues proceeded from one hall +to the other on foot. The Boyne standard, which had been presented to +the leader the previous evening, was borne before him to the City Hall. +He was escorted by a guard consisting of a hundred men from the Orange +Lodges of Belfast and a like number representing the Unionist clubs of +the city. These clubs had also provided a force of 2,500 men, whose +duty, admirably performed throughout the day, was to protect the gardens +and statuary surrounding the City Hall from injury by the crowd, and to +keep a clear way to the Hall for the endless stream of men entering to +sign the Covenant. + +The City Hall in Belfast is a building of which Ulster is justly proud. +It is, indeed, one of the few modern public buildings in the British +Islands in which the most exacting critic of architecture finds nothing +to condemn. Standing in the central site of the city with ample garden +space in front, its noble proportions and beautiful facade and dome fill +the view from the broad thoroughfare of Donegal Place. The main entrance +hall, leading to a fine marble stairway, is circular in shape, +surrounded by a marble colonnade carrying the dome, to which the hall is +open through the full height of the building. It was in this central +space beneath the dome that a round table covered with the Union Jack +was placed for the signing of the Covenant by the Ulster leaders and the +most prominent of their supporters. + +To those Englishmen who have never been able to grasp the Ulster point +of view, and who have, therefore, persisted in regarding the Ulster +Movement as a phase of party politics in the ordinary sense, it must +appear strange and even improper that the City Hall, the official +quarters of the Corporation, should have been put to the use for which +it was lent on Ulster Day, 1912. The vast majority of the citizens, +whose property it was, thought it could be used for no better purpose +than to witness their signatures to a deed securing to them their +birthright in the British Empire. + +At the entrance to the City Hall Sir Edward Carson was received by the +Lord Mayor and members of the Corporation wearing their robes of office, +and by the Harbour Commissioners, the Water Board, and the Poor Law +Guardians, by whom he was accompanied into the hall. The text of +Ulster's Solemn League and Covenant had been printed on sheets with +places for ten signatures on each; the first sheet lay on the table for +Edward Carson to sign. + +No man but a dullard without a spark of imagination could have witnessed +the scene presented at that moment without experiencing a thrill which +he would have found it difficult to describe. The sunshine, sending a +beam through the stained glass of the great window on the stairway, +threw warm tints of colour on the marbles of the columns and the +tesselated floor of the hall, sparkled on the Lord Mayor's chain, lent a +rich glow to the scarlet gowns of the City Fathers, and lit up the red +and the blue and the white of the Imperial flag which draped the table +and which was the symbol of so much that they revered to those who stood +looking on. They were grouped in a semicircle behind the leader as he +stepped forward to sign his name--men of substance, leaders in the +commercial life of a great industrial city, elderly men many of them, +lovers of peace and order; men of mark who had served the Crown, like +Londonderry and Campbell and Beresford; Doctors of Divinity, guides and +teachers of religion, like the Bishop and the Moderator of the General +Assembly; Privy Councillors; members of the Imperial Parliament; +barristers and solicitors, shopkeepers and merchants,--there they all +stood, silent witnesses of what all felt to be one of the deeds that +make history, assembled to set their hands, each in his turn, to an +Instrument which, for good or evil, would influence the destiny of their +race; while behind them through the open door could be seen a vast +forest of human heads, endless as far as eye could reach, every one of +whom was in eager accord with the work in hand, and whose blended +voices, while they waited to perform their own part in the great +transaction, were carried to the ears of those in the hall like the +inarticulate noise of moving waters. + +When Carson had signed the Covenant he handed the silver pen to +Londonderry, and the latter's name was followed in order by the +signatures of the Moderator of the General Assembly, the Lord Bishop of +Down, Connor, and Dromore (afterwards Primate of All Ireland), the Dean +of Belfast (afterwards Bishop of Down), the General Secretary of the +Presbyterian Church, the President of the Methodist Conference, the +ex-Chairman of the Congregational Union, Viscount Castlereagh, and Mr. +James Chambers, M.P. for South Belfast; and the rest of the company, +including the Right Hon. Thomas Sinclair and the veteran Sir William +Ewart, as well as the members of the Corporation and other public +authorities and boards, having attached their signatures to other +sheets, the general public waiting outside were then admitted. + +The arrangements for signature by the general public had fully taxed the +organising ability of the specially appointed Ulster Day Committee, and +their three hon. secretaries, Mr. Dawson Bates, Mr. McCammon, and Mr. +Frank Hall. They made provision for signatures to be received in many +hundreds of localities throughout Ulster, but it was impossible to +estimate closely the numbers that would require accommodation at the +City Hall. Lines of desks, giving a total desk-space of more than a +third of a mile, were placed along both sides of the corridors on the +upper and lower floors of the building, which enabled 540 persons to +sign the Covenant simultaneously. It all worked wonderfully smoothly, +largely because every individual in the multitude outside was anxious to +help in maintaining orderly procedure, and behaved with the greatest +patience and willingness to follow directions. The people were admitted +to the Hall in batches of 400 or 500 at a time, and as there was no +confusion there was no waste of time. All through the afternoon and up +to 11 p.m., when the Hall was closed, there was an unceasing flow of men +eager to become Covenanters. Immense numbers who belonged to the Orange +Lodges, Unionist clubs, or other organised bodies, marched to the Hall +in procession, and those whose route lay through Royal Avenue had an +opportunity, of which they took the fullest advantage, of cheering +Carson, who watched the memorable scene from the balcony of the Reform +Club, the quondam headquarters of Ulster Liberalism. + +Prominent and influential men in the country districts refrained from +coming to Belfast, preferring to sign the Covenant with their neighbours +in their own localities. The Duke of Abercorn, who had been prevented by +failing health from taking an active part in the movement of late, and +whose life unhappily was drawing to a close, signed the Covenant at +Barons Court; his son, the Marquis of Hamilton, M.P. for Derry, attached +his signature in the Maiden City together with the Bishop; another +prelate, the Bishop of Clogher, signed at Enniskillen with the Grand +Master of the Orangemen, Lord Erne; at Armagh, the Primate of All +Ireland, the Dean, and Sir John Lonsdale, M.P. (afterwards Lord +Armaghdale), headed the list of signatures; the Provost of Trinity +College signed in Dublin; and at Ballymena the veteran Presbyterian +Privy Councillor, Mr. John Young, and his son Mr. William Robert Young, +Hon. Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council, and for thirty years one +of the most zealous and active workers for the Loyalist cause, were the +first to sign. But a more notable Covenanter than any of these local +leaders was Lord Macnaghten, one of the most illustrious of English +Judges, whose great position as Lord of Appeal did not deter him from +wholly identifying himself with his native Ulster, by accepting the full +responsibility of the signatories of the Covenant. + +Ulstermen living in other parts of Ireland, and in Great Britain, were +not forgotten. Arrangements were made enabling such to sign the Covenant +in Dublin, London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, +and York. Two curious details may be added, which no reader who is alive +to the picturesqueness of historical associations will deem too trivial +to be worth recording. In Edinburgh a number of Ulstermen signed the +Covenant in the old Greyfriars' Churchyard on the "Covenanters' Stone," +the well-known memorial of the Scottish Covenant of the seventeenth +century; and the other incident was that, among some twenty men who +signed the Covenant in Belfast with their own blood, Major Crawford was +able to claim that he was following a family tradition, inasmuch as a +lineal ancestor had in the same grim fashion emphasised his adherence to +the Solemn League and Covenant in 1638. + +The most careful precautions were taken to ensure that all who signed +were properly entitled to do so, by requiring evidence to be furnished +of their Ulster birth or domicile, and references able to corroborate +it. The declaration in the Covenant itself that the person signing had +not already done so was in order to make sure that none of the +signatures should be duplicates. When the lists were closed--they were +kept open for some days after Ulster Day--they were very carefully +scrutinised by a competent staff at the Old Town Hall, and it is certain +that the numbers as eventually published included no duplicate signature +and none that was not genuine. Precisely the same care was taken in the +case of the Declaration by which, in words similar to the Covenant but +without its pledge for definite action, the women of Ulster associated +themselves with the men "in their uncompromising opposition to the Home +Rule Bill now before Parliament." + +It was not until the 22nd of November that the scrutiny and verification +of the signatures was completed, and the actual numbers published. They +were as follows: In Ulster itself 218,206 men had registered themselves +as Covenanters, and 228,991 women had signed the Declaration; in the +rest of Ireland and in Great Britain 19,162 men and 5,055 women had +signed. Thus, a grand total of 471,414 Ulster men and women gave their +adherence to the policy of which the Ulster Covenant was the solemn +pledge. To every one of these was given a copy of the document printed +on parchment, to be retained as a memento, and in thousands of cottages +throughout Ulster the framed Covenant hangs to-day in an honoured place, +and is the householder's most treasured possession. + +Although the main business of the day was over, so far as Carson and the +other leaders were concerned, when they had signed the Covenant in the +City Hall at noon, every hour, and every minute in the hour, until they +took their departure in the Liverpool packet in the evening, was full of +incident and excitement. The multitude in the streets leading to the +City Hall was so densely packed that they had great difficulty in making +their way to the Reform Club, where they were to be entertained at +lunch. And, as every man and woman in the crowd was desperately anxious +the moment they saw him to get near enough to Carson to shake him by the +hand, the pressure of the swaying mass of humanity was a positive +danger. Happily the behaviour of the people was as exemplary as it was +tumultuously enthusiastic. _The Times_ Special Correspondent thus summed +up his impressions of the scene: + + "Belfast did all that a city could do for such an occasion. I do + not well see how its behaviour could have been more impressive. The + tirelessness of the crowd--it was that perhaps which struck me + most; and, secondly, the good conduct of the crowd. Belfast had one + of the lowest of its Saturday records for drunkenness and + disorderliness yesterday. I was in the Reform Club between one and + three o'clock. Again and again I went out on the balcony and + watched the streets. I saw the procession of thousands upon + thousands come down Royal Avenue. But this was not the only line of + march, for all Belfast was now converging upon the City Hall, the + arrangements in which must have been elaborate. It was a procession + a description of which would have been familiar to the Belfast + public, but the like of which is only seen in Ulster." + +The tribute here paid to the conduct of the Belfast crowd was well +merited. But in this respect the day of the Covenant was not so +exceptional as it would have been before the beginning of the Ulster +Movement. Before that period neither Belfast nor any part of Ulster +could have been truthfully described as remarkable for its sobriety. But +by the universal testimony of those qualified to judge in such +matters--police, clergy of all denominations, and workers for social +welfare--the political movement had a sobering and steadying influence +on the people, which became more and more noticeable as the movement +developed, and especially as the volunteers grew in numbers and +discipline. The "man in the street" gained a sense of responsibility +from the feeling that he formed one of a great company whom it was his +wish not to discredit, and he found occupation for mind and body which +diminished the temptations of idle hours. + +From the Reform Club Carson, Londonderry, Beresford, and F.E. Smith went +to the Ulster Club, just across the street, where they dined as the +guests of Lord Mayor McMordie before leaving for Liverpool; and it was +outside that dingy building that the enthusiasm of the people reached a +climax. None who witnessed it can ever forget the scene, which the +English newspaper correspondents required all their superlatives to +describe for London readers next day. Those superlatives need not be +served up again here. One or two bald facts will perhaps give to anyone +possessing any faculty of visualisation as clear an idea as they could +get from any number of dithyrambic pages. The distance from the Ulster +Club to the quay where the Liverpool steamer is berthed is ordinarily +less than a ten minutes' walk. The wagonette in which the Ulster leader +and his friends were drawn by human muscles took three minutes short of +an hour to traverse it. It was estimated that into that short space of +street some 70,000 to 100,000 people had managed to jam themselves. +Movement was almost out of the question, yet everyone within reach +tried to press near enough to grasp hands with the occupants of the +carriage. When at last the shed was reached the people could not bear to +let Carson disappear through the gates. _The Times_ Correspondent heard +them shout, "Don't leave us," "You mustn't leave us," and, he added, "It +was seriously meant; it was only when someone pointed out that Sir +Edward Carson had work to do in England for Ulster, that the crowd +finally gave way and made an opening for their hero."[39] There had been +speeches from the balcony of the Reform Club in the afternoon; speeches +from the window of the Ulster Club in the evening; speeches outside the +dock gates; speeches from the deck of the steamer before departure; +speeches by Carson, by Londonderry, by F.E. Smith, by Lord Charles +Beresford--and the purport of one and all of them could be summed up in +the familiar phrase, "We won't have it." But this simple theme, +elaborated through all the modulations of varied oratory, was one of +which the Belfast populace was no more capable of becoming weary than is +the music lover of tiring of a recurrent _leitmotif_ in a Wagner opera. + +At last the ship moved off, and speech was no longer possible. It was +replaced by song, "Rule Britannia"; then, as the space to the shore +widened, "Auld Lang Syne"; and finally, when the figures lining the quay +were growing invisible in the darkness, those on board heard thousands +of Loyalists fervently singing "God save the King." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[37] _The Standard_, September 30th, 1912. + +[38] Dr. D'Arcy, now (1922) Primate of All Ireland. + +[39] _The Times_, September 30th, 1912. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +PASSING THE BILL + +No part of Great Britain displayed a more constant and whole-hearted +sympathy with the attitude of Ulster than the city of Liverpool. There +was much in common between Belfast and the great commercial port on the +Mersey. Both were the home of a robust Protestantism, which perhaps was +reinforced by the presence in both of a quarter where Irish Nationalists +predominated. Just as West Belfast gave a seat in Parliament to the most +forceful of the younger Nationalist generation, Mr. Devlin, the Scotland +Division of Liverpool had for a generation been represented by Mr. T.P. +O'Connor, one of the veteran leaders of the Parnellite period. In each +case the whole of the rest of the city was uncompromisingly +Conservative, and among the members for Liverpool at the time was Mr. +F.E. Smith, unquestionably the most brilliant of the rising generation +of Conservatives, who had already conspicuously identified himself with +the Ulster Movement, and was a close friend as well as a political +adherent of Carson. Among local leaders of opinion in Liverpool Alderman +Salvidge exercised a wide and powerful influence on the Unionist side. + +It was in accordance with the fitness of things, therefore, that +Liverpool should have wished to associate itself in no doubtful manner +with the men who had just subscribed to the Covenant on the other side +of the Channel. Having left Belfast amid the wonderful scenes described +in the last chapter, Carson, Londonderry, F.E. Smith, Beresford, and the +rest of the distinguished visitors awoke next morning--if the rollers of +the Irish Sea permitted sleep--in the oily waters of the Mersey, to find +at the landing-stage a crowd that in dimensions and demeanour seemed to +be a duplicate of the one they had left outside the dock gates at +Belfast. Except that the point round which everything had centred in +Belfast, the signing of the Covenant, was of course missing in +Liverpool, the Unionists of Liverpool were not to be outdone by the +Ulstermen themselves in their demonstration of loyalty to the Union. + +The packet that carried the group of leaders across the Channel happened +to be, appropriately enough, the R.M.S. _Patriotic_. As she steamed +slowly up the river towards Prince's Landing-stage in the chilly +atmosphere of early morning it was at once evident that more than the +members of the deputation who had arranged to present addresses to +Carson were out to welcome him to Liverpool, and when the workers who +thronged the river bank started singing "O God, our help in ages past," +the sound was strangely familiar in ears fresh from Ulster. + +An address from the Unionist working men of Liverpool and district, +presented by Alderman Salvidge, thanked Carson for his "magnificent +efforts to preserve the integrity of the Empire," and assured him that +they, "Unionist workers of the port which is connected with Belfast in +so many ways, stand by Ulster in this great struggle." Scenes of intense +enthusiasm in the streets culminated in a monster demonstration in Shiel +Park, at which it was estimated that close on 200,000 people were +present. In all the speeches delivered and the resolutions adopted +during this memorable Liverpool visit the same note was sounded, of full +approval of the Covenanters and of determination to support them +whatever might befall. + +The events of the last three months, and especially the signing of the +Covenant, had concentrated on Ulster the attention of the whole United +Kingdom, not to speak of America and the British oversea Dominions. This +was not of unmixed advantage to the cause for which Ulster was making so +determined a stand. There was a tendency more and more to regard the +opposition to Irish Home Rule as an Ulster question, and nothing else. +The Unionist protagonists of the earlier, the Gladstonian, period of the +struggle, men like Salisbury, Randolph Churchill, Devonshire, +Chamberlain, and Goschen, had treated it mainly as an Imperial question, +which it certainly was. In their eyes the Irish Loyalists, of whom the +Ulstermen were the most important merely because they happened to be +geographically concentrated, were valuable allies in a contest vital to +the safety and prosperity of the British Empire; but, although the +particular interests of these Loyalists were recognised as possessing a +powerful claim on British sympathy and support, this was a consideration +quite secondary in comparison with the larger aspects of Imperial policy +raised by the demand for Home Rule. It was an unfortunate result of the +prominence into which Ulster was forced after the introduction of Mr. +Asquith's measure that these larger aspects gradually dropped away, and +the defence of the Union came to be identified almost completely in +England and Scotland with support of the Ulster Loyalists. It was to +this aspect of the case that Mr. Kipling gave prominence in the poem +published on the day of the Balmoral meeting,[40] although no one was +less prone than he to magnify a "side-show" in Imperial policy; and it +was the same note that again was sounded on the eve of the Covenant by +another distinguished English poet. The general feeling of bewilderment +and indignation that the only part of Ireland which had consistently +upheld the British connection should now be not only thrown over by the +British Government but denounced for its obstinate refusal to co-operate +in a separatist movement, was finely expressed in Mr. William Watson's +challenging poem, "Ulster's Reward," which appeared in _The Times_ a few +days before the signing of the Covenant in Belfast: + + "What is the wage the faithful earn? + What is a recompense fair and meet? + Trample their fealty under your feet-- + That, is a fitting and just return. + Flout them, buffet them, over them ride, + Fling them aside! + + "Ulster is ours to mock and spurn, + Ours to spit upon, ours to deride. + And let it be known and blazoned wide + That this is the wage the faithful earn: + Did she uphold us when others defied? + Then fling her aside. + + "Where on the Earth was the like of it done + In the gaze of the sun? + She had pleaded and prayed to be counted still + As one of our household through good and ill, + And with scorn they replied; + Jeered at her loyalty, trod on her pride, + Spurned her, repulsed her, + Great-hearted Ulster; + Flung her aside." + +Appreciating to the full the sympathy and support which their cause +received from leading men of letters in England, it was not the fault of +the Ulstermen themselves that the larger Imperial aspects of the +question thus dropped into the background. They continually strove to +make Englishmen realise that far more was involved than loyal support of +England's only friends in Ireland; they quoted such pronouncements as +Admiral Mahan's that "it is impossible for a military man, or a +statesman with appreciation of military conditions, to look at a map and +not perceive that if the ambition of the Irish Separatists were +realised, it would be even more threatening to the national life of +Britain than the secession of the South was to that of the American +Republic.... An independent Parliament could not safely be trusted even +to avowed friends"; and they showed over and over again, quoting chapter +and verse from Nationalist utterances, and appealing to acknowledged +facts in recent and contemporary history, that it was not to "avowed +friends," but to avowed enemies, that Mr. Asquith was prepared to +concede an independent Parliament. + +But those were the days before the rude awakening from the dream that +the world was to repose for ever in the soft wrappings of universal +peace. Questions of national defence bored Englishmen. The judgment of +the greatest strategical authority of the age weighed less than one of +Lord Haldane's verbose platitudes, and the urgent warnings of Lord +Roberts less than the impudent snub administered to him by an +Under-Secretary. Speakers on public platforms found that sympathy with +Ulster carried a more potent appeal to their audience than any other +they could make on the Irish question, and they naturally therefore +concentrated attention upon it. Liberals, excited alternately to fury +and to ridicule by the proceedings in Belfast, heaped denunciation on +Carson and the Covenant, thereby impelling their opponents to vehement +defence of both; and the result of all this was that before the end of +1912 the sun of Imperial policy which had drawn the homage of earlier +defenders of the Union was almost totally eclipsed by the moon of +Ulster. + +When Parliament reassembled for the autumn session in October the Prime +Minister immediately moved a "guillotine" resolution for allotting time +for the remaining stages of the Home Rule Bill, and, in resisting this +motion, Mr. Bonar Law made one of the most convincing of his many +convincing speeches against the whole policy of the Bill. It stands for +all time as the complete demonstration of a proposition which he argued +over and over again--that Home Rule had never been submitted to the +British electorate, and that that fact alone was full justification for +Ulster's resolve to resist it. It was impossible for any democratic +Minister to refute the contention that even if the principle of the +Government's policy had been as frankly submitted to the electorate as +it had in fact been carefully withheld, it would still remain true that +the intensity of the Ulster opposition was itself a new factor in the +situation upon Which the people were entitled to be consulted. There was +a limit, said Mr. Bonar Law, to the obligation to submit to legally +constituted authority, and that limit was reached "in a free country +when a body of men, whether they call themselves a Cabinet or not, +propose to make a great change like this for which they have never +received the sanction of the people." + +It was, however, thoroughly understood by every member of the House of +Commons that argument, no matter how irrefutable, had no effect on the +situation, which was governed by the simple fact that the life of the +Ministry depended on the good-will of the Nationalist section of the +Coalition, which rigorously demanded the passage of the Bill in the +current session, and feared nothing so much as the judgment of the +English people upon it. Consequently, under the guillotine, great blocks +of the Bill, containing the most far-reaching constitutional issues, +and matters vital to the political and economic structure of the centre +of the British Empire, were passed through the House of Commons by the +ringing of the division bells without a word of discussion, exactly as +they had come from the pen of the official draftsman, and destined under +the exigencies of the Parliament Act procedure to be forced through the +Legislature in the same raw condition in the two following sessions. + +This last-mentioned fact suggested a consideration which weighed heavily +on the minds of the Ulster leaders as the year 1912 drew to a close, and +with it the debates on the Bill in Committee. Had the time come when +they ought to put forward in Parliament an alternative policy to the +absolute rejection of the Bill? They had not yet completely abandoned +hope that Ministers, however reluctantly, might still find it impossible +to stave off an appeal to the country; but the opposite hypothesis was +the more probable. If the Bill became law in its present form they would +have to fall back on the policy disclosed at Craigavon and embodied in +the Covenant. But, although it is true that they had supported Mr. +Agar-Robartes's amendment to exclude certain Ulster counties from the +jurisdiction to be set up in Dublin, the Ulster representatives were +reluctant to make proposals of their own which might be misrepresented +as a desire to compromise their hostility to the principle of Home Rule. +Under the Parliament Act procedure, however, they realised that no +material change would be allowed to be made in the Bill after it first +left the House of Commons, although two years would have to elapse +before it could reach the Statute-book; if they were to propound any +alternative to "No Home Rule" it was, therefore, a case of now or never. + +Having regard to the extreme gravity of the course to be followed in +Ulster in the event of the measure passing into law, it was decided that +the most honest and straightforward thing to do was to put forward at +the juncture now reached a policy for dealing with Ulster separately +from the rest of Ireland. But in fulfilment of the promise, from which +he never deviated, to take no important step without first consulting +his supporters in Ulster, Carson went over to attend a meeting of the +Standing Committee in Belfast on the 13th of December, where he +explained fully the reasons why this policy was recommended by himself +and all his parliamentary colleagues. It was not accepted by the +Standing Committee without considerable discussion, but in the end the +decision was unanimous, and the resolution adopting it laid it down that +"in taking this course the Standing Committee firmly believes the +interests of Unionists in the three other provinces of Ireland will be +best conserved." In order to emphasise that the course resolved upon +implied no compromise of their opposition to the Bill as a whole, Sir +Edward Carson wrote a letter to the Prime Minister during the Christmas +recess, which was published in the Press, and which made this point +clear; and he pressed it home in the House of Commons on the 1st of +January, 1913, when he moved to exclude "the Province of Ulster" from +the operation of the Bill in a speech of wonderfully persuasive +eloquence which deeply impressed the House, and which was truly +described by Mr. Asquith as "very powerful and moving," and by Mr. +Redmond as "serious and solemn." + +Carson's proposal was altogether different from what was subsequently +enacted in 1920. It was consistent with the uninterrupted demand of +Ulster to be let alone, it asked for no special privilege, except the +privilege, which was also claimed as an inalienable right, to remain a +part of the United Kingdom with full representation at Westminster and +nowhere else; it required the creation of no fresh subordinate +constitution raising the difficult question as to the precise area which +its jurisdiction could effectively administer. + +Carson's amendment was, of course, rejected by the Government's +invariably docile majority, and on the 16th of January the Home Rule +Bill passed the third reading in the House of Commons, without the +smallest concession having been made to the Ulster opposition, or the +slightest indication as to how the Government intended to meet the +opposition of a different character which was being organised in the +North of Ireland. + +When the Bill went to the Upper House at the end of January the whole +subject was threshed out in a series of exceedingly able speeches; but +the impotence of the Second Chamber under the Parliament Act gave an air +of pathetic unreality to the proceedings, which was neatly epitomised by +Lord Londonderry in the sentence: "The position is, that while the House +of Commons can vote but not speak, the Lords can speak but not vote." +Nevertheless, such speeches as those of the Archbishop of York, Earl +Grey, the Duke of Devonshire, and Lord Londonderry, were not without +effect on opinion outside. Earl Grey, an admitted authority on federal +constitutions, urged that if, as the Government were continually +assuring the country, Home Rule was the first step in the federalisation +of the United Kingdom, there was every reason why Ulster should be a +distinct unit in the federal system. The Archbishop dealt more fully +with the Ulster question. Admitting that he had formerly believed "that +this attitude of Ulster was something of a scarecrow made up out of old +and outworn prejudices," he had now to acknowledge that the men of +Ulster were "of all men the least likely to be 'drugged with the wine of +words,' and were men who of all other men mean and do what they say." +Behind all the glowing eloquence of Mr. Asquith and Mr. Redmond, he +discerned "this figure of Ulster, grim, determined, menacing, which no +eloquence can exorcise and no live statesmanship can ignore." If the +result of this legislation should be actual bloodshed, then, on +whomsoever might rest the responsibility for it, it would mean the +shattering of all the hopes of a united and contented Ireland which it +was the aim of the Bill to create. If Ulster made good her threat of +forcible resistance there was, said the Archbishop, one condition, and +one condition only, on which her coercion could be justified, and that +was that the Government "should have received from the people of this +country an authority clear and explicit" to carry it out. + +But among the numerous striking passages in the debate which occupied +the Peers for four days, none was more telling than Lord Curzon's +picturesque description of how Ulster was to be treated. "You are +compelling Ulster," he said, "to divorce her present husband, to whom +she is not unfaithful, and you compel her to marry someone else whom she +cordially dislikes, with whom she does not want to live; and you do it +because she happens to be rich, and because her new partner has a large +and ravenous offspring to provide for. You are asking rather too much of +human nature." + +That the Home Rule Bill would be rejected on second reading by the Lords +was a foregone conclusion, and it was so rejected by a majority of 257 +on the 31st of January, 1913. The Bill then entered into its period of +gestation under the Parliament Act. The session did not come to an end +until the 7th of March, and the new session began three days afterwards. +It is unnecessary to follow the fortunes of the Bill in Parliament in +1913, for the process was purely mechanical, in order to satisfy the +requirements of the Parliament Act. The preparations for dealing with +the mischief it would work went forward with unflagging energy +elsewhere. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[40] See _ante_, p. 79. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +WAS RESISTANCE JUSTIFIABLE? + + +A story is told of Queen Victoria that in her youthful days, when +studying constitutional history, she once asked Lord Melbourne whether +under any circumstances citizens were justified in resisting legal +authority; to which the old courtier replied: "When asked that question +by a Sovereign of the House of Hanover I feel bound to answer in the +affirmative." If one can imagine a similar question being asked of an +Ulsterman by Mr. Asquith, Mr. Lloyd George, or Sir Edward Grey, in 1912, +the reply would surely have been that such a question asked by a +statesman claiming to be a guardian of Liberal principles and of the +Whig tradition could only be answered in the affirmative. This, at all +events, was the view of the late Duke of Devonshire, who more than any +other statesman of our time could claim to be a representative in his +own person of the Whig tradition handed down from 1688.[41] Passive +obedience has, indeed, been preached as a political dogma in the course +of English history, but never by apostles of Liberalism. Forcible +resistance to legally constituted authority, even when it involved +repudiation of existing allegiance, has often, both in our own and in +foreign countries, won the approval and sympathy of English Liberals. A +long line of illustrious names, from Cromwell and Lord Halifax in +England to Kossuth and Mazzini on the Continent, might be quoted in +support of such a proposition if anyone were likely to challenge it. + +When, then, Liberals professed to be unutterably shocked by Ulster's +declared intention to resist Home Rule both actively and passively, they +could not have based their attitude on the principle that under no +circumstances could such resistance be morally justified. Indeed, in +the case in question, there were circumstances that would have made the +condemnation of Ulster by the English Liberal Party not a little +hypocritical if referred to any general ethical principle. For that +party had itself been for a generation in the closest political alliance +with Irishmen whose leader had boasted that they were as much rebels as +their fathers were in 1798, and whose power in Ireland had been built up +by long-sustained and systematic defiance of the law. Yet the same +politicians who had excused, if they had not applauded, the "Plan of +Campaign," and the organised boycotting and cattle-driving which had for +years characterised the agitation for Home Rule, were unspeakably +shocked when Ulster formed a disciplined Volunteer force which never +committed an outrage, and prepared to set up a Provisional Government +rather than be ruled by an assembly of cattle-drivers in Dublin. +Moreover, many of Mr. Asquith's supporters, and one at least of his most +distinguished colleagues in the Cabinet of 1912, had themselves +organised resistance to an Education Act which they disliked but had +been unable to defeat in Parliament. + +Nevertheless, it must, of course, be freely admitted that the question +as to what conditions justify resistance to the legal authority in the +State--or rebellion, if the more blunt expression be preferred--is an +exceedingly difficult one to answer. It would sound cynical to say, +though Carlyle hardly shrinks from maintaining, that success, and +success alone, redeems rebellion from wickedness and folly. Yet it would +be difficult to explain on any other principle why posterity has +applauded the Parliamentarians of 1643 and the Whigs of 1688, while +condemning Monmouth and Charles Edward; or why Mr. Gladstone sympathised +with Jefferson Davis when he looked like winning and withdrew that +sympathy when he had lost. But if success is not the test, what is? Is +it the aim of the men who resist? The aim that appears honourable and +heroic to one onlooker appears quite the opposite to another, and so the +test resolves itself into a matter of personal partisanship. + +That is probably as near as one can get to a solution of the question. +Those who happen to agree with the purpose for which a rebellion takes +place think the rebels in the right; those who disagree think them in +the wrong. As Mr. Winston Churchill succinctly puts it when commenting +on the strictures passed on his father for "inciting" Ulster to resist +Home Rule, "Constitutional authorities will measure their censures +according to their political opinions." He reminds us, moreover, that +when Lord Randolph was denounced as a "rebel in the skin of a Tory," the +latter "was able to cite the authority of Lord Althorp, Sir Robert Peel, +Mr. Morley, and the Prime Minister (Gladstone) himself, in support of +the contention that circumstances might justify morally, if not +technically, violent resistance and even civil war."[42] + +To this distinguished catalogue of authorities an Ulster apologist might +have added the name of the Chief Secretary for Ireland in Mr. Asquith's +own Cabinet, who admitted in 1912 that "if the religion of the +Protestants were oppressed or their property despoiled they would be +right to fight[43];" which meant that Mr. Birrell did not condemn +fighting in itself, provided he were allowed to decide when the occasion +for it had arisen. Greater authorities than Mr. Birrell held that the +Ulster case for resistance was a good and valid one as it stood. No +English statesman of the last half-century has deservedly enjoyed a +higher reputation for political probity, combined with sound common +sense, than the eighth Duke of Devonshire. As long ago as 1893, when +this same issue had already been raised in circumstances much less +favourable to Ulster than after the passing of the Parliament Act in +1911, the Duke of Devonshire said: + + "The people of Ulster believe, rightly or wrongly, that under a + Government responsible to an Imperial Parliament they possess at + present the fullest security which they can possess of their + personal freedom, their liberties, and their right to transact + their own business in their own way. You have no right to offer + them any inferior security to that; and if, after weighing the + character of the Government which it is sought to impose upon them, + they resolve that they are no longer bound to obey a law which does + not give them equal and just protection with their fellow subjects, + who can say--how at all events can the descendants of those who + resisted King James II say, that they have not a right, if they + think fit, to resist, if they think they have the power, the + imposition of a Government put upon them by force?"[44] + +All the same, there never was a community on the face of the earth to +whom "rebellion" in any real sense of the word was more hateful than to +the people of Ulster. They traditionally were the champions of "law and +order" in Ireland; they prided themselves above all things on their +"loyalty" to their King and to the British flag. And they never +entertained the idea that the movement which they started at Craigavon +in 1911, and to which they solemnly pledged themselves by their Covenant +in the following year, was in the slightest degree a departure from +their cherished "loyalty"--on the contrary, it was an emphatic assertion +of it. They held firmly, as Mr. Bonar Law and the whole Unionist party +in Great Britain held also, that Mr. Asquith and his Government were +forcing Home Rule upon them by unconstitutional methods. They did not +believe that loyalty in the best sense--loyalty to the Sovereign, to the +Empire, to the majesty of the law--required of them passive obedience to +an Act of Parliament placed by such means on the Statute-book, which +they were convinced, moreover, was wholly repugnant to the great +majority of the British people. + +This aspect of the matter was admirably and soberly presented by _The +Times_ in one of the many weighty articles in which that great journal +gave undeviating support to the Ulster cause. + + "A free community cannot justly, or even constitutionally, be + deprived of its privileges or its position in the realm by any + measure that is not stamped with the considered and unquestionable + approval of the great body of electors of the United Kingdom. Any + attempt so to deprive them is a fraud upon their fundamental + rights, which they are justified in resisting, as an act of + violence, by any means in their power. This is elementary doctrine, + borne out by the whole course of English history."[45] + +That the position was paradoxical calls for no denial; but the pith of +the paradox lay in the fact that a movement denounced as "rebellious" by +its political opponents was warmly supported not only by large masses, +probably by the majority, of the people of this country, but by numbers +of individuals of the highest character, occupying stations of great +responsibility. Whatever may be thought of men engaged in actual +political conflict, whom some people appear to think capable of any +wickedness, no one can seriously suggest that men like Lord Macnaghten, +like the late and present Primates of Ireland, like the late Provost of +Trinity, like many other sober thinkers who supported Ulster, were men +who would lightly lend themselves to "rebellion," or any other wild and +irresponsible adventure. As _The Times_ very truly observed in a leading +article in 1912: + + "We remember no precedent in our domestic history since the + Revolution of 1688 for a movement among citizens, law-abiding by + temperament and habit, which resembles the present movement of the + Ulster Protestants. It is no rabble who have undertaken it. It is + the work of orderly, prosperous, and deeply religious men."[46] + + +Nor did the paradox end there. If the Ulster Movement was "rebellious," +its purpose was as paradoxical as its circumstances. It had in it no +subversive element. In this respect it stands (so far as the writer's +knowledge goes) without precedent, a solitary instance in the history of +mankind. The world has witnessed rebellions without number, designed to +bring about many different results--to emancipate a people from +oppression, to upset an obnoxious form of Government, to expel or to +restore a rival dynasty, to transfer allegiance from one Sovereign or +one State to another. But has there ever been a "rebellion" the object +of which was to maintain the _status quo_? Yet that was the sole purpose +of the Ulstermen in all they did from 1911 to 1914. That fact, which +distinguished their movement from every rebellion or revolution in +history, placed them on a far more solid ground of reasonable +justification than the excuse offered by Mr. Churchill for their +bellicose attitude in his father's day. Although he is no doubt right in +saying that "When men are sufficiently in earnest they will back their +words with more than votes," it is a plea that would cover alike the +conduct of Halifax and the other Whigs who resisted the legal authority +of James II, of the Jacobites who fought for his grandson, and of the +contrivers of many another bloody or bloodless Revolution. But there was +nothing revolutionary in the Ulster Movement. It was resistance to the +transfer of a people's allegiance without their consent; to their +forcible expulsion from a Constitution with which they were content and +their forcible inclusion in a Constitution which they detested. This was +the very antithesis of Revolution. English Radical writers and +politicians might argue that no "transfer of allegiance" was +contemplated; but Ulstermen thought they knew better, and the later +development of the Irish question proved how right they were. Even had +they been proved wrong instead of right in their conviction that the +true aim of Irish Nationalism (a term in which Sinn Fein is included) +was essentially separatist, they knew better than Englishmen how little +reality there was in the theory that under the proposed Home Rule their +allegiance would be unaffected and their political _status_ suffer no +degradation. They claimed to occupy a position similar to that of the +North in the American Civil War--with this difference, which, so far as +it went, told in their favour, that whereas Lincoln took up arms to +resist secession, they were prepared to do so to resist expulsion, the +purpose in both cases, however, being to preserve union. The practical +view of the question, as it would appear in the eyes of ordinary men, +was well expressed by Lord Curzon in the House of Lords, when he said: + + "The people of this country will be very loth to condemn those + whose only disloyalty it will be to have been excessive in their + loyalty to the King. Do not suppose that the people of this country + will call those 'rebels' whose only form of rebellion is to insist + on remaining under the Imperial Parliament."[47] + +Of course, men like Sir Edward Carson, Lord Londonderry, Mr. Thomas +Sinclair, and other Ulster leaders were too far-seeing not to realise +that the course they were taking would expose them to the accusation of +having set a bad example which others without the same grounds of +justification might follow in very different circumstances. But this was +a risk they had to shoulder, as have all who are not prepared to +subscribe to the dogma of Passive Obedience without limit. They accepted +it as the less of two evils. But there was something humorous in the +pretence put forward in 1916 and afterwards that the violence to which +the adherents of Sinn Fein had recourse was merely copying Ulster. As if +Irish Nationalism in its extreme form required precedent for +insurrection! Even the leader of "Constitutional Nationalism" himself +had traced his political pedigree to convicted rebels like Tone and +Emmet, and since the date of those heroes there had been at least two +armed risings in Ireland against the British Crown and Government. If +the taunt flung at Ulstermen had been that they had at last thrown +overboard law and order and had stolen the Nationalist policy of active +resistance, there would at least have been superficial plausibility in +it. But when it was suggested or implied that the Ulster example was +actually responsible in any degree whatever for violent outbreaks in the +other provinces, a supercilious smile was the only possible retort from +the lips of representatives of Ulster. + +But what caused them some perplexity was the disposition manifested in +certain quarters in England to look upon the two parties in Ireland in +regard to "rebellion" as "six of one and half a dozen of the other." It +has always, unhappily, been characteristic of a certain type of +Englishman to see no difference between the friends and the enemies of +his country, and, if he has a preference at all, to give it to the +latter. Apart from all other circumstances which in the eyes of +Ulstermen justified them up to the hilt in the policy they pursued, +apart from everything that distinguished them historically and morally +from Irish "rebels," there was the patent and all-important fact that +the motive of their opponents was hostility to England, whereas their +own motive was friendliness and loyalty to England. In that respect they +never wavered. If the course of events had ever led to the employment of +British troops to crush the resistance of Ulster to Home Rule, the +extraordinary spectacle would have been presented to the wondering world +of the King's soldiers shooting down men marching under the British flag +and singing "God save the King." + +It was no doubt because this was very generally understood in England +that the sympathies of large masses of law-loving people were never for +a moment alienated from the men of Ulster by all the striving of their +enemies to brand them as rebels. Constitutional authorities may, as Mr. +Churchill says, "measure their censures according to their political +opinions," but the generality of men, who are not constitutional +authorities, whose political opinions, if they have any, are +fluctuating, and who care little for "juridical niceties," will measure +their censures according to their instinctive sympathies. And the sound +instinct of Englishmen forbade them to blame men who, if rebels in law, +were their firm friends in fact, for taking exceptional and even illegal +measures, when all others failed, to preserve the full unity which they +regarded as the fruit of that friendship. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[41] See _Life of the Eighth Duke of Devonshire,_ by Bernard Holland, +ii, pp. 249-51. + +[42] _Life of Lord Randolph Churchill_, vol. ii, p. 65. + +[43] _Annual Register_, 1912, p. 82. + +[44] Bernard Holland's _Life of the Eighth Duke of Devonshire_, ii, 250. + +[45] _The Times_, July 14th, 1913. + +[46] Ibid., August 22nd, 1912. + +[47] _Parliamentary Debates_ (House of Lords), July 15th, 1913. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT AND PROPAGANDA + + +By the death of the Duke of Abercorn on the 3rd of January, 1913, the +Ulster Loyalists lost a leader who had for many years occupied a very +special place in their affection and confidence. Owing to failing health +he had been unable to take an active part in the exciting events of the +past two years, but the messages of encouragement and support which were +read from him at Craigavon, Balmoral, and other meetings for organising +resistance, were always received with an enthusiasm which showed, and +was intended to show, that the great part he had played in former years, +and especially his inspiring leadership as Chairman of the Ulster +Convention in 1893, had never been forgotten. + +His death inflicted also, indirectly, another blow which at this +particular moment was galling to loyalists out of all proportion to its +intrinsic importance. The removal to the House of Lords of the Marquis +of Hamilton, the member for Derry city, created a vacancy which was +filled at the ensuing by-election by a Liberal Home Ruler. To lose a +seat anywhere in the north-eastern counties at such a critical time in +the movement was bad enough, but the unfading halo of the historic siege +rested on Derry as on a sanctuary of Protestantism and loyalty, so that +the capture of the "Maiden City" by the enemy wounded loyalist sentiment +far more deeply than the loss of any other constituency. The two parties +had been for some time very nearly evenly balanced there, and every +electioneering art and device, including that of bringing to the poll +voters who had long rested in the cemetery, was practised in Derry with +unfailing zeal and zest by party managers. For some time past trade, +especially ship-building, had been in a state of depression in Derry, +with the result that a good many of the better class of artisans, who +were uniformly Unionist, had gone to Belfast and elsewhere to find work, +leaving the political fortunes of the city at the mercy of the casual +labourer who drifted in from the wilds of Donegal, and who at this +election managed to place the Home Rule candidate in a majority of +fifty-seven. + +It was a matter of course that the late Duke's place as President of the +Ulster Unionist Council should be taken by Lord Londonderry, and it +happened that the annual meeting at which he was formally elected was +held on the same day that witnessed the rejection of the Home Rule Bill +by the House of Lords. + +It was also at this annual meeting (31st January, 1913) that the special +Commission who had been charged to prepare a scheme for the Provisional +Government, presented their draft Report. The work had been done with +great thoroughness and was adopted without substantial alteration by the +Council, but was not made public for several months. The Council itself +was, in the event of the Provisional Government being set up, to +constitute a "Central Authority," and provision was made, with complete +elaboration of detail, for carrying on all the necessary departments of +administration by different Committees and Boards, whose respective +functions were clearly defined. Among those who consented to serve in +these departmental Committees, in addition to the recognised local +leaders in the Ulster Movement, were Dr. Crozier, Archbishop of Armagh, +the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in +Ireland, Lord Charles Beresford, Major-General Montgomery, Colonel +Thomas Hickman, M.P., Lord Claud Hamilton, M.P., Sir Robert Kennedy, +K.C.M.G., and Sir Charles Macnaghten, K.C., son of Lord Macnaghten, the +distinguished Lord of Appeal. Ulster at this time gave a lead on the +question of admitting women to political power, at a time when their +claim to enfranchisement was being strenuously resisted in England, by +including several women in the Provisional Government. + +A most carefully drawn scheme for a separate judiciary in Ulster had +been prepared with the assistance of some of the ablest lawyers in +Ireland. It was in three parts, dealing respectively with (a) the +Supreme Court, (b) the Land Commission, and (c) County Courts; it was +drawn up as an Ordinance, in the usual form of a Parliamentary Bill, and +it is an indication of the spirit in which Ulster was preparing to +resist an Act of Parliament that the Ordinance bore the introductory +heading: "_It is Hereby Enacted by the Central Authority in the name of +the King's Most Excellent Majesty that_------" Similarly, the form of +"Oath or Declaration of Adherence" to be taken by Judges, Magistrates, +Coroners, and other officers of the Courts, set out in a Schedule to the +Ordinance, was: "I ... of ... being about to serve in the Courts of the +Provisional Government as the Central Authority for His Majesty the +King, etc." + +It will be remembered that the original resolution by which the Council +decided to set up a Provisional Government limited its duration until +Ulster should "again resume unimpaired her citizenship in the United +Kingdom,"[48] and at a later date it was explicitly stated that it was +to act as trustee for the Imperial Parliament. All the forms prepared +for use while it remained in being purported to be issued in the name of +the King. And the Resolution adopted by the Unionist Council immediately +after constituting itself the Central Authority of the Provisional +Government, in which the reasons for that policy were recorded, +concluded with the statement that "we, for our part, in the course we +have determined to pursue, are inspired not alone by regard to the true +welfare of our own country, but by devotion to the interests of our +world-wide Empire and loyalty to our beloved King." If this was the +language of rebels, it struck a note that can never before have been +heard in a chorus of disaffection. + +The demonstrations against the Government's policy which had been held +during the last eighteen months, of which some account has been given, +were so impressive that those which followed were inevitably less +remarkable by comparison. They were, too, necessarily to a large +extent, repetitions of what had gone before. There might be, and there +were, plenty of variations on the old theme, but there was no new theme +to introduce. Propaganda to the extent possible with the resources at +the disposal of the Ulster Unionist Council was carried on in the +British constituencies in 1913, the cost being defrayed chiefly through +generous subscriptions collected by the energy and influence of Mr. +Walter Long; but many were beginning to share the opinion of Mr. Charles +Craig, M.P., who scandalised the Radicals by saying at Antrim in March +that, while it was incumbent on Ulstermen to do their best to educate +the electorate, "he believed that, as an argument, ten thousand pounds +spent on rifles would be a thousand times stronger than the same amount +spent on meetings, speeches, and pamphlets." + +On the 27th of March a letter appeared in the London newspapers +announcing the formation of a "British League for the support of Ulster +and the Union," with an office in London. It was signed by a hundred +Peers and 120 Unionist Members of the House of Commons. The manifesto +emphasised the Imperial aspect of the great struggle that was going on, +asserting that it was "quite clear that the men of Ulster are not +fighting only for their own liberties. Ulster will be the field on which +the privileges of the whole nation will be lost or won." A small +executive Committee was appointed, with the Duke of Bedford as Chairman, +and within a few weeks large numbers of people in all parts of the +country joined the new organisation. A conference attended by upwards of +150 honorary agents from all parts of the country was held at +Londonderry House on the 4th of June, where the work of the League was +discussed, and its future policy arranged. Its operations were not +ostentatious, but they were far from being negligible, especially in +connection with later developments of the movement in the following +year. This proof of British support was most encouraging to the people +of Ulster, and the Dublin correspondent of _The Times_ reported that it +gave no less satisfaction to loyalists in other parts of Ireland, among +whom, as the position became more desperate every day, there was "not +the least sign of giving way, of accepting the inevitable." + +Every month that passed in uncertainty as to what fate was reserved for +Ulster, and especially every visit of the leader to Belfast, endeared +him more intensely to his followers, who had long since learnt to give +him their unquestioning trust; and his bereavement by the death of his +wife in April 1913 brought him the profound and affectionate sympathy of +a warm-hearted people, which manifested itself in most moving fashion at +a great meeting a month later on the 16th of May, when, at the opening +of a new drill hall in the most industrial district of Belfast, Sir +Edward exclaimed, in response to a tumultuous reception, "Heaven knows, +my one affection left me is my love of Ireland." + +He took occasion at the same meeting to impress upon his followers the +spirit by which all their actions should be guided, and which always +guided his own. With a significant reference to the purposes for which +the new drill hall might be used, he added, "Always remember--this is +essential--always remember you have no quarrel with individuals. We +welcome and we love every individual Irishman, even though he may be +opposed to us. Our quarrel is with the Government." When the feelings of +masses of men are deeply stirred in political conflict such exhortations +are never superfluous; and there never was a leader who could give them +with better grace than Sir Edward Carson, who himself combined to an +extraordinary degree strength of conviction with entire freedom from +bitterness towards individual opponents.[49] + +In this same speech he showed that there was no slackening of +determination to pursue to the end the policy of the Covenant. There had +been rumours that the Government were making secret inquiries with a +view to taking legal proceedings, and in allusion to them Carson moved +his audience to one of the most wonderful demonstrations of personal +devotion that even he ever evoked, by saying: "If they want to test the +legality of anything we are doing, let them not attack humble men--I am +responsible for everything, and they know where to find me." + +The Bill was running its course for the second time through Parliament, +a course that was now farcically perfunctory, and Carson returned to +London to repeat in the House of Commons on the 10th of June his defiant +acceptance of responsibility for the Ulster preparations. He was back in +Belfast for the 12th of July celebrations, when 150,000 Orangemen +assembled at Craigavon to hear another speech from their leader full of +confident challenge, and to receive another message of encouragement +from Mr. Bonar Law, who assured them that "whatever steps they might +feel compelled to take, whether they were constitutional, or whether in +the long run they were unconstitutional, they had the whole of the +Unionist Party under his leadership behind them." + +The leader of the Unionist Party had good reason to know that his +message to Ulster was endorsed by his followers. That had been +demonstrated beyond all possibility of doubt during the preceding month. +The Ulster Unionist Members of the House of Commons, with Carson at +their head, had during June made a tour of some of the principal towns +of Scotland and the North of England, receiving a resounding welcome +wherever they went. The usual custom of political meetings, where one or +two prominent speakers have the platform to themselves, was departed +from; the whole parliamentary contingent kept together throughout the +tour as a deputation from Ulster to the constituencies visited, taking +in turn the duty of supporting Carson, who was everywhere the principal +speaker. + +There were wonderful demonstrations at Glasgow and Edinburgh, both in +the streets and the principal halls, proving, as was aptly said by _The +Yorkshire Post_, that "the cry of the new Covenanters is not unheeded by +the descendants of the old"; and thence they went south, drawing great +cheering crowds to welcome them and to present encouraging addresses at +the railway stations at Berwick, Newcastle, Darlington, and York, to +Leeds, where the two largest buildings in the city were packed to +overflowing with Yorkshiremen eager to see and hear the Ulster leader, +and to show their sympathy with the loyalist cause. Similar scenes were +witnessed at Norwich and Bristol, and the tour left no doubt in the +minds of those who followed it, and who studied the comments of the +Press upon it, that not only was the whole Unionist Party in Great +Britain solidly behind the Ulstermen in their resolve to resist being +subjected to a Parliament in Dublin, but that the general drift of +opinion detached from party was increasingly on the same side. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[48] See _ante_, p. 53. + +[49] But he could be moved to stern indignation by the treachery of +former friends, as he showed in December 1921. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +LORD LOREBURN'S LETTER + + +Whatever might be the state of public opinion in England, it was +realised that the Government, if they chose, were in a position to +disregard it; and in Ulster the tension was becoming almost unbearable. +The leaders were apprehensive lest outbreaks of violence should occur, +which they knew would gravely prejudice the movement; and there is no +doubt that it was only the discipline which the rank and file had now +gained, and the extraordinary restraining influence which Carson +exercised, that prevented serious rioting in many places. Incidents like +the attack by Nationalist roughs in Belfast on a carriage conveying +crippled children to a holiday outing on the 31st of May because it was +decorated with Union Jacks might at any moment lead to trouble. There +was some disorder in Belfast in the early hours of the 12th of July; and +an outbreak occurred in August in Derry, always a storm centre, when a +procession was attacked, and a Protestant was shot while watching it +from his own upper window. The incident started rioting, which continued +for several days, and a battalion of troops had to be called in to +restore order. + +Meantime, throughout the summer, while the Government were complacently +carrying their Bill through Parliament for the second time, the Press +was packed with suggestions for averting the crisis which everybody +except the Cabinet recognised as impending. + +It began to be whispered in the clubs and lobbies that the King might +exercise the prerogative of veto, and even men like Lord St. Aldwyn and +the veteran Earl of Halsbury, both of them ex-Cabinet Ministers, +encouraged the idea; but there was no widespread acceptance of the +notion that even in so exceptional a case His Majesty would reject the +advice of his responsible Ministers. But in a letter to _The Times_ on +the 4th of September, Mr. George Cave, K.C., M.P. (afterwards Home +Secretary, and ultimately Lord of Appeal), suggested that the King might +"exercise his undoubted right" to dissolve Parliament before the +beginning of the next session, in order to inform himself as to whether +the policy of his Ministers was endorsed by the people. + +But a much greater sensation was created a few days later by a letter +which appeared in _The Times_ on the 11th of the same month over the +signature of Lord Loreburn. Lord Loreburn had been Lord Chancellor at +the time the Home Rule Bill was first introduced, but had retired from +the Government in June 1912, being replaced on the Woolsack by Lord +Haldane. When the first draft of the Home Rule Bill was under discussion +in the Cabinet in preparation for its introduction in the House of +Commons, two of the younger Ministers, Mr. Lloyd George and Mr. Winston +Churchill, proposed that an attempt should be made to avert the stern +opposition to be expected from Ulster, by treating the northern +Province, or a portion of it, separately from the rest of Ireland. This +proposal was not acceptable to the Cabinet as a whole, and its authors +were roundly rated by Lord Loreburn for so unprincipled a lapse from +orthodox Gladstonian doctrine. What, therefore, must have been the +astonishment of the heretics when they found their mentor, less than two +years later, publicly reproving the Government which he had left for +having got into such a sad mess over the Ulster difficulty! They might +be forgiven some indignation at finding themselves reproved by Lord +Loreburn for faulty statesmanship of which Lord Loreburn was the +principal author. + +Those, however, who had not the same ground for exasperation as Mr. +Lloyd George and Mr. Churchill thought Lord Loreburn's letter very sound +sense. He pointed out that if the Bill were to become law in 1914, as it +stood in September 1913, there would be, if not civil war, at any rate +very serious rioting in the North of Ireland, and when the riots had +been quelled by the Government the spirit that prompted them would +remain. Everybody concerned would suffer from fighting it out to a +finish. The Ex-Chancellor felt bound to assume that "up to the last, +Ministers, who assuredly have not taken leave of their senses, would be +willing to consider proposals for accommodation," and he therefore +suggested that a Conference should be held behind closed doors with a +view to a settlement by consent. If Lord Loreburn had perceived at the +time the draft Bill was before the Cabinet that it was not the Ministers +who proposed separate treatment for Ulster who had "taken leave of their +senses," but those, including himself, who had resisted that proposal, +his wisdom would have been more timely; but it was better late than +never, and his unexpected intervention had a decided influence on +opinion in the country. + +The comment of _The Times_ was very much to the point: + + "On the eve of a great political crisis, it may be of national + disaster, a distinguished Liberal statesman makes public confession + of his belief that, as a permanent solution, the Irish policy of + the Government is indefensible." + +This letter of the ex-Lord Chancellor gave rise to prolonged discussion +in the Press and on the platform. At Durham, on the 13th of September, +Carson declared that he would welcome a Conference if the question was +how to provide a genuine expansion of self-government, but that, if +Ulster was to be not only expelled from the Union but placed under a +Parliament in Dublin, then "they were going to make Home Rule impossible +by steady and persistent opposition." The Government seemed unable to +agree whether a conciliatory or a defiant attitude was their wiser +policy, though it is true that the latter recommended itself mostly to +the least prominent of its members, such as Mr. J.M. Robertson, +Secretary of the Board of Trade, who in a speech at Newcastle on the +25th of September announced scornfully that Ministers were not going to +turn "King Carson" into "Saint Carson" by prosecuting him, and that "the +Government would know how to deal with him."[50] But more important +Ministers were beginning to perceive the unwisdom of this sort of +bluster. Lord Morley, in the House of Lords, denied that he had ever +underrated the Ulster difficulty, and said that for twenty-five years he +had never thought that Ulster was guilty of bluff. Mr. Churchill, at +Dundee, on the 9th of October, no longer talked as he had the previous +year about "not taking Sir Edward Carson too seriously," though he still +appeared to be ignorant of the fact that there was in Ulster anybody +except Orangemen. "The Orange Leaders," he said, "used violent language, +but Liberals should try to understand their position. Their claim for +special consideration, if put forward with sincerity, could not be +ignored by a Government depending on the existing House."[51] + +The Prime Minister, less assured than his subordinate at the Board of +Trade that "King Carson" was negligible, also displayed a somewhat +chastened spirit at Ladybank on the 25th of October, when he +acknowledged that it was "of supreme importance to the future well-being +of Ireland that the new system should not start with the apparent +triumph of one section over another," and he invited a "free and frank +exchange of views."[52] Sir Edward Grey held out another little twig of +olive two days later at Berwick. + +To these overtures, if they deserve the name, Mr. Bonar Law replied in +an address to a gathering of fifteen thousand people at Wallsend on the +29th, in the presence of Sir Edward Carson. Having repeated the Blenheim +pledge, he praised the discipline and restraint shown by the Ulster +people and their leaders, but warned his hearers that the nation was +drifting towards the tragedy of civil war, the responsibility for which +would rest on the Government. He expressed his readiness to respond to +Mr. Asquith's invitation, but pointed out that there were only three +alternatives open to the Government. They must either (1) go on as they +were doing and provoke Ulster to resist--that was madness; (2) they +could consult the electorate, whose decision would be accepted by the +Unionist Party as a whole; or (3) they could try to arrange a settlement +which would at least avert civil war. + +There had been during the past six or eight months an unusual dearth of +by-elections to test public opinion in regard to the Irish policy of the +Government, and it must be borne in mind that the Unionist Party in +Great Britain was still distracted by disputes over the Tariff question, +which in January 1913 had very nearly led to the retirement of Mr. Bonar +Law from the leadership. Nevertheless, in May the Unionists won two +signal victories, one in Cambridgeshire, and one in Cheshire, where the +Altrincham Division sent a staunch friend of Ulster to Parliament in the +person of Mr. George C. Hamilton, who in his maiden speech declared that +he had won the contest entirely on the Ulster Question. Even more +significant, perhaps, were two elections which were fought while the +interchange of party strokes over the Loreburn letter was in progress, +and the results of both were declared on the 8th of November. At +Reading, where the Unionists retained the seat, the Liberal candidate +was constrained by pressure of opinion in the constituency to promise +support for a policy of "separate and generous treatment for Ulster." At +Linlithgow, a Liberal stronghold, where no such promise was forthcoming, +the Liberal majority, in spite of a large Nationalist vote, was reduced +by 1,500 votes as compared with the General Election. There were signs +that Nonconformists, whose great leaders like Spurgeon and Dale had been +hostile to Home Rule in Gladstone's time, were again becoming uneasy +about handing over the Ulster Presbyterians and Methodists to the Roman +hierarchy. A memorial against Home Rule, signed by 131,000 people, which +had been presented to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in +June, had no doubt had some effect on Nonconformist opinion in England, +and it was just about the time when these elections took place that +Carson was described at a large gathering of Nonconformists in London as +"the best embodiment at this moment of the ancient spirit of +Nonconformity."[53] + +Meanwhile the people in Ulster were steadily maturing their plans. The +arrangements already mentioned for setting up a Provisional Government +were confirmed and finally adopted by the Unionist Council in Belfast on +the 24th of September, and the Council by resolution delegated its +powers to the Standing Committee, while the Commission of Five was at +the same time appointed to act as an Executive. Carson, in accepting the +chairmanship of the Central Authority, used the striking phrase, which +precisely epitomised the situation, that "Ulster might be coerced into +submission, but in that case would have to be governed as a conquered +country." The Nationalist retort that the rest of Ireland was now being +so treated, appeared forcible to those Englishmen only who could see no +difference between controlling a disaffected population and chastising a +loyal one. + +At the same meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council on the 24th of +September a guarantee fund was established for providing means to +compensate members of the U.V.F. for any loss or disability they might +suffer as a result of their service, and the widows and dependents of +any who might lose their lives. This was a matter that had caused Carson +anxiety for some time. He was extremely sensitive to the moral +responsibility he would incur towards those who so eagerly followed his +lead, in the event of their suffering loss of life or limb in the +service of Ulster. His proposal that a guarantee fund of a million +sterling should be started, met with a ready response from the Council, +and from the wealthier classes in and about Belfast. The form of +"Indemnity Guarantee" provided for the payment to those entitled to +benefit under it of sums not less than they would have been entitled to +under the Fatal Accidents Act, the Employers' Liability Act, and the +Workman's Compensation Act, as the circumstances of the case might be. +The list was headed by Sir Edward Carson, Lord Londonderry, Captain +Craig, Sir John Lonsdale, Sir George Clark, and Lord Dunleath, with a +subscription of L10,000 each, and their example was followed by Mr. Kerr +Smiley, M.P., Mr. R.M. Liddell, Mr. George Preston, Mr. Henry Musgrave, +Mr. C.E. Allen, and Mr. Frank Workman, who entered their names +severally for the same amount. A quarter of a million sterling was +guaranteed in the room before the Council separated; by the end of a +week it had grown to L387,000; and before the 1st of January, 1914, the +total amount of the Indemnity Guarantee Fund was L1,043,816. + +It gave Carson and the other leaders the greatest possible satisfaction +that the response to this appeal was so prompt and adequate. Not only +was their anxiety relieved in regard to their responsibility to loyal +followers of the rank and file who might become "casualties" in the +movement, but they had been given a striking proof that the business +community of Belfast did not consider its pocket more sacred than its +principles. Moreover, if there had been doubt on that score in anyone's +mind, it was set at rest by a memorable meeting for business men only +held in Belfast on the 3rd of November. Between three and four thousand +leaders of industry and commerce, the majority of whom had never +hitherto taken any active share in political affairs, presided over by +Mr. G.H. Ewart, President of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, gave an +enthusiastic reception to Carson, who told them that he had come more to +consult them as to the commercial aspects of the great political +controversy than to impress his own views on the gathering. It was said +that the men in the hall represented a capital of not less than +L145,000,000 sterling,[54] and there can be no doubt that, even if that +were an exaggerated estimate, they were not of a class to whom +revolution, rebellion, or political upheaval could offer an attractive +prospect. Nevertheless, the meeting passed with complete unanimity a +resolution expressing confidence in Carson and approval of everything he +had done, including the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force, and +declaring that they would refuse to pay "all taxes which they could +control" to an Irish Parliament in Dublin. This meeting was very +satisfactory, for it proved that the "captains of industry" were +entirely in accord with the working classes, whose support of the +movement had never been in doubt. It showed that Ulster was solid +behind Carson; and the unanimity was emphasised rather than disturbed by +a little handful of cranks, calling themselves "Protestant Home Rulers," +who met on the 24th of October at the village of Ballymoney "to protest +against the lawless policy of Carsonism." The principal stickler for +propriety of conduct in public life on this occasion was Sir Roger +Casement. + +While the unity and steadfastness--which enemies called obstinacy--of +the Ulster people were being thus made manifest, the public in England +were hearing a good deal about the growth of the Ulster Volunteer Force +in numbers and efficiency. As will be seen later, the anniversary of the +Covenant was celebrated with great military display at the very time +when the newspapers across the Channel were busy discussing Lord +Loreburn's letter, and at a parade service in the Ulster Hall, Canon +Harding, after pronouncing the Benediction, called on the congregation +to raise their right hands and pledge themselves thereby "to follow +wherever Sir Edward Carson shall lead us." + +The events of September 1913--the setting up of the Provisional +Government, the wonderful and instantaneous response to the appeal for +an Indemnity Guarantee Fund, the rapid formation of an effective +volunteer army--were given the fullest publicity in the English Press. +Every newspaper of importance had its special correspondent in Belfast, +whose telegrams filled columns every day, adorned with all the varieties +of sensational headline type. The Radicals were becoming restive. The +idea that Carson was "not to be taken too seriously," had apparently +missed fire. It was the Ministerial affectation of contempt that no one +was taking seriously; in fact, to borrow an expression from current +slang, the "King Carson" stunt was a "wash-out." + +_The Nation_ suggested that, instead of being laughed at, the Ulster +leader should be prosecuted, or, at any rate, removed from the Privy +Council, and other Liberal papers feverishly took up the suggestion, +debating whether the indictment should be under the Treason Felony Act +of 1848, the Crimes Act of 1887, or the Unlawful Drilling Act of 1819. +One of them, however, which succeeded in keeping its head, did not +believe that a prosecution would succeed; and, as to the Privy Council, +if Carson's name were removed, what about Londonderry and F.E. Smith, +Walter Long, and Bonar Law? In fact, "it would be difficult to know +where to stop."[55] It would have been. The Privy Council would have had +to be reduced to a committee of Radical politicians; and, if Carson had +been prosecuted, room would have had to be found in the dock, not only +for the whole Unionist Party, but for the proprietors and editors of +most of the leading journals. The Government stopped short of that +supreme folly; but their impotence was the measure of the prevailing +sympathy with Ulster. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[50] _Annual Register_, 1913, p. 205. + +[51] Ibid., p. 209. + +[52] Ibid., p. 220. + +[53] _Annual Register_, 1913, p. 225. + +[54] _Annual Register_, 1913, p. 225. + +[55] _Liverpool Daily Post and Mercury_, September 22nd, 1913. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +PREPARATIONS AND PROPOSALS + + +We have seen in a former chapter how the Ulster Volunteer Force +originated. It was never formally established by the act of any +recognised authority, but rather grew spontaneously from the zeal of the +Unionist Clubs and the Orange Lodges to present an effective and +formidable appearance at the demonstrations which marked the progress of +the movement after the meeting at Craigavon in 1911. By the following +summer it had attained considerable numbers and respectable efficiency, +and was becoming organised, without violation of the law, on a +territorial basis under local officers, many of whom had served in the +Army. Early in 1913 the Standing Committee resolved that these units +should be combined into a single force, to be called The Ulster +Volunteer Force, which was to be raised and limited to a strength of +100,000 men, all of whom should be men who had signed the Covenant. When +this organisation took place it became obvious that a serious defect was +the want of a Commander-in-Chief of the whole force, to give it unity +and cohesion. This defect was pressed on the attention of the leaders of +the movement, who then began to look about for a suitable officer of +rank and military experience to take command of the U.V.F. Among English +Members of the House of Commons there was no firmer friend of Ulster +than Colonel Thomas Hickman, C.B., D.S.O., who has been mentioned as one +of those who consented to serve in the Provisional Government. Hickman +had seen a lot of active service, having served with great distinction +in Egypt and the Soudan under Kitchener, and in the South African War. +It was natural to take him into confidence in the search for a general; +and, when he was approached, it was decided that he should consult Lord +Roberts, whose warm sympathy with the Ulster cause was well known to the +leaders of the movement, and whose knowledge of army officers of high +rank was, of course, unequalled. Moreover, the illustrious Field-Marshal +had dropped hints which led those concerned to conjecture that in the +last resort he might not himself be unwilling to lend his matchless +prestige and genius to the loyalist cause in Ireland. The contingency +which might bring about such an accession had not, however, yet arisen, +and might never arise; in the meantime, Lord Roberts gave a ready ear to +Hickman's application, which, after some weeks of delay, he answered in +the following letter, which was at once communicated to Carson and those +in his immediate confidence: + + "ENGLEMERE, ASCOT, BERKS. + + "_4th June_, 1913. + + "DEAR HICKMAN, + + "I have been a long time finding a Senior Officer to help in the + Ulster business, but I think I have got one now. His name is + Lieut.-General Sir George Richardson, K.C.B., c/o Messrs. Henry S. + King & Co., Pall Mall, S.W. He is a retired Indian officer, active + and in good health. He is not an Irishman, but has settled in + Ireland.... Richardson will be in London for about a month, and is + ready to meet you at any time. + + "I am sorry to read about the capture of rifles. + + "Believe me, + + "Yours sincerely, + + "ROBERTS." + +The matter was quickly arranged, and within a few weeks Sir George +Richardson had taken up his residence in Belfast, and his duties as +G.O.C. the Ulster Volunteer Force. + +He was a distinguished soldier. He served under Roberts in the Afghan +Campaign of 1879-80; he took part in the Waziri Expedition of 1881, and +the Zhob Valley Field Force operations of 1890. He was in command of a +Flying Column in the Tirah Expedition of 1897-8, and of a Cavalry +Brigade in the China Expeditionary Force in 1900, and had commanded a +Division at Poona for three years before retiring in 1907. He had been +three times mentioned in despatches, besides receiving a brevet and many +medals and clasps. He was at this time sixty-six years of age, but, like +the great soldier who recommended him to Ulster, he was an active little +man both in body and mind, with no symptom of approaching old age. + +General Richardson was not long in making himself popular, not only with +the force under his command, but with all classes in Ulster. There were +unavoidable difficulties in handling troops whose officers had no +statutory powers of discipline, who had inherited no military +traditions, and who formed part of a population conspicuously +independent in character. But Sir George Richardson was as full of tact +as of good humour, and he soon found that the keenness of the officers +and men, to whom dismissal from the U.V.F. would have been the severest +of punishments, more than counterbalanced the difficulties referred to. + +When the new G.O.C. went to Belfast in July, 1913, he found his command +between fifty and sixty thousand strong, with recruits joining every +day. In September a number of parades were held in different localities, +at which the General was accompanied by Sir Edward Carson, Mr. F.E. +Smith, Captain James Craig, and other Members of Parliament. The local +battalions were in many cases commanded by retired or half-pay officers +of the regular army. At all these inspections Carson addressed the men, +many of whom were now seeing their Commander-in-Chief for the first +time, and pointed out that the U.V.F., being now under a single command, +was no longer a mere collection of unrelated units, but an army. At an +inspection at Antrim on the 21st of September, he made a disclosure +which startled the country not a little next day when it appeared in the +headlines of English newspapers. "I tell the Government," he said, "that +we have pledges and promises from some of the greatest generals in the +army, who have given their word that, when the time comes, if it is +necessary, they will come over and help us to keep the old flag flying." +These promises were entirely spontaneous and unsolicited. More than one +of those who made them did fine service to the Empire in the impending +time of trial which none of them foresaw in 1913. + +Of the men inspected on that day, numbering about 5,000, it was said by +the Special Correspondent of _The Yorkshire Post_, who was present-- + + "As far as I could detect in a very careful observation, there were + not half a dozen of them unqualified by physique or age to play a + manly part. They reminded me more than anything else--except that + but few of them were beyond the best fighting age--of the finest + class of our National Reserve. There was certainly nothing of the + mock soldier about them. Led by keen, smart-looking officers, they + marched past in quarter column with fine, swinging steps, as if + they had been in training for years. Officers who have had the + teaching of them tell me that the rapidity with which they have + become efficient is greater than has ever come within their + experience in training recruits for either the Territorials or the + Regular Service."[56] + +The 24th of September, it will be remembered, was the day when the +formation of the Provisional Government and the Indemnity Fund (with the +subscription of a quarter of a million sterling in two hours) was made +public; on Saturday the 27th, the country parades of Volunteers of the +preceding weeks reached a climax in a grand review in Belfast itself, +when some 15,000 men were drawn up on the same ground where the Balmoral +meeting had been held eighteen months before. They were reviewed by Sir +George Richardson, G.O.C., and it was on this occasion that Mr. F.E. +Smith became famous as "galloper" to the General. The Commanders of the +four regiments on parade--one from each parliamentary division of the +city--comprising fourteen battalions, were: Colonel Wallace, Major F.H. +Crawford, Major McCalmont, M.P., and Captain the Hon. A.C. Chichester. +More than 30,000 sympathetic spectators watched the arrival and the +review of the troops. + +Among these spectators were a large number of special military +correspondents of English newspapers, whose impressions of this +memorable event were studied in every part of the United Kingdom on the +following Monday morning. That which appeared in a great Lancashire +journal may be quoted as a fair and dispassionate account of the scene: + + "It is quite certain that the review of Volunteers at Balmoral + to-day will go down into history as one of the most extraordinary + events in the annals of these islands. Not since the marshalling of + Cromwell's Puritan army have we had anything approaching a + parallel; but, whereas the Puritans took up arms against a king of + whom they disapproved, the men of Ulster strongly protest their + loyalty to the British Throne. The great crowd which lined the + enclosure was eager, earnest, and sympathetic. It was not a + boisterous crowd. On the contrary, beyond the demonstration + following the call for cheers for the Union there was comparatively + little cheering. The crowd seemed burdened with a heavy sense of + the importance of the occasion. The conduct of the gathering was + serious to the point of positive solemnity. + + "The Volunteers from their own ranks policed the grounds, not a + solitary member of the Royal Irish Constabulary being seen in the + enclosure. The sun shone brilliantly as Colonel Wallace led the men + of the North division into the enclosure. Amidst subdued cheers he + marched them across the field in fours, forming up in quarter + column by the right, facing left. For an hour and a quarter the + procession filed through the gates, the men taking up their + positions with perfect movement and not the faintest suggestion of + confusion. As the men from the West took up their position the + crowd broke into a great cheer. They mustered only two battalions, + but they had come from Mr. Devlin's constituency! + + "As a body the men were magnificent. The hardy sons of toil from + shipyards and factories marched shoulder to shoulder with clergy + and doctors, professional men and clerks. From the saluting base + General Richardson took command, and almost immediately Sir Edward + Carson took up his position on the platform, with Lord Londonderry + and Captain Craig in attendance. Then followed a scene that will + live long in the memories of that vast concourse of people. With + the men standing to 'Attention,' the bands struck up the 'British + Grenadiers,' and the whole division advanced in review order, in + perfect lines and unison. + + "The supreme moment had arrived. The men took off their hats, and + the G.O.C. shouted, 'I call upon the men to give three cheers for + the Union, taking their time from me. Hip, hip----' + + "Well, people who were not there must imagine the rest. Out of the + deafening cheers came the strains of 'Rule, Britannia!' from the + bands; the monster Union Jack was unfurled in the centre of the + ground, and the mighty gathering stood bare-headed to 'God save the + King.' It was solemn, impressive, thrilling."[57] + +The following day, Sunday, was "Ulster Day," the first anniversary of +the signing of the Covenant, and it was celebrated in Belfast and many +other places in Ulster by holding special services in all places of +worship, which had the effect of sustaining that spirit of high +seriousness which struck all observers as remarkable in the behaviour of +the people. + +This week, in which occurred the proclamation of the Provisional +Government, the great review of the Belfast Volunteers, and the second +celebration of Ulster Day, was a notable landmark in the movement. The +Press in England and Scotland gave the widest publicity to every +picturesque and impressive detail, and there can be little doubt that +the idea of attempting to arrive at some agreed settlement, started by +Lord Loreburn's letter to _The Times_, was greatly stimulated by these +fresh and convincing proofs of the grim determination of the Ulster +people. + +At all events, the autumn produced more than the usual plethora of +political meetings addressed by "front bench" politicians on both sides, +each answering each like an antiphonal choir; scraps of olive-branch +were timidly held out, only to be snatched back next day in panic lest +someone had blundered in saying too much; while day by day a clamorous +Liberal Press, to whom Ulster's loyalty to King and Empire was an +unforgivable offence, alternated between execration of Ulster wickedness +and affected ridicule of Ulster bluff. But it was evident that genuine +misgiving was beginning to be felt in responsible Liberal quarters. A +Correspondent of _The Manchester Guardian_ on the 25th of November made +a proposal for special treatment of Ulster; on the 1st of December Mr. +Massingham, in _The Daily News_, urged that an effort should be made to +conciliate the northern Protestants; and on the 6th Mr. Asquith +displayed a more conciliatory spirit than usual in a speech at +Manchester. A most active campaign of propaganda in England and Scotland +was also carried on during the autumn by Ulster speakers, among whom +women bore their full share. The Ulster Women's Unionist Association +employed 93 voluntary workers, who visited over 90 constituencies in +Great Britain, addressing 230 important meetings. It was reckoned that +not less than 100,000 electors heard the Ulster case from the lips of +earnest Ulster women. + +On the 5th of December two Royal Proclamations were issued by the +Government, prohibiting the importation of arms and ammunition into +Ireland. But during the Christmas holidays the impression gained ground +that the Government contemplated making concessions to Ulster, and +communications in private between the Prime Minister and Sir Edward +Carson did in fact take place at this time. The truth, however, was that +the Government were not their own masters, and, as Mr. Bonar Law bluntly +declared at Bristol on the 15th of January, 1914, they were compelled by +the Nationalists, on whom they depended for existence, to refuse any +genuine concession. In the same speech Mr. Bonar Law replied to the +allegation that Ulster was crying out before she was hurt, by saying +that the American colonies had done the same thing--they had revolted on +a question of principle while suffering was still distant, and for a +cause that in itself was trivial in comparison with that of Ulster.[58] + +Most of the leaders on both sides were speaking on various platforms in +January. On the 17th Carson, at an inspection of the East Belfast +U.V.F., said he had lately visited Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, and that the +dying statesman, clear-sighted and valiant as ever, had said to him at +parting, "I would fight it out." In the same spirit Mr. Austen +Chamberlain, in a speech at Skipton a fortnight later, ridiculed any +concession that fell short of the exclusion of Ulster from the Irish +Parliament, and asserted that what the policy of the Government amounted +to was that England was to conquer a province and hold it down at the +expense of her friends for the benefit of her enemies.[59] + +Public attention was, however, not allowed to concentrate wholly on +Ireland. The Radicals, instigated by Sir John Brunner, President of the +National Liberal Federation, were doing their best to prevent the +strengthening of the Navy, the time being opportune for parsimony in Mr. +Lloyd George's opinion because our relations with Germany were "far more +friendly than for years past."[60] The militant women suffragists were +carrying on a lively campaign of arson and assault all over the country. +Labour unrest was in a condition of ferment. Land agitation was exciting +the "single-taxers" and other fanatics; and the Tariff question had not +ceased to be a cause of division in the Unionist Party. But, while these +matters were sharing with the Irish problem the attention of the Press +and the public, "conversations" were being held behind the scenes with a +view to averting what everyone now agreed would be a dangerous crisis if +Ulster proved implacable. + +When Parliament met on the 10th of February, 1914, Mr. Asquith referred +to these conversations; but while he congratulated everyone concerned on +the fact that the Press had been successfully kept in the dark for +months regarding them, he had to admit that they had produced no result. +But there were, he said, "schemes and suggestions of settlement in the +air," among them the exclusion of Ulster from the Bill, a proposal on +which he would not at that moment "pronounce, or attempt to pronounce, +any final judgment", and he then announced that, as soon as the +financial business of the year was disposed of, he would bring forward +proposals for the purpose of arriving at an agreement "which will +consult not only the interests but the susceptibilities of all +concerned." + +This appeared to be a notable change of attitude on the part of the +Government; but it was received with not a little suspicion by the +Unionist leaders. Whether or not the change was due, as Mr. William +Moore bluntly asserted, to the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force, +which had now reached its full strength of 100,000 men, the question of +interest was whether the promised proposals would render that force +unnecessary. Mr. Austen Chamberlain asked why the Government's proposals +should be kept bottled up until a date suspiciously near All Fools' Day; +and Sir Edward Carson, in one of the most impressive speeches he ever +made in Parliament, which wrung from Mr. Lloyd George the acknowledgment +that it had "entranced the House," joined Chamberlain in demanding that +the country should not be kept in anxious suspense. The only proper way +of making the proposals known was, he said, by embodying them at once in +a Bill to amend the Home Rule Bill. He confirmed Chamberlain's statement +that nothing short of the exclusion of Ulster would be of the slightest +use. The Covenanters were not men who would have acted as they had done +for the sake of minor details that could be adjusted by "paper +safeguards," they were "fighting for a great principle and a great +ideal," and if their determination to resist was not morally justified +he "did not see how resistance could ever be justified in history at +all." But if the exclusion of Ulster was to be offered, he would +immediately go to Belfast and lay the proposal before his followers. He +did not intend "that Ulster should be a pawn in any political game," and +would not allow himself to be manoeuvred into a position where it could +afterwards be said that Ulster had resorted to arms to secure something +that had been rejected when offered by legislation. The sympathy of +Ulstermen with Loyalists in other parts of Ireland was as deep and +sincere as ever, but no one had ever supposed that Ulster could by force +of arms do more than preserve her own territory from subjection to +Dublin. As for the Nationalists, they would never succeed in coercing +Ulster, but "by showing that good government can come under Home Rule +they might try and win her over to the case of the rest of Ireland." +That was a plan that had never yet been tried. + +The significance of the announcement which Mr. Asquith had now made lay +in the fact that it was an acknowledgment by the Government for the +first time that there was an "Ulster Question" to be dealt with--that +Ulster was not, as had hitherto been the Liberal theory, like any other +minority who must submit to the will of the majority opposed to it, but +a distinct community, conditioned by special circumstances entitling it +to special treatment. The Prime Minister had thus, as Mr. Bonar Law +insisted, "destroyed utterly the whole foundation on which for the last +two years the treatment extended to Ulster in this Bill has been +justified." From that day it became impossible ever again to contend +that Ulster was merely a recalcitrant minority in a larger unity, +without rights of her own. + +The speeches of the Unionist leaders in the House of Commons showed +clearly enough how little faith they had that the Government intended to +do anything that could lead to an agreed settlement. The interval that +passed before the nature of the Government's proposals was made known +increased rather than diminished this distrust. The air was full of +suggestions, the most notable of which was put forward by the veteran +constitutional lawyer, Mr. Frederic Harrison, who proposed that Ulster +should be governed by a separate committee elected by its own +constituencies, with full legislative, administrative, and financial +powers, subject only to the Crown and the Imperial Parliament.[61] +Unionists did not believe that the Liberal Cabinet would be allowed by +their Nationalist masters to offer anything so liberal to Ulster; nor +did that Province desire autonomy for itself. They believed that the +chief desire of the Government was not to appease Ulster, but to put her +in a tactically indefensible position. This fear had been expressed by +Lord Lansdowne as long before as the previous October, when he wrote +privately to Carson in reference to Lord Loreburn's suggested Conference +that he suspected the intention of the Government to be "to offer us +terms which they know we cannot accept, and then throw on us the odium +of having obstructed a settlement." Mr. Walter Long had the same +apprehension in March 1914 as to the purpose of Mr. Asquith's unknown +proposals. Both these leaders herein showed insight and prescience, for +not only Mr. Asquith's Government, but also that which succeeded it, had +resort on many subsequent occasions to the manoeuvre suspected by Lord +Lansdowne. + +On the other hand, there were encouraging signs in the country. To the +intense satisfaction of Unionists, Mr. C.F.G. Masterman, who had just +been promoted to the Cabinet, lost his seat in East London when he +sought re-election in February, and a day or two later the Government +suffered another defeat in Scotland. On the 27th of February Lord +Milner, a fearless supporter of the Ulster cause, wrote to Carson that a +British Covenant had been drawn up in support of the Ulster Covenanters, +and that the first signatures, in addition to his own, were those of +Field-Marshal Lord Roberts, Admiral of the Fleet Sir E. Seymour, the +Duke of Portland, Lord Balfour of Burleigh, Lord Desborough, Lord Lovat, +Mr. Rudyard Kipling, Sir W. Ramsay, F.R.S., the Dean of Canterbury, +Professors Dicey and Goudy, Sir George Hayter Chubb, and Mr. Salvidge, +the influential alderman of Liverpool. On the 6th of March Mr. Walter +Long, writing from the office of the Union Defence League, of which he +was President, was able to inform Carson that there was "a rush to sign +the Covenant--we are really almost overpowered." This was supplemented +by a women's Covenant, which, like the men's, "had been numerously and +influentially signed, about 3 or 4 per cent, of the signatories, it was +said, being Liberals."[62] Long believed from this and other evidence +that had reached him that "public opinion was now really aroused in the +country," and that the steadfast policy of Ulster had the undoubted +support of the electorate. + +Only those who were in the confidence of Mr. Asquith and his colleagues +at the beginning of 1914 can know whether the "proposals" they then made +were ever seriously put forward as an effort towards appeasement. If +they were sincerely meant for such, it implied a degree of ignorance of +the chief factor in the problem with which it is difficult to credit +able Ministers who had been face to face with that problem for years. +They must have supposed that their leading opponents were capable of +saying emphatically one thing and meaning quite another. For the +Unionist leaders had stated over and over again in the most unmistakable +terms, both in the recent debate on the Address, and on innumerable +former occasions, that nothing except the "exclusion of Ulster" could +furnish a basis for negotiation towards settlement. + +And yet, when the Prime Minister at last put his cards on the table on +the 9th of March, in moving the second reading of the Home Rule +Bill--which now entered on its third and last lap under the Parliament +Act--it was found that his much-trumpeted proposals were derisory to the +last degree. The scheme was that which came to be known as county option +with a time limit. Any county in Ulster, including the cities of Belfast +and Derry, was to be given the right to vote itself out of the Home Rule +jurisdiction, on a requisition signed by a specified proportion of its +parliamentary electorate, for a period of six years. + +Mr. Bonar Law said at once, on behalf of the Unionist Party, that apart +from all other objections to the Government scheme, and they were many, +the time limit for exclusion made the whole proposal a mockery. All that +it meant was that when the preparations in Ulster for resistance to Home +Rule had been got rid of--for it would be practically impossible to keep +them in full swing for six years--Ulster should then be compelled to +submit to the very thing to which she refused to submit now. Carson +described the proposal as a "sentence of death with a stay of execution +for six years." He noted with satisfaction indeed the admission of the +principle of exclusion, but expressed his conviction that the time limit +had been introduced merely in order to make it impossible for Ulster to +accept. Ulster wanted the question settled once for all, so that she +might turn her attention from politics to her ordinary business. The +time limit would keep the fever of political agitation at a high +temperature for six years, and at the end of that period forcible +resistance would be as necessary as ever, while in the interval all +administration would be paralysed by the unworkable nature of the system +to be introduced for six years. Although there were other gross blots on +the scheme outlined by the Prime Minister, yet, if the time limit were +dropped, Carson said he would submit it to a convention in Belfast; but +he utterly declined to do so if the time limit was to be retained. + +The debate was adjourned indefinitely, and before it could be resumed +the whole situation was rendered still more grave by the events to be +narrated in the next chapter, and by a menacing speech delivered by Mr. +Churchill at Bradford on the 14th of March. He hinted that, if Ulster +persisted in refusing the offer made by the Prime Minister, which was +the Government's last word, the forces of the Crown would have to be +employed against her; there were, he said, "worse things than bloodshed +even on an extended scale"; and he ended by saying, "Let us go forward +together and put these grave matters to the proof."[63] Two days later +Mr. Asquith, in answer to questions in the House of Commons, announced +that no particulars of the Government scheme would be given unless the +principle of the proposals were accepted as a basis of agreement. + +The leader of the Unionist Party replied by moving a vote of censure on +the Government on the 19th of March. Mr. Churchill's Bradford speech, +and one no less defiant by Mr. Devlin the day following it, had charged +with inflammable material the atmosphere in which the debate was +conducted. Sir Edward Carson began his speech by saying that, after +these recent events, "I feel that I ought not to be here, but in +Belfast." There were some sharp passages between him and Churchill, whom +he accused of being anxious to provoke the Ulster people to make an +attack on the soldiers. A highly provocative speech by Mr. Devlin +followed, at the end of which Carson rose and left the House, saying +audibly, "I am off to Belfast." He was accompanied out of the Chamber by +eight Ulster members, and was followed by ringing and sustained cheers +of encouragement and approval from the crowded Unionist benches. It was +a scene which those who witnessed it are not likely to forget. + +The idea of accommodation between the combatant parties was at an end. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[56] _The Yorkshire Post_, September 22nd, 1913. + +[57] _The Liverpool Daily Courier_, September 29th, 1913. + +[58] _Annual Register_, 1914, p. 6. + +[59] _Annual Register_, 1914, p. 12. + +[60] Ibid., p. 1. + +[61] _The Annual Register_, 1914, p. 33. + +[62] _Annual Register_, 1914, pp. 51-2. + +[63] _The Times_, March 16th, 1914. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE CURRAGH INCIDENT + + +When Mr. Bonar Law moved the vote of censure on the Government on the +19th of March he had no idea that the Cabinet had secretly taken in hand +an enterprise which, had it been known, would have furnished infinitely +stronger grounds for their impeachment than anything relating to their +"proposals" for amending the Home Rule Bill. It was an enterprise that, +when it did become known, very nearly brought about their fall from +power. + +The whole truth about the famous "Curragh Incident" has never been +ascertained, and the answers given by the Ministers chiefly concerned, +under cross-examination in the House of Commons, were so evasive and in +several instances so contradictory as to make it certain that they were +exceedingly anxious that the truth should be concealed. But when the +available evidence is pieced together it leads almost irresistibly to +the conclusion that in March 1914 the Cabinet, or at any rate some of +the most prominent members of it, decided to make an imposing +demonstration of military force against Ulster, and that they expected, +if they did not hope, that this operation would goad the Ulstermen into +a clash with the forces of the Crown, which, by putting them morally in +the wrong, would deprive them of the popular sympathy they enjoyed in so +large and increasing a measure. + +When Mr. Churchill spoke at Bradford on the 14th of March of "putting +these grave matters to the proof" he was already deeply involved in what +came to be known as "the plot against Ulster," to which his words were +doubtless an allusion. That plot may perhaps have originated at Mr. +Lloyd George's breakfast-table on the 11th, when he entertained Mr. +Redmond, Mr. Dillon, Mr. Devlin, Mr. O'Connor, and the Chief Secretary +for Ireland, Mr. Birrell; for on the same day it was decided to send a +squadron of battleships with attendant cruisers and destroyers from the +coast of Spain to Lamlash, in the Isle of Arran, opposite Belfast Lough; +and a sub-committee of the Cabinet, consisting of Lord Crewe, Mr. +Churchill, Colonel Seely, Mr. Birrell, and Sir John Simon, was appointed +to deal with affairs connected with Ulster. This sub-committee held its +first meeting the following day, and the next was the date of Mr. +Churchill's threatening speech at Bradford, with its reference to the +prospect of bloodshed and of putting grave matters to the proof. Bearing +in mind this sequence of events, it is not easy to credit the contention +of the Government, after the plot had been discovered, that the despatch +of the fleet to the neighbourhood of the Ulster coast had no connection +with the other naval and military operations which immediately followed. + +For on the 14th, while Churchill was travelling in the train to +Bradford, Seely, the Secretary of State for War, was drafting a letter +to Sir Arthur Paget, the Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, informing him of +reports (it was never discovered where the reports, which were without +the smallest foundation, came from) that attempts might be made "in +various parts of Ireland by evil-disposed persons" to raid Government +stores of arms and ammunition, and instructing the General to "take +special precautions" to safeguard the military depots. It was added that +"information shows that Armagh, Omagh, Carrickfergus, and Enniskillen +are insufficiently guarded."[64] It is permissible to wonder, if there +was danger from evil-disposed persons "in various parts of Ireland," +from whom came the information that the places particularly needing +reinforcements were a ring of strategically important towns round the +outskirts of the loyalist counties of Ulster. + +Whatever the source of the alleged "information"--whether it originated +at Mr. Lloyd George's breakfast-table or elsewhere--Seely evidently +thought it alarmingly urgent, for within forty-eight hours he +telegraphed to Paget asking for a reply before 8 a.m. next morning as to +what steps he had taken, and ordering the General to come at once to +London, bringing with him detailed plans. On the 16th Sir A. Paget +telegraphed that he "had taken all available steps"; but, on second +thoughts, he wrote on the 17th saying that there were sufficient troops +at Enniskillen to guard the depot, that he was making a small increase +to the detachment at Carrickfergus, and that, instead of strengthening +the garrisons of Omagh and Armagh, the stores there were being +removed--an operation that would take eight days. He explained his +reason for this departure from instructions to be that such a movement +of troops as had been ordered by the War Office would, "in the present +state of the country, create intense excitement in Ulster and possibly +precipitate a crisis."[65] + +As soon as this communication reached the War Office orders were sent +that the arms and ammunition at Omagh and Armagh, for the safety of +which from evil-disposed persons Seely had been so apprehensive, were +not to be removed, although they had already been packed for transport. +This order was sent on the 18th of March, and on the same day Sir Arthur +Paget arrived in London from Ireland and had a consultation with the +Ulster sub-committee of the Cabinet, and with Sir John French and other +members of the Army Council at the War Office. + +News of this meeting reached the ears of Sir Edward Carson, who was also +aware that a false report was being spread of attempts by Unionists to +influence the Army, and in his speech on the vote of censure on the 19th +he said: "I have never suggested that the Army should not be sent to +Ulster. I have never suggested that it should not do its duty when sent +there. I hope and expect it will." At the same time reports were +circulating in Dublin--did they come from Downing Street?--that the +Government were preparing to take strong measures against the Ulster +Unionist Council, and to arrest the leaders. In allusion to these +reports the Dublin Correspondent of _The Times_ telegraphed on the 18th +of March: "Any man or Government that increases the danger by blundering +or hasty action will accept a terrible responsibility." + +What passed at the interviews which Sir Arthur Paget had with Ministers +on the 18th and 19th has never been disclosed. But it is clear, from the +events which followed, either that an entirely new plan on a much larger +scale was now inaugurated, or that a development now took place which +Churchill and Seely, and perhaps other Ministers also, had contemplated +from the beginning and had concealed behind the pretended insignificance +of precautions to guard depots. It is noteworthy, at all events, that +the measures contemplated happened to be the stationing of troops in +considerable strength in important strategical positions round Ulster, +simultaneously with the despatch of a powerful fleet to within a few +hours of Belfast. + +The orders issued by the War Office, at any rate, indicated something on +a far bigger scale than the original pretext could justify. Paget's fear +of precipitating a crisis was brushed aside, and General Friend, who was +acting for him in Dublin during his absence, was instructed by telegram +to send to the four Ulster towns more than double the number of men that +Paget had deemed would be sufficient to protect the Government stores. +But still more significant was another order given to Friend on the +18th. The Dorset Regiment, quartered in the Victoria Barracks in +Belfast, were to be moved four miles out to Holywood, taking with them +their stores and ammunition, amounting to some thirty tons; and such was +the anxiety of the Government to get the troops out of the city that +they were told to leave their rifles behind, if necessary, after +rendering them useless by removing the bolts.[66] The Government had +vetoed Paget's plan of removing the stores from Omagh and Armagh, +because their real object was to increase the garrisons at those places; +but, as they had no scruple about moving the much larger supply from the +Victoria Barracks through the most intensely Orange quarter of Belfast, +it could hardly be wondered at if such an order, under the +circumstances, was held to give colour to the idea that Ministers wished +to provoke violent opposition to the troops. Not less inconsistent with +the original pretext was the despatch of a battalion to Newry and +Dundalk. At the latter place there was already a brigade of artillery, +with eighteen guns, which would prove a tough nut for "evil-disposed +persons" to crack; and although both towns would be important points to +hold with an army making war on Ulster, they were both in Nationalist +territory where there could be no fear of raids by Unionists. Yet the +urgency was considered so great at the War Office to occupy these places +in strength not later than the 20th that two cruisers were ordered to +Kingstown to take the troops to Dundalk by sea, if there should be +difficulty about land transport. + +Whatever may have been the actual design of Mr. Churchill and Colonel +Seely, who appear to have practically taken the whole management of the +affair into their own hands, the dispositions must have suggested to +anyone with elementary knowledge of military matters that nothing less +than an overpowering attack on Belfast was in contemplation. The +transfer of the troops from Victoria Barracks, where they would have +been useful to support the civil power in case of rioting, to Holywood, +where they would be less serviceable for that purpose but where they +would be in rapid communication by water with the garrison of +Carrickfergus on the opposite shore of the Lough; the ordering of H.M.S. +_Pathfinder_ and _Attentive_ to Belfast Lough, where they were to arrive +"at daybreak on Saturday the 21st instant" with instructions to support +the soldiers if necessary "by guns and search-lights from the +ships[67]"; the secret and rapid garrisoning of strategic points on all +the railways leading to Belfast,--all this pointed, not to the +safeguarding of stores of army boots and rifles, but to operations of an +offensive campaign. + +It was in this light that the Commander-in-Chief in Ireland himself +interpreted his instructions, and, seeing that he had taken the +responsibility of not fully obeying the much more modest orders he had +received in Ireland on the 14th, it is easy to understand that he +thought the steps now to be taken would lead to serious consequences. He +also foresaw that he might have trouble with some of the officers under +his command, for before leaving London he persuaded the Secretary of +State and Sir John French to give the following permission: "Officers +actually domiciled in Ulster would be exempted from taking part in any +operation that might take place. They would be permitted to 'disappear' +[that being the exact phrase used by the War Office], and when all was +over would be allowed to resume their places without their career or +position being affected."[68] + +Having obtained this concession, Sir Arthur Paget returned the same +night to Dublin, where he arrived on the 20th and had a conference with +his general officers. + +He told them of the instructions he had received, which the Government +called "precautionary" and believed "would be carried out without +resistance." The Commander-in-Chief did not share the Government's +optimism. He thought "that the moves would create intense excitement," +that by next day "the country would be ablaze," and that the result +might be "active operations against organised bodies of the Ulster +Volunteer Force under their responsible leaders." With regard to the +permission for officers domiciled in Ulster to "disappear," he informed +his generals that any other officers who were not prepared to carry out +their duty would be dismissed the Service. + +There was, apparently, some misunderstanding as to whether officers +without an Ulster domicile who objected to fight against Ulster were to +say so at once and accept dismissal, or were to wait until they received +some specific order which they felt unable to obey. Many of the officers +understood the General to mean the former of these two alternatives, and +the Colonel of one line regiment gave his officers half an hour to make +up their minds on a question affecting their whole future career; every +one of them objected to going against Ulster, and "nine or ten refused +under any condition" to do so.[69] Another regimental commanding officer +told his subordinates that "steps have been taken in Ulster so that any +aggression must come from the Ulsterites, and they will have to shed the +first blood," on which his comment was: "The idea of provoking Ulster is +hellish."[70] + +In consequence of what he learnt at the conference with his generals on +the morning of the 20th Sir Arthur Paget telegraphed to the War Office: +"Officer Commanding 5th Lancers states that all officers except two, and +one doubtful, are resigning their commissions to-day. I much fear same +conditions in the 16th Lancers. Fear men will refuse to move[71]"; and +later in the day he reported that the "Brigadier and 57 officers, 3rd +Cavalry Brigade, prefer to accept dismissal if ordered north."[72] Next +day he had to add that the Colonel and all the officers of the 4th +Hussars had taken up the same attitude.[73] + +This was very disconcerting news for the War Office, where it had been +taken for granted that very few, if any, officers, except perhaps a few +natives of Ulster, would elect to wreck their careers, if suddenly +confronted with so terrible a choice, rather than take part in +operations against the Ulster Loyalists. Instructions were immediately +wired to Paget in Dublin to "suspend any senior officers who have +tendered their resignations"; to refuse to accept the resignation of +junior officers; and to send General Gough, the Brigadier in command of +the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, and the commanding officers of the two Lancer +regiments and the 4th Hussars, to report themselves promptly at the War +Office after relieving them of their commands. + +Had the War Office made up its mind what to do with General Gough and +the other cavalry officers when they arrived in London? The inference to +be drawn from the correspondence published by the Government makes it +appear probable that the first intention was to punish these officers +severely _pour encourager les autres_. An officer to replace Gough had +actually been appointed and sent to Ireland, though Mr. Asquith denied +in the House of Commons that the offending generals had been dismissed. +But, if that was the intention, it was abandoned. The reason is not +plain; but the probability is that it had been discovered that sympathy +with Gough was widespread in the Army, and that his dismissal would +bring about very numerous resignations. It was said that a large part of +the Staff of the War Office itself would have laid down their +commissions, and that Aldershot would have been denuded of officers.[74] +Colonel Seely himself described it as a "situation of grave peril to the +Army."[75] + +Anyhow, no disciplinary action of any kind was taken. It was decided to +treat the matter as one of "misunderstanding," and when Gough and his +brother officers appeared at the War Office on Monday the 23rd they were +told that it was all a mistake to suppose that the Government had ever +intended warlike operations against Ulster (the orders to the fleet had +been cancelled by wireless on the 21st), and that they might return at +once to their commands, with the assurance that they would not be +required to serve against Ulster Loyalists. General Gough, who before +leaving Ireland had asked Sir A. Paget for a clear definition in writing +of the duties that officers would be expected to perform if they went to +Ulster,[76] thought that in view of the "misunderstanding" it would be +wise to have Colonel Seely's assurance also in black and white. Seely +had to hurry off to a Cabinet Meeting, and in his absence the +Adjutant-General reduced to writing the verbal statement of the +Secretary of State. A very confused story about the subsequent fortunes +of this piece of paper made it the central mystery round which raged +angry debates. This much, however, is not doubtful. Seely went from the +Cabinet to Buckingham Palace; when he returned to Downing Street the +paper was there, but the Cabinet had broken up. He looked at the paper, +saw that it did not accurately reproduce the assurance he had verbally +given to Gough, and with the help of Lord Morley he thereupon added two +paragraphs (which Mr. Balfour designated "the peccant paragraphs") to +make it conform to his promise. The addition so made was the only part +of the document that gave the assurance that the officers would not be +called upon "to crush political opposition to the policy or principles +of the Home Rule Bill." With this paper in his pocket General Gough +returned to his command at the Curragh. + +There the matter might have ended had not some of the facts become +known to Unionist members of the House of Commons, and to the Press. On +Sunday, the 22nd, Mr. Asquith sent a communication to _The Times_ +(published on the 23rd) in which he minimised the whole matter, putting +forward the original pretext of movements of troops solely to protect +Government property--an account at variance with a statement two days +later by Churchill in regard to the reason for naval movements--and on +the 23rd Seely also made a statement in the House of Commons on the same +lines as the Prime Minister's, which ended by saying that all the +movements of troops were completed "and all orders issued have been +punctually and implicitly obeyed." This was an hour or two after his +interview with the generals who had been summoned from Ireland to be +dismissed for refusal to obey orders. + +But Mr. Bonar Law had his own information, which was much fuller than +the Government imagined. A long and heated debate followed Colonel +Seely's statement, and was continued on the two following days, +gradually dragging to light the facts with a much greater profusion of +detail than is necessary for this narrative. On the 24th Mr. L.S. Amery +made a speech which infuriated the Radicals and Labour members, but the +speaker, as was his intention, made them quite as angry with the +Government as with himself. The cause of offence was that the Government +was thought to have allowed itself to be coerced by the soldiers, while +the latter had been allowed to make their obedience to orders contingent +on a bargain struck with the Government. This aspect of the case was +forcibly argued by Mr. J. Ward, the Labour member for Stoke, in a speech +greatly admired by enthusiasts for "democratic" principles. Although Mr. +Ward's invective was mainly directed against the Unionist Opposition, +the latter listened to it with secret pleasure, perceiving that it was +in reality more damaging to the Government than to themselves, since +Ministers were forced into an attitude of defence against their own +usually docile supporters. It may here be mentioned that at a much later +date, when Mr. John Ward, in the light of experience gained by his own +distinguished service as an officer in the Great War, had come to the +conviction that "the possibility of forcing Ulster within the ambit of a +Dublin Parliament has now become unthinkable," he acknowledged that in +1914 the only way by which Mr. Asquith's Home Rule Act could have been +enforced was through and by the power of the Army.[77] + +So much shaken were the Government by these attacks that on the next +day, the 25th of March, Colonel Seely, at the end of a long narrative of +the transaction, announced his resignation from the Government. He had, +he said, unintentionally misled his colleagues by adding without their +knowledge to the paper given to General Gough; the Cabinet as a whole +was quite innocent of the great offence given to democratic sentiment. +This announcement having had the desired effect of relieving the +Ministry as a whole from responsibility for the "peccant paragraphs," +and averting Radical wrath from their heads, the Prime Minister later in +the debate said he was not going to accept Seely's resignation. Yet Mr. +Churchill exhibited a fine frenzy of indignation against Mr. Austen +Chamberlain for describing it as a "put-up job." + +Only a fairly fertile imagination could suggest a transaction to which +the phrase would be more justly applicable. The idea that Seely, in +adding the paragraphs, was tampering in any way with the considered +policy of the Cabinet was absurd, although it served the purpose of +averting a crisis in the House of Commons. He had been in constant and +close communication with Churchill, who had himself been present at the +War Office Conference with Gough, and who had seen the Prime Minister +earlier in company with Sir John French. The whole business had been +discussed at the Cabinet Meeting, and when Seely returned from his +audience of the King he found the Prime Minister, Mr. Churchill, and +Lord Morley still in the Cabinet room. Mr. Asquith said on the 25th in +the House of Commons that no Minister except Seely had seen the added +paragraphs, and almost at the same moment in the House of Lords Lord +Morley was saying that he had helped Seely to draft them. Moreover, +Lord Morley actually took a copy of them, which he read in the House of +Lords, and he included the substance of them in his exposition of the +Government policy in the Upper House. + +Furthermore, General Gough was on his way to Ireland that night, and if +it had been true that the Prime Minister, or any other Minister, +disapproved of what Seely had done, there was no reason why Gough should +not have found a telegram waiting for him at the Curragh in the morning +cancelling Seely's paragraphs and withdrawing the assurance they +contained. No step of that kind was taken, and the Government, while +repudiating in the House of Commons the action for which Seely was +allowed to take the sole responsibility, permitted Gough to retain in +his despatch-box the document signed by the Army Council. + +For it was not only the Secretary of State for War who was involved. The +memorandum had been written by the Adjutant-General, and it bore the +initials of Sir John French and Sir Spencer Ewart as well as Colonel +Seely's. These members of the Army Council knew that the verbal +assurance given by the Secretary of State to Gough had not been +completely embodied in the written memorandum without the paragraph +which had been repudiated after the debate in the Commons on the 24th, +and they were not prepared to go back on their written word, or to be +satisfied by the "put-up job" resignation of their civilian Chief. They +both sent in their resignations; and, as they refused even under +pressure to withdraw them, the Secretary of State had no choice but to +do the same on the 30th of March, this time beyond recall. Mr. Asquith +announced on the same day that he had himself become Secretary of State +for War, and would have to go to Scotland for re-election. + +The facts as here related were only extracted by the most persistent and +laborious cross-examination of the Government, who employed all the +familiar arts of official evasion in order to conceal the truth from the +country. Day after day Ministers were bombarded by batteries of +questions in the House of Commons, in addition to the lengthy debates +that occupied the House for several consecutive days. This pressure +compelled the Prime Minister to produce a White Paper, entitled +"Correspondence relating to Recent Events in the Irish Command."[78] It +was published on the 25th of March, the third day of the continuous +debates, and, although Mr. Asquith said it contained "all the material +documents," it was immediately apparent to members who had closely +studied the admissions that had been dragged from the Ministers chiefly +concerned, that it was very far from doing so. Much the most important +documents had, in fact, been withheld. Suspicion as to the good faith of +the Government was increased when it was found that the Lord Chancellor, +Lord Haldane, had interpolated into the official Report of his speech in +the House of Lords a significant word which transformed his definite +pledge that Ulster would not be coerced, into a mere statement that no +"immediate" coercion was contemplated. + +In the face of such evasion and prevarication it was out of the question +to let the matter drop. On the 22nd of April the Government was forced +to publish a second White Paper,[79] which contained a large number of +highly important documents omitted from the first. But it was evident +that much was still being kept back, and, in particular, that what had +passed between Sir Arthur Paget and his officers at a conference +mentioned in the published correspondence was being carefully concealed. +Mr. Bonar Law demanded a judicial inquiry, where evidence could be taken +on oath. Mr. Asquith refused, saying that an insinuation against the +honour of Ministers could only be properly investigated by the House of +Commons itself, and that a day would be given for a vote of censure if +the leader of the Opposition meant that he could not trust the word of +Ministers of the Crown. Mr. Bonar Law sharply retorted that he "had +already accused the Prime Minister of making a statement which was +false."[80] But even this did not suffice to drive the Government to +face the ordeal of having their own account of the affair at the Curragh +sifted by the sworn evidence of others who knew the facts. They +preferred to take cover under the dutiful cheers of their parliamentary +majority when they repeated their explanations, which had already been +proved to be untrue. + +But the Ulster Unionist Council had, meantime, been making inquiries on +their own account. There was nothing in the least improper, although the +supporters of the Government tried to make out that there was, in the +officers at the Curragh revealing what the Commander-in-Chief had said +to them, so long as they did not communicate anything to the Press. They +were not, and could not be, pledged to secrecy. It thus happened that it +was possible for the Old Town Hall in Belfast to put together a more +complete account of the whole affair than it suited the Government to +reveal to Parliament. On the 17th of April the Standing Committee issued +to the Press a statement giving the main additional facts which a sworn +inquiry would have elicited. It bore the signatures of Lord Londonderry +and Sir Edward Carson, and there can have been few foolhardy enough to +suggest that these were men who would be likely to take such a step +without first satisfying themselves as to the trustworthiness of the +evidence, a point on which the judgment of one of them at all events was +admittedly unrivalled. + +From this statement it appeared that Sir Arthur Paget, so far from +indicating that mere "precautionary measures" for the protection of +Government stores were in contemplation, told his generals that +preparations had been made for the employment of some 25,000 troops in +Ulster, in conjunction with naval operations. The gravity of the plan +was revealed by the General's use of the words "battles" and "the +enemy," and his statement that he would himself be "in the firing line" +at the first "battle." He said that, when some casualties had been +suffered by the troops, he intended to approach "the enemy" with a flag +of truce and demand their surrender, and if this should be refused he +would order an assault on their position. The cavalry, whose pro-Ulster +sentiments must have been well known to the Commander-in-Chief, were +told that they would only be required to prevent the infantry "bumping +into the enemy," or in other words to act as a cavalry screen; that they +would not be called upon to fire on "the enemy"; and that as soon as +the infantry became engaged, they would be withdrawn and sent to Cork, +where "a disturbance would be arranged" to provide a pretext for the +movement. A Military Governor of Belfast was to be appointed, and the +general purpose of the operations was to blockade Ulster by land and +sea, and to provoke the Ulster men to shed the first blood. + +The publication of this statement with the authority of the two Ulster +leaders created a tremendous sensation. But it probably strengthened the +resolution of the Government to refuse at all costs a judicial inquiry, +which they knew would only supply sworn corroboration of the Ulster +Unionist Council's story. In this they were assisted in an unexpected +way. Just when the pressure was at its highest, relief came by the +diversion of attention and interest caused by another startling event in +Ulster, which will be described in the following chapters. + +This Curragh Incident, which caused intense and prolonged excitement in +March 1914, and nearly upset the Asquith Government, had more than +momentary importance in connection with the Ulster Movement. It proved +to demonstration the intense sympathy with the loyalist cause that +pervaded the Army. That sympathy was not, as Radical politicians like +Mr. John Ward believed, an aristocratic sentiment only to be found in +the mess-rooms of smart cavalry regiments. It existed in all branches of +the Service, and among the rank and file as well as the commissioned +ranks. Sir Arthur Paget's telegram reporting to the War Office the +feeling in the 5th and 16th Lancers, said, "Fear men will refuse to +move."[81] The men had not the same facility as the officers in making +their sentiments known at headquarters, but their sympathies were the +same. + +The Government had no excuse for being ignorant of this feeling in the +Army. It had been a matter of notoriety for a long time. Its existence +and its danger had been reported by Lord Wolseley to the Duke of +Cambridge, back in the old days of Gladstonian Home Rule, in a letter +that had been since published. In July 1913 _The Times_ gave the +warning in a leading article that "the crisis, the approach of which +Ministers affect to treat with unconcern, is already causing uneasiness +and apprehension in the public Services, and especially in the Army.... +It is notorious that some officers have already begun to speak of +sending in their papers." Lord Roberts had uttered a significant warning +in the House of Lords not long before the incident at the Curragh. +Colonel Seely himself had been made aware of it in the previous December +when he signed a War Office Memorandum on the subject[82]; and, indeed, +no officer could fail to be aware of it who had ever been quartered in +Ireland. + +Nor was it surprising that this sympathy should manifest itself. No one +is quicker to appreciate the difference between loyalty and disloyalty +than the soldier. There were few regiments in the Army that had not +learnt by experience that the King's uniform was constantly insulted in +Nationalist Ireland, and as invariably welcomed and honoured in Ulster. +In the vote of censure debate on the 19th of March Mr. Cave quoted an +Irish newspaper, which had described the British Army as "the most +immoral and degraded force in Europe," and warned Irishmen that, by +joining it, all they would get was "a red coat, a dishonoured name, a +besmirched character." On the other hand, the very troops who were sent +North from the Curragh against the advice of Sir Arthur Paget, to +provoke "the Ulsterites to shed the first blood," had, as the +Commander-in-Chief reported, "everywhere a good reception."[83] + +The welcoming cheers at Holywood and Carrickfergus and Armagh were +probably a pleasant novelty to men fresh from the Curragh or Fermoy. +Even in Belfast itself the contrast was brought home to troops quartered +in Victoria Barracks, all of whom were well aware that on the death of a +comrade his coffin would have to be borne by a roundabout route to the +cemetery, to avoid the Nationalist quarter of the city where a military +funeral would be exposed to insult. + +Such experiences, as they harden into traditions, sink deep into the +consciousness of an Army and breed sentiments that are not easily +eradicated. Soldiers ought, of course, to have no politics; but when it +appeared that they might be called upon to open fire on those whom they +had always counted "on our side," in order to subject them forcibly to +men who hated the sight of a British flag and were always ready to spit +upon it, human nature asserted itself. And the incident taught the +Government something as to the difficulty they would have in enforcing +the Home Rule Bill in Ulster. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[64] See White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. II. + +[65] See White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. VI. + +[66] See White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. VII. + +[67] White Paper (Cd. 7329), Part II, No. II. + +[68] White Paper (Cd. 7329), Part III. + +[69] See _Parliamentary Debates_, vol. lx, p. 73. + +[70] Ibid., p. 426. + +[71] Cd. 7329, No. XVII. + +[72] Ibid., Nos. XVIII, XX. + +[73] Ibid., Nos. XXII, XXIII. + +[74] See _Parliamentary Debates_, vol. lx, p. 246. + +[75] Ibid., p. 400. + +[76] White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. XX. + +[77] _The Nineteenth Century and After_, January 1921, art. "The Army +and Ireland," by Lieut.-Colonel John Ward, C.B., C.M.G., M.P. + +[78] Cd. 7318. + +[79] Cd. 7329. + +[80] _Parliamentary Debate_, vol. lxi, p. 765. + +[81] White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. XVII. See _ante_, p. 180. + +[82] White Paper (Cd. 7329), No. I. + +[83] Ibid., No. XXVII. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +ARMING THE U.V.F. + + +If the "evil-disposed persons" who so excited the fancy of Colonel Seely +were supposed to be Ulster Loyalists, the whole story was an absurdity +that did no credit to the Government's Intelligence in Ireland; and if +there ever was any "information," such as the War Office alleged, it +must have come from a source totally ignorant of Ulster psychology. +Raids on Government stores were never part of the Ulster programme. The +excitement of the Curragh Incident passed off without causing any sort +of disturbance, and, as we have seen, the troops who were sent North +received everywhere in Ulster a loyal welcome. This was a fine tribute +to the discipline and restraint of the people, and was a further proof +of their confidence in their leaders. + +Those leaders, it happened, were at that very moment taking measures to +place arms in the hands of the U.V.F. without robbing Government depots +or any one else. That method was left to their opponents in Ireland at a +later date, who adopted it on an extensive scale accompanied by +systematic terrorism. The Ulster plan was quite different. All the arms +they obtained were paid for, and their only crime was that they +successfully hoodwinked Mr. Asquith's colleagues and agents. + +Every movement has its Fabius, and also its Hotspur. Both are +needed--the men of prudence and caution, anxious to avoid extreme +courses, slow to commit themselves too far or to burn their boats with +the river behind them; and the impetuous spirits, who chafe at +half-measures, cannot endure temporising, and are impatient for the +order to advance against any odds. Major F.H. Crawford had more of the +temperament of a Hotspur than of a Fabius, but he nevertheless possessed +qualities of patience, reticence, discretion, and coolness which +enabled him to render invaluable service to the Ulster cause in an +enterprise that would certainly have miscarried in the hands of a man +endowed only with impetuosity and reckless courage. If the story of his +adventures in procuring arms for the U.V.F. be ever told in minute +detail, it will present all the features of an exciting novel by Mr. +John Buchan. + +Fred Crawford, the man who followed a family tradition when he signed +the Covenant with his own blood,[84] began life as a premium apprentice +in Harland and Wolf's great ship-building yard, after which he served +for a year as an engineer in the White Star Line, before settling down +to his father's manufacturing business in Belfast. Like so many ardent +Loyalists in Ulster, he came of Liberal stock. He was for years honorary +Secretary of the Reform Club in Belfast. The more staid members of this +highly respectable establishment were not a little startled and +perplexed when it was brought to their attention in 1907 that +advertisements in the name of one "Hugh Matthews," giving the Belfast +Reform Club as his address, had appeared in a number of foreign +newspapers--French, Belgian, Italian, German, and Austrian--inquiring +for "10,000 rifles and one million rounds of small-arm ammunition." The +membership of the Club included no Hugh Matthews; but inquiry showed +that the name covered the identity of the Hon. Secretary; and Crawford, +who sought no concealment in the matter, justified the advertisements by +pointing out that the Liberal Government which had lately come into +power had begun its rule in Ireland by repealing the Act prohibiting the +importation of arms, and that there was therefore nothing illegal in +what he was doing. But he resigned his secretaryship, which he felt +might hamper future transactions of the same kind. The advertisement was +no doubt half bravado and half practical joke; he wanted to see whether +it would attract notice, and if anything would come of it. But it had +also an element of serious purpose. + +Crawford regarded the advent to power of the Liberal Party as ominous, +as indeed all Ulster did, for the Liberal Party was a Home Rule Party; +and he had from his youth been convinced that the day would come when +Ulster would have to carry out Lord Randolph Churchill's injunction. +That being so, he was not the man to tarry till solemn assemblies of +merchants, lawyers, and divines should propound a policy; if there was +to be fighting, Crawford was going to be ready for it, and thought that +preparation for such a contingency could not begin too soon. And the +advertisements were not barren of practical result. There was an +astonishing number of replies; Crawford purchased a few rifles, and +obtained samples of others; and, what was more important, he gained +knowledge of the Continental trade in second-hand firearms, which had +its centre in the free port of Hamburg, and of the men engaged in that +trade. This knowledge he turned to account in 1912 and the two following +years. + +He had been for nearly twenty years an officer of Artillery Militia, and +when the U.V.F. was organised in 1912 he became its Director of Ordnance +on the headquarters staff. He was also a member of the Standing +Committee of the Ulster Unionist Council, where he persistently +advocated preparation for armed resistance long before most of his +colleagues thought such a policy necessary. But early in 1912 he +obtained leave to get samples of procurable firearms, and his +promptitude in acting on it, and in presenting before certain members of +the Committee a collection of gleaming rifles with bayonets fixed, took +away the breath of the more cautious of his colleagues. + +From this time forward Crawford was frequently engaged in this business. +He got into communication with the dealers in arms whose acquaintance he +had made six years before. He went himself to Hamburg, and, after +learning something of the chicanery prevalent in the trade, which it +took all his resourcefulness to overcome, he fell in with an honest Jew +by whose help he succeeded in sending a thousand rifles safely to +Belfast. Other consignments followed from time to time in larger or +smaller quantities, in the transport of which all the devices of +old-time smuggling were put to the test. Crawford bought a schooner, +which for a year or more proved very useful, and, while employing her in +bringing arms to Ulster, he made acquaintance with a skipper of one of +the Antrim Iron Ore Company's coasting steamers, whose name was Agnew, a +fine seaman of the best type produced by the British Mercantile Marine, +who afterwards proved an invaluable ally, to whose loyalty and ability +Crawford and Ulster owed a deep debt of gratitude, as they also did to +Mr. Robert Browne, Managing Director of the Antrim Iron Ore Company, for +placing at their disposal both vessels and seamen from time to time. + +Now and then the goods fell a victim to Custom House vigilance; for +although there was at this time nothing illegal in importing firearms, +it was not considered prudent to carry on the trade openly, which would +certainly have led to prohibition being introduced and enforced; and, +consequently, infringements of shipping regulations had to be risked, +which gave the authorities the right to interfere if they discovered +rifles where zinc plates or musical instruments ought to have been. + +On one occasion a case of arms was shipped on a small steamer from +Glasgow to Portrush, but was not entered in the manifest, so that the +skipper (being a worthy man) knew nothing--officially--of this box which +lay on deck instead of descending into the hold. But two Customs +officials, who noticed it with unsatisfied curiosity, decided, just as +the boat cast off, to make the trip to Portrush. Happily it was a dirty +night, and they, being bad sailors, were constrained to take refuge from +the elements in the Captain's cabin. But when Portrush was reached +search and research proved unavailing to find the mysterious box; the +skipper could find no mention of it in the manifest and thought the +Customs House gentlemen must have been dreaming; they, on the other +hand, threatened to seize the ship if the box did not materialise, and +were told to do so at their peril. But exactly off Ballycastle, which +had been passed while the officials were poorly, there was a float in +the sea attached to a line, which in due course led to the recovery of a +case of valuable property that was none the worse for a few hours' rest +on the bottom of the Moyle. + +Qualities of a different sort were called into play in negotiating the +purchase of machine-guns from Messrs. Vickers & Co., at Woolwich. Here a +strong American accent, combined with the providential circumstance that +Mexico happened to be in the grip of revolutionary civil war, overcame +all difficulties, and Mr. John Washington Graham, U.S.A. (otherwise Fred +H. Crawford of Belfast) played his part so effectively that he did not +fail to finish the deal by extracting a handsome commission for himself, +which found its way subsequently to the coffers of the Ulster Unionist +Council. But he compensated the Company by making a suggestion for +improving the mechanism of the Maxim-gun which the great ordnance +manufacturers permanently adopted without having to pay for any patent +rights. + +Major Crawford was, however, by no means the only person who was at this +time bringing arms and ammunition into Ulster, which, as already +explained, although not illegal, could not be safely done openly on a +large scale. Ammunition in small quantities dribbled into Belfast pretty +constantly, many amateur importers deriving pleasurable excitement from +feeling themselves conspirators, and affording amusement to others by +the tales told of the ingenious expedients resorted to by the smugglers. + +There was a dock porter at Belfast, an intense admirer of Sir Edward +Carson, who was the retailer of one of the best of these stories. He was +always on the look-out for the leader arriving by the Liverpool steamer, +and would allow no one else, if he could help it, to handle the great +man's hand-baggage; and when Carson was not a passenger, any of his +satellites who happened to be travelling came in for vicarious +attention. Thus, it happened on one occasion that the writer, arriving +alone from Liverpool, was hailed from the shore before the boat was made +fast. "Is Sir Edward on board?" A shake of the head brought a look of +pathetic disappointment to the face of the hero-worshipper; but he was +on board before the gangway was down and busy collecting the belongings +of the leader's unworthy substitute. When laden with these and half-way +down the gangway he stopped, and, entirely careless of the fact that he +was obstructing a number of passengers impatient to land, he turned and +whispered--a whisper that might be heard thirty yards off--with a +knowing wink of the eye: + +"We're getting in plenty of stuff now." + +"Yes, yes," was the reply. "Never mind about that now; put those things +on a car." + +But he continued, without budging from the gangway, "Och aye, we're +getting in plenty; but my God, didn't Mrs. Blank o' Dungannon bate all? +Did ye hear about her?" + +"No, I never heard of Mrs. Blank of Dungannon. But do hurry along, my +good man; you're keeping back all the passengers." + +"What! ye never heard o' Mrs. Blank o' Dungannon? Wait now till I tell +ye. Mrs. Blank came off this boat not a fortnight ago, an' as she came +down this gangway I declare to God you'd ha' swore she was within a week +of her time--and divil a ha'porth the matter with her, only cartridges. +An' the fun was that the Custom House boys knowed rightly what it was, +but they dursn't lay a hand on her nor search her, for fear they were +wrong." + +This admiring tribute to the heroic matron of Dungannon--whose real name +was not concealed by the porter--was heard by a number of people, and +probably most of them thought themselves compensated by the story for +the delay it caused them in leaving the steamer. + +By the summer of 1913 several thousands of rifles had been brought into +Ulster; but in May of that year the mishap occurred to which Lord +Roberts referred in his letter to Colonel Hickman on the 4th of June, +when he wrote: "I am sorry to read about the capture of rifles."[85] +Crawford had been obliged to find some place in London for storing the +arms which he was procuring from his friends in Hamburg, and with the +help of Sir William Bull, M.P. for Hammersmith, the yard of an +old-fashioned inn in that district was found where it was believed they +would be safe until means of transporting them to the North of Ireland +could be devised. The inn was taken by a firm calling itself John +Ferguson & Co., the active member of which was Sir William Bull's +brother-in-law, Captain Budden; and the business appeared to consist of +dealing in second-hand scientific instruments and machinery, +curiosities, antique armour and weapons, old furniture, and so forth, +which were brought in very heavy cases and deposited in the yard. For a +time it proved useful, and the Maxims from Woolwich passed safely +through the Hammersmith store. But the London police got wind of the +Hammersmith Armoury, and seized a consignment of between six and seven +thousand excellent Italian rifles. A rusty and little-known Act of +Parliament had to be dug up to provide legal authority for the seizure. +Many sportsmen and others then learnt for the first time that, under the +Gun-barrel Proof Act, 1868, every gun-barrel in England must bear the +Gun-makers' Company's proof-mark showing that its strength has been +tested and approved. As the penalty for being in possession of guns not +so marked was a fine of L2 per barrel, to have put in a claim for the +Italian rifles seized at Hammersmith would have involved a payment of +more than L12,000, and would have given the Government information as to +the channel through which they had been imported. No move was made, +therefore, so far as the firearms were concerned, but the bayonets +attached to them, for the seizure of which there was no legal +justification, were claimed by Crawford's agent in Hamburg, and +eventually reached Ulster safely by another route. About the same time a +consignment of half a million rounds of small-arm ammunition, which was +discovered by the authorities through faulty packing in cement-bags, was +also confiscated in another part of the country. + +These losses convinced Crawford that a complete change of method must be +adopted if faith was to be kept with the Ulster Volunteers, who were +implicitly trusting their leaders to provide them with weapons to enable +them to make good the Covenant. More than a year before this time he had +told the special Committee dealing with arms, to which he was +immediately responsible, that, in his judgment, the only way of dealing +effectively with the problem was not by getting small quantities +smuggled from time to time by various devices and through disguised +ordinary trade channels, but by bringing off a grand _coup_, as if +running a blockade in time of war. He had crossed the Channel on purpose +to submit this view to Sir Edward Carson and Captain Craig early in +1912, but at that time nothing was done to give effect to it. + +But the seizure of so large a number as six thousand rifles at a time +when the political situation looked like moving towards a crisis in the +near future, made necessary a bolder attempt to procure the necessary +arms. When General Sir George Richardson took command of the U.V.F. in +July 1913 he placed Captain (afterwards Lieut.-Colonel) Wilfrid Bliss +Spender on his staff, and soon afterwards appointed him A.Q.M.G. of the +Forces. Captain Spender's duties comprised the supply of equipment, +arms, and ammunition, the organisation of transport, and the supervision +of communications. He was now requested to confer with Major Fred +Crawford with a view to preparing a scheme for procuring arms and +ammunition, to be submitted to a special sub-committee appointed to deal +with this matter, of which Captain James Craig was chairman. Spender +gave his attention mainly to the difficulties that would attend the +landing and distribution of arms if they reached Ulster in safety; +Crawford said he could undertake to purchase and bring them from a +foreign port. Crawford's proposed _modus operandi_ may be given in his +own words: + + "I would immediately go to Hamburg and see B.S. [the Hebrew dealer + in firearms with whom he had been in communication for some six or + seven years, and whom he had found perfectly honest, and not at all + grasping], and consult him as to what he had to offer. I would + purchase 25,000 to 30,000 rifles, modern weapons if possible, and + not the Italian Vetteli rifles we had been getting, all to take the + same ammunition and fitted with bayonets. I would purchase a + suitable steamer of 600 tons in some foreign port and load her up + with the arms, and either bring her in direct or transfer the cargo + to a local steamer in some estuary or bay on the Scottish coast. I + felt confident, though I knew the difficulties in front of me, + that I could carry it through all right."[86] + +The sub-committee accepted Crawford's proposal, and, when it had been +confirmed by Headquarters Council, he was commissioned to go to Hamburg +to see how the land lay. On arriving there he found that B.S. had still +in store ten thousand Vetteli rifles and a million rounds of ammunition +for them, which he had been holding for Crawford for two years. After a +day or two the dealer laid three alternative proposals before his Ulster +customer: (a) Twenty thousand Vetteli rifles, with bayonets (ammunition +would have to be specially manufactured).(6) Thirty thousand Russian +rifles with bayonets (lacking scabbards) and ammunition, (c) Fifteen +thousand new Austrian, and five thousand German army rifles with +bayonets, both to take standard Mannlicher cartridges. + +The last mentioned of these alternatives was much the most costly, being +double the price of the first and nearly treble that of the second; but +it had great advantages over the other two. Ammunition for the Italian +weapons was only manufactured in Italy, and, if further supplies should +be required, could only be got from that country. The Russian rifles +were perfectly new and unused, but were of an obsolete pattern; they +were single-loaders, and fresh supplies of cartridges would be nearly as +difficult to procure for them as for the Italian. The Austrian and +German patterns were both first-rate; the rifles were up-to-date +clip-loaders, and, what was the most important consideration, ammunition +for them would be easily procurable in the United Kingdom or from +America or Canada. + +But the difference in cost was so great that Crawford returned to +Belfast to explain matters to his Committee, calling in London on his +way to inform Carson and Craig. He strongly urged the acceptance of the +third alternative offer, laying stress, among other considerations, on +the moral effect on men who knew they had in their hands the most modern +weapon with all latest improvements. Carson was content to be guided on +a technical matter of this sort by the judgment of a man whom he knew +to be an expert, and as James Craig, who was in control of the fund +ear-marked for the purchase of arms, also agreed, Crawford had not much +difficulty in persuading the Committee when he reached Belfast, although +at first they were rather staggered by the difference in cost between +the various proposals. + +It was not until the beginning of February 1914 that Crawford returned +to Hamburg to accept this offer, and to make arrangements with B.S. for +carrying out the rest of his scheme for transporting his precious but +dangerous cargo to Ulster. On his way through London he called again on +Carson. + + "I pointed out to Sir Edward, my dear old Chief," says Crawford in + a written account of the interview, "that some of my Committee had + no idea of the seriousness of the undertaking, and, when they did + realise what they were in for, might want to back out of it. I + said, 'Once I cross this time to Hamburg there is no turning back + with me, no matter what the circumstances are so far as my personal + safety is concerned; and no contrary orders from the Committee to + cancel what they have agreed to with me will I obey. I shall carry + out the _coup_ if I lose my life in the attempt. Now, Sir Edward, + you know what I am about to undertake, and the risks those who back + me up must run. Are you willing to back me to the finish in this + undertaking? If you are not, I don't go. But, if you are, I would + go even if I knew I should not return; it is for Ulster and her + freedom I am working, and this alone.' I so well remember that + scene. We were alone; Sir Edward was sitting opposite to me. When I + had finished, his face was stern and grim, and there was a glint in + his eye. He rose to his full height, looking me in the eye; he + advanced to where I was sitting and stared down at me, and shook + his clenched fist in my face, and said in a steady, determined + voice, which thrilled me and which I shall never forget: 'Crawford, + I'll see you through this business, if I should have to go to + prison for it.' I rose from my chair; I held out my hand and said, + 'Sir Edward, that is all I want. I leave to-night; good-bye.'" + +Next day Crawford was in Hamburg. He immediately concluded his +agreement with B.S., and began making arrangements for carrying out the +plan he had outlined to the Committee in Belfast. As will be seen in the +next chapter, he was actually in the middle of this adventure at the +very time when Seely and Churchill were worrying lest "evil-disposed +persons" should raid and rob the scantily stocked Government Stores at +Omagh and Enniskillen. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[84] _Ante_, p. 123. + +[85] _Ante_, p. 161. + +[86] From a manuscript narrative by Colonel F.H. Crawford. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A VOYAGE OF ADVENTURE + + +Although Mr. Lloyd George's message to mankind on New Year's Day, 1914, +was that "Anglo-German relations were far more friendly than for years +past,"[87] and that there was therefore no need to strengthen the +British Navy, it may be doubted, with the knowledge we now possess, +whether the German Government would have been greatly incensed at the +idea of a cargo of firearms finding its way from Hamburg to Ireland in +the spring of that year without the knowledge of the British Government. +But if that were the case Fred Crawford had no reason to suspect it. +German surveillance was always both efficient and obtrusive, and he had +to make his preparations under a vigilance by the authorities which +showed no signs of laxity. Those preparations involved the assembling +and the packing of 20,000 modern rifles, 15,000 of which had to be +brought from a factory in Austria; 10,000 Italian rifles previously +purchased, which B.S. had in store; bayonets for all the firearms; and +upwards of 3,000,000 rounds of small-arm ammunition. The packing of the +arms was a matter to which Crawford gave particular attention. He kept +in mind the circumstances under which he expected them to be landed in +Ulster. Avoidance of confusion and rapidity of handling were of the +first importance. Rifles, bayonets, and ammunition must be not separated +in bulk, requiring to be laboriously reassembled at their destination. +He therefore insisted that parcels should be made up containing five +rifles in each, with bayonets to match, and 100 rounds of ammunition per +rifle, each parcel weighing about 75 lbs. He attached so much importance +to this system of packing that he adhered to it even after discovering +that it would cost about L2,000, and would take more than a month to +complete. + +While the work of packing was going on, Crawford, who found he was +exciting the curiosity of the Hamburg police, kept out of sight as much +as possible, and he paid more than one visit to the Committee in +Belfast, leaving the supervision to the skipper and packer, whom he had +found he could trust. In the meantime, by advertisements in the +Scandinavian countries, he was looking out for a suitable steamer to +carry the cargo. For a crew his thoughts turned to his old friend, +Andrew Agnew, skipper in the employment of the Antrim Iron Ore Company. +Happily he was not only able to secure the services of Agnew himself, +but Agnew brought with him his mate and his chief and second engineers. +This was a great gain; for they were not only splendid men at their job, +but were men willing to risk their liberty or their lives for the Ulster +cause. Deck-hands and firemen would be procurable at whatever port a +steamer was to be bought. + +Several vessels were offered in response to Crawford's advertisements, +and on the 16th of March, when the packing of the arms was well +advanced, Crawford, Agnew, and his chief engineer went to Norway to +inspect these steamers. Eventually they selected the s.s. _Fanny_, which +had just returned to Bergen with a cargo of coal from Newcastle. She was +only an eight-knot vessel, but her skipper, a Norwegian, gave a +favourable report of her sea-going qualities and coal consumption, and +Agnew and his engineer were satisfied by their inspection of her. The +deal was quickly completed, and the Captain and his Norwegian crew +willingly consented to remain in charge of the _Fanny_; and, in order to +enable her to sail under the Norwegian flag, as a precaution against +possible confiscation in British waters, it was arranged that the +Captain should be the nominal purchaser, giving Crawford a mortgage for +her full value. + +Then, leaving Agnew to get sufficient stores on board the _Fanny_ for a +three-months' cruise, Crawford returned to Hamburg on the 20th, and +thence to Belfast to report progress. Agnew's orders were to bring the +_Fanny_ in three weeks' time to a rendezvous marked on the chart +between the Danish islands of Langeland and Fuenen, where he was to pick +up the cargo of arms, which Crawford would bring in lighters from +Hamburg through the Kiel Canal. + +While Crawford was in Belfast arrangements were made to enable him to +keep in communication with Spender, so that in case of necessity he +could be warned not to approach the Irish coast, but to cruise in the +Baltic till a more favourable opportunity. He was to let Spender know +later where he could be reached with final instructions as to landing +the arms; the rendezvous so agreed upon subsequently was Lough Laxford, +a wild and inaccessible spot on the west coast of Sutherlandshire. +Crawford was warned by B.S. that he was far from confident of a +successful end to their labours at Hamburg. He had never before shipped +anything like so large a number of firearms; and the long process of +packing, and Crawford's own mysterious coming and going, would be +certain to excite suspicion, which would reach the secret agents of the +British Government, and lead either to a protest addressed to the German +authorities, followed by a prohibition on shipping the arms, or to +confiscation by the British authorities when the cargo entered British +territorial waters. + +These fears must have been present to the mind of B.S. when he met +Crawford at the station in Hamburg on the 27th on his return from +Belfast, for the precautions taken to avoid being followed gave their +movements the character of an adventure by one of Stanley Weyman's +heroes of romance. Whether any suspicion had in fact been aroused +remains unknown. Anyhow, the barges were ready laden, with a tug waiting +till the tide should serve about midnight for making a start down the +Elbe, and through the canal to Kiel. The modest sum of L10 procured an +order authorising the tug and barges to proceed through the canal +without stopping, and requiring other shipping to let them pass. A black +flag was the signal of this privileged position, which suggested the +"Jolly Roger" to Crawford's thoughts, and gave a sense of insolent +audacity when great liners of ten or fifteen thousand tons were seen +making way for a tug-boat towing a couple of lighters. + +For the success of the enterprise up to this point Crawford was greatly +indebted to the Jew, B.S. From first to last this gentleman "played the +game" with sterling honesty and straightforward dealing that won his +customers' warm admiration. Several times he accepted Crawford's word as +sufficient security when cash was not immediately forthcoming, and in no +instance did he bear out the character traditionally attributed to his +race. + +On arrival at Kiel, Crawford, after a short absence from the tug, was +informed that three men had been inquiring from the lightermen and the +tug's skipper about the nature and destination of the cargo. All such +evidences of curiosity on the subject were rather alarming, but it +turned out that the visitors were probably Mexicans--of what political +party there it would be impossible to guess--whose interest had been +aroused by the rumour, which Crawford had encouraged, that guns were +being shipped to that distracted Republic. Still more alarming was the +arrival on board the tug of a German official in resplendent uniform, +who insisted that he must inspect the cargo. Crawford knew no German, +but the shipping agent who accompanied him produced papers showing that +all formalities had been complied with, and all requisite authorisation +obtained. Neither official papers, however, nor arguments made any +impression on the officer until it occurred to Crawford to produce a +100-marks note, which proved much more persuasive, and sent the official +on his way rejoicing, with expressions of civility on both sides. + +The relief of the Ulsterman when the last of the Kiel forts was left +behind, and he knew that his cargo was clear of Germany, may be +imagined. A night was spent crossing Kiel Bay, and in the morning of the +29th they were close to Langeland, and approaching the rendezvous with +the _Fanny_. She was there waiting, and Agnew, in obedience to orders, +had already painted out her name on bows and stern. The next thing was +to transfer the arms from the lighters to the _Fanny_. Crawford was +apprehensive lest the Danish authorities should take an interest in the +proceedings if the work was carried out in the narrow channel between +the islands, and he proposed, as it was quite calm, to defer operations +till they were further from the shore. But the Norwegian Captain +declared that he had often transhipped cargo at this spot, and that +there was no danger whatever. Nevertheless, Crawford's fears were +realised. Before the work was half finished a Danish Port Officer came +on board, asked what the cargo comprised, and demanded to see the ship's +papers. According to the manifest the _Fanny_ was bound for Iceland with +a general cargo, part of which was to be shipped at Bergen. The Danish +officer then spent half an hour examining the bales, and, although he +did not open any of them, Crawford felt no doubt he knew perfectly the +nature of their contents. Finally he insisted on carrying off the +papers, both of the _Fanny_ and the tug-boat, saying that all the +information must be forwarded to Copenhagen to be dealt with by the +Government authorities, but that the papers would be returned early next +morning. + +One can well believe Crawford when he says that he suffered "mental +agony" that night. After all that he had planned, and all that he had +accomplished by many months of personal energy and resource, he saw +complete and ignominious failure staring him in the face. He realised +the heavy financial loss to the Ulster Loyalists, for his cargo +represented about L70,000 of their money; and he realised the bitter +disappointment of their hopes, which was far worse than any loss of +money. He pictured to himself what must happen in the morning--"to have +to follow a torpedo-boat into the naval base and lie there till the +whole Ulster scheme was unravelled and known to the world as a ghastly +failure, and the Province and Sir Edward and all the leaders the +laughing stock of the world"--and the thought of it all plunged him +almost into despair. + +Almost, but not quite. He was not the man to give way to despair. If it +came to the worst he would "put all the foreign crew and their +belongings into the boats and send them off; Agnew and I would arm +ourselves with a bundle of rifles, and cut it open and have 500 rounds +to fight any attempt to board us, and if we slipped this by any chance, +he and I would bring her to England together, he on deck and I in the +engine-room. He knew all about navigation and I knew all about engines, +having been a marine engineer in my youth." + +But a less desperate job called for immediate attention. The men engaged +in transferring the cargo from the barges to the steamer wanted to knock +off work for the night; but the offer of double pay persuaded them to +stick to it, and they worked with such good will that by midnight every +bale was safely below hatches in the _Fanny_. Crawford then instructed +the shipping agent to be off in the tug at break of day, giving him +letters to post which would apprise the Committee in Belfast of what had +happened, and give them the means of communicating with himself +according to previously concerted plans. + +Before morning a change occurred in the weather, which Crawford regarded +as providential. He was gladdened by the sight of a sea churned white by +half a gale, while a mist lay on the water, reducing visibility to about +300 yards. It would be impossible for the Port Officer's motor-boat to +face such a sea, or, if it did, to find the _Fanny_, unless guided by +her fog-whistle. As soon as eight o'clock had passed--the hour by which +the return of the ship's papers had been promised--Crawford weighed +anchor, and crept out of the narrow channel under cover of the fog, only +narrowly escaping going aground on the way among the banks and shallows +that made it impossible to sail before daylight, but eventually the open +sea was safely reached. But the _Fanny_ was now without papers, and in +law was a pirate ship. It was therefore desirable for her to change her +costume. As many hands as possible were turned to the task of giving a +new colour to the funnel and making some other effective alterations in +her appearance, including a new name on her bows and stern. Thus +renovated, and after a delay of some days, caused by trifling mishaps, +she left the Cattegat behind and steered a course for British waters. + +The original plan had been to set a course for Iceland, and, when north +of the Shetlands, to turn to the southward to Lough Laxford, the agreed +rendezvous with Spender. But the incident at Langeland, which had made +the Danish authorities suspect illegal traffic with Iceland, made a +change of plan imperative. Before leaving Danish waters Crawford tried +to communicate this change to Belfast. But, meantime, information had +reached Belfast of certain measures being taken by the Government, and +Spender, hoping to catch Crawford before he left Kiel, went to Dublin to +telegraph from there. In Dublin he was dismayed to read in the +newspapers that a mysterious vessel called the _Fanny_, said to be +carrying arms for Ulster, had been captured by the Danish authorities in +the Baltic. For several days no further news reached Belfast, where it +was assumed that the whole enterprise had failed; and then a code +message informed the Committee that Crawford was in London. + +Spender at once went over to see him, in order to warn him not to bring +the arms to Ireland for the present. He was to take them back to +Hamburg, or throw them overboard, or sink the _Fanny_ and take to her +boats, according to circumstances. But in London, instead of Crawford, +Spender found the Hamburg skipper and packer, who told him of Crawford's +escape from Langeland with the loss of the ship's papers. Spender, +knowing nothing of Crawford's change of plan, and anxious to convey to +him the latest instructions, went off on a wild-goose chase to the +Highlands of Scotland, where he spent the best part of an unhappy week +watching the waves tumbling in Lough Laxford, and looking as anxiously +as Tristan for the expected ship. + +Meantime the _Fanny_ had crossed the North Sea, and Crawford sent Agnew +ashore at Yarmouth on the 7th of April with orders to hurry to Belfast, +where he was to procure another steamer and bring it to a rendezvous at +Lundy Island, in the Bristol Channel. Crawford himself, having +rechristened the _Fanny_ for the second time (this time the _Doreen_), +proceeded down the English Channel, where he had a rather adventurous +cruise in a gale of wind. He kept close to the French coast, to avoid +any unwelcome attentions in British waters, but on the way had an attack +of malaria, which the Captain thought so grave that, no doubt with the +most humane motives, he declared his intention of putting Crawford +ashore at Dunkirk to save his life, a design which no persuasion short +of Crawford's handling of his revolver in true pirate fashion would make +the Norwegian abandon. + +In the heavy seas of the Channel the _Doreen_ could not make more than +four knots, and she was consequently twenty-four hours late for the +rendezvous with Agnew at Lundy, where she arrived on the 11th of April. +The Bristol Channel seemed to swarm with pilot boats eager to be of +service, whose inquisitive and expert eyes were anything but welcome to +the custodian of Ulster's rifles; and to his highly strung imagination +every movement of every trawler appeared to betoken suspicion. And, +indeed, they were not without excuse for curiosity; for, a foreign +steamer whose course seemed indeterminate, now making for Cardiff and +now for St. Ives, observed at one time north-east of Lundy and a few +hours later south of the island--a tramp, in fact, that was obviously +"loitering" with no ascertainable destination, was enough to keep +telescopes to the eyes of Devon pilots and fisher-folk, and to set their +tongues wagging. But there was no help for it. Crawford could not leave +the rendezvous till Agnew arrived, and was forced to wander round Lundy +and up and down the Bristol Channel for two days and nights, until, at 5 +a.m. on Monday morning, the 13th of April, a signal from a passing +steamer, the _Balmerino_, gave the welcome tidings that Agnew was on +board and was proceeding to sea. + +When the two steamers were sufficiently far from Lundy lighthouse and +other prying eyes to make friendly intercourse safe, Agnew came on board +the _Doreen_, bringing with him another North Irish seaman whom he +introduced to Crawford. This man handed to Crawford a paper he had +brought from Belfast. It was typewritten; it bore no address and no +signature; it was no doubt a duplicate of what Spender had taken to the +Highlands, for its purport, as given by Crawford from memory, was to the +following effect: "Owing to great changes since you left, and altered +circumstances, the Committee think it would be unwise to bring the +cargo here at present, and instruct you to proceed to the Baltic and +cruise there for three months, keeping in touch with the Committee, or +else to store the goods at Hamburg till required." + +The "great changes" referred to were the operations that led to the +Curragh incident, the story of which Crawford now learnt from Agnew. The +presence of the fleet at Lamlash, and of destroyers off Carrickfergus, +was enough to make the Committee deem it an inopportune moment for +Crawford to bring his goods to Belfast Lough. But the latter was hardly +in a condition to appreciate the gravity of the situation, and the +indignation which the missive aroused in him is intelligible. After all +he had come through, the ups and downs, dangers and escapes--far more +varied than have been here recorded--the disappointment at being ordered +back was cruel; and in his eyes such instructions were despicably +pusillanimous. The caution that had prompted his instructors to leave +the order unsigned moved him to contempt, and in his wrath he was +confident that "the Chief at any rate had nothing to do with it." He +told the messenger that he did not know who had sent the paper, and did +not want to know, and instructed him to take it back and inform the +senders that, as it bore no signature, no date, no address, and no +official stamp, he declined to recognise it and refused to obey it; and, +further, that unless he received within six days properly authenticated +instructions for delivering his cargo, he would run his ship ashore at +high water in the County Down, and let the Ulstermen salve as much as +they could when the tide ebbed. + +But Crawford determined to make another effort first to accomplish his +task by less desperate methods. He therefore decided to accompany the +messenger back to Belfast. The _Doreen_, late _Fanny_, was too +foreign-looking to pass unchallenged up Belfast Lough, but he believed +that if the cargo could be transhipped to a vessel known to all watchers +on the North Irish coast, a policy of audacity would have a good chance +of success. The s.s. _Balmerino_, which had brought Agnew and the +messenger to Lundy, was such a vessel; her owner, Mr. Sam Kelly, was an +intimate friend of Crawford's; and if he could see Kelly the matter, he +hoped, might be quickly arranged. The reliance which Crawford placed in +Mr. Sam Kelly was fully justified, for the assistance rendered by this +gentleman was essential to the success of the enterprise. He it was who +freely supplied two steamers, with crews and stevedores, thereby +enabling the last part of this adventurous voyage to be carried through; +and the willingness with which Mr. Kelly risked financial loss, and much +besides, placed Ulster under an obligation to him for which he sought no +recompense. + +Crawford accordingly went off in the _Balmerino_, landed in South Wales +on Tuesday, the 14th of April, and hastened by the quickest route to +Belfast. Agnew took charge of the _Doreen_, with instructions to be at +the Tuskar Light, on the Wexford coast, on the following Friday night, +the 17th, and to return there every night until Crawford rejoined him. A +friend of Crawford's, Mr. Richard Cowser, with whom he had a +conversation on the telephone from Dublin, met him at the railway +station in Belfast and told him that he had a motor waiting to take him +to Craigavon, where the Council was expecting him, and that he would see +Mr. Sam Kelly, the owner of the _Balmerino_, there also. This news made +Crawford very angry. He accused his friend of breach of confidence in +letting anyone know that he was coming to Belfast; he declared he would +have nothing to do with the Council after the unsigned orders he had +received at Lundy; and he besought his friend to take his car to +Craigavon and bring back Kelly, repeating his determination to bring in +his cargo, even if he had to run his ship ashore to do so. Mr. Cowser +replied that this would be very disappointing to Sir Edward Carson, who +was waiting for Crawford at Craigavon, having come from London on +purpose for this Council Meeting. "What!" exclaimed Crawford, "is Sir +Edward there? Why did you not say so at once? Where is your car? Let us +waste no time till I see the Chief and report to him." + +That evening of the 14th of April, at Craigavon, was a memorable one for +all who were present at the meeting. Carson invited Crawford to relate +all he had done, and to explain how he proposed to proceed. The latter +did not mince matters in saying what he thought of the Lundy +instructions, which he again declared angrily he intended to disobey. +When he had finished his narrative and his protestations against what he +considered a cowardly policy--a policy that would deprive Ulster of +succour as sorely needed as Derry needed the _Mountjoy_ to break the +boom--Carson put a few questions to him in regard to the feasibility of +his plans. Crawford explained the advantage it would be to transfer the +cargo from the _Fanny_ to a local steamer, which he felt confident he +could bring into Larne, and after the transhipment he would send the +_Fanny_ straight back to the Baltic, where she could settle her account +with the Danish authorities and recover her papers. + +Some members of the Council were sceptical about the possibility of +transhipping the cargo at sea, but Crawford, who had fully discussed it +with Agnew, believed that if favoured by calm weather it could be done. +When Carson, after hearing all that was to be said on both sides in the +long debate between Fabius and Hotspur, finally supported the latter, +the question was decided. There was no split--there never was in these +deliberations in Ulster; those whose judgment was overruled always +supported loyally the policy decided upon. + +Immediate measures were then taken to give effect to the decision. Kelly +knew of a suitable craft, the s.s. _Clydevalley_, for sale at that +moment in Glasgow, which would be in Belfast next morning with a cargo +of coal. This was providential. A collier familiar to every longshoreman +in Belfast Lough, carrying on her usual trade this week, could hardly be +suspected of carrying rifles when she returned next week ostensibly in +the same line of business. It was settled that Crawford should cross to +Glasgow at once and buy her; the steamer, when bought, was to go from +Belfast to Llandudno, where she would pick up Crawford on the sands, and +proceed to keep the rendezvous with Agnew at the Tuskar Light on Friday; +and, after taking over the _Fanny's_ cargo, would then steam boldly up +Belfast Lough and through the Musgrave Channel to the Belfast docks, +where he undertook to arrive on the Friday week, the 24th of April, the +various proposals which named Larne, Bangor, and Donaghadee as ports of +discharge having all been rejected after full discussion. This last +decision was not approved by Crawford, for he and Spender had long +before this time agreed that Larne harbour was the proper place to land +the arms, both because the large number of country roads leading to it +would facilitate rapid distribution, and because it would be more +difficult for the authorities to interfere with the disembarkation there +than at any of the other ports. + +Before parting from the Council Crawford made it quite clear that during +the remainder of the adventure he would recognise no orders of any kind +unless they bore the autograph signature of Sir Edward Carson. On this +understanding he set out for Glasgow, bought the _Clydevalley_, and went +by train to Llandudno to await her arrival. These affairs had left very +little margin of time to spare. The _Clydevalley_ could not be at +Llandudno before the morning of the 17th, and Agnew would be looking for +her at the Tuskar the same evening. As it actually turned out she only +arrived at the Welsh watering-place late that night, and, after picking +up Crawford, who had spent an anxious day on the beach, arrived off the +Wexford coast at daybreak on Saturday, the 18th. Not a sign of the +_Fanny_ was to be seen all that day, or the following night; and when +the skipper of the _Clydevalley_, who had been on the _Balmerino_ and +was privy to the arrangements with Agnew, gave Crawford reason to think +there might have been a misunderstanding as to the rendezvous, Yarmouth +having been also mentioned in that connection, Crawford was in a +condition almost of desperation. + +It was, indeed, a situation to test the nerves, to say nothing of the +temper, of even the most resolute. It was Sunday, and Crawford had +undertaken to be at Copeland Island, at the mouth of Belfast Lough, on +Friday evening for final landing instructions. The precious cargo, which +had passed safely through so many hazards, had vanished and was he knew +not where. He had heard nothing of the _Fanny_ (or _Doreen_) since he +landed at Tenby five days previously. Had she been captured by a +destroyer from Pembroke, or overhauled, pirate as she was without +papers, by Customs officials from Rosslare? Or had Agnew mistaken his +instructions, and risked all the dangers of the English Channel in a +fruitless voyage to Yarmouth, where, even if still undetected, the +_Fanny_ would be too far away to reach Copeland by Friday, unless Agnew +could be communicated with at once? + +There was only one way in which such communication could be managed, and +that way Crawford now took with characteristic promptitude and energy. +The _Clydevalley_ crossed the Irish Sea to Fishguard, where he took +train on Sunday night to London and Yarmouth, having first made +arrangements with the skipper for keeping in touch. But there was no +trace of the _Fanny_ at Yarmouth, and no word from Agnew at the Post +Office. There appeared to be no solution of the problem, and every +precious hour that slipped away made ultimate failure more menacing. But +at two o'clock the outlook entirely changed. A second visit to the Post +Office was rewarded by a telegram in code from Agnew saying all was +well, and that he would be at Holyhead to pick up Crawford on Tuesday +evening. There was just time to catch a London train that arrived in +time for the Irish mail from Euston. On Tuesday morning Crawford was +pacing the breakwater at Holyhead, and a few hours later he was +discussing matters with Agnew in the little cabin of the _Clydevalley_. + +The latter had amply made up for the loss of time caused by some +misunderstanding as to the rendezvous at the Tuskar, for he was able to +show Crawford, to his intense delight, that the cargo had all been +safely and successfully transferred to the hold of the _Clydevalley_ in +a bay on the Welsh coast, mainly at night. Some sixteen transport +labourers from Belfast, willing Ulster hands, had shifted the stuff in +less than half the time taken by Germans at Langeland over the same job. +There was, therefore, nothing more to be done except to steam leisurely +to Copeland, for which there was ample time before Friday evening. The +_Fanny_ had departed to an appointed rendezvous on the Baltic coast of +Denmark. + +It was now the turn of the _Clydevalley_ to yield up her obscure +identity, and to assume an historic name appropriate to the adventure +she was bringing to a triumphant climax--a name of good omen in Ulster +ears. Strips of canvas, 6 feet long, were cut and painted with white +letters on a black ground, and affixed to bows and stern, so that the +men waiting at Copeland might hail the arrival of the _Mountjoy II_. + +Off Copeland Island a small vessel was waiting, which Agnew recognised +as a tender belonging to Messrs. Workman & Clark. The men on board, as +soon as they could make out the name of the approaching vessel, +understood at once, and raised a ringing cheer. Two of them were seen +gesticulating and hailing the _Mountjoy_. Crawford, suspecting fresh +orders to retreat, paid no attention, and told Agnew to hold on his +course; and even when presently he was able to recognise Mr. Cowser and +Mr. Dawson Bates on board the tender, and to hear them shouting that +they had important instructions for him, he still refused to let them +come on board. "If the orders are not signed by Sir Edward Carson," he +shouted back, "you can take them back to where they came from." But the +orders they brought had been signed by the leader, a special messenger +having been sent to London to obtain his signature, and the change of +plan they indicated was, in fact, just what Crawford desired. The bulk +of the arms were to be landed at Larne, the port he had always favoured, +and lesser quantities were to be taken to Bangor and Donaghadee. + +It was 10.30 that night, the 24th of April 1914, when the _Mountjoy II_ +steamed alongside the landing-stage at Larne, where she had been eagerly +awaited for a couple of hours. The voyage of adventure was over. Fred +Crawford, with the able and zealous help of Andrew Agnew, had +accomplished the difficult and dangerous task he had undertaken, and a +service had been rendered to Ulster not unworthy to rank beside the +breaking of the boom across the Foyle by the first and more renowned +_Mountjoy_. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[87] _Annual Register_, 1914, p. 1. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +ON THE BRINK OF CIVIL WAR + + +The arrangements that had been made for the landing and disposal of the +arms when they arrived in port were the work of an extremely efficient +and complete organisation. In the previous summer Captain Spender, it +will be remembered, had been appointed to a position on Sir George +Richardson's staff which included in its duties that of the organisation +of transport. A railway board, a supply board, and a transport board had +been formed, on which leading business men willingly served; every +U.V.F. unit had its horse transport, and in addition a special motor +corps, organised in squadrons, and a special corps of motor-lorries were +formed. + +More than half the owners of motor-cars in Ulster placed their cars at +the disposal of the motor corps, to be used as and when required. The +corps was organised in sections of four cars each, and in squadrons of +seventeen cars each, with motor cyclist despatch-riders; a signalling +corps of despatch-riders and signallers completed the organisation. The +lively interest aroused by the practice and displays of the +last-mentioned corps did much to promote the high standard of +proficiency attained by its "flag-waggers," many of whom were women and +girls. In particular the signalling-station at Bangor gained a +reputation which attracted many English sympathisers with Ulster to pay +it a visit when they came to Belfast for the great Unionist +demonstrations. + +The despatch-riders on motor-cycles made the Ulster Council independent +of the Post Office, which for very good reasons they used as little as +possible. Post-houses were opened at all the most important centres in +Ulster, between which messages were transmitted by despatch-rider or +signal according to the nature of the intervening country. Along the +coast of Down and Antrim the organisation of signals was complete and +effective. The usefulness of the despatch-riders' corps was fully tested +and proved during the Curragh Incident, when news of all that was taking +place at the Curragh was received by this means two or three times a day +at the Old Town Hall in Belfast, where there was much information of +what was going on that was unknown at the Irish Office in London. + +All this organisation was at the disposal of the leaders for handling +the arms brought in the hold of the _Mountjoy II_. The perfection of the +arrangements for the immediate distribution of the rifles and ammunition +among the loyalist population, and the almost miraculous precision with +which they were carried out on that memorable Friday night, extorted the +admiration even of the most inveterate political enemies of Ulster. The +smoothness with which the machinery of organisation worked was only +possible on account of the hearty willingness of all the workers, +combined with the discipline to which they gladly submitted themselves. + +The whole U.V.F. was warned for a trial mobilisation on the evening of +the 24th of April, and the owners of all motor-cars and lorries were +requested to co-operate. Very few either of the Volunteers or the motor +owners knew that anything more than manoeuvres by night for practice +purposes was to take place. All motors from certain specified districts +were ordered to be at Larne by 8 o'clock in the evening; from other +districts the vehicles were to assemble at Bangor and Donaghadee +respectively, at a later hour. All the roads leading to these ports were +patrolled by volunteers, and at every cross-roads over the greater part +of nine counties men of the local battalions were stationed to give +directions to motor-drivers who might not be familiar with the roads. At +certain points these men were provided with reserve supplies of petrol, +and with repairing tools that might be needed in case of breakdown. It +is a remarkable testimony to the zeal of these men for the cause that, +although none of them knew he was taking part in an exciting adventure, +not one, so far as is known, left his post throughout a cold and wet +night, having received orders not to go home till daybreak. And these +were men, it must be remembered, who before putting on the felt hats, +puttees, and bandoliers which constituted their uniform, had already +done a full day's work, and were not to receive a sixpence for their +night's job. + +At the three ports of discharge large forces of volunteers were +concentrated. Sir George Richardson, G.O.C. in C., remained in Belfast +through the night, being kept fully and constantly informed of the +progress of events by signal and motor-cyclist despatch-riders. Captain +James Craig was in charge of the operations at Bangor; at Larne General +Sir William Adair was in command, with Captain Spender as Staff officer. + +The attention of the Customs authorities in Belfast was diverted by a +clever stratagem. A tramp steamer was brought up the Musgrave Channel +after dark, her conduct being as furtive and suspicious as it was +possible to make it appear. At the same time a large wagon was brought +to the docks as if awaiting a load. The skipper of the tramp took an +unconscionable time, by skilful blundering, in bringing his craft to her +moorings. The suspicions of the authorities were successfully aroused; +but every possible hindrance was put in their way when they began to +investigate. The hour was too late: could they not wait till daylight? +No? Well, then, what was their authority? When that was settled, it +appeared that the skipper had mislaid his keys and could not produce the +ship's papers--and so on. By these devices the belief of the officers +that they had caught the offender they were after was increasingly +confirmed every minute, while several hours passed before they were +allowed to realise that they had discovered a mare's-nest. For when at +last they "would stand no more nonsense," and had the hatches opened and +the papers produced, the latter were quite in order, and the +cargo--which they wasted a little additional time in turning +over--contained nothing but coal. + +Meantime the real business was proceeding twenty miles away. All +communications by wire from the three ports were blocked by "earthing" +the wires, so as to cause short circuit. The police and coast-guards +were "peacefully picketed," as trade unionists would call it, in their +various barracks--they were shut in and strongly guarded. No conflict +took place anywhere between the authorities and the volunteers, and the +only casualty of any kind was the unfortunate death of one +coast-guardsman from heart disease at Donaghadee. + +At Larne, where much the largest portion of the _Mountjoy's_ cargo was +landed, a triple cordon of Volunteers surrounded the town and harbour, +and no one without a pass was allowed through. The motors arrived with a +punctuality that was wonderful, considering that many of them had come +from long distances. As the drivers arrived near the town and found +themselves in an apparently endless procession of similar vehicles, +their astonishment and excitement became intense. Only when close to the +harbour did they learn what they were there for, and received +instructions how to proceed. They had more than two hours to wait in +drizzling rain before the _Mountjoy_ appeared round the point of +Islandmagee, although her approach had been made known to Spender by +signal at dusk. There were about five hundred motor vehicles assembled +at Larne alone, and such an invasion of flaring head-lights gave the +inhabitants of the little town unwonted excitement. Practically all the +able-bodied men of the place were either on duty as Volunteers or were +willing workers in the landing of the arms. The women stood at their +doors and gave encouraging greeting to the drivers; many of them ran +improvised canteens, which supplied the workers with welcome +refreshments during the night. + +There was a not unnatural tendency at first on the part of some of the +motor-drivers to look upon the event more in the light of a meet of +hounds than of the gravest possible business, and to hang about +discussing the adventure with the other "sportsmen." But the use of +vigorous language brought them back to recognition of the seriousness of +the work before them, and the discharge of the cargo proceeded hour +after hour with the utmost rapidity and with the regularity of a +well-oiled machine. The cars drew up beside the _Mountjoy_ in an endless +_queue_; each received its quota of bales according to its carrying +capacity, and was despatched on its homeward journey without a moment's +delay. + +The wisdom of Crawford's system of packing was fully vindicated. There +was no confusion, no waiting to bring ammunition from one part of the +ship's hold to match with rifles brought from another, and bayonets from +a third. The packages, as they were carried from the steamer or the +cranes, were counted by checking clerks, and their destination noted as +each car received its load. But even the large number of vehicles +available would have been insufficient for the purpose on hand if each +had been limited to a single load; dumps had therefore been formed at a +number of selected places in the surrounding districts, where the arms +were temporarily deposited so as to allow the cars to return and perform +the same duty several times during the night. + +While the _Mountjoy_ was discharging the Larne consignment on to the +quay, she was at the same time transhipping a smaller quantity into a +motor-boat, moored against her side, which when laden hurried off to +Donaghadee; and she left Larne at 5 in the morning to discharge the last +portion of her cargo at Bangor, which was successfully accomplished in +broad daylight after her arrival there about 7.30. + +Crawford refused to leave the ship at either Larne or Bangor, feeling +himself bound in honour to remain with the crew until they were safe +from arrest by the naval authorities. It was well known in Belfast that +a look-out was being kept for the _Fanny_, which had figured in the +Press as "the mystery ship" ever since the affair at Langeland, and had +several times been reported to have been viewed at all sorts of odd +places on the map, from the Orkneys to Tory Island. Just as Agnew was +casting off from Bangor, when the last bale of arms had gone ashore, a +message from U.V.F. headquarters informed him that a thirty-knot cruiser +was out looking for the _Fanny_. To mislead the coast-guards on shore a +course was immediately set for the Clyde--the very quarter from which a +cruiser coming from Lamlash was to be expected--and when some way out to +sea Crawford cut the cords holding the canvas sheets that bore the name +of the _Mountjoy_, so that within five minutes the filibustering pirate +had again become the staid old collier _Clydevalley_, which for months +past had carried her regular weekly cargo of coal from Scotland to +Belfast. As before at Langeland, so now at Copeland, fog providentially +covered retreat, and through it the _Clydevalley_ made her way +undetected down the Irish Sea. At daybreak next morning Crawford landed +at Rosslare; and Agnew then proceeded along the French and Danish coasts +to the Baltic to the rendezvous with the _Fanny_, in order to bring back +the Ulstermen members of her crew, after which "the mystery ship" was +finally disposed of at Hamburg. + +Sir Edward Carson and Lord Londonderry were both in London on the 24th +of April. At an early hour next morning a telegram was delivered to each +of them, containing the single word "Lion." It was a code message +signifying that the landing of the arms had been carried out without a +hitch. Before long special editions of the newspapers proclaimed the +news to all the world, and as fresh details appeared in every successive +issue during the day the public excitement grew in intensity. Wherever +two or three Unionists were gathered together exultation was the +prevailing mood, and eagerness to send congratulations to friends in +Ulster. + +Soon after breakfast a visitor to Sir Edward Carson found a motor +brougham standing at his door, and on being admitted was told that "Lord +Roberts is with Sir Edward." The great little Field-Marshal, on learning +the news, had lost not a moment in coming to offer his congratulations +to the Ulster leader. "Magnificent!" he exclaimed, on entering the room +and holding out his hand, "magnificent! nothing could have been better +done; it was a piece of organisation that any army in Europe might be +proud of." + +But it was not to be expected that the Government and its supporters +would relish the news. The Radical Press, of course, rang all the +changes of angry vituperation, especially those papers which had been +prominent in ridiculing "Ulster bluff" and "King Carson's wooden guns"; +and they now speculated as to whether Carson could be "convicted of +complicity" in what Mr. Asquith in the House of Commons described as +"this grave and unprecedented outrage." Carson soon set that question at +rest by quietly rising in his place in the House and saying that he took +full responsibility for everything that had been done. The Prime +Minister, amid the frenzied cheers of his followers, assured the House +that "His Majesty's Government will take, without delay, appropriate +steps to vindicate the authority of the law." For a short time there was +some curiosity as to what the appropriate steps would be. None, however, +of any sort were taken; the Government contented itself with sending a +few destroyers to patrol for a short time the coasts of Antrim and Down, +where they were saluted by the Ulster Signalling Stations, and their +officers hospitably entertained on shore by loyalist residents. + +On the 28th of April a further debate on the Curragh Incident took place +in the House of Commons, which was a curious example of the rapid +changes of mood that characterise that Assembly. Most of the speeches +both from the front and back benches were, if possible, even more +bitter, angry, and defiant than usual. But at the close of one of the +bitterest of them all Mr. Churchill read a typewritten passage that was +recognised as a tiny olive-branch held out to Ulster. Carson responded +next day in a conciliatory tone, and the Prime Minister was thought to +suggest a renewal of negotiations in private. For some time nothing came +of this hint; but on the 12th of May Mr. Asquith announced that the +third reading of the Home Rule Bill (for the third successive year, as +required by the Parliament Act before being presented for the signature +of the King) would be taken before Whitsuntide, but that the Government +intended to make another attempt to appease Ulster by introducing "an +amending proposal, in the hope that a settlement by agreement may be +arrived at"; and that the two Bills--the Home Rule Bill and the Bill to +amend it--might become law practically at the same time. But he gave no +hint as to what the "amending proposal" was to be, and the reception of +the announcement by the Opposition did not seem to presage agreement. + +Mr. Bonar Law insisted that the House of Commons ought to be told what +the Amending Bill would propose, before it was asked finally to pass the +Home Rule Bill. But the real fact was, as every member of the House of +Commons fully realised, that Mr. Asquith was not a free agent in this +matter. The Nationalists were not at all pleased at the attempts already +made, trivial as they were, to satisfy Ulster, and Mr. Redmond protested +against the promise of an Amending Bill of any kind. Mr. Asquith could +make no proposal sufficient to allay the hostility of Ulster that would +not alienate the Nationalists, whose support was essential to the +continuance of his Government in office. + +On the same day as this debate in Parliament the result of a by-election +at Grimsby was announced in which the Unionist candidate retained the +seat; a week later the Unionists won a seat in Derbyshire; and two days +afterwards crowned these successes with a resounding victory at Ipswich. +The last-mentioned contest was considered so important that Mr. Lloyd +George and Sir Edward Carson went down to speak the evening before the +poll for their respective sides. Mr. Lloyd George, the Chancellor of the +Exchequer, made his appeal to the cupidity of the constituency, which +was informed that it would gain L15,000 a year from his new Budget, in +addition to large sums, of which he gave the figure, for old age +pensions and under the Government's Health Insurance Act.[88] Sir Edward +Carson laid stress on Ulster's determination to resist Home Rule by +force. The Unionist candidate won the seat next day in this essentially +working-class constituency by a substantial majority, although his +Liberal opponent, Mr. Masterman, was a Cabinet Minister trying for the +second time to return to Parliament. Out of seven elections since the +beginning of the session the Government had lost four. + +It happened that the two latest new members took their seats on the 25th +of May, on which date the Home Rule Bill was passed by the House of +Commons on third reading for the last time. The occasion was celebrated +by the Nationalists, not unnaturally, by a great demonstration of +triumph, both in the House itself and outside in Palace Yard. Men on the +other side reflected that the tragedy of civil war had been brought one +stage nearer. + +The reply of Ulster to the passing of the Bill was a series of reviews +of the U.V.F. during the Whitsuntide recess. Carson, Londonderry, Craig, +and most of the other Ulster members attended these parades, which +excited intense enthusiasm through the country, more especially as the +arms brought by the _Mountjoy_ were now seen for the first time in the +hands of the Volunteers. Several battalions were presented with Colours +which had been provided by Lady Londonderry, Lady Massereene, Mrs. +Craig, and other local ladies, and the ceremony included the dedication +of these Colours by the Bishop of Down and the Moderator of the +Presbyterian Church. Many visitors from England witnessed these +displays, and among them were several deputations of Liberal and Labour +working men, who reported on their return that what they had seen had +converted them to sympathy with Ulster.[89] + +After the recess the promised Amending Bill was introduced in the House +of Lords on the 23rd of June by the Marquis of Crewe, who explained that +it embodied Mr. Asquith's proposals of the 9th of March, and that he +invited amendments. Lord Lansdowne at once declared that these +proposals, which had been rejected as inadequate three months ago, were +doubly insufficient now. But the invitation to amend the Bill was +accepted, Lord Londonderry asking the pertinent question whether the +Government would tell Mr. Redmond that they would insist on acceptance +of any amendments made in response to Lord Crewe's invitation--a +question to which no answer was forthcoming. Lord Milner, in the course +of the debate, said the Bill would have to be entirely remodelled, and +he laid stress on the point that if Ulster were coerced to join the rest +of Ireland it would make a united Ireland for ever impossible, and that +the employment of the Army and Navy for the purpose of coercion would +give a shock to the Empire which it would not long survive; to which +Lord Roberts added that such a policy would mean the utter destruction +of the Army, as he had warned the Prime Minister before the incident at +the Curragh. + +On the 8th of July the Bill was amended by substituting the permanent +exclusion of the whole province of Ulster--which Mr. Balfour had named +"the clean cut"--for the proposed county option with a time limit; and +several other alterations of minor importance were also made. The Bill +as amended passed the third reading on the 14th, when Lord Lansdowne +predicted that, whatever might be the fate of the measure and of the +Home Rule Bill which it modified, the one thing certain was that the +idea of coercing Ulster was dead. + +In Ulster itself, meanwhile, the people were bent on making Lord +Lansdowne's certainty doubly sure. Carson went over for the Boyne +celebration on the 12th of July. The frequency of his visits did nothing +to damp the ardour with which his arrival was always hailed by his +followers. The same wonderful scenes, whether at Larne or at the Belfast +docks, were repeated time after time without appearing to grow stale by +repetition. They gave colour to the Radical jeer at "King Carson," for +no royal personage could have been given a more regal reception than was +accorded to "Sir Edward" (as everybody affectionately called him in +Belfast) half a dozen times within a few months. + +This occasion, when he arrived on the 10th by the Liverpool steamer, +accompanied by Mr. Walter Long, was no exception. His route had been +announced in the Press. Countless Union Jacks were displayed in every +village along both shores of the Lough. Every vessel at anchor, +including the gigantic White Star Liner _Britannic_, was dressed; every +fog-horn bellowed a welcome; the multitude of men at work in the great +ship-yards crowded to places commanding a view of the incoming packet, +and waved handkerchiefs and raised cheers for Sir Edward; fellow +passengers jostled each other to get sight of him as he went down the +gangway and to give him a parting cheer from the deck; the dock sheds +were packed with people, many of them bare-headed and bare-footed +women, who pressed close in the hope of touching his hand, or hearing +one of his kindly and humorous greetings. It was the same in the streets +all the way from the docks to the centre of the city, and out through +the working-class district of Ballymacarret to the country beyond, and +in every hamlet on the road to Newtownards and Mount Stewart--people +congregating to give him a cheer as he passed in Lord Londonderry's +motor-car, or pausing in their work on the land to wave a greeting from +fields bordering the road. + +Radical newspapers in England believed--or at any rate tried to make +their readers believe--that the "Northcliffe Press," particularly _The +Times_ and _Daily Mail_, gave an exaggerated account of these +extraordinary demonstrations of welcome to Carson, and of the +impressiveness of the great meetings which he addressed. But the +accounts in Lord Northcliffe's papers did not differ materially from +those in other journals like _The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Express, +The Standard, The Morning Post, The Observer, The Scotsman_, and _The +Spectator_. There was no exaggeration. The special correspondents gave +faithful accounts of what they saw and heard, and no more. Editorial +support was a different matter. Lord Northcliffe's papers were unfailing +in their support of the Ulster cause, as were many other great British +journals; and even when at a later period Lord Northcliffe's attitude on +the general question of Irish government underwent a change that was +profoundly disappointing to Ulstermen, his papers never countenanced the +idea of applying coercion to Ulster. In the years 1911 to 1914 _The +Times_ remained true to the tradition started by John Walter, who, +himself a Liberal, went personally to Belfast in 1886 to inform himself +on the question, then for the first time raised by Gladstone; and, +having done so, supported the loyalist cause in Ireland till his death. +A series of weighty articles in 1913 and 1914 approved and encouraged +the resistance threatened by Ulster to Home Rule, and justified the +measures taken in preparation for it. Whatever may have been the reason +for a different attitude at a later date, Ulster owed a debt of +gratitude to _The Times_ in those troubled years. + +The long-expected crisis appeared to be very close when Carson arrived +in Belfast on the 10th of July, 1914. He had come to attend a meeting of +the Ulster Unionist Council--sitting for the first time as the +Provisional Government. Craig communicated to the Press the previous day +the Preamble and some of the articles of the Constitution of the +Provisional Government, hitherto kept strictly secret, one article being +that the administration would be taken over "in trust for the +Constitution of the United Kingdom," and that "upon the restoration of +direct Imperial Government, the Provisional Government shall cease to +exist." + +At this session on the 10th, the proceedings of which were private, +Carson explained the extreme gravity of the situation now reached. The +Home Rule Bill would become law probably in a few weeks. It was pretty +certain that the Nationalists would not permit the Government to accept +the Amending Bill in the altered form in which it had left the Upper +House. In that case, nothing remained for them in Ulster but to carry +out the policy they had resolved upon long ago, and to make good the +Covenant. After his forty minutes' speech a quiet and business-like +discussion followed. Plenary authority to take any action necessary in +emergency was conferred unanimously on the executive. The course to be +followed in assuming the administration was explained and agreed to, and +when they separated all the members felt that the crisis for which they +had been preparing so long had at last come upon them. There was no +flinching. + +Next day there was a parade of 3,000 U.V.F. at Larne. A distinguished +American who was present said after the march past, "You could destroy +these Volunteers, but you could not conquer them." Carson spoke with +exceptional solemnity to the men, telling them candidly that, "unless +something happens the evidence of which is not visible at present," he +could discern nothing but darkness ahead, and no hope of peace. He ended +by exhorting his followers throughout Ulster to preserve their +self-control and to "commit no act against any individual or against any +man's property which would sully the great name you have already won." + +As usual, his influence was powerful enough to prevent disturbance. The +Government had made extensive military preparations to maintain order on +the 12th of July; but, as a well-known "character" in Belfast expressed +it, "Sir Edward was worth twenty battalions in keeping order." The +anniversary was celebrated everywhere by enormous masses of men in a +state of tense excitement. Lord Londonderry addressed an immense +gathering at Enniskillen; seventy thousand Orangemen marched from +Belfast to Drumbeg to hear Carson, who sounded the same warning note as +at Larne two days before. But nowhere throughout the Province was a +single occurrence reported that called for action by the police. + +When the Ulster leaders returned to London on the 14th they were met by +reports of differences in the Cabinet over the Amending Bill, which was +to be brought before the House of Commons on the following Monday. +Nationalist pressure no doubt dictated the deletion of the amendments +made by the Peers and the restoration of the Bill to its original shape. +A minority of the Cabinet was said to be opposed to this course. Whether +that was true or false, the Prime Minister must by this time have +realised that he had allowed the country to drift to the brink of civil +war, and that some genuine effort must be made to arrive at a peaceable +solution. + +Accordingly on Monday, the 20th, instead of introducing the Amending +Bill, Mr. Asquith announced in the House of Commons that His Majesty the +King, "in view of the grave situation which has arisen, has thought it +right to summon representatives of parties, both British and Irish, to a +conference at Buckingham Palace, with the object of discussing +outstanding issues in relation to the problem of Irish Government." The +Prime Minister added that at the King's suggestion the Speaker, Mr. +James Lowther, would preside over the Conference, which would begin its +proceedings the following day. + +The Liberals, the British Unionists, the Nationalists, and the Ulstermen +were respectively represented at the Buckingham Palace Conference by Mr. +Asquith and Mr. Lloyd George, Lord Lansdowne and Mr. Bonar Law, Mr. +Redmond and Mr. Dillon, Sir Edward Carson and Captain James Craig. The +King opened the Conference in person on the 21st with a speech +recognising the extreme gravity of the situation, and making an +impressive appeal for a peaceful settlement of the question at issue. +His Majesty then withdrew. The Conference deliberated for four days, but +were unable to agree as to what area in Ulster should be excluded from +the jurisdiction of the Parliament in Dublin. On the 24th Mr. Asquith +announced the breakdown of the Conference, and said that in consequence +the Amending Bill would be introduced in the House of Commons on +Thursday, the 30th of July. + +Here was the old deadlock. The last glimmer of hope that civil war might +be averted seemed to be extinguished. Only ten days had elapsed since +Carson had gloomily predicted at Larne that peace was impossible "unless +something happens, the evidence of which is not visible at present." But +that "something" did happen--though it was something infinitely more +dreadful, infinitely more devastating in its consequences, even though +less dishonouring to the nation, than the alternative from which it +saved us. Balanced, as it seemed, on the brink of civil war, Great +Britain and Ireland together toppled over on the other side into the +maelstrom of world-wide war. + +On the 30th of July, when the Amending Bill was to be discussed, the +Prime Minister said that, with the concurrence of Mr. Bonar Law and Sir +Edward Carson, it would be indefinitely postponed, in order that the +country at this grave crisis in the history of the world "should present +a united front and be able to speak and act with the authority of an +undivided nation." To achieve this, all domestic quarrels must be laid +aside, and he promised that "no business of a controversial character" +would be undertaken. + +Thus it happened that the Amending Bill was never seen by the House of +Commons. Four days later the United Kingdom was at war with the greatest +military Empire in the world. The opportunity had come for Ulster to +prove whether her cherished loyalty was a reality or a sham. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[88] _Annual Register_, 1914, p. 110. + +[89] _Annual Register_, 1914, p. 114. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +ULSTER IN THE WAR + + +More than a year before the outbreak of the Great War a writer in _The +Morning Post_, describing the Ulster Volunteers who were then beginning +to attract attention in England, used language which was more accurately +prophetic than he can have realised in May 1913: + + "What these men have been preparing for in Ulster," he wrote, "may + be of value as a military asset in time of national emergency. I + have seen the men at drill, I have seen them on parade, and experts + assure me that in the matter of discipline, physique, and all + things which go to the making of a military force they are worthy + to rank with our regular soldiers. It is an open secret that, once + assured of the maintenance unimpaired of the Union between Great + Britain and Ireland under the Imperial Parliament alone, a vast + proportion of the citizen army of Ulster would cheerfully hold + itself at the disposal of the Imperial Government and volunteer for + service either at home or abroad!"[90] + +The only error in the prediction was that the writer underestimated the +sacrifice Ulster would be willing to make for the Empire. When the +testing time came fifteen months after this appreciation was published +all hope of unimpaired maintenance of the Union had to be sorrowfully +given up, and only those who were in a position to comprehend, with +sympathy, the depth and intensity of the feeling in Ulster on the +subject could realise all that this meant to the people there. Yet, all +the same, their "citizen army" did not hesitate to "hold itself at the +disposal of the Imperial Government, and volunteer for service at home +or abroad." + +In August 1914 the U.V.F., of 100.000 men, was without question the +most efficient force of infantry in the United Kingdom outside the +Regular Army. The medical comb did not seriously thin its ranks; and +although the age test considerably reduced its number, it still left a +body of fine material for the British Army. Some of the best of its +officers, like Captain Arthur O'Neill, M.P., of the Life Guards, and +Lord Castlereagh of the Blues, had to leave the U.V.F. to rejoin the +regiments to which they belonged, or to take up staff appointments at +the front. In spite of such losses there was a strong desire in the +force, which was shared by the political leaders, that it should be kept +intact as far as possible and form a distinct unit for active service, +and efforts were at once made to get the War Office to arrange for this +to be done. Pressure of work at the War Office, and Lord Kitchener's +aversion from anything that he thought savoured of political +considerations in the organisation of the Army, imposed a delay of +several weeks before this was satisfactorily arranged; and the +consequence was that in the first few weeks of the war a large number of +the keenest young men in Ulster enlisted in various regiments before it +was known that an Ulster Division was to be formed out of the U.V.F. + +It was the beginning of September before Carson was in a position to go +to Belfast to announce that such an arrangement had been made with Lord +Kitchener. And when he went he had also the painful duty of telling the +people of Ulster that the Government was going to give them the meanest +recompense for the promptitude with which they had thrown aside all +party purposes in order to assist the Empire. + +When war broke out a "party truce" had been proclaimed. The Unionist +leaders promised their support to the Government in carrying on the war, +and Mr. Asquith pledged the Government to drop all controversial +legislation. The consideration of the Amending Bill had been shelved by +agreement, Mr. Asquith stating that the postponement "must be without +prejudice to the domestic and political position of any party." On this +understanding the Unionist Party supported, almost without so much as a +word of criticism, all the emergency measures proposed by the +Government. Yet on the 10th of August Mr. Asquith astonished the +Unionists by announcing that the promise to take no controversial +business was not to prevent him advising the King to sign the Home Rule +Bill, which had been hung up in the House of Lords by the introduction +of the Amending Bill, and had never been either rejected or passed by +that House. + +Mr. Balfour immediately protested against this conduct as a breach of +faith; but Mr. Redmond's speech on that occasion contained the +explanation of the Government's conduct. The Nationalist leader gave a +strong hint that any help in the war from the southern provinces of +Ireland would depend on whether or not the Home Rule Bill was to become +law at once. Although the personal loyalty of Mr. Redmond was beyond +question, and although he was no doubt sincere when he subsequently +denied that his speech was so intended, it was in reality an application +of the old maxim that England's difficulty is Ireland's opportunity. In +any case, the Cabinet knew that, however unjustly Ulster might be +treated, she could be relied upon to do everything in her power to +further the successful prosecution of the war, and they cynically came +to the conclusion that the best thing to do was to placate those whose +loyalty was less assured. + +This was the unpleasant tale that Sir Edward Carson had to unfold to the +Ulster Unionist Council on the 3rd of September. After explaining how +and why he had consented to the indefinite postponement of the Amending +Bill, he continued: + + "And so, without any condition of any kind, we agreed that the Bill + should be postponed without prejudice to the position of either + party. England's difficulty is not Ulster's opportunity. England's + difficulty is our difficulty; and England's sorrows have always + been, and always will be, our sorrows. I have seen it stated that + the Germans thought they had hit on an opportune moment, owing to + our domestic difficulties, to make their bullying demand against + our country. They little understood for what we were fighting. We + were not fighting to get away from England; we were fighting to + stay with England, and the Power that attempted to lay a hand upon + England, whatever might be our domestic quarrels, would at once + bring us together--as it has brought us together--as one man." + +In order to avoid controversy at such a time, Carson declared he would +say nothing about their opponents. He insisted that, however unworthily +the Government might act in a great national emergency, Ulstermen must +distinguish between the Prime Minister as a party leader and the Prime +Minister as the representative of the whole nation. Their duty was to +"think not of him or his party, but of our country," and they must show +that "we do not seek to purchase terms by selling our patriotism." He +then referred to the pride they all felt in the U.V.F.; how he had +"watched them grow from infancy," through self-sacrificing toil to their +present high efficiency, with the purpose of "allowing us to be put into +no degraded position in the United Kingdom." But under the altered +conditions their duty was clear: + + "Our country and our Empire are in danger. And under these + circumstances, knowing that the very basis of our political faith + is our belief in the greatness of the United Kingdom and of the + Empire, I say to our Volunteers without hesitation, go and help to + save your country. Go and win honour for Ulster and for Ireland. To + every man that goes, or has gone, and not to them only, but to + every Irishman, you and I say, from the bottom of our hearts, 'God + bless you and bring you home safe and victorious.'" + +The arrangements with the War Office for forming a Division from the +Ulster Volunteers were then explained, which would enable the men "to go +as old comrades accustomed to do their military training together." +Carson touched lightly on fears that had been expressed lest political +advantage should be taken by the Government or by the Nationalists of +the conversion of the U.V.F. into a Division of the British Army, which +would leave Ulster defenceless. "We are quite strong enough," he said, +"to take care of ourselves, and so I say to men, so far as they have +confidence and trust in me, that I advise them to go and do their duty +to the country, and we will take care of politics hereafter." He +concluded by moving a resolution, which was unanimously carried by the +Council, urging "all Loyalists who owe allegiance to our cause" to join +the Army at once if qualified for military service. + +From beginning to end of this splendidly patriotic oration no allusion +was made to the Nationalist attitude to the war. Few people in Ulster +had any belief that the spots on the leopard were going to disappear, +even when the Home Rule Bill had been placed on the Statute-book. The +"difficulty" and the "opportunity" would continue in their old +relations. People in Belfast, as elsewhere, did justice to the patriotic +tone of Mr. Redmond's speech in the House of Commons on the 3rd of +August, which made so deep an impression in England; but they believed +him mistaken in attributing to "the democracy of Ireland" a complete +change of sentiment towards England, and their scepticism was more than +justified by subsequent events. + +But they also scrutinised more carefully than Englishmen the precise +words used by the Nationalist leader. Englishmen, both in the House of +Commons and in the country, were carried off their feet in an ecstasy of +joy and wonder at Mr. Redmond's confident offer of loyal help from +Ireland to the Empire in the mighty world conflict. Ireland was to be +"the one bright spot." Ulstermen, on the other hand, did not fail to +observe that the offer was limited to service at home. "I say to the +Government," said Mr. Redmond, "that they may to-morrow withdraw every +one of their troops from Ireland. I say that the coast of Ireland will +be defended from foreign invasion by her armed sons, and for this +purpose armed Nationalist Catholics in the South will be only too glad +to join arms with the armed Protestant Ulstermen in the North." + +These sentences were rapturously applauded in the House of Commons. When +they were read in Ulster the shrewd men of the North asked what danger +threatened the "coast of Ireland"; and whether, supposing there were a +danger, the British Navy would not be a surer defence than the "armed +sons" of Ireland whether from South or North. It was not on the coast +of Ireland but the coast of Flanders that men were needed, and it was +thither that the "armed Protestant Ulstermen" were preparing to go in +thousands. They would not be behind the Catholics of the South in the +spirit of comradeship invoked by Mr. Redmond if they were to stand +shoulder to shoulder under the fire of Prussian batteries; but they +could not wax enthusiastic over the suggestion that, while they went to +France, Mr. Redmond's Nationalist Volunteers should be trained and armed +by the Government to defend the Irish coast--and possibly, later, to +impose their will upon Ulster. + +The organisation and the training of the Ulster Division forms no part +of the present narrative, but it must be stated that after Carson's +speech on the 3rd of September, recruiting went on uninterruptedly and +rapidly, and the whole energies of the local leaders and of the rank and +file were thrown into the work of preparation. Captain James Craig, +promoted to be Lieutenant-Colonel, was appointed Q.M.G. of the Division; +but the arduous duties of this post, in which he tried to do the work of +half a dozen men, brought about a complete breakdown of health some +months later, with the result that, to his deep disappointment, he was +forbidden to go with the Division to France. No one displayed a finer +spirit than his brother, Mr. Charles Craig, M.P. for South Antrim. He +had never done any soldiering, as his brother had in South Africa, and +he was over military age in 1914; but he did not allow either his age, +his military inexperience, or his membership of the House of Commons to +serve as excuse for separating himself from the men with whom he had +learnt the elements of drill in the U.V.F. He obtained a commission as +Captain in the Ulster Division, and went with it to France, where he was +wounded and taken prisoner in the great engagement at Thiepval in the +battle of the Somme, and had to endure all the rigours of captivity in +Germany till the end of the war. There was afterwards not a little +pungent comment among his friends on the fact that, when honours were +descending in showers on the heads of the just and the unjust alike, a +full share of which reached members of Parliament, sometimes for no very +conspicuous merit, no recognition of any kind was awarded to this +gallant Ulster officer, who had set so fine an example and +unostentatiously done so much more than his duty. + +The Government's act of treachery in regard to "controversial business" +was consummated on the 18th of September, when the Home Rule Bill +received the Royal Assent. On the 15th Mr. Asquith put forward his +defence in the House of Commons. In a sentence of mellifluous optimism +that was to be woefully falsified in a not-distant future, he declared +his confidence that the action his Ministry was taking would bring "for +the first time for a hundred years Irish opinion, Irish sentiment, Irish +loyalty, flowing with a strong and a continuous and ever-increasing +stream into the great reservoir of Imperial resources and Imperial +unity." He acknowledged, however, that the Government had pledged itself +not to put the Home Rule Bill on the Statute-book until the Amending +Bill had been disposed of. That promise was not now to be kept; instead +he gave another, which, when the time came, was equally violated, +namely, to introduce the Amending Bill "in the next session of +Parliament, before the Irish Government Bill can possibly come into +operation." Meantime, there was to be a Suspensory Bill to provide that +the Home Rule Bill should remain in abeyance till the end of the war, +and he gave an assurance "which would be in spirit and in substance +completely fulfilled, that the Home Rule Bill will not and cannot come +into operation until Parliament has had the fullest opportunity, by an +Amending Bill, of altering, modifying, or qualifying its provisions in +such a way as to secure the general consent both of Ireland and of the +United Kingdom." The Prime Minister, further, paid a tribute to "the +patriotic and public spirit which had been shown by the Ulster +Volunteers," whose conduct has made "the employment of force, any kind +of force, for what you call the coercion of Ulster, an absolutely +unthinkable thing." + +But a verbal acknowledgment of the public spirit shown by the U.V.F. in +the first month of the war was a paltry recompense for the Government's +breach of faith, as Mr. Bonar Law immediately pointed out in a stinging +rejoinder. The leader of the Opposition concluded his powerful +indictment by saying that such conduct by the Government could not be +allowed to pass without protest, but that at such a moment of national +danger debate in Parliament on this domestic quarrel, forced upon them +by Ministers, was indecent; and that, having made his protest, neither +he nor his party would take further part in that indecency. Thereupon +the whole Unionist Party followed Mr. Bonar Law out of the Chamber. + +But that was not the end of the incident. It had been decided, with Sir +Edward Carson's approval, that "Ulster Day," the second anniversary of +the Covenant, should be celebrated in Ulster by special religious +services. The intention had been to focus attention on the larger +aspects of Imperial instead of local patriotism; but what had just +occurred in Parliament could not be ignored, and it necessitated a +reaffirmation of Ulster's unchanged attitude in the domestic quarrel. +Mr. Bonar Law now determined to accompany Sir Edward Carson to Belfast +to renew and to amplify under these circumstances the pledges of British +Unionists to Ulster. + +The occasion was a memorable one in several respects. On the 17th of +September Sir Edward Carson had been quietly married in the country to +Miss Frewen, and he was accompanied to Belfast a few days later by the +new Lady Carson, who then made acquaintance with Ulster and her +husband's followers for the first time. The scenes that invariably +marked the leader's arrival from England have been already described; +but the presence of his wife led to a more exuberant welcome than ever +on this occasion; and the recent Parliamentary storm, with its sequel in +the visit of the leader of the Unionist Party, contributed further to +the unbounded enthusiasm of the populace. + +There was a meeting of the Council on the morning of the 28th, Ulster +Day, at which Carson told the whole story of the conferences, +negotiations, conversations, and what not, that had been going on up to, +and even since, the outbreak of war, in the course of which he observed +that, if he had committed any fault, "it was that he believed the Prime +Minister." He paid a just tribute to Mr. Bonar Law, whose constancy, +patience, and "resolution to be no party even under these difficult +circumstances to anything that would be throwing over Ulster, were +matters which would be photographed upon his mind to the very end of his +life." + +But while, naturally, resentment at the conduct of the Government found +forcible expression, and the policy that would be pursued "after the +war" was outlined, the keynote of the speeches at this Council Meeting, +and also at the overwhelming demonstration addressed by Mr. Bonar Law in +the Ulster Hall in the evening, was "country before party." As the +Unionist leader truly said: "This is not an anti-Home Rule meeting. That +can wait, and you are strong enough to let it wait with quiet +confidence." But before passing to the great issues raised by the war, +introduced by a telling allusion to the idea that Germany had calculated +on Ulster being a thorn in England's side, Mr. Bonar Law gave the +message to Ulster which he had specially crossed the Channel to deliver +in person. + +He reminded the audience that hitherto the promise of support to Ulster +by the Unionists of Great Britain, given long before at Blenheim, had +been coupled with the condition that, if an appeal were made to the +electorate, the Unionist Party would bow to the verdict of the country. +"But now," he went on, "after the way in which advantage has been taken +of your patriotism, I say to you, and I say it with the full authority +of our party, we give the pledge without any condition." + +During the two days which he spent in Belfast Mr. Bonar Law, and other +visitors from England, paid visits to the training camps at Newcastle +and Ballykinler, where the 1st Brigade of the Ulster Division was +undergoing training for the front. Both now, and for some time to come, +there was a good deal of unworthy political jealousy of the Division, +which showed itself in a tendency to belittle the recruiting figures +from Ulster, and in sneers in the Nationalist Press at the delay in +sending to the front a body of troops whose friends had advertised their +supposed efficiency before the war. These troops were themselves +fretting to get to France; and they believed, rightly or wrongly, that +political intrigue was at work to keep them ingloriously at home, while +other Divisions, lacking their preliminary training, were receiving +preference in the supply of equipment. + +One small circumstance, arising out of the conditions in which +"Kitchener's Army" had to be raised, afforded genuine enjoyment in +Ulster. Men were enlisting far more rapidly than the factories could +provide arms, uniforms, and other equipment. Rifles for teaching the +recruits to drill and manoeuvre were a long way short of requirements. +It was a great joy to the Ulstermen when the War Office borrowed their +much-ridiculed "dummy rifles" and "wooden guns," and took them to +English training camps for use by the "New Army." + +But this volume is not concerned with the conduct of the Great War, nor +is it necessary to enter in detail into the controversy that arose as to +the efforts of the rest of Ireland, in comparison with those of Ulster, +to serve the Empire in the hour of need. It will be sufficient to cite +the testimony of two authorities, neither of whom can be suspected of +bias on the side of Ulster. The chronicler of the _Annual Register_ +records that: + + "In Ulster, as in England, the flow of recruits outran the + provision made for them by the War Office, and by about the middle + of October the Protestant districts had furnished some 21,000, of + which Belfast alone had contributed 7,581, or 305 per 10,000 of the + population--the highest proportion of all the towns in the United + Kingdom."[91] + +The second witness is the democratic orator who took a foremost part in +the House of Commons in denouncing the Curragh officers who resigned +their Commissions rather than march against Ulster. Colonel John Ward, +M.P., writing two years after the war, in which he had not kept his eyes +shut, said: + + "It would be presumptuous for a mere Englishman to praise the + gallantry and patriotism of Scotland, Wales, and Ulster; their + record stands second to none in the annals of the war. The case of + the South of Ireland, her most ardent admirer will admit, is not + as any other in the whole British Empire. To the everlasting credit + of the great leader of the Irish Nationalists, Mr. John Redmond, + his gallant son, and his very lovable brother--together with many + real, great-souled Irish soldiers whose loss we so deeply + deplore--saw the light and followed the only course open to good + men and true. But the patriotism and devotion of the few only show + up in greater and more exaggerated contrast the sullen indifference + of the majority, and the active hostility of the minority, who + would have seen our country and its people overrun and defeated not + only without regret, but with fiendish delight."[92] + +No generous-minded Ulsterman would wish to detract a word from the +tribute paid by Colonel Ward to the Redmond family and other gallant +Catholic Nationalists who stood manfully for the Empire in the day of +trial; but the concluding sentence in the above quotation cannot be +gainsaid. And the pathetic thing was that Mr. Redmond himself never +seems to have understood the true sentiments of the majority of those +who had been his followers before the war. In a speech in the House on +the 15th of September he referred contemptuously to a "little group of +men who never belonged to the National Constitutional party, who were +circulating anti-recruiting handbills and were publishing little +wretched rags once a week or once a month," which were not worth a +moment's notice. + +The near future was to show that these adherents of Sinn Fein were not +so negligible as Mr. Redmond sincerely believed. The real fact was that +his own patriotic attitude at the outbreak of war undermined his +leadership in Ireland. The "separatism" which had always been, as Ulster +never ceased to believe, the true underlying, though not always the +acknowledged, motive power of Irish Nationalism, was beginning again to +assert itself, and to find expression in "handbills" and "wretched +rags." It was discovering other leaders and spokesmen than Mr. Redmond +and his party, whom it was destined before long to sweep utterly away. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[90] _Morning Post_, May 19th, 1913. + +[91] _The Annual Register_, 1914, p. 259. + +[92] "The Army and Ireland," _Nineteenth Century and After_, January +1921, by Lieut.-Colonel John Ward, C.B., C.M.G., M.P. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +NEGOTIATIONS FOR SETTLEMENT + + +The position in which Ulster was now placed was, from the political +point of view, a very anxious one. Had the war not broken out when it +did, there was a very prevalent belief that the Government could not +have avoided a general election either before, or immediately after, the +placing of Home Rule on the Statute-book; and as to the result of such +an election no Unionist had any misgiving. Even if the Government had +remained content to disregard the electorate, it would have been +impossible for them to subject Ulster to a Dublin Parliament. The +organisation there was powerful enough to prevent it, by force if +necessary, and the Curragh Incident had proved that the Army could not +be employed against the Loyalists. + +But the whole outlook had now changed. The war had put off all thought +of a General Election till an indefinite future; the Ulster Volunteers, +and every other wheel in the very effective machinery prepared for +resistance to Home Rule, were now diverted to a wholly different +purpose; and at the same time the hated Bill had become an Act, and the +only alleviation was the promise, for what it might be worth, of an +Amending Bill the scope of which remained undefined. While, therefore, +the Ulster leaders and people threw themselves with all their energy +into the patriotic work to which the war gave the call, the situation so +created at home caused them much uneasiness. + +No one felt it more than Lord Londonderry. Indeed, as the autumn of 1914 +wore on, the despondency he fell into was so marked that his friends +could not avoid disquietude on his personal account in addition to all +the other grounds for anxiety. He and Lady Londonderry, it is true, took +a leading part in all the activities to which the war gave rise +--encouraging recruiting, organising hospitals, and making provision of +every kind for soldiers and their dependents, in Ulster and in the +County of Durham. But when in London in November, Lord Londonderry would +sit moodily at the Carlton Club, speaking to few except intimate +friends, and apparently overcome by depression. He was pessimistic about +the war. His only son was at the front, and he seemed persuaded he would +never return. The affairs of Ulster, to which he had given his whole +heart, looked black; and he went about as if all his purpose in life was +gone. He went with Lady Londonderry to Mount Stewart for Christmas, and +one or two intimate friends who visited him there in January 1915 were +greatly disturbed in mind on his account. But the public in Belfast, who +saw him going in and out of the Ulster Club as usual, did not know +anything was amiss, and were terribly shocked as well as grieved when +they heard of his sudden death at Wynyard on the 8th of February. + +The death of Lord Londonderry was felt by many thousands in Ulster as a +personal bereavement. If he did not arouse the unbounded, and almost +delirious, devotion which none but Sir Edward Carson ever evoked in the +North of Ireland, the deep respect and warm affection felt towards him +by all who knew him, and by great numbers who did not, was a tribute +which his modesty and integrity of character and genial friendliness of +disposition richly deserved. He was faithfully described by Carson +himself to the Ulster Unionist Council several months after his death as +"a great leader, a great and devoted public servant, a great patriot, a +great gentleman, and above all the greatest of great friends." + +Ulster, meantime, had already had a foretaste of the sacrifices the war +was to demand when the Division should go to the front. In November 1914 +Captain the Hon. Arthur O'Neill, M.P. for Mid Antrim, who had gone to +the front with the first expeditionary force, was killed in action in +France. There was a certain sense of sad pride in the reflection that +the first member of the House of Commons to give his life for King and +country was a representative of Ulster; and the constituency which +suffered the loss of a promising young member by the death of this +gallant Life Guardsman consoled itself by electing in his place his +younger brother, Major Hugh O'Neill, then serving in the Ulster +Division, who afterwards proved himself a most valuable member of the +Ulster Parliamentary Party, and eventually became the first Speaker of +the Ulster Parliament created by the Act of 1920. + +Notwithstanding the bitter outbreak of party passion caused by the +Government's action in putting the Home Rule Bill on the Statute-book in +September, the party truce was well maintained throughout the autumn and +winter. And the most striking proof of the transformation wrought by the +war was seen when Mr. Asquith, when constrained to form a truly national +Administration in May 1915, included Sir Edward Carson in his Cabinet +with the office of Attorney-General. Mr. Redmond was at the same time +invited to join the Government, and his refusal to do so when the +British Unionists, the Labour leaders, and the Ulster leaders all +responded to the Prime Minister's appeal to their patriotism, did not +appear in the eyes of Ulstermen to confirm the Nationalist leader's +profession of loyalty to the Empire; though they did him the justice of +believing that he would have accepted office if he had felt free to +follow his own inclination. His inability to do so, and the complaints +of his followers, including Mr. Dillon, at the admission of Carson to +the Cabinet, revealed the incapacity of the Nationalists to rise to a +level above party. + +Carson, however, did not remain very long in the Government. +Disapproving of the policy pursued in relation to our Allies in the +Balkans, he resigned on the 20th of October, 1915. But he had remained +long enough to prove his value in council to the most energetic of his +colleagues in the Cabinet. Men like Mr. Churchill and Mr. Lloyd George, +although they had been the bitterest of Carson's opponents eighteen +months previously, seldom omitted from this time forward to seek his +advice in times of difficulty; and the latter of these two, when things +were going badly with the Allies more than a year later, endeavoured to +persuade Mr. Asquith to include Carson in a Committee of four to be +charged with the entire conduct of the war. + +It was, perhaps, fortunate that the Ulster leader was not a member of +the Government when the rebellion broke out in the South of Ireland at +Easter 1916. For this event suddenly brought to the front again the +whole Home Rule question, which everybody had hoped might be allowed to +sleep till the end of the war; and it would have been a misfortune if +Carson had not then been in a position of independence to play his part +in this new act of the Irish drama. + +The Government had many warnings of what was brewing. But Mr. Birrell, +the Chief Secretary, who in frivolity seemed a contemporary embodiment +of Nero, deemed cheap wit a sufficient reply to all remonstrances, and +had to confess afterwards that he had utterly miscalculated the forces +with which he had to deal. He was completely taken by surprise when, on +the 20th of April, an attempt to land weapons from a German vessel, +escorted by a submarine from which Sir Roger Casement landed in the West +of Ireland, proved that the Irish rebels were in league with the enemy; +and even after this ominous event, he did nothing to provide against the +outbreak that occurred in Dublin four days later. The rising in the +capital, and in several other places in the South of Ireland, was not +got under for a week, during which time more than 170 houses had been +burnt, L2,000,000 sterling worth of property destroyed or damaged, and +1,315 casualties had been suffered, of which 304 were fatal. + +The aims of the insurgents were disclosed in a proclamation which +referred to the administration in Ireland as a "long usurpation by a +foreign people and government." It declared that the Irish Republican +Brotherhood--the same organisation that planned and carried out the +Phoenix Park murders in 1882--had now seized the right moment for +"reviving the old traditions of Irish nationhood," and announced that +the new Irish Republic was a sovereign independent State, which was +entitled to claim the allegiance of every Irish man and woman. + +The rebellion was the subject of debates in both Houses of Parliament on +the 10th and 11th of May--Mr. Birrell having in the interval, to use a +phrase of Carlyle's, "taken himself and his incompetence +elsewhere"--when Mr. Dillon, speaking for the Nationalist Party, poured +forth a flood of passionate sympathy with the rebels, declaring that he +was proud of youths who could boast of having slaughtered British +soldiers, and he denounced the Government for suppressing the rising in +"a sea of blood." The actual fact was, that out of a large number of +prisoners taken red-handed in the act of armed rebellion who were +condemned to death after trial by court-martial, the great majority were +reprieved, and thirteen in all were executed. Whether such measures +deserved the frightful description coined by Mr. Dillon's flamboyant +rhetoric everybody can judge for himself, after considering whether in +any other country or at any other period of the world's history, active +assistance of a foreign enemy--for that is what it amounted to--has been +visited with a more lenient retribution. + +On the same day that Mr. Dillon thus justified the whole basis of +Ulster's unchanging attitude towards Nationalism by blurting out his +sympathy with England's enemies, Mr. Asquith announced that he was +himself going to Ireland to investigate matters on the spot. These two +events, Mr. Dillon's speech and the Prime Minister's visit to +Dublin--where he certainly exhibited no stern anger against the rebels, +even if the stories were exaggerated which reported him to have shown +them ostentatious friendliness--went far to transform what had been a +wretched fiasco into a success. Cowed at first by their complete +failure, the rebels found encouragement in the complacency of the Prime +Minister, and the fear or sympathy, whichever it was, of the Nationalist +Party. From that moment they rapidly increased in influence, until they +proved two years later that they had become the predominant power all +over Ireland except in Ulster. + +In Ulster the rebellion was regarded with mixed feelings. The strongest +sentiment was one of horror at the treacherous blow dealt to the Empire +while engaged in a life-and-death struggle with a foreign enemy. But, +was it unpardonably Pharisaic if there was also some self-glorification +in the thought that Ulstermen in this respect were not as other men +were? There was also a prevalent feeling that after what had occurred +they would hear no more of Home Rule, at any rate during the war. It +appeared inconceivable that any sane Government could think of handing +over the control of Ireland in time of war to people who had just proved +their active hostility to Great Britain in so unmistakable a fashion. + +But they were soon undeceived. Mr. Asquith, on his return, told the +House of Commons what he had learnt during his few days' sojourn in +Ireland. His first proposition was that the existing machinery of +Government in Ireland had completely broken down. That was undeniable. +It was the natural fruit of the Birrell regime. Mr. Asquith was himself +responsible for it. But no more strange or illogical conclusion could be +drawn from it than that which Mr. Asquith proceeded to propound. This +was that there was now "a unique opportunity for a new departure for the +settlement of outstanding problems "--which, when translated from +Asquithian into plain English, meant that now was the time for Home +Rule. The pledge to postpone the question till after the war was to be +swept aside, and, instead of building up by sound and sensible +administration what Mr. Birrel's abnegation of government had allowed to +crumble into "breakdown," the rebels were to be rewarded for traffic +with the enemy and destruction of the central parts of Dublin, with +great loss of life, by being allowed to point to the triumphant success +of their activity, which was certain to prove the most effective of all +possible propaganda for their political ideals in Ireland. + +Some regard, however, was still to be paid to the promise of an Amending +Bill. The Prime Minister repeated that no one contemplated the coercion +of Ulster; that an attempt must be made to come to agreement about the +terms on which the Home Rule Act could be brought into immediate +operation; and that the Cabinet had deputed to Mr. Lloyd George the task +of negotiating to this end with both parties in Ireland. Accordingly, +Mr. Lloyd George, then Secretary of State for War, interviewed Sir +Edward Carson on the one hand and Mr. Redmond and Mr. Devlin on the +other, and submitted to them separately the proposals which he said the +Cabinet were prepared to make.[93] + +On the 6th of June Carson explained the Cabinet's proposals at a special +meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council held in private. His task was an +extremely difficult one, for the advice he had to offer was utterly +detestable to himself, and he knew it would be no less so to his +hearers. And the latter, profound as was their trust in him as their +leader, were men of singularly independent judgment and quite capable of +respectfully declining to take any course they did not themselves +approve. Indeed, Carson emphasised the fact that he could not, and had +not attempted to, bind the Council to take the same view of the +situation as himself. At the same time he clearly and frankly stated +what his own opinion was, saying: "I would indeed be a poor leader of a +great movement if I hesitated to express my own views of any proposition +put before you."[94] + +His speech, which took nearly two hours in delivery, was a perfect model +of lucid exposition and convincing argument. He reviewed in close detail +the course of events that had led to the present situation. He +maintained from first to last the highest ground of patriotism. +Mentioning that numerous correspondents had asked why he did not +challenge the Nationalist professions of loyalty two years before at the +beginning of the war, which had since then been so signally falsified, +he answered: + + "Because I had no desire to show a dissentient Ireland to the + Germans. I am glad, even with what has happened, that we played the + game, and if we had to do it again we would play the game. And then + suddenly came the rebellion in Dublin. I cannot find words to + describe my own horror when I heard of it. For I am bound to admit + to you that I was not thinking merely of Ulster; I was thinking of + the war; I was thinking, as I am always thinking, of what will + happen if we are beaten in the war. I was thinking of the + sacrifice of human lives at the front, and in Gallipoli, and at + Kut, when suddenly I heard that the whole thing was interrupted by, + forsooth, an Irish rebellion--by what Mr. Dillon in the House of + Commons called a clean fight! It is not Ulster or Ireland that is + now at stake: it is the British Empire. We have therefore to + consider not merely a local problem, but a great Imperial + problem--how to win the war." + +He then outlined the representations that had been made to him by the +Cabinet as to the injury to the Allied cause resulting from the +unsettled Irish question--the disturbance of good relations with the +United States, whence we were obtaining vast quantities of munitions; +the bad effect of our local differences on opinion in Allied and neutral +countries. He admitted that these evil effects were largely due to false +and hostile propaganda to which the British Government weakly neglected +to provide an antidote; he believed they were grossly exaggerated. But +in time of war they could not contend with their own Government nor be +deaf to its appeals, especially when that Government contained all their +own party leaders, on whose support they had hitherto leaned. + +One of Carson's chief difficulties was to make men grasp the +significance of the fact that Home Rule was now actually established by +Act of Parliament. The point that the Act was on the Statute-book was +constantly lost sight of, with all that it implied. He drove home the +unwelcome truth that simple repeal of that Act was not practical +politics. The only hope for Ulster to escape going under a Parliament in +Dublin lay in the promised Amending Bill. But they had no assurance how +much that Bill, when produced, would do for them. Was it likely, he +asked, to do more than was now offered by the Government? + +He then told the Council what Mr. Lloyd George's proposals were. The +Cabinet offered on the one hand a "clean cut," not indeed of the whole +of Ulster, but of the six most Protestant counties, and on the other to +bring the Home Rule Act, so modified, into immediate operation. He +pointed out that none of them could contemplate using the U.V.F. for +fighting purposes at home after the war; and that, even if such a thing +were thinkable, they could not expect to get more by forcible resistance +to the Act than what was now offered by legislation. + +But to Carson himself, and to all who listened to him that day, the +heartrending question was whether they could suffer a separation to be +made between the Loyalists in the six counties and those in the other +three counties of the Province. It could only be done, Carson declared, +if, after considering all the circumstances of the case as he unfolded +it to them, the delegates from Cavan, Monaghan, and Donegal could make +the self-sacrifice of releasing the other counties from the obligation +to stand or fall together. Carson ended by saying that he did not intend +to take a vote--he "could be no party to having Ulstermen vote one +against the other." What was to be done must be done by agreement, or +not at all. He offered to confer separately with the delegates from the +three omitted counties, and the Council adjourned till the 12th of June +to enable this conference to be held. + +In the interval a large number of the delegates held meetings of their +local associations, most of which passed resolutions in favour of +accepting the Government's proposals. But there was undoubtedly a +widespread feeling that it would be a betrayal of the Loyalists of +Cavan, Monaghan, and Donegal, and even a positive breach of the +Covenant, to accept exclusion from the Home Rule Act for only a portion +of Ulster. This was, it is true, a misunderstanding of the strict +meaning of the Covenant, which had been expressly conditioned so as not +to extend to such unforeseen circumstances as the war had brought +about[95]; but there was a general desire to avoid if possible taking +technical points, and both Carson himself and the Council were ready to +sacrifice the opportunity for a tolerable settlement should the +representatives of the three counties not freely consent to what was +proposed. + +In a spirit of self-sacrifice which deeply touched every member of the +Council, this consent was given. Carson had obtained leave for Lord +Farnham to return from the Army in France to be present at the meeting. +Lord Farnham, as a delegate from Cavan, made a speech at the adjourned +meeting on the 12th which filled his hearers with admiration. That he +was almost heart-broken by the turn events had taken he made no attempt +to conceal; and his distress was shared by those who heard his moving +words. But he showed that he possessed the instinct of statesmanship +which compelled him to recognise, in spite of the powerful pull of +sentiment and self-interest in the opposite direction, that the course +recommended by Carson was the path of wisdom. With breaking voice he +thanked the latter "for the clearness, and the fairness, and the +manliness with which he has put the deplorable situation that has arisen +before us, and for his manly advice as leader "; and he then read a +resolution that had been passed earlier in the day by the delegates of +the three counties, which, after recording a protest against any +settlement excluding them from Ulster, expressed sorrowful acquiescence, +on grounds of the larger patriotism, in whatever decision might be come +to in the matter by their colleagues from the six counties. + +It was the saddest hour the Ulster Unionist Council ever spent. Men not +prone to emotion shed tears. It was the most poignant ordeal the Ulster +leader ever passed through. But it was just one of those occasions when +far-seeing statesmanship demands the ruthless silencing of promptings +that spring from emotion. Many of those who on that terrible 12th of +June were most torn by doubt as to the necessity for the decision +arrived at, realised before long that their leader had never been guided +by surer insight than in the counsel he gave them that day. + +The Resolution adopted by the Council was a lengthy one. After reciting +the unaltered attachment of Ulster to the Union, it placed on record the +appeal that had been made by the Government on patriotic grounds for a +settlement of the Irish difficulty, which the Council did not think it +right at such a time of national emergency to resist; but it was careful +to reserve, in case the negotiations should break down from any other +cause, complete freedom to revert to "opposition to the whole policy of +Home Rule for Ireland." + +Meantime the Nationalist leaders had been submitting Mr. Lloyd George's +proposals to their own people, and on the 10th of June Mr. Redmond made +a speech in Dublin from which it appeared that he was submitting a very +different proposal to that explained by Carson in Belfast. For Mr. +Redmond told his Dublin audience that, while the Home Rule Act was to +come into operation at once, the exclusion of the six counties was to be +only for the period of the war and twelve months afterwards. That would, +of course, have been even less favourable to Ulster than the terms +offered by Mr. Asquith and rejected by Carson in March 1914. Exclusion +for the period of the war meant nothing; it would have been useless to +Ulster; it was no concession whatever; and Carson would have refused, as +he did in 1914, even to submit it to the Unionist Council in Belfast. +Mr. Lloyd George, who must have known this, had told him quite clearly +that there was to be a "definite clean cut," with no suggestion of a +time limit. There was, however, an idea that after the war an Imperial +Conference would be held, at which the whole constitutional relations of +the component nations of the British Empire would be reviewed, and that +the permanent status of Ireland would then come under reconsideration +with the rest. In this sense the arrangement now proposed was spoken of +as "provisional"; but both Mr. Lloyd George and the Prime Minister made +it perfectly plain that the proposed exclusion of the six Ulster +counties from Home Rule could never be reversed except by a fresh Act of +Parliament. + +But when the question was raised by Mr. Redmond in the House of Commons +on the 24th of July, in a speech of marked moderation, he explained that +he had understood the exclusion, like all the rest of the scheme, to be +strictly "provisional," with the consequence that it would come to an +end automatically at the end of the specified period unless prolonged by +new legislation; and he refused to respond to an earnest appeal by Mr. +Asquith not to let slip this opportunity of obtaining, with the consent +of the Unionist Party, immediate Home Rule for the greater part of +Ireland, more especially as Mr. Redmond himself had disclaimed any +desire to bring Ulster within the Home Rule jurisdiction without her own +consent. + +The negotiations for settlement thus fell to the ground, and the bitter +sacrifice which Ulster had brought herself to offer, in response to the +Government's urgent appeal, bore no fruit, unless it was to afford one +more proof of her loyalty to England and the Empire. She was to find +that such proofs were for the most part thrown away, and merely were +used by her enemies, and by some who professed to be her friends, as a +starting-point for demands on her for further concessions. But, although +all British parties in turn did their best to impress upon Ulster that +loyalty did not pay, she never succeeded in learning the lesson +sufficiently to be guided by it in her political conduct. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[93] Mr. Lloyd George's memory was at fault when he said in the House of +Commons on the 7th of February, 1922, that on the occasion referred to +in the text he had seen Sir Edward Carson and Mr. Redmond together. + +[94] The quotations from this speech, which was never published, are +from a report privately taken by the Ulster Unionist Council. + +[95] See _ante_, p. 105. + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE IRISH CONVENTION + + +After the failure of Mr. Lloyd George's negotiations for settlement in +the summer of 1916 the Nationalists practically dropped all pretence of +helping the Government to carry on the war. They were, no doubt, +beginning to realise how completely they were losing hold of the people +of Southern Ireland, and that the only chance of regaining their +vanishing popularity was by an attitude of hostility to the British +Government. + +Frequently during the autumn and winter they raised debates in +Parliament on the demand that the Home Rule Act should immediately come +into operation, and threatened that if this were not done recruits from +Ireland would not be forthcoming, although the need for men was now a +matter of great national urgency. They ignored the fact that Mr. Redmond +was a consenting party to Mr. Asquith's policy of holding Home Rule in +abeyance till after the war, and attempted to explain away their own +loss of influence in Ireland by alleging that the exasperation of the +Irish people at the delay in obtaining "self-government" was the cause +of their alienation from England, and of the growth of Sinn Fein. + +In December 1916 the Asquith Government came to an end, and Mr. Lloyd +George became Prime Minister. He had shown his estimate of Sir Edward +Carson's statesmanship by pressing Mr. Asquith to entrust the entire +conduct of the war to a Committee of four, of whom the Ulster leader +should be one; and, having failed in this attempt to infuse energy and +decision into the counsels of his Chief, he turned him out and formed a +Ministry with Carson in the office of First Lord of the Admiralty, at +that time one of the most vital in the Government. Colonel James Craig +also joined the Ministry as Treasurer of the Household. + +The change of Government did nothing to alter the attitude of the +Nationalists, unless, indeed, the return of Carson to high office added +to the fierceness of their attacks. On the 26th of February 1917--just +when "unrestricted submarine warfare" was bringing the country into its +greatest peril--Mr. Dillon called upon the Government to release +twenty-eight men who had been deported from Ireland, and who were +declared by Mr. Duke, the Chief Secretary, to have been deeply +implicated in the Easter rebellion of the previous year; and a week +later Mr. T.P. O'Connor returned to the charge with another demand for +Home Rule without further ado. + +The debate on Mr. O'Connor's motion on the 7th of March was made +memorable by the speech of Major William Redmond, home on leave from the +trenches in France, whose sincere and impassioned appeal for oblivion of +old historic quarrels between Irish Catholics and Protestants, who were +at that moment fighting and dying side by side in France, made a deep +impression on the House of Commons and the country. And when this +gallant officer fell in action not long afterwards and was carried out +of the firing line by Ulster soldiers, his speech on the 7th of March +was recalled and made the peg on which to hang many adjurations to +Ulster to come into line with their Nationalist fellow-countrymen of the +South. + +Such appeals revealed a curious inability to grasp the realities of the +situation. Men spoke and wrote as if it were something new and wonderful +for Irishmen of the "two nations" to be found fighting side by side in +the British Army--as if the same thing had not been seen in the +Peninsula, in the Crimea, on the Indian frontier, in South Africa, and +in many another fight. Ulstermen, like everybody else who knew Major +Redmond, deplored the loss of a very gallant officer and a very lovable +man. But they could not understand why his death should be made a reason +for a change in their political convictions. When Major Arthur O'Neill, +an Ulster member, was killed in action in 1914, no one had suggested +that Nationalists should on that account turn Unionists. Why, they +wondered, should Unionists any more turn Nationalists because a +Nationalist M.P. had made the same supreme sacrifice? All this +sentimental talk of that time was founded on the misconception that +Ulster's attachment to the Union was the result of personal prejudice +against Catholics of the South, instead of being, as it was, a +deliberate and reasoned conviction as to the best government for +Ireland. + +This distinction was clearly brought out in the same debate by Sir John +Lonsdale, who, when Carson became a member of the Cabinet, had been +elected leader of the Ulster Party in the House of Commons; and an +emphatic pronouncement, which went to the root of the controversy, was +made in reply to the Nationalists by the Prime Minister. In the +north-eastern portion of Ireland, he said: + + "You have a population as hostile to Irish rule as the rest of + Ireland is to British rule, yea, and as ready to rebel against it + as the rest of Ireland is against British rule--as alien in blood, + in religious faith, in traditions, in outlook--as alien from the + rest of Ireland in this respect as the inhabitants of Fife or + Aberdeen. To place them under National rule against their will + would be as glaring an outrage on the principles of liberty and + self-government as the denial of self-government would be for the + rest of Ireland." + +The Government were, therefore, prepared, said Mr. Lloyd George, to +bring in Home Rule immediately for that part of Ireland that wanted it, +but not for the Northern part which did not want it. Mr. Redmond made a +fine display of indignation at this refusal to coerce Ulster; and, in +imitation of the Unionists in 1914, marched out of the House at the head +of his party. Next day he issued a manifesto to men of Irish blood in +the United States and in the Dominions, calling on them to use all means +in their power to exert pressure on the British Government. It was clear +that this sort of thing could not be tolerated in the middle of a war in +which Great Britain was fighting for her life, and at a crisis in it +when her fortunes were far from prosperous. Accordingly, on the 16th of +March Mr. Bonar Law warned the Nationalists that their conduct might +make it necessary to appeal to the country on the ground that they were +obstructing the prosecution of the war. But he also announced that the +Cabinet intended to make one more attempt to arrive at a settlement of +the apparently insoluble problem of Irish government. + +Two months passed before it was made known how this attempt was to be +made. On the 16th of May the Prime Minister addressed a letter in +duplicate to Mr. Redmond and Sir John Lonsdale, representing the two +Irish parties respectively, in which he put forward for their +consideration two alternative methods of procedure, after premising that +the Government felt precluded from proposing during the war any measures +except such as "would be substantially accepted by both sides." + +These alternatives were: _(a)_ a "Bill for the immediate application of +the Home Rule Act to Ireland, but excluding therefrom the six counties +of North-East Ulster," or, _(b)_ a Convention of Irishmen "for the +purpose of drafting a Constitution ... which should secure a just +balance of all the opposing interests." Sir John Lonsdale replied to the +Prime Minister that he would take the Government's first proposal to +Belfast for consideration by the Council; but as Mr. Redmond, on the +other hand, peremptorily refused to have anything to say to it, it +became necessary to fall back on the other alternative, namely the +assembling of an Irish Convention. + +The members chosen to sit in the Convention were to be "representative +men" in Emerson's meaning of the words, but not in the democratic sense +as deriving their authority from direct popular election. Certain +political organisations and parties were each invited to nominate a +certain number; the Churches were represented by their leading clergy; +men occupying public positions, such as chairmen of local authorities, +were given _ex-officio_ seats; and a certain number were nominated by +the Government. The total membership of this variegated assembly was +ninety-five. The Sinn Fein party were invited to join, but refused to +have anything to do with it, declaring that they would consider nothing +short of complete independence for Ireland. The majority of the Irish +people thus stood aloof from the Convention altogether. + +As the purpose for which the Convention was called was quickly lost +sight of by many, and by none more than its Chairman, it is well to +remember what that purpose was. If it had not been for the opposition of +Ulster, the Home Rule Act of 1914 would have been in force for years, +and none of the many attempts at settlement would have been necessary. +The one and only thing required was to reconcile, if possible, the +aspirations of Ulster with those of the rest of Ireland. That was the +purpose, and the only purpose, of the Convention; and in the letter +addressed to Sir John Lonsdale equally with Mr. Redmond, the Prime +Minister distinctly laid it down that unless its conclusions were +accepted "by both sides," nothing could come of it. To leave no shadow +of doubt on this point Mr. Bonar Law, in reply to a specific question, +said that there could be no "substantial agreement" to which Ulster was +not a party. + +It is necessary to emphasise this point, because for such a purpose the +heterogeneous conglomeration of Nationalists of all shades that formed +the great majority of the Convention was worse than useless. The +Convention was in reality a bi-lateral conference, in which one of the +two sides was four times as numerous as the other. Yet much party +capital was subsequently made of the fact that the Nationalist members +agreed upon a scheme of Home Rule--an achievement which had no element +of the miraculous or even of the unexpected about it. + +Notwithstanding that the Sinn Fein party had displayed their contempt +for the Convention, and under the delusion that it would "create an +atmosphere of good-will" for its meeting, the Government released +without condition or reservation all the prisoners concerned in the +Easter rebellion of 1916. It was like playing a penny whistle to +conciliate a cobra. The prisoners, from whose minds nothing was further +than any thought of good-will to England, were received by the populace +in Dublin with a rapturous ovation, their triumphal procession being +headed by Mr. De Valera, who was soon afterwards elected member for East +Clare by a majority of nearly thirty thousand. Four months later, the +Chief Secretary told Parliament that the young men of Southern Ireland, +who had refused to serve in the Army, were being enrolled in preparation +for another rebellion. + +It was only after some hesitation that the Ulster Unionist Council +decided not to hold aloof from the Convention, as the Sinn Feiners did. +Carson accompanied Sir John Lonsdale to Belfast and explained the +explicit pledges by Ministers that participation would not commit them +to anything, that they would not be bound by any majority vote, and that +without their concurrence no legislation was to be founded on any +agreement between the other groups in the Convention; he also urged that +Ulster could not refuse to do what the Government held would be helpful +in the prosecution of the war. + +The invitation to nominate five delegates was therefore accepted; and +when the membership of the Convention was complete there were nineteen +out of ninety-five who could be reckoned as supporters in general of the +Ulster point of view. Among them were the Primate, the Moderator of the +General Assembly, the Duke of Abercorn, the Marquis of Londonderry, Mr. +H.M. Pollock, Chairman of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, one Labour +representative, Mr J. Hanna, and the Lord Mayors of Belfast and Derry. +It was agreed that Mr. H.T. Barrie, member for North Derry, should act +as chairman and leader of the Ulster group, and he discharged this +difficult duty with unfailing tact and ability. + +There was some difficulty in finding a suitable Chairman, for no party +was willing to accept any strong man opposed to their own views, while +an impartial man was not to be found in Ireland. Eventually the choice +fell on Sir Horace Plunkett as a gentleman who, if eagerly supported by +none, was accepted by each group as preferable to a more formidable +opponent. Sir Horace made no pretence of impartiality. Whatever +influence he possessed was used as a partisan of the Nationalists. He +was not, like the Speaker of the House of Commons, a silent guardian of +order; he often harangued the assembly, which, on one occasion at least, +he addressed for over an hour; and he issued manifestos, +_questionnaires_, and letters to members, one of which was sharply +censured as misleading both by Mr. Barrie and the Bishop of Raphoe. + +The procedure adopted was described by the Chairman himself as +"unprecedented." It was not only that, but was unsuitable in the last +degree for the purpose in view. When it is borne in mind what that +purpose was, it is clear that the only business-like method would have +been to invite the Ulster delegates at the outset to formulate their +objections to coming under the Home Rule Act of 1914, and then to see +whether Mr. Redmond could make any concessions which would persuade +Ulster to accept something less than the permanent exclusion of six +counties, which had been their _minimum_ hitherto. + +The procedure actually followed was ludicrously different. The object, +as stated by the chairman, was "to avoid raising contentious issues in +such a way as to divide the Convention on party lines,"[96] which, to +say the least, was a curious method of handling the most contentious +problem in British politics. A fine opportunity was offered to amateur +constitution-mongers. Anyone was allowed to propound a scheme for the +future government of Ireland, which, of course, was an encouragement to +endless wide-ranging debate, with the least conceivable likelihood of +arriving at definite decisions. Neither of the leaders of the two +parties whose agreement was essential if the Convention was to have any +result took the initiative in bringing forward proposals. Mr. Redmond +was invited to do so, but declined. Mr. Barrie had no reason to do so, +because the Ulster scheme for the government of Ireland was the +legislative union. So it was left to individuals with no official +responsibility to set forth their ideas, which became the subject of +protracted debates of a general character. + +It was further arranged that while contentious issues--the only ones +that mattered--should be avoided, any conclusions reached on minor +matters should be purely provisional, and contingent on agreement being +come to ultimately on fundamentals. Month after month was spent in thus +discussing such questions as the powers which an Irish Parliament ought +to wield, while the question whether Ulster was to come into that +Parliament was left to stand over. Committees and sub-committees were +appointed to thresh out these details, and some of them relieved the +tedium by wandering into such interesting by-ways of irrelevancy as +housing and land purchase, all of which, in Gilbertian phrase, "had +nothing to do with the case." + +The Ulster group raised no objection to all this expenditure of time and +energy. For they saw that it was not time wasted. From the standpoint of +the highest national interest it was, indeed, more useful than anything +the Convention could have accomplished by business-like methods. The +summer and autumn of 1917, and the early months of 1918, covered a +terribly critical period of the war. The country was never in greater +peril, and the attitude of the Nationalists in the House of Commons +added to the difficulties of the Government, as Mr. Bonar Law had +complained in March. It was to placate them that the Convention had been +summoned. It was a bone thrown to a snarling dog, and the longer there +was anything to gnaw the longer would the dog keep quiet. The Ulster +delegates understood this perfectly, and, as their chief desire was to +help the Government to get on with the war, they had no wish to curtail +the proceedings of the Convention, although they were never under the +delusion that it could lead to anything in Ireland. + +Having regard to the origin of this strange assembly of Irishmen it +might have been supposed that its ingenuity would be directed to finding +some modification of Mr. Asquith's Home Rule Act which Ulster could +accept. That Act was the point of departure for its investigation, and +the quest was _ex hypothesi_ for some amendment that would not be an +enlargement of the authority to be delegated to the subordinate +Parliament, or any further loosening of the tie with Great Britain. Any +proposal of the latter sort would be in the opposite direction from that +in which the Convention was intended to travel. Yet this is precisely +what was done from the very outset. The Act of 1914 was brushed aside as +beneath contempt; and the Ulster delegates had to listen with amazement +week after week to proposals for giving to the whole of Ireland, +including their own Province, a constitution practically as independent +of Great Britain as that of the Dominions. + +But what astonished the Ulstermen above everything was to find these +extravagant demands of the Nationalists supported by those who were +supposed to be representatives of Southern Unionism, with Lord Midleton, +a prominent member of the Unionist Party in England, at their head. The +only material point on which Lord Midleton differed from the extremists +led by the Bishop of Raphoe was that he wished to limit complete fiscal +autonomy for Ireland by reserving the control of Customs duties to the +Imperial Parliament. Save in this single particular he joined forces +with the Nationalists, and shocked the Unionists of the North by giving +his support to a scheme of Home Rule going beyond anything ever +suggested at Westminster by any Radical from Gladstone to Asquith. + +This question of the financial powers to be exercised by the +hypothetical Irish Parliament occupied the Convention and its committees +for the greater part of its eight months of existence. In January 1918 +Lord Midleton and Mr. Redmond came to an agreement on the subject which +proved the undoing of them both, and produced the only really impressive +scene in the Convention. + +For some time Mr. Redmond had given the impression of being a tired man +who had lost his wonted driving-force. He took little or no part in the +lobbying and canvassing that was constantly going on behind the scenes +in the Convention; he appeared to be losing grip as a leader. But he +cannot be blamed for his anxiety to come to terms with Lord Midleton; +and when he found, no doubt greatly to his surprise, that a Unionist +leader was ready to abandon Unionist principles and to accept Dominion +Home Rule for Ireland, subject to a single reservation on the subject of +Customs, he naturally jumped at it, and assumed that his followers would +do the same. + +But, while Mr. Redmond had been losing ground, the influence of the +Catholic Bishop of Raphoe had been on the increase, and that able and +astute prelate was entirely opposed to the compromise on which Mr. +Redmond and Lord Midleton were agreed. On the evening of the 14th of +January it came to the knowledge of Mr. Redmond that when the question +came up for decision next day, he would find Mr. Devlin, his principal +lieutenant, in league with the ecclesiastics against him. He was +personally too far committed to retrace his steps; to go forward meant +disaster, for it would produce a deep cleavage in the Nationalist ranks; +and, as the state of affairs was generally known to members of the +Convention, the sitting of the following day was anticipated with +unusual interest. + +There was an atmosphere of suppressed excitement when the Chairman took +his seat on the 15th. Mr. Redmond entered a few seconds later and took +his usual place without betraying the slightest sign of disturbed +equanimity. The Bishop of Raphoe strode past him, casting to left and +right swift, challenging glances. Mr. Devlin slipped quietly into his +seat beside the leader he had thrown over, without a word or gesture of +greeting. All over the room small groups of members engaged in whispered +conversation; an air of mysterious expectancy prevailed. The Ulster +members had been threatened that it was to be for them a day of disaster +and dismay--a little isolated group, about to be deserted by friends and +crushed by enemies. The Chairman, in an agitated voice, opened +proceedings by inviting questions. There was no response. A minute or so +of tense pause ensued. Then Mr. Redmond rose, and in a perfectly even +voice and his usual measured diction, stated that he was aware that his +proposal was repudiated by many of his usual followers; that the bishops +were against him, and some leading Nationalists, including Mr. Devlin; +that, while he believed if he persisted he would have a majority, the +result would be to split his party, a thing he wished to avoid; and that +he had therefore decided not to proceed with his amendment, and under +these circumstances felt he could be of no further use to the Convention +in the matter. + +For a minute or two the assembly could not grasp the full significance +of what had happened. Then it broke upon them that this was the fall of +a notable leader, although they did not yet know that it was also the +close of a distinguished career. Mr. Redmond's demeanour throughout +what must have been a painful ordeal was beyond all praise. There was +not a quiver in his voice, nor a hesitation for word or phrase. His +self-possession and dignity and high-bred bearing won the respect and +sympathy of the most strenuous of political opponents, even while they +recognised that the defeat of the Nationalist leader meant relief from +pressure on themselves. Mr. Redmond took no further part in the work of +the Convention; his health was failing, and the members were startled by +the news of his death on the 6th of March. + +Not a single vote was taken in the Convention until the 12th of March, +1918, when it had been sitting for nearly seven months, and two days +later the question which it had been summoned to consider, namely, the +relation of Ulster to the rest of Ireland, was touched for the first +time. The first clause in the Bishop of Raphoe's scheme, establishing a +Home Rule constitution for all Ireland, having been carried with Lord +Midleton's help against the vote of the nineteen representatives of +Ulster, the latter proposed an amendment for the exclusion of the +Province, and were, of course, defeated by the combined forces of +Nationalism and Southern Unionism. + +Thus, on the only issue that really mattered, there was no such +"substantial agreement" as the Government had postulated as essential +before legislation could be undertaken; and on the 5th of April the +Convention came to an end without having achieved any useful result, +except that it gave the Government a breathing space from the Irish +question to get on with the war. + +It served, however, to bring prominently forward two of the Ulster +representatives whose full worth had not till then been sufficiently +appreciated. Mr. H.M. Pollock had, it is true, been a valued adviser of +Sir Edward Carson on questions touching the trade and commerce of +Belfast. But in the Convention he made more than one speech which proved +him to be a financier with a comprehensive grasp of principle, and an +extensive knowledge of the history and the intricate details of the +financial relations between Great Britain and Ireland. + +Lord Londonderry (the 7th Marquis), who during his father's lifetime +had represented an English constituency in the House of Commons and +naturally took no very prominent part in Ulster affairs, although he +made many excellent speeches on Home Rule both in Parliament and on +English platforms, and was Colonel of a regiment of U.V.F., gave proof +at once, on succeeding to the peerage in 1915, that he was desirous of +doing everything in his power to fill his father's place in the Ulster +Movement. He displayed the same readiness to subordinate personal +convenience, and other claims on his time and energy, to the cause so +closely associated historically with his family. But it was his work in +the Convention that first convinced Ulstermen of his capacity as well as +his zeal. Several of Lord Londonderry's speeches, and especially one in +which he made an impromptu reply to Mr. Redmond, impressed the +Convention with his debating power and his general ability; and it gave +the greatest satisfaction in Ulster when it was realised that the son of +the leader whose loss they mourned so deeply was as able as he was +willing to carry on the hereditary tradition of service to the loyalist +cause. + +In another respect, too, the Convention had an indirect influence on the +position in Ulster. When it appeared likely, in January 1918, that a +deadlock would be reached in the Convention, the Prime Minister himself +intervened. A letter to the Chairman was drafted and discussed in the +Cabinet; but the policy which appeared to commend itself to his +colleagues was one that Sir Edward Carson was unable to support, and he +accordingly resigned office on the 21st, and was accompanied into +retirement by Colonel Craig, the other Ulster member of the Ministry. +Sir John Lonsdale, who for many years had been the very efficient +Honorary Secretary and "Whip" of the Ulster Parliamentary Party, and its +leader while Carson was in office, had been raised to the peerage at the +New Year, with the title of Lord Armaghdale, so that the Ulster +leadership was vacant for Carson to resume when he left the Government, +and he was formally re-elected to the position on the 28th of January. +It was fortunate for Ulster that the old helmsman was again free to +take his place at the wheel, for there was still some rough weather +ahead. + +The official Report of the Convention which was issued on the 10th of +April was one of the most extraordinary documents ever published in a +Government Blue Book.[97] It consisted for the most part of a confused +bundle of separate Notes and Reports by a number of different groups and +individuals, and numerous appendices comprising a mass of miscellaneous +memoranda bristling with cross-references. The Chairman was restricted +to providing a bald narrative of the proceedings without any of the +usual critical estimate of the general results attained; but he made up +for this by setting forth his personal opinions in a letter to the Prime +Minister, which, without the sanction of the Convention, he prefixed to +the Report. As it was no easy matter to gain any clear idea from the +Report as to what the Convention had done, its proceedings while in +session having been screened from publicity by drastic censorship of the +Press, many people contented themselves with reading Sir Horace +Plunkett's unauthorised letter to Mr. Lloyd George; and, as it was in +some important respects gravely misleading, it is not surprising that +the truth in regard to the Convention was never properly understood, and +the Ulster Unionist Council had solid justification for its resolution +censuring the Chairman's conduct as "unprecedented and unconstitutional." + +In this personal letter, as was to be expected of a partisan of the +Nationalists, Sir Horace Plunkett laid stress on the fact that Lord +Midleton had "accepted self-government for Ireland "--by which was +meant, of course, not self-government such as Ireland always enjoyed +through her representation, and indeed over-representation, in the +Imperial Parliament, but through separate institutions. But if it had +not been for this support of separate institutions by the Southern +Unionists there would not have been even a colourable pretext for the +assertion of Sir Horace Plunkett that "a larger measure of agreement has +been reached upon the principles and details of Irish self-government +than has ever yet been attained." The really surprising thing was how +little agreement was displayed even among the Nationalists themselves, +who on several important issues were nearly equally divided. + +It was soon seen how little the policy of Lord Midleton was approved by +those whom he was supposed to represent. Although it was exceedingly +difficult to obtain accurate information about what was going on in the +Convention, enough became known in Dublin to cause serious misgiving to +Southern Unionists. The Council of the Irish Unionist Alliance, who had +nominated Lord Midleton as a delegate, asked him to confer with them on +the subject; but he refused. On the 4th of March, 1918, a "Call to +Unionists," a manifesto signed by twenty-four influential Southern +Unionists, appeared in the Press. A Southern Unionist Committee was +formed which before the end of May was able to publish the names of 350 +well-known men in all walks of life who were in accord with the "Call," +and to announce that the supporters of their protest against Lord +Midleton's proceedings numbered upwards of fourteen thousand, of whom +more than two thousand were farmers in the South and West. + +This Committee then took steps to purge the Irish Unionist Alliance by +making it more truly representative of Southern Unionist opinion. A +special meeting of the Council of the organisation on the 24th of +January, 1919, brought on a general engagement between Lord Midleton and +his opponents. The general trend of opinion was disclosed when, after +the defeat of a motion by Lord Midleton for excluding Ulster Unionists +from full membership of the Alliance, Sir Edward Carson was elected one +of its Presidents, and Lord Farnham was chosen Chairman of the Executive +Committee. The Executive Committee was then entirely reconstituted, by +the rejection of every one of Lord Midleton's supporters; and the new +body issued a statement explaining the grounds of dissatisfaction with +Lord Midleton's action in the Convention, and declaring that he had +"lost the confidence of the general body of Southern Unionists." +Thereupon Lord Midleton and a small aristocratic clique associated with +him seceded from the Alliance, and set up a little organisation of their +own. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[96] _Report of the Proceedings of the Irish Convention_ (Cd. 9019), p. +10. + +[97] Cd. 9019. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +NATIONALISTS AND CONSCRIPTION + + +While the Irish Convention was toilfully bringing to a close its eight +months' career of futility, the British Empire was in the grip of the +most terrible ordeal through which it has ever passed. On the 21st of +March, 1918, the assembled Irishmen in Dublin were discussing whether or +not proportional representation should form part of the hypothetical +constitution of Ireland, and on the same day the Germans well-nigh +overwhelmed the 5th Army at the opening of the great offensive campaign +which threatened to break irretrievably the Allied line by the capture +of Amiens. The world held its breath. Englishmen hardly dared to think +of the fate that seemed impending over their country. Irishmen continued +complacently debating the paltry details of the Bishop of Raphoe's +clauses. Irishmen and Englishmen together were being killed or maimed by +scores of thousands in a supreme effort to stay the advance of the Boche +to Paris and the sea. + +It happened that on the very day when the Report of the Convention was +laid on the table of the House of Commons, the Prime Minister made a +statement of profound gravity, beginning with words such as the British +Parliament can never before have been compelled to hear from the lips of +the head of the Government. For the moment, said Mr. Lloyd George, there +was a lull in the storm; but more attacks were to come, and-- + + The "fate of the Empire, the fate of Europe, and the fate of + liberty throughout the world may depend on the success with which + the very last of these attacks is resisted and countered." + +Mr. Asquith struck the same note, urging the House-- + + "With all the earnestness and with all the solemnity of which I am + capable, to realise that never before in the experience of any man + within these walls, or of his fathers and his forefathers, has this + country and all the great traditions and ideals which are embodied + in our history--never has this, the most splendid inheritance ever + bequeathed to a people, been in greater peril, or in more need of + united safeguarding than at this present time." + +Not Demosthenes himself, in his most impassioned appeal to the +Athenians, more fitly matched moving words to urgent occasion than these +two statesmen in the simple, restrained sentences, in which they warned +the Commons of the peril hanging over England. + +But was eloquent persuasion really required at such a moment to still +the voice of faction in the British House of Commons? Let those who +would assume the negative study the official Parliamentary Report of the +debate on the 9th of April, 1918. They will find a record which no loyal +Irishman will ever be able to read without a tingling sense of shame. +The whole body of members, with one exception, listened to the Prime +Minister's grave words in silence touched with awe, feeling that perhaps +they were sitting there on the eve of the greatest tragedy in their +country's history. The single exception was the Nationalist Party. From +those same benches whence arose nineteen years back the never-forgotten +cheers that greeted the tale of British disaster in South Africa, now +came a shower of snarling interruptions that broke persistently into the +Prime Minister's speech, and with angry menace impeded his unfolding of +the Government's proposals for meeting the supreme ordeal of the war. + +What was the reason? It was because Ireland, the greater part of which +had till now successfully shirked its share of privation and sacrifice, +was at last to be asked to take up its corner of the burden. The need +for men to replace casualties at the front was pressing, urgent, +imperative. Many indeed blamed the Government for having delayed too +long in filling the depleted ranks of our splendid armies in France; the +moment had come when another day's delay would have been criminal. As +Mr. Lloyd George pointed out, the battle that was being waged in front +of Amiens "proves that the enemy has definitely decided to seek a +military decision this year, whatever the consequences to himself." The +Germans had just called up a fresh class of recruits calculated to place +more than half a million of efficient young men in the line. The +collapse of Russia had released the vast German armies of the East for +use against England and France. It was under such circumstances that the +Prime Minister proposed + + "to submit to Parliament to-day certain recommendations in order to + assist this country and the Allies to weather the storm. They will + involve," continued Mr. Lloyd George, "extreme sacrifices on the + part of large classes of the population, and nothing would justify + them but the most extreme necessity, and the fact that we are + fighting for all that is essential and most sacred in the national + life." + +The age limit for compulsory military service was to be raised from +forty-two to fifty, and Ireland was to be included under the new +Military Service Bill now introduced. England, Scotland, and Wales had +cheerfully submitted to conscription when first enacted by Mr. Asquith +in 1916, and to all the additional combings of industry and extension of +obligation that had been required in the past two years. Agriculture and +other essential industries were being starved for want of labour, and +men had actually been brought back from the sorely pressed armies to +produce supplies imperatively needed at home. + +But from all this Ireland had hitherto been exempt. To escape the call +of the country a man had only to prove that he was "ordinarily resident +in Ireland"; for conscription did not cross the Irish Sea. From most of +the privations cheerfully borne in Great Britain the Irishman had been +equally free. Food rationing did not trouble him, and, lest he should go +short of accustomed plenty, it was even forbidden to carry a parcel of +butter across the Channel from Ireland. Horse-racing went on as usual. +Emigration had been suspended during the war, so that Ireland was +unusually full of young men who, owing to the unwonted prosperity of the +country resulting from war prices for its produce, were "having the +time of their lives." Mr. Bonar Law, in the debates on the Military +Service Bill, gave reasons for the calculation that there were not far +short of 400,000 young men of military age, and of "Al" physique, in +Ireland available for the Army. + +No wonder that Mr. Lloyd George said it would be impossible to leave +this reservoir of man-power untouched when men of fifty, whose sons were +already with the colours, were to be called up in Great Britain! But the +bare suggestion of doing such a thing raised a hurricane of angry +vituperation and menace from the Nationalists in the House of Commons. +When Mr. Lloyd George, in conciliatory accents, observed that he had no +wish to raise unnecessary controversy, as Heaven knew they had trouble +enough already, "You will get more of it," shouted Mr. Flavin. "You will +have another battle front in Ireland," interjected Mr. Byrne. Mr. +Flavin, getting more and more excited, called out, with reference to the +machinery for enrolment explained by the Prime Minister--"It will never +begin. Ireland will not have it at any price"; and again, a moment +later, "You come across and try to take them." Mr. Devlin was fully as +fierce as these less prominent members of his party, and after many +wrathful interruptions he turned aside the debate into a discussion +about a trumpery report of one of the sub-committees of the Irish +Convention. + +It was truly a sad and shameful scene to be witnessed in the House of +Commons at such a moment. It would have been so even if the contention +of the Nationalists had been reasonably tenable. But it was not. They +maintained that only an Irish Parliament had the right to enforce +conscription in Ireland. But at the beginning of the war they had +accepted the proviso that it should run its course before Home Rule came +into operation. And even if it had been in operation, and a Parliament +had been sitting in Dublin under Mr. Asquith's Act, which the +Nationalists had accepted as a settlement of their demands, that +Parliament would have had nothing to do with the raising of military +forces by conscription or otherwise, this being a duty reserved, as in +every federal or quasi-federal constitution, for the central +legislative authority alone. + +But it was useless to point this out to the infuriated Nationalist +members. Mr. William O'Brien denounced the idea of compelling Irishmen +to bear the same burden as their British fellow-subjects as "a +declaration of war against Ireland"; and he and Mr. Healy joined Mr. +Dillon and his followers in opposing with all their parliamentary skill, +and all their voting power, the extension to Ireland of compulsory +service. Mr. Healy, whose vindictive memory had not forgotten the +Curragh Incident before the war, could not forbear from having an +ungenerous fling at General Gough, who had just been driven back by the +overwhelming numerical superiority of the German attack, and who, at the +moment when Mr. Healy was taunting him in the House of Commons, was +re-forming his gallant 5th Army to resist the enemy's further advance. + +In comparison with this Mr. Healy's stale gibe at "Carson's Army," +however inappropriate to the occasion, was a venial offence. Carson +himself replied in a gentle and conciliatory tone to Mr. Healy's coarse +diatribe. + + "My honourable friend," he said, "talked of Carson's Army. You may, + if you like, call it with contempt Carson's Army. But it has just + gone into action for the fourth time, and many of them have paid + the supreme sacrifice. They have covered themselves with glory, + and, what is more, they have covered Ireland with glory, and they + have left behind sad homes throughout the small hamlets of Ulster, + as I well know, losing three or four sons in many a home." + +On behalf of Ulster Carson gave unhesitating support to the Government. +He and his colleagues from Ulster had always voted against the exemption +of Ireland from the Military Service Acts. It was true, no doubt, as the +Nationalists jeeringly maintained, that conscription was no more desired +in Ulster than in any other part of the United Kingdom. Of course it was +not; it was liked nowhere. But Carson declared that "equality of +sacrifice" was the principle to be acted upon, and Ulster accepted it. +He "would go about hanging his head in shame," if his own part of the +United Kingdom were absolved from sacrifice which the national necessity +imposed on the inhabitants of Great Britain. + +The Bill was carried through by the 16th of April in the teeth of +Nationalist opposition maintained through all its stages. Mr. Bonar Law +announced emphatically that the Government intended to enforce the +compulsory powers in Ireland; but he also said that yet another attempt +was to be made to settle the constitutional question by bringing in "at +an early date" a measure of Home Rule which the Government hoped might +be carried at once and "without violent controversy." + +After the experience of the past this seemed an amazingly sanguine +estimate of the prospects of any proposals that ingenuity could devise. +But what the nature of the measure was to have been was never made +known; for the Bill was still in the hands of a drafting committee when +a dangerous German intrigue in Ireland was discovered; and the +Lord-Lieutenant made a proclamation on the 18th of May announcing that +the Government had information "that certain of the King's subjects in +Ireland had entered into a treasonable communication with the German +enemy, and that strict measures must be taken to put down this German +plot."[98] On the same day one hundred and fifty Sinn Feiners were +arrested, including Mr. De Valera and Mr. Arthur Griffith, and on the +25th a statement was published indicating the connection between this +conspiracy and Casement's designs in 1916. The Government had definitely +ascertained some weeks earlier, and must have known at the very time +when they were promising a new Home Rule Bill, that a plan for landing +arms in Ireland was ripe for execution.[99] Indeed, on the 12th of April +a German agent who had landed in Ireland was arrested, with papers in +his possession showing that De Valera had worked out a detailed +organisation of the rebel army, and expected to be in a position to +muster half a million of trained men.[100] + +Such was the fruit of the Government's infatuation which, under the +delusion of "creating an atmosphere of good-will" for the Convention, +had released a few months previously a number of dangerous men who had +been proved to be in league with the Germans, and who now took advantage +of this clemency to conspire afresh with the foreign enemy. It was not +surprising that Mr. Bonar Law said it was impossible for the Government, +under these circumstances, to proceed with their proposals for a new +Home Rule Bill. + +On the other hand, no sooner was the Military Service Act on the +Statute-book than the Government began to recede from Mr. Bonar Law's +declaration that they would at all costs enforce it in Ireland. They +intimated that if voluntary recruiting improved it might be possible to +dispense with compulsion. But although Mr. Shortt--who succeeded Mr. +Duke as Chief Secretary in May, at the same time as Lord Wimborne was +replaced in the Lord-Lieutenancy by Field-Marshal Lord French--complained +on the 29th of July that the Nationalists had given no help to the +Government in obtaining voluntary recruits in Ireland, and, "instead of +taking Sinn Fein by the throat, had tried to go one better,"[101] the +compulsory powers of the Military Service Act remained a dead letter. + +The fact was that the Nationalists had followed up their fierce +opposition to the Bill by raising a still more fierce agitation in +Ireland against conscription. In this they joined hands with Sinn Fein, +and the whole weight of the Catholic Church was thrown into the same +scale. From the altars of that Church the thunderbolts of ecclesiastical +anathema were loosed against the Government, and--what was more +effective--against any who should obey the call to arms. The Government +gave way before the violence of the storm, and the lesson to be learnt +from their defeat was not thrown away on the rebel party in Ireland. +There was, naturally, widespread indignation in England at the spectacle +of the youth of Ireland taking its ease at home and earning +extravagantly high war-time wages while middle-aged bread-winners in +England were compulsorily called to the colours; but the marvellously +easy-going disposition of Englishmen submitted to the injustice with no +more than a legitimate grumble. + +In June 1918, while this agitation against conscription was at its +height, the hostility of the Nationalists took a new turn. A manifesto, +intended as a justification of their resistance to conscription, was +issued in the form of a letter to Mr. Wilson, President of the United +States, signed by Mr. Dillon, Mr. Devlin, Mr. William O'Brien, Mr. +Healy, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, and some others, including leaders of +Sinn Fein. It was a remarkable document, the authorship of which was +popularly attributed to Mr. T.M. Healy. If it ever came under the eye of +Mr. Wilson, a man of literary taste and judgment, it must have afforded +him a momentary diversion from the cares of his exalted office. A longer +experience than his of diplomatic correspondence would fail to produce +from the pigeon-holes of all the Chanceries a rival to this +extraordinary composition, the ill-arranged paragraphs of which formed +an inextricable jumble of irrelevant material, in which bad logic, bad +history, and barren invective were confusedly intermingled in a torrent +of turgid rhetoric. The extent of its range may be judged from the fact +that Shakespeare's allusions to Joan of Arc were not deemed too remote +from the subject of conscription in Ireland during the Great War to find +a place in this amazing despatch. For the amusement of anyone who may +care to examine so rare a curiosity of English prose, it will be found +in full in the Appendix to this volume, where it may be compared by way +of contrast with the restrained rejoinder sent also to President Wilson +by Sir Edward Carson, the Lord Mayor of Belfast, the Mayor of Derry, and +several loyalist representatives of Labour in Ulster. + +In the Nationalist letter to President Wilson reference was made more +than once to the sympathy that prevailed in Ireland in the eighteenth +century with the American colonists in the War of Independence. The use +made of it was a good example of the way in which a half-truth may, for +argumentative purposes, be more misleading than a complete falsehood. +"To-day, as in the days of George Washington"--so Mr. Wilson was +informed--"nearly half the American forces have been furnished from the +descendants of our banished race." No mention was made of the fact that +the members of the "banished race" in Washington's army were +Presbyterian emigrants from Ulster, who formed almost the entire +population of great districts in the American Colonies at that +time.[102] The late Mr. Whitelaw Reid told an Edinburgh audience in 1911 +that more than half the Presbyterian population of Ulster emigrated to +America between 1730 and 1770, and that at the date of the Revolution +they made more than one-sixth of the population of the Colonies. The +Declaration of Independence itself, he added-- + + "Is sacredly preserved in the handwriting of an Ulsterman, who was + Secretary of Congress. It was publicly read by an Ulsterman, and + first printed by another. Washington's first Cabinet had four + members, of whom one was an Ulsterman."[103] + +It is, of course, true that not all Ulster Presbyterians of that period +were the firm and loyal friends of Great Britain that their descendants +became after a century's experience of the legislative Union. But it is +the latter who best in Ireland can trace kinship with the founders of +the United States, and who are entitled--if any Irishmen are--to base on +that kinship a claim to the sympathy and support of the American people. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[98] _Annual Register_, 1918, p, 87. + +[99] Ibid., p. 88 + +[100] Ibid. + +[101] _Annual Register_, 1918, p. 90. + +[102] See Lecky's _History of England in the Eighteenth Century_, vol. +iv, p. 430. + +[103] See Lecture to the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution by Whitelaw +Reid, reported in _The Scotsman_, November 2nd, 1911. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE ULSTER PARLIAMENT + + +ON the 25th of November, 1918, the Parliament elected in December 1910 +was at last dissolved, a few days after the Armistice with Germany. The +new House of Commons was very different from the old. Seventy-two Sinn +Fein members were returned from Ireland, sweeping away all but half a +dozen of the old Nationalist party; but, in accordance with their fixed +policy, the Sinn Fein members never presented themselves at Westminster +to take the oath and their seats. That quarter of the House of Commons +which for thirty years had been packed with the most fierce and +disciplined of the political parties was therefore now given over to +mild supporters of the Coalition Government, the only remnant of +so-called "constitutional Nationalism" being Mr. T.P. O'Connor, Mr. +Devlin, Captain Redmond, and two or three less prominent companions, who +survived like monuments of a bygone age. + +Ulster Unionists, on the other hand, were greatly strengthened by the +recent Redistribution Act. Sir Edward Carson was elected member for the +great working-class constituency of the Duncairn Division of Belfast, +instead of for Dublin University, which he had so long represented, and +twenty-two ardent supporters accompanied him from Ulster to Westminster. +In the reconstruction of the Government which followed the election, +Carson was pressed to return to office, but declined. Colonel James +Craig, whose war services in connection with the Ulster Division were +rewarded by a baronetcy, became Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry +of Pensions, and the Marquis of Londonderry accepted office as +Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Air Ministry. + +Although the termination of hostilities by the Armistice was not in the +legal sense the "end of the war," it brought it within sight. No one in +January 1919 dreamt that the process of making peace and ratifying the +necessary treaties would drag on for a seemingly interminable length of +time, and it was realised, with grave misgiving in Ulster, that the Home +Rule Act of 1914 would necessarily come into force as soon as peace was +finally declared, while as yet nothing had been done to redeem the +promise of an Amending Bill given by Mr. Asquith, and reiterated by Mr. +Lloyd George. The compact between the latter and the Unionist Party, on +which the Coalition had swept the country, had made it clear that fresh +Irish legislation was to be expected, and the general lines on which it +would be based were laid down; but there was also an intimation that a +settlement must wait till the condition of Ireland should warrant +it.[104] + +The state of Ireland was certainly not such as to make it appear +probable that any sane Government would take the risk of handing over +control of the country immediately to the Sinn Feiners, whom the recent +elections had proved to be in an overwhelming majority in the three +southern provinces. By the law, not of England alone, but of every +civilised State, that party was tainted through and through with high +treason. It had attempted to "succour the King's enemies" in every way +in its power. The Government had in its possession evidence of two +conspiracies, in which, during the late frightful war, these Irishmen +had been in league with the Germans to bring defeat and disaster upon +England and her Allies, and the second of these plots was only made +possible by the misconceived clemency of the Government in releasing +from custody the ring-leaders in the first. + +And these Sinn Fein rebels left the Government no excuse for any +illusion as to their being either chastened or contrite in spirit. +Contemptuously ignoring their election as members of the Imperial +Parliament, where they never put in an appearance because it would +require them to take an oath of allegiance to the Crown, they openly +held a Congress in Dublin in January 1919 where a Declaration of +Independence was read, and a demand made for the evacuation of Ireland +by the forces of the Crown. A "Ministry" was also appointed, which +purported to make itself responsible for administration in Ireland. +Outrages of a daring character became more and more frequent, and gave +evidence of being the work of efficient organisation. + +President Wilson's coinage of the unfortunate and ambiguous expression +"self-determination" made it a catch-penny cry in relation to Ireland; +but, in reply to Mr. Devlin's demand for a recognition of that +"principle," Mr. Lloyd George pointed out that it had been tried in the +Convention, with the result that both Nationalists and Unionists had +been divided among themselves, and he said he despaired of any +settlement in Ireland until Irishmen could agree. Nevertheless, in +October 1919 he appointed a Cabinet Committee, with Mr. Walter Long as +Chairman, to make recommendations for dealing with the question of Irish +Government. + +But murders of soldiers and police had now become so scandalously +frequent that in November a Proclamation was issued suppressing Sinn +Fein and kindred organisations. It did nothing to improve the state of +the country, which grew worse than ever in the last few weeks of the +year. On the 19th of December a carefully planned attempt on the life of +the Lord-Lieutenant, Lord French, proved how complete was the impunity +relied upon by the organised assassins who, calling themselves an Irish +Republican Army, terrorised the country. + +It was in such conditions that, just before the close of the +parliamentary session, the Prime Minister disclosed the intentions of +the Government. He laid down three "basic facts," which he said governed +the situation: (1) Three-fourths of the Irish people were bitterly +hostile, and were at heart rebels against the Crown and Government. (2) +Ulster was a complete contrast, which would make it an outrage to place +her people under the rest of Ireland.[105] (3) No separation from the +Empire could be tolerated, and any attempt to force it would be fought +as the United States had fought against secession. On these +considerations he based the proposals which were to be embodied in +legislation in the next session. Sir Edward Carson, who in the light of +past experience was too wary to take all Mr. Lloyd George's declarations +at their face value, said at once that he could give no support to the +policy outlined by the Prime Minister until he was convinced that the +latter intended to go through with it to the end. + +The Bill to give effect to these proposals (which became the Government +of Ireland Act, 1920) was formally introduced on the 25th of February, +1920, and Carson then went over to Belfast to consult with the Unionist +Council as to the action to be taken by the Ulster members. + +The measure was a long and complicated one of seventy clauses and six +schedules. Its effect, stated briefly, was to set up two Parliaments in +Ireland, one for the six Protestant counties of Ulster and the other for +the rest of Ireland. In principle it was the "clean cut" which had been +several times proposed, except that, instead of retaining Ulster in +legislative union with Great Britain, she was to be endowed with local +institutions of her own in every respect similar to, and commensurate +with, those given to the Parliament in Dublin. In addition, a Council of +Ireland was created, composed of an equal number of members from each of +the two legislatures. This Council was given powers in regard to private +bill legislation, and matters of minor importance affecting both parts +of the island which the two Parliaments might mutually agree to commit +to its administration. Power was given to the two Parliaments to +establish by identical Acts at any time a Parliament for all Ireland to +supersede the Council, and to form a single autonomous constitution for +the whole of Ireland. + +The Council of Ireland occupied a prominent place in the debates on the +Bill. It was held up as a symbol of the "unity of Ireland," and the +authors of the measure were able to point to it as supplying machinery +by which "partition" could be terminated as soon as Irishmen agreed +among themselves in wishing to have a single national Government. It was +not a feature of the Bill that found favour in Ulster; but, as it could +do no harm and provided an argument against those who denounced +"partition," the Ulster members did not think it worth while to oppose +it. + +But when Carson met the Ulster Unionist Council on the 6th of March the +most difficult point he had to deal with was the same that had given so +much trouble in the negotiations of 1916. The Bill defined the area +subject to the "Parliament of Northern Ireland" as the six counties +which the Ulster Council had agreed four years earlier to accept as the +area to be excluded from the Home Rule Act. The question now to be +decided was whether this same area should still be accepted, or an +amendment moved for including in Northern Ireland the other three +counties of the Province of Ulster. The same harrowing experience which +the Council had undergone in 1916 was repeated in an aggravated +form.[106] To separate themselves from fellow loyalists in Monaghan, +Cavan, and Donegal was hateful to every delegate from the other six +counties, and it was heartrending to be compelled to resist another +moving appeal by so valued a friend as Lord Farnham. But the inexorable +index of statistics demonstrated that, although Unionists were in a +majority when geographical Ulster was considered as a unit, yet the +distribution of population made it certain that a separate Parliament +for the whole Province would have a precarious existence, while its +administration of purely Nationalist districts would mean unending +conflict. + +It was, therefore, decided that no proposal for extending the area +should be made by the Ulster members. Carson made it clear in the +debates on the Bill that Ulster had not moved from her old position of +desiring nothing except the Union; that he was still convinced there was +"no alternative to the Union unless separation"; but that, while he +would take no responsibility for a Bill which Ulster did not want, he +and his colleagues would not actively oppose its progress to the +Statute-book. + +It did not, however, receive the Royal Assent until two days before +Christmas, and during all these months the condition of Ireland was one +of increasing anarchy. The Act provided that, if the people of Southern +Ireland refused to work the new Constitution, the administration should +be carried on by a system similar to Crown Colony government. Carson +gave an assurance that in Ulster they would do their best to make the +Act a success, and immediate steps were taken in Belfast to make good +this undertaking. + +To the people of Ulster the Act of 1920, though it involved the +sacrifice of much that they had ardently hoped to preserve, came as a +relief to their worst fears. It was represented as a final settlement, +and finality was what they chiefly desired, if they could get it without +being forced to submit to a Dublin Parliament. The disloyal conduct of +Nationalist Ireland during the war, and the treason and terrorism +organised by Sinn Fein after the war, had widened the already broad gulf +between North and South. The determination never to submit to an +all-Ireland Parliament was more firmly fixed than ever. The Act of 1920, +which repealed Mr. Asquith's Act of 1914, gave Ulster what she had +prepared to fight for, if necessary, before the war. It was the +fulfilment of the Craigavon resolution--to take over the government "of +those districts which they could control."[107] The Parliament of +Northern Ireland established by the Act was in fact the legalisation of +the Ulster Provisional Government of 1913. It placed Ulster in a +position of equality with the South, both politically and economically. +The two Legislatures in Ireland possessed the same powers, and were +subject to an equal reservation of authority to the Imperial Parliament. + +But with the passing of the Act the long and consummate leadership of +Sir Edward Carson came to an end. If he had not succeeded in bringing +the Ulster people into a Promised Land, he had at least conducted an +orderly retreat to a position of safety. The almost miraculous skill +with which he had directed all the operations of a protracted and +harassing campaign, avoiding traps and pitfalls at every step, +foreseeing and providing against countless crises, frustrating with +unfailing adroitness the manoeuvres both of implacable enemies and +treacherous "friends," was fully appreciated by his grateful followers, +who had for years past regarded him with an intensity of personal +devotion seldom given even to the greatest of political leaders. But he +felt that the task of opening a new chapter in the history of Ulster, +and of inaugurating the new institutions now established, was work for +younger hands. Hard as he was pressed to accept the position of first +Prime Minister of Ulster, he firmly persisted in his refusal; and on his +recommendation the man who had been his able and faithful lieutenant +throughout the long Ulster Movement was unanimously chosen to succeed +him in the leadership. + +Sir James Craig did not hesitate to respond to the call, although to do +so he had to resign an important post in the British Government, that of +Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty, with excellent prospects of +further promotion. As soon as the elections in "Northern Ireland," +conducted under the system of Proportional Representation, as provided +by the Act of 1920, were complete, Sir James, whose followers numbered +forty as against a Nationalist and Sinn Fein minority of twelve, was +sent for by the Viceroy and commissioned to form a Ministry. He +immediately set himself to his new and exceedingly difficult duties with +characteristic thoroughness. The whole apparatus of government +administration had to be built up from the foundation. Departments, for +which there was no existing office accommodation or personnel, had to +be called into existence and efficiently organised, and all this +preliminary work had to be undertaken at a time when the territory +subject to the new Government was beset by open and concealed enemies +working havoc with bombs and revolvers, with which the Government had +not yet legal power to cope. + +But Sir James Craig pressed on with the work, undismayed by the +difficulties, and resolved that the Parliament in Belfast should be +opened at the earliest possible date. The Marquis of Londonderry gave a +fresh proof of his Ulster patriotism by resigning his office in the +Imperial Government and accepting the portfolio of Education in Sir +James Craig's Cabinet, and with it the leadership of the Ulster Senate; +in which the Duke of Abercorn also, to the great satisfaction of the +Ulster people, consented to take a seat. Mr. Dawson Bates, the +indefatigable Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council during the whole +of the Ulster Movement, was appointed Minister for Home Affairs, and Mr. +E.M. Archdale became Minister for Agriculture. The first act of the +House of Commons of Northern Ireland was to choose Major Hugh O'Neill as +their Speaker, while the important position of Chairman of Committees +was entrusted to Mr. Thomas Moles, one of the ablest recruits of the +Ulster Parliamentary Party, whom the General Election of 1918 had sent +to Westminster as one of the members for Belfast, and who had given +ample evidence of his capacity both in the Imperial Parliament and on +the Secretarial Staff of the Irish Convention of 1917. + +Meantime, in the South the Act of 1920 was treated with absolute +contempt; no step was taken to hold elections or to form an +Administration, although it must be remembered that the flouted Act +conferred a larger measure of Home Rule than had ever been offered by +previous Bills. Thus by one of those curious ironies that have +continually marked the history of Ireland, the only part of the island +where Home Rule operated was the part that had never desired it, while +the provinces that had demanded Home Rule for generations refused to use +it when it was granted them. + +In Ulster the new order of things was accepted with acquiescence rather +than with enthusiasm. But the warmer emotion was immediately called +forth when it became known that His Majesty the King had decided to open +the Ulster Parliament in person on the 22nd of June, 1921, especially as +it was fully realised that, owing to the anarchical condition of the +country, the King's presence in Belfast would be a characteristic +disregard of personal danger in the discharge of public duty. And when, +on the eve of the royal visit, it was intimated that the Queen had been +graciously pleased to accede to Sir James Craig's request that she +should accompany the King to Belfast, the enthusiasm of the loyal people +of the North rose to fever heat. + +At any time, and under any circumstances, the reigning Sovereign and +his Consort would have been received by a population so noted for its +sentiment of loyalty to the Throne as that of Ulster with demonstrations +of devotion exceeding the ordinary. But the present occasion was felt to +have a very special significance. The opening of Parliament by the King +in State is one of the most ancient and splendid of ceremonial pageants +illustrating the history of British institutions. It was felt in Ulster +that the association of this time-honoured ceremonial with the baptism, +so to speak, of the latest offspring of the Mother of Parliaments +stamped the Royal Seal upon the achievement of Ulster, and gave it a +dignity, prestige, and promise of permanence which might otherwise have +been lacking. No city in the United Kingdom had witnessed so many +extraordinary displays of popular enthusiasm in the last ten years as +Belfast, some of which had left on the minds of observers a firm belief +that such intensity of emotion in a great concourse of people could not +be exceeded. The scene in the streets when the King and Queen drove from +the quay, on the arrival of the royal yacht, to the City Hall, was held +by general consent to equal, since it could not surpass, any of those +great demonstrations of the past in popular fervour. At any rate, +persons of long experience in attendance on the Royal Family gave it as +their opinion in the evening that they had never before seen so +impressive a display of public devotion to the person of the Sovereign. + +Two buildings in Belfast inseparably associated with Ulster's stand for +union, the City Hall and the Ulster Hall, were the scenes of the chief +events of the King's visit. The former, described by one of the English +correspondents as "easily the most magnificent municipal building in the +three Kingdoms,"[108] was placed at the disposal of the Ulster +Government by the Corporation for temporary use as a Parliament House. +The Council Chamber, a fine hall of dignified proportions with a dais +and canopied chair at the upper end, made an appropriate frame for the +ceremony of opening Parliament, and the arrangements both of the +Chamber itself and of the approaches and entrances to it made it a +simple matter to model the procedure as closely as possible on that +followed at Westminster. + +Among the many distinguished people who assembled in the Ulster Capital +for the occasion, there was one notable absentee. Lord Carson of +Duncairn--for this was the title that Sir Edward Carson had assumed on +being appointed a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary a few weeks previously--was +detained in London by judicial duty in the House of Lords; and possibly +reasons of delicacy not difficult to understand restrained him from +making arrangements for absence. But the marked ovation given to Lady +Carson wherever she was recognised in the streets of Belfast showed that +the great leader was not absent from the popular mind at this moment of +vindication of his statesmanship. + +Such an event as that which brought His Majesty to Belfast was naturally +an occasion for bestowing marks of distinction for public service. Sir +James Craig wisely made it also an occasion for letting bygones be +bygones by recommending Lord Pirrie for a step in the Peerage. Among +those who received honours were several whose names have appeared in the +preceding chapters of this book. Mr. William Robert Young, for thirty +years one of the most indefatigable workers for the Unionist cause in +Ulster, and Colonel Wallace, one of the most influential of Carson's +local lieutenants, were made Privy Councillors, as was also Colonel +Percival-Maxwell, who raised and commanded a battalion of the Ulster +Division in the war. Colonel F.H. Crawford and Colonel Spender were +awarded the C.B.E. for services to the nation during the war; but +Ulstermen did not forget services of another sort to the Ulster cause +before the Germans came on the scene.[109] A knighthood was given to Mr. +Dawson Bates, who had exchanged the Secretaryship of the Ulster Unionist +Council for the portfolio of a Cabinet Minister. + +These honours were bestowed by the King in person at an investiture held +in the Ulster Hall in the afternoon. There must have been many present +whose minds went back to some of the most stirring events of Ulster's +domestic history which had been transacted in the same building within +recent years. Did Sir Hamar Greenwood, the Chief Secretary, as he stood +in attendance on the Sovereign in the resplendent uniform of a Privy +Councillor, look in curiosity round the walls which he and Mr. Churchill +had been prohibited from entering on a memorable occasion when they had +to content themselves with an imported tent in a football field instead? +Did Colonel Wallace's thoughts wander back to the scene of wild +enthusiasm in that hall on the evening before the Covenant, when he +presented the ancient Boyne flag to the Ulster leader? Did those who +spontaneously started the National Anthem in the presence of the King +without warrant from the prearranged programme, and made the Queen smile +at the emphasis with which they "confounded politics" and "frustrated +knavish tricks," remember the fervour with which on many a past occasion +the same strains testified to Ulster's loyalty in the midst of +perplexity and apprehension? If these memories crowded in, they must +have added to the sense of relief arising from the conviction that the +ceremony they were now witnessing was the realisation of the policy +propounded by Carson, when he declared that Ulster must always be ruled +either by the Imperial Parliament or by a Government of her own. + +But the moment of all others on that memorable day that must have been +suggestive of such reflections was when the King formally opened the +first Parliament of Northern Ireland in the same building that had +witnessed the signing of the Ulster Covenant. Without the earlier event +the later could not have been. If 1921 could have been fully foreseen in +1912 it might have appeared to many Covenanters as the disappointment of +a cherished ideal. But those who lived to listen to the King's Speech in +the City Hall realised that it was the dissipation of foreboding. +However regarded, it was, as King George himself pronounced, "a +profoundly moving occasion in Irish history." + +The Speech from the Throne in which these words occurred made a deep +impression all over the world, and nowhere more than in Ulster itself. +No people more ardently shared the touchingly expressed desire of the +King that his coming to Ireland might "prove to be the first step +towards an end of strife amongst her people, whatever their race or +creed." So, too, when His Majesty told the Ulster Parliament that he +"felt assured they would do their utmost to make it an instrument of +happiness and good government for all parts of the community which they +represented," the Ulster people believed that the King's confidence in +them would not prove to have been misplaced. + +Happily, no prophetic vision of those things that were shortly to come +to pass broke in to disturb the sense of satisfaction with the haven +that had been reached. The future, with its treachery, its alarms, its +fresh causes of uncertainty and of conflict, was mercifully hidden from +the eyes of the Ulster people when they acclaimed the inauguration of +their Parliament by their King. They accepted responsibility for the +efficient working of institutions thus placed in their keeping by the +highest constitutional Authority in the British Empire, although they +had never asked for them, and still believed that the system they had +been driven to abandon was better than the new; and they opened this +fresh chapter in their history in firm faith that what had received so +striking a token of the Sovereign's sympathy and approval would never be +taken from them except with their own consent. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[104] See Letter from Mr. Lloyd George to Mr. Bonar Law, published in +the Press on November 18th, 1918. + +[105] Precisely twenty-four months later this outrage was committed by +Mr. Lloyd George himself, with the concurrence of Mr. Austen +Chamberlain. + +[106] _Ante_, p. 248. + +[107] See _ante_, p. 51. + +[108] _The Morning Post_, June 23rd, 1921. + +[109] See _ante_, Chapter XVIII. + + + + +APPENDIX A + +NATIONALIST LETTER TO PRESIDENT WILSON + +To THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + +SIR, + +When, a century and a half ago, the American Colonies dared to assert +the ancient principle that the subject should not be taxed without the +consent of his representatives, England strove to crush them. To-day +England threatens to crush the people of Ireland if they do not accept a +tax, not in money but in blood, against the protest of their +representatives. + +During the American Revolution the champions of your liberties appealed +to the Irish Parliament against British aggression, and asked for a +sympathetic judgment on their action. What the verdict was, history +records. + +To-day it is our turn to appeal to the people of America. We seek no +more fitting prelude to that appeal than the terms in which your +forefathers greeted ours: + + "We are desirous of possessing the good opinion of the virtuous and + humane. We are peculiarly desirous of furnishing you with the true + state of our motives and objects, the better to enable you to judge + of our conduct with accuracy, and determine the merits of the + controversy with impartiality and precision." + +If the Irish race had been conscriptable by England in the war against +the United Colonies is it certain that your Republic would to-day +flourish in the enjoyment of its noble Constitution? + +Since then the Irish Parliament has been destroyed, by methods described +by the greatest of British statesmen as those of "black-guardism and +baseness." Ireland, deprived of its protection and overborne by more +than six to one in the British Lower House, and by more than a hundred +to one in the Upper House, is summoned by England to submit to a +hitherto-unheard-of decree against her liberties. + +In the fourth year of a war ostensibly begun for the defence of small +nations, a law conscribing the manhood of Ireland has been passed, in +defiance of the wishes of our people. The British Parliament, which +enacted it, had long outrun its course, being in the eighth year of an +existence constitutionally limited to five. To warrant the coercive +statute, no recourse was had to the electorate of Britain, much less to +that of Ireland. Yet the measure was forced through within a week, +despite the votes of Irish representatives, and under a system of +closure never applied to the debates which established conscription for +Great Britain on a milder basis. + +To repel the calumnies invented to becloud our action, we venture to +address the successors of the belligerents who once appealed to Ireland. +The feelings which inspire America deeply concern our race; so, in the +forefront of our remonstrance, we feel bound to set forth that this +Conscription Act involves for Irishmen questions far larger than any +affecting mere internal politics. They raise a sovereign principle +between a nation that has never abandoned her independent rights, and an +adjacent nation that has persistently sought to strangle them. + +Were Ireland to surrender that principle, she must submit to a usurped +power, condone the fraudulent prostration of her Parliament in 1800, and +abandon all claim to distinct nationality. Deep-seated and far-reaching +are the problems remorselessly aroused by the unthinking and violent +courses taken at Westminster. + +Thus the sudden and unlooked-for departure of British politicians from +their past military procedure towards this island provokes acutely the +fundamental issue of Self-determination. That issue will decide whether +our whole economic, social, and political life must lie at the +uncontrolled disposition of another race whose title to legislate for us +rests on force and fraud alone. + +Ireland is a nation more ancient than England, and is one of the oldest +in Christendom. Its geographical boundaries are clearly defined. It +cherishes its own traditions, history, language, music, and culture. It +throbs with a national consciousness sharpened not only by religious +persecution, but by the violation of its territorial, juristic, and +legislative rights. The authority of which its invaders boasted rests +solely on an alleged Papal Bull. The symbols of attempted conquest are +roofless castles, ruined abbeys, and confiscated cathedrals. + +The title of King of Ireland was first conferred on the English monarch +by a statute of the Parliament held in Ireland in 1542, when only four +of our counties lay under English sway. That title originated in no +English enactment. Neither did the Irish Parliament so originate. Every +military aid granted by that Parliament to English kings was purely +voluntary. Even when the Penal Code denied representation to the +majority of the Irish population, military service was never enforced +against them. + +For generations England claimed control over both legislative and +judicial functions in Ireland, but in 1783 these pretensions were +altogether renounced, and the sovereignty of the Irish Legislature was +solemnly recognised. A memorable British statute declared it-- + + "Established and ascertained for ever, and shall at no time + hereafter be questioned or questionable." + +For this, the spirit evoked by the successful revolt of the United +States of America is to be thanked, and Ireland won no mean return for +the sympathy invited by your Congress. Yet scarcely had George III +signified his Royal Assent to that "scrap of paper," when his Ministers +began to debauch the Irish Parliament. No Catholic had, for over a +century, been allowed to sit within its walls; and only a handful of the +population enjoyed the franchise. In 1800, by shameless bribery, a +majority of corrupt Colonists was procured to embrace the London +subjugation and vote away the existence of their Legislature for +pensions, pelf, and titles. + +The authors of the Act of Union, however, sought to soften its shackles +by limiting the future jurisdiction of the British Parliament. Imposed +on "a reluctant and protesting nation," it was tempered by articles +guaranteeing Ireland against the coarser and more obvious forms of +injustice. To guard against undue taxation, "exemptions and abatements" +were stipulated for; but the "predominant partner" has long since +dishonoured that part of the contract, and the weaker side has no power +to enforce it. No military burdens were provided for, although Britain +framed the terms of the treaty to her own liking. That an obligation to +yield enforced service was thereby undertaken has never hitherto been +asserted. We therefore cannot neglect to support this protest by citing +a main proviso of the Treaty of Union. Before the destruction of the +Irish Parliament no standing army or navy was raised, nor was any +contribution made, except by way of gift, to the British Army or Navy. +No Irish law for the levying of drafts existed; and such a proposal was +deemed unconstitutional. Hence the 8th Article of the Treaty provides +that-- + + "All laws in force at the time of the Union shall remain as now by + law established, subject only to such alterations and regulations + from time to time as circumstances may appear to the Parliament of + the United Kingdom to require." + +Where there was no law establishing military service for Ireland, what +"alteration or regulation" respecting such a law can legally bind? Can +an enactment such as Conscription, affecting the legal and moral rights +of an entire people, be described as an "alteration" or "regulation" +springing from a pre-existing law? Is the Treaty to be construed as +Britain pleases, and always to the prejudice of the weaker side? + +British military statecraft has hitherto rigidly held by a separate +tradition for Ireland. The Territorial military system, created in 1907 +for Great Britain, was not set up in Ireland. The Irish Militia was then +actually disbanded, and the War Office insisted that no Territorial +force to replace it should be embodied. Stranger still, the Volunteer +Acts (Naval or Military) from 1804 to 1900 (some twenty in all) were +never extended to Ireland. In 1880, when a Conservative House of Commons +agreed to tolerate volunteering, the measure was thrown out by the House +of Lords on the plea that Irishmen must not be allowed to learn the use +of arms. + +For, despite the Bill of Rights, the privilege of free citizens to bear +arms in self-defence has been refused to us. The Constitution of America +affirms that right as appertaining to the common people, but the men of +Ireland are forbidden to bear arms in their own defence. Where, then, +lies the basis of the claim that they can be forced to take them up for +the defence of others? + +It will suffice to present such considerations in outline without +disinterring the details of the past misgovernment of our country. Mr. +Gladstone avowed that these were marked by "every horror and every shame +that could disgrace the relations between a strong country and a weak +one." After an orgy of Martial Law the Scottish General, Abercromby, +Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, wrote: "Every crime, every cruelty that +could be committed by Cossacks or Calmucks has been transacted here.... +The abuses of all kinds I found can scarcely be believed or enumerated." +Lord Holland recalls that many people "were sold at so much a head to +the Prussians." + +We shall, therefore, pass by the story of the destruction of our +manufactures, of artificial famines, of the fomentation of uprisings, of +a hundred Coercion Acts, culminating in the perpetual "Act of +Repression" obtained by forgery, which graced Queen Victoria's Jubilee +Year in 1887. In our island the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, the +repression of free speech, gibbetings, shootings, and bayonetings, are +commonplace events. The effects of forced emigration and famine American +generosity has softened; and we do not seek a verdict on the general +merits of a system which enjoys the commendation of no foreigner except +Albert, Prince Consort, who declared that the Irish "were no more worthy +of sympathy than the Poles." + +It is known to you how our population shrank to its present fallen +state. Grants of money for emigration, "especially of families," were +provided even by the Land Act of 1881. Previous Poor Law Acts had +stimulated this "remedy." So late as 1891 a "Congested District" Board +was empowered to "aid emigration," although millions of Irishmen had in +the nineteenth century been evicted from their homes or driven abroad. + +Seventy years ago our population stood at 8,000,000, and, in the normal +ratio of increase, it should to-day amount to 16,000,000. Instead, it +has dwindled to 4,500,000; and it is from this residuum that our manhood +between the ages of eighteen and fifty-one is to be delivered up in such +measure as the strategists of the English War Cabinet may demand. + +To-day, as in the days of George Washington, nearly half the American +forces have been furnished from the descendants of our banished race. If +England could not, during your Revolution, regard that enrolment with +satisfaction, might she not set something now to Ireland's credit from +the racial composition of your Army or Navy? No other small nation has +been so bereft by law of her children, but in vain for Ireland has the +bread of exile been thrown upon the waters. + +Yet, while Self-determination is refused, we are required by law to +bleed to "make the world safe for democracy "--in every country except +our own. Surely this cannot be the meaning of America's message to +mankind glowing from the pen of her illustrious President? + +In the 750 years during which the stranger sway has blighted Ireland her +people have never had occasion to welcome an unselfish or generous deed +at the hands of their rulers. Every so-called "concession" was but the +loosening of a fetter. Every benefit sprang from a manipulation of our +own money by a foreign Treasury denying us an honest audit of accounts. +None was yielded as an act of grace. All were the offspring of +constraint, tumult, or political necessity. Reason and arguments fell on +deaf ears. To England the Union has brought enhanced wealth, population, +power, and importance; to Ireland increased taxation, stunted +industries, swollen emigration, and callous officialism. + +Possessing in this land neither moral nor intellectual pre-eminence, nor +any prestige derived from past merit or present esteem, the British +Executive claims to restrain our liberties, control our fortunes, and +exercise over our people the power of life and death. To obstruct the +recent Home Rule Bill it allowed its favourites to defy its Parliament +without punishment, to import arms from suspect regions with impunity, +to threaten "to break every law" to effectuate their designs to infect +the Army with mutiny and set up a rival Executive backed by military +array to enforce the rule of a caste against the vast majority of the +people. The highest offices of State became the guerdon of the +organisers of rebellion, boastful of aid from Germany. To-day they are +pillars of the Constitution, and the chief instrument of law. The only +laurels lacking to the leaders of the Mutineers are those transplanted +from the field of battle! + +Are we to fight to maintain a system so repugnant, and must Irishmen be +content to remain slaves themselves after freedom for distant lands has +been purchased by their blood? + +Heretofore in every clime, whenever the weak called for a defender, +wherever the flag of liberty was unfurled, that blood freely flowed. +Profiting by Irish sympathy with righteous causes Britain, at the +outbreak of war, attracted to her armies tens of thousands of our youth +ere even the Western Hemisphere had awakened to the wail of "small +nations." + +Irishmen, in their chivalrous eagerness, laid themselves open to the +reproach from some of their brethren of forgetting the woes of their own +land, which had suffered from its rulers, at one time or another, almost +every inhumanity for which Germany is impeached. It was hard to bear the +taunt that the army they were joining was that which held Ireland in +subjection; but fresh bitterness has been added to such reproaches by +what has since taken place. + +Nevertheless, in the face of persistent discouragements, Irish chivalry +remained ardent and aflame in the first years of the war. Tens of +thousands of the children of the Gael have perished in the conflict. +Their bones bleach upon the soil of Flanders or moulder beneath the +waves of Suvla Bay. The slopes of Gallipoli, the sands of Egypt, +Mesopotamia and Judasa afford them sepulture. Mons and Ypres provide +their monuments. Wherever the battle-line extends from the English +Channel to the Persian Gulf their ghostly voices whisper a response to +the roll-call of the guardian-spirits of Liberty. What is their reward? + +The spot on earth they loved best, and the land to which they owed their +first duty, and which they hoped their sacrifices might help to freedom, +lies unredeemed under an age-long thraldom. So, too, would it for ever +lie, were every man and every youth within the shores of Ireland to +immolate himself in England's service, unless the clamour of a dominant +caste be rebuked and stilled. + +Yet proof after proof accumulates that British Cabinets continue to be +towards our country as conscienceless as ever. They deceive frankly +nations throughout the world as to their Irish policy, while withholding +from us even the Act of Home Rule which in 1914 was placed on the +Statute-book. The recent "Convention," which they composed to initiate +reform, was brought to confusion by a letter from the Prime Minister +diminishing his original engagements. + +Such insincere manoeuvres have left an indelible sense of wrong rankling +in the hearts of Ireland. + +Capitulations are observed with French Canadians, with the Maltese, with +the Hindoos, with the Mohammedan Arabs, or the African Boers; but never +has the word of England, in any capital case, been kept towards the +"sister" island. + +The Parliaments of Australia and of South Africa--both of which (unlike +our ancient Legislature) were founded by British enactments--refused to +adopt conscription. This was well known when the law against Ireland was +resolved on. For opposing the application of that law to Irishmen, and +while this appeal to you, sir, was being penned, members of our +Conference have been arrested and deported without trial. It was even +sought to poison the wells of American sympathy by levelling against +them and others an allegation which its authors have failed to submit to +the investigation of any tribunal. + +To overlay malpractice by imputing to its victims perverse or criminal +conduct is the stale but never-failing device of tyranny. + +A claim has also been put forward by the British Foreign Office to +prevent you, Mr. President, as the head of a great allied Republic, from +acquiring first-hand information of the reasons why Ireland has +rejected, and will resist, conscription except in so far as the Military +Governor of Ireland, Field-Marshal Lord French, may be pleased to allow +you to peruse his version of our opinions. + +America's present conflict with Germany obstructs no argument that we +advance. "Liberty and ordered peace" we, too, strive for; and +confidently do we look to you, sir, and to America--whose freedom +Irishmen risked something to establish--to lend ear and weight to the +prayer that another unprovoked wrong against the defenceless may not +stain this sorry century. + +We know that America entered the war because her rights as a neutral, in +respect of ocean navigation, were interfered with, and only then. Yet +America in her strength had a guarantee that in victory she would not be +cheated of that for which she joined in the struggle. Ireland, having no +such strength, has no such guarantee; and experience has taught us that +justice (much less gratitude) is not to be wrung from a hostile +Government. What Ireland is to give, a free Ireland must determine. + +We are sadly aware, from recent proclamations and deportations, of the +efforts of British authorities to inflame prejudice against our country. +We therefore crave allowance briefly to notice the insinuation that the +Irish coasts, with native connivance, could be made a base for the +destruction of American shipping. + +An official statement asserts that: + + "An important feature in every plan was the establishment of + submarine bases in Ireland to menace the shipping of all nations." + +On this it is enough to say that every creek, inlet, or estuary that +indents our shores, and every harbour, mole, or jetty is watchfully +patrolled by British authority. Moreover, Irish vessels, with their +cargoes, crews, and passengers, have suffered in this war +proportionately to those of Britain. + +Another State Paper palliates the deportations by blazoning the descent +of a solitary invader upon a remote island on the 12th of April, +heralded by mysterious warnings from the Admiralty to the Irish Command. +No discussion is permitted of the tryst of this British soldier with the +local coast-guards, of his speedy bent towards a police barrack, and his +subsequent confidences with the London authorities. + +Only one instance exists in history of a project to profane our coasts +by making them a base to launch attacks on international shipping. That +plot was framed, not by native wickedness, but by an English Viceroy, +and the proofs are piled up under his hand in British State Papers. + +For huge bribes were proffered by Lord Falkland, Lord-Lieutenant of +Ireland, to both the Royal Secretary and the Prince of Wales, to obtain +consent for the use of Irish harbours to convenience Turkish and +Algerine pirates in raiding sea-going commerce. The plot is old, but the +plea of "increasing his Majesty's revenues" by which it was commended is +everlasting. Nor will age lessen its significance for the citizens of +that Republic which, amidst the tremors and greed of European diplomacy, +extirpated the traffic of Algerine corsairs ninety years ago. British +experts cherish Lord Falkland's fame as the sire of their most knightly +cavalier, and in their eyes its lustre shines undimmed, though his +Excellency, foiled of marine booty, enriched himself by seizing the +lands of his untried prisoners in Dublin Castle. + +Moving are other retrospects evoked by the present outbreak of malignity +against our nation. The slanders of the hour recall those let loose to +cloak previous deportations in days of panic less ignoble. Then it was +the Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Oliver Plunkett, who was dragged +to London and arraigned for high treason. Poignant memories quicken at +every incident which accompanied his degradation before the Lord Chief +Justice of England. A troop of witnesses was suborned to swear that his +Grace "endeavoured and compassed the King's death," sought to "levy war +in Ireland and introduce a foreign Power," and conspired "to take a view +of all the several ports and places in Ireland where it would be +convenient to land from France." An open trial, indeed, was not denied +him; but with hasty rites he was branded a base and false traitor and +doomed to be hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. That desperate +felon, after prolonged investigation by the Holy See, has lately been +declared a martyr worthy of universal veneration. + +The fathers of the American Revolution were likewise pursued in turn by +the venom of Governments. Could they have been snatched from their homes +and haled to London, what fate would have befallen them? There your +noblest patriots might also have perished amidst scenes of shame, and +their effigies would now bedeck a British chamber of horrors. Nor would +death itself have shielded their reputations from hatchments of +dishonour. For the greatest of Englishmen reviled even the sacred name +of Joan of Arc, the stainless Maid of France, to belittle a fallen foe +and spice a ribald stage-play. + +It is hardly thirty years since every Irish leader was made the victim +of a special Statute of Proscription, and was cited to answer vague +charges before London judges. During 1888 and 1889 a malignant and +unprecedented inquisition was maintained to vilify them, backed by all +the resources of British power. No war then raged to breed alarms, yet +no weapon that perjury or forgery could fashion was left unemployed to +destroy the characters of more than eighty National representatives--some +of whom survive to join in this Address. That plot came to an end amidst +the confusion of their persecutors, but fresh accusations may be daily +contrived and buttressed by the chicanery of State. + +In every generation the Irish nation is challenged to plead to a new +indictment, and to the present summons answer is made before no narrow +forum but to the tribunal of the world. So answering, we commit our +cause, as did America, to "the virtuous and humane," and also more +humbly to the providence of God. + +Well assured are we that you, Mr. President, whose exhortations have +inspired the Small Nations of the world with fortitude to defend to the +last their liberties against oppressors, will not be found among those +who would condemn Ireland for a determination which is irrevocable to +continue steadfastly in the course mapped out for her, no matter what +the odds, by an unexampled unity of National judgment and National +right. + +Given at the Mansion House, Dublin, this 11th day of June, 1918. + +LAURENCE O'NEILL, Lord Mayor of Dublin, +Chairman of a Conference of representative +Irishmen whose names stand hereunder. +JOSEPH DEVLIN, +JOHN DILLON, +MICHAEL JOHNSON, +WILLIAM O'BRIEN (Lab.), +T.M. HEALY, +WILLIAM O'BRIEN, +THOMAS KELLY, and JOHN MACNEILL: + {Acting in the place E. DE + VALERA and A. GRIFFITH, + deported 18th of May, 1918, + to separate prisons in England, + without trial or accusation--communication + with whom has been cut off.} + + + + +APPENDIX B + +UNIONIST LETTER TO PRESIDENT WILSON + +CITY HALL, BELFAST, +_August 1st_, 1918. + +To THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + +SIR, + +A manifesto signed by the leader of the Irish Nationalist Party and +certain other Irish gentlemen has been widely circulated in the United +Kingdom, in the form of a letter purporting to have been addressed to +your Excellency.[110] + +Its purpose appears to be to offer an explanation of, and an excuse for, +the conduct of the Nationalist Party in obstructing the extension to +Ireland of compulsory military service, which the rest of the United +Kingdom has felt compelled to adopt as the necessary means of defeating +the German design to dominate the world. At a time when all the free +democracies of the world have, with whatever reluctance, accepted the +burden of conscription as the only alternative to the destruction of +free institutions and of international justice, it is easily +intelligible that those who maintain Ireland's right to solitary and +privileged exemption from the same obligation should betray their +consciousness that an apologia is required to enable them to escape +condemnation at the bar of civilised, and especially of American, +opinion. But, inasmuch as the document referred to would give to anyone +not intimately familiar with British domestic affairs the impression +that it represents the unanimous opinion of Irishmen, it is important +that your Excellency and the American people should be assured that this +is very far from being the case. + +There is in Ireland a minority, whom we claim to represent, comprising +one-fourth to one-third of the total population of the island, located +mainly, but not exclusively, in the province of Ulster, who dissent +emphatically from the views of Mr. Dillon and his associates. This +minority, through their representatives in Parliament, have maintained +throughout the present war that the same obligations should in all +respects be borne by Ireland as by Great Britain, and it has caused them +as Irishmen a keen sense of shame that their country has not submitted +to this equality of sacrifice. + +Your Excellency does not need to be informed that this question has +become entangled in the ancient controversy concerning the +constitutional status of Ireland in the United Kingdom. This is, +indeed, sufficiently clear from the terms of the Nationalist manifesto +addressed to you, every paragraph of which is coloured by allusion to +bygone history and threadbare political disputes. + +It is not our intention to traverse the same ground. There is in the +manifesto almost no assertion with regard to past events which is not +either a distortion or a misinterpretation of historical fact. But we +consider that this is not the moment for discussing the faults and +follies of the past, still less for rehearsing ancient grievances, +whether well or ill founded, in language of extravagant rhetoric. At a +time when the very existence of civilisation hangs in the balance, all +smaller issues, whatever their merits or however they may affect our +internal political problems, should in our judgment have remained in +abeyance, while the parties interested in their solution should have +joined in whole-hearted co-operation against the common enemy. + +There is, however, one matter to which reference must be made, in order +to make clear the position of the Irish minority whom we represent. The +Nationalist Party have based their claim to American sympathy on the +historic appeal addressed to Irishmen by the British colonists who +fought for independence in America a hundred and fifty years ago. By no +Irishmen was that appeal received with a more lively sympathy than by +the Protestants of Ulster, the ancestors of those for whom we speak +to-day--a fact that was not surprising in view of the circumstance that +more than one-sixth part of the entire colonial population in America at +the time of the Declaration of Independence consisted of emigrants from +Ulster. + +The Ulstermen of to-day, forming as they do the chief industrial +community in Ireland, are as devoted adherents to the cause of +democratic freedom as were their forefathers in the eighteenth century. +But the experience of a century of social and economic progress under +the legislative Union with Great Britain has convinced them that under +no other system of government could more complete liberty be enjoyed by +the Irish people. This, however, is not the occasion for a reasoned +defence of "Unionist" policy. Our sole purpose in referring to the +matter is to show, whatever be the merits of the dispute, that a very +substantial volume of Irish opinion is warmly attached to the existing +Constitution of the United Kingdom, and regards as wholly unwarranted +the theory that our political status affords any sort of parallel to +that of the "small nations" oppressed by alien rule, for whose +emancipation the Allied democracies are fighting in this war. + +The Irish representation in the Imperial Parliament throws a significant +sidelight on this prevalent fiction. Whereas England is only represented +by one member for every 75,000 of population, and Scotland by one for +every 65,000, Ireland has a member for every 42,000 of her people. With +a population below that of Scotland, Ireland has 31 more members in the +House of Commons, and 89 more than she could claim on a basis of +representation strictly proportionate to population in the United +Kingdom. + +Speaking in Dublin on the 1st of July, 1915, the late Mr. John Redmond +gave the following description of the present condition of Ireland, +which offers a striking contrast to the extravagant declamation that +represents that country as downtrodden by a harsh and unsympathetic +system of government: + + "To-day," he said, "the people, broadly speaking, own the soil. + To-day the labourers live in decent habitations. To-day there is + absolute freedom in local government and local taxation of the + country. To-day we have the widest parliamentary and municipal + franchise. The congested districts, the scene of some of the most + awful horrors of the old famine days, have been transformed. The + farms have been enlarged, decent dwellings have been provided, and + a new spirit of hope and independence is to-day among the people. + In towns legislation has been passed facilitating the housing of + the working classes--a piece of legislation far in advance of + anything obtained for the town tenants of England. We have a system + of old-age pensions in Ireland whereby every old man and woman over + seventy is safe from the workhouse and free to spend their last + days in comparative comfort." + +Such are the conditions which, in the eyes of Nationalist politicians, +constitute a tyranny so intolerable as to justify Ireland in repudiating +her fair share in the burden of war against the enemies of civilisation. + +The appeal which the Nationalists make to the principle of +"self-determination" strikes Ulster Protestants as singularly +inappropriate. Mr. Dillon and his co-signatories have been careful not +to inform your Excellency that it was their own opposition that +prevented the question of Irish Government being settled in accordance +with that principle in 1916. The British Government were prepared at +that time to bring the Home Rule Act of 1914 into immediate operation, +if the Nationalists had consented to exclude from its scope the +distinctively Protestant population of the North, who desired to adhere +to the Union. This compromise was rejected by the Nationalist leaders, +whose policy was thus shown to be one of "self-determination" for +themselves, combined with coercive domination over us. + +It is because the British Government, while prepared to concede the +principle of self-determination impartially to both divisions in +Ireland, has declined to drive us forcibly into such subjection that the +Nationalist Party conceive themselves entitled to resist the law of +conscription. And the method by which this resistance has been made +effective is, in our view, not less deplorable than the spirit that +dictated it. The most active opponents of conscription in Ireland are +men who have been twice detected during the war in treasonable traffic +with the enemy, and their most powerful support has been that of +ecclesiastics, who have not scrupled to employ weapons of spiritual +terrorism which have elsewhere in the civilised world fallen out of +political use since the Middle Ages. + +The claim of these men, in league with Germany on the one hand, and with +the forces of clericalism on the other, to resist a law passed by +Parliament as necessary for national defence is, moreover, inconsistent +with any political status short of independent sovereignty--status which +could only be attained by Ireland by an act of secession from the United +Kingdom, such as the American Union averted only by resort to civil war. +In every Federal or other Constitution embracing subordinate +legislatures the raising and control of military forces are matters +reserved for the supreme legislative authority alone, and they are so +reserved for the Imperial Parliament of the United Kingdom in the Home +Rule Act of 1914, the "withholding" of which during the war is +complained of by the Nationalists who have addressed your Excellency. +The contention of these gentlemen that until the internal government of +Ireland is changed in accordance with their demands, Ireland is +justified in resisting the law of Conscription, is one that finds +support in no intelligible theory of political science. + +To us as Irishmen--convinced as we are of the righteousness of the cause +for which we are fighting, and resolved that no sacrifice can be too +great to "make the world safe for democracy"--it is a matter of poignant +regret that the conduct of the Nationalist leaders in refusing to lay +aside matters of domestic dispute, in order to put forth the whole +strength of the country against Germany should have cast a stain on the +good name of Ireland. We have done everything in our power to dissociate +ourselves from their action, and we disclaim responsibility for it at +the bar of posterity and history. + +EDWARD CARSON. +JAMES JOHNSTON, Lord Mayor of Belfast. +H.M. POLLOCK, President Belfast Chamber of Commerce. +R.N. ANDERSON, Mayor of Londonderry, and + President Londonderry Chamber of Commerce. +JOHN M. ANDREWS, Chairman Ulster Unionist Labour Association. +JAMES A. TURKINGTON, Vice-Chairman Ulster + Unionist Labour Association, and Secretary + Power-loom and Allied Trades Friendly + Society, and ex-Secretary Power-loom + Tenters' Trade Union of Ireland. +THOMPSON DONALD, Hon. Secretary Ulster + Unionist Labour Association, and ex-District + Secretary Shipwrights' Association. +HENRY FLEMING, Hon. Secretary Ulster Unionist + Labour Association, Member of Boilermakers' + Iron and Steel Shipbuilders' Society. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[110] See Appendix A. + + + + +INDEX + +Abercorn, James, 2nd Duke of, + at the Belfast Convention, 33; + President of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + illness, 47, 85, 108; + signs the Covenant, 122; + death, 144 +Abercorn, James, 3rd Duke of, 257, 282 +Abercorn, Mary, Duchess of, + President of the Women's Unionist Council, 37 +Adair, Gen. Sir Wm., at Larne, 217 +Afghan Campaign, 161 +Africa, South, War, 18 +Agar-Robartes, Hon. Thomas, + amendment on the Home Rule Bill, 92, 94-97, 132 +Agnew, Capt. Andrew, viii, 193, 202, 210, 213, 214, 220 +Albert Hall, meetings at, 14, 21, 34, 71 +Alexander, Dr., Bishop of Derry, at the Albert Hall, 14 +Allen, C.E., 156 +Allen, W.J., 35 +Althorp, Lord, 138 +Altrincham, election, 155 +Amending Bill, 221, 223, 227; + postponed, 228, 230; + _see_ Home Rule +America, War of Independence, 273 +Amery, L.C.S., + at Belfast, 81; + on the Curragh Incident, 182 +Amiens, threatened capture of, 266 +Anderson, R.N., Mayor of Londonderry, + letter to President Wilson, 273, 296-299 +Andrews, John M., letter to President Wilson, 296-299 +Andrews, Thomas, 33, 35, 48 +Anglo-German relations, 167, 201 +_Annual Register_, viii, 18 note, 21, 54 note, 76, 78 note, 138, + 154 note, 155 note, 157 note, 166 note, 167 note, 169 note, + 170 note, 201 note, 222 note, 223 note, 238, 271 note, 272 note +Archdale, E.M., 35; + Chairman of the Standing Committee, 35; + Minister for Agriculture, 282 +Armagh, military depot, 175, 176 +Armaghdale, Lord, 263; + signs the Covenant, 122: + _see_ Lonsdale +Armistice, the, 275 +Army, British, sympathy with Ulster Loyalists, 187-189 +Arran, Isle of, 175 +Asquith, Rt. Hon. H.H., + on the opposition of Ulster to Home Rule, 1, 2; + at the Albert Hall, 21; + Hull, 24; + Reading, 24; + Bury St. Edmunds, 25; + opinion of Sir E. Carson's speech, 133; + at Ladybank, 154; + Manchester, 166; + policy on the Ulster Question, 167-170; + on the Curragh Incident, 180, 182; + Secretary of State for War, 184; + promises an Amending Bill, 221; + on the landing of arms, 221; + at the Buckingham Palace Conference, 227; + on the postponement of the Amending Bill, 228, 230; + defence of Home Rule Bill, 235; + in Dublin, 244; + on the settlement of the Irish question, 245; + on the national danger, 266 +_Attentive_, H.M.S., 178 +Austrian rifles, 198 + + +Baird, J.D., at Belfast, 81 +Balfour, Rt. Hon. A.J., + at Belfast, 13, 81; + on election tactics, 25; + on exclusion of Ulster, 95; + resigns leadership of the Unionist Party, 60; + how regarded in Ulster, 61; + message from, 115; + the "peccant paragraphs," 181 +Balfour, Lord, of Burleigh, signs the British Covenant, 170 +Ballycastle, 193 +Ballykinler, training camp, 237 +Ballymacarret, 225 +Ballymena, meeting at, 108 +Ballymoney, meeting at, 158 +Ballyroney, meeting at, 108 +_Balmerino_, s.s., 208, 209 +Balmoral, Belfast, meeting at, 79-86, 101 +Bangor, 214, 219 +Barrie, H.T., 257 +Bates, Richard Dawson, Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35, 121; + organises demonstration, 111; + on board a tender, 214; + Minister for Home Affairs, 282; + knighthood, 284 +Bedford, Duke of, + Chairman of the British League for the support of Ulster, 147 +Belfast, 46; + Convention of 1892, 32-34, 109; + meetings at, 52, 78, 157; + services on Ulster Day, 117; + City Hall, 119, 283; + Covenant signed, 119-122; + drill hall, opened, 148; + riots, 151; + review of the Ulster Volunteer Force at, 163; + Customs Authorities, stratagem against, 217; + reception of the King and Queen, 283 +Belfast Lough, 46, 175, 211, 212 +_Belfast Newsletter_, 102 note, 111 +Benn, Sir John, 53 +Beresford, Lord Charles, + at Belfast, 81, 109; + at the Ulster Club, 125; + Liverpool, 127; + member of a Committee of the Provisional Government, 145 +Berwick, 149, 154 +Birrell, Rt. Hon. Augustine, Chief Secretary for Ireland, + on the character of Sinn Feinism, 4; + at Ilfracombe, 54; + on the Home Rule Bill, 96; + the right to fight, 138; + member of a sub-committee on Ulster, 175; + conduct in the Irish rebellion, 243; + character of his administration, 245 +Blenheim, meeting at, 97 +Boyne, the, 2; + battle of, 115; + celebration, 224 +Bradford, 172, 174, 175 +Bristol, 150, 166; + Channel, 208 +_Britannic_, H.M.S., 224 +British Covenant, signing the, 170 +British League for the support of Ulster and the Union, formation, 147 +Browne, Robert, Managing Director of the Antrim Iron Ore Company, 193 +Brunner, Sir John, President of the National Liberal Federation, 167 +Buckingham Palace Conference, 227 +Budden, Captain, 196 +Budget, 19; "The People's," 20 +"Budget League," formed, 20 +Bull, Sir William, 195 +Bury St. Edmunds, 25 +Butcher, Sir J.G., at Belfast, 81 + + +Cambridge, H.R.H. Duke of, 187 +Cambridgeshire, election, 155 +Campbell, James, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, 57, 95, 109 +Canterbury, Dean of, signs the British Covenant, 170 +Carlyle, Thomas, 137 +Carrickfergus, military depot, 175, 176 +Carson, Lady, at Belfast, 236, 284 +Carson, Rt. Hon. Sir Edward, viii; + accepts leadership, 39-41; + political views, 41; + at the Ulster Hall, 42, 108; + at the Ulster Unionist Council meetings, 42, 246-248; + relations with Lord Londonderry, 44, 53; + on the Parliament Bill, 44; + at the Craigavon meeting, 48-51, 210; + character of his speaking, 48; + at the Conference at Belfast, 52; + at Dublin, 54; + Portrush, 55; + refuses leadership of Unionist Party, 60; + meetings in Lancashire, 65; + popularity, 66, 110, 148; + at Belfast, 73, 157, 224-226, 257, 278; + criticism of W. Churchill's speech, 74; + on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, 77; + at the Balmoral meeting, 81, 84; + ovation, 85; + attacks on, 87; + on the Home Rule Bill, 90, 96; + at the Londonderry House Conference, 94; + on the resistance of Ulster, 98, 100; + character of his leadership, 102; + reads the Ulster Covenant, 105; + tour of the Province, 110, 114; + opinion of the Covenant, 111; + presentation to, 115; + speech on the Covenant, 116; + at the service in the Ulster Hall, 118; + at the City Hall, 120-124; + signs the Covenant, 121; + at Liverpool, 127; + on the exclusion of Ulster, 133, 168; + death of his wife, 148; + at opening of drill hall, 148; + in Scotland and England, 149; + at Durham, 153; + Chairman of the Central Authority, 156; + Indemnity Guarantee Fund, 156; + inspection of the Ulster Volunteer Force, 162, 164, 167, 223, 226; + on the time limit for exclusion, 171; + leaves the House of Commons, 173; + on the plot against Ulster, 176; + signs statement on the Curragh Incident, 186; + interview with Major F.H. Crawford, 199, 210; + congratulations from Lord Roberts, 220; + at Ipswich, 222; + at the Buckingham Palace Conference, 227; + on the patriotism of Ulster, 231-233; + tribute to B. Law, 236; + second marriage, 236; + tribute to Lord Londonderry, 241; + appointed Attorney-General, 242; + resignation, 242; + on the Irish rebellion, 246; + appointed First Lord of the Admiralty, 252; + resignation, 263; + re-elected leader of the Ulster Party, 263; + member of the Irish Unionist Alliance, 265; + on the Military Service Bill, 270; + letter to President Wilson, 273, 296-299; + M.P. for Duncairn, 275; + declines office, 275; + on the Government of Ireland Act, 279; + conclusion of his leadership, 280; + Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, 284; + unable to be present at the opening of the Ulster Parliament, 284 +Casement, Sir Roger, 7, 158; + in league with Germany, 243 +Cassel, Felix, at Belfast, 81 +Castlereagh, Viscount, 109, 230; + at Belfast, 81; + signs the Covenant, 121 +Cavan, 248, 279 +Cave, Rt. Hon. George, 188; + at Belfast, 81; + letter to _The Times_, 152 +Cecil, Lord Hugh, at Belfast, 81, 109; + at the Balmoral meeting, 86; + on the resistance of Ulster, 96 +Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. Austen, + candidate for the leadership of the Unionist Party, 60; + message from, 115; + at Skipton, 167; + on the policy of the Government, 168 +Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. Joseph, at Belfast, 13; + views on Home Rule, 16, 128; + tariff policy, 18; + his advice to Sir E. Carson, 167 +Chambers, James, signs the Covenant, 121 +Chichester, Capt. the Hon. A.C., + Commander in the Ulster Volunteer Force, 163 +Childers, Mr. Erskine, on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, 76 +China Expeditionary Force, 161 +Chubb, Sir George Hayter, signs the British Covenant, 170 +Churchill, Mrs., at Belfast, 73 +Churchill, Lord Randolph, at Belfast, 13, 81; + at the Ulster Hall meeting, 30, 40, 62; + saying of, 31, 42; + reception at Larne, 74; + views on Home Rule, 128; + _Life of,_ 138 +Churchill, Rt. Hon. Winston S., at Manchester, 19; + _Life of Lord Randolph Churchill_, 30, 138; + at Dundee, 54, 154; + views on Home Rule, 62; + projected visit to Belfast, 62-69; + letter to Lord Londonderry, 69; + change of plan, 69; + reception at Belfast, 73; + departure from, 74; + on Home Rule, 95; + letters on the Ulster menace, 99; + on the resistance of Ulster, 138, 141; + the policy of exclusion, 152; + at Bradford, 172, 174, 175 +City Hall, Belfast, 119, 283 +Clark, Sir George, 156 +Clogher, Bishop of, signs the Covenant, 122 +_Clydevalley, s.s.,_ 211-213, 220; + renamed, 214 +Coleraine, meeting at, 108, 114 +Comber, 82 +Copeland Island, 212, 214, 220 +_Correspondence relating to Recent Events in the Irish Command_, 185 +Covenant, British, signing the, 170 +Covenant, Ulster, draft, 104; + terms, 105-107; + series of demonstrations, 108-110; + meeting in the Ulster Hall, 114; + signing the, 120-124; + anniversary, 158, 165, 236 +Cowser, Richard, 210, 214 +Craig, Charles, 96, 147; + serves in the war, 234; + taken prisoner, 234 +Craig, James, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + meeting at Craigavon, 46; + gift for organisation, 46; + member of the Commission of Five, 53; + on the resistance of Ulster, 96; + draft of the Covenant, 103; + organises the demonstration, 111; + presentation of a silver key and pen to Sir E. Carson, 115; + Indemnity Guarantee Fund, 156; + at the reviews of the U.V.F., 162, 164, 223; + at Bangor, 217; + at the Buckingham Palace Conference, 228; + appointed Q.M.G. of the Ulster Division, 234; + Treasurer of the Household, 253; + resignation, 263; + baronetcy, 275; + Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions, 275; + Secretary to the Admiralty, 281; + resignation, 281; + Prime Minister of the Northern Parliament, 281 +Craig, John, 103 +Craig, Mrs., presents colours to the U.V.F., 223 +Craigavon, meeting at, 45-51, 80, 105, 149, 210 +Crawford, Colonel F.H., viii; signs the Covenant, 123, 191; + Commander in the U.V.F., 163; +characteristics, 190; career, 191; + Secretary of the Reform Club, 191; + advertises for rifles, 191; + Director of Ordnance, 192; + method of procuring arms, 192-200; + schooner, 192; + agreement with B.S., 197-200; + interview with Sir E. Carson, 199, 210; + voyage in s.s. _Fanny_, 202-210; + conveys arms from Hamburg, 203-213; + attack of malaria, 207; + declines to obey unsigned orders, 209; + at Belfast, 210; + purchases s.s. _Clydevalley_, 211, 212; + lands the arms, 214; + at Rosslare, 220; + awarded the O.B.E., 284 +Crewe, election, 98, 99 +Crewe, Marq. of, 18, 23, 175; + on the Amending Bill, 223 +Cromwell, Oliver, 136 +Crozier, Dr., Archbp. of Armagh, member of Provisional Government, 145 +Crumlin, meeting at, 108 +Curragh Incident, 174-189, 221 +Curzon, Marq., on the Parliament Bill, 44; + the Home Rule Bill, 134; + the loyalty of Ulster, 141 + + +_Daily Express, The_, 225 +_Daily Mail, The_, 225 +_Daily News, The_, 114, 166 +_Daily Telegraph, The_, 111, 225 +D'Arcy, Dr., Primate of All Ireland, 118; + signs the Covenant, 121 +Darlington, 149 +Davis, Jefferson, 137 +Democracy, axiom of, 15 +Derbyshire, election, 222 +Derry, relief of, 13, 85; + meeting at, 108; + election, 144; + riots, 151 +Desborough, Lord, signs the British Covenant, 170 +Devlin, Joseph, 6, 127, 172, 174, 275; + with Mr. W. Churchill in Belfast, 63, 68; + the Irish Convention, 261; + on the Military Service Bill, 269; + letter to President Wilson, 273, 287-295; + demands self-determination, 277 +Devonshire, 8th Duke of, views on Home Rule, 128, 134; + on the resistance of Ulster, 136, 138; + _Life of_, 136 note, 139 note +Dicey, Prof., signs the British Covenant, 170 +Dickson, Scott, at Belfast, 81; + at the Balmoral meeting, 86 +"Die Hards" party, 44 +Dillon, John, 6, 174; + at the Buckingham Palace Conference, 227; + on the Irish Rebellion, 244; + letter to Pres. Wilson, 273, 287-293 +Donaghadee, 214, 219 +Donald, Thompson, letter to Pres. Wilson, 296-299 +Donegal, 248, 279 +_Doreen_, s.s., 207, 210; + at Lundy, 208 +Dorset Regiment, transferred to Holywood, 177, 178 +Dromore, meeting at, 108 +Dublin, insurrection, 4, 243; + Unionist demonstration at, 54; + Nationalist Convention, meeting, 92; + Congress in, 276 +Dufferin and Ava, Dow. Marchioness of, 113 +Duke, Rt. Hon. H.E., Chief Secretary for Ireland, 253 +Duncairn, election, 275 +Dundalk, 178 +Dundee, 54, 154 +Dunleath, Lord, 156 +Durham, Sir E. Carson at, 153 + + +East Fife, 25 +Edinburgh, 24, 101; + Ulstermen sign the Covenant, 123; + meeting at, 149; + Philosophical Institution, lecture at the, 274 +Edward VII, King, death, 23 +Election, General, of 1886, 16; + of 1895, 34; + of Jan. 1910, 21, 22, 42; + of Dec. 1910, 26; + of 1918, 4 +Elections, result of, 99, 155, 222 +Emmet, Robert, 7, 46, 142 +Enniskillen, meeting at, 108, 114; + military depot, 175, 176 +Erne, Earl of, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + at the Craigavon meeting, 47; + signs the Covenant, 122 +Ewart, G.H., President of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, 157 +Ewart, Sir William, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + signs the Covenant, 121 +_Fanny_, s.s., voyage, viii, 202-213; + alterations in her appearance, 206; + rechristened, 207; + transference of the cargo, 213 +Farnham, Lord, at the Ulster Unionist Council meeting, 248, 279; + Irish Unionist Alliance, 265 +Ferguson, John, & Co., 196 +Fiennes, Mr., at Belfast, 73 +Finance Bill, rejected, 19 +Finlay, Sir Robert, at Belfast, 81; + at the Balmoral meeting, 86 +Fishguard, 213 +Flavin, Mr., on the Military Service Bill, 269 +Fleming, Henry, letter to Pres. Wilson, 296-299 +Flood, Henry, patriotism, 7 +Foyle, the, 87, 214 +_Freemason's Journal, The_, 72, 287 +French, F.M., Viscount, member of the Army Council, 176; + resignation, 184; + Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 272; + attempt on his life, 277 +Frewen, Miss, marriage, 236; _see_ Carson +Friend, General, 177 + + +Gambetta, Leon, 9 +George V, King, Conference at Buckingham Palace, 228; + opens the Ulster Parliament, 282, 286; + reception in Belfast, 283 +George, Rt. Hon. D. Lloyd, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Budget, 19; + at Edinburgh, 24; + on the exclusion of Ulster, 152; + Anglo-German relations, 167, 201; + opinion of Sir E. Carson's speech, 168; + plot against Ulster, 174; + at Ipswich, 222; + the Buckingham Palace Conference, 227; + Secretary of State for War, 245; + negotiations for the settlement of the Irish question, 245, 247, 250; + Prime Minister, 252; + on Home Rule, 254; + alternative proposals, 255; + statement on the war, 266, 268; + Military Service Bill, 268; + letter to B. Law, 276 note; + basic facts on the Irish Question, 277; + Government of Ireland Act, 278 +German rifles, 198 +Gibson, T.H., Sec. of Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + resignation, 35 +Gilmour, Captain, at Belfast, 81 +Gladstone, Rt. Hon. W.E., 138; + on the character of the Nationalists, 5; + conversion to Home Rule, 7, 12, 30; + Home Rule Bills, 13, 16, 17; + personality, 17 +Glasgow, 22, 78; + meeting at, 149 +Goschen, Viscount, views on Home Rule, 16, 128 +Goudy, Prof., signs the British Covenant, 170 +Gough, General Sir Hugh, commanding the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, 180; +at the War Office, 181; + return to the Curragh, 181; + driven back by the Germans, 270 +Government of Ireland Act, 51, 278 +Graham, John Washington, 194 +Grattan, Henry, patriotism, 7 +Greenwood, Sir Hamar, at Belfast, 73; + Chief Secretary for Ireland, 285 +Grey, Earl, on the Home Rule Bill, 134 +Grey, Sir Edward, on the Home Rule Bill, 95; + at Berwick, 154 +Griffith, Arthur, arrested, 271; + deported, 295 +Griffith-Boscawen, Sir Arthur, at Belfast, 81 +Grimsby, election, 222 +Guest, Capt. Frederick, at Belfast, 72 +Guinness, Walter, supports exclusion of Ulster, 95 +Gun-barrel Proof Act, 196 + + +Haldane, Viscount, 130, 185 +Halifax, Lord, 136, 141 +Hall, Frank, 121 +Halsbury, Earl of, 151 +Hamburg, Col. Crawford at, 198 +Hamilton, Lord Claud, at Belfast, 81; + Provisional Government, 145 +Hamilton, George C., M.P. for Altrincham, 155 +Hamilton, Gustavus, Governor of Enniskillen, 48 +Hamilton, Marq. of, interest in the Ulster Movement, 109; + signs the Covenant, 122 +Hammersmith Armoury, 195; + seizure of arms at, 196 +Hanna, J., 257 +Harding, Canon, 158 +Harland and Wolff, Messrs., 191 +Harrison, Frederic, on the Ulster Question, 169 +Hartington, Marq. of, views on Home Rule, 16 +Health Insurance Act, 222 +Healy, T.M., 18, 22; + on the Military Service Bill, 270; + letter to Pres. Wilson, 273, 287-295 +Henry, Denis, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35 +Hickman, Colonel Thomas, member of Provisional Government, 145; + career, 160; + letter from Lord Roberts, 161, 195 +Hills, J.W., at Belfast, 81 +Holland, Bernard, + _Life of the Eighth Duke of Devonshire_, 136 note, 139 note +Holywood, 46, 177, 178 +Home Rule, 23-29; + a separatist movement, 7; + memorial against, 155 +Home Rule Bill, 13, 16, 17, 90-97, 131, 133, 149; + political meetings, 97; + under the "guillotine," 131; + in the House of Lords, 134; + rejected, 135; + time limit for exclusion, 171; + passed, 222, 224; + receives the Royal Assent, 235 +Home Rule Bill, Amending Bill, 221, 223, 227, 228, 230 +Hull, Mr. Asquith at, 24 + + +Ilfracombe, 54 +Indemnity Guarantee Fund, subscriptions, 156, 163 +Ipswich, election, 222 +Ireland, two nations, 2, 84; + rebellions, 6; + animosity of rival creeds, 9; + condition, 17, 19, 298; + insurrection, 27; + fiscal autonomy, 76-78; + financial clauses of the Home Rule Bill, 91; + prohibition of the importation of arms, 166; + Easter Rebellion, 243; + exemption from conscription, 268; + German plot in, 271; + agitation against conscription, 272; + anarchy, 279 +Ireland, Council of, 278 +Ireland, Government of, Act, 2, 278-280 +Ireland, Northern, Parliament, 280-282 +Irish Convention, 255-262; + members, 255, 257; + Report, 264, 266 +_Irish News, The_, 114 +Irish Republican Army, system of terrorism, 277 +Irish Republican Brotherhood, 243 +Irish Unionist Alliance, 30, 265; + co-operation with the Ulster Unionist Council, 37 +Islandmagee, 218 +Italian Vetteli rifles, 197, 198, 201 + + +James II, King, 139, 141 +Johnston, James, Lord Mayor of Belfast, + letter to Pres. Wilson, 273, 296-299 + + +Kelly, Sam, 209 +Kelly, Thomas, letter to Pres. Wilson, 287-295 +Kennedy, Sir Robert, member of Provisional Government, 143 +Kettle, Prof. T.M., on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, 76 +Kiel, 204 +Kingstown, cruisers at, 178 +Kipling, Rudyard, "Ulster 1912," 79, 129; + signs the British Covenant, 170 +Kitchener, F.M. Earl, 230, 238 +Kossuth, 136 + + +Labour Party, 22, 26 +Ladybank, Mr. Asquith at, 154 +Lamlash, battleships at, 175 +Lane-Fox, George, at Belfast, 81 +Langeland, 204 +Lansdowne, Marq. of, scheme of reform for the House of Lords, 24; + on the Parliament Bill, 44; + message from, 115; + on the Ulster Question, 169; + the Amending Bill, 223; + at the Buckingham Palace Conference, 227 +Larne, 74, 81, 212, 214 +Law, Rt. Hon. A. Bonar, leader of Unionist Party, 28, 60; + on Home Rule, 28, 131; + at the Albert Hall, 71; + on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, 78; + at the Balmoral meeting, 80-86; + reception at Larne, 81; + his speech, 84; + indictment against the Government, 90, 172, 174, 235; + on the resistance of Ulster, 91, 95, 98; + messages from, 115, 149; + at Wallsend, 154; + Bristol, 166; + on the exclusion of Ulster, 169, 171; + demands inquiry into the Curragh Incident, 185; + on the Amending Bill, 222; + at the Buckingham Palace Conference, 227; + at Belfast, 236; + tribute to, 236; + at the Ulster Hall, 237; + warning to the Nationalists, 255; + on the Military Service Bill, 269, 271 +Lecky, W.E.H., _History of England in the Eighteenth Century_, 274 note +Leeds, meeting at, 149 +Leo XIII, Pope, 8 +Leslie, Shane, _Henry Edward Manning_, 8 note +Liberal Party, policy, 16; + victory in 1906, 18; + majority, 19, 22; + tactics, 20; + number of votes, 22, 26; + defeated in 1895, 34 +Liddell, R.M., 156 +Lincoln, Abraham, 40; + saying of, 15 +Linlithgow, election, 155 +Lisburn, meeting at, 108, 114 +Liverpool, 127 +_Liverpool Daily Courier, The_, extract from, 165 +_Liverpool Daily Post and Mercury,_ 159 note +Llandudno, 212 +Lloyd, Mr. George, at Belfast, 81 +Logue, Cardinal, 10 +London School of Economics, conference at, 76 +Londonderry House, conference at, 92, 94, 147 +Londonderry, Marchioness of, + member of the Ulster Women's Unionist Council, 37; + on the Covenant, 112; + presents colours to the U.V.F., 223; + work in the war, 240 +Londonderry, 6th Marq. of, viii; + on Home Rule, 28; + Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + popularity, 43; + character, 44; + relations with Sir E. Carson, 44, 53; + on the Parliament Bill, 44; + Conference at Belfast, 52; + at the Ulster Hall meeting, 62, 106, 108; + the Ulster Unionist Council meetings, 65, 67; + reply to W. Churchill, 69; + at Belfast, 73; + at the Balmoral meeting, 84; + signs the Covenant, 121; + at the Ulster Club, 125; + Liverpool, 127; + on the House of Lords, 134; + President of the Ulster Unionist Council, 145; + Indemnity Guarantee Fund, 156; + at the reviews of the U.V.F., 164, 223; + on the Curragh Incident, 186; + on the Amending Bill, 223; + at Enniskillen, 227; + despondency, 240; death, 241; + tribute to, 241 +Londonderry, 7th Marq. of, viii; + member of the Irish Convention, 257, 263; + Under-Secretary of State in the Air Ministry, 275; + resignation, 281; + Minister of Education, 281 +Long, Rt. Hon. Walter, 147; + founder of the Union Defence League, 37; + leader of the Irish Unionists, 38; + at the Ulster Hall, 42; + candidate for the leadership of the Unionist Party, 60; + at Belfast, 81, 224; + at the Balmoral meeting, 84, 86; + the Londonderry House conference, 92; + message from, 115; + on the policy of the Government, 170; + signs the British Covenant, 170; + chairman of a Cabinet Committee on the Irish Question, 277 +Lonsdale, Sir John B., member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + Hon. Sec. of the Irish Unionist Party, 39; + signs Covenant, 122; + Indemnity Guarantee Fund, 156; + leader of the Ulster Party, 254; + at Belfast, 257; + raised to the peerage, 263; + _see_ Armaghdale +Lords, House of, + rejection of the Home Rule Bill, 17, 135; + of the Finance Bill, 19, 21; + forced to accept the Parliament Bill, 27; + position under the Parliament Act, 134; + debates on the Home Rule Bill, 134 +Loreburn, Lord, letters to _The Times_, 152, 165 +Lough Laxford, 203, 206, 207 +Lough, Thomas, on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, 76 +Lovat, Lord, signs the British Covenant, 170 +Lowther, Rt. Hon. James, at the Buckingham Palace Conference, 227 +Loyal Orange Institution, 31 +Lundy, 208 +Lyons, W.H.H., 35 + + +Macdonnell, Lord, on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, 76 +Mackinder, H.J., at Belfast, 81 +Macnaghten, Sir Charles, member Provisional Government, 145 +Macnaghten, Lord, Lord of Appeal, 140, 145; + signs the Covenant, 122 +MacNeill, John, letter to Pres. Wilson, 287-295 +Mahan, Admiral, 130 +Maine, Sir H., _Popular Government_, extract from, 14 +Malcolm, Sir Ian, at Belfast, 81 +Manchester, 77, 166; + election, 99 +_Manchester Guardian, The_, 166 +Manning, Cardinal, on Home Rule, 8 +Mary, H.M., Queen, at the opening of the Ulster Parliament, 282; + reception in Belfast, 283 +Massereene, Lady, presents colours to the Ulster Volunteer Force, 223 +Massingham, Mr., 166 +Masterman, Rt. Hon. C.F.G., 170, 222 +Mazzini, 136 +McCalmont, Col. James, Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + Commander of a U.V.F regiment, 163 +McCammon, Mr., 121 +McDowell, Sir Alexander, criticism of the Ulster Covenant, 104 +McMordie, Mr., Lord Mayor of Belfast, + at the service in the Ulster Hall, 118; + receives Sir E. Carson, 120; + at the Ulster Club, 125 +Meath election petition in 1892, 10 +Melbourne, Lord, 136 +Mersey, the, 127 +Midleton, Earl of, at the Irish Convention, 260; + supports Home Rule, 262; + secedes from the Irish Unionist Alliance, 265 +Midlothian, election, 99 +Military Service Act, ii., 268-272 +Milner, Viscount, signs the British Covenant, 170; + on the Amending Bill, 223 +Moles, Thomas, viii; Chairman of Committee in the Northern Parliament, 282 +Molyneux, patriotism, 7 +Monaghan, 248, 279 +Montgomery, B.W.D., Secretary of the Ulster Club, 103 +Montgomery, Dr., 118 +Montgomery, Major-Gen., member of Provisional Government, 145 +Moore, William, Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + on the amendment to the Home Rule Bill, 96; + exclusion of Ulster, 168 +Morley, Viscount, _Life of Gladstone_, 17; + on the resistance of Ulster, 154; + helps Colonel Seely to draft the "peccant paragraphs," 181, 183 +_Morning Post, The_, 79, 225, 229, 283 note +_Motu Proprio_, Vatican decree, 11 +Mount Stewart, 82, 225 +_Mountjoy_, the, 87, 214 +_Mountjoy II_, s.s., cargo landed at Larne, 214, 218 +Moyle, the, 193 +Musgrave Channel, 211, 217 +Musgrave, Henry, 156 + + +_Nation, The_, 158 +National Insurance Bill, 53 +Nationalist Party, in the House of Commons, 22, 26; + attitude on the war, 267; + opposition to conscription, 269-273 +Nationalists, the, compared with the Ulster Unionists, 2; + disloyalty, 4-6; + policy, 6, 78, 141, 142; + ancestry, 8; + demand dissolution of the Union, 14; + attitude on the war, 231, 233, 252; + members of the Irish Convention, 256-262; + letter to Pres. Wilson, 273, 287-295; + demand "self-determination," 291, 298 +Nationality, root of, 2; + plea of 14, 15 +Navy, reduction of, 167, 201 +_Nec Temere_, Vatican decree, 11 +Neild, Herbert, at Belfast, 81 +Newcastle, 149, 153; + training camp, 237 +Newman, Cardinal, 5 +Newry, 177 +Newtownards, 225; + meeting at, 108, 114 +_Nineteenth Century, The_, 183 note, 239 note +Nonconformists, 9; opposition to + Home Rule, 155 +Northcliffe, Viscount, 225 +Norwich, Ulster members at, 150 + + +O'Brien, William, 22; + on the Military Service Bill, 270; + letter to Pres. Wilson, 273, 287-295 +_Observer, The_, 84, 115 note, 225 +O'Connell, Daniel, 7 +O'Connor, T.P., 127, 174, 275; + on Home Rule, 253 +Omagh, military depot, 175, 176 +Omash, Miss, viii +O'Neill, Capt. Hon. Arthur, 230; + killed in the war, 241, 253 +O'Neill, Major Hugh, serves in the war, 242; + Speaker of the Northern Parliament, 282 +O'Neill, Hugh, Earl of Tyrone, 7 +O'Neill, Laurence, Lord Mayor of Dublin, + letter to Pres. Wilson, 273, 287-295 +O'Neill, Hon. R.T., member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35 +Ormsby-Gore, Capt. the Hon. W.G.A., at Belfast, 81 +O'Shea, divorce, 17 + + +Paget, Sir Arthur, Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, + letter from Colonel Seely, 175; + in London, 176; + interviews with Ministers, 177; + instructions from the War Office, 178, 180; + conference with his officers, 179, 185; + on the employment of troops in Ulster, 186 +Parliament, assembled, 23, 131, 167; + dissolved, 23, 275; + adjourned, 99 +Parliament Act, 23, 27, 43-45, 53, 91 +_Parliamentary Debates_, viii, 29 _note,_ 142, 179 note, 181 note, 185 note +Parnell, Charles, saying of, 6; + leader of the Nationalist Party, 6; + downfall, 17 +_Pathfinder_, H.M.S., 178 +_Patriotic_, R.M.S., 128 +Peel, Sir Robert, 138 +Peel, W., at Belfast, 81 +"People's Budget," 20; + rejection, 42 +Percival-Maxwell, Col., Privy Councillor, 284 +Phoenix Park murders, 243 +Pirrie, Lord, unpopularity in Belfast, 63; + peerage conferred, 284 +Pitt, Rt. Hon. William, 15 +Plunkett, Sir Horace, Chairman of the Irish Convention, 257, 261; + letter to Lloyd George, 264 +Pollock, Sir Ernest, at Belfast, 81 +Pollock, H.M., member of the Irish Convention, 257, 262 +Portadown, meeting at, 108, 114 +Portland, Duke of, signs the British Covenant, 170 +Portrush, 55, 193 +Presbyterian Church, General Assembly of the, 155 +Presbyterians, political views, 12 +Preston, George, subscription to the Indemnity Guarantee Fund, 156 +Prisoners, release of, 256 +Protestants, Irish, distrust of Roman Catholics, 9; + dislike of clerical influence, 10 + +Ramsay, Sir W., signs the British Covenant, 170 +Ranfurly, Earl of, organises the Ulster Loyalist Union, 30, 37; + member of the Unionist Council, 35 +Raphoe, Bishop of, member of the Irish Convention, 258, 260-262 +Rawlinson, J.F.P., at Belfast, 81 +Reade, R.H., 35 +Reading, Mr. Asquith at, 24; + election, 155 +Redistribution Act, 275 +Redmond, Capt., 275 +Redmond, John, 174; + on the national movement, 7; + policy, 22; + on Home Rule, 27, 54; + with Mr. W. Churchill in Belfast, 63, 68; + opinion of Sir E. Carson's speech, 133; + protests against Amending Bill, 222; + at Buckingham Palace Conference, 227; + conditional offer of help in the war, 231, 233; + tribute to, 239; + patriotism, 239; + refuses office, 242; + at Dublin, 249; + on the exclusion of Ulster, 250; + manifesto, 254; + at the Irish Convention, 260-262; + death, 262; + on the condition of Ireland, 298 +Redmond, Major W., his speech in the House, 253; + killed in the war, 253 +Reform Club, Belfast, 122, 124, 191 +Reid, Whitelaw, 274 +Renan, E., on the root of nationality, 2 +_Reynolds's Newspaper_, 89 +Richardson, Gen. Sir George, Commander-in-Chief of the U.V.F., 161, 197; + career, 161; + characteristics, 162; + at Belfast, 162, 217; + reviews the U.V.F., 163-165 +Rifles, seized by Government, 161, 195; + purchase of, 198; + packing, 201; + landed in Ulster, 219 +Roberts, F.M. Earl, 130, 188; + letter to Col. Hickman, 161, 195; + signs British Covenant, 170; + congratulations to Sir E. Carson, 220; + on the result of coercing Ulster, 224 +Robertson, Rt. Hon. J.M., Secretary to the Board of Trade, + on fiscal autonomy for Ireland, 76; + at Newcastle, 153 +Rochdale, Unionist Association at, 99 +Roe, Owen, 7 +Roman Catholics, Irish, disloyalty 9; + character of the priest, 10; + methods of enforcing obedience, 10-12 +Rosebery, Earl of, 15, 18; + at Glasgow, 22; + on the characteristics + of the Ulster race, 101 +Rosslare, 220 +Royal Irish Rifles, the 5th, 57 +Russia, collapse of, 268 +Russian rifles, 198 + + +S.B., the Hebrew dealer in firearms, 197; + agreement with Major F.H. Crawford, 197-200; + honesty, 204 +St. Aldwyn, Viscount, on the King's Prerogative, 151 +Salisbury, Marq. of, at Belfast, 13, 81; + message from, 109; + views on Home Rule, 128 +Salvidge, Mr., Alderman of Liverpool, 127, 128; + signs the British Covenant, 170 +Samuel, Mr. Herbert, at Belfast, 54 +Sanderson, Colonel, Chairman of the Ulster Parliamentary Party, 35, 38 +_Saturday Review, The_, extract from, 70 +Sclater, Edward, Secretary of the Unionist Clubs, 53 +Scotland, the Covenant, 103 +_Scotsman, The_, 101, 225, 274 note +Seely, Col. Sec. of State for War, letter to Sir A. Paget, 175; + statement to Gen. Gough, 181; + adds paragraphs, 181, 183; + on the Curragh Incident, 182; + resignation, 183, 184 +Seymour, Adm. Sir E., signs British Covenant, 170 +Sharman-Crawford, Col., member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + of the Commission of Five, 53 +Shaw, Lord, _Letters to Isabel_, 18 note +Shiel Park, meeting at, 128 +Shipyards, observance of Ulster Day, 117 +Shortt, Rt. Hon. E., Chief Secretary for Ireland, 272 +Simon, Sir John, 175 +Sinclair, Rt. Hon. Thomas, at the Ulster Convention, 33; + member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35, 67; + on Home Rule, 38; + member of a Commission, 63; + on the Covenant, 104, 109; + signs it, 121 +Sinn Fein party, refuse to join the Convention, 255; + in league with Germany, 271, 276; + arrests, 271; + members of Parliament, 276, 276; + treason of, 276; + congress in Dublin, 276; outrages, 277 +Sinn Feinism, spirit of, 4 +Skipton, 167 +Smiley, Kerr, 156 +Smith, Rt. Hon. F.E. (Lord Birkenhead), on the policy of Ulster, 97, 98; + on the Covenant, 109; + at the Ulster Club, 125; + at Liverpool, 127; + at the inspection of the U.V.F., 162; + "galloper" to Gen. Sir G. Richardson, 163 +Smith, Mr. Harold, 109 +Solemn League and Covenant, 104; + _see_ Ulster +Somme, battle of the, 234 +_Spectator, The_, 225 +Spender, Col. W. Bliss, U.V.F., 197, 203, 207, 215; + awarded the O.B.E., 284 +_Standard, The_, 70, 118, 225 +_Star, The_, extract from, 89 +Stronge, Sir James, member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35 +Stuart-Wortley, Mr., at Belfast, 81 +Submarine warfare, 253 +Suffragists' campaign, 167 +Swift, patriotism, 7 + + +Tariff Reform policy, 18, 19; + controversy, 59, 155, 167 +Templetown, Lord, founds the Unionist Clubs, 30, 31 +Thiepval, battle at, 234 +_Times, The_, 32, 64, 69, 71, 77, 79, 82, 84, 99, 110, 115, 124, 126, + 139, 140, 153, 172, 182, 187, 225; + letters in, 152, 165 +Tirah Expedition, 161 +Tone, Wolfe, 7, 46, 142 +Tramp steamer, diverts suspicion, 217 +Turkington, James A., letter to Pres. Wilson, 296-299 +Tuskar Light, 210, 211 +Tyrone, contingent of Orangemen, 57 + + +Ulster, use of the term, vii; + opposition to Home Rule, 1, 2, 30; + loyalty, 2-4, 33, 63, 139-143, 251; + ancestry, 8; + political views, 12; + landlords and tenants, 12; + mottoes, 13, 33; + reluctant acceptance of a separate constitution, 14; + organisations, 30-38; + policy, 33, 51, 75, 77, 92, 93-100, 133, 136-143; + military drilling, 57; + characteristics of the people, 101; + time limit for exclusion, 171; + plot against, 174; + emigrants in America, 274, 297; + result of the Government of Ireland Act, 280 +Ulster, British League for the support of, formed, 147 +Ulster Club, Belfast, 125 +Ulster, Convention of 1892, 80, 109 +Ulster Covenant, draft, 104; + terms, 105-107; + series of demonstrations, 108-110; + meeting in the Ulster Hall, 114; + signing the, 120-124; + anniversary, 158, 165, 236 +Ulster Day, 165, 236; religious observance, 107, 117 +Ulster Division, 1st Brigade, training, 237; + recruiting, 238 +Ulster Hall, 283; + meetings, 30, 38, 40, 42, 62, 106, 108, 114, 237; + service, 118, 158 +Ulster Loyalist Anti-Repeal Union, 37 +Ulster Loyalist and Patriotic Union, 30 +Ulster Movement, vii, 1 +Ulster Parliament, appointment of Ministers, 281-2; + opened, 282-6 +Ulster Provisional Government, 53, 145, 156, 163; + judiciary, 146; + constitution, 226 +Ulster Unionist Clubs, founded, 30-1 +Ulster Unionist Council, vii, 35; + meetings, 27, 42, 52, 62, 65-67, 106, 145, + 156, 210, 226, 236, 246-249, 279; + members, 35, 36; + co-operation with the Irish Unionist Alliance, 37; + resolution adopted, 68-71; + character, 75; + scheme for the Provisional Government, 145; + statement on the Curragh Incident, 186 +Ulster Unionist Members of Parliament, 38; + tour in Scotland and England, 149 +Ulster Unionists, letter to Pres. Wilson, 273, 296-299 +Ulster Volunteer Force, 58, 113, 137, 160; + Indemnity Guarantee Fund, 156, 163; + growth, 158, 160; + parades, 162, 163-165, 167, 223, 226; + strength, 168; + arming the, 192-200, 223; + organisation, 215; + despatch-riders' corps, 215; + trial mobilisation, 216; + presentation of colours, 223; + volunteer for service in the war, 229; + organisation and training of the Division, 234 +Ulster Women's Unionist Association, work of the, 166 +Ulster Women's Unionist Council, formed, 37; + meeting, 113 +"Ulster 1912," Rudyard Kipling's, 79, 129 +"Ulster's Reward," William Watson's, 129 +Union Defence League, in London, 37 +Unionist Associations of Ireland, joint committee, 37 +Unionist Party, administration, 18, 20; + defeated, 18; + number of votes, 22, 26, 99; + dissensions on Tariff Reform, 69; + members at Belfast, 81 +Unionists, Southern manifesto, 265; + Committee formed, 265; + result of the Government Act, 282 + + +Valera, E. De, M.P. for East Clare, 256; + arrested, 277; deported, 295 +Vatican decrees, 11 +Vickers & Co., Messrs., 194 +Victoria, Queen, 136 + + +Wallace, Col. R.H., member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + member of a Commission, 53; + Grand Master of the Belfast Lodges, 57; + popularity, 57; + career, 57; + applies for leave to drill, 58; + at the Ulster Unionist Council meeting, 67, 72; + presentation of a banner to Sir E. Carson, 115; + Command in the U.V.F., 163, 164; + Privy Councillor, 284 +Wallsend, 154 +Walter, Mr. John, 225 +War, the Great, 27, 228, 266 +War Office, treatment of Gen. Gough, 181 +Ward, Lieut.-Col. John, + on the Curragh Incident, 182; + "The Army and Ireland," 183 note, 238 +Warden, F.W., 72 note +Washington, George, 273, 291 +Watson, Sir William, "Ulster's Reward," 129 +Waziri Expedition, 161 +_Westminster Gazette_, 114; + cartoon, 87 +Whig Revolution of 1688, 31 +White Paper, 175 note, 176 note, 177 note, 178 note, 179 note, + 180 note, 181 note, 185, 187 note, 188 +William III, King, banner, 115 +Willoughby de Broke, Lord, 109 +Wilson, President, + letter from the Nationalists, 273, 287-295; + from the Unionists, 273, 296-299; + phrase of "self-determination," 277 +Wimborne, Lord, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, resignation, 272 +Wolff, G., 35 +Wolseley, Viscount, 187 +Women's Unionist Council, Ulster, + formed, 37; + meeting, 113 +Workman and Clark, Messrs., 214 +Workman, Frank, 157 +Wynyard, Lord Londonderry's death at, 241 + + +Yarmouth, 207 +York, 149 +York, Archbp. of, on the Home Rule Bill, 134 +_Yorkshire Post, The_, 149, 163 +Young, Rt. Hon. John, + member of the Ulster Unionist Council, 35; + at the meeting, 67; + takes part in the campaign, 109; + signs the Covenant, 122 +Young, W.R., + organises the Ulster Loyalist and Patriotic Union, 30, 37; + signs the Covenant, 122; + Privy Councillor, 284 + + +Zhob Valley Field Force, expedition, 161 + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ULSTER'S STAND FOR UNION*** + + +******* This file should be named 14326.txt or 14326.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/3/2/14326 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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