e bit. No amount of agitation would now make any difference
at all."

From the probable wrecking of the Gladstonian Cabinet on "liquor" to
the question of Customs, or, as Colonel Nolan preferred to call it, of
Excise, was but an easy step. By a simple _adagio_ movement I
modulated into the Customs question, mentioning the opinion given to
me by Mr. John Jameson himself. The Colonel did not deny, nor admit,
that the Irish people were excellent smugglers, but thought the fears
of the Unionists exaggerated. He was well aware that smuggling might
be carried on--say, on the coast of Connemara and elsewhere, where
were roads and bays and natural harbours galore, with a wild and
lonely shore far from the centres of Government. Probably at first
some money might be lost that way; some little chinks would doubtless
be found; there would be some little leakage. But suppose an initial
loss of L100,000 or L200,000, it was not likely that such a state of
things would be allowed to continue. As to the argument that the rural
police would not then assist the 1,300 coastguards, who with the
police have been sufficient, there was little or no solidity in this
assumption. The Irish Parliament would order the police to assist, and
if they did not execute their orders, or if they allowed themselves to
be bribed, and the Irish Parliament did not prosecute them for
accepting bribes, then the English Government would step in and put
matters right. This is just a typical Home Rule argument, the
confidence trick all over. The Colonel thought that after a certain
amount of shaking down, everything would work sweetly enough. He said
nothing about the Union of Hearts, nor have I yet heard the phrase
from an Irishman.

A keen observer resident at the Athenry Hotel says:--"Of those who
come here the proportion against Home Rule is not less than twenty to
one. Now mark my figures, because they are based on careful notes
extending over the last six months. When you have all the money in the
country, and all the best brains in the country, against the bill,
what good could the bill do if it became law? And while I can see, and
all these people can see, no end of risk, disturbance, upset, loss,
ruin, and everything that is bad, we cannot see anything at all to
compensate for the risk. Nobody can put his finger on anything and
say, 'There, that's the advantage we'll get from the bill.' 'Tis all
fancy, pure fancy. Ireland a nation, and a Roman Catholic