y Parliament in Ireland was worth accepting--first, because it was
in some sense a recognition of the right to govern themselves; and
secondly, because even a crippled Parliament would give them fresh
leverage for complete freedom. No one could be silly enough to suppose
that an intelligent Ireland, having any sort of a Parliament of its
own, would be prevented by any promise given now by place-hunters,
from using that Parliament for true national purposes.

That no army which the Ulstermen can form will be able to stand
against British troops supported by cavalry and artillery is evident;
but it seems almost past belief that England should be ready to
plunge the country into civil war; or that British troops should march
out--with bands playing "Bloody England, we hate you still," or some
other inspiring Nationalist air--to shoot down Ulstermen who will come
to meet them waving the Union Jack and shouting "God save the King."
And if they do--what then? Lord Wolseley, when Commander-in-Chief in
Ireland in 1893, pointed out the probable effect on the British Army
in a letter to the Duke of Cambridge:--

"If ever our troops are brought into collision with the
loyalists of Ulster, and blood is shed, it will shake the
whole foundations upon which our army rests to such an extent
that I feel that our Army will never be the same again. Many
officers will resign to join Ulster, and there will be such
a host of retired officers in the Ulster ranks that men who
would stand by the Government no matter what it did, will be
worse than half-hearted in all they do. No army could stand
such a strain upon it."

And then England, having crushed her natural allies in Ulster, will
hand over the Government of Ireland to a party whose avowed object
is to break up the Empire and form a separate Republic. Dangers and
difficulties arose even when the independent legislature of Ireland
was in the hands of men who were loyal and patriotic in the noblest
sense of the term, and when there were in every district a certain
number of educated gentlemen of position who (as we have seen) were
always ready to risk their lives and fortunes for the defence of the
realm; what will happen when the loyal minority have been shot down,
driven out of the country, or forced into bitter hostility to the
Government who have betrayed and deserted them? As Lecky wrote years
ago:--

"It is scarcely possible to over-estimat