the obedient vehicles of Party manipulation were now
unanimous in denouncing any form of partition. The proposals for
settlement definitely failed, and the machinery of Irish Government
which had "broken down" was set up afresh and the discredited
administration of Dublin Castle fully restored by the appointment of
Mr Duke, a Unionist, as Chief Secretary for Ireland.

The war was not going at all well for the Allies. America was still
hesitating on the brink as to whether she would come in or remain
steadfastly aloof. The Asquithian Ministry had been manoeuvred out of
office under circumstances which it will be the joy of the historian
to deal with when all the documents and facts are available. That
interesting and candid diarist, Colonel Repington, under date 3rd
December 1916, writes:

"Last Friday began a great internal crisis, when L.G. [Lloyd George]
wrote to the P.M. [Asquith] that he could not go on unless our methods
of waging war were speeded up. He proposed a War Council of three,
including himself, Bonar Law and Carson. The two latter are with him,
which means the Unionists too."

Asquith resigned, the Coalition Ministry was formed, and it is
probably more than a surmise that the part played by Sir Edward Carson
in bringing about this result and in elevating Mr Lloyd George into
the Premiership explains much of the power he has exercised over him
ever since. Mr Redmond and Sir Edward Carson were both invited to join
the Coalition. The former declined, the latter accepted, and from his
position of power within the Cabinet was able to torpedo Home Rule at
will.

And thus came to an end in Ireland as gross a tyranny perpetrated in
the sacred name of Nationality as ever disgraced our annals. The Party
which had so long held power had destroyed themselves by years of
selfish blundering. The country was growing weary of the men who
killed land purchase, constituted themselves the mere dependents of an
English Party in exchange for boundless jobbery, intensified the alarm
of Ulster by transferring all power and patronage to a pseudo-Catholic
secret organisation, and crowned their incompetence by accepting a
miserably inadequate Home Rule Bill (with Partition twice over thrown
in). The country which had been shackled into silence by the terrorist
methods of the Board of Erin (which made the right of free meeting
impossible by the use of their batons, bludgeons and revolvers) was
emancipated by the Dublin Risin