nger 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 ev