nniversary 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 Ho