ULSTER & HOME RULE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1556, 27 September 1912, Page 5

ULSTER & HOME RULE.

THE-CHURCHILL- ATTITUDES, AN INTERESTING HISTORICAL chaptct. t During tho early pnrt of August, as was 1 noted in 'J'iik Dominion yesterday, ynli- ' ticnl interest in Knglniul centred in a ' duel- of. letters between Mr. Bonar Law, I (lie loader of the Unionist party, and Mr. i Winston Churchill, respecting tlio ntti- > ludoof Ulster in the' Home Rulo quarrel I and tho" attitude of the Unionist leaders. ; Mr. Churchill, in two very long letters, 1 condemned. Mr. Bonar I.aw for inciting" Ulster to some other courso than ' acquiescence. It is interesting to note in this connection, the difference between ' Mr. Churchill's present professions and 1 his inclinations- only six years .ago. It was in 1900 that ho published his Life ' of his father, Lord lfandolph. W hat ho thought six years'ago of Ulster resistance ' may be gathered from the following passages from the "Life, in which it will bo seen, he was the apologist of tho tihrase, "Ulster will fight, and Ulster will lie right":— . . . "Lord Randolph crossed tho Channel, and arrived at Larno early on the morning of February '21! (18SG)." Be was welcomed like a king. Thousands oi persons, ■ assembling from the neighbouring townships, greeted him at the port. At Carrickfergus, where tho train was stopped, he imitated—almost for tho only lime —a historic example by addressing a 'great crowd on the platform,' In Belfast itself a vast demonstration, remarkable for its earnestness and quality, and amounting, it is computed, to more than seventy thousand people, marched past him. One who knew Ireland well declared that he had not believed 'there were so many Orangemen in the world. That night the Ulster Hall was crowded to its utmost compass. In order to satisfy the demand for tickets, all the seats were removed, and the concourse —which lie'addressed for nearly an hour and a half—heard him standing. He was nearly ' always successful■ on the platform, but the effect he produced upon bis audience ili Belfast was one of the most memorable triumph's of his life. He held_ the meeting in the hollow of his hanil. From the very centre of Protestant excitement, he appealed'to the loyal Catholics of Ireland to stand firm by the Union, and at the same time; without using language of bigotry, or intolerance, he roused the Orangemoil to stern and v ehemeut emotion. •" 'Now may be the time,' he faid, 'to show whether, all .those-ceremonies and forms which are practised in Orange Lodges.are really living symbols or-only idle and meaningless ceremonies; whether that which you have so carefully fostered is. reallv the lamp of liberty and its flame tho undying and unquenchable fire of freedom. . . . The time may be at hand when you will have to show that the path of honour and safety is still illuminated by tho light of other days. It may be that this dark cloud which- is now impending over Ireland -will pass away without breaking. If it doe?/ I believe you and your descendants will be safe for a long time to come. Her Majesty's Government hesitates. Like Macbeth before the murder of Duncan, Mr. Gladstone asks for time. Before he plunges the knife into the heart of the British Empire he reflects, he hesitates. . . . The demonstrations to-dav will have a very useful effect not only upon the public mind in England, but also on the Ministerial mind, and many more of them tnuat be held. And those demonstrations ought to be imposing not only from their numbers, but also j'or.-their.orderly. character. We are essentially a party of law and order, and any violent action resorted to prematurely or without the'most obvious and overwhelming necessity might have the most fatal'and damaging effect upon the cause which we so .dearly value, and might alienate forces whose assistance would be beyond all price. The Loyalists in Ulster should wait and watch—organise and prepare. Diligence and vigilance ought to bo your watchword; so that tho blow, if it does come, may not come upon yon as a thief in the night, and may not find you unready and taken by surprise. ■ . < ' > " 'I believe - that':this storm will blowover, and that tho vessel of the. Union will emerge with- her Loyalist crew stronger than before; but it is right and useful that I should add that if the struggle should continue, and if my conclusions should turn out to be wrong, then I am of opinion that the struggle is not likely to remain within the lines of what we are accustomed to look upon as constitutional action. No portentous' change such as the Kepeal of the Uniou, no change so gigantic could be accomplished by the mere passing of a law. The hisI tory of the United States will teach us | a different lesson; and if it should turn jut that the Parliament of the United Kingdom was so recreant from all its high duties, and that the British nation was so apostate to traditions of honour and courage, as to hand over the.Loyalists of Ireland to the domination of an Assembly in Dublin, which must bo to them a foreign aud alien assembly, if it should lie within the. design of Providence to place upon you and your .fellowLoyalists so heavy a trial, then, gentlemen, I do not hesitate to tell you most truly that in that dark hour thero -will not be wanting to you thoso of position ■ ■ind influence m England who would be trilling to cast in their lot with you, and who, whatever the result, will share your fortunes aud your fate. There will not be wanting thoso who at tho exact moment, when the time is fully come—if that time should come—will address you in words which, are perhaps best expressed by. one of our greatest English poets: — '"The combat deepens; on, ye brave, Who rush to glory or the grave. Wave Ulster—all thy banners wave. And charge with all thy chivalry.' "'As I was bold enough to trouble vou about your speech,' flroto Lord Salisbusy the nest day, ,'I may be allowed to say that I thought it singularly skilful. Vou avoided all' ,shoals, and said' nothing to which any Catholic could object—and. yet you contrived to rouse a great enthusiasm among the Fi-otcsta'its. And that I gather to be the general opinion. I am sure the effect of the sneeeh will be very 'great in Ulster.' Lord Salisbury made no -eeret of his opinion, and o:i March 3 publicly alluded to the Belfast speech as a 'brilliantly successful effort. • The Ministerialists, upon the other hand, were furious. Lord Kandoiph was accused of inciting to insurrection and treason, and denounced as 'a rfbnl in the skill of a Torv.' The I'ai-.ieilites were ts'/ecfuUv indignant that cuc whom they bad been accustomed to regard with friendly feelin?;, should so far forget his duty ns b make an inflammatory speech in Ireland; and us the delinquent entered the House of Commons the next night he was greeted bv a loud demonstration of hostility frcm" tlie Nationalist, benches, taking, it contemporary descriptions may be trusted, tho form of prolonged and dismal groaning. , "On the 2Gth Mr. Sexton requested the Government to afford an opportunity to the House for discussing a vote of censure upon Lord Kandoiph Churchill; and the Prime Minister, in refusing, was careful to base himseli on -the nee.us of public business alone. Lord Randolph, however, persisted in his' courses, and a fewweeks later, - in -a letter - -to- a LiberalUnionist member, he repeated his menace in au even clearer form: 'It political parties aud . political leaders, not onlv Parliamentary but. .local, should tie so 'utterly Jost to every feeling aud dictate of honour and courage ,ir> to tiaml over coldlv, aud for the sake of purchasing a 'liort aud illusory Parliamentary tranquility, the lives and liberties of the Loyalists of Ireland to their hereditary and most bitter foes, make no doubt on this point-Ulster will not be a consenting party;- Ulster at the proper moment wi.l resort' to the supremo arbitrament of force; Ulster will fight, Ulster will lie right; Ulster will emerge from the struggle victorious, because all that Ulster represents to us Britons will command ths sympathy and support of an enormous section-of our British community, and also, I feel certain, .will attract the admiration and the approval of tree and civilised nations.' "The jingling phrase, Ulster will fight, and Ulster will be right' was everywhere caught, up. It became one ol tho war cries of the time, and spread with spirit•meed all over the country. The attitude Oi the Protestant North of Ireland became daily more formidable.. The excitemeat in Belfast, did not sub?.ide. Dangerous riots, increasing in fury until the? almost amounted to warfare, occurred IJI the street; MiiePU the tactions of Orange aiirt Green. Firearms were freely U'od by the police aud by the combatants. Uoti ; of.' were sacked, and men and women were killed. S-o savage, repeated and prolonged, were the disturbances. 'breaking out again>

Olid again in spito of all efforts to suppress 1 them, (hat tlioy beenmo in tho end tho subject of n Parliamentoiy Commission, tho ovideneo aud report of which aro nut pleasant reading, and proved, when finally published, damaging to the Orango parly. "ThoMibject was not, however, discussed in tho-Ilouso of Commons until May 21). An interlude in tho 1 lonic Kule debate was required for tho passage of an Arms Bill, which the slate of Ireland generally, 1 and of Ulster in particular, had remlcr- ' rd necessary. Lord liandolph was, of course, tho objcct of severe attack from the Irish party, and especially from .Mr. I'arnell, who accused him of inciting, unintentionally, to murder and outrage. To this charge, and to n statement of Kir Henry .fames, that his Ulster speech proved liiui 'half a traitor,' ho replied indignantly. He was able to cite the authority of Lord Althorp, Kir Kobe.rt I'ivl, Mr. Morley, and of tho Prime Minister liinit.elf in support of tho contention that circumstances might justify morally, if not technically, violent resistance or even civil war. Ho declined to recede in any way from his words, and (ho Conservative party cheered him loudly when ho said so. Sir Henry James mado a soft answer; but tho extraordinary feature in Ihe debate was the intervention of the Prime Minister. Ho did not arrive in the House until after Lord Paldolph bid spoken, but without delay he launched out upon a sonorous denunciation of Jiis proceedings. He declared that such conduct reminded him of Mr. Smith O'Brien, who in 18J8 had risen in his place and announced that, regarding constitutional means exhaust?''', he would forthwith return to Irolanc* mid proceed (>i levy war igainst the QuVen. But Mr. Smith O'Brien, argued Mr. Gladstone, wan cp\y a private member and a representative of tho people. How much more reprehensible was such conduct when displayed by a former Minister of the Crown, by an ex-fiecrctary of State, arid by a Privy Councillor! It almost seemed, from the measured severity of the Prima Minister, that he intended to conclude by intimating that he had advised tho Queen to striko Lord Randolph Churchill's namo from the list of the Privy Council. But he avoided this natural conclusion to his argument. 'If,' he said, 'we were a weaker country, with less solid institutions, such occurrences us this would, in my opinion, have called for severe and immediate notice.' Mr. Plunket, from tho Front Opposition Bench, defended Lord Randolph, but the Irish continued to attack him all the evening ill an acrimonious fashion. ... "There the matter ended, l>?ing crushed in the throng of greater events. Constitutional'authorities will measure their.censures according to their political opinions; but the fact remains that when men aro sufficiently in earnest iliey will back their words by more tliau votes. 'I am sorry to say,' said Mr. Gladstone in 1884, in defence of Mr. Chamberlain's threat to march 100,000 men from Birmingham to : London in support of the Franchise Bill, 1 'that if no instructions had ever been ad- i dresred in political crises to the people of this country except to remember to hate ] violence and love order and exercise pati- 1 ence, the liberties of. this country would I never have been attained.'" |