Art. 14.-THE IRISH REBELLION.

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To many people in England the recent outbreak in Ireland has come as a bolt from the blue. They had fondly imagined that, whatever else the war had done, it had at any rate settled the Irish question; that the patriotic speech made by Mr Redmond in August 1914 had shown that the Nationalists were heartily loyal to the Empire; that the fact of the Ulstermen having remained quiet when the Home Rule Bill became law proved that their objection to it was calming down; that the number of men from all parts of Ireland who had enlisted during the war made it clear that Ireland deserved and would be content with the moderate amount of self-government' provided by the Act; and that Northerners and Southerners, who had fought side by side in the defence of the Empire, would never again engage in internecine strife. Events have now shown how false these views were. In order, however, to arrive at a true conception of the present state of affairs, it is necessary to trace the steady growth of anarchy and disloyalty during the last few years, and to show how it has been fostered by the course taken by Mr Birrell and other members of the Government. It may then be possible to offer some suggestions as to the future.

In the first place it must be remembered, as Unionists living in Ireland had realised all along, that there was no inherent improbability in the idea that a section of the Nationalists might seek aid from Germany in order to obtain the independence of Ireland. It is true that many of their leaders had advocated the plan of remaining quiet until Home Rule had come into force and then using it as a lever towards separation. Thus Mr Devlin had stated in America that, when they were equipped with the comparative freedom of Home Rule, the time would come for Irishmen to operate by whatever means they might think best to destroy the last link that binds them to England. But these leaders had said repeatedly that the principles of the Nationalists of to-day are the same as those of Wolfe Tone; amongst their popular heroes none (with the possible exception of the 'Manchester Martyrs') are so highly revered as he is; one of their most important gatherings is the annual pilgrimage

to his grave, at which vast crowds assemble and speeches are made urging the rising generation to follow in his steps. It was when Ireland possessed a Parliament with wider powers than those which are to be given to the body set up by the Home Rule Act, that Wolfe Tone organised a French invasion, in order (as he expressed it) to break the connexion with England and to assert the independence of his country. If he were alive now, would he not turn to Germany?

The Nationalist leaders all this time foresaw the probability of a war between England and Germany, and formed their plans accordingly. In 1909 a party of delegates from the Hibernian Order in America visited Ireland on the invitation of Mr Redmond, and were received with rapturous greetings by all the Nationalist party. At the meeting held in New York before they started, one of the delegates stated that the Irish in America had made a compact with the Germans there; and that he wished the English to understand clearly that, in the event of war with Germany, the Irish and Germans in America would be united in opposing them. Amongst Irish orators, few have had so much influence as the late Major M'Bride. He had formed an Irish Brigade to fight against England in the Boer War; and the Dublin Corporation had rewarded him by appointing him to a well-paid municipal office. His words came with all the more force, as he was not only the ex-leader of the Irish Brigade but was also understood to be the exponent of the views of the Dublin Corporation -one of the leading Nationalist bodies in Ireland. In 1909, when speaking at a Nationalist gathering, he said: 'I appeal to you most earnestly to do all in your power to prevent your countrymen from entering the degraded British Army. If you prevent 500 men from enlisting you do nearly as good work as if you shot 500 men on the field of battle; and you are making the way smoother for the approaching conquest of England by Germany.'

In 1906, when Mr Asquith's party came into power, Ireland was peaceful, and its prosperity was increasing by leaps and bounds. But in that country, however quiet things may appear, there is always a certain amount of political agitation going on beneath the surface. The

'Sinn Fein' Society was already in operation. It is said that in its conception it was literary and idealistic; but the idea that lay at the root of it was that there should be a real divorce between England and Ireland-the name 'Sinn Fein' (which means 'Ourselves Alone') points in that direction; and there is reason to believe that even then it had (as most Irish societies do) become political, and was in touch with the Clan-na-Gael, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and other advanced societies in America. The new Government, against the warnings of the police but in fulfilment of a pledge previously given to the Nationalists, allowed the Crimes Act to lapse; consequently, arms were imported largely, and the number of outrages with firearms in Connaught increased rapidly. In 1910 the National Boy Scouts Brigade, which was really a training-corps for young rebels, was established. The next year the Sinn Fein convention was held in Dublin; and soon afterwards it was ascertained that money was pouring in from America for revolutionary purposes, and that the extreme party had resolved not to be satisfied with anything which would leave a single vestige of British rule in Ireland.' Then the Ulstermen, realising what Home Rule would inevitably lead to, resolved if necessary to oppose it by force, and formed their Volunteer Army. The Volunteers were not guilty of any breach of the peace; while cattledriving and other outrages were rampant in Connaught, Belfast remained orderly. And, though the Ulstermen were preparing for civil war if necessary, they earnestly hoped that the danger might be averted and the Union maintained by peaceful means. When the war broke out, they did not hesitate for a moment as to the line they should take. In two days, 3000 Ulster Volunteers enlisted. Mr Asquith, seeing that the patriotism of Ulster was so firm that it might be traded on, broke his solemn promise and advised the King to sign the Home Rule Bill. When announcing this, however, he added: 'On behalf of the Government I may say that we all recognise that in the atmosphere which the great patriotic spirit has created in the country, the employment of force of any kind for what is called the coercion of Ulster is an absolutely unthinkable thing, so far as I and my colleagues are cerned; we would never countenance or consider it.'

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Shocked though the Ulstermen were at Mr Asquith's betrayal, their patriotism never wavered. Sir E. Carson went to Ulster and delivered a series of impassioned addresses, urging his followers to join the army. The number of Ulster Volunteers who had enlisted rose to 16,000. The Nationalists looked on. Mr Sweetman, one of their leaders, issued a manifesto, in which he said,

'It delights Nationalists to see young West Britons rushing to join Kitchener's Army. Let them go and fight for England and get killed. Nationalists will stay at home.'

Soon, however, they changed their tone, and began to deride the Ulstermen. Orators and writers, down to the moment when the Ulster Division started for France, continually sneered at them as cowards, who would never dare to face the Germans; but, as soon as they were out of the way, the Nationalists started an agitation, demanding that Home Rule should come into operation at once.

Meanwhile, amongst the Nationalists events had moved rapidly. In November 1913 the Irish Volunteers were formed; Prof. MacNeill, who (with Sir Roger Casement and Mr P. H. Pearse) was associated with the movement from the first, has said that it owed its origin to the Gaelic League and the Gaelic Athletic Association. It is not easy to explain the exact position which the Volunteers at first took up. They declared that they were a non-political body, but had come together because it was right that every country should have an army of its own. They were established as a counterblast to the Ulster Force, and to strengthen the hands of Mr Redmond; but some of the leaders disclaimed the idea of attacking Ulster, as that (they said) would be fighting on the side of England in support of the miserable shadow of autonomy contained in the Home Rule Bill. It is clear, however, that they were from the first intended to be a permanent body, formed with the object of securing the independence of Ireland. At an inaugural meeting held at the Mansion House in Dublin in May 1914, Mr Padraic Colum said that without 100,000 men behind the Irish Parliament, it would be a very ineffective thing; but with that force, Ireland would be a free nation in ten years. And at a meeting of the Tyrone Volunteers, Dr McCarton said

that Ireland had one enemy--England; and they must concentrate their efforts against that enemy if they wished to see a free and independent Ireland.

Mr Redmond was placed in a difficulty. He could not suppress the movement; he saw that an independent army might become a more important force than the politicians; yet it was illogical for him to pose as content with the Home Rule settlement and at the same time to be at the head of a force which the Act declared to be illegal. (At a later time that difficulty was avoided by his representing that some sentences in Mr Asquith's Dublin speech implied that the Amending Act would empower the Irish Government to have an army.) However, he and his followers persuaded the Provisional Governing body of the Volunteers to alter their constitution and place themselves under the Nationalist leaders. The minority refused to do so; hence by September 1914 the Nationalist Army had split into two-the National (Redmondite) Volunteers, and the Irish (Anti-Redmondite) Volunteers. Besides these, there was also the Dublin Citizen Army, which had arisen after the strike of 1913; but they practically coalesced with the Irish Volunteers.

But Mr Redmond's difficulties did not end with this secession. Trouble arose amongst his supporters. His famous speech in Parliament (Aug. 4, 1914) was a masterpiece of ingenuity. He won applause in England by his declaration that his Volunteers would unite with the Ulstermen in defending Ireland; but he took care not to hint that any of them would join the Imperial forces and serve abroad. Nevertheless the idea got about that he wished them to enlist; and there were loud murmurs even amongst his most devoted followers. So he cleverly steered a middle course. On several occasions he spoke in favour of recruiting, and his words were triumphantly quoted in English Radical papers; but those papers never alluded to the fact that his remarks were usually inserted in speeches the main object of which was to point out the importance of organising the Volunteers as a permanent body.

After Mr Redmond's speech in Parliament, a number of Irishmen who were not his political followers joined the National Volunteers, thinking that the force would