Fein point of view, from a pitiful failure into a famous success. One cause of this change though not the main one was undoubtedly the trial and execution of the leaders; for the Irish, though they have no native horror of violence and murder, cannot bear the long-drawn-out procedure of a trial for life or death; and the slow and secret procedure of the court-martial, with the execution day by day of small batches of the condemned men, revolted every instinct of their nature. That the sentences, according to the codes of all civilized nations, were just, made no difference. Public opinion swung suddenly and violently round. The book-shops of Dublin, in an incredibly short time, reflected the public sentiment by filling their windows with the portraits and works of the " martyrs."
To this sentimental appeal a practical one, even more potent, was soon to be added. By Nationalist Ireland the rebellion had been condemned as criminal folly because it was believed that it had indefinitely postponed all prospect of Home Rule; and it was generally thought that the Government would seize the occasion to extend the Military Service Act to Ireland. Mr. Asquith, however, believing that the punishment already inflicted had been enough to prove the power of the Government, determined to try a policy of generous conciliation. He was helped in this by the attitude of certain of the Nationalist members, who, feeling that their influence in Ireland was in danger, showed a disposition to " hedge " in the matter of the rebellion. On May n Mr. John Dillon, Mr. Redmond's principal lieutenant, moved the adjournment of the House to discuss the executions, and in the course of a violent speech, in which he accused the Government and soldiers of washing out the life-work of the Nationalist party in " a sea of blood," he took occasion to say that he was " proud of the rebels." In his reply Mr. Asquith defended Gen. Maxwell and the troops from the wild charges brought against them, and announced that he himself was going to Ireland that evening to consult the civil and military authorities with a view to arriving at some arrangement for the future government of Ireland that would commend itself to all parties.
The days spent by Mr. Asquith in Ireland, May 12-8 1916, mark an epoch in Irish history. The mere fact of having brought the Prime Minister to Ireland was in itself a triumph for Sinn Fein. But, in addition to talk- ing with " representative exponents of the various shades and complexions of Irish opinion," Mr. Asquith visited the prisons and " talked with the utmost freedom to a large number of those who had been arrested and detained." 1 The effect was immediate. The prisoners, who had been depressed and in some cases penitent, realized that they had won a victory; their demeanour after Mr. Asquith's departure completely changed and they became boastful, truculent and unruly. 2 The effect was completed when, after his return to London, the Prime Minister announced to the House of Commons (May 25) that the dominant impres- sion left on his mind by his visit was " the breakdown of the existing machinery of Irish Government," and that he had commissioned Mr. Lloyd George to negotiate with the Irish party leaders with a view to a compromise which would enable the Government of Ireland Act to be brought into immediate operation. The rebellion was thus advertised to all the world as the most successful failure in history. So far from destroy- ing the prospects of Home Rule it had brought that blessing within measurable distance, and what years of constitutional agitation had failed to secure had been secured by one short week's armed argument. At the end of the year the police reports from every part of Ireland announced a general move- ment of Nationalist opinion towards Sinn Fein.*
1 Mr. Asquith's statement in the House of Commons (May 25), The Times May 26.
1 From information supplied by an official eye-witness.
- " At the time of the rebellion the people generally condemned
it, but the speeches of Mr. Dillon and others in the House of Com- mons on the subject, and the visit of the Prime Minister to Ireland in order to effect a settlement of the Home Rule question caused a strong reaction in Nationalist circles in favour of the rebels, as it was
Mr.
Asquith's Visit to Ireland.
Irish Opinion and the Proposed "Parti- tion."
A new weapon was put into the hands of Sinn Fein as the outcome of the negotiations conducted, under the auspices of MR Lloyd George, between the Nationalist and Ulster leaders with a view to a compromise. On a June 10 Mr. Redmond announced to a meeting Settlement. of his supporters in Dublin that Mr. Lloyd George had proposed in the name of the Government that the Home Rule Act should be brought into immediate operation, but that an amending bill should be introduced providing for the re- tention of the Irish members at Westminster, and for the ex- clusion of six Ulster counties from the operation of the Act during the continuance of the war and for a short period after it. On the I2th the Ulster Unionist Council, whilst reaffirming its unalterable objection to Home Rule, decided in the interests of the Empire to give full authority to Sir Edward Carson to continue negotiations with Mr. Lloyd George on the basis of the definite exclusion of the six counties. Mr. Joseph Devlin used all his great influence to persuade his followers in Belfast to agree; and on June 23 a meeting of Nationalists from the six counties decided by a large majority to accept the principle of temporary exclusion.
What followed is somewhat obscure. It is clear, however, that there must from the first have been a misunderstanding or what might be regarded as a misrepresentation; for the Ulstermen were as little disposed as ever to come under a Home Rule Government, except by their own consent. By the southern Union- ists, on the other hand, and the large body of those living in the counties of Ulster which were not among those excluded, the suggested compromise was viewed with dismay, and numerous meetings of protest were held, at which it was pointed out, with some force, that in making special arrangements for the six counties the northern Protestants had been guilty of breaking the solemn Covenant to which they had subscribed three years earlier. 4 Whatever the reason may have been original misunderstanding, or subsequent Unionist pressure within the Cabinet the statement made by Mr. Asquith on July 10 as to the suggested settlement, and still more Lord Lansdowne's glosses on it in the House of Lords, roused indignant protests from Mr. Redmond and his followers, for it became known that a pledge had been given to Sir Edward Carson that the six counties would be definitely excluded from the operation of the Act 'and could not be in- cluded again without a fresh bill. This, together with Lord Lansdowne's statement that Gen. Maxwell would be retained in his command, that the Defence of the Realm Regulations would be strengthened, and that the prisoners would not be amnestied, was described by Mr. Redmond as an insult to Ireland and tantamount to a declaration of war against the Irish people; he demanded strict adherence to the basis of the negotiations to which he had agreed and announced that any departure from this would bring the negotiations to an end. Matters came to a crisis on the 24th, when, in answer to Mr. Redmond, the Prime Minister said he would not introduce any
felt that the rebellion had done more than ten years of constitutional agitation to convince the Government of the urgent necessity for Home Rule " (police report from county Monaghan).
" Then came the visit of the Prime Minister to Ireland, his statement in the House of Commons, the announcement that Home Rule must immediately be granted, followed by Mr. Dillon's speech in the House eulogizing the rebels, and finally the letters of the Bishop of Limerick (Dr. O'Dwyer, who denounced the execution of the ' poor boys ' who had headed the rebellion). These changed the whole feeling. The Sinn Feiners from being objects of contempt became heroes " (report from county Tyrone).
" The people generally had no sympathy with the rebels until after Mr. Asquith's speech in the House of Commons and his visit to Ireland, which, coupled with the execution of the leaders, com- pletely changed the feelings of a large number of people " (report from Kilkenny).
- The Ulster argument was that they were keeping the Covenant
in spirit, if not in the letter, because a separate Ulster Government, with a Catholic minority under it, would be a better guarantee for the just treatment of Protestants in Catholic Ireland than if the whole Protestant body were to form a minority in a Catholic State.
