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A United Ireland. 
OR Irish disaffection the remedy is not repres- 
F sion, but’ conciliation. When the Sinn Fein 
rising was suppressed England missed an 
opportunity. If, following the precedent of the Boer 
rebellion, mercy had tempered justice, disaffection 
would gradually have disappeared. In an article in 
the Fortnightly Review, “ A Plea for Mercy,” written 
just after the rising, I strongly deprecated a policy of 
vengeance. But the Government failed to appreciate 
the lesson that history has persistently taught: in 
Ireland relentless severity begets, not fear. but 
resentment. 
Martial law extinguished recruiting in Ireland. To 
the disaffected Irishman the war is England’s war, and 
while England ill-treats Ireland, he won’t help her 
to win. It is strange to hear well-meaning English- 
men complain with mingled wonder and indignation 
that Ireland is disloyal to England. If Englishmen, 
on the advice of Sir Horace Plunkett, will read 
Anglo-Irish history, they will no longer expect the 
impossible ; they will rather be surprised at Ireland’s 
readiness to forgive and forget. 
Even now Ireland offers loyalty in return for 
liberty, but, grown distrustful from frequent betrayal, 
she refuses to pay the price before the goods are 
delivered. England is ready to close the contract. 
An Ulster minority blocks the way. 
Mr. Lloyd George’s proposed settlement of the 
Irish question by the exclusion of six counties in 
Ulster is dead, never to be revived. Both parties 
accepted it, but neither party wanted it. The 
Unionists hoped the Nationalists would reject it, the 
Nationalists that the Unionists would amend it.