[ 22 ] 
who afterwards proved himself an efficient and loyal 
colleague of Mr. Asquith, has long ago realised, not 
merely the wisdom, but the absolute necessity of the 
course pursued by the late Premier. To have further 
postponed the enactment of Home Rule would have 
meant utter disaster in Ireland, where it would be 
regarded as a deliberate betrayal. It would have 
infuriated in the highest degree Irish opinion alike in 
Ireland and in America and in the Colonies, and it 
would have been a death-blow to Irish recruiting. 
Instead of the spasmodic rising of a few thousand 
Sinn Feiners there would have probably been a real 
Irish rebellion, supported by the great body of the 
Irish people. That tremendous danger was averted 
by Mr. Asquith’s statesmanship. The Irish Nation- 
alists vied with the Unionists in devotion to the 
Empire. Lord Kitchener described Ireland’s response 
as “ magnificent.” Irish soldiers, crying “God save 
Ireland” as they charged, proved themselves the 
bravest of the brave in Flanders, Gallipoli, and 
Serbia. Even Lord Selborne has a word of praise 
for “the loyal and patriotic action of Mr, Redmond 
during the two years stress of War.” So much has 
the enactment of ‘Home Rule already accomplished. 
Mr. Birrell was right in his emphatic declaration 
in the House of Commons that the Sinn Fein rising 
was not an Irish rebellion. Three or four thousand 
men and boys at the most were concerned in the 
rising. 
It has been said that the sympathy with the Sinn 
Feiners has largely increased since the suppression 
of the insurrection and the wholesale execution and 
imprisonment of the insurgents, and that there is far 
more disaffection now in Ireland than at the time of 
the rising. I think that is so. But the extreme 
Unionists, who seek to draw from that fact an 
argument against the concession of Home Rule, are 
absolutely illogical. It was the delay in the con-