storm wvliich has overhung the country for many Parliament met, there was much hope as well as apprchension in the atmosphere. The recess had been marked by two movements of great importance and of opposite tendencies. The first of thesc was the grim determination with which the men of Ulster perfected their organization for fulfilling the Covenant of September 28, 1912, by which they bound themselves to resist the establishment of Home Rule. T h e other movement was that of which Lord Loreburn

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... made himself spokesman in a letter which he addressed to 7hr l i m e s of September 1 1 , 1913. In that letter, while holding it " an cxtravagance to speak of civil war," he emphasized " the certainty that the passing of this Bill will be followed by serious rioting in the north of Ireland." At thc same time he pointed t o the probability of grave disorder in other parts of Ireland if the Bill were rejected. In these circumstances he announced that he " supported what has been independently recommended by others, t h a t there should be a conference or direct communication between the leaders." Lord Loreburn's appeal was undoubtedly supported by a very large and respectable body of opinion throughout the country. Coming as it did from a former Lord Chancellor in a Liberal Govcrnment and a lifelong friend of Home Rule, it produced a profound impression. It was reccived by the lenders both of the Govcrnment and of the THE months has darkened almost t o breaking-point. When P 2 0 I Downloaded by [Simon Fraser University] at 06:49 05 June 2016 Liberal Party should claim full authority and a free hand to dcal with thc problem of Irish sclf-govcrnrnent without being restricted to some measure of administration and devolution of the character of the Irish Council Bill."hlr Churchill in hlanchcstcr, April 20, 1908, as reported in the Afanrhntrr Guardian.