A CREDULOUS OPTIMIST.
[To ME EDITOR 01 TILI1 ..SPSCIATOB..".1 Si,—On October 29th, 1912, in the House of Commons, when Clause VII. of the Home Rule Bill was in Committee, and the Colonial analogies were being discussed, Mr. .Asquith asked why what had happened in the Colonies could not happen in Ireland, and he went on to say " You may say, of course, that my hypothesis . . . is the hypo- thesis of a credulous optimist. I would rather be a credulous optimist, and even be convicted by the result of having so been, than indulge in this temper of constant suspicion, doubt, and more than doubt, as to the motives of my fellow-countrymen."
Mr. Boner Law retorted that the Prime Minister's optimism was both cheap and practical—cheap because he was merely prepared to run risks not one of which could affect himself, and practical because it secured for him the Irish support on which he depended. The whole discussion in October of 1912 is worth looking at.—I am, Sir, &c., R. S. R.
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