It seemed to him as though the tables had been
turned ; it was now not Britain but Ireland which was on her trial before the nations of the world. As regards the movements on the Ulster frontier he believed that the situation had been much improved by the appointment of the &lima commission and the decision to hold an impartial inquiry into the Clones affair. Turning to the boundary question he said that perhaps no settlement could be reached before September or even October. He himself believed that certain changes in the boundary might be to the advantage of Northern Ireland, but if Britain saw Ulster "maltreated or mutilated" by the Boundary Coriimission, so that she was no longer an economic entity, Britain would be bound to consider her whole economic and financial position. Britain in case of need would have to defend Ulster "as though she were Kent " ; she would have to take special measures to secure Ulster against being "mined by her loyalty to Britain."
