The extraordinary series of Unionist meetings in Ulster which began
last week have been continued during the week. At all the largest meetings the chief speakers have been Sir Edward Carson and Mr. F. E. Smith, and the enthusiasm has been notable even for Ulster. The principal resolution was always the same : "We will not have Home Rule." On Friday week the chief meeting was at Londonderry, where Sir Edward Carson said that every man who did not keep the Covenant would be as great a traitor as the infamous Lundy, who proposed that the town should be surrendered to James IL Last Saturday the chief meeting was at Coleraine. On Monday the Ulster Unionist Council met at Belfast and approved the wording of the Covenant. The resolution which leads up to the Covenant—summarized in the Spectator last week—is in old-fashioned phraseology. We quote the latter part of this resolution :-
"We enter into the Solemn Covenant appended hereto, and, knowing the greatness of the issues depending on the faithfulness, we promise each to the others that, to the uttermost of the strength and means given us, and not regarding any selfish or private interest, our substance or our lives, we will make good the said Solemn Covenant; and we now bind ourselves in the steadfast determination that, whatever may befall, no such domination shall be thrust upon us, and in the hope that by the blessing of God our Union with Great Britain, upon which are fixed our affections and trust, may yet be maintained, and that for ourselves and for our children for this Province and for the whole of Ireland peace, prosperity, and civil and religious liberty may be secured under the Parliament of the United Kingdom and of the King whose faithful subjects we are and will continue all our days."
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