ULSTER AND HOME-RULE.
[TO THE EDITOR Or TEE " SPICTATOR."]
SIE,—I rejoice to see that Ulster is coming more and more to the front with reference to the question of Home-rule for Ireland. It ought by this time to be pretty clear to all Glad- stonia,ns, from Mr. Gladstone himself downwards, that the loyal people of the North-East of Ireland are quite determined that they will not submit to government by an Irish Parlia- ment in Dublin. In the event of such Parliament being established, they will first of all refuse to pay taxes. Force will then be threatened by the Dublin Government, and eventually used. The instant result of this will be civil war, with all its horrors. England and Scotland will not be able to look calmly at such a spectacle. There will be an outcry that at any cost the war must be put a stop to; and for this purpose, and as a further "message of peace," troops will be sent across from England to quell the disturbance.
But which side are these troops to take? Are they to be ranged alongside the Irish Nationalists, and shoot down the loyal Protestants of Ulster ? I do not believe that British officers or men would obey such an order; and if not, there would on the instant arise such a mutiny in our Army as has never yet been seen. Are they, on the other hand, to be sent to support Ulster against the Parliament? Such an order the troops would be far more likely to obey ; but in that event, what becomes of the authority of the Parliament, and, in short, of Home-rule itself P
Here, Sir, is a dilemma which I think absolutely certain if Home-rule is granted, and I venture to think it so telling an argument against any scheme of the kind, that I would urge all Unionist writers and speakers to press it home again and again, before the General Election may have made it too late.
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