fully and keep the peace. We do not want—and I still hope that we shall never have—one people among them saying, What hast thou to do with peace, get thee behind me. But if that state of things should unfortunately come about, it needs no political genius to surmise that a single naval battle lost by the British fleet-—and such a contingency is possible, however the naval estimates may be increased—would mean the landing of an allied army, in overwhelming force, on these shores, and the rising of three-fourths of the people to aid it with heart and hand. That is what I mean by resistance.’
‘But what a terrible thing that such a spirit should exist between two peoples who ought to be one and indissoluble, and stand shoulder to shoulder against all troubles from within and from without!’ said Lesbia sadly. ‘Aid a foreign invader!’
‘Well, Miss Newman,’ he answered, ‘I have not said that such a spirit does exist. I hope, as sincerely as you can, that there never will be any occasion for its existing. On our side, we are quite ready to listen to reasonable arguments and proposals, especially if they are put forward as matters of business untinged by political passion. Undoubtedly a large amount of English capital has been invested in Ireland, under the belief that commercial integrity and stability are as sure here as elsewhere. And stakes in the country, no matter by whom held, ought not to be confiscated; because once admit the principle of simple spoliation, and who can say where it will stop? That line of contention is all right, and it is for statesmen on both sides to put their heads together and see how our national aspirations can be realised, alike with the least possible injury to vested interests and with the least possible sacrifice on the other side in fairly compensating them. None of our recipes are infallible, but in the multitude of counsellors there is
