that you people here in Ulster would prevent Great Britain from defending her position. That would have been too stupid. One could have understood it if you had taken up arms in order to separate yourselves from England—[Hear, hear]—but you took them up in order that you might remain with England. [Cheers.] The cause for which we are fighting is not one whit more the cause of London than it is the cause of Belfast. But they thought it would be possible for us to turn a deaf ear to the cry of Belgium when she besought us to fulfil the pledge of honour which bound us, and come to her aid in her hour of need. They thought that we would prefer ease and profit to the ultimate interests even of our own country. They were mistaken. And they have made other mistakes. They believed that the outbreak of war would be the signal for the falling away from the Empire of the self-governing dominions. They have got their answer. [Cheers.] We have no power, and if we had the power we have not got the will to force any one of these dominions to give us their help. It is not needed. They are not helping us. It is more than that. They feel that it is their cause as much as ours. [Hear, hear, and cheers.]
And this very war which was to disintegrate us is welding the Empire more closely together. [Cheers.] They made the same mistake about India. They thought that the outbreak of war would be the singal for a new Indian mutiny, and because they have been mistaken that has not prevented them from circulating a lie as if it were the truth in many neutral countries of the world. They were mistaken. The outbreak of war was not the signal for a mutiny. It was a signal for a spontaneous and enthusiastic outburst on the part of the princes and the people of India of loyalty to their Emperor and of patriotism to the Empire of which we have more reason to be proud than of the conquest of India itself. [Cheers.] It is no wonder that it is against us, as we know, the German enmity is strongest now. It is right that it should be so. The force which binds our Empire together is the very antithesis of the force on which they alone rely. It is a moral force on which we rely. [Cheers.] Well, gentlemen, it is not for us who are putting on our armour and are urging you to put on yours to boast as those who are taking it off. This is no time for boasting. It is a time to seriously recognize that we are fighting brave men, and men, who as the sober despatch from our own Army in the field tells us, are fight-
