Mr. Cosgrave, with a courage which has been matched by
his skill, has suffered much for the- Oath. He has been unfalteringly loyal. The British Government could not have encouraged, helped and sanctioned the Free State but for their confidence that the Treaty and its Oath would be dutifully observed. The Empire as a whole would not have approved of the creation of the Free State if the Free State had not accepted membership of the Empire. It is true that " equality of status " does not entitle the Dominions to determine the nature of any Constitution defined in a treaty between Great Britain and any one part of the Empire, but it would be as impossible as it would be unwise to disregard the sentiments of the Dominions as a whole. All these things compose a series of loyalties which have to be remembered and honoured. It is not to be thought of that they could all be swept away and the dangerous Irish question be again thrown into the arena of contro- versy just to satisfy the caprice of a De Valera.
