NEWS OF THE WEEK.
ON Monday Mr. Asquith will speak the words upon which the nation's fate depends. He will tell us whether we are to have peace or civil war. Pending Mr. Asquith's pro- posals, every effort must be made to prevent the dread arbitrament, and to bring home to the Government what they will have to face if they should attempt to force the Protestants of North-East Ulster against their will under a Dublin Parliament. A most important movement in this direction is the declaration against the coercion of Ulster which appeared in the Press on Tuesday—a declaration which during the week has been very widely signed and by a very large number of men of light and leading. The text of the declaration is as follows ;—
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earnestly convinced that the claim of the Government to carry the Home Rule Bill into law, without submitting it to the judg- ment of the nation, is contrary to the spirit of our Constitution, DO HEREBY SOLEMNLY DECLARE that, if that Bill is so passed, I shall hold myself justified in taking or supporting any action that may be effective to prevent it being put into operation, and more particularly to prevent the armed forces of the Crown being used to deprive the people of Ulster of their rights as citizens of the United Kingdom.
