The Prime Minister, Mr. Boner Law proceeded to state, had
now changed his mind about receiving the American citizens because he was unwilling to receive those who " not only took part in politics in Ireland, but took part in a rebellious move- ment." The fact is however, that the Prime Minister, through want of statesmanlike instincta, has allowed himself to drift into& most awkward situation. There are political demands with which it is impossible to daily, with which it is impossible to make any kind of accommodation without an absolute sacrifice of principle. When the leaders of the South just before the American Civil War pretended that they had no desire to secede, but only wanted to have it laid down in the abstract that they had a right to decide for themselves about secession, Lincoln, who had the instincts of statesmanship in a supreme degree, refused to be hoodwinked. Why establish a right if there was no desire to exercise the right 9 Lincoln bluntly refused to argue the point. He saw where the argument led aud how it would compromise him.
