• [To THE EIHTOS en TES "SriCTATOS.") SIX—You invite English
Friends to express themselves in reply to the letter you publish from " Irish Friend " (Spectator, April 11th). What does your correspondent wish us to do? Surely not to interfere with the authority of Dublin Yearly Meeting, which is the recognized Central Council of the Quaker organization in Ireland ! Irish Friends have enjoyed "home rule" during the whole of the period of the Union. I understand that they have already met in conference to discuss the present situation and the possibilities of the future. If English Friends as a body are to take action, surely the first protest that will have to be made will be against the military preparations that have been made in Ulster to resist the action of Constitutional law. Will "Irish Friend" unite in such a protest P That the present is a difficult time for Irish Friends there is no denying, but I feel sure that they have the courage of their fathers, and will stand firm in the same faith that brought their fathers through the stormy period of the Irish Rebellion. Should a time of great stress arrive they can rely upon English Friends sup- porting them to uphold the principles that the Society has always held dear: that force is no remedy, and that all war is contrary to the spirit of the Founder of the Christian faith. No, Sir, the Society has not given up its peace principles. Were any evidence needed of this, the recent action of English Friends in encouraging peaceable resistance to com- pulsory military service in the Colonies might be evidenced. The mention of the deputation of Friends to the Emperor of Russia reminds me that this was utterly misunderstood by the Press generally of that day, and the deputation was accused, among other things, of provoking war. Would not the same charge be levelled at Friends to-day if they sent a deputation to the military headquarters of the Ulster Army P In your note to "Irish Friend's" letter you have intro- duced a subject which has nothing to do with the peace question. This seems to me to require attention, but this is not the place to deal with it. If, however, you would find room for a statement on the subject of discipline in the Society on a future occasion, I should be glad to deal briefly
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