The House of Lords on Thursday week continued the debate
on a motion introduced by Lord Loreburn the day before expressing profound dissatisfaction with the administration of affairs in Ireland. Lord Lansdowne said that if Lord Loreburn meant that the state of Ireland was rotten, and that some one must be held accountable for what had happened, he was prepared to vote for the motion. He himself took the graver view of the Irish rebellion ; if the rebellion had not miscarried at the beginning, all the disaffected spirits in Ireland would have flocked to the rebel standard. There had been a very narrow escape from a great disaster. Lord Cromer said that if there were a division he would certainly go into the lobby with Lord Loreburn. It was all very well for Mr. Birrell to stand in a white sheet, but
his neglect and culpable optimism had caused the sacrifice of hundreds of precious lives, and the sense of the House about these affairs ought to be expressed. The motion was ultimately carried without a division.
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