There is really something pitiable in the spectacle of a
man of Mr. Birrell's intellectual calibre rebuking Irish Nationalists for being clear-sighted enough not to take the imitation when what they want, rightly or wrongly, is the real thing. Mr. Birrell ended his speech by the plaintive declaration that he could not understand the tone in which the disregard of law and order was sometimes treated. He was bound to say he thought it a serious matter. Other men before him have noticed this peculiarity of Ireland and thought it a serious matter, but it has led them, not to the public announcement that they would not prosecute the inciters to crime, but rather to the resolve that they would leave no stone unturned to teach those Irishmen who needed it that the preservation of law and order and the punishment of criminals are the first duty of government.
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