In the House of Commons on Thursday week Mr. Asquith
de- scribed how Mr. Lloyd George, " at the unanimous request of his colleagues," had undertaken to try to bring about a settlement between the Irish parties. He led up to his announcement by referring to his own visit to Ireland. He had returned with two dominant impressions : first, that the existing machinery of govern- ment had suffered a breakdown ; and secondly, that " the strength and depth, almost the universality, of the feeling in Ireland that we had now a unique opportunity for the settlement of outstanding problems " made it imperative not to let the moment slip. It was inconceivable, in view of the sacrifices of Englishmen and Irishmen alike in the war, that there should be domestic strife in Ireland after the war. Though the Home Rule Act was on the statute book, no one had ever contemplated its coercive application by one set of Irishmen to another.
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