We have no desire to clamour for any man's blood,
or that the British nation should do anything for mere purposes of revenge. We cannot doubt, however, that if any men ever deserved to be shot for rebellion they were Clarke, Pearse, and MacDonagh. They were in communication with a foreign enemy, and took money and supplies from them. They chose what they thought was a good opportunity for stabbing the nation of which they were citizens in the back, and finally they carried out the rising with a brutal callousness which has not been surpassed in the history of revolutions. Take, for example, the shooting of the sentries in cold blood, and the firing at officers and soldiers in khaki who were quite unaware that a revolt had taken place, and could not by any possi- bility be said to have been levying war upon Ireland or the Irish rebels. They may have been in uniform, but they were unarmed.
