on of Ireland
by a European power is internationally possible, however decisive
might be the overthrow of England. It is admitted (and it is upon this
hypothesis that the discussion is proceeding) that Great Britain might
be defeated by Germany, and that the British fleet might be broken and
an enemy's sword might transfix England. Such an overthrow would be
of enormous import to Europe and to the whole world. The trident would
have changed hands, for the defeat of England could only be brought
about by the destruction of her sea supremacy. Unless help came
from without, a blockaded Britain would be more at the mercy of the
victor than France was after Sedan and Paris. It would lie with the
victor to see that the conditions of peace he imposed were such as,
while ensuring to him the objects for which he had fought, would be
the least likely conditions to provoke external intervention or a
combination of alarmed world interests. Now, putting aside lesser
consideration, the chief end Germany would have in a war with England
would be to ensure her own free future on the seas. For with that
assured and guaranteed by a victory over England, all else that she
seeks must in the end be hers. To annex resisting British colonies
would be in itself an impossible task--physically a much more
impossible task than to annex Ireland.

To annex Ireland would be, as a military measure, once command of the
seas was gained, a comparatively easy task. No practical resistance
to one German army corps even could be offered by any force Ireland
contains, or could of herself, put into the field. No arsenal or means
of manufacturing arms exists. The population has been disarmed for a
century, and by bitter experience has been driven to regard the use
of arms as a criminal offence. Patriotism has been treated as felony.
Volunteers and Territorials are not for Ireland. To expect that a
disarmed and demoralized population who have been sedulously batoned
into a state of physical and moral dejection, should develop military
virtues in face of a disciplined army is to attribute to Irishmen
the very qualities their critics unite in denying them. "The
Irishman fights well everywhere except in Ireland," has passed into a
commonplace: and since every effort of government has been directed
to ensuring the abiding application of the sneer, Englishmen would
find, in the end, the emasculating success of their rule completely
justified in the physical submis