Cavan was armed!--Cavan, where the Roman Catholics are 80.9 per cent. and which at the last election returned for its two Parliamentary divisions two Nationalist members, Messrs. Young and Vesey Knox, by majorities of 4664 and 4507 respectively!); in Donegal, where they are 77.0 per cent.; in Fermanagh, where they are 55'4 per cent.; in Monaghan, where they are 73.3 per cent.; in Tyrone, where they are 54.6 per cent. In two other counties they are over 40 per cent.-viz., in Armagh they are 46·1 per cent., and in Londonderry 44.6 per cent. In the two other counties; Down and Antrim, they stand for more than one-fourth in the population, Down having 27.5 per cent. of them, and Antrim 24.9. But if we take the whole of Ulster, leaving only the Parliamentary borough of Belfast out of consideration, we come to the startling conclusion that in that province, which is the stronghold of Protestantism in Ireland, the Roman Catholics are in a majority. Belfast left out, the population of Ulster is 1,345,700, of whom 674,625, or 50.06 per cent., are Roman Catholics. If we leave out the two counties of Antrim and Down, we find that 617 per cent. of the aggregate population of the other seven counties is Roman Catholic. Belfast has a Roman Catholic population of 70,234, and Derry, of the historical walls and 'prentice boys, has a Roman Catholic majority-18,340, out of a population of 33,200, being Roman Catholics. So much for the Protestantism of Ulster.

Now for the Unionism of Ulster. The northern province has 33 representatives in Parliament, of whom in the present Parliament 19 are Unionists and 14 Nationalists. The overwhelming preponderance of the Unionism of the province is therefore not visible to the naked eye. On the contrary, the two parties are almost equally divided, and in the last Parliament Ulster sent to Westminster a majority of her representation holding Nationalist views, 17 being Nationalists and 16 Unionists. Any unprejudiced person who has not forgotten the events of two years ago, the unfortunate crisis through which the Nationalist party had to pass, the abstentions in the Nationalist ranks, and the unavoidable neglect in the work of registration, will recognise that a loss of only three seats in a province which is claimed to be the stronghold of Unionists, speaks well for the strong Nationalist feeling of Ulster. And if we look into the circumstances of the counties lost, we find that the Unionists have not much to boast about, and that if they were unwise enough to select them as fields of civil war, they would see that they would not have the whole field to themselves. The seats lost were West Belfast, North Fermanagh, and Derry City. In the first instance, out of 7600 who voted, Mr. T. Sexton managed to poll 3400. In North Fermanagh the seat was obviously lost through Nationalist abstentions. The number of voters increased by 20 between 1890 and 1892, and at the general election stood at 5919. The Conservative

poll not only did not increase at the last general election, but decreased by about 80, and the Conservatives did their best in order to snatch the seat, which they succeeded in doing, but only because over 700 Nationalists did not vote. They probably would not repeat the mistake now. Derry City was won by the Nationalists by one vote in 1886, and one may imagine the strenuous effort of the Unionist party to win it back. They eventually did, but only by a majority of.26. When parties are so equally divided, are the Unionists entitled to parade Derry as a Unionist city? If it came to fighting, the chances would be pretty even. And in some of the other counties held by Unionists the majorities are by no means overwhelming, by no means such as one would expect in the case of people who are spitting out fire and flame and threatening the Empire with civil war. There is South Derry, for instance, where, on a poll of 8607, Sir Thomas Lea gets in by a majority of only 501; there is South Tyrone, where on a poll of 6500 Mr. T. W. Russell is elected by only 372; there is North Tyrone, where on a poll of 6041 Lord Frederick Hamilton escapes defeat by only 49 votes. Can any man in his senses maintain that these constituencies are so overwhelmingly Unionist, so desperately in love with what it pleases Mr. Balfour to call "the unity of the kingdom" and "partnership with us," that they would rush to arms against an Irish Parliament ?

The Unionism of Ulster has about as much foundation as her overwhelming Protestantism and her monopoly of wealth. Out of 33 constituencies, 14 are overwhelmingly Nationalist, and 6 others are held by such small majorities, as I have just shown, that unity and willing work in the Nationalist ranks ought to win them over to the National cause.

.f

It is also only in accordance with the usual practice of the representatives of certain parts of Ulster to claim for the northern province a far higher rate of popular education than the rest of Ireland. The census provides the answer:

In conclusion, neither on the ground of wealth or progress or education, nor on the ground of her overwhelming Protestantism or of her overwhelming Unionism, is Ulster entitled to take the first place amongst the provinces of Ireland and to rule the destinies of the country.