"
And if ever there was a "moment of emotion" for the Loyalists of
Ulster--those descendants of the Plantation men who had been
deliberately sent to Ireland with a commission from the first sovereign
of a united Britain to uphold British interests, British honour, and the
Reformed Faith across the narrow sea--Loyalists who were conscious that
throughout the generations they had honestly striven to be faithful to
their mission--if ever in their long and stormy history they experienced
a "moment of emotion," it was assuredly on this evening before the
signing of their Covenant.
The speeches delivered by their leader and others were merely a vent for
that emotion. There was nothing that could be said about their cause
that they did not know already; but all felt that the heart of the
matter was touched--the whole situation, so far as they were concerned,
summed up in a single sentence of Carson's speech: "We will take
deliberately a step forward, not in defiance but in defence; and the
Covenant which we will most willingly sign to-morrow will be a great
step forward, in no spirit of aggression, in no spirit of ascendancy,
but with a full knowledge that, if necessary, you and I--you trusting
me, and I trusting you--will follow out everything that this Covenant
means to the very end, whatever the consequences.
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