whether they wished to remain where they were or to be transferred. And then a remarkable thing happened. Just as I had finished speaking, a letter was brought in to me marked " Very urgent." It was from Lord Macdonnell, who had been permanent Under Secretary for Ireland from 1902 to 1908, and contained identically the same proposal as that which I was then submitting to the Conference. I read Lord Macdonnell's letter aloud. Sir E. Carson observed that the coincidence was suspicious. As a matter of fact, I had not had any previous communication with Lord Macdonnell, with whom I was personally unacquainted. At all events my proposal was not approved by either party and the Conference broke down. His Majesty received us separately and in bidding us farewell expressed his great regrets at the failure. Whilst I was waiting in an adjoining room, in company with Lord Lansdowne and Mr. Bonar Law, I happened to pick up The Times, and there saw the telegram, announcing the ultimatum sent by Austria to Serbia. I called the attention of my companions to this very serious news, which, as our Conference had sat early, they had not seen previously, and we agreed that it portended some very grave events, how grave we did not then realize. After leaving the Palace I wrote out a brief report of our proceedings, which later in the day Mr. Asquith, in announcing the breakdown of the Conference, read out to the House. One of the drawbacks to the Conference, which militated against its success, was that, although the representatives of the Liberal and Unionist Parties were fully qualified to come to an agreement on behalf of their respective parties, neither the Nationalist nor the Ulster representatives considered themselves authorized to come to any determination without

further consultation with those whom they represented -in other words, they were not fully accredited ambassadors with full powers. On more than one occasion when I had been fortunate enough to secure in my library the meeting of Mr. Redmond and Sir Edward Carson, the same difficulty had presented itself. I am convinced that if these gentlemen had had full power to act, the points then at issue might have been amicably arranged. I also felt at that time pretty confident that if His Majesty's Government had put its foot down firmly, decided what it thought to be right, braved any adverse criticism or action in Ireland and appealed to the mass of moderate feeling in England for support, this support would have been forthcoming. The British public was sick of the prolonged controversy and inclined to exclaim, “A plague o' both your Houses!" In their anxiety for a settlement the people would have swallowed a good deal they did not like and heaved a sigh of relief.

At the end of this eventful week my wife and I went to Campsea Ashe, where we entertained a week-end party consisting of Lord and Lady Londonderry, Mr. Bonar Law and Miss Law, Lord and Lady Newton, Sir Frank Swetenham, Mrs. Rupert Beckett, Captain Packe, Mr. Arnold Ward, and my son and his wife. Golf and Bridge occupied the time not devoted to a discussion of the European situation.

The following week was occupied by the House in the consideration of several Bills of secondary importance, but everybody's mind was concentrated on events abroad, where the horizon was daily becoming blacker. The Ulstermen and their supporters, inside and outside the House, foregathered in large numbers on Thursday the 30th, as it was expected that the promised

"amending" Bill would be discussed. But "when they got there the cupboard was bare," for the Government, in view of the national situation, postponed the Bill, and, unfortunately, thereby left the Ulstermen under the feeling that they had once again been tricked.

On Tuesday, the 28th of July, war was declared between Austria and Serbia; there was a panic on the foreign Bourses and on the Friday the Stock Exchange was closed. On that day the House disposed of its allotted business, and I went down to Campsea Ashe by an afternoon train. The first signs of impending danger which I observed were detachments of troops guarding the bridges and tunnel on the Great Eastern Railway. The declaration of war between Russia and Germany was imminent. It took place on the following day. We had a large party in the house for the week-end, and a great gathering of Suffolk Boy Scouts in the neighbouring park of Rendlesham. In view of the threatening situation, however, my party dispersed and the Boy Scouts' camp was broken up. I returned to town on the Sunday night, and found the train and the stations at which it stopped crowded with Naval reservists hurrying off to their appointed rendezvous. On my arrival in London I found a letter from Mr. Percy Illingworth, the Chief Government Whip, from which I extract the following sentences descriptive of the situation :

"Credit has collapsed and we are practically faced with bankruptcy on a wholesale scale. To meet this situation the Government will introduce a 'Moratorium' Bill. I am even uncertain as to the spelling. But the effect will be that no financial obligations of