At one point it certainly was.

After summing up the situation, first in relation to France, then in relation to Belgium, the Foreign Secretary, speaking with the utmost gravity, foretold for Great Britain terrible suffering in this war, "whether we are in it or whether we stand aside." He made it clear that the island safety was not unchallengeable; there could be no pledge to send an expeditionary force outside the kingdom.

Then, with a sudden lift of his voice, he added: "One thing I would say: the one bright spot in the very dreadful situation is Ireland.

The position in Ireland--and this I should like to be clearly understood abroad--is not a consideration among the things we have to take into account now." The history of this passage is strange.

All who heard assumed that the speaker relied on definite promises.