That is our immediate necessity, and no Irishman in responding to it need be afraid he is jeopardizing the future of the Volunteers.
"I do not say, and I cannot say, under what precise form of organization it will be, but I trust and I believe--indeed, I am sure--that the Volunteers will become a permanent, an integral and characteristic part of the defensive forces of the Crown.
"I have only one more word to say.

Though our need is great, your opportunity is also great.

The call which I am making is backed by the sympathy of your fellow-Irishmen in all parts of the Empire and of the world....

There is no question of compulsion or bribery.
What we want, what we ask, what we believe you are ready and eager to give, is the freewill offering of a free people." This was a double pledge as to Redmond's two objects.

It promised, first, that every inducement should be given to join a corps distinctively Irish and having national cohesion and character; secondly, that the Volunteers should obtain recognition as part of the defensive forces of the Crown.