THE VOLUNTEERS.
There is much talk of the extraordinary organising powers displayed in
the insurrection, but in truth there was nothing extraordinary in it.
The real essence and singularity of the rising exists in its simplicity,
and, saving for the courage which carried it out, the word extraordinary
is misplaced in this context.
The tactics of the Volunteers as they began to emerge were reduced to
the very skeleton of "strategy." It was only that they seized certain
central and stragetical districts, garrisoned those and held them until
they were put out of them. Once in their forts there was no further
egress by the doors, and for purpose of entry and sortie they used the
skylights and the roofs. On the roofs they had plenty of cover, and this
cover conferred on them a mobility which was their chief asset, and
which alone enabled them to protract the rebellion beyond the first day.
This was the entire of their home plan, and there is no doubt that they
had studied Dublin roofs and means of inter-communication by roofs with
the closest care. Further than that I do not think they had organised
anything. But this was only the primary plan, and, unless they were
entirely mad, there must have been a sequel to it which did not
materialise, and which would have materialised but that the English
Fleet blocked the way.
There is no doubt that they expected the country to rise with them, and
they must have known what their own numbers were, and what chance they
had of making a protracted resistance. The word "resistance" is the
keyword of the rising, and the plan of holding out must have been
rounded off with a date. At that date something else was to have
happened which would relieve them.
There is not much else that could happen except the landing of German
troops in Ireland or in England. It would have been, I think, immaterial
to them where these were landed, but the reasoning seems to point to the
fact that they expected and had arranged for such a landing, although
on this point there is as yet no evidence.
The logic of this is so simple, so plausible, that it might be accepted
without further examination, and yet further examination is necessary,
for in a country like Ireland logic and plausibility are more often
wrong than right. It may just as easily be that except for furnishing
some arms and ammunition Germany was not in the rising at all, and this
I prefer to believe. It had been current long before the rising that the
Volunteers knew they could not seriously embarass England, and that
their sole aim was to make such a row in Ireland that the Irish question
would take the status of an international one, and on the discussion of
terms of peace in the European war the claims of Ireland would have to
be considered by the whole Council of Europe and the world.
That is, in my opinion, the metaphysic behind the rising. It is quite
likely that they hoped for German aid, possibly some thousands of men,
who would enable them to prolong the row, but I do not believe they
expected German armies, nor do I think they would have welcomed these
with any cordiality.
In this insurrection there are two things which are singular in the
history of Irish risings. One is that there were no informers, or there
were no informers among the chiefs. I did hear people say in the streets
that two days before the rising they knew it was to come; they
invariably added that they had not believed the news, and had laughed at
it. A priest said the same thing in my hearing, and it may be that the
rumour was widely spread, and that everybody, including the authorities,
looked upon it as a joke.
The other singularity of the rising is the amazing silence in which it
was fought. Nothing spoke but the guns; and the Volunteers on the one
side and the soldiers on the other potted each other and died in
whispers; it might have been said that both sides feared the Germans
would hear them and take advantage of their preoccupation.
There is a third reason given for the rebellion, and it also is divorced
from foreign plots. It is said, and the belief in Dublin was widespread,
that the Government intended to raid the Volunteers and seize their
arms. One remembers to-day the paper which Alderman Kelly read to the
Dublin Corporation, and which purported to be State Instructions that
the Military and Police should raid the Volunteers, and seize their arms
and leaders. The Volunteers had sworn they would not permit their arms
to be taken from them. A list of the places to be raided was given, and
the news created something of a sensation in Ireland when it was
published that evening. The Press, by instruction apparently, repudiated
this document, but the Volunteers, with most of the public, believed it
to be true, and it is more than likely that the rebellion took place in
order to forestall the Government.
This is also an explanation of the rebellion, and is just as good a one
as any other. It is the explanation which I believe to be the true one.
All the talk of German invasion and the landing of German troops in
Ireland is so much nonsense in view of the fact that England is master
of the seas, and that from a week before the war down to this date she
has been the undisputed monarch of those ridges. During this war there
will be no landing of troops in either England or Ireland unless Germany
in the meantime can solve the problem of submarine transport. It is a
problem which will be solved some day, for every problem can be solved,
but it will hardly be during the progress of this war. The men at the
head of the Volunteers were not geniuses, neither were they fools, and
the difficulty of acquiring military aid from Germany must have seemed
as insurmountable to them as it does to the Germans themselves. They
rose because they felt that they had to do so, or be driven like sheep
into the nearest police barracks, and be laughed at by the whole of
Ireland as cowards and braggarts.
It would be interesting to know why, on the eve of the insurrection,
Professor MacNeill resigned the presidency of the Volunteers. The story
of treachery which was heard in the streets is not the true one, for men
of his type are not traitors, and this statement may be dismissed
without further comment or notice. One is left to imagine what can have
happened during the conference which is said to have preceded the
rising, and which ended with the resignation of Professor MacNeill.
This is my view, or my imagining, of what occurred. The conference was
called because the various leaders felt that a hostile movement was
projected by the Government, and that the times were exceedingly black
for them. Neither Mr. Birrell nor Sir Mathew Nathan had any desire that
there should be a conflict in Ireland during the war. This cannot be
doubted. From such a conflict there might follow all kinds of political
repercussions; but although the Government favoured the policy of
_laissez faire_, there was a powerful military and political party in
Ireland whose whole effort was towards the disarming and punishment of
the Volunteers--particularly I should say the punishment of the
Volunteers. I believe, or rather I imagine, that Professor MacNeill was
approached at the instance of Mr. Birrell or Sir Mathew Nathan and
assured that the Government did not meditate any move against his men,
and that so long as his Volunteers remained quiet they would not be
molested by the authorities. I would say that Professor MacNeill gave
and accepted the necessary assurances, and that when he informed his
conference of what had occurred, and found that they did not believe
faith would be kept with them, he resigned in the dispairing hope that
his action might turn them from a purpose which he considered lunatic,
or, at least, by restraining a number of his followers from rising, he
might limit the tale of men who would be uselessly killed.
He was not alone in his vote against a rising. The O'Rahilly and some
others are reputed to have voted with him, but when insurrection was
decided on, the O'Rahilly marched with his men, and surely a gallant man
could not have done otherwise.
When the story of what occurred is authoritatively written (it may be
written) I think that this will be found to be the truth of the matter,
and that German intrigue and German money counted for so little in the
insurrection as to be negligible.