No one in August 1914 anticipated the course of the war.

No one foresaw the need for the last man available.

It was more than a year before Great Britain could even equip the men who pressed themselves forward for service.

All that he really had in his hand to give or to withhold was the value of Ireland's moral support.

Could he by waiting his time have made a better bargain?
When that critical hour came, Redmond knew in his, bones the weight of Ireland's history; he knew all the propensities which would instantly tend to assert themselves, unless their play was checked by a strong counter-emotion.