With all this breach of the law Government dared not interfere.

They had put themselves in the wrong; whether they prevented the demonstration or permitted it, mischief was bound to follow.

A new incitement was given to the enthusiasm for Sinn Fein, a new martyr was provided, and new hostility was raised against the Convention, for whose success Government was notoriously anxious.

On the other hand, Ulster Unionist opinion was violently offended; they were scandalized by the disregard for law and the impotence of constitutional authority.

This attitude, however open to comments based on their own recent history, did not render them any easier to deal with.