They had reference chiefly to
prohibition of raising in Ireland anything like a military force--even
in the shape of a militia or volunteer force. On June 2nd, there was one
of those transformations in which the Old Man is constantly surprising
friends and foes. He was alert, vigorous, watchful of everything that
went on, and the voice rose to its old strength and resonance. It was
during that afternoon that there was a slight indication for the first
time throughout the progress of the whole Bill of any dissatisfaction on
the part of the Irish members. Mr. Byrne--one of the Unionist gang of
lawyers--proposed a ridiculous amendment, the effect of which would have
been that the Irish Legislature would not have had the right to give a
license for a fowling-piece, or to arm their police to meet a rising of
the Orangemen.
[Sidenote: Mr. Sexton intervenes.]
It was then that Mr. Sexton intervened with a word of warning against
such a restriction. In burning though carefully restrained language, Mr.
Sexton replied to a taunt of Mr. Chamberlain at the silence of the Irish
members. Their silence, said Mr. Sexton, was due to their knowledge that
Mr.
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