Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Charles Hubert Montgomery, 30 June 1916 Letters 1916-1923 Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery

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This is a copy of a letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery (1844-1924) to his son Charles Hubert Montgomery (1876-1942). Originally a Liberal and a strong supporter of Gladstone, Hugh Montgomery was also a firm Unionist, but by 1916 he believed that Ulster Unionists had no choice but to accept Lloyd George's proposal for a six-county Northern Ireland. Charles Hubert Montgomery was a civil servant and diplomat and master of the ceremonies, an important diplomatic position, in 1916. In the letter Montgomery discuses the tactics of David Lloyd George MP (1863-1945) and Herbert Henry Asquith (1852-1928), prime minister, in promising John Redmond (1856-1918), Irish Parliamentary Party leader, Home Rule for his loyalty in the war to show the United Kingdom as united during the war. Montgomery then argues that full power should be returned to John Maxwell (1959-1929), commander-in-chief of Ireland, and that there should be control over the police and army until the new Irish government is agreed upon. The position of Edward Carson (1954-1935), Unionist leader, and Unionist groups is discussed, stating that they will only accept negotiations on the base of a six county exclusion from Home Rule. Montgomery then explains that the Ulster Unionist Council agreed that Carson should engage in negotiations on the basis of the six county plan. This decision by the Ulster Unionist Council became controversial and opposed by many southern Unionists.

 Public Record Office of Northern Ireland Montgomery of Blessingborn Papers; D/627/429/49 https://letters1916.ie/item/2253 English Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery 1916-06-30 Heaton Hubert 1924 Politics Politics

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 Strictly private & confidential 30th June, 1916. My dear Rubert, In answer to your note of yesterday; Apparently the object of Asquith's & LLoyd George's,apparently foolish, & certainly dangerous, contrivance wasthe production of eye-wash to enable Redmond to keep a sufficientfollowing together in Ireland & in America in support of hisprofessed policy of loyalty to the Empire during the war, so as topersuade our Allies & neutral nations that we were a UnitedKingdom for the purposes of the war — more eye-wash — Thisbeing so, the best thing to do now, I suppose, is to conductthe negotiations so as to produce the maximum of eye-wash withthe minimum of mischief & danger. There must be some reasonfor supposing that tolerably thin eye-wash will serve the purpose;otherwise even Asquith & LLoyd George would hardly have conceivedthe project. Let enough be done to enable it to be said thatRedmond received an offer to bring the Home Rule Act intoimmediate operation. This in itself is clearly mischievous,but that particular mischief has already been done and cannotbe made much worse by going a step further. The negotiationsare obviously capable of being almost endlessly protracted:meanwhile full powers should be restored to Sir John Maxwell —I say restored, because it is clear that his action has latterlybeen hampered, and it should be made quite clear that he is toremain Military Governor of Ireland with full power over theArmy and the Police till the new form of Government is fully -2- fledged. Devlin & Co. have induced their followers to accept theLLoyd George basis of negotiation by holding out to them that to doso would bring with it an immediate avolition of Military Rule, &also an amnesty for the imprisoned rebels. If he is allowedto go on making play with these forms of eye-wash there must bean absolute determination not to allow any such concession to takeactual shape till the distant day when the Home Rule Government isin a position to rule, as neither the Ulster Unionist Council,nor Carson, nor the Nationalist Convention have accepted any completeporposal; but only authorised the continuation of negotiation onthe general basis of the exclusion of six Ulster counties, & thebringing of the Home Rule Act into operation during the war. Thereis no reason why the negotiations should not be protracted tillafter the presidential election, or the conclusion of peace: orif such very protracted negotiations would make the eye-wash toothin the negotiations might be brought to an apparent conclusion,and Redmond allowed to begin making preparations for getting hisnew machine ready for work. This might take him almost any lengthof time, and I do not suppose that he himself would be in anydesperate hurry actually to assume the Government of Ireland, aswith such assumption his real difficulties would be only beginning.This scheme is an odious one in any shape; but you asked me what Ithink would be the least disastrous mode of issue, and this is thebest that occurs to me at present. -3- Note that all the Ulster Unionist Council at Carson'ssuggestion resolved was, to authorise Sir Edward Carson tocontinue the negotiations on the basis of the suggestion explainedto this meeting, and to complete them if the details are arrangedto his satisfaction. I take it that part of the Asquith LloydGeorge scheme was to put Carson & the Ulster Unionists into adifficulty, and to crown their efforts to say that the true authorsof the Rebellion were Carson & the Ulster Volunteers by holdingthem up to odium as preventing a possible friendly settlementof the Government of this country. Carson having induced hisfollowers here to make the right tactical move in the gamefrom this point of view may, I think, be trusted so to conductthe negotiations as to gain further points in the manoeuvringfor position, and to put our opponents in the wrong if thenegotiations breakdown. Probably the most satisfactory way outof the imbroglie would be for the negotiations to breakdown insuch a manner as would enable us to persuade the British Electorthat the breakdown was due to the unreasonable nature of theNationalist demands. The forces now arrayed against Redmondin this country may very likely oblige him to make unreasonabledemands. With regard to these details which under the Ulsterresolution must be arranged to Sir Edward Carson's satisfaction. Yours affectionately, Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to William Coote, 25 March 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenerg Montgomery to Edward Carson, 31 May 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Edward Carson, 9 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Willis, 10 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Edward Carson, 9 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to 'Canon', 10 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to W. G. Vance, 13 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Vernon, 15 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Willis, 15 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Hamilton, 10 June 1916Letter to Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery from Walter Long, 2 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to George Francis Stewart, 17 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to James Stronge, 3 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to John Edward Fowler Sclater, 3 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to James Stronge, 9 June 1916.Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Mr Glasgow, 18 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to George Francis Stewart, 18 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Hugo, 27 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Maurice Headlam, 19 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery, 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Charles Hubert Montgomery, 30 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to William Hovenden Ffolliott, 2 August 1916Letter from Charles Hubert Montgomery to Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery, 29 May 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to John Ross, 27 May 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to William Coote, 27 May 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to William Coote, 22 May 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Waldron, 26 June 1916Letter to Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery from Sir John Ross, 2 June 1916.Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Sir Richard Dawson Bates, 23 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to William Coote, 9 Spetember 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Walter Long, 31 May 1916Letter from M. E. Sinclair to Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery, 18 September 1916