Letter from Charles Clements to Edward Carson, 21 June 1916

Foo, Bar; Bar, Foo

Letter from Charles Clements to Edward Carson, 21 June 1916

1 D1507/1/17/23 89 Endsleigh Palace Hospltal
W.
Leitrim June 21. 16. Dear Sir Edward I know many of
my friends in the six counties, besides
the three, distinctly understood, that
the Unionist members in the Cabinet
desired that the pledge should be
broken, on the grounds of Imperial
necessity — It was several times
mentioned to me, that it was an
extraordinary thing, that they shd
do so, & the fact that had
done so, undoubtedly carried
great weight in coming to the 2 90 decision to carry out the
negotiations— As there seems to be
some doubt, as to whether this
was or was not the case,
I have written the enclosed
letter to Mr. Bonar Law — Yours sincerely Leitrim 3 d1507/a/17/24 Copy Endsleigh Palace Hospital
Euston 91
PAGE 1 OF 2 June 21.16. Dear Mr Bonar Law Please forgive me
troubling you with a letter, upon a
matter, wh concerns me deeply — For the last 21 months I have been
serving with the Ulster Division, h I
may say was mainly recruited, on the
strength of the Prime Minister's pledge,
that Home Rule would not be brought
up again during the war— As the leader of the Unionist
party in the House of Commons, you
assisted in this pledge being given,
but you may not realise all that 4 92 this pledge means to the men now
fighting — It does not only mean
the political significance of Home Rule,
but also means the deepest anxiety
upon the part of these men for the
safety of their homes — Rightly or wrongly they believe
that there will be riots & bloodshed
upon Home Rule being put into
operation, & after what has happened
I think these fears are justified. I well recollect at the
time of our recruiting meetings, the
Prime Minister's pledge, as well
as the Defence of the Realm Act,
were quoted to assure them 5 D1507/1/17/24 93 PAGE 2 0F 2 that they should have no fears for
the safety of their homes, whilst
they were on service —

I cannot say how strongly
I feel, that you should hold
yourself in honour bound to
respect that pledge — You cannot overestimate
the value in wh It is held, by those
men, who are now, many of them,
going about to sacrifice their
lives because it was given. —

Letter from Charles Clements, 5th Earl of Leitrim (1879-1952) to Edward Carson (1854-1935). Carson was a prominent Unionist Politician. Originally a practicing solicitor from Dublin, Carson's opposition to the proposed third Home Rule bill made him the figure head of Unionism throughout the island. He was the centerpiece of the speaking tour that culminated in Ulster Day (28 September 1912), when just under half a million signed Ulster's solemn league and covenant pledging to use ‘all means which may be found necessary to defeat the present conspiracy to set up a home rule parliament in Dublin’. Carson inaugurated the Larne gunrunning in 1914 which armed the UVF, many of whom Carson would encourage to join the British Army throughout the First World War. Clements commanded the Ulster Volunteer Force in County Donegal, and arranged to run guns into the county in his yacht, SS Ganiamore, in 1913. During the First World War, Clements was commissioned a major in the 11th Service Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.

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How to cite

Letters 1916, published by the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities, Vienna, 2026 (https://letters1916static.github.io/letters1916-static/item__4329.html)