It is important to bear in mind the position at that time. No General Election had been held in Ireland for seven years. In that interval the vast majority of the people had completely changed their views. They no longer had any faith in England, or in the efficacy of sending their hundred representatives to the British Parliament, where they were in a helpless minority, and where their voices were scarcely heard. England’s treachery on the Home Rule question and her threat of Conscription had cost her dearly. But the greatest force of all in the awakening was the Rising of 1916. That episode had put new life and heart into the people. The bye-elections, to which I have already referred had given the people their only opportunity, so far, to indicate the growing desire for liberty, complete and untrammelled. On November 11th, 1918, the Great War virtually ended with the Armistice. A week later it was announced that the long delayed General Election was fixed for the 14th December. Sinn Fein got its opportunity, for that election was to be the first ever held under the British Constitution on the basis of manhood suffrage, and we knew well that the young men of Ireland would vote overwhelmingly for our cause. But we had to educate and organise. The name and policy of Sinn Fein were still grossly misunderstood. The public did not clearly realise the difference between the political body, Sinn Fein, and the military organisation—the Irish Volunteers. The Insurrection of 1916 was commonly called the “Sinn Fein Rising,” and our Volunteers were spoken of as the “Sinn Fein Volunteers.” Even the Republican Tricolour—the Green, White and Orange of the Young Ireland Party of 1848, and of the Fenians of the next generation—was called the “Sinn Fein Flag.” But misnomers did not trouble us very much, for the Sinn Fein body had been adjusting its programme to suit Republican ideals. And now when Sinn Fein clubs were springing up in every parish, it was quite usual to find that the President or the Secretary of the club was also captain of the local Volunteer corps. The majority of the younger men in the Sinn Fein Political Organisation were also Volunteers; and the Volunteers were also members of the Sinn Fein club.