Prospects for the Convention, 1917 Russell (George, ‘A.E.’)...

Hammer

€1,700

Prospects for the Convention, 1917

Russell (George, ‘A.E.’).  Two good A.L.S. to C.E. Warner Esq., each 2pp (single sheet) on headed Irish Homestead paper, 15 May 1916 and 19 July 1917, the first with a full signature, the second signed at side A.E. 

The first letter, about a month after the Rising, declines an offer of help. ‘Our publishing office was burned but I am glad to think the actual loss to the Homestead will be small. We had to stop the paper for a fortnight because the streets were dangerous .. snipers got on the roofs and the military shot at them naturally but actually the bullets just as often went into unoffending windows ..’
The second, on 19 July 1917, ‘I am not very hopeful about the Convention, but my conscience would not allow me to remain out if there was a chance  .. for agreement  .. What we meet to discuss I think is what powers a self governing Ireland ought to have and what concessions to Ulster opinion will bring Ulster in .. The Sinn Feiners are not so mad as the papers would make out  ..’ (2)