transfer of the troops from Victoria Barracks, where they would have
been useful to support the civil power in case of rioting, to Holywood,
where they would be less serviceable for that purpose but where they
would be in rapid communication by water with the garrison of
Carrickfergus on the opposite shore of the Lough; the ordering of H.M.S.
_Pathfinder_ and _Attentive_ to Belfast Lough, where they were to arrive
"at daybreak on Saturday the 21st instant" with instructions to support
the soldiers if necessary "by guns and search-lights from the
ships[67]"; the secret and rapid garrisoning of strategic points on all
the railways leading to Belfast,--all this pointed, not to the
safeguarding of stores of army boots and rifles, but to operations of an
offensive campaign.

It was in this light that the Commander-in-Chief in Ireland himself
interpreted his instructions, and, seeing that he had taken the
responsibility of not fully obeying the much more modest orders he had
received in Ireland on the 14th, it is easy to understand that he
thought the steps now to be taken would lead to serious consequences. He
also foresaw that he might have trouble with some of the officers under
his command, for before leaving London he persuaded the Secretary of
State and Sir John French to give the following permission: "Officers
actually domiciled in Ulster would be exempted from taking part in any
operation that might take place. They would be permitted to 'disappear'
[that being the exact phrase used by the War Office], and when all was
over would be allowed to resume their places without their career or
position being affected."[68]

Having obtained this concession, Sir Arthur Paget returned the same
night to Dublin, where he arrived on the 20th and had a conference with
his general officers.