were ranged Lord Lansdowne, Lord Curzon, and other Unionist leaders, who
advocated the acceptance of the Bill under protest. On the 20th of July
Carson told Lansdowne that in his judgment "the disgrace and ignominy of
surrender on the question far outweighed any temporary advantage" to be
gained by the two years' delay of Home Rule which the Parliament Bill
would secure.[12] Lord Londonderry, on the other hand, supported the
view taken by Lord Lansdowne, and he voted with the majority who carried
the Bill on the 10th of August. This step temporarily clouded his
popularity in Ulster, but not many weeks passed before he completely
regained the confidence and affection of the people, and the difference
of opinion never in the smallest degree interrupted the harmony of his
relations with Sir Edward Carson.

The true position of affairs in relation to Home Rule had not yet been
grasped by the British public. As explained in a former chapter, it had
not been in any real sense an issue in the two General Elections of the
previous year, and throughout the spring and summer of 1911 popular
interest in England and Scotland was still wholly occupied with the
fight between "Peers and People" and the impending blow to the power of
the Second Chamber; and the coronation festivities also helped to divert
attention from the political consequences to which the authors of the
Parliament Bill intended it to lead.

The first real awakening was brought about by an immense demonstration
held at Craigavon, on the outskirts of Belfast, on the 23rd of
September. The main purpose of this historic gathering was to bring the
populace of Ulster face to face with their new leader, and to give him
an opportunity of making a definite pronouncement of a policy for
Ulster, in view of the entirely novel situation resulting from the
passing of the Parliament Act.