They thought they had assembled under the protection of the law, and they knew they had no other protection than that law, which used to be, according to the expressive phrase of an able lawyer, "the shield and helmet" of the people; but which, unfortunately, at This Sad Crisis, they felt neither as a shield nor as a helmet.

I am very sensible of the difficulties of the present time, of the Sad Crisis to which this question has been precipitated, and of the changes which have taken place in others.

I suggest that these and other issues around citizenship are at the heart of one of the deep underlying problems referred to by the Prime Minister that are present in This Sad Crisis.