Theames of party colleagues killed by the IRA were recalled by Mr David Trimble in an impassioned speech at the close of the debate at the Ulster Unionist Council meeting in Belfast's Waterfront Hall.
In what even his leading opponents described as a "bravura performance", Mr Trimble hit back at speakers who suggested his strategy was a betrayal of the victims of the IRA.
He mentioned Edgar Graham, a law lecturer and unionist politician shot dead by the IRA in 1983. Mr Trimble said that if he were still alive, Mr Graham would be backing the leadership's approach. He also indicated his belief that Mr Graham, had he lived, would have become party leader instead of himself. "I would not have been standing here today, Edgar Graham would be standing here today," sources quoted him as saying.
He also invoked the name of the late Rev Robert Bradford, MP for South Belfast, who died in an IRA gun attack in 1981. The UUP leader quoted a letter from Mr Bradford's widow, Norah, giving her full support to him and his leadership and urging him to keep at the difficult job.
Reporters were not admitted to the debate, but sources said Mr Trimble advocated support for his approach because it was based on "life as it is in the real world".
His five-minute closing speech was considerably more impassioned than his opening remarks which lasted 15 minutes and were described by one of his opponents as "dry academic stuff". In it Mr Trimble reported on the Mitchell review which had been the latest of five attempts to break the stalemate over devolution and decommissioning.
The recent IRA statement represented progress on its traditional "no decommissioning" stance, he said. "We are not going to get another go," he reportedly told delegates. The new pro-active role for Gen de Chastelain would put further pressure on the IRA: "We have a spur to drive them on."
Mr Trimble said he had lodged a letter with the president of the UUC, Mr Josias Cunningham. Sources said the leader was not specific about the letter's contents; it is understood to be a post-dated resignation, although the date was not revealed.
Mr Trimble quoted a Sunday Tribune article which said if UUC delegates knew about the "glum faces" and the "sense of anger and betrayal" widespread among followers of Mr Gerry Adams and Mr Martin McGuinness they would "sweep Trimble home and carry him shoulder-high" from the hall.
Mr Trimble's motion to the meeting stated: "The UUC authorises the leader and the Ulster Unionist Assembly Party to proceed as outlined in the Leader's Report and instructs the President to reconvene the Council in February 2000 to take a final decision".
It was seconded by Mr Barry FitzSimons, vice-chairman of the Lagan Valley constituency, who urged delegates to "hold the guarantee and bank the gains".
However, the Rev Martin Smyth MP, a senior member of the Orange Order, said unionists were "a perplexed people" at present. He compared the No unionists to Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle and their opposition to appeasement in the years before the second World War. Trimble supporters commented privately afterwards that Churchill had been no great friend to unionism.
Mr Michael McGimpsey, an Assembly member for South Belfast and one of Mr Trimble's chief lieutenants, said that although the UUP had not achieved all it wanted in the Mitchell review, it should "move forward with caution".
Mrs Joan Carson said as a grandmother she did not want to see another 30 years of violence. Speaking in favour of the motion, she sharply criticised the performance of the Westminster MPs, most of whom are opposed to the Trimble strategy.
Mr Jonathan Bell referred to families being "ethnically cleansed" from the Border region of Co Armagh by the IRA. He also cited the case of a 14-year-old Catholic in his constituency who had been attacked by republicans who used baseball bats with nails in them and put a gun to his head.
Mr Bell asked how he could go back and tell this boy's sister that his party was allowing Sinn Fein to take charge of the department responsible for teenage education in Northern Ireland. He made an emotional appeal to the party to hold fire on the Mitchell proposals.
Speaking for the motion, Mr James Cooper accused the No lobby of engaging in "fantasy politics". However, Mr William Thompson, MP for West Tyrone, said: "We are being deceived." He urged delegates not to become overly concerned about the fate of the Stormont Assembly, which would not have much power anyway.
Mr David Brewster, a leading No camp aigner, called for party unity and rejection of the Mitchell package. He warned delegates they were being asked to gamble everything. "We even had someone playing the hokey-cokey with a barge-pole this week," he said, in an implicit reference to the ambivalent position of Mr John Taylor.
There was considerable comment after the meeting about the fact that Mr Taylor had not spoken. A spokesman for the Strangford MP said he had applied to speak but was not called. Mr Taylor was heckled by loyalist protesters as he left the building after the vote.
Mr Dermot Nesbitt, an Assembly member for South Down and a prominent Trimble supporter, recalling the 1987 unionist strategy document, An End to Drift, reportedly said unionists should not be ashamed to adapt to change.
In a lively contribution, Miss Jean Coulter recalled the film, The Sound of Music. She urged delegates to emulate the von Trapp family and refuse to have dealings with collaborators. Quoting the song Edelweiss, she continued: "Bless my homeland for ever."
Mr Ken Maginnis MP lamented "30 years of missed opportunities". Sources said he spoke "very passionately" about the victims and the fears of violence among both communities in Northern Ireland. He reminded delegates that, in addition to republican attacks on the unionist community, nationalists had also suffered from the brutality of loyalist terrorists.
Mrs Arlene Foster, a prominent No campaigner, said recognising decommissioning as voluntary was conferring legitimacy on the IRA.
Sir Reg Empey, an Assembly member for East Belfast, recalled the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement and the fact that unionist MPs were "unable to predict or prevent it".
Lord Molyneaux, in a brief contribution, quoted the words of Stanley Baldwin: "My time is coming to an end. I soon go into the shade." He said he did not want to be morbid, and humorously commented: "Your time is just beginning". His remarks were taken as a plea to promote the younger elements in the party. He urged delegates to vote No.
Mr Jeffrey Donaldson, MP for Lagan Valley, in what supporters described as a strong contribution, said he was not one of the "lazy" MPs referred to earlier in the debate. He quipped that his wife had nearly fallen off her seat when she heard the comment.
There was some heckling when he made reference to a private letter given by Mr Trimble to Mr Roy Beggs jnr, an Assembly member for East Antrim, which is understood to contain an undertaking from the party leader in relation to decommissioning and the formation of an executive. However, Mr Beggs refused to reveal the contents of the letter to the media after the meeting, on the basis that it was "an internal party matter".
Despite some reported heckling by the two sides, the tone of the meeting was described as low-key. Mr Trimble told a news conference afterwards there had been "some 27 contributions, all of them done in a civilised manner and everybody accorded a courteous hearing", and this had been wholly in accordance with the "best traditions" of the UUC.
"And in terms of the openness and democratic spirit of my party I assert with absolute confidence that you cannot find its equal anywhere in the British Isles."