ago they would have recoiled as visionary and imprudent. That protests should be made by political opponents against the personal ascendancy of the Prime Minister, and that his motives and his character should be assailed with the grossest virulence, was only to be expected. But in fact the question whether a great concentration of power in the hands of one member of the Cabinet is or is not dangerous has nothing to do with the issue before the country. Whether Mr. Gladstone is a false Achitophel, "Resolved to ruin or to rule the State," or a great and honest statesman, the "imperial brilliance" of whose mind is fit to be "a steadfast light to England," is irrelevant to the question whether his scheme of self-government for Ireland is a good or a bad scheme. "The Ministers have advised and her Majesty has been pleased to sanction the dissolution of Parliament for the decision by the nation of the gravest and likewise the simplest issue which has been submitted to it for half a century." So said Mr. Gladstone in his address to his constituents. That the issue was grave was admitted by all; that it was simple was not so readily conceded. And yet it is quite true that, so far as the electorate was concerned, the issue was simple. Home Rule in some form corresponding to the main outlines of Mr. Gladstone's measure is even now the only practicable alternative to coercion. The proof of this assertion The first is, that the principle of nationality which " The second fact to which I wish to call attention is the very large admission of the political capacity of the Irish people that is made by the maintenance of the Constitution as it now exists. The Irish people return representatives to the Imperial Parliament. If * Mill, "Representative Government," c. 16. ago they would have recoiled as visionary and imprudent. That protests should be made by political opponents against the personal ascendancy of the Prime Minister, and that his motives and his character should be assailed with the grossest virulence, was only to be expected. But in fact the question whether a great concentration of power in the hands of one member of the Cabinet is or is not dangerous has nothing to do with the issue before the country. Whether Mr. Gladstone is a false Achitophel, "Resolved to ruin or to rule the State," or a great and honest statesman, the "imperial brilliance" of whose mind is fit to be "a steadfast light to England," is irrelevant to the question whether his scheme of self-government for Ireland is a good or a bad scheme. "The Ministers have advised and her Majesty has been pleased to sanction the dissolution of Parliament for the decision by the nation of the gravest and likewise the simplest issue which has been submitted to it for half a century." So said Mr. Gladstone in his address to his constituents. That the issue was grave was admitted by all; that it was simple was not so readily conceded. And yet it is quite true that, so far as the electorate was concerned, the issue was simple. Home Rule in some form corresponding to the main outlines of Mr. Gladstone's measure is even now the only practicable my firnctoris allimation for what ponsore iftisto secure as contented Freiand or Inland wittins : declare, not svew that will as it :((10) to govemming Ireland in the am alternative to coercion. The proof of this assertion The first is, that the principle of nationality which " The second fact to which I wish to call attention is the very large admission of the political capacity of the Irish people that is made by the maintenance of the Constitution as it now exists. The Irish people return representatives to the Imperial Parliament. If * Mill, "Representative Government," c. 16. they are so ignorant and degraded that they cannot be trusted to elect men fit to make laws affecting themselves alone, à fortiori they are too ignorant and degraded to be allowed to send members to Westminster to make laws for the whole empire. The arguments so glibly used, founded on the "profound incapacity" of the Irish people, prove, if they be true, not so much that Home Rule ought not to be granted, but that the Irish people should be deprived altogether of representative institutions. Lastly, the existence of the national sentiment and the denial of its logical outcome, so long as the Irish representation is suffered to remain, must throw the whole machinery of government out of gear, for it results in the formation of a party strong enough to disorganise the working of the House of Commons. A party banded together for the purpose of making all government impossible strikes at the fundamental principle of a democracy; for self-government implies an agreement among those to whom the powers of As the community are delegated that these powers shall be used for the good of all, for the defence of the whole empire from attacks from without, and the maintenance of the authority of law within its bounds, however much they may differ as to the principles by which these objects may best be maintained. It follows, therefore, that unless representative institutions are taken away from Ireland, the demand of the Irish people must be complied with, and that the |