The legislative body was to be composed of two orders. The first order was to consist of the twenty-eight representative peers, together with seventy-five members elected by certain scheduled constituencies on an occupation franchise of twentyfive pounds and upwards. To be eligible for the first order, a person must have a property qualification, either in realty of two hundred pounds a year, or in personalty of the same amount, or a capital value of four thousand pounds. The representative peers now existing would sit for life, and, as they dropped off, the crown would nominate persons to take their place up to a certain date, and on the exhaustion of the twenty-eight existing peers, then the whole of the first order would become elective under the same conditions as the seventy-five other members. The second order would consist of 206 members, chosen by existing counties and towns under the machinery now operative. The two orders were to sit and deliberate together, but either order could demand a separate vote. This right would enable a majority of one order to veto the proposal of the other. But the veto was only to operate until a dissolution, or for three years, whichever might be the longer interval of the two. The executive transition was to be gradual. The office of viceroy would remain, but he would not be the minister of a party nor quit office with an outgoing government. He would have a privy council; within that council would be formed an executive body of ministers like the British cabinet. This executive would be responsible to the Irish legislature, just as the executive government here is responsible to the legislature of this country. rule bill No such scene has ever been beheld in the House of Introduction Commons. Members came at break of day to secure their of the homeplaces; before noon every seat was marked, and crowded benches were even arrayed on the floor of the House from the mace to the bar. Princes, ambassadors, great peers, high prelates, thronged the lobbies. The fame of the orator, the boldness of his exploit, curiosity as to the plan, poignant anxiety as to the party result, wonder whether a wizard had at last actually arisen with a spell for casting out the baleful Mr. Gladstone's closing speech on the bill spirits that had for so many ages made Ireland our torment and our dishonor, all these things brought together such an assemblage as no minister before had ever addressed within those world-renowned walls. The parliament was new. Many of its members had fought a hard battle for their seats, and trusted they were safe in the haven for half a dozen good years to come. Those who were moved by professional ambition, those whose object was social advancement, those who thought only of upright public service, the keen party men, the men who aspired to office, the men with a past and the men who looked for a future, all alike found themselves adrift on dark and troubled waters. The secrets of the bill had been well kept. To-day the disquieted host were first to learn what was the great project to which they would have to say that Aye or No on which for them and for the state so much would hang. . . "Ireland stands at your bar expectant, hopeful, almost suppliant. Her words are the words of truth and soberness. She asks a blessed oblivion of the past, and in that oblivion our interest is deeper even than hers. You have been asked to-night to abide by the traditions of which we are the heirs. What traditions? By the Irish traditions? Go into the length and breadth of the world, ransack the literature of all countries, find if you can a single voice, a single book, in which the conduct of England toward Ireland is anywhere treated except with profound and bitter condemnation. Are these the traditions by which we are exhorted to stand? No, they are a sad exception to the glory of our country. They are a broad and black blot upon the pages of its history, and what we want to do is to stand by the traditions of which we are the heirs in all matters except our relations with Ireland, and to make our relation to Ireland conform to the other traditions of our country. So we treat our traditions, so we hail the demand of Ireland for what I call a blessed oblivion of the past. She seeks also a boon for the future; and that boon for the future, unless we are much mistaken, will be a boon to us in respect of honor, no less than a boon to her in respect of happiness, prosperity, and peace. Such, sir, is her prayer. Think, I beseech you; think well, think wisely; think, not for the moment, but for the years that are to come, before you reject this bill." The well-known poet, William Watson, gave voice to the deep desire for a true reconciliation between the peoples of England and Ireland in the following poem, written two years after the failure of the home rule bill of 1886. Spouse whom my sword in the olden time won me, Winning me hatred more sharp than a sword; Curse or revile me, and hold me abhorred; Heiress of anger that nothing assuages, Mad for the future, and mad for the past; Lo, let us turn and be lovers at last! Lovers whom tragical sin hath made equal, Hate and mistrust are the children of blindness. Could we but gaze for an hour, for a minute, 448. England 449. An opin- Then should the ominous night-bird of error, Then should we, growing in strength and in sweetness, Dazzle the world with a splendid completeness, Mightily single, immovably whole. Thou, like a flame when the stormy winds fan it, I, like a rock to the elements bare; Mixed by love's magic, the fire and the granite, Who should compete with us, what should compare? So were we married and mingled forever, V. THE BRITISH EMPIRE To illustrate the change of feeling that has taken place in regard to the proper relation between Great Britain and her distant colonies, it is necessary to go back to a much earlier period than has now been reached. The first selection that follows is a short passage from a work published in 1790. It illustrates the feeling of opposition in England to colonization, an opposition which had become widespread soon after the loss of the American colonies, and which continued for many years. The rage for colonization has not yet been driven from the councils of this country. We have fortunately lost New England, but a New Wales has since started up! How many millions it may cost may be the subject of the calculations of succeeding financiers, unless by the exertions of some able statesman that source of future waste and extravagance is prevented. Forty years later prevailing opinion was still skeptical as to the desirability of obtaining or retaining colonies. There are only three ways that colonies can be of any ad- 450. A later vantage: (1) in furnishing a military force; (2) in supplying argument against the parent state with a revenue; (3) in affording commercial colonies advantages. (1830) (1) Instead of furnishing a military force, the colonies are always a great drain upon the military resources of a country, particularly in war, when they occupy a large portion of the army and fleet in their defense. In the last war, while our own shores were threatened with invasion from Boulogne and Brest, our means of defense were greatly crippled by the number of troops and ships we were obliged to keep in the colonies. (2) With respect to revenue, we have declared by the act of the 18 Geo. III, that we will not levy any taxes or duties in the colonies except for their use. (3) As to commercial advantages, if the colonial trade were quite free, our commercial relations with the colonies would resemble the intercourse between ourselves and independent countries; and therefore whatever advantages we shall derive from them will be embraced in two questions: (1) whether our commerce with them will be more beneficial than with independent countries; (2) whether the capital employed in them will be more beneficially employed than it would be if employed in the United Kingdom. colonies With respect to the first question, it is one easily solved, Unprofitable because where the employment of capital is free the net profit ness of that may be obtained by the employment of it in commerce with independent countries will always be as great as if it were employed in the colonial trade. The trade we carry on with the United States proves this. With respect to the second question, it is necessary to trace the operations of capital when employed in the colonies and when employed at home. In the West India Islands it goes to feed and clothe slaves; to pay British agents, clerks, and managers; to employ ships and sailors; and although the gross profit upcn it seems very high when all the charges and risks are |