It would be untrue to allege that the principal part of
Catholic Ireland is our active foe ; but it has risen
repeatedly against British rule ; large sections of it
can even now be made hostile to our law and govern-
ment, as has been proved by the events of yesterday ;
it has never been one with England in heart and
sympathy. On the other hand, the other parts of the
Irish community are the firmest supporters of our



THE QUESTION OF THE UNION 309

rule in Ireland, and the staunchest friends of the
British connection ; and these now include the Catholic
landed gentry, and a division of the middle class of
Catholics. In this position of affairs, is it not sheer
folly, from the British point of view, to concede
Home Rule — that is, to forego part of our sovereign
rights in Ireland, to abandon practically our existing
rule, and to make Ireland a distinct state, with a
separate Parliament and a separate Government? Is
England to reduce her strength where it is already
weak, to lessen her authority where it is even now
precarious, to restrict a dominion she has tried for
ages to extend ? This diminution of her power would
be a certain loss ; is there a reasonable chance that
it would be an ultiniate gain? Home Rule means,
from the nature of the case, that the mass of Catholic
Ireland, still unfriendly to us, shall be suddenly placed
in a new position, in which it will be supreme in the
country. Is a dangerous and hostile ascendency like
this the true means to secure our influence ? Is it
not far more probable that it would create a hostile
state on our very borders, than that it would make
Ireland a loyal part of the Empire ? The shameful
baseness, too, of a surrender like this — as when de-
caying Rome abandoned her still faithful provinces —
would necessarily have the worst results for England.
