been expressed
by me in various publications. This book is much more than a reprint;
its contents are, however, in part made up of articles which have
already been published. My thanks are due to the owners of the
_Contemporary Review_ and of the New York _Nation_ for their permission
to make free use of my contributions to the pages of their periodicals;
it is a pleasure to acknowledge the exceptional liberality with which my
friend, Mr. E.L. Godkin, has allowed me to publish on my own
responsibility in the columns of the _Nation_, opinions of which he is
himself the strenuous and most able opponent.

Nor are my acknowledgments due only to the living. Gustave de Beaumont's
'_Irelande sociale et politique_' was placed in my hands by a friend
after the plan of my argument was complete, and the writing of this book
was in fact begun. From De Beaumont I learnt more than from any other
writer on the subject of Ireland with whose works I am acquainted, and I
found to my great satisfaction that his speculations curiously confirm
the objections I was prepared to urge against the policy of Home Rule.
It is a duty to insist upon the debt I owe to De Beaumont, because at
the present moment no greater service can be rendered to Englishmen and
to Irishmen alike than to press upon them the study of an author whose
writings are far better known on the Continent than in England, and
whose thoughts, though they may seem a little out of date, are full not
only of profound wisdom but of practical guidance.

A.V. DICEY.

OCTOBER, 1886.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

NATURE OF THE ARGUMENT

CHAPTER II.

MEANING OF HOME RULE

CHAPTER III.

STRENGTH OF THE HOME RULE MOVEMENT IN ENGLAND

CHAPTER IV.

ENGLISH ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF HOME RULE.

Argument I.--From Foreign Experience
" II.--From the Will of the Irish People
" III.--From the Lessons of Irish History
" IV.--From the Virtues of Self-Government
" V.--From the Necessity for Coercion Acts
" VI.--From the Inconvenience to England of Refusing Home Rule

CHAPTER V.

THE MAINTENANCE OF THE UNION

CHAPTER VI.

SEPARATION

CHAPTER VII.

HOME RULE--ITS FORMS.

I.--Home Rule as Federalism
II.--Home Rule as Colonial Independence
III.--Home Rule as the Revival of Grattan's Constitution
IV.--Home Rule under the Gladstonian Constitution

CHAPTER VIII.

CONCLUSION

APPENDIX

CHAPTE