right of the
people to have a better government.

_Reform Measures in England_.--The famous Bill of Rights of 1689 in
England has always been intact in theory. It laid the foundation for
popular government in which privileges and rights of the people were
guaranteed. It may have been a good expedient to have declared that no
papist should sit upon the throne of England, thus declaring for
Protestantism, but it was far from an expression of religious
toleration. The prestige of the House of Lords, an old and
well-established aristocratic body, built upon ancient privilege and
the power of the monarchy which too frequently acknowledged
constitutional rights and then proceeded to trample upon them, made the
progress in popular government very slow.

One great gain had been made when the nation agreed to fight its
political battles in Parliament and at elections. The freedom of the
press and the freedom of speech gradually became established facts.
Among the more noted acts for the benefit of popular government was the
Reform Bill of 1832, which enlarged the elective franchise. This was
bitterly opposed by the Lords, but the persistency of the Commons won
the day and the king signed the bill. Again in 1867 the second Reform
Bill enlarged the franchise, and more modern acts of Parliament have
given greater liberties to the English people.

England opposed independent local government of Scotland and Ireland
and of her colonies. Ireland had been oppressed {416} by the malady of
English landlordism, which had always been a bone of contention in the
way of any amicable adjustment of the relations between England and
Ireland. Throughout the whole century had waged this struggle.
England at times had sought through a series of acts to relieve the
country, but the conservative element in Parliament had usually
thwarted any rational system like that proposed by Mr. Gladstone. On
the other hand, the Irish people themselves desired absolute freedom
and independence and were restive under any form of restraint.

Nothing short of entire independence from the English nation or the
establishment of home rule on some practical basis could insure peace
and contentment in Ireland. Nor in the past could one be assured at
any time that Ireland would have been contented for any length of time
had she been given or acquired what she asked for. Being forced to
support a large population on an infertile soil where landlordism
dom