logical. The practical consequence
was the increase in numbers and weight of the Irish party in Parliament
hostile to Parliament itself. The logical consequence was the duty of
complying with the wishes of the enfranchised nation. Whatever reasons
were good for giving this enlarged suffrage to the Irish masses, were
good for respecting the will which they might use to express it. If the
Irish were deemed fit to exercise the same full constitutional rights
in legislation as the English, must they not be fit for the same rights
of trial by jury, a free press, and all the privileges of personal
freedom?

Of these two courses the Cabinet chose the latter, those of its members
whom we must suppose, from the language they now hold, to have then
hesitated, either stifling their fears or not apprehending the
consequences of their boldness. It might have been expected, and indeed
was generally expected, that the Tory party would refuse to follow. They
talked largely about the danger of an extended Irish suffrage, and
pointed out that it would be a weapon in the hands of disloyalty. But
when the moment for resistance came, they swerved, and never divided in
either House against the application of the Bill to Ireland. They might
have failed to defeat the measure; but they would have immensely
strengthened their position, logically and morally, had they given
effect by their votes to the sentiments they were known to entertain,
and which not a few Liberals shared.

The effect of this uncontested grant to Ireland of a suffrage
practically universal was immense upon our minds, and the longer we
reflected on it the more significant did it become. It meant to us that
the old methods were abandoned, and, as we supposed, for ever. We had
deliberately given the Home Rule party arms against English control far
more powerful than they previously possessed. We had deliberately
asserted our faith in the Irish people. Impossible after this to fall
back on Coercion Bills. Impossible to refuse any request compatible with
the general safety of the United Kingdom, which Ireland as a nation
might prefer. Impossible to establish that system of Crown Colony
Government which we had come to perceive was the only real and solid
alternative to self-government. To those of us who had been feeling that
the Irish difficulty was much the greatest of all England's
difficulties, this stood out beyond the agitation of the autumn and the
compromise of the win