ritain are conspicuous by their absence in the case of
Ireland. The ties of common interest which are not less strong in the
matter of her colonial possessions are, albeit in existence as far as
Great Britain and Ireland are concerned, obscured and vitiated by the
system of taxation which makes the poorer country contribute to the
joint expenses at a rate altogether disproportionate to her means, and
which, while making her in this wise pay the piper, in no sense allows
her to call the tune.

Never has there been applied in Ireland that doctrine which the _Times_
enunciated so sententiously half a century ago in speaking of the Papal
States--"The destiny of a nation ought to be determined not by the
opinions of other nations but by the opinion of the nation itself. To
decide whether they are well governed or not is for those who live under
that government." If the _Times_ were to apply the wisdom of these words
to the situation in Ireland instead of screaming "Separatism" at every
breath of a suggestion of the extension of democratic principles in
Ireland, it would take steps to secure a condition of things under which
the people would not be alienated and would be a source of strength and
not of weakness.

Writing in that paper in 1880, at a time when Ireland was seething with
lawlessness, Charles Gordon declared--"I must say that the state of our
countrymen in the parts I have named is worse than that of any people in
the world, let alone Europe. I believe that these people are made as we
are, that they are patient beyond belief, loyal but broken-spirited and
desperate; lying on the verge of starvation where we would not keep
cattle."

On the day after the murder of Mr. Burke in the Phoenix Park a permanent
Civil Servant was sent straight from the admiralty to take his place as
Under Secretary. Sir Robert Hamilton who served in Dublin in those
trying conditions became a convinced Home Ruler, as did his chief, Lord
Spencer; and it is generally said to have been Sir Robert who converted
Mr. Gladstone to Home Rule. On the return to power of the Conservatives,
after the defeat of the Home Rule Bill of 1886, Sir Robert Hamilton was
retired, and in his stead Sir Redvers Buller was sent to rule Ireland
_manu militari_. This officer, on being examined by Lord Cowper's
Commission, expressed his opinion that the National League had been the
tenants' best, if not their only, friend. "You have got," he said, "a
very ignorant,