come forth from Salem House--and Mr. Creakle. He is seen in
full force, of course, in the Protestant North; but throughout
Ireland he is a prominent figure of the English garrison. Him the
Irish see, see him only too much and too often"--and to see him
is to dislike him, and the country which sent him forth.

Is there not a touch of Murdstone and Creakle in the present dealings
of Parliament with Ireland? Forces greater than that of Salem House
have decreed that Ireland is to have self-government, and have
converted--for the astonishment of after-ages--Mr. Balfour and
Lord Curzon into Home Rulers. Surely, if there is one question
which, more conspicuously than another, a nation is entitled to
settle for itself it is the question whether military service shall
be compulsory. True, the legislative machinery of Home Rule is not
yet in action; but legislative machinery is not the only method
by which national sentiment can be ascertained. To introduce
conscription into Ireland by an Act of the Imperial Parliament,
after you have conceded to the Irish their claim to have a Parliament
of their own, may not indeed be a breach of faith, but it surely
is a breach of manners and good sense.

VII

_FREEDOM'S NEW FRIENDS_

Many, said the Greek proverb, are they who bear the mystic reed,
but few are the true bacchanals. Many, in the present day, are
they who make an outward display of devotion to Liberty, but few,
methinks, are her real worshippers. "We are fighting for Freedom"
is a cry which rises from the most unexpected quarters; and, though
'twere ungracious to question its sincerity, we must admit that
this generous enthusiasm is of very recent growth.

Liberty has always had her friends in England; but where she could
count one, Authority could count two.[*] Five years ago, how many
Englishmen really cared for Liberty, not rendering her mere lip-service,
but honestly devoting themselves to her sacred cause? If you polled
the nation from top to bottom, how many liberty-lovers would you
find? At one election their number, as disclosed by the polls,
would rise, at another it would sink. At the best of times, if you
divide the nation into strata, you would find large sections in
which Liberty had no worshippers and very few friends. It had long
been one of the bad signs of the times that the love of Liberty had
almost ceased to animate what are called, in the odious language of
social convention, "the upper classes."