1885. Self-government, we had come to see, was the only alternative to
Coercion, and now Coercion was gone. The other was the General Election
of December, 1885, when newly-enfranchised Ireland, through five-sixths
of her representatives, demanded a Parliament of her own.

These were not, as is sometimes alleged, conclusions of despair. We were
mostly persons of a cautious and conservative turn of mind, as men
imbued with the spirit of the British Constitution ought to be. The
first thing was to convince us that the existing relations of the
islands were faulty, and could not be maintained. This was a negative
result, and while we remained in that stage we were despondent. Many
Liberal members will remember the gloom that fell on us in 1882 and 1883
whenever we thought or spoke of Ireland. But presently the clouds
lifted. We still felt the old objections to any Home Rule scheme, though
we now saw that they were less formidable than the evils of the present
system. But we came to feel that the grant of self-government was a
right thing in itself. It was not merely a means of ridding ourselves of
our difficulties, not merely a boon yielded because long demanded. It
was a return to broad and deep principles, a conformity to those
natural laws which govern human society as well as the inanimate
world--an effort to enlist the better and higher feelings of mankind in
the creation of a truer union between the two nations than had ever yet
existed. When we perceived this, hope returned. It is strong with us
now, for, though we see troubles, perhaps even dangers, in the immediate
future, we are confident that the principles on which Liberal policy
towards Ireland is based will in the long run work out a happy issue for
her, as they have in and for every other country that has trusted to
them.

One last word as to Consistency. We learnt in the Parliament of 1880