England. They are, in short, arguments in favour of Irish independence;
every one of them would be seen in its true character if the Irish
demand should take the form of a claim that Ireland should become
an independent nation. Meanwhile, even on the Home Rule view, the
case stands thus: the present condition of things excites Irish
discontent, and involves great evils. We have before us but three
courses:--Maintenance of the Union; the concession of Irish
independence; the concession of Home Rule to Ireland. The Home Ruler
urges that the last is the best course left open to us. To decide
whether this be so or not requires a fair examination of the
possibilities which each course presents to England.

FOOTNOTES:

[4] For the constitution of Austria-Hungary see Ulbrich's
_Oesterreich-Ungarn_ in Marquardsen's _Handbuch des Oeffentlichen
Rechts_; Francis Deák, with preface by M.E. Grant Duff; Home Rule in
Austria-Hungary, by David King, in the _Nineteenth Century_, January
1886, p. 35.

[5] Ulbrich, pp. 15, 76, 77.

[6] See Marquardsen, 28-30.

[7] This is, in my judgment, true even of such federations as the United
States or the Swiss confederacy.

[8] Froude's 'English in Ireland,' vol. 3, pp. 581, 582.

[9] See especially on this subject 1 De Beaumont, 'L'Irlande,' Partie