the rights hitherto enjoyed by the minority in Ireland, and they are
even more significant as an illustration of the policy of the Roman
curia. Those who have watched the steady increase of Roman aggression in
every Roman Catholic country, followed as it has been by passionate
protest and determined action by the civil Governments, must realise the
danger which Home Rule would bring to the faith and liberty of the
people of Ireland. It is not inconsistent to urge, as many of us have
urged, that Home Rule would mean alike a danger to the Protestant faith
and a menace to Catholic power. The immediate result of successful Papal
interference with civil liberties in every land has been a sweeping
movement among the people which has been, not Protestant, but
anti-Christian in its nature. If we fear the tyranny which the Roman
Catholic Church has established under British rule in Malta and in
Quebec, may we not fear also the reaction from such tyranny which has
already taken place in France and Portugal.

But we are told that there are to be in the new Home Rule Bill
safeguards which will protect the minority from any interference with
their civil and religious liberties. It is not necessary for me to go
over again in detail the ground which is so admirably covered by Mr.
George Cave and Mr. James Campbell. They show clearly that the existence
of restrictions and limitations upon the activities of a Dublin
Parliament, whether they are primarily intended to safeguard the British
connection or to protect the liberties of minorities, cannot be worth
the paper on which they are printed. Let us take, for instance, an
attempt to prevent the marriages of Irish Protestants from being
invalidated by an Irish Parliament. We may point out that an amendment
to the 1893 Home Rule Bill, designed to safeguard such marriages, was
rejected by the vote of the Irish Nationalist party. But even were
legislation affecting the marriage laws of the minority to be placed