France, the Irish House of Commons resolves that Ireland sympathises
with France, that Ireland disapproves of all alliance with Germany, that
she has no interest in war, and wishes to stand neutral; or suppose
that, taking another line, the Irish Parliament at the approach of
hostilities resolves that the people of Ireland assert their inherent
right to arm volunteers, or raise an army in their own defence. No
English Minister can allege with truth that these resolutions or a score
more of the same kind are a breach of the constitution; yet such
resolutions will not be without their effect in England; they cannot be
without their effect abroad; in many parts of Ireland they will have
more than the authority of an Act of Parliament.

Assume, for the purpose of my argument, that the Irish Parliament always
acts absolutely within the limits or the letter of the constitution,
though to make this assumption is to substitute unreasonable hopes for
rational expectations. What Englishmen should note, because they do not
yet understand it, is that within the limits of the constitution the
Irish Cabinet and the Irish Parliament possess and must possess the most
extensive powers, and that these powers may be used in ways which would
surprise and shock the British public, and impede and weaken the action
of the Imperial, or English, Government.


D. _The Restrictions (or Safeguards) and the Obligations_

I. _Their Nature_. The limitations on the power of the Irish Legislature
are of a twofold character.

The Restrictions contained in clause 3 of the Bill are intended to
restrain the Irish Parliament from acting as the representative body of