mother's side, I have never been in Ireland, and for a hundred years we have had no relations with that country. For fifty-two years, at least, I have been a keen supporter of Irish nationality, and in 1867, in my rooms in Lincoln's Inn, was signed the Petition presented to Parliament by John Bright, and at the same time was formed an "Irish Society" to urge reform on the basis of (1) abolition of the Irish Established Church; (2) settlement of the land question by giving cultivators proprietary rights; (3) primary gratuitous education; (4) grants to develop the resources of Ireland. In 1886 I was Gladstonian candidate for Parliament; and in many writings, and especially in my Autobiography, I have stated facts which show that the whole of my political life has been largely devoted to Irish problems. I have been in association with the leaders of Irish reforms, both Irish and British, including Gladstone, Parnell, Morley, Dillon, O'Brien, and Redmond. I am still a believer in Irish nationality as I am a believer in English, Scottish, and Welsh nationality. In this behalf I ask British politicians to consider Mr. Pim's facts, warnings, and proposals.
Mr. Pim's study was written before the appearance of the remarkable series of letters in The Times, and of the elaborate scheme proposed by that journal. As I understand him, he agrees with its general ideas, at least as a temporary expedient, but would differ from it in important details. For myself, I wish to say, that as an Englishman, with no intimate knowledge of Irish psychology, I do not pretend to express any opinion of my own, either on the views of Mr. Pim, or those of The Times; much less would I venture on putting forth any scheme, or even, in this tangled crisis, any suggestions of my own. Like so many Englishmen who have long held on to the principle of Irish nationality, I see how this infinitely complex problem has now drifted far away from the ideas of the Home Rulers of thirty and forty years ago. Reasonable Englishmen of all parties are now ready to accept any settlement of Irish problems
