which they so long and so disastrously abused. The traditions of a great policy, and the possession of illustrious names, may not prevent some of these gentlemen from strengthening the hands of their natural enemies. They are not many in number, or strong in ability. The Laird of Ballykilbeg, who is much the best known as well as the best endowed of the Orange leaders, has been astute enough to keep clear of this bastard Repeal muddle. He knows perfectly well that at the end of seventy years of Union we are not 'the most discontented, the most distracted, and, with all our great advantages, the poorest country in Europe.' As to our great advantages, what are they? We have little or no coal, and very few mines worth anything. Our climate in general is ill-suited to wheat. If we have some of the finest land in Europe, we have also a great deal of the worst. Our sea-fisheries are improving, but they are far from the London market, and would not be any nearer if the Union were repealed. With out coal, manufactures can never be newly established, except under great disadvantages. It is to farming, and especially pasturage and green crops, that we must continue to devote ourselves. A nation whose staple manufactures are beef, mutton, bacon, and butter, may be comfortable and contented (which is better than much fine gold), but it can hardly be very rich. It is cruelty to tell the people that Government is responsible for the acts of Nature. It was before the Union that English commercial jealousies ruined Irish manufactures. Modern statesmen would restore them if they could, but they cannot. What is the use of crying over spilt

milk?

magistrates are appointed? The position is much sought after, the pay being good and the work not overwhelming. On the other hand, the responsibility is great. They control the police, and in Ireland this means a great deal; for our police force is really a gendarmerie-an army of occupation in disturbed districts, and one of observation for those which, though ordinarily peaceful, are subject to occasional fits of warlike fanaticism. Between the English rural policeman, a parochial person on excellent terms with his neighbours, and the Irish constable, drilled like a guardsman, armed with a Snider carbine, paid and directed from the Castle, there is little or no analogy. It may be mentioned, casually, that our large domestic army of men is paid out of the Consolidated Fund. Does Mr. Butt intend to transfer this to the local exchequer, or is he sanguine enough to believe that we shall not require the constabulary when Federalism has suddenly converted us to peaceful ways? In England the county policeman has to deal with thieves and tramps, and such small deer. If there is a murder, everyone is a special constable for the occasion. In Ireland there is happily very little ordinary crime, but agrarian outrage and an occasional conspiracy have to be guarded against. Our rulers have discovered or imagined that the local magistrates, of course usually landlords, are obnoxious to the secret societies, and cannot administer the criminal law with safety to themselves. Or perhaps it is supposed, not without good reason it must be confessed, that at times of great religions and political excitement Protestants and local magnates would not command popular confidence. When we read what Arthur Young says of justices of the peace at the time of his Irish tour, we cannot be surprised that there should be a traditional distrust of the class. It would not

There are plenty of institutions calling for reform in Ireland without pulling down the political structure altogether. What can be worse than the way in which resident

be easy to find a case since the Union of one gentleman challenging another on account of his independent conduct in the magisterial office. At all events everything is studiously transferred to paid officials. And how are these functionaries appointed? For good service as police officers? No: that is but occasionally the case. For proved zeal and ability in the service of the Crown? No: that is seldom considered. How, then, are they chosen? The answer must be, from interest only. Well-connected military officers who retire from the army when they marry are often appointed. Sometimes they do exceedingly well, sometimes very ill. The promptness and active habits of a soldier fit him for the disagreeable work of attending fairs which are held at five o'clock in the morning, of keeping the peace at elections, and of going out at night at a summons from the police to take a dying deposition. He is not, however, always so well suited for presiding at a petty sessions bench. A barrister, on the other hand, is likely to have acquired sedentary habits. Then there are a good many who are made resident magistrates because they are fit for nothing else. People in England ought to know that in a part of the kingdom where paid magistrates do most of the work, and are trusted with all the authority, fitness for their posts is one of the very last things consulted at their appointment. It is quite certain that the peace of many districts is practically in the hands of men who, either from original incompetence or from age, are perfectly unable to manage them. We may, however, be tolerably confident that if these appointments were controlled by a local legislature, they would be more than ever the rewards for political or personal services.

Then as to the local taxation. It is in a very absurd state. The Sheriff is appointed by the Judge

of Assize. of Assize. He appoints the Grand Jury, and that body administers the county funds. This feudal House that Jack built does not shelter jobbery as it did before the Union; but the system is still an extremely unsatisfactory one. No financial authority at all exists from one assize to another. It would be very much conducive to economy in other matters if the preliminaries of private legislation were carried on in Dublin instead of in London. There is no reason why parties interested in railway or gas bills should have to drag their witnesses before a committee at Westminster, when a permanent court would do the work much better at home. This of course would have to be decided on more general grounds, but the new mode of trying election petitions is a precedent pointing in the direction of decentralisation.

More important by far than any other Irish question is that of National Education. A really efficient system would do more for us than anything. But that potent instrument of civilisation has not yet been forged. Much has been done, but more remains to do. The great difficulty is the pressure of fanaticism on either side. Ireland, torn into factions, has not spoken at all on the question. If her representatives were agreed upon any basis of arrangement, the Imperial Parliament would probably adopt it without much difficulty. It is much easier, as well as more exciting, to frame new constitutions than to consider practical matters and confront practical difficulties.

Those whose energies scorn to be confined to utility may perhaps be convinced by the opinion of the highest living authority on theoretical politics with regard to the question of Federalism. The reputation of Mr. Mill is deservedly very high in Ireland. His popularity is, indeed, largely owing to a pamphlet which he unfortunately published at the height of the Land

independence had great historic foundations. Her peculiar laws, her religious tendencies, her local institutions, her Parliament, and her Lords of Articles, were all the natural growth of the soil. Finally, it was her king that came to reign over both nations. What possible comparison can there be between her case and that of modern Ireland? Nor must it be forgotten that the struggle which ended in the great disaster of Dunbar was a war between England and Scotland. The Scotch were originally called in by an English party. When they attempted to act independently, they were ruthlessly and finally crushed. Much as he hated Cromwell, Clarendon as an Englishman cannot conceal his delight. When the 'auld sang' came to an end at last, it cannot be doubted that the smaller country was the one which gained most by the change.

There is a class of Irish politicians who much affect everything American. Putting aside the number of the States and the immense natural resources of the country, which alone would render their example useless for Ireland, to what has the Union chiefly owed its stability? Without doubt to the Supreme Court. The Dred Scott case damaged the institution a little, and a recent financial decision gives grave cause for apprehension. Still the Supreme Court has worked well. The Americans have an almost superstitious admiration for this great tribunal. Clad in wisdom and justice, as it sprang from the brains of Hamilton and Madison, so it has on the whole remained to this day.

Now, how are Imperial matters

to fare in Federal Ireland? In old times the Crown was nearly absolute by means of a standing army, and not unfrequently exercised the right of ultimate appeal to brute force. In what some people think the great era of Irish parliamentary independence the same result was obtained by chicane and bribery. The letters of Lord Chesterfield and Lord Castlereagh, the works of Swift, and periodical effusions like Baratariana, all concur upon this point. The system of mere force or of mere trickery would hardly do in modern times. We must invent some arbitrator to decide between the pretensions of local and Imperial authority. Anyone who knows Ireland knows that it would be utterly impossible to devise any tribunal which would give satisfaction in both islands, or indeed in the four provinces of the smaller one. With the existing materials the task must be abandoned in despair. Recent events show clearly enough that where a great majority of Irishmen have made up their minds that there is a grievance the Imperial Parliament will apply a remedy. Every great reform has been made since the Union and through the Union. Formerly statesmen could only govern Ireland through an Irish party, to whose worst excesses they were perforce blind. Besides, if we would abrogate the constitution, we could not; the thing is manifestly impossible. Let those who are temporarily allured by this new phantom reflect impartially, and they can scarcely fail to conclude that any form of Repeal would be disastrous, and that of all forms Federalism would be by far the worst.