BookRix

My Purpose In this Volume Is To Advocate A Definite Scheme Of
Self-Government For Ireland. That Task Necessarily Involves An
Historical As Well As A Constructive Argument. It Would Be Truer,
Perhaps, To Say That The Greater Part Of The Constructive Case For Home
Rule Must Necessarily Be Historical. To Postulate A Vague Acceptance Of
The Principle Of Home Rule, And To Proceed at Once To The Details Of The
Irish Constitution, Would Be A Waste Of Time And Labour. It Is
Impossible Even To Attempt To Plan The Framework Of A Home Rule Bill
Without A Tolerably Close Knowledge Not Only Of Anglo-Irish Relations,
But Of The Imperial History Of Which They Form A Part. The Act Will
Succeed exactly In so Far As It Gives Effect To The Lessons Of
Experience. It Will Fail At Every Point Where Those Lessons Are
Neglected. Constitutions Which Do Not Faithfully Reflect The Experience
Of The Sovereign Power Which Accords Them, And Of The Peoples Which Have
To Live Under Them, Are At The Best Perilous Experiments Liable To
Defeat The End Of Their Framers.