Mr. Goschen on Wednesday made a speech at Northampton, in
which he urged the electors not to forget the great issue between the majority and their opponents, and pressed above all the external danger in which the concession of a separate government to Ireland would involve the Kingdom. His speech was, in fact, almost summed up in some eloquent sen- tences pronounced before it was half-done :—" If we were free, as we never shall be free, from obligations of honour and of duty, nevertheless, as a matter of defence, as a matter which we owe to the many millions of our countrymen, we should have to say that Ireland, the outpost of the Atlantic. Ireland linked geographically to this country as it is, Ireland with its history and geography and its physical position, should never, and can never, be pat under any other Executive Government or any other Legislative Assembly than that which is the Executive Government of our United Kingdom, the Legisla- ture of Great Britain and Ireland. Sir Robert Peel, the first master of Mr. Gladstone, used splendid and eloquent words when he said,—' Physical necessity forbids-Repeal. Look at your map, look at your history, look at the conditions of your existence, and you will find that necessity forbids Repeal." In the same vein, Mr. Goschen pointed out that the party eager for Home-rule was anxious also to incur the danger of pre- maturely establishing representative government in India.
Previous page
