An author who publishes a book having any reference to Irish affairsmay, not unnaturally, be supposed either to possess some specialknowledge of Ireland, or else to be the advocate of some new specificfor the cure of Irish discontent. Of neither of these suppositions can Iclaim the benefit. My knowledge of Ireland is merely theknowledge—perhaps it were better to say the ignorance—of an educatedEnglishman. It is derived from conversation with better informedfriends, from careful attention to the discussions on Irish policy whichfor the last eighteen years have engrossed public attention, and frombooks accessible to ordinary readers. If I can claim no specialacquaintance with Ireland, still less have I the presumption or thefolly to come forward as the inventor of any political nostrum. Myjustification for publishing my thoughts on Home Rule is that themovement in favour of the Parliamentary independence of Irelandconstitutes, whether its advocates recognise the fact or not, a demandfor fundamental alterations in the whole Constitution of the UnitedKingdom; and while I may without presumption consider myself moderatelyacquainted with the principles of Constitutional law, I entertain thefirmest conviction that any scheme for Home Rule in Ireland involvesdangerous if not fatal innovations on the Constitution of Great Britain.
To set forth the reasons for this opinion is the object of this work.The opinion itself, whatever its worth, is not the growth of recentcontroversy; it has been entertained for years, and has been expressedby me in various publications. This book is much more than a reprint;its contents are, however, in part made up of articles which havealready been published. My thanks are due to the owners of theContemporary Review and of the New York Nation for their permissionto make free use of my contributions to the pages of their periodicals;it is a pleasure to acknowledge the exceptional liberality with which myfriend, Mr. E.L. Godkin, has allowed me to publish on my ownresponsibility in the columns of the Nation, opinions of which he ishimself the strenuous and most able opponent.
Nor are my acknowledgments due only to the living. Gustave de Beaumont's'Irelande sociale et politique' was placed in my hands by a friendafter the plan of my argument was complete, and the writing of this bookwas in fact begun. From De Beaumont I learnt more than from any otherwriter on the subject of Ireland with whose works I am acquainted, and Ifound to my great satisfaction that his speculations curiously confirmthe objections I was prepared to urge against the policy of Home Rule.It is a duty to insist upon the debt I owe to De Beaumont, because atthe present moment no greater service can be rendered to Englishmen andto Irishmen alike than to press upon them the study of an author whosewritings are far better known on the Continent than in England, andwhose thoughts, though they may seem a little out of date, are full notonly of profound wisdom but of practical guidance.
A.V. DICEY.
OCTOBER, 1886.