[102] Of course I do not for a moment dispute the legal right of Parliament to repeal all or any of the articles of the Treaty of Union with Ireland. I am writing now not upon the law, but upon the ethics of the constitution. My contention is, that, as things stand, the undoubted assent of Great Britain (or even perhaps of England, in the narrower sense) is morally requisite for the repeal or at any rate for the remodelling of the Treaty of Union. Note that Ireland would stand morally and logically in a stronger position if demanding Separation than when demanding a revision of the Act of Union. An example shows my meaning. _A, B_, and _C_ form a partnership. _A_ is by far the richest, and _C_ by far the poorest of the firm. _C_ finds the terms of partnership onerous. He may have a moral right to retire, but certainly he cannot have a moral, and would hardly under any system of law have a legal, right to say, 'I do not want to leave the firm, but I insist that the terms of partnership be remodelled wholly in my favour.' Nor again is it conceivable that _B_ and _C_ by uniting together could in fairness claim to impose upon _A_ disadvantages the burden of which he had never intended to accept. [103] See pp. 22-31, _ante_. [104] 'But who proposed that Ireland should be anything else than an integral part of the United Kingdom (Ministerial cheers), or rather of the Empire?' (Opposition cheers).--Mr. Sexton, April 20, 1893, _Times Parliamentary Debates_, p. 522. The confusion of ideas and the hesitation implied in Mr. Sexton's expressions are noteworthy. [105] England adhered with absolute fidelity to her renunciation of the right to legislate for Ireland. Whatever were the other flaws in the Treaty of Union, it was no violation either of 22 Geo. III. c. 63, or of 23 Geo. III. c. 28. The worst features of the method by which the Act of Union was carried would have been avoided had the English Parliament resumed the right to legislate for Ireland. The Treaty of Union depends on Acts both of the British and of the Irish Legislature. This is elementary but has escaped the attention of Mr. Sexton (see _Times Parliamentary Debates_, Feb. 13, 1893, p. 319), whose investigations into the history of his country are apparently recent. [106] "The plan that was to be proposed was to be such as, at least in the judgment of its promoters, presented the necessary characteristics--I will not say of finality, because it is a discredited word--but of a real and continuing settlement."--Mr. Gladstone, Feb. 13, 1893, _Times Parliamentary Debates_, p. 303. [107] See Mr. Gladstone's Irish Constitution, _Contemporary Review_, May, 1886, p. 616. CHAPTER IV PLEAS FOR THE NEW CONSTITUTION