certainly taken place, these are mere repetitions of the optimistic fancies that have so often proved delusions. The great question of Home Rule, 'present' if for a time postponed, was first put forward formally by the late Isaac Butt. His 'Irish Federalism' is a thoughtful and able treatise that ought to be studied. The speeches in Parliament, from 1874 to 1885, on this subject, collected in Hansard, deserve attention; notably the violent attacks on this policy made during many years by Mr. Gladstone. Hansard, too, should be perused, after that statesman became a convert to Home Rule, for the speeches on both sides, on the Home Rule Bills of 1886 and 1893; some are of marked power and insight, though few rise to the heights of great constitutional principles. Mr. Gladstone's defence of his sudden change of front will be found in his 'History of an Idea,' a tract published soon after his defeat at the polls in 1886; he has endeavoured to vindicate his later Irish policy, in many pamphlets and speeches, in volumes collected by himself. For a masterly examination of his public conduct on matters relating to Ireland, and in some other passages in his career, I would especially direct the reader to the 'Memoirs of the late Lord Selborne,' part ii. vol. ii. pp. 339-360; Mr. Lecky's brilliant sketch in his 'Democracy and Liberty,' Cabinet Edition, Introduction, pp. 19-56, is a composition of rare excellence. Nothing is to be compared to Professor Dicey's 'England's Case against Home Rule,' and his 'Leap in the Dark,' for a thorough investigation, from the Unionist point of view, of the natural and the probable consequences of the Gladstonian Irish policy, and for an analysis of the two Home Rule Bills; few political works have attracted equal attention. There have also been many publications, on the side of the Union, of more or less merit; see 'Home Rule,' reprinted from the _Times_, containing several very able letters and papers; 'The Truth about Home Rule;' 'A Sketch of Unionist Policy;' and a number of articles in the _Edinburgh_ and the _Quarterly Review_, and in other reviews and magazines. The publications which advocate Home Rule have not been numerous; a reader may consult the 'Hand Book of Home Rule,' edited by Mr. Bryce, M.P.; 'Irish Members and English Gaolers,' and 'Combination and Coercion,' by Mr. Shaw-Lefevre; and some contributions to a few reviews and other serials.