[ 26 ] 
instance, by an overwhelming majority adopted the 
Lloyd George proposals, “ for the temporary and pro- 
visional settlement of the Irish difficulty,” on the 
express ground that ‘in view of all the circumstances 
of the present situation in Ireland they offer the best 
means of carrying on the fight for a United Seif- 
governed Ireland.” 
With the national acceptance of proposals formu- 
lated with the full consent of a Coalition Cabinet, 
Home Rule has, by common consent, become inevit- 
able. Even Lord Selborne, while protesting against 
immediate action, declared, “It is quite clear in my 
mind that the welfare of the whole United Kingdom 
demands that Home Rule should be given a fair 
trial” 
Mr. Bonar Law, Mr, Balfour, and Sir Edward 
Carson, Mr. Long and Lord Landsdowne, have con- 
fessed that Home Rule now on the Statute Book 
cannot be repealed. The long battle is over, the 
victory won in the face of strenuous resistance and 
repeated defeats. 
The eloquent words of Mr. Gladstone in the House 
of Commons in 1886, spoken on the very eve of fore- 
seen and inevitable defeat, have proved prophetic. 
“You have wealth [he said], you have rank, you have 
station. What have we? We think we have the people’s 
heart, we believe and know we have the promise of the 
harvest of the future. I believe there is in the breast of 
every man who means to vote against us to-night a pro- 
found misgiving, approaching even to a deep conviction 
that the end will be as we foresee it, and not as you do, that 
the ebbing tide is with you and the flowing tide is with us.” 
Mr. Gladstone’s statesmanship has triumphed, the 
issue is no longer Home Rule or no Home Rule; 
that question has been finally decided. The issue is 
now a united or a dismembered Ireland. 
Mr. Lloyd George's latest proposal was an improve- 
ment on that which went before. It proposed a