Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Note on capitalization
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Home Rule as a ‘crisis of public conscience’
- 2 ‘That great cause of justice’: Home Rule in the context of domestic Liberal and radical politics
- 3 Constitutional Nationalism and popular liberalism in Ireland
- 4 ‘Giving stability to popular opinion’? Radicalism and the caucus in Britain and Ireland
- 5 Joseph and his brethren: the rise and fall of Radical Unionism
- 6 Social radicalism and the revival of the Gladstonian ‘popular front’
- 7 Democracy and the politics of humanitarianism
- Bibliography
- Index
2 - ‘That great cause of justice’: Home Rule in the context of domestic Liberal and radical politics
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Note on capitalization
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Home Rule as a ‘crisis of public conscience’
- 2 ‘That great cause of justice’: Home Rule in the context of domestic Liberal and radical politics
- 3 Constitutional Nationalism and popular liberalism in Ireland
- 4 ‘Giving stability to popular opinion’? Radicalism and the caucus in Britain and Ireland
- 5 Joseph and his brethren: the rise and fall of Radical Unionism
- 6 Social radicalism and the revival of the Gladstonian ‘popular front’
- 7 Democracy and the politics of humanitarianism
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
That the object of the League shall be. To enlighten the British Public as to the Political Condition and Relations of Foreign Countries; To disseminate the Principles of National Freedom and Progress; To embody and manifest an efficient Public Opinion in favour of the Right of every People to Self-government and the maintenance of their own Nationality; To promote a good understanding between the Peoples of all Countries.
It is the custom to attribute the strength of the popular feeling [in favour of Home Rule] to the overwhelming personal popularity of Mr Gladstone, and there can be no doubt that his identification with the cause of justice to Ireland has contributed immediately to its creation. But not wholly. Nations are not moved to enthusiasm unless there is an undercurrent of strong motive. The truth is that the people have now been awakened for the first time to the enormity of the injustice which has been done to Ireland; and the popular mind is possessed with an intense and passionate desire to render generous, if tardy, justice. There is all the emotion of strongly-stirred sympathies; and the tide surges around the only man who can give legislative expression to popular sentiment.
Before the ‘Hawarden kite’
At the beginning of the Home Rule crisis Chamberlain expressed the view that ‘[i]n this great controversy there are three powerful influences all working in favour of the Gladstone's Bills’.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- British Democracy and Irish Nationalism 1876–1906 , pp. 50 - 107Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007