Mr. Gladstone then rose and pointed out that for ten
years back the Liberals had been endeavouring to put the Irish franchise on an equal footing with that of Great Britain, so that it was most 'unjust to invent a new Kilmainham treaty to account for the inclusion of Ireland in this Bill. In the belief of the Government, there was but one course which would tend to reconcile the feelings and sympathies of the Irish people with the " nvincibles," and that course would be to deny the advantages of the Union to the Irish people. Narrowing the franchise was not a protection against revolu- tion, as the Government of Louis Philippe in France had
proved. He ventured even to rejoice that Ireland would not submit to be treated on a footing of inequality in the Union ; and it seemed to him absurd, as well as ungenerous, to grudge the Irish equal representative privileges on the plea that if they used them they would force on a dissolution of the Union. Great Britain was quite strong enough to hold her own against Ireland, even if Ireland were all against us ; but. there was one other item which bore weight in the scale ; "Let us be as strong in right as we are in population, in wealth, and in historic traditions, and then we shall not fear to do justice to Ireland."
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