It was Great Britain that compelled them to remain as full voters in
full strength at the British Parliament. As long as they are there the
Irish must be expected to vote for the interests of their own religion
and their own people. But what of the sincerity of the people who,
after using the aid of the Irish to endow the Catholic and Anglican
schools in England, now raise this outcry about "Rome Rule" in Ireland?
It is vital, indeed, to point out that in these matters Home Rule for
Ireland is the only possible road to Home Rule for England also. Under
the 1912 Bill the Irish vote at Westminster is reduced to 42, and will,
if English self-government be also extended, be excluded from education
altogether. Thus the first plain and practical result of Irish Home
Rule would be not so much to give the Roman Catholics more power in
Ireland as to give the Protestants more liberty in England. But who can
doubt that it would also introduce a new element of civil power into
the schools of Ireland?[52]
NATIONALISM AND RELIGION
As to Ireland itself, indeed, there can be no doubt that the great
national wrongs of the Irish people have immensely strengthened the
hold of the Roman Catholic Church over that island during the last
century.
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