CHAPTER I.
OLD AND NEW CONSTITUTION The Home Rule Bill[5] contains a New Constitution for the whole United Kingdom.[6] The Bill bears on its face that its object is 'to amend the provision for the Government of Ireland'; it is entitled 'The Irish Government Act, 1893'; it is in popular language known as the Home Rule Bill.

But all these descriptions are misleading.

It is in truth a measure which affects the government alike of England, of Scotland, and of Ireland.
It changes, to some extent the form, but to a far greater extent the working, and the spirit of all our institutions.

It is a bold attempt to form a new constitution for the whole United Kingdom; it subverts the very bases of the existing constitution of England.
The present constitution of the United Kingdom is marked and has long been marked by two essential characteristics, the one positive and the other negative.
The positive characteristic is the absolute and effective authority of the Imperial Parliament throughout the length and breadth of the United Kingdom.
To this characteristic Englishmen are so accustomed that they hardly recognise its full importance.

A government may make its power felt in three different ways--by the action of the Executive, including under that head all the agents of the Executive, such as the judiciary and the armed forces--by legislation--and by the levying of taxes.