28
failed.”
62
More bluntly, he charged Britain with being a good liberal on the Continent and a bad liberal at
home.
Parnell’s appeals to imperial integrity and constitutional legitimacy resonated strongly with
British Liberals, especially with the leader of the Liberal party, W.E. Gladstone. As Matthew argues,
“Irish demands were becoming systematized in a call for constitutional reform and institutionalized in a
Home Rule party which was assimilable within the ideology of British politics. Indeed…they appealed to
what was best in the British liberal tradition.” In fact “an effective Home Rule Party was bound to put the
Liberals on the spot…the demands might be disliked but they were not instantly incompatible with the
assumptions of contemporary policy makers, unless, that is, ‘Home Rule’ came to be seen as an aspect of
Fenianism….”
63
The liberals were particularly persuaded by Parnell’s claims of reciprocal rights—that only
through giving Ireland her rights could that nation become a true subject of the Empire. Many liberals
came to fear that denying Home Rule would only make the liberal position appear illegitimate. For
example in 1883 Harcourt argued that Parnell’s constitutional framing of self-government would be
problematic to the government’s legitimacy, noting that “when full expression is given to Irish opinion
there will be declared to the world…that we hold Ireland by force and by force alone.”
64
It is perhaps not surprising that Parnell’s strategy resonated with Liberals, as most in this party
were somewhat sympathetic to Home Rule. But what is surprising are the effects of these legitimation
strategies on Unionists. Even though they believed some settlement with the Irish Nationalists was
possible, Unionists remained deeply opposed to Home Rule. Up until the 1880s, Unionists had justified
this position on the grounds that Home Rule would undermine the integrity of the British Empire. Yet,
these claims of imperial integrity were being undercut by Gladstone and Parnell, who were successfully
arguing that Home Rule would not weaken but strengthen ties between Britain and Ireland.
62
The Nation, September 5, 1885.
63
Matthew 1990, cxi, in Diaries.
64
Quoted in Loughlin 1986, 180.
Convention