give rise to
a whole series of judgments, and to lengthy books explanatory thereof.
The language in which the Restrictions are expressed is in many cases
exceptionable. No lawyer will venture to predict what for instance may
be the interpretation placed by the Courts on such expressions as 'due
process of law,' 'just compensation,' and the like, and it is more than
doubtful whether the so-called safeguards are so expressed as to carry
out the intention of their authors, or, even in words, adequately to
protect either the authority of the Imperial Parliament or the rights of
individuals. But it is not my purpose to criticise the Restrictions, or
the Bill itself, in detail. The drafting of the Government of Ireland
Bill needs much amendment, but at the present juncture it is waste of
time to criticise defects removable by better draftmanship or by slight
changes in the substance of the measure. My object is to dwell on such
points relating to the Restrictions as show their bearing on the
character of the new constitution.[70]

_First._ The Restrictions are one and all of them limits upon the
powers of the Irish Parliament; they are none of them limits upon the
powers of the Irish Executive. The new constitution does not
contain--from its nature it hardly could contain--a single safeguard
against abuse of power by the Irish Ministry or its servants. Yet in all
countries there is far more reason to dread executive than parliamentary
oppression, and this is emphatically true of Ireland.

_Secondly._ The Restrictions contain no prohibition against the passing
of an Act of Indemnity.

Yet of all the laws which a Legislature can pass an Act of Indemnity is
the most likely to produce injustice. It is on the face of it the
legislation of illegality; the hope of it encourages acts of vigour, but
it also encourages violations of law and of humanity. The tale of
Flogging Fitzgerald in Ireland, or the history of Governor Eyre in
Jamaica, is sufficient to remind us of the deeds of lawlessness and
cruelty which in a period of civil conflict may be inspired by
recklessness or panic, and may be pardoned by the retrospective sympathy
or partisanship of a terror-stricken or vindictive Legislature.
Circumstances no doubt may arise in Ireland, as in other countries,
under which the maintenance of order or the protection of life may
excuse or require deviation from the strict rules of legality. But the
question, whether these circumstances