he imperial rights which
have been insisted on above, and maintain the position of Ireland as an
integral portion of that Empire of which Great Britain is the head. The
remaining exceptions are either subsidiary to the first four, or relate,
as is the case with exceptions 10 to 13, to matters on which it is
desirable that uniformity should exist throughout the whole Empire. The
restrictions in clause 4 are:--

"The Irish Legislature shall not make any law--

"(1.) Respecting the establishment or endowment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or

"(2.) Imposing any disability, or conferring any privilege, on account
of religious belief; or

"(3.) Abrogating or derogating from the right to establish or maintain
any place of denominational education or any denominational institution
or charity; or

"(4.) Prejudicially affecting the right of any child to attend a school
receiving public money without attending the religious instruction at
that school; or

"(5.) Impairing, without either the leave of Her Majesty in Council
first obtained on an address presented by the legislative body of
Ireland, or the consent of the corporation interested, the rights,
property, or privileges of any existing corporation incorporated by
royal charter or local and general Act of Parliament; or

"(6.) Imposing or relating to duties of customs and duties of excise, as
defined by this Act, or either of such duties, or affecting any Act
relating to such duties or either of them; or

"(7.) Affecting this Act, except in so far as it is declared to be
alterable by the Irish Legislature."

These restrictions differ from the exceptions, inasmuch as they do not
prevent the Legislature of Ireland from dealing with the subjects to
which they refer, but merely impose on it an obligation not to handle
the specified matters in a manner detrimental to the interests of
certain classes of Her Majesty's subjects. For example, restrictions 1
to 4 are practically concerned in securing religious freedom;
restriction 5 protects existing charters; restriction 6 is necessary, as
will be seen hereinafter, to carrying into effect the financial scheme
of the bill; restriction 7 is a consequence of the very framework of the
Bill: it provides for the stability of the Irish constitution, by
declaring that the Irish Legislature is not competent to alter the
constitutional act to which it owes its existence, except on those
points on which it is