That he should love his country is natural and noble, a theme so high as to be worthy of Mr Kipling or even Mr Alfred Austin himself.

That we should love ours is a sort of middle term between treason and insanity.

It is as if a lover were to insist that no poems should be written to any woman except _his_ mistress.

It is as if he were to put the Coercion Act in force against anyone found shedding tears over the sufferings of any mother except _his_ mother.

In fact it is the sort of domineering thick-headedness that never fails to produce disloyalty.
The national idea, then, is the foundation of the "case for Home Rule." It might indeed be styled the whole case, but this anthem of nationality may be transposed into many keys.