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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..349eb30 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #60895 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60895) diff --git a/old/60895-8.txt b/old/60895-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 5939d5f..0000000 --- a/old/60895-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,13482 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Charles Stewart Parnell, by Katharine O'Shea - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Charles Stewart Parnell - His Love Story and Political Life - -Author: Katharine O'Shea - -Release Date: January 9, 2020 [EBook #60895] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLES STEWART PARNELL *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines - - - - - - - - -[Frontispiece: CHARLES STEWART PARNELL Taken in the sitting-room at -Wonersh Lodge, Eltham by Mrs. Parnell] - - - -CHARLES STEWART PARNELL - -His Love Story and Political Life - -BY - -KATHARINE O'SHEA - -(Mrs. Charles Stewart Parnell) - - - - "_No common soul was his; for good or ill - There was a mighty power_" - HAWKSHAW--_Sonnet IX_ - - - - CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD - London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne - 1921 - - - - - First published in Two Volumes 1914 - One Volume Edition 1921 - - - - - DEDICATED TO - LOVE - - Had the whole rich world been in my power, - I should have singled out thee, only thee, - From the whole world's collected treasury." - MOORE - - - - -_PUBLISHERS' NOTE_ - -_Of all the love stories in history possibly none had more intense -reactions upon politics than that of Charles Stewart Parnell and -Katharine O'Shea, which is unfolded with candour so compelling in -this record of their life._ - -_The engrossing interest in Ireland has demanded a new and popular -edition of Mrs. Parnell's book. No real comprehension of the Irish -question is possible without a thorough knowledge of Parnell's life -and his part in the creation of the modern Home Rule movement; and no -intimate knowledge of Parnell's character and the springs of his -policy during the critical decade of the 'eighties can be had without -studying the revelations of his correspondence with his wife._ - -_In this edition some abridgment has been necessary to bring the book -within the compass of a single volume. The less material parts of -Mrs. Parnell's narrative of her own girlhood have been curtailed, and -the long correspondence of Captain O'Shea has been summarised in a -note appended to Chapter xxvii. One or two omissions are indicated -in footnotes. The text has been subject to no other interference._ - - _La Belle Sauvage, - September_, 1921. - - - - -{ix} - -MRS. PARNELL'S PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION - -On October 6th, 1891, nearly twenty-three years ago, Charles Stewart -Parnell died in the arms of his wife; nearly twenty-three years ago -the whole of the civilized world awoke to laud--or to condemn--the -dead chief. It ranked him with the greatest heroes, or with the -vilest sinners, of the world, because he had found and kept the haven -of her arms with absolute disregard of that world's praise or blame, -till death, the only power greater than the love that held him there, -tore him from them. - -And then the hate that followed him to the grave turned to the woman -he had loved, to vent upon her its baffled spleen; not considering -that such a man as he would keep the heart of his wife as closely in -death as he had kept it in life, so closely that none could come near -it, so secretly that none could find the way to plant therein a -sting. And so for these more than twenty-two years, I, his wife, -have lived upon memories so happy and so precious that, after time -had brought back some meaning to my life, I took a certain pleasure -in reading all men had to say of him whom they so little knew. Never -in all the "lives," "articles," or "appreciations" I read had there -been one that could say--or one that desired to say--that Parnell was -not a man who stands out sharp and clear from other men for good or -ill. - -But now, after all these years, one of Parnell's erstwhile followers -has arisen to explain to another generation that Parnell was not -really such a man as this, that he {x} was one of Ireland's eternal -failures. One who held her dear indeed, but one who balanced her -welfare against the clutches of a light o' love with all the -foolishness of callow degeneracy, so fondly imagined chivalry by the -weak. Not a man who gave his country his whole life, and found the -peace and courage of that life in the heart of the woman he loved. -No, that is how a man lives and loves, whether in secret or before -the whole world. That is how Parnell lived and loved, and now after -these long years I break my silence lest the unmanly echo of excuse -given forth by Mr. O'Brien in an age that loves excuse may cling -about the name of the man I loved. It is a very poignant pain to me -to give to the world any account of the sacred happiness of eleven -years of my life and of the agony of sorrow that once seemed too -great to bear; but I have borne it, and I am so near him now that I -fear to leave near the name of that proud spirit the taint of excuse -that he loathed. - -Parnell never posed as "rather the victim than the destroyer of a -happy home," as Mr. O'Brien suggested in the _Cork Free Press_ of -last year, and he maintained to the last day of his life that he -suffered no "dishonour and discredit" in making the woman he loved -his own. - -And because Parnell contravened certain social laws, not regarding -them as binding him in any way, and because I joined him in this -contravention since his love made all else of no account to me, we -did not shrink at the clamour of the upholders of those outraged -laws, nor resent the pressing of the consequences that were -inevitable and always foreseen. The freedom of choice we had -ourselves claimed we acknowledged for others, and were wise enough to -smile if, in some instances, the greatness of our offence was loudly -proclaimed by those who he {xi} knew lived in a freedom of love more -varied than our own. For the hypocrisy of those statesmen and -politicians who, knowing for ten years that Parnell was my lover, had -with the readiest tact and utmost courtesy accepted the fact as -making a sure and safe channel of communication with him, whom they -knew as a force to be placated; for those who, when the time came to -stand by him in order to give Ireland the benefits they had promised -him for her, repudiated him from under the cloak of the religion they -thereby forswore, he, and I with him, felt a contempt unspeakable. - -In this book I am giving to the public letters so sacred to my lover -and myself that no eyes other than our own should ever have seen -them, but that my son was jealous for his father's honour, and that I -would not my lover's life should seem in these softer days a lesser -thing, beset with fears and indecisions that he did not know. I -have, lived in those eleven years of Parnell's love so constantly -that nothing has been lost to me of them, and the few details of them -that I give will show a little of what manner of man he was, while -still I keep for my own heart so much that none shall ever know but -he and I. - -In regard to the political aspect of the book those who know the -Irish history of those days will understand. My lover was the leader -of a nation in revolt, and, as I could, I helped him as "King's -Messenger" to the Government in office. It has been erroneously said -by some of the Irish Party that I "inspired" certain measures of his, -and biased him in various ways politically. Those who have said so -did not know the man, for Parnell was before all a statesman; -absolutely convinced of his policy and of his ability to carry that -policy to its logical conclusion. Self-reliant and far-seeing, the -master of his own mind. - -{xii} - -I was never a "political lady," and, apart from him, I have never -felt the slightest interest in politics, either Irish or English, and -I can honestly say that except for urging him to make terms with the -Government in order to obtain his liberation from prison, I did not -once throughout those eleven years attempt to use my influence over -him to "bias" his public life or politics; nor, being convinced that -his opinions and measures were the only ones worth consideration, was -I even tempted to do so. In my many interviews with Mr. Gladstone I -was Parnell's messenger, and in all other work I did for him it was -understood on both sides that I worked for Parnell alone. - -KATHARINE PARNELL. - -_Brighton, April_, 1914. - - - - -{xiii} - -CONTENTS - -CHAPTER - -1. MY EARLY LIFE - -2. VISITORS AT RIVENHALL - -3. MY FATHER'S DEATH AND MY MARRIAGE - -4. A DAY ON THE DOWNS - -5. MORE FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES - -6. CAPTAIN O'SHEA ENTERS POLITICAL LIFE - -7. MR. PARNELL AND THE IRISH PARTY - -8. THE FIRST MEETING WITH MR. PARNELL - -9. AT ELTHAM - -10. THE LAND LEAGUE TRIALS - -11. PARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATIONS - -12. HOBBIES AND A CHALLENGE - -13. ASTRONOMY, "SEDITION," AND ARREST - -14. KILMAINHAM DAYS - -15. MORE KILMAINHAM LETTERS - -16. THE "KILMAINHAM TREATY" - -17. THE PHOENIX PARK MURDERS AND AFTER - -18. ENVOY TO GLADSTONE - -19. THE FIRST HOME RULE BILL - -20. MR. PARNELL IN DANGER--FOUNDING OF NATIONAL LEAGUE - -{xiv} - -21. A WINTER OF MEMORIES - -22. HORSES AND DOGS - -23. SEASIDE HOLIDAYS - -24. LONDON REMEMBRANCES - -25. THE PARNELL COMMISSION - -26. BRIGHTON HAUNTS - -27. THE DIVORCE CASE - -28. A KING AT BAY - -29. PARNELL AS I KNEW HIM - -30. MARRIAGE, ILLNESS AND DEATH - -INDEX - - - - -{1} - -Charles Stewart Parnell - - - -CHAPTER I - -MY EARLY LIFE - - "_Go forth; and if it be o'er stoney way - Old Joy can lend what newer grief must borrow, - And it was sweet, and that was yesterday. - And sweet is sweet, though purchased with sorrow._" - F. THOMPSON. - - -My father, Sir John Page Wood, was descended from the Woods of -Tiverton, and was the eldest of the three sons of Sir Matthew Wood, -Baronet, of Hatherley House, Gloucestershire. He was educated at -Winchester and at Trinity College, Cambridge, and after entering into -holy orders, before he was twenty-four years of age, was appointed -private chaplain and secretary to Queen Caroline, performing the last -offices for her at her death in 1820, and attending her body to its -final resting-place in Brunswick. He then became chaplain to the -Duke of Sussex, and in 1824 was appointed by the Corporation of -London to the rectory of St. Peter's, Cornhill. - -In 1820 my father married Emma Caroline, the youngest of the three -daughters of Admiral Michell (and my father's uncle, Benjamin Wood, -M.P. for Southwark at the time, married the second daughter, Maria, -the "Aunt Ben" of this book). She was eighteen. My father was still -at Cambridge. The improvident young pair found it difficult to live -on the small allowance that was {2} considered sufficient for my -father at college. They appear to have been very happy -notwithstanding their difficulties, which were augmented a year later -by the birth of a son; and while my father became "coach" to young -men of slower wit, my mother, who was extremely talented with her -brush, cheerfully turned her beautiful miniature painting to account -for the benefit of her young husband and son. She soon became an -exhibitor of larger works in London, and the brothers Finden engraved -several of her pictures. - -She and my father seem to have idolized their first child, "Little -John," and his early death, at about four years old, was their first -real sorrow. The boy was too precocious, and when he was three years -old his proud young parents were writing "he can read well now, and -is getting on splendidly with his Latin!" - -Constable, the artist, was a friend of my mother's, who thought -highly of her work, and gave her much encouragement, and the young -people seem to have had no lack of friends in the world of art and -letters. Of my mother, Charles Sheridan said he "delighted in her -sparkling sallies," and the young Edwin Landseer was "mothered" by -her to his "exceeding comfort." - -My mother was appointed bedchamber woman to Queen Caroline, and -became very fond of her. The consort of George IV. appears to have -taken the greatest interest in "Little John," and I had until a short -time ago--when it was stolen--a little workbox containing a -half-finished sock the Queen was knitting for the little boy when her -fatal illness began. - -My parents then lived in London for some years while my father did -duty at St. Peter's. In 1832 my father became vicar of Cressing, in -Essex, and he took my {3} mother and their (I think three) children -there, leaving a curate in charge of St. Peter's. Thirteen children -in all were born to my parents (of whom I was the thirteenth), and of -my brothers and sisters there were seven living at the time of my -birth. - -There was little room for all these young people in the vicarage at -Cressing, and it was so extremely damp as to be unhealthy; so my -parents moved to Glazenwood, a charming house with the most beautiful -gardens I have ever seen in a place of moderate size. I think my -brother Fred died here; but my first memories are of Rivenhall, where -my parents moved soon after my birth. Rivenhall Place belonged to a -friend of my father's, Sir Thomas Sutton Weston, of Felix Hall. The -beautiful old place was a paradise for growing children, and the -space and beauty of this home of my youth left me with a sad distaste -for the little houses of many conveniences that it has been my lot to -inhabit for the greater part of my life. - -In politics my father was a thoroughgoing Whig, and as he was an able -and fluent speaker, and absolutely fearless in his utterances, he -became a great influence in the county during election times. I -remember, when he was to speak at a political meeting, how he laughed -as he tied me up in enormous orange ribbons and made me drive him -there, and how immensely proud of him I was (though, of course, I -could not understand a word of it all) as he spoke so persuasively -that howls and ribald cries turned to cheers for "Sir John's man." - -When he went to London to "take duty" at St. Peter's Cornhill, he and -I used to stay at the Green Dragon, Bishopsgate Street. There was a -beautiful old courtyard to this hotel with a balcony, overhung with -creepers, {4} running all round the upper rooms. I loved this place, -and when I was too young to care much for the long service and -sermons, I was quite content that my father should tuck me up safely -in bed before going to evensong at St. Peter's. - -Sometimes I was not well enough to go to London with him, and on -these occasions comforted myself as much as possible with a -compensating interest in the habits of the Rev. Thomas Grosse, who -took my father's place at Cressing. He was very good and kind to me, -and in the summer evenings, when he knew I was missing my father, he -would take me out to look for glow-worms, and show me the stars, -teaching me the names of the planets. Years afterwards the knowledge -I thus gained became a great happiness to me, as I taught Mr. Parnell -all I knew of astronomy, and opened up to him a new world of -absorbing interest. - -Friends of my brother Evelyn frequently stayed at Rivenhall, and one -of them, a colonel of Light Dragoons, was engaged to one of my elder -sisters. This gentleman appealed to my youthful mind as being all -that a hero should be, and I used to stick a red fez on my golden -curls and gallop my pony past the dining-room windows so that he -might see and admire the intrepid maiden, as the prince in my fairy -book did! - -I loved the winter evenings at Rivenhall when my brothers were not at -home. My father used to sit by the fire reading his _Times_, with -his great white cat on his knee, while I made his tea and hot -buttered toast, and my mother and sister Anna read or sketched. I -used to write the plots of tragic little stories which my "Pip"[1] -used to read and call "blood-stained bandits," owing to the {5} -violent action and the disregard of convention shown by all the -characters concerned. - -However, these childish efforts of mine led to greater results, as -one evening my mother and sister laughingly offered to buy my "plot" -in order to "write it up" into a novel. I was, of course, very proud -to sell my idea, and thenceforth both my mother and sister wrote many -successful novels, published by Chapman and Hall--and, I believe, at -prices that are rarely realized by present-day novelists. - -I was thus the unwitting means of greatly relieving my parents' -anxiety of how to meet, with their not very large income, the heavy -expense of educating and maintaining my brothers, and the -responsibilities of their position. - -My brothers loved to tease me, and, as I was so much younger than -they, I never understood if they were really serious or only laughing -at me. Evelyn was specially adroit in bewildering me, and used to -curb my rebellion, when I was reluctant to fetch and carry for him, -by drawing a harrowing picture of my remorse should he be killed "in -the next war." The horror of this thought kept me a ready slave for -years, till one day, in a gust of temper, I burst out with: "I shan't -be sorry at all when you're killed in a war cos' I didn't find your -silly things, and I wish you'd go away and be a dead hero now, so -there!" I remember the horrified pause of my mother and sister and -then the howl of laughter and applause from Evelyn and Charlie. -Evelyn was very good to me after this, and considered, more, that -even little girls have their feelings. - -As a matter of fact, my mother was so entirely wrapped up in Evelyn -that I think I was jealous, even though I {6} had my father so much -to myself. My mother was most affectionate to all her children, but -Evelyn was her idol, and from the time when, as a mere lad, he was -wounded in the Crimean War, to the day of her death, he was first in -all her thoughts. - -Of my brothers and sisters I really knew only four at all well. -Clarissa had died at seventeen, and Fred when I was very young; Frank -was away with his regiment, my sister Pollie was married and away in -India before I was born, and my sister Emma married Sir Thomas -Barrett-Lennard while I was still very young. She was always very -kind to me, and I used to love going to visit her at her house in -Brighton. Visiting Sir Thomas Barrett-Lennard's country seat, -Belhus, I did not like so much, because, though Belhus is very -beautiful, I loved Rivenhall better. - -My mother was a fine musician, and as I grew older, I began to long -to play as she did. There was a beautiful grand piano in the -drawing-room, and I used to try to pick out tunes upon it. My mother -had spent much money on her eldest daughter's--Maria's -(Pollie)--musical education. At the end of this Pollie said she -detested it, and would never play a note again if she could help it. -When I asked that I might be taught to play my mother said, "No. -There is the piano; go and play it if you really want to learn." In -time I could play very well by ear, and began to compose a little and -seek for wider knowledge. My love of music led me to try -composition, and I used to set to music any verses that took my -fancy. Among these I was much pleased with Longfellow's "Weariness," -and was so encouraged by my mother's praise of the setting that I -sent the poet a copy. I was a very happy girl when he wrote to thank -me, {7} saying that mine was the best setting of his poem he had ever -heard. - -Armed with the manuscript of this music and some others, the next -time I went to London with my father I went to Boosey's, the musical -publishers, and asked their representative to publish them. - -"Quite impossible, my dear young lady," he answered at once. "We -never take beginners' work!" I plaintively remarked that even Mozart -was a "beginner" once, and could not understand why he laughed. -Still, with a smile, he consented to look at the manuscript, and to -my joy he ceased to laugh at me and tried some of it over, finally -agreeing, much to my joy, to publish "Weariness" and a couple of -other songs. - -I remember my father's pleasure and the merry twinkle in his eye as -he gravely assented to my suggestion that we were a very gifted -family! - -While my brother Frank (who was in the 17th Foot) was stationed at -Aldershot he invited my sister Anna and myself down to see a review. -He was married, and we stayed with him and his wife and children in -the married officers' quarters, which appeared to us to be very gay -and amusing. - -I greatly enjoyed seeing the cavalry, with all the officers and men -in full dress. - -Many of the officers came over to call after the review, and among -them was Willie O'Shea, who was then a cornet in the 18th Hussars. -There was a small drama acted by the officers in the evening which my -brother's wife took us to see, and there were many of the 18th -Hussars, who paid us much attention, though, personally, I found the -elderly and hawk-eyed colonel of the regiment far more interesting -than the younger men. - - - -[1] Sir John. - - - - -{8} - -CHAPTER II - -VISITORS AT RIVENHALL - - "_A chiel's amang you takin' notes, - And, faith, he'll prent it!_"--BURNS. - - -Among other visitors to Rivenhall was Lieut.-Colonel Steele, of the -Lancers, a dark, handsome man, who married my sister Anna. - -I remember looking at Anna consideringly when I was told this was to -be, for, as children do, I had hitherto merely regarded Anna as a -sister too "grown-up" to play with on equal terms, and yet not as a -person sufficiently interesting to be married to one of the -magnificent beings who, like Evelyn's friends, wore such beautiful -uniforms and jingly spurs. But my sister had soft brown hair and a -lovely skin, blue eyes that were mocking, gay, or tender in response -to many moods, and a very pretty figure. And I solemnly decided that -she was really pretty, and quite "grown-up" enough to be loved by the -"beautiful ones." - -Anthony Trollope was a great friend of my father and mother, and used -to stay with us a good deal for hunting. He was a very hard rider to -hounds, and was a cause of great anxiety to my mother, for my sister -Anna loved an intrepid "lead" out hunting, and delighted in following -Trollope, who stuck at nothing. I used to rejoice in his "The Small -House at Allington," and go about fitting the characters in the book -to the people about {9} me--a mode of amusement that palled -considerably on the victims. - -I was always glad when our young cousin George (afterwards Sir -George) Farwell (Lord Justice Farwell) came to see us. A dear lad, -who quite won my childish admiration with his courtly manners and -kind, considerate ways. - -The Hon. Grantley-Barkley (who was seventy, I believe) was a dear old -man who was very fond of me--as I was of him. I was but a child when -he informed my parents that he wished to marry me when I was old -enough! He was a dear friend of my father's, but, though the latter -would not consider the matter seriously, my mother, who was an -extraordinarily sympathetic woman, encouraged the idea. - -Grantley-Barkley was always called the "Deer-slayer" by his friends. -A fine old sportsman, his house, "The Hut," at Poole, Dorset, was a -veritable museum of slain beasts, and I used to shudder secretly at -the idea of becoming mistress of so many heads and horns. - -The dear old man used to write long letters to me before I could -answer them in anything but laborious print, and he wrote sheets to -my mother inquiring of my welfare and the direction of my education. -I still have many of the verses he composed in my honour, and though -the last line of the verse that I insert worries me now as much as it -did when I received it, so many years ago, I still think it very -pretty sentiment: - - "Then the Bird that above me is singing - Shall chase the thought that is drear, - When the soul to _her_ side it is winging - The limbs _must_ be lingering near!" - - -This little one-sided romance died a natural death as {10} I grew up, -my old friend continuing to take the kindest interest in me, but -accepting the fact that I was no exception to the law of youth that -calls to youth in mating. - -My brother Frank suggested to my brother-in-law, Sir Thomas -Barrett-Lennard, that Willie O'Shea, who was a first-class -steeplechase rider, would no doubt, if asked, ride the horse Honesty -that Tom was going to run in the Brentwood Steeplechase. He had -already ridden and won many races. Willie readily agreed to ride, -and came to stay at Belhus for the race. - -I was staying there at the time, and though I was considered too -young to be really "out," as a rule I had my share in any festivities -that were going on. I remember my brother-in-law saying casually to -my sister Emma, who was giving a dinner party that evening: "Who is -Katie to go in with, milady?" and she answered promptly, "Oh, she -shall go in with O'Shea." A mild witticism that rather ruffled my -youthful sense of importance. - -My first sight of Willie then, as a grown-up, was on this evening, -when I came rather late into the hall before dressing for dinner. He -was standing near the fire, talking, with the eagerness that was not -in those days bad form in young men, of the steeplechase he had -ridden and won on Early Bird. - -I had been so much the companion of older men than he that I was -pleased with his youthful looks and vivacity. His dress pleased me -also, and, though it would appear a terrible affair in the eyes of a -modern young man, it was perfectly correct then for a young officer -in the 18th Hussars, and extremely becoming to Willie: a brown velvet -coat, cut rather fully, sealskin waistcoat, black-and-white check -trousers, and an enormous carbuncle and diamond pin in his curiously -folded scarf. - -{11} - -When introduced to me he was most condescending, and nettled me so -much by his kindly patronage of my youthfulness that I promptly -plunged into such a discussion of literary complexities, absorbed -from my elders and utterly undigested, and he soon subsided into a -bewildered and shocked silence. - -However, in the few days of that visit we became very good friends, -and I was immensely pleased when, on parting, Willie presented me -with a really charming little poem written about my "golden hair and -witsome speech." - -Of course, as usual, I flew to show my father, who, reading, sighed, -"Ah, too young for such nonsense. I want my Pippin for myself for -years to come."[1] - -In the summer at Belhus I met Willie again. Unconsciously we seemed -to drift together in the long summer days. The rest of the household -intent on their own affairs, we were content to be left together to -explore the {12} cool depths of the glades, where the fallow deer ran -before us, or the kitchen garden, where the high walls were covered -with rose-coloured peaches, warm with the sun as we ate them. What -we talked about I cannot remember, but it was nothing very wise I -should imagine. - -Week after week went by in our trance of contentment. I did not look -forward, but was content to exist in the languorous summer -heat--dreaming through the sunny days with Willie by my side, and -thinking not at all of the future. I suppose my elders were content -with the situation, as they must have known that such propinquity -could have but one ending. - -There was a man by whom I was attracted and who had paid me -considerable attention--E.S., stationed at Purfleet. He was a fine -athlete, and used to fill me with admiration by jumping over my -pony's back without touching him at all. I sometimes thought idly of -him during these days with Willie, but was content to drift along, -until one day my sister asked me to drive over with a note of -invitation to dinner for the officers at Purfleet. - -In the cool of the evening I set out, with Willie, of course, in -attendance. Willie, on arrival, sprang out of the pony cart to -deliver the note, and as he was jumping in again glanced up at the -window above us, where it happened E. S. and another officer were -standing. Without a moment's hesitation Willie leant forward and -kissed me full on the lips. Furious and crimson with the knowledge -that the men at the window had seen him kiss me, I hustled my poor -little pony home, vowing I would never speak to Willie again; but his -apologies and explanation that he had only just wanted "to show those -fellows that they must not make asses of themselves" seemed so funny -and in keeping with the dreamy sense I had of belonging {13} to -Willie that I soon forgave him, though I felt a little stab of regret -when I found that E. S. declined the invitation to dinner. He never -came again. - -Willie had now to rejoin his regiment, and in the evening before his -going, as I was leaving the drawing-room, he stopped to offer me a -rose, kissing me on the face and hair as he did so. - -A few mornings after I was sleeping the dreamless sleep of healthy -girlhood when I was awakened by feeling a thick letter laid on my -cheek and my mother leaning over me singing "Kathleen Mavourneen" in -her rich contralto voice. I am afraid I was decidedly cross at -having been awakened so suddenly, and, clasping my letter unopened, -again subsided into slumber. - -So far nearly all my personal communication with Willie when he was -away had been carried on by telegraph, and I had not quite arrived at -knowing what to reply to the sheets of poetic prose which flowed from -his pen. Very frequently he came down just for a day to Rivenhall, -and I drove to meet him at the station with my pony-chaise. Then we -used to pass long hours at the lake fishing for pike, or talking to -my father, who was always cheered by his society. - -At this time Colonel Clive, of the Grenadier Guards, was a frequent -visitor. I was really fond of him, and he pleased me by his pleasure -in hearing me sing to my own accompaniment. I spent some happy hours -in doing so for him when staying at Claridge's Hotel with my sister, -and I remember that when I knew he was coming I used to twist a blue -ribbon in my hair to please him. - -Once, when staying at Claridge's, my sister and I went to his rooms -to see the sketches of a friend of my brother Evelyn's, Mr. Hozier, -the clever newspaper {14} correspondent, afterwards Sir H. Hozier, -and father of Mrs. Winston Churchill. The drawings were, I believe, -very clever, and I know the tea was delicious. - -It was some time after this that the 18th Hussars were stationed at -Brighton. Willie loved early morning gallops on the Downs, and, on -one occasion, he rode off soon after daybreak on his steeplechaser, -Early Bird, for a gallop on the race-course. At the early parade -that morning Willie was missing, and, as inquiries were being made as -to his whereabouts, a trooper reported that Early Bird had just been -brought in dead lame, and bleeding profusely from a gash in the chest. - -He had been found limping his way down the hill from the race-course. -Willie's brother officers immediately set out to look for him, and -found him lying unconscious some twenty yards from a chain across the -course which was covered with blood, and evidently the cause of the -mishap. They got him down to the barracks on a stretcher, and there -he lay with broken ribs and concussion of the brain. - -He told us afterwards that he was going at a hard gallop, and neither -he nor Early Bird had seen the chain till they were right on it, too -late to jump. There had never been a chain up before, and he had -galloped over the same course on the previous morning. - -I was at Rivenhall when I heard of the accident to Willie, and for -six unhappy weeks I did little else than watch for news of him. My -sister, Lady Barrett-Lennard, and Sir Thomas had gone to Preston -Barracks to nurse him, and as soon as it was possible they moved him -to their own house in Brighton. For six weeks he lay unconscious, -and then at last the good news came that he was better, and that they -were going to take him to Belhus to convalesce. - -{15} - -A great friend of Willie's, also in the 18th--Robert Cunninghame -Graham--was invited down to keep him amused, and my sister, Mrs. -Steele, and I met them in London and went down to Belhus with them. -Willie was looking very ill, and was tenderly cared for by his friend -Graham. He was too weak to speak, but, while driving to Belhus, he -slipped a ring from his finger on to mine and pressed my hand under -cover of the rugs. - -Robert Cunninghame Graham, uncle of Robert Bontine Cunninghame -Graham, the Socialist writer and traveller, walked straight into our -hearts, so gay, so careful of Willie was he, and so utterly _bon -camarade_, that we seemed to have known him for years. In a few days -Anna and I left Belhus, and Willie's father came over from Ireland to -stay with him till he was completely recovered. - -Before Willie left I was back at Belhus on the occasion of a dinner -party, and was shyly glad to meet him again and at his desire to talk -to me only. - -While the others were all occupied singing and talking after dinner -we sat on the yellow damask sofa, and he slipped a gold and turquoise -locket on a long gold and blue enamel chain round my neck. It was a -lovely thing, and I was very happy to know how much Willie cared for -me. - - - -[1] Captain O'Shea's family, the O'Sheas of Limerick, were a -collateral branch of the O'Sheas of County Kerry. William O'Shea had -three sons, Henry, John and Thaddeus, of whom the first named was -Captain O'Shea's father. John went to Spain (where a branch of the -family had been settled since 1641, and become the Duges of -Sanlucas), founded a bank and prospered. Henry found the family -estate (Rich Hill) heavily mortgaged, entered the law, and by hard -work pulled the property out of bankruptcy and made a fortune. He -married Catherine Quinlan, daughter of Edward Quinlan, of Tipperary, -a Comtesse of Rome, and had two children, Captain O'Shea and Mary, -afterwards Lady of the Royal Order of Theresa of Bavaria. The -children had a cosmopolitan education, and the son went into the 18th -Hussars, a keen sporting regiment, where he spent great sums of -money. Finally, a bill for £15,000 coming in, his father told him -that his mother and sister would have to suffer if this rate of -expenditure continued. Captain O'Shea left the regiment just before -his marriage to Miss Wood. The Comtesse O'Shea was a highly educated -woman, assiduous in her practice of religion, but valetudinarian and -lacking a sense of humour. Mary O'Shea's education had left her -French in all her modes of thought and speech. Both ladies -disapproved of the engagement between Captain O'Shea and Miss Wood. - - - - -{16} - -CHAPTER III - -MY FATHER'S DEATH AND MY MARRIAGE - - "_Fair shine the day on the house with open door; - Birds come and cry there and twitter in the chimney, - But I go for ever and come again no more._" - --STEVENSON. - - -The following autumn my father, mother, and I went to stay at Belhus -on a long visit, my father going to Cressing each week for the Sunday -duty, and returning to us on Monday morning. - -We all enjoyed spending Christmas at Belhus. My mother and my sister -Emma were devoted to one another, and loved being together. We were -a much larger party also at Belhus, and there were so many visitors -coming and going that I felt it was all more cheerful than being at -home. - -Among other visitors that winter, I well remember Mr. John -Morley--now Lord Morley--as he was told off for me to entertain -during the day. He was a very brilliant young man, and my elders -explained to me that his tense intellect kept them at too great a -strain for pleasurable conversation. "You, dear Katie, don't matter, -as no one expects you to know anything!" remarked my sister with -cheerful kindness. So I calmly invited John Morley to walk with me, -and, as we paced through the park from one lodge to the other, my -companion talked to me so easily and readily that I forgot my rôle of -"fool of the family," and responded most intelligently to a really -very interesting conversation. - -With the ready tact of the really clever, he could already {17} adapt -himself to great or small, and finding me simply ready to be -interested, was most interesting, and I returned to my family happily -conscious that I could now afford to ignore my brother Evelyn's -advice to "look lovely and keep your mouth shut!" - -John Morley, so far as I remember him then, was a very slight young -man with a hard, keen face, the features strongly marked, and fair -hair. He had (to me) a kindly manner, and did not consider it -beneath him to talk seriously to a girl so young in knowledge, so -excessively and shyly conscious of his superiority, and so much awed -by my mission of keeping him amused and interested while my elders -rested from his somewhat oppressive intellectuality. I remember -wondering, in some alarm, as to what topic I should start if he -suddenly stopped talking. But my fear was entirely groundless; he -passed so easily from one thing interesting to me to another that I -forgot to be self-conscious, and we discussed horses and dogs, books -and their writers--agreeing that authors were, of all men, the most -disappointing in appearance--my father, soldiers, and "going to -London," with the greatest pleasure and mutual self-confidence. And -I think that, after that enlightening talk, had I been told that in -after years this suave, clever young man was to become--as -Gladstone's lieutenant--one of my bitterest foes, I should perhaps -have been interested, but utterly unalarmed, for I had in this little -episode lost all awe of cleverness as such. - -My father died in February, 1866. The vexed question of ways and -means--always a vexed question in a clergyman's household when the -head of the house dies--pressed heavily on my mother, who was left -almost penniless by my father's death. - -My mother and sisters were discussing what was best {18} to be done, -and my mother was speaking sadly as I went into her room. "We must -sell the cow, and, of course, the pig," my eldest sister (Emma) -replied in her sweet, cheerful voice, which produced a little laugh, -though a rather dismal one, and our sorrow was chased away for the -moment. - -My mother's sister, Mrs. Benjamin Wood, on hearing of her troubles, -settled a yearly income on her, thus saving her from all future -anxiety, most of her children being provided for under our -grandfather's--old Sir Matthew Wood's--will. - -During that year we lived chiefly at Rivenhall. It was a very quiet, -sad year, but we had a few pleasant visitors. Sir George Dasent, of -the _Times_, and also Mr. Dallas, who wrote leading articles for the -same paper, were frequent visitors, and Mr. Chapman (of Chapman and -Hall, publishers), with pretty Mrs. Chapman, Mr. Lewes, and many -other literary people were very welcome guests. My mother and sister -Anna (Mrs. Steele) were writing books, and much interested in all -things literary. At the end of the year we joined my eldest sister -and her husband at Brighton, and soon after this Willie returned from -Spain and called on us at once, with the ever-faithful Cunninghame -Graham. I now yielded to Willie's protest at being kept waiting -longer, and we were married very quietly at Brighton on January 25, -1867. I narrowly escaped being married to Mr. Cunninghame Graham by -mistake, as Willie and he--the "best man"--had got into wrong -positions. It was only Mr. Graham's horrified "No, no, no," when -asked whether he would have "this woman" to be his wife, that saved -us from many complications. - -My mother, brothers and sisters gave me beautiful {19} presents, and -my dear sister Emma gave me my trousseau, while Willie himself gave -me a gold-mounted dressing-bag. My old Aunt H. sent me a gold and -turquoise bracelet. Willie saw this after I had shown him what my -sister Mrs. Steele had given me--a carbuncle locket with diamond -centre. Aunt H. was a very wealthy woman, my sister not at all well -off, though in any case her present would have been much more to me -than that of Aunt H. However, Willie merely remarked of Anna's gift: -"That is lovely, darling, and this," taking up Aunt H.'s bracelet, -"this will do for the dog," snapped it round the neck of my little -Prince. - -Long afterwards he and I went to call on Aunt H., and as usual I had -Prince under my arm. I noticed Aunt H. break off in a sentence, and -fix a surprised and indignant eye on my dog. I had forgotten all -about Prince's collar being Aunt H.'s bracelet, and only thought she -did not like my bringing the dog to call, till I caught Willie's eye. -He had at once taken in the situation, and became so convulsed with -laughter that I hastily made my adieu and hustled him off. - -Sir Seymour Fitzgerald lent us Holbrook Hall for our honeymoon, a -kindness that proved unkind, as the pomp and ceremony entailed by a -large retinue of servants for our two selves were very wearisome to -me. There was little or no occupation for us, as the weather was too -bad to get out much; our kind host had naturally not lent us his -hunters, and we were, or Willie was, too much in awe of the -conventions to ask anyone to come and relieve our ennui. Indeed, I -think that no two young people were ever more rejoiced than we were -when we could return to the life of the sane without comment. - -Willie had sold out of the army just before his marriage, {20} and -his Uncle John, who had married a Spanish lady and settled in Madrid, -offered Willie a partnership in his bank, O'Shea and Co., if he would -put the £4,000 he received for his commission into it. This was too -good an offer to be refused, so I said good-bye to my people, and -bought some little presents for the servants at home, including a -rich silk dress for my old nurse Lucy, who had been in my mother's -service since the age of sixteen, and who was much upset that her -youngest and dearest nursling should be taken away to such -"heathenish, far-off places." - -Before leaving England Willie and I stayed for a few days in London, -and his mother and sister Mary called on us. They had not attended -the marriage, as they would not lend their countenance to a "mixed" -marriage, though once accomplished they accepted the situation. They -were very nice and kind, and so gently superior that at once I became -politely antagonistic. They brought me some beautiful Irish poplins -which were made into gowns to wear in Madrid to impress the Spanish -cousins, and a magnificent emerald bracelet, besides £200 worth of -lovely Irish house-linen. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law were -most generous indeed, and I then, and always, acknowledged them to be -thoroughly good, kind-hearted women, but so hidebound with what was -to me bigotry, with conventionality and tactlessness, that it was -really a pain to me to be near them. They admired me, and very -plainly disapproved of me; I admired them for their Parisian -finish--(for want of a better term)--and for their undoubted -goodness, but, though I was rather fond of Mary, they wearied me to -death. - -That week we crossed over to Boulogne, and there we had to stay for a -few days, as I was too ill from the crossing to go farther. The -second morning Willie, seeing I {21} was better, wanted to go out to -_déjeuner_, and told me to lie still in bed, and he would tell them -to send a maid with my food, as he knew that I, not being used to -French customs, would not like a waiter to bring it. To make sure of -my not being disturbed he locked the door. To my horror half an hour -after he had gone there was a tap at the door, and a manservant -opened it with his key, and marched in, despite my agitated protests -in very home-made French. Once in, however, he made me so -comfortable by his deft arrangement of a most tempting meal and -paternal desire that "Madame should eat and recover herself," that I -was able to laugh at Willie's annoyance on his return to find the -waiter once more in possession and removing the tray. - -We then went to Paris to stay with my mother-in-law and Mary for a -few days, while they found me a French maid and showed me the sights. -I had a great quantity of very long hair in those days, and Willie -insisted on my having it very elaborately dressed--much to my -annoyance--in the latest French fashion, which I did not consider -becoming to me. My maid was also much occupied in making the toilet -of my little dog. He was a lovely little creature, and Caroline -would tie an enormous pale blue bow on him as a reward for the -painful business of combing him. From the time Willie gave me this -little dog to the day it died, about six years afterwards, it went -everywhere with me. He was as good and quiet as possible when with -me, but if I ever left him for a moment the shrill little howls would -ring out till the nearest person to him would snatch him up, and fly -to restore him to his affectionate, though long-suffering, mistress. - -At Paris there was trouble with my mother-in-law and Mary at once -because of him. They took me to see Notre {22} Dame, and as a matter -of course Prince was in my arm under my cloak. As we came out I let -my little dog down to run, and the Comtesse nearly fainted. "You -took the dog into the _church_! Oh, Katie, how wrong, how could, -you! Mary! what shall we do? Do you not think----?" and turning a -reproachful glance on me, Mary responded, "Come, mother," and, -leaving me amazed and indignant on the steps, they passed into Notre -Dame again. With some curiosity I peeped in after them, and beheld -them kneeling at prayer just inside the door. They came out almost -at once, and the old Comtesse looked happier. "You did not -understand, dear," said Mary kindly, "it is better not to take the -little dog into a church." I was young enough to resent being told I -did not understand, and promptly returned, "I understand, Mary, that -you and the Comtesse consider it wicked to take Prince into Notre -Dame. Well, I don't, and you must excuse me if I remind you that God -made the dog; and I seem to remember something about a Child that was -born in a stable with a lot of nice friendly beasts about, so you -need not have gone back to pray about me and Prince, I think!" And, -scooping up Prince, I stalked off with a dignity that was rather -spoilt by my not having sufficient French to find my own way home, -and having to wait at the carriage for them. We drove home with much -stiffness, and only thawed sufficiently to assure Willie how much we -had enjoyed ourselves! - -While I was abroad I often used to get away by myself to spend many -happy hours in the beautiful churches with Prince tucked under my -arm, and often a friendly old priest would give us a smile as he -passed on his way about the church, so it was apparently not a very -deadly sin to take him with me. - -{23} - -Willie's mother and Mary became more reconciled to the little dog -when they found how much admired he was in Paris. An old Frenchman, -after seeing him one evening as Willie and I were leaving table -d'hôte, made inquiries as to where we were staying, and called on -Willie to offer £100 for "madame's pet" if at any time she wished to -sell him. Willie was too wise to approach me with the offer, and -assured monsieur that madame would consider the offer an insult only -to be wiped out in monsieur's blood! - - - - -{24} - -CHAPTER IV - -A DAY ON THE DOWNS - - "_A son to clasp my finger tight._"--NORMAN GALE. - - -When we had been in Spain for nearly a year, there was some dispute -about the business arrangements of Willie's partnership in his -uncle's bank, and Willie withdrew altogether from the affair. We -then decided to return to England. Though glad to go home, I parted -from my Spanish relations with regret, and have always since my visit -to them thought that the admixture of Irish and Spanish blood is most -charming in its result. - -On our return to England we lived in Clarges Street, London, for some -time, while Willie was looking for a place in the country where he -could start a stud farm. Willie was very fond of horses, and -understood them well, and I was delighted at the idea of his getting -some really good brood mares and breeding race-horses. We knew, of -course, nothing of the enormous expense and many losses such an -undertaking was certain to entail. - -At last we decided to take Bennington Park, Hertfordshire, and on -going there Willie bought some good blood stock, among the pick of -which were Alice Maud, Scent, and Apricot. Soon we had all the boxes -tenanted, and I spent many happy hours petting the lovely -thoroughbred mares with their small velvety noses and intelligent -eyes. - -The chief form of social intercourse in the county was the giving of -long, heavy, and most boring dinners. People thought nothing of -driving eight or even ten miles {25} (and there were no motor-cars -then) to eat their dinner in each other's houses, and this form of -entertainment used to produce such an absolutely painful boredom in -me that I frequently hid the invitations from Willie, who wished to -"keep up with the county." - -Willie and I were a good-looking young couple, and people liked to -have us about. Willie, too, was a good conversationalist, and had a -ready wit that made him welcome, since an Irishman and wit are -synonymous to the conventional mind. That his witticisms pertained -rather to the France of his education than the Ireland of his birth -was unrecognized because unexpected. - -I was--rather, I fear, to Willie's annoyance--labelled "delightfully -unusual" soon after our going to Bennington, the cause being that I -received my guests one evening with my then abundant hair hanging -loosely to below my waist, twisted through with a wide blue ribbon. -To Willie's scandalized glance I replied with a hasty whisper, "The -very latest from Paris," and was rewarded with the mollified though -puzzled expression very properly awarded by all men to the "latest -fashion" of their womenkind. - -I put off the queries of the ladies after dinner in the same way, and -was rewarded by them by the general admission that it was a fashion -for the few--who had the hair. Never did I admit that I had been out -with the horses so late that I had had just time for Caroline to -hurry me into a gown and shake down my hair as my first guest -arrived. So little do we deserve the fame forced upon us. - -Willie was never good at dunning friends for money owed, and as we -had many brood mares, not our own, left with us for months at a time, -the stable expenses, both for forage and wages, became appallingly -large. It was always difficult to get the accounts in, and while -Willie {26} did not like to worry the owners even for the amount for -the bare keep of the animals, he was himself perpetually worried by -forage contractors, the shoeing smith, and the weekly wage bill, -besides the innumerable extra expenses pertaining to a large stable. - -As I urged against the sale of the mares, which he so often -threatened, their happy, peaceful maternity, in the long lush grass -and shade of trees by day, their comfortable boxes at night, and -their fondness of me, he used to stare gloomily at me and swear -gently as he wished there were more profit than peace in their -maternity and my sentimentality. But he could forget his worries in -the pleasure of schooling the yearlings, and we agreed always to hold -on as long as possible to a life we both found so interesting, and -with the facile hope of youth we thought to get the better of our -expenses in time. - -In this year (1869) my eldest (surviving) brother, Frank, became very -ill, and Willie and I went to Rivenhall to see him. He wanted me to -nurse him, so I stayed on in my old home while Willie returned to -Bennington. - -Frank had consumption, and very badly; he suffered intensely, and I -think I have never longed for the presence of a doctor with more -anxiety than I did for Dr. Gimson's at that time. My perpetual fear -was that the effect of the opiate he gave to deaden poor Frank's pain -would wear off before he came again. When it grew dusk Frank desired -me to put candles in every window, that he might not see the -shadows--the terrifying shadows which delirium and continual doses of -morphia never fail to produce. - -Frank's very dear friend, Captain Hawley Smart, the novelist, came to -Rivenhall in the hope that he could cheer poor Frank's last hours; -but he was too ill to know or care, {27} and Hawley Smart could, like -the rest of us, only await the pitying release of death. - -We went on at Bennington in very much the same way until the end of -that year. Willie had been betting very heavily in the hope of -relieving the ever-increasing difficulty of meeting our heavy -expenses, and now, in view of his losses in racing added to the cost -attendant on keeping up such a large stud, the kind-hearted bank -manager insisted that the large overdraft on his bank must be -cleared. Hitherto, whenever he had become very pressing, Willie had -sent him "something on account," and we had given a breakfast for his -hunt, as Willie said such a good fellow "could not eat and ask at the -same time." Now, however, Mr. Cheshire sorrowfully declined to eat, -and maintained that his duty to his firm necessitated his insisting -upon the clearing of the overdraft. - -When Willie was made bankrupt, Mr. Hobson--a gentleman living near us -with his very charming wife, who afterwards became Mrs. A. -Yates--very kindly took my little old pony across the fields at night -to his own place and kept him there so that he should not go into the -sale of our goods. This defrauded no one, as the pony (my own) was -beyond work, being my childhood's pet. - -I was now nearing my first confinement, and my aunt, Mrs. Benjamin -Wood, took a house for me at Brighton close to my sister's, Lady -Barrett-Lennard. There my son Gerard was born. - -I was very ill for some time after this, and my mother, Lady Wood, -stayed with me, employing her time in making a lovely water-colour -sketch for me. - -Willie's affairs were now settled, and I had to give up all hope of -returning to my dearly loved country home and all my pets; but I had -the consolation of my beautiful babe, {28} and I forgot my sorrow in -my greater possession. He was very healthy, so I had no trouble on -that score. - -A young solicitor who took Willie's affairs in hand, Mr. Charles Lane -(of Lane and Monroe), very kindly took upon himself to call on my -Uncle William, who was then Lord Chancellor of England, and ask him -to assist us in our financial difficulties. Uncle William was much -astonished at the application of this obviously nervous young -solicitor, who with the courage born of despair went on to suggest -that Lord Hatherley might give Willie a lucrative appointment. - -Strangely enough it had never occurred to me to apply to Uncle -William for anything, and when Mr. Lane called on us and solemnly -presented me with a substantial cheque and a kind message from my -uncle, Willie and I were as surprised as we were pleased, even though -Mr. Lane explained that "the Lord Chancellor had no post suitable" -for Willie's energies. - -We then moved into a house on the Marine Parade, as the one we were -in was very expensive, and though I was glad to be next door to my -sister, I felt it was not fair to my aunt, Mrs. Wood, who was paying -the rent for us. - -My faithful French maid Caroline stuck to us all through our fallen -fortunes, as also did our stud-groom, Selby, and though we could no -longer pay them the high wages they had always had, they refused to -leave us. - -My aunt now took a cottage for me at Patcham, just put of Brighton, -and I was able to have my pony there. The house at Patcham was a -dear, little, old-fashioned place right against the Downs, and there -I used to walk for miles in the early morning, the springy turf -almost forcing one foot after the other, while the song of the {29} -larks and scent of the close-growing, many-tinted herbage in the -clear bright air filled me with joyous exhilaration. - -Willie went to town, and often was away for days, on various -businesses, and I was very lonely at home--even though I daily drove -the old pony into Brighton that I might see my sister. - -I had a cousin of Willie's, Mrs. Vaughan, to stay with me for some -time, but she was perpetually wondering what Willie was doing that -kept him so much away, and this added irritation to loneliness. I -had had such a busy life at Bennington that I suffered much from the -want of companionship and the loss of the many interests of my life -there. I felt that I must make some friends here, and, attracted by -a dark, handsome woman whom I used to meet riding when I walked on to -the Downs, I made her acquaintance, and found in her a very congenial -companion. Quiet and rather tragic in expression, she thawed to me, -and we were becoming warmly attached to one another when Willie, in -one of his now flying visits, heard me speak of my new friend. On -hearing her name--it was one that a few years before had brought -shame and sudden death into one of the oldest of the "great" families -of England--he professed to be absolutely scandalized, and, with an -assumption of authority that at once angered me, forbade me to have -any more to do with her. He met my protests with a maddening -superiority, and would not tell me why she was "beyond the pale." I -explained to him my own opinion of many of the women he liked me to -know and almost all the men, for I had not then learnt the hard -lesson of social life, and that the one commandment still rigorously -observed by social hypocrisy was, "Thou shalt not be found out." - -{30} - -When I met Mrs. ---- again she soothed my indignation on her behalf, -and as we sat there, high on a spur of a hill, watching the distant -sea, she smiled a little sadly as she said to me: "Little fool, I -have gambled in love and have won, and those who win must pay as well -as those who lose. Never gamble, you very young thing, if you can -help it; but if you do be sure that the stake is the only thing in -the world to you, for only that will make it worth the winning and -the paying." - -It was nearly ten years afterwards that I, feeling restless and -unhappy, had such a sudden longing for the sea, that one morning I -left my home (at Eltham) very early and went down to Brighton for the -day. I was alone, and wished to be alone; so I got out of the train -at Preston, for fear I should meet any of my relations at Brighton -station. A fancy then seized me to drive out to Patcham, about a -mile farther on, to see if my former little house was occupied. -Having decided that it was I dismissed my fly and walked up the -bridle path beyond the house out on to the Downs, where, turning -south, towards the sea, I walked steadily over the scented turf, -forcing out of my heart all but the joy of movement in the sea wind, -with the song of the skylarks in my ears. - -I sang as I walked, looking towards the golden light and sullen blue -of the sea, where a storm was beating up with the west wind. -Presently I realized that I was very tired, and I sat down to rest -upon a little hilltop where I could see over the whole of Brighton. -The wind brought up the rain, and I rose and began to descend the -hill towards Brighton. I wondered apathetically if my sister was in -Brighton or if they were all at Belhus still. Anyhow, I knew there -would be someone at her house who {31} would give me something to -eat. Then I turned round, and began deliberately to climb up the -hill on to the Downs again. After all, I thought, I had come here to -be alone, and did not want to see my sister particularly. The family -might all be there, and anyhow I did not want to see anybody who -loved me and could bias my mind. I had come down to get away from -Willie for a little while--or rather from the thought of him, for it -was rarely enough I saw him. If I went down to see Emma and Tom they -would ask how Willie was, and really I did not know, and then how -were the children. Well, I could thankfully answer that the children -were always well. Why should I be supposed to have no other -interests than Willie and my children? Willie was not, as a matter -of fact, at all interesting to me. As to my children, I loved them -very dearly, but they were not old enough, or young enough, to -engross my whole mind. Then there was dear old Aunt Ben, who was so -old that she would not tolerate any topic of conversation of more -recent date than the marriage of Queen Victoria. What a curiously -narrow life mine was, I thought, narrow, narrow, narrow, and so -deadly dull. It was better even to be up there on the Downs in the -drifting rain--though I was soaked to the skin and so desperately -tired and hungry. I paused for shelter behind a shepherd's hut as I -saw the lithe spare form of my brother-in-law, Sir Thomas, dash past, -head down and eyes half closed against the rain. He did not see me, -and I watched him running like a boy through the driving mist till he -disappeared. He had come over from Lewes, I supposed. He was a -J.P., and had perhaps been over to the court; he never rode where he -could walk--or rather run. - -I waited, sheltering now from the rain, and through the {32} mist -there presently came a girl riding. On seeing me she pulled up to -ask the quickest way to Brighton, as the mist had confused her. As I -answered her I was struck by a certain resemblance, in the dark eyes -and proud tilt of the chin, to my friend of many years ago, whose -battles I had fought with Willie, and who had told me something of -her life while we sat very near this place. The girl now before me -was young, and life had not yet written any bitterness upon her face; -but as she thanked me, and, riding away, laughingly urged me to give -up the attempt to "keep dry," and to fly home before I dissolved -altogether, I had the voice of my old-time friend in my ears, and I -answered aloud, "I am afraid; I tell you, I am afraid." But she was -dead, I knew, and could not answer me, and I smiled angrily at my -folly as I turned down the track to Preston, while I thought more -quietly how the daughter whose loss had caused such bitter pain to my -dear friend, when she had left all for love, had grown to happy -womanhood in spite of all. - -I was now feeling very faint from my long day of hard exercise -without food, but there was a train about to start for London, and I -would not miss it. - -On the platform for Eltham, at Charing Cross, stood Mr. Parnell, -waiting, watching the people as they passed the barriers. As our -eyes met he turned and walked by my side. He did not speak, and I -was too tired to do so, or to wonder at his being there. He helped -me into the train and sat down opposite me, and I was too exhausted -to care that he saw me wet and dishevelled. There were others in the -carriage. I leant back and closed my eyes, and could have slept but -that the little flames deep down in Parnell's eyes kept flickering -before mine, though they were closed. I was very cold; and I felt -that he took off {33} his coat and tucked it round me, but I would -not open my eyes to look at him. He crossed over to the seat next to -mine, and, leaning over me to fold the coat more closely round my -knees, he whispered, "I love you, I love you. Oh, my dear, how I -love you." And I slipped my hand into his, and knew I was not afraid. - - - - -{34} - -CHAPTER V - -MORE FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES - - "_Thus while Thy several mercies plot - And work on me, now cold, now hot, - The work goes on and slacketh not._" - --VAUGHAN. - - -Willie was away more than ever after this, and I became so bored and -lonely that I told him that I must join him in London if he meant to -be there so much. He then proposed to give up the Patcham house and -move the small household to Harrow Road, London, temporarily, till we -had time to find something less depressing. - -In going we also hoped to shake off an acquaintance who haunted us at -Brighton and Patcham, a Mr. D., but he soon found us out, and, -realizing that I was determined to be "not at home" to him, he took -to leaving gifts of beautiful Spanish lace at the door, directed to -me, and only the words "from Romeo" inside. - -This man had lived most of his life in Spain, and was a remarkably -good judge of Spanish lace, and I must confess I was tempted to keep -the rich creamy-white stuff that arrived anonymously. This "Romeo" -was more than middle-aged, and, when he wrote that for "safety's -sake" he would address messages to me through the "agony" column of -the newspapers, Willie's wrath was unbounded. - -He wrote to poor "Romeo" in sarcastic vein, alluding to his age and -figure, his insolence in addressing "a young and beautiful" woman -with his "pestilent" twaddle. He told him, too, that he withdrew -from all business transactions {35} with him, and would have much -pleasure in kicking "Romeo" if he dared call at the house again. I -was almost sorry for the foolish old man; but that was wasted on him, -for he continued, undeterred by Willie's anger, to address "Juliet" -in prose and verse in the daily papers. As he said, the "Daily Press -was open to all, and the Captain could not stop that!" I used to -laugh helplessly as Willie opened the morning paper at breakfast, -and, first gravely turning to the "agony" column, would read the -latest message to "Juliet" from her devoted "Romeo," becoming so -angry that breakfast was spoiled to him. The sudden cessation of our -acquaintance prevented our making that of Mme. Adelina Patti though -"Romeo" had arranged a dinner in order that I should meet her. - -A few weeks after we arrived in Harrow Road Willie began to complain -of feeling ill, and a swelling that had formed on his neck became -very painful. He was confined to bed, and after great suffering for -weeks, Mr. Edgar Barker, who was constantly in attendance, said he -must operate to save Willie's life. I had no nurse, as at this time -we were in such financial straits that I really did not know which -way to turn, and Willie was too ill to be asked about anything. Mr. -Barker said to me, "You must hold his head perfectly still, and not -faint." So he operated, and all went well, in spite of my -inexperience in surgical nursing. Mr. Barker, for whose kindness at -this time I can never be sufficiently grateful, helped me in every -way, and would not allow even Willie's mother and sister to do so, as -their presence irritated the patient so intensely. - -During this time of trouble a Mr. Calasher, a money-lender, called to -have some acceptances of Willie's met. I left Willie's bedside for a -few minutes to see him, and he was kindness itself, agreeing to a -renewal on my signature {36} alone, and most kindly sending in some -little delicacies that he thought Willie might fancy. When Willie -had recovered and went to see Mr. Calasher about the bills, it being -then more than ever impossible to meet them, he (Mr. Calasher) would -not consent to a further renewal, but tore the bills across and gave -them back to Willie, saying, "Don't worry yourself, Captain O'Shea, -but pay me when you can, and add six per cent. interest if you are -able." I am glad to say we did this within the year. His courtesy -about these bills was a great relief to me, as Willie was far too ill -to be spoken to about business, and I was at my wits' end for money -to meet everyday expenses. The accommodating Jew who lends the -indiscreet Christian his money--naturally with a businesslike -determination to increase it--has so much said against him that I am -glad to be able to speak my little word of gratitude of one who was -considerate and chivalrous to Willie as well as myself, to his own -detriment. - -Better circumstances arising on Willie's recovery of health, we were -anxious to get away from the depressions of Harrow Road, with its -constant procession of hearses and mourners on the way to Kensal -Green Cemetery. After a weary hunt we finally decided upon a house -in Beaufort Gardens. My French maid rejoiced in returning to her -light duties as lady's maid, and reigned over a staff of maids in -unison with the butler. Selby, at last convinced that race-horses -were out of the question with us, left us, with mutual expressions of -esteem, to seek more congenial surroundings. - -We went to Beaufort Gardens in 1872, and Willie insisted upon my -making many new acquaintances. We soon found ourselves in a social -swirl of visits, visitors and entertainments. I had always disliked -society, as such. {37} Willie, however, thoroughly enjoyed this -life, and as he was always worrying me to dress in the latest -fashion, and would have a Frenchman in to dress my hair before every -party, I became very rebellious. - -Here my eldest daughter was born, and I was glad of the rest from -parties and balls--even though so many people I did not care to see -came "to cheer me up!" As soon as I was about again the life I found -so wearisome recommenced. After escorting me home from a dance or -reception that I had not wanted to go to, Willie would go off again -to "finish up the night," and one night, when in terror I was seeking -for burglars, I found a policeman sitting on the stairs. He -explained genially that the door was open, and he thought it better -to come inside and guard the door for the Captain's return! - -Alfred Austin--not then Poet Laureate--was a great friend and -constant visitor of ours at that time. He had been at school--at -Oscott--with Willie, and he was, I remember, extremely sensitive to -criticism. "Owen Meredith," Lord Lytton, was also a frequent -visitor, especially when my sister Anna was with us--she being -sympathetic to his genius. - -I think Willie and I were beginning to jar upon one another a good -deal now, and I loved to get away for long walks by myself through -the parks of London. Kensington Gardens was a great solace to me in -all seasons and weathers, and I spent much of my time there. I often -turned into the Brompton Oratory on my way home for a few minutes' -peace and rest of body and soul, and these quiet times were a comfort -to me when suffering from the fret and worry of my domestic life. - -I first made my way to the Oratory when my daughter Norah was -baptized, and some little time afterwards one {38} of the Fathers -called on me. Finally Father ---- undertook to call regularly to -instruct me in the Catholic religion. He and the other priests lent -me any books I wanted, and "The Threshold of the Catholic Faith," and -one other I have now. That I never got beyond the "Threshold" was no -fault of these good Fathers, who taught me with endless patience and -uncompromising directness. But I had before me two types of Catholic -in Willie and his mother and sister, and both were to me -stumbling-blocks. The former was, as I knew, what they call a -"careless Catholic," and I thought that if he who had been born in -that faith that means so much made so little of it, perhaps it was -more of a beautiful dream than a reality of life. Yet when I turned -and considered those "good Catholics," his mother and sister, I found -such a fierce bigotry and deadly dullness of outlook, such an immense -piety and so small a charity, that my whole being revolted against -such a belittling of God-given life. Now, I know that Mary and the -Comtesse disliked me personally, and also that my temperament was -antagonistic to theirs, as indeed to Willie's, though the affection -he and I had for one another eased the friction between us; but youth -judges so much by results, and my excursion into the Catholic -religion ended in abrupt revolt against all forms and creeds. This -feeling was intensified when my second little girl, Carmen, was born -and christened at the Oratory. I would not go in, but stood waiting -in the porch, where I had so often marked tired men and women passing -in to pray after their hard and joyless day of toil, and I felt that -my children were taken from me, and that I was very lonely. - -My Uncle William, Lord Hatherley, was Lord High Chancellor at this -time, and we were a good deal at his house, both at "functions" and -privately. His great {39} friend, Dean Stanley, was very kind to me; -Dean Hook came, too, and many other Churchmen were continually in and -out in their train. My cousin, William Stephens, who afterwards -became Dean of Winchester, was then a very good-looking and agreeable -young man; he followed my uncle about like a shadow, and my uncle and -Aunt Charlotte were devoted to him. But my uncle gathered other -society than that of Churchmen about him, and it amused me to watch -for the pick of the intellectual world of the day as they swarmed up -and down the stairs at the receptions, with the necessary make-weight -of people who follow and pose in the wake of the great. - -Willie insisted upon his wife being perfectly gowned on these -occasions, and as he so often got out of going to those functions and -insisted on my going alone, certain other relations of Lord -Hatherley's would hover round me with their spiteful remarks of: -"Dear Katie, alone again I poor dear girl, where does he go? How odd -that you are so often alone--how little you know!" I was fond of my -old uncle and he of me, but these little amenities did not make me -like these social functions better, especially as his wife, my Aunt -Charlotte, had a most irritating habit of shutting her eyes when -greeting me, and, with her head slightly to one side, saying, "Poor -dear! Poor lovely lamb!" - -This winter, following the birth of my second girl, was bitterly -cold, and my health, which had not been good for some time before her -birth, caused much anxiety. After a consultation between Sir William -Gull, Sir William Jenner, and my usual doctor, it was decided that we -should go to Niton, Isle of Wight, as I was too weak to travel far. -My dear old aunt, Mrs. Benjamin Wood, sent her own doctor to me, and -he recommended me to inject opium--an {40} expression of opinion that -horrified Sir William Jenner into saying, "That man's mad, or wants -to get rid of you!" - -Our pecuniary affairs were again causing us considerable anxiety, but -my dear aunt played the fairy godmother once more, and sent Willie a -cheque so that we could go to Niton without worry or anxiety, and -stop there until my health should be re-established. We were -delighted with the summer warmth of the sun, and spent a happy -Christmas basking in it. Since the hotel was very expensive, Willie -established me in lodgings with the children and nurses in Ventnor, -and, finding the place decidedly dull, returned to London. - -The local doctor at Ventnor, who had been put in charge of my -shattered health, was not satisfied that it was in any way improving, -and, finding one day that I was in the habit of taking sleeping -draughts, he snorted angrily off to the chemist and returned with a -large tin of meat extract, with which he presented me, adding the -intimation that it was worth a dozen bottles of my draught--which -happened to be a powder--and that my London doctors were bereft of -intelligence. I was too tired to argue the point and contented -myself with the observation that all doctors save the one in -attendance were fellows in intelligence--a sentiment he considered -suspiciously for some moments before snorting away like the amiable -little steam engine he was. His specific for sleeplessness was much -more wholesome than drugs, and I have always found it so since then. - - - - -{41} - -CHAPTER VI - -CAPTAIN O'SHEA ENTERS POLITICAL LIFE - - "_D'un coeur qui t'aime, - Mon Dieu, qui peut troubler la tranquille paix? - Il cherche, en tout, ta volunté suprème, - Et ne se cherche jamais. - Sur la terre, dans le ciel même, - Est-il d'autre bonheur que la tranquille paix - D'un coeur qui t'aime?_"--RACINE. - - -Willie was too busy to come down to Ventnor again, and I became so -depressed by the relaxing air and by the sight of the many poor -consumptive people I met at every turn, veritable signposts in their -different stages of disease of the road I had been warned that I was -on, that I decided to go nearer home. My doctor suggested Hastings, -and there I went, taking my small family under the kindly escort of -one of my nephews. - -Willie soon came down, and, as my health improved rapidly, we stayed -on for some time, making frequent visits to my Aunt "Ben" at Eltham, -who was making our stay at the seaside possible. This was -practically my first introduction to my aunt, as my former visits -were when, as a little child, I was only allowed to sit by her side -in the "tapestry room" trying to do some needlework under her -supervision, and assisting her in the consumption of the luscious -peaches she always had on the table. In those days I would have been -wild with terror at the idea of being left alone with this aunt, who -always wore the fashions of her early Victorian youth, and who would -not tolerate the slightest noise in the house. I now found her {42} -of fascinating interest, and even the painful sense of "hush" in her -house, the noiseless stepping of the servants and the careful -seclusion of sunlight had attractions for me. My uncle, Benjamin -Wood, had died very many years before, and my aunt never alluded to -him. She herself had never left Eltham since his death, and had only -once been in a railway train, living in complete seclusion in her -fine old Georgian house, only "taking the air" in the grounds -adjoining or emerging forth in her chariot to drive for an hour daily. - -She lived in the intellectual world of the Greek poets, and of -Addison, Swift and Racine; and there was a leisure and a scholarly -atmosphere about her life that seemed to banish the hurry and turmoil -of the modern world at her gate. She was extremely generous in -subscribing to what she termed "Organizations for the better conduct -of charitable relief," and, though of no particular religious belief, -she subscribed to the various objects of local charity when asked to -do so by the clergyman of the parish. The latter gentleman once made -the mistake of offering to read the Scriptures to her on the occasion -of an illness, and I well remember his face of consternation when she -replied: "I thank you, Mr. ----, but I am still well able to read, -and the Scriptures do not interest me." Yet during the many years I -spent in constant companionship with her the quiet peace which -reigned by her side gave me the most restful and soothing hours of my -life. - -After we had paid her several visits in this way she informed me that -she had ascertained that I was much alone, that she was very tenderly -attached to me, and would wish to provide for me and my children if I -would come to live near her so that I could be her constant -companion. She added that she considered that this arrangement would -{43} be more "seemly" for me, as Willie was obliged to be away from -home so much. - -After consultation with the (county court) judge, Gordon Whitbread, -her nephew and my cousin, who always transacted her business for her, -she bought a house for me at the other side of her park, and arranged -to settle a regular income on me and to educate my children. In -return she asked that her "Swan"--as she always called me--should be -her daily companion. This I was until her death, at the age of -ninety-four, about fifteen years later. - -My aunt lived a life of great seclusion, and, with the exception of -George Meredith (the author), and the Rev. ---- Wilkinson, who each -came down once a week to read to her, her oculist and great friend, -Dr. Bader, and two old ladies, friends of her youth, she rarely saw -anyone. Her house--"The Lodge," Eltham--was fine old Georgian, -spoilt inside by the erection of mock pillars in the hall. She was -very particular that no one should tread upon the highly polished -floors, and, as the two large halls had only rugs laid about on the -shining surface, one had either to make many "tacks" to reach the -desired door or seat, or take a short cut on tiptoe and risk her -"displeasure." - -It was amusing to watch George Meredith on his excursion from the -front door to the dressing-room at the foot of the stairs, where my -aunt kept three pairs of slippers for the use of her "gentlemen -readers" lest their boots should soil the carpets. To reach this -little room he had--if in a good mood and conforming to his old -friend's regulations--to walk straight ahead past the room, and make -a detour round a pillar of (imitation) green marble and a table, back -to the door. On days of rebellion against these forms and ceremonies -he would hesitate for {44} a moment just inside the door, and, with a -reckless uplifting of his head, begin a hasty stride across the -sacred places; a stride which became an agitated tip-toeing under the -scandalized gaze of the footman. Before he began to read to my aunt -the following dialogue invariably took place:-- - -"Now, my dear lady, I will read you something of my own." - -"Indeed, my dear Mr. Meredith, I cannot comprehend your works." - -"I will explain my meaning, dear Mrs. Wood." - -"You are prodigiously kind, dear Mr. Meredith, but I should prefer -Molière to-day." - -While Willie and I were still living in London we went down one day -to see a furnished house we wished to rent for a few weeks, and, -remembering my Aunt Ben's injunction to convey her "felicitations to -her dear Mr. Meredith," we called on him. - -I had not before met George Meredith, and had only read one of his -works--and that "behind the door" when I was very young, owing to -some belated scruple of my elders. I remember, as we neared the -house, asking Willie the names of Meredith's other works, so that I -might be ready primed with intelligent interest, and Willie's -sarcastic little smile, as he mentioned one or two, adding, "You need -not worry yourself; Meredith will soon enlighten us as to his books. -They say it's the one thing he ever talks about." But we spent a -delightful afternoon with Mr. Meredith, who showed us all his -literary treasures and the little house at the end of the garden -where he wrote. While we sat in the lovely little garden drinking -tea our host descanted on the exquisite haze of heat that threw soft -shadows about the house and gave the great trees {45} in the -background the appearance of an enchanted forest. George Meredith -was "reader" to Chapman and Hall in those days, and he spoke to me -appreciatively of the work of my mother and sister, who published -with Chapman and Hall. - -In these days at Eltham I learnt to know George Meredith very well, -as I saw him almost every week when he came down to read to my aunt. -The old lady did not like triangular conversation, so as soon as they -were fairly launched in reading or conversation, I would gladly slip -away to my own occupations. To Aunt Ben, Meredith appeared to be a -very young man indeed, and in her gentle, high-bred way she loved to -tease him about his very great appreciation of his own work--and -person. Meredith took her gentle raillery absolutely in good part -and would hold forth upon what the literary world "of all time" owed -him in his books, and also upon what Lady This-or-that had said in -admiration of his good looks at such-and-such a gathering. My aunt -used to delight in these tales, which were delivered in the mock -serious manner of a boy telling his mother of his prowess, real or -imagined; and after a time of listening to him, with only her gently -modulated little bursts of laughter to encourage him, she would say, -"Oh, my dear Mr. Meredith, your conceit is as wonderful as your -genius!"--bringing forth from him the protest, "My dear lady, no! -But it is a pleasure to you to hear of my successes and to me to tell -you of them." And so I would leave them to their playful badinage -and reading. - -Meredith was very fond of his old friend, and always treated her with -the chivalrous and rather elaborate courtesy that he well knew she -delighted in. His weekly visits were a great pleasure to her, and -although she would not {46} allow him to read anything modern and -never anything of his own work, I think he must have enjoyed his -reading and talk with this clever old lady, for often the stipulated -two hours of the "classics and their discussion" lengthened into the -three or four that caused him to miss all the most convenient trains -home. - -One evening as I was going into the house I saw him standing on the -terrace gazing after the retreating form of my little girl Carmen, -then about six years old. As I came up he pointed at the stiff -little back and said, "She was flying along like a fairy Atalanta -when I caught her, and said, 'What is your name?' 'Miss -Nothin'-at-all!' she replied, with such fierce dignity that I dropped -her in alarm." - -I called the child to come back and speak politely to Mr. Meredith, -but, to his amusement, was only rewarded by an airy wave of the hand -as she fled down a by-path. - -As I sometimes chatted to Mr. Meredith on his way through the grounds -to the station, he would tell me of "that blessed woman," as he used -to call his (second) wife, already then dead, and of how he missed -her kind and always sympathetic presence on his return home and in -his work. Sometimes the handsome head would droop, and I thought he -looked careworn and sad as he spoke of her, and in doing so he lost -for the moment all the mannerisms and "effectiveness" which were -sometimes rather wearisome in him. As my aunt grew very old she--in -the last few years of her life--became unequal to listening and -talking to her "gentlemen readers," and to me she deputed the task of -telling them so. In the case of George Meredith it was rather -painful to me, as I feared the loss of the £300 a year my aunt had so -long paid him for his {47} weekly visits might be a serious one to -him. But he, too, had aged in all these years, and perhaps his -visits to his old friend were becoming rather irksome to him in their -regularity. Curiously enough, I shared my aunt's inability to enjoy -his work, and to the last I met his mocking inquiry as to my -"progress in literature" (i.e. his novels) by a deprecating "Only -'Richard Feverel.'" - -The house my aunt bought for me was just across her park, and she had -a gate made in the park fence so that I might go backwards and -forwards to her house more quickly. My house was a comfortable villa -with the usual little "front garden" and larger one in the rear. -There were excellent stables at the end of this garden. The house, -"Wonersh Lodge," had the usual dining-room and drawing-room, with two -other sitting-rooms opening severally into the garden, and a large -conservatory, which I afterwards made over to Mr. Parnell for his own -use. My aunt furnished the house, and we were most comfortable, -while my children rejoiced in having the run of the park and grounds -after the restraint of town life. - -Willie was very much in London now, and occupied himself in getting -up a company to develop some mining business in Spain. He always -drew up a prospectus excellently; on reading it one could hardly help -believing--as he invariably did--that here at last was the golden -opportunity of speculators. Some influential men put into the -Spanish venture sums varying from £1,000 to £10,000. Our old friend -Christopher Weguelin took great interest in it, and eventually Willie -was offered the post of manager, at La Mines, at a good salary. It -was a very acceptable post to Willie, as he loved the life in foreign -countries. There was a very good house, and he had it planted round -with eucalyptus trees to keep off the {48} fever so prevalent there, -and from which the men working the mines suffered greatly. - -Willie was, however, immune to fever, and never had it. He was away -in Spain for over eighteen months this time, and did not come home at -all during the period. - -My son now, at eight years old, proved too much for his French -governess, so we arranged for him to go to a school at Blackheath, -though he was two years younger than the age generally accepted -there. The little girls were started afresh with a German governess, -and on Willie's return from Spain he stayed at Eltham for a time. - -We were pleased to see one another again, but once more the wearing -friction caused by our totally dissimilar temperaments began to make -us feel that close companionship was impossible, and we mutually -agreed that he should have rooms in London, visiting Eltham to see -myself and the children at week-ends. After a while the regularity -of his week-end visits became very much broken, but he still arrived -fairly regularly to take the children to Mass at Chislehurst on -Sunday mornings, and he would often get me up to town to do hostess -when he wished to give a dinner-party. I had all my life been well -known at Thomas's Hotel, Berkeley Square, as my parents and family -had always stayed there when in London. So here I used to help -Willie with his parties, and to suffer the boredom incidental to this -form of entertainment. - -On one occasion Willie, who always said that even if only for the -sake of our children I ought not to "drop out of everything," worried -me into accepting invitations to a ball given by the Countess ----, -whom I did not know, and for this I came up to town late in the -afternoon, dined quietly at the hotel by myself, and dressed {49} for -the ball, ready for Willie to fetch me as he had promised after his -dinner with some friends. I was ready at half-past eleven as had -been arranged, and the carriage came round for me at a quarter to -twelve. At twelve the manageress, a friend from my childhood, came -to see if she could "do anything for me" as Captain O'Shea was so -late. At 12.30 the head waiter, who used to lift me into my chair at -table on our first acquaintance, came to know if "Miss Katie" was -anxious about "the Captain," and got snubbed by the manageress for -his pains. At one o'clock, white with anger and trembling with -mortification, I tore off my beautiful frock and got into bed. At -nine o'clock the next morning Willie called, having only just -remembered my existence and the ball to which he was to have taken me. - -Willie was now longing for some definite occupation, and he knew many -political people. While he was on a visit to Ireland early in 1880 -he was constantly urged by his friends, the O'Donnells and others, to -try for a seat in the next Parliament. A dissolution seemed -imminent. He had often talked of becoming a member for some Irish -constituency, and now, on again meeting The O'Gorman Mahon in -Ireland, he was very easily persuaded to stand in with him for County -Clare. He wrote home to me to know what I thought of the idea, -saying that he feared that, much as he should like it, the expenses -would be almost too heavy for us to manage. I wrote back strongly -encouraging him to stand, for I knew it would give him occupation he -liked and keep us apart--and therefore good friends. Up to this time -Willie had not met Mr. Parnell. - - - - -{50} - -CHAPTER VII - -MR. PARNELL AND THE IRISH PARTY - - "_I loved those hapless ones--the Irish Poor-- - All my life long. - Little did I for them in outward deed, - And yet be unto them of praise the meed - For the stiff fight I urged 'gainst lust and greed: - I learnt it there._" - --SIR WILLIAM BUTLER. - - -"The introduction of the Arms Bill has interfered with Mr. Parnell's -further stay in France, and it is probable he will be in his place in -the House of Commons by the time this is printed." - -This paragraph appeared in the Nation early in 1880. On the 8th -March of that year, the Disraeli Parliament dissolved, and on the -29th April Mr. Gladstone formed his Ministry. - -In the Disraeli Parliament Mr. Parnell was the actual, though Mr. -Shaw had been the nominal, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party -since the death of Mr. Isaac Butt in 1879. Shaw continued the Butt -tradition of moderation and conciliation which had made the Irish -Party an unconsidered fraction in British politics. Parnell -represented the new attitude of uncompromising hostility to all -British parties and of unceasing opposition to all their measures -until the grievances of Ireland were redressed. He carried the -majority of his Party with him, and in Ireland he was already the -people's hero. - -Born in June, 1846, Parnell was still a young man. {51} He came of a -fine race; he was a member of the same family as the famous poet, -Thomas Parnell, as Lord Congleton, Radical reformer and statesman, -and, above all, Sir John Parnell, who sat and worked with Grattan in -Ireland's Great Parliament and shared with him the bitter fight -against the Union. On his mother's side he was the grandson of the -famous Commodore Charles Stewart, of the American Navy, whose bravery -and success in the War of Independence are well known. It was -natural that a man of such ancestry should become a champion of the -rights of his native land. - -Yet though in 1879 he was the virtual chief of the Irish Party, eight -years before he was an Irish country gentleman, living quietly on his -estates at Avondale in County Wicklow. - -It is a mistake to say that his mother "planted his hatred of England -in him," as she so seldom saw him as a boy. He was sent to school in -England at six years old, and he used to tell me how his father--who -died when he (Charles S. Parnell) was twelve years old--would send -for him to come to Ireland to see him. His mother, Mrs. Delia -Parnell, lived chiefly in America, going over to Avondale that her -children might be born in Ireland, and returning as soon as possible -to America. After her husband's death she only visited the place -occasionally, and altogether saw very little of her son Charles. He -often told me how well he remembered being sent for in his father's -last illness to go to him at Dublin, and the last journey with his -dying father back to Avondale. His father had made him his heir and -a ward of Court. - -In reality Parnell's hatred of England arose when he began to study -the records of England's misgovernment {52} in Ireland, and of the -barbarities that were inflicted upon her peasantry in the name of -England's authority. - -For years before he left the seclusion of Avondale this hatred had -been growing. He followed the Fenian movement with the liveliest -interest, and he often accompanied his sister Fanny when she took her -verses to the offices of the _Irish World_. The sufferings of the -Fenian prisoners, so courageously borne, stirred his blood and -awakened his imagination. It can be imagined with what inward anger -the young man heard of the detective raid on his mother's house in -Temple Street, Dublin--when they found and impounded the sword he was -privileged to wear as an officer of the Wicklow Militia. - -But it was the Manchester affair of 1867 and the execution of Allen, -Larkin and O'Brien which crystallized his hatred of England. From -that moment he was only biding his time. Yet he was slow to move, -and loath to speak his mind, and, until he went to America in 1871, -he was better known for his cricketing and his autumn shooting than -for his politics. When he returned to Avondale with his brother John -in 1872 the Ballot Act had just been passed, and it was the -consciousness of the possibilities of the secret vote as a weapon -against England that finally persuaded him to be a politician. - -But, though he joined the newly formed Home Rule League, it was not -until 1874 that he stood for Parliament in Dublin County. He came -out at the bottom of the poll. The election cost him £2,000; the -£300 which he had received from the Home Rule League he handed back -to them. In April, 1875, he stood for Meath and was placed at the -top of the poll. - -When he entered Parliament the Irish Party, as I have said, was of -little account. The case for Ireland was {53} argued by Isaac Butt -with fine reasonableness and forensic skill, but it produced -absolutely no effect. The English parties smiled and patted the -Irish indulgently on the head. In Ireland all the more resolute and -enthusiastic spirits had an utter contempt for their Parliamentary -representatives; from the machine nothing was to be hoped. It was -the mission of Parnell to change all that, to unite all the warring -elements of the Nationalist movements into one force to be hurled -against England. - -But still he waited and watched--learning the rules of the House, -studying the strength and weaknesses of the machine he was to use and -to attack. He found it more instructive to watch Biggar than Butt, -for Biggar was employing those methods of obstruction which Parnell -afterwards used with such perfect skill. From June, 1876, he took a -hand in affairs. Side by side with Biggar, he began his relentless -obstruction of Parliamentary business until the demands of Ireland -should be considered. Already in 1877 he was fighting Butt for the -direction of the Irish Party. On September 1st of that year Parnell -became President of the Home Rule Confederation of Great Britain in -place of Butt, and the victory was really won. Thenceforward Parnell -was the true leader of the Irish movement inside Parliament and out -of it. He attracted the support of Fenians by his uncompromising -tactics and his fearless utterances, and when the New Departure was -proclaimed by Michael Davitt (just out of prison) and John Devoy, and -the Land League was formed in 1879, Parnell was elected president. - -The objects of the League were "best to be attained by defending -those who may be threatened with eviction for refusing to pay unjust -rents; and by obtaining such reforms in the laws relating to land as -will enable every {54} tenant to become the owner of his holding by -paying a fair rent for a limited number of years." The League was -meant by its founders, Davitt and Devoy, to work for the abolition of -landlordism in Ireland, which, in turn, should pave the way for -separation. Though Parnell was himself working for Home Rule, the -League became a tremendous driving power behind his constitutional -demands. For some months Disraeli's Government did nothing, while -the agitation spread like wildfire. Then in November three of the -leaders were arrested, on December 5th a fourth--and in a few days -released! Ireland laughed, and the League grew. On December 21st -Parnell and Dillon sailed for New York to appeal for funds to save -the tenant farmers and to tighten the bond between the new movement -and the revolutionary societies of America. His triumphal progress -through the States and Canada, his reception by the Governors of -States, members of Congress, judges and other representative men, and -finally his appearance before Congress to develop his views on the -Irish situation, are well known. It was on this journey--at -Toronto--that he was first hailed as the "Uncrowned King." - -The unexpected news of the dissolution summoned him home. In going -out Disraeli tried to make Home Rule the issue of the election, but -Lord Hartington--who was then leading the Liberal Party--and Mr. -Gladstone refused to take up the challenge. All the English parties -were united in hostility to Home Rule. - -But the violent manifesto of Disraeli threw the Irish voting strength -in England into the Liberal scale. The Liberals swept the country. - -Curiously enough, even in Ireland the issue of the election was not -Home Rule. There it was the land, and {55} nothing but the land. -For the harvest of 1879 had been the worst since the great famine; -evictions were in full swing, and the Land League had begun its work. - -The demand was for a measure securing the "three F's": Fixity of -tenure, fair rents determined by a legal tribunal, and free sale of -the tenant's interest. But in many constituencies the demand was for -the extinction of landlordism. - -Parnell carried the election on his back. He was fighting not only -the Liberals and the Tories, but the moderate Home Rule followers of -Mr. Shaw. His energy seemed inexhaustible; from one end of Ireland -to the other he organized the campaign, and addressed meetings. The -result was a triumph for his policy and for the Land League. Of the -61 Home Rulers elected, 39 were Parnellites. - - - - -{56} - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE FIRST MEETING WITH MR. PARNELL - - "_One evening he asked the miller where the river went._" - "_'It goes down the valley,' answered he, 'and turns a power - of mills.'_"--R. L. STEVENSON. - - -Willie and The O'Gorman Mahon had been returned at the General -Election, and many and varied were the stories The O'Gorman Mahon -told me subsequently of their amusing experiences. How they kissed -nearly every girl in Clare and drank with every man--and poor Willie -loathed Irish whisky--how Willie's innate fastidiousness in dress -brought gloom into the eyes of the peasantry until his unfeigned -admiration of their babies and live stock, scrambing together about -the cabins, "lifted a smile to the lip." - -The O'Gorman Mahon was then a tall, handsome old man with a perfect -snowstorm of white hair, and eyes as merry and blue as those of a -boy. He could look as fierce as an old eagle on occasion, however, -and had fought, in his day, more duels than he could remember. A -fine specimen of the old type of Irishman. - -When he came down to Eltham to see us, Willie and I took him over to -Greenwich and gave him a fish dinner. We sat late into the night -talking of Irish affairs, and The O'Gorman Mahon said to me, "If you -meet Parnell, Mrs. O'Shea, be good to him. His begging expedition to -America has about finished him, and I don't believe he'll last the -session out." - -{57} - -He went on to speak of Mr. Parnell; how aloof and reserved he was, -and how he received any inquiries as to his obviously bad health with -a freezing hostility that gave the inquirers a ruffled sense of -tactlessness. - -Willie broke in to say that he and I were going to give some -political dinners in London and would ask Parnell, though he was sure -he would not come. The O'Gorman Mahon paid some idle compliment, but -I was not interested particularly in their stories of Parnell, though -I mentally decided that if I gave any dinners to the Irish Party for -Willie I would make a point of getting Parnell. - -On the 26th of April the members of the Irish Party met in Dublin to -elect a chairman, and the meeting was adjourned without coming to a -decision, but in May Mr. Parnell was chosen as leader. Willie voted -for him, with twenty-two others, and telegraphed to me to say that he -had done so, but feared that Mr. Parnell might be too "advanced." -The fact was that many people admired steady-going William Shaw, the -then chairman, as being very "safe," and doubted whither their -allegiance to Mr. Parnell would lead them. Years after, when their -politics had diverged, Mr. Parnell said: "I was right when I said in -'80, as Willie got up on that platform at Ennis, dressed to kill, -that he was just the man we did not want in the Party." - -After the meeting of Parliament Willie was insistent that I should -give some dinner parties in London, and, as his rooms were too small -for this purpose, we arranged to have a couple of private rooms at -Thomas's Hotel--my old haunt in Berkeley Square. There were no -ladies' clubs in those days, but this hotel served me for many years -as well as such a club could have done. - -{58} - -We gave several dinners, and to each of them I asked Mr. Parnell. -Among the first to come were Mr. Justin McCarthy (the elder), Colonel -Colthurst, Richard Power, Colonel Nolan, and several others; but--in -spite of his acceptance of the invitation--Mr. Parnell did not come. -Someone alluded to the "vacant chair," and laughingly defied me to -fill it; the rest of our guests took up the tale and vied with each -other in tales of the inaccessibility of Parnell, of how he ignored -even the invitations of the most important political hostesses in -London, and of his dislike of all social intercourse--though he had -mixed freely in society in America and Paris before he became a -politician for the sake of the Irish poor. I then became determined -that I would get Parnell to come, and said, amid laughter and -applause: "The uncrowned King of Ireland shall sit in that chair at -the next dinner I give!" - -One bright sunny day when the House was sitting I drove, accompanied -by my sister, Mrs. Steele (who had a house in Buckingham Gate), to -the House of Commons and sent in a card asking Mr. Parnell to come -out and speak to us in Palace Yard. - -He came out, a tall, gaunt figure, thin and deadly pale. He looked -straight at me smiling, and his curiously burning eyes looked into -mine with a wondering intentness that threw into my brain the sudden -thought: "This man is wonderful--and different." - -I asked him why he had not answered my last invitation to dinner, and -if nothing would induce him to come. He answered that he had not -opened his letters for days, but if I would let him, he would come to -dinner directly he returned from Paris, where he had to go for his -sister's wedding. - -{59} - -In leaning forward in the cab to say good-bye a rose I was wearing in -my bodice fell out on to my skirt. He picked it up and, touching it -lightly with his lips, placed it in his button-hole. - -This rose I found long years afterwards done up in an envelope, with -my name and the date, among his most private papers, and when he died -I laid it upon his heart. - -This is the first letter I had from Mr. Parnell:-- - - - LONDON, - _July_ 17, 1880. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--We have all been in such a "disturbed" - condition lately that I have been quite unable to wander further - from here than a radius of about one hundred _paces allons_. And - this notwithstanding the powerful attractions which have been - tending to seduce me from my duty towards my country in the - direction of Thomas's Hotel. - - I am going over to Paris on Monday evening or Tuesday morning to - attend my sister's wedding, and on my return will write you again - and ask for an opportunity of seeing you.--Yours very truly, - CHAS. S. PARNELL. - - - -On his return from Paris Mr. Parnell wrote to me, and again we asked -him to dinner, letting him name his own date. We thought he would -like a quiet dinner, and invited only my sister, Mrs. Steele, my -nephew, Sir Matthew Wood, Mr. Justin McCarthy, and a couple of others -whose names I forget. On receiving his reply accepting the -invitation for the following Friday, we engaged a box at the Gaiety -Theatre--where Marion Hood was acting (for whom I had a great -admiration)--as we thought it would be a relief to the "Leader" to -get away from politics for once. - -On the day of the dinner I got this note:-- - - -{60} - - - HOUSE OF COMMONS, - _Friday._ - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--I dined with the Blakes on Wednesday, and - by the time dinner was over it was too late to go to the - meeting--the Post Office is all right here. - - I cannot imagine who originated the paragraph. I have certainly - made no arrangements up to the present to go either to Ireland or - America or announced any intention to anybody.--Yours, CHAS. S. - PARNELL. - - - -He arrived late, but apologetic, and was looking painfully ill and -white, the only life-light in his face being given by the fathomless -eyes of rich brown, varying to the brilliance of flame. The depth of -expression and sudden fire of his eyes held me to the day of his -death. - -We had a pleasant dinner, talking of small nothings, and, avoiding -the controversial subject of politics, Mr. Parnell directed most of -his conversation to my sister during dinner. She could talk -brilliantly, and her quick, light handling of each subject as it came -up kept him interested and amused. I was really anxious that he -should have an agreeable evening, and my relief was great when he -said that he was glad to go to the theatre with us, as the change of -thought it gave was a good rest for him. - -On arrival at the theatre he and I seemed to fall naturally into our -places in the dark corner of the box facing the stage and screened -from the sight of the audience, while my sister and the others sat in -front. - -After we had settled in our seats Mr. Parnell began to talk to me. I -had a feeling of complete sympathy and companionship with him, as -though I had always known this strange, unusual man with the thin -face and pinched nostrils, who sat by my side staring with that -curious {61} intent gaze at the stage, and telling me in a low -monotone of his American tour and of his broken health. - -Then, turning more to me, he paused; and, as the light from the stage -caught his eyes, they seemed like sudden flames. I leaned a little -towards him, still with that odd feeling of his having always been -there by my side; and his eyes smiled into mine as he broke off his -theme and began to tell me of how he had met once more in America a -lady to whom he had been practically engaged some few years before. - -Her father would not dower her to go to Ireland, and Parnell would -not think of giving up the Irish cause and settling in America. The -engagement therefore hung fire; but on this last visit to America he -had sought her out and found himself cold and disillusioned. - -She was a very pretty girl, he said, with golden hair, small features -and blue eyes. One evening, on this last visit, he went to a ball -with her, and, as she was going up the stairs, she pressed into his -hand a paper on which was written the following verse: - - "Unless you can muse in a crowd all day - On the absent face that fixed you, - Unless you can dream that his faith is fast - Through behoving and unbehoving, - Unless you can die when the dream is past, - Oh, never call it loving." - -He asked me who had written the lines, and I answered that it sounded -like one of the Brownings (it is E. B. Browning's), and he said -simply: "Well, I could not do all that, so I went home." - -I suggested that perhaps the lady had suffered in his desertion, but -he said that he had seen her, that same evening, suddenly much -attracted by a young advocate {62} named A----, who had just entered -the room, and decided in his own mind that his vacillation had lost -him the young lady. The strenuous work he had then put his whole -heart into had driven out all traces of regret. - -After this dinner-party I met him frequently in the Ladies' Gallery -of the House. I did not tell him when I was going; but, whenever I -went, he came up for a few minutes; and, if the Wednesday sittings -were not very important or required his presence, he would ask me to -drive with him. We drove many miles this way in a hansom cab out -into the country, to the river at Mortlake, or elsewhere. We chiefly -discussed Willie's chances of being returned again for Clare, in case -another election was sprung upon us. Both Willie and I were very -anxious to secure Mr. Parnell's promise about this, as The O'Gorman -Mahon was old, and we were desirous of making Willie's seat in -Parliament secure. - -While he sat by my side in the meadows by the river he promised he -would do his best to keep Willie in Parliament, and to secure County -Clare for him should the occasion arise. Thus we would sit there -through the summer afternoon, watching the gay traffic on the river, -in talk, or in the silence of tried friendship, till the growing -shadows warned us that it was time to drive back to London. - -Soon after my first meeting with Mr. Parnell, my sister, Mrs. Steele, -invited Mr. Parnell, Mr. McCarthy and myself to luncheon. We had a -very pleasant little party at her house. During lunch Mr. Parnell -told us he was going to his place in Ireland for some shooting, and -Mr. McCarthy and my sister chaffed him for leaving us for the lesser -game of partridge shooting, but he observed {63} gravely, "I have the -partridges there, and here I cannot always have your society." - -I had to leave early, as I was anxious to return to see my aunt; and -Mr. Parnell said he would accompany me to the station. When we got -to Charing Cross the train had already gone; and Mr. Parnell picked -out a good horse from the cab rank, saying it would be much -pleasanter to drive down on such a beautiful afternoon. We did so, -but I would not let him stay, as I was not sure what state of -confusion the house might be in, left in my absence in the possession -of the children and governess. I told him I had to hurry over the -park to my aunt, as really was the case, and he reluctantly returned -to London. - -On the next Wednesday evening Mr. Parnell was to dine with me at -Thomas's Hotel. He met me at Cannon Street Station as the train came -in, and asked me to have some tea with him at the hotel there and go -on to Thomas's together. We went to the Cannon Street Hotel -dining-rooms, but on looking in he saw some of the Irish members -there and said it would be more comfortable for us in his private -sitting-room. I was under the impression that he lived at Keppel -Street, but he told me he had just taken rooms in the Cannon Street -Hotel. We had tea in his sitting-room, and he talked politics to me -freely till I was interested and at ease, and then lapsed into one of -those long silences of his that I was already beginning to know were -dangerous in the complete sympathy they evoked between us. - -Presently I said, "Come! we shall be late!"; and he rose without a -word and followed me downstairs. There were some members of his -Party still standing about in the hall, but, as he always did -afterwards when I was {64} with him, he ignored them absolutely and -handed me into a waiting cab. - -He and I dined at Thomas's Hotel that evening, and after dinner I -returned home to Eltham. Mr. Parnell left for Ireland by the morning -mail. - -From Dublin he wrote to me:-- - - - _September_ 9, 1880. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--Just a line to say that I have arrived - here, and go on to Avondale, Rathdrum, this evening, where I hope - to hear from you before very long. - - I may tell you also in confidence that I don't feel quite so - content at the prospect of ten days' absence from London amongst - the hills and valleys of Wicklow as I should have done some three - months since. - - The cause is mysterious, but perhaps you will help me to find it, - or her, on my return.--Yours always, CHAS. S. PARNELL. - - -Then from his home:-- - - - AVONDALE, RATHDRUM, - _September_ 11, 1880. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--I take the opportunity which a few hours in - Dublin gives me of letting you know that I am still in the land - of the living, notwithstanding the real difficulty of either - living or being, which every moment becomes more evident, in the - absence of a certain kind and fair face. - - Probably you will not hear from me again for a few days, as I am - going into the mountains for some shooting, removed from post - offices and such like consolations for broken-hearted - politicians, but if, as I hope, a letter from you should reach me - even there, I shall try and send you an answer.--Yours very - sincerely, CHAS. S. PARNELL. - - - - -{65} - -CHAPTER IX - -AT ELTHAM - - "_But then--I supposed you to be but a fellow guest?_" - "_Ah, no" he answered, he in that cold, unshaken voice, "I - have but come home._"--(THE BAGMAN) HONORA SHEE. - - -Whenever I went to town, or elsewhere, I always returned at night to -see that my children were all right and to be ready to go to my aunt -as usual every morning. One day, on my return from a drive with my -aunt, I found that my old nurse Lucy, who still lived with me, was -very ill, having had a stroke of paralysis while I was away. She -lingered only a couple of days before she died and left a great void -in my heart. My children missed their admiring old confidante sadly. -She had always been devoted to me as the youngest of her "own -babies," as she called my mother's children, and had shared in all my -fortunes and misfortunes since I returned from Spain. She was always -very proud, and so fearful of becoming a burden to anyone, that she -rented a room in her sister's house so that she should feel -independent. So often, when "times were bad" with us, she would -press some of her savings into my hand and say that "The Captain must -want a little change, Dearie, going about as he does!" - -In her earlier life she had had her romance, and had spent some years -in saving up to marry her "sweetheart," as she called him; but -shortly before the wedding her father's business failed, and she -immediately gave him {66} all her little nest-egg, with the result -that her lover refused to marry her. So then, at the great age of -ninety, after her blameless life had been passed since the age of -sixteen in unselfish devotion to us all, we laid her to rest by the -side of my father and mother at Cressing, Willie taking her down to -Essex and attending the funeral. - -As she lay dying I got this note from Mr. Parnell:-- - - - DUBLIN, - _September_ 22, 1880. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--I cannot keep myself away from you any - longer, so shall leave to-night for London. - - Please wire me to 16, Keppel Street, Russell Square, if I may - hope to see you to-morrow and where, after 4 p.m.--Yours always, - C. S. P. - - -Owing to the piteous clinging to my fingers of my old Lucy I was -unable to go to London even for an hour to meet Mr. Parnell, so I -telegraphed to that effect, and received the following letter:-- - - - EUSTON STATION, - _Friday evening, September_ 24, 1880. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--On arriving at Keppel Street yesterday I - found that your wire had just arrived, and that the boy refused - to leave it as I was not stopping there. Going at once to the - district postal office I asked for and received the wire, and - to-day went to London Bridge Station at 12.15. - - The train from Eltham had just left, so I came on to Charing - Cross and sent a note by messenger to you at Thomas's, with - directions to bring it back if you were not there, which turned - out to be the case. I am very much troubled at not having seen - you, especially as I must return to Ireland to-night--I came on - purpose for you, and had no other business. I think it possible, - on reflection, that the telegraph people may have wired you that - they were unable to deliver your message, and, if so, must - reproach myself for not having written you last night.--Your very - disappointed C. S. P. - - -{67} - -From Dublin he wrote me: - - - _Saturday morning, September_ 25, 1880. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--In my hurried note to you last night I had - not time to sympathize with you in this troublesome time you have - been going through recently; how I wish it might have been - possible for me to have seen you even for a few minutes to tell - you how very much I feel any trouble which comes to you. - - I am just starting for New Ross, where there is a meeting - to-morrow. - - If you can spare time to write me to Avondale, the letters will - reach me in due course.--Yours always, C. S. P. - - - - _September_ 29, 1880. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--I have received your wire, but not the - letter which you say you were writing me to Dublin for Monday. - - I suppose then you may have sent it to Rathdrum instead, whither - I am going this evening, and that I may soon have the happiness - of reading a few words written by you. - - I am due at Cork on Sunday, after which I propose to visit London - again, and renew my attempt to gain a glimpse of you. Shall - probably arrive there on Tuesday if I hear from you in the - meanwhile that you will see me. - - On Friday evening I shall be at Morrison's on my way to Kilkenny - for Saturday, and shall be intensely delighted to have a wire - from you to meet me there.--Yours always, CHAS. S. PARNELL. - - -Meanwhile Willie was in communication with Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Tintern -(one of the Liberal agents) and others, in reference to a meeting -held by him. - -Mr. Tintern wrote from Tenby commenting with satisfaction on the -report of Willie's successful meeting, on Willie's kind mention of -the Government, and on the good the meeting must do by promoting -orderly progress and better feeling between one class and another. -But he {68} expressed surprise that Willie should think the -Government had not treated him and West Clare well. He at least...! -Mr. Gladstone wrote from Downing Street on the 21st September about -the meeting in much the same terms. He expressed himself as -gratified to think that the important local proceedings with regard -to the land question showed the union of people and pastors against -the extremists. - -Life at Eltham went on in the same routine. My aunt was well, and -would sit for long hours at the south door of her house--looking away -up "King John's Chase"--the ruins of King John's Palace were at -Eltham, and my aunt's park and grounds were part of the ancient Royal -demesne. In these summer evenings she loved to sit at the top of the -broad flight of shallow steps with me, and tell my little girls -stories of her life of long ago. - -Sometimes her favourite Dr. Bader would bring his zither down from -London and play to us; or my aunt and I would sit in the great -tapestry room with all of the seven windows open, listening to the -song of the æolian harp as the soft breeze touched its strings and -died away in harmony through the evening stillness. - -Sometimes, too, she would sing in her soft, gentle old voice the -songs of her youth, to the accompaniment of her guitar. "We met, -'twas in a crowd," was a favourite old song of hers, half forgotten -since she used to sing it to the music of her spinet seventy years -before, but Dr. Bader found the words in an old book, and the dear -old lady crooned it sentimentally to me as we sat waiting for the -hooting of the owls which signalled to her maid the time for shutting -her lady's windows. - -And I was conscious of sudden gusts of unrest and revolt against -these leisured, peaceful days where the {69} chiming of the great -clock in the hall was the only indication of the flight of time, and -the outside world of another age called to me with the manifold -interests into which I had been so suddenly plunged with the power to -help in the making and marring of a destiny. - -In the autumn of 1880 Mr. Parnell came to stay with us at Eltham, -only going to Dublin as occasion required. Willie had invited him to -come, and I got in some flowers in pots and palms to make my -drawing-room look pretty for him. - -Mr. Parnell, who was in very bad health at that time, a few days -later complained of sore throat, and looked, as I thought, mournfully -at my indoor garden, which I industriously watered every day. It -then dawned upon me that he was accusing this of giving him sore -throat, and I taxed him with it. He evidently feared to vex me, but -admitted that he did think it was so, and "wouldn't it do if they -were not watered so often?" He was childishly touched when I at once -had them all removed, and he sank happily on to the sofa, saying that -"plants were such damp things!" - -His throat became no better, and he looked so terribly ill when--as -he often did now--he fell asleep from sheer weakness on the sofa -before the fire, that I became very uneasy about him. Once, on -awaking from one of these sleeps of exhaustion, he told me abruptly -that he believed it was the green in the carpet that gave him sore -throat. There and then we cut a bit out, and sent it to London to be -analysed, but without result. It was quite a harmless carpet. - -During this time I nursed him assiduously, making him take -nourishment at regular intervals, seeing that these day-sleeps of his -were not disturbed, and forcing {70} him to take fresh air in long -drives through the country around us. At length I had the -satisfaction of seeing his strength gradually return sufficiently to -enable him to take the exercise that finished the process of this -building-up, and he became stronger than he had been for some years. -I do not think anyone but we who saw him then at Eltham, without the -mask of reserve he always presented to the outside world, had any -idea of how near death's door his exertions on behalf of the -famine-stricken peasants of Ireland had brought him. - -Once in that autumn, after he came to us, I took him for a long drive -in an open carriage through the hop-growing district of Kent. I had -not thought of the fact that hundreds of the poorest of the Irish -came over for the hop-picking, and might recognize him. - -After driving over Chislehurst Common and round by the lovely Grays, -we came right into a crowd of the Irish "hoppers"--men, women, and -children. In a moment there was a wild surge towards the carriage, -with cries of "The Chief! The Chief!" and "Parnell! Parnell! -Parnell!" The coachman jerked the horses on to their haunches for -fear of knocking down the enthusiastic men and women who were -crowding up--trying to kiss Parnell's hand, and calling for "a few -words." - -He lifted his cap with that grave, aloof smile of his, and said no, -he was not well enough to make the smallest of speeches, but he was -glad to see them, and would talk to them when they went home to -Ireland. Then, bidding them to "mind the little ones," who were -scrambling about the horses' legs, to the manifest anxiety of the -coachman, he waved them away, and we drove off amid fervent "God keep -your honours!" and cheers. - -These Irish hop-pickers were so inured to privation {71} in their own -country that they were very popular among the Kentish hop-farmers, as -they did not grumble so much as did the English pickers at the -scandalously inefficient accommodation provided for them. - -Often before Parnell became really strong I used to watch for hours -beside him as he slept before the drawing-room fire, till I had to -rouse him in time to go to the House. Once, when he was moving -restlessly, I heard him murmur in his sleep, as I pulled the light -rug better over him: "Steer carefully out of the harbour--there are -breakers ahead." - -He now had all the parcels and letters he received sent on to me, so -that I might open them and give him only those it was necessary for -him to deal with. There were hundreds of letters to go through every -week, though, as he calmly explained, "If you get tired with them, -leave them and they'll answer themselves." - -Often among the parcels there were comestibles, and among these every -week came a box of eggs without the name and address of the sender. -I was glad to see these eggs as the winter came on and with it the -usual reluctance of our hens to provide us with sufficient eggs, but -Mr. Parnell would not allow me to use them, for he said: "They might -be eggs, but then again they might not," and I had to send them a -good distance down the garden and have them broken to make sure of -their genuineness, and then he would worry lest our dogs should find -them and poison themselves. - -On his visits to Ireland he wrote to me continually:-- - - - DUBLIN, - _Tuesday._ - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--I have just a moment on my return from - Ennis to catch the late post and reply to your wire. - - {72} - - I received your two letters quite safely, and you may write me - even nicer ones with perfect confidence. I blame myself very - much for not having written you on my way through Dublin on - Saturday, as you were evidently anxious about your notes, but I - hope you will forgive me as there were only a few minutes to - spare. - - I trust to see you in London on Tuesday next. Is it true that - Captain O'Shea is in Paris, and, if so, when do you expect his - return? ... I have had no shooting, weather too wet, but shall - try to-morrow, when you may expect some heather. - - - - DUBLIN, - _Friday evening, October_ 2, 1880. - - Have just received your wire; somehow or other something from you - seems a necessary part of my daily existence, and if I have to go - a day or two without even a telegram it seems dreadful. - - I want to know how you intend to excuse yourself for telling me - not to come on purpose if I must return. (To Ireland.) Of - course, I am going on purpose to see you; and it is also - unhappily true that I cannot remain long. - - Shall cross Monday evening, and shall call at Morrison's for a - message. - - Please write or wire me in London to 16 Keppel Street, Russell - Square, where I shall call on Tuesday. - - - - DUBLIN, - _Monday night, October_ 4, 1880. - - Just arrived.... I write you on the only bit of paper to be - found at this late hour (a scrap taken from one of your own - notes), to say that I hope to reach London to-morrow (Tuesday) - evening and to see you on Wednesday when and where you wish. - Please write or wire me to Keppel Street. This envelope will - present the appearance of having been tampered with, but it has - not. - - - - DUBLIN, - _Tuesday evening, October_ 5, 1880. - - A frightful gale has been blowing all day in Channel and still - continues. - - {73} - - Under these circumstances shall postpone crossing till to-morrow - evening. - - Can meet you in London at 9 to-morrow evening anywhere you say. - - - - DUBLIN, - _Monday evening, October_ 17, 1880. - - MY OWN LOVE,--You cannot imagine how much you have occupied my - thoughts all day and how very greatly the prospect of seeing you - again very soon comforts me. - - On Monday evening I think it will be necessary for me to go to - Avondale; afterwards I trust, if things are propitious on your - side, to return to London on Tuesday or Wednesday.--Yours always, - C. - - - - AVONDALE, RATHDRUM, - _October_ 22, 1880. - - I was very much pleased to receive your wire this morning, - forwarded from Dublin, that you had received my note of last - Saturday. I was beginning to fear that it had gone wrong. - - After I had finished at Roscommon and received your message in - Dublin on Monday I decided upon coming here where I have been - unexpectedly detained. - - If all goes well you will see me in London on Monday evening - next.... I send you enclosed one or two poor sprigs of heather, - which I plucked for you three weeks ago, also my best love, and - hope you will believe that I always think of you as the one dear - object whose presence has ever been a great happiness to me. - - -Meanwhile the Government had been temporizing with the land question. -They had brought in a very feeble Compensation for Disturbances Bill -and they had allowed it to be further weakened by amendments. This -Bill was rejected by the House of Lords, with the result that the -number of evictions in Ireland grew hourly greater and the agitation -of the Land League against them; outrages, too, were of common -occurrence and increased in intensity. - -{74} - -Speaking at Ennis on September 19th Mr. Parnell enunciated the -principle which has since gone by the name of "The Boycott." - -"What are you to do," he asked, "to a tenant who bids for a farm from -which another tenant has been evicted?" - -Several voices cried: "Shoot him!" - -"I think," went on Mr. Parnell, "I heard somebody say 'Shoot him!' I -wish to point out to you a very much better way--a more Christian and -charitable way, which will give the lost man an opportunity of -repenting. When a man takes a farm from which another has been -unjustly evicted, you must shun him on the roadside when you meet -him; you must shun him in the shop; you must shun him on the -fair-green and in the market-place, and even in the place of worship, -by leaving him alone; by putting him into a sort of moral Coventry; -by isolating him from the rest of the country, as if he were a leper -of old--you must show him your detestation of the crime he has -committed." - -Forster, the Irish Secretary, who had some amount of sympathy for the -tenants, was, however, a Quaker, and the outrages horrified him more -than the evictions. Nor, strangely, was he able to connect the one -with the other. Undoubtedly the evictions almost ceased, but, said -he, they have ceased because of the outrages, and the outrages were -the work of the Land League; and he pressed for the arrest of its -leaders. This was unwise, considering that it was Parnell who had -advocated the abandonment of violence for the moral suasion of the -boycott. - -On November 3rd Forster decided to prosecute the leaders of the Land -League, and among them Parnell, Dillon, Biggar, Sexton and T. D. -Sullivan. Two days {75} later, in a speech at Dublin, Parnell -expressed his regret that Forster was degenerating from a statesman -to a tool of the landlords. Biggar when he heard the news exclaimed, -"Damned lawyers, sir, damned lawyers! Wasting the public money! -Wasting the public money! Whigs damned rogues! Forster damned fool!" - - - DUBLIN,[1] - _November_ 4, 1880. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--I take advantage of almost the first moment - I have had to myself since leaving you to write a few hasty - lines. And first I must again thank you for all your kindness, - which made my stay at Eltham so happy and pleasant. - - The thunderbolt, as you will have seen, has at last fallen, and - we are in the midst of loyal preparations of a most appalling - character. - - I do not suppose I shall have an opportunity of being in London - again before next Thursday, but trust to be more fortunate in - seeing Captain O'Shea then than the last time.--Yours very truly, - CHAS. S. PARNELL. - - - - DUBLIN,[1] - _Saturday._ - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--I hope to arrive in London on Tuesday - morning, and trust to have the pleasure of seeing you before I - leave. Do you think you shall be in town on Tuesday? - - Kindly address 16, Keppel Street.--Yours very truly, CHAS. S. - PARNELL. - - -On November 5th that year the village was great on the subject of -"gunpowder, treason, and plot," and during dinner that evening there -was such a noise and shouting outside my house that I asked the maid -who was waiting what all the excitement was about. - -She answered breathlessly that "the procession, ma'am, {76} have got -Miss Anna Parnell in a effigy 'longside of the Pope, and was waiting -outside for us to see before they burnt 'em in the village." - -This electrifying intelligence was received with grave indifference -by Mr. Parnell till the disappointed maid left the room; then with a -sudden bubble of laughter--"Poor Anna! Her pride in being burnt, as -a menace to England, would be so drowned in horror at her company -that it would put the fire out!" - -The cheering and hooting went on for some time outside the house, -but, finding we were not to be drawn, the crowd at last escorted the -effigies down to the village and burnt them, though with less -amusement than they had anticipated. - - - DUBLIN,[2] - _November_ 6, 1880. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--You can have very little idea how - dreadfully disappointed I felt on arriving here this evening not - to find a letter from either you or Captain O'Shea. I send this - in hope that it may induce you to write in reply to my last - letter and telegram, which would appear not to have reached - you.--Yours very sincerely, CHAS. S. PARNELL. - - - - AVONDALE, - _Monday._ - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--I enclose keys, which I took away by - mistake. Will you kindly hand enclosed letter to the proper - person[3] and oblige,--Yours very truly, CHAS. S. PARNELL. - - - - DUBLIN, - _Wednesday night, November_ 11, 1880. - - MY DEAREST LOVE,--I have made all arrangements to be in London on - Saturday morning, and shall call at Keppel Street for a letter - from you. It is quite impossible for me to {77} tell you just - how very much you have changed my life, what a small interest I - take in what is going on about me, and how I detest everything - which has happened during the last few days to keep me away from - you--I think of you always, and you must never believe there is - to be any "fading." By the way, you must not send me any more - artificial letters. I want as much of your own self as you can - transfer into written words, or else none at all.--Your always, - C. S. P. - - A telegram goes to you, and one to W.,[4] to-morrow, which are by - no means strictly accurate. - - - - DUBLIN, - _December_ 2, 1880. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--I succeeded in getting the train at Euston - with just ten minutes to spare, and, arriving here this morning, - found that my presence to-day was indispensable. - - I need not tell you how much I regretted leaving Eltham so - suddenly; but we cannot always do as we wish in this world. - - My stay with you has been so pleasant and charming that I was - almost beginning to forget my other duties; but Ireland seems to - have gotten on very well without me in the interval. - - Trusting to see you again next week on my way to Paris.--Yours - very sincerely, CHAS. S. PARNELL. - - I have been exceedingly anxious all day at not receiving your - promised telegram to hear how you got home. - - - -[1] These letters were really written from London. - -[2] Sent to Dublin to be posted. - -[3] Myself. - -[4] Captain O'Shea. - - - - -{78} - -CHAPTER X - -THE LAND LEAGUE TRIALS - -"_The surest way to prevent seditions is to take away the matter of -them._"--LORD BACON. - - -Through the whole of 1880 Parnell was determinedly organizing the -Land League throughout Ireland, and during the winter, doubtless -encouraged by the enormous distress that prevailed over the whole -country, the force and power of the League grew with a rapidity that -surpassed even the expectations of Parnell and his party. All -through the vacation Parnell and his followers held meetings in -carefully calculated areas of Ireland, and in his speeches Parnell -explained the meaning and wide-reaching scope of the League's -agitation, i.e. that tenant farmers were to trust in their own -combination alone and "should give no faith to the promises of the -English Ministers." - -During the early session that year Parnell had introduced a Bill -called "Suspension of Ejectments Bill," and this first pressed upon -the House the necessity of dealing with the Irish landlord troubles. -Parnell's party urged this Bill with so united a front that Mr. -Gladstone was obliged to consider the main substance of it, and he -agreed to insert a clause in the "Relief of Distress Bill" which -would deal with impending evictions of Irish tenants. But the -Speaker of the House held that the interpolation of such a clause -would not be "in order," and the Chief Secretary for Ireland (Mr. -Forster) then, by Mr. Gladstone's direction, brought in his -"Disturbances Bill," {79} which was to all practical purposes -Parnell's Bill under another name. - -In the course of the debate on this Bill Mr. Gladstone himself said -that "in the circumstances of distress prevalent in Ireland (at that -time) a sentence of eviction is the equivalent of a sentence of -death." These absolutely true words of Gladstone's were used by -Parnell very many times during his Land League tours both in speeches -and privately, and many times he added--as so often he did to me at -home--bitter comment upon the apathy of the English Government, upon -the curious insensibility of the English law-makers, who knew these -things to be true in Ireland and yet were content to go on in their -policy of drift, unless forced into action by those who saw the -appalling reality of the distress among the Irish poor that was so -comfortably deplored in London. - -In this connexion Parnell used to say that the fundamental failure in -the English government of Ireland was: First, the complete inability -of the Ministers in power to realize anything that was not before -their eyes; and, secondly, their cast-iron conviction that Ireland -was the one country of the world that was to be understood and -governed by those to whom she was little but a name. - -In all this time of trouble and eviction Parnell went backwards and -forwards between England (Eltham) and Ireland as occasion required, -and so successful were his efforts in spreading the agitation and -linking up the League that the Government became uneasy as to the -outcome of this new menace to landlordism. Finally Parnell and -fourteen of his followers were put on trial, charged with "conspiracy -to impoverish landlords." Parnell, of course, went over to Ireland -for these "State trials," but he considered the whole thing such a -farce, in that it was {80} an impotent effort of the Government to -intimidate him, that he could not take it seriously in any way. No -jury (in Ireland) would agree to convict him he was well aware, and -he attended the trials chiefly, he said, for the "look of the thing," -and to give the support of his presence to his colleagues. -Incidentally he told me on one occasion that he had considerably -hurried the jury when he was very anxious to catch a train in time -for the night mail to England (Eltham) by "willing" them to agree (to -disagree) without the long discussion of local politics with which -all self-respecting Irish jurors beguile the weary ways of law. He -observed that here, in the question of how far an unconscious agent -can be "willed" into a desired action, he had discovered another and -most entrancing study for us when we had more time to go into it -thoroughly. - -Talking of the Land League's procedure against the interests of the -Irish landlords, I may, I think, here pertinently remind those who -have, among so many other accusations, brought against Parnell the -charge of self-seeking in regard to money matters, that Parnell -himself was an Irish landlord and of very considerable estates, and -that this land campaign (really, of course, directed against -eviction), meant, to all practical purposes, the loss of his rents, -and that not only for a time, as in other cases, but, with the very -generous interpretation put upon his wishes by the "Chief's" tenants, -for all time--or rather for all his lifetime. Captain O'Shea also -had certain estates in Ireland, and naturally, not being in sympathy -with Parnell's policy, but being at heart a thorough Whig and a -strong advocate for Mr. Shaw, the ex-leader of the Irish party, he -was furious at the League's anti-landlord work, and refused to have -any hand in it. He considered {81} that hapless as was the plight of -those who had to pay in rent the money they did not possess, that of -the landlord whose rent was his all was but little to be preferred. - -During this period the stories of the evictions brought home to me by -Parnell himself made my heart sick, and often he sat far into the -night at Eltham speaking in that low, broken monotone, that with him -always betokened intense feeling strongly held in check, of the -terrible cruelty of some of the things done in the name of justice in -unhappy Ireland. How old people, and sometimes those sick beyond -recovery, women with the children they had borne but a few hours -before, little children naked as they had come into the world, all -thrust out from the little squalid cabins which were all they had for -home, thrust out on the roadside to perish, or to live as they could. -I in my English ignorance used to say: "Why did they not go into the -workhouse or to neighbours?" and Parnell would look wonderingly at me -as he told me that for the most part such places were few and far -between in Ireland, and "neighbours," good as they were to each -other, were in the same trouble. There were instances where a wife -would beg, and with none effect, that the bailiffs and police should -wait but the little half-hour that her dying husband drew his last -breath; and where a husband carried his wife from her bed to the -"shelter" of the rainswept moor that their child might be born out of -the sight of the soldiers deputed to guard the officials who had been -sent to pull their home about their ears. And, remembering these and -so many other tales of some of the 50,000 evictions that he -afterwards calculated had taken place in Ireland, I have never -wondered at the implacable hatred of England that can never really -die out of the Irish heart. - -{82} - -On December 4th, 1880, he wrote to me from Dublin: - - - I was exceedingly pleased to receive your letters; to say the - truth, I have been quite homesick since leaving Eltham, and news - from you seems like news from home. - - The Court refused our application to-day for a postponement of - the trial (of the Land League), but this we expected, and it does - not much signify, as it turns out that we need not necessarily - attend the trial unless absolutely directed to do so by the Court. - - You will also be pleased to hear that the special jury panel, of - which we obtained a copy last night, is of such a character as in - the opinion of competent judges to give us every chance of a - disagreement by the jury in their verdict, but we cannot, of - course, form an absolute conclusion until the jury has been - sworn, when we shall be able to tell pretty certainly one way or - the other. - - Since writing Captain O'Shea it does not look as if I could get - further away from Ireland than London, as Paris is inconvenient - from its distance. - - I have no letter from him yet in reply to mine. - - -And again on the 9th:-- - - - I returned from Waterford last night, and shall probably get - through all necessary work here by Saturday evening so as to - enable me to start for London on Sunday morning. I do not know - how long I can remain in London, but shall run down and see you - on Monday, and perhaps my plans will be more fixed by that time. - - I have decided not to attend any more meetings until after the - opening of Parliament, as everything now can go on without me. - - Kindly inform Captain O'Shea that the meeting of Irish members - will be in Dublin on the 4th January. - - -On December 12th of that year Mr. Parnell wrote from Avondale to say -that the jury panel was to be struck on the following Monday for the -prosecution of the Land League. - -{83} - - - ... And it will be necessary for me to see it before giving final - directions. - - I have consequently postponed my departure till Monday evening. - - I have come here to arrange my papers and find a number which I - should not like to destroy, and which I should not like the - Government to get hold of in the event of their searching my - house in the troublous times which appear before us. May I leave - them at Eltham? - - -And the next day:-- - - - I have just received a note from Healy, who is to be tried at - Cork on Thursday, saying that his counsel thinks it of the utmost - importance I should be present. - - This is very hard lines on me, as I had looked forward to a - little rest in London before my own trial commences; but I do not - see how it can be helped, as Healy's is the first of the State - trials, and it is of the utmost importance to secure an acquittal - and not merely a disagreement. I shall leave Cork on Thursday - night and arrive in London Friday evening, and shall call to see - you at Eltham Saturday. Your letters, one directed here and the - others to Morrison's, reached me in due course, and I hope to - hear from you again very soon. - - -Parnell, now, always made my house his headquarters in England, and -on his return from Ireland after the trials came down at once as soon -as he had ascertained that I was alone. - -There were times when he wished to keep quiet and let no one know -where he was; and, as it became known to the Government that Mr. -Parnell frequented my house a good deal, it was somewhat difficult to -avoid the detectives who were employed to watch his comings and -goings. - -On one occasion in 1880 he was informed privately that his arrest for -"sedition" was being urged upon the Government, and that it would be -well to go abroad for a short time. I think his enigmatic reply, "I -will {84} disappear for a few weeks," must have puzzled his -informant. He came down to me at night, and when I answered his -signal at my sitting-room window, and let him in, he told me with a -deprecating smile that I must hide him for a few weeks. As I sat -watching him eat the supper I always had ready for him at 3 a.m. I -felt rather hopeless, as he was a big man, and I did not see how he -could be hidden from the servants. He said the latter must not know -he was there, as they would talk to the tradespeople, and they to the -Government men. He did not wish to be arrested until later on, when -it might be more useful than not. - -Then he awaited suggestions, and at length we decided that a little -room opening out of my own must be utilized for him, as I always kept -it locked and never allowed a servant into it--except very -occasionally to "turn it out." It was a little boudoir -dressing-room, and had a sofa in it. - -Mr. Parnell was then still feeling ill and run down, and enjoyed his -fortnight's absolute rest in this room. None of the servants knew -that he was there, and I took all his food up at night, cooking -little dainty dishes for him at the open fire, much to his pleasure -and amusement. He spent the time very happily, resting, writing -"seditious" speeches for future use, and reading "Alice in -Wonderland." This book was a favourite of his, and I gave it to him -with the solemnity that befitted his grave reading of it. I do not -think he ever thought it in the least amusing, but he would read it -earnestly from cover to cover, and, without a smile, remark that it -was a "curious book." - -In all this fortnight no one had the least idea that he was in the -house, and the only comment I ever heard upon {85} my prisoner's diet -was that "the mistress ate much more when she had her meals served in -her sitting-room." - -At the end of this fortnight he had arranged to go to Paris on some -Land League business, and wanted me to go to see him off. He had -brought certain political correspondence from Avondale and London and -placed it in my charge, and this I kept in a box in this little -private room, where I hid them. But there were two papers that he -did not wish left even here, and, fearing arrest, could not carry on -him. For these he had a wide, hollow gold bracelet made in Paris, -and after inserting the papers he screwed the bracelet safely on my -arm; there it remained for three years, and was then unscrewed by him -and the contents destroyed. - -The winter of 1880 was terribly cold, and as I let him out of the -house in the bitterly cold morning I wished he did not consider it -necessary to go to Paris by such a roundabout route as he had chosen. - -However, we drove off to Lewisham that morning, quite unobserved; -from thence we went by train to New Cross, and drove by cab to London -Bridge. At Vauxhall we started for Lowestoft; for Mr. Parnell had -arranged to go to Paris via Harwich. I was anxious about him, for -the cold was intense, and the deep snow over the large dreary waste -of salt marshes seemed reflected in his pallor. Our train slowly -passed through the dreary tract of country, feet deep in its white -covering, and we could see no sign of life but an occasional seagull -vainly seeking for food, and sending a weird call through the lonely -silences. - -I wrapped Parnell up in his rugs as he tried to sleep. I loathed the -great white expanse that made him look so ill, and I wished I had him -at home again, where I could {86} better fight the great fear that so -often beset my heart: that I could not long keep off the death that -hovered near him. A lady and gentleman in the carriage remarked to -me--thinking he slept--that my husband looked terribly ill, could -they do anything? And I noticed the little smile of content that -flitted over his face as he heard me briskly reply that, No, he had -been ill, but was so much better and stronger that I was not at all -uneasy. It was the cold glare of the snow that made him look so -delicate, but he was really quite strong. He hated to be thought -ill, and did not see the doubt in their faces at my reply. - -Arrived at Lowestoft I insisted upon his resting and having a good -meal, after which he felt so cheered up that he decided to return to -London with me, and go to Paris by the usual route the next day! - -We had a new Irish cook at this time, from County Tipperary, and her -joy exceeded all bounds when she learnt that the Irish leader was -really in the house and she was to cook for him. I had to ask Mr. -Parnell to see her for a moment, as she was too excited to settle to -her cooking. Directly she got into the room Ellen fell down on her -knees and kissed his hands, much to his horror, for, although used to -such homage in Ireland, he disliked it extremely, and he told me with -some reproach that he had expected to be quite free from that sort of -thing in my house. - -At Christmas he tipped my servants generously, and indeed Ellen and -the parlourmaid Mary vied with each other in their attention to his -comfort. The enthusiasm of the cook was so great that she bought an -enormous gold locket, and, having inserted a portrait of Mr. Parnell -in it, wore it constantly. Mary, not to be outdone, thereupon bought -a locket of identically the same design, and {87} wore it with an air -of defiance, when bringing in tea, on New Year's Day. - -This was against all regulations, and I said laughingly to Mr. -Parnell that he was introducing lawlessness into my household. He -answered, "Leave it to me," and when Mary appeared again he said -gently to her, "Mary, that is a magnificent locket, and I see you are -kind enough to wear my portrait in it. Mrs. O'Shea tells me that -Ellen has bought one also, but I just want you and Ellen not to wear -them outside like that, for Mrs. O'Shea lets me come down here for a -rest, and if people know I'm here I shall be worried to death with -politics and people calling." So Mary promised faithfully, and Ellen -came running in to promise too, and to threaten vengeance on "the -others" if absolute silence was not observed. The lockets went -"inside," and only a tiny bit of chain was allowed to show at the -throat in evidence of homage continued, though hidden. - -Meanwhile, events were fusing in Ireland. Parnell had gone over -there immediately after Christmas. From Dublin he wrote:-- - - - DUBLIN, - _Monday evening, December_ 27, 1880. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--I have been exceedingly anxious all day at - not receiving your promised telegram to hear how you got home; - trust I may have something to-morrow morning that it is all - right.[1]--Yours in haste, C. S. P. - - - - MORRISON'S HOTEL, - _Tuesday, December_ 28, 1880. - - MY DEAREST WIFE,--You will be delighted to learn that everything - is proceeding first-rate so far. - - The jury sworn to-day cannot possibly convict us, and there is a - very fair chance of an acquittal. I do not think {88} the - Government will attempt to prevent me from being present at the - opening of Parliament, though I am not quite sure yet whether it - will be prudent for me to leave until Wednesday evening. So far - as I can see there is no necessity for the presence of any of the - Traversers; one of them, Gordon, who has broken his leg, has not - appeared at all, and his absence has not been even mentioned or - noticed. - - I was immensely relieved by your letter this morning. You must - take great care of yourself for my sake and your and my - future.--Yours always, C. S. P. - - I have wired and written to Madrid[2] explaining situation lest - my observations at yesterday's meeting as to doubt of my being in - Parliament, intended to throw dust in eyes of Government, might - be literally interpreted. - - - - DUBLIN, - _Thursday, December_ 30, 1880. - - MY DEAREST LOVE,--Your letters have reached me quite safely, and - you cannot tell how much pleasure they give me. I fear I was - very foolish to allow you to come with me the day of my - departure; I felt sure it would do much harm, and until your - first letter arrived I was in a continual panic lest some - dreadful disaster had happened. - - That my poor love should have suffered so much makes my heart - very sore, and she must take great care of herself for the sake - of our future.... - - I enclose letter from W.S.[3]--Yours always affectionately, C. S. - P. - - Will send you photo to-morrow. - - - - DUBLIN, - _January_ 3, 1881. - - MY DEAREST WIFIE,--Was most delighted on return this morning from - Avondale to find your three letters and telegrams. I think it - would make you happy and more contented during my absence if you - knew how I watched for your letters, and how often I read and - re-read them. - - I felt very much tempted to run over and spend the New Year and - Sunday with you, but feared you might not be alone. - - {89} - - It pains me very much that my own love was unhappy about that - stupid thing in the _Freeman_ on Thursday. An old and ugly woman - with whom I was very slightly acquainted, but who wanted to put - herself _en evidence_, perched herself just behind me, and got a - gentleman sitting next to her to hand me down a slip of paper, on - which was written some message of congratulation. I only - rewarded her with a stare, did not even bow or smile, and - certainly sent no communication of any kind in reply. That was - all. I will ask my own dearest to believe in me while I am away, - and never again to feel unhappiness from want of confidence. - - I have made all arrangements to leave by mail on Wednesday - morning, and shall be with my own wifie on Wednesday evening - about eight.--Yours, C. S. P. - - -Mr. Parnell held the Party meeting in Dublin on January 4th, and -returned to me on January 5th, in time for the meeting of the House -(on 6th January, 1881), not having thought it necessary to remain in -Ireland till the termination of the trials--a circumstance which, -curiously enough, was not publicly remarked upon. We spent some days -together at Eltham, and I took Mr. Parnell to see my aunt, who was -much charmed with him. His quiet manners and soft, clear voice -pleased her greatly, as also did his personal appearance. She took -his arm, and paced up and down the tapestry room with him, while she -told him how she was introduced to O'Connell in the old days, when -her husband, Benjamin Wood, was M.P. for Southwark. She had met -O'Connell at the House, and heard what was said to have been one of -his greatest speeches. She said, "I much prefer your voice, Mr. -Parnell, for Daniel O'Connell's enunciation was startling to me." - -Though such a great age, my aunt had still a very pretty round arm, -and as she always wore the net sleeves of her youth, fastened with -old-fashioned bracelets, Mr. Parnell noticed this, and commented upon -the fact to me. {90} The old lady was much gratified when I told her -of this. She enlisted his sympathy by telling him that she had to -pay £500 a year in order to keep her beautiful old grounds intact, as -the Crown desired to sell the place for building lots, and she was -determined to die in the old house she had lived in for over fifty -years. - -The State trial ended on January 25th, 1881, the foreman of the jury -stating: "We are unanimous that we cannot agree," as Mr. Parnell had -assured me they would. He was in Court and loudly cheered as he -hastened off to catch the boat to England. - - - -[1] That Captain O'Shea had left Eltham for Madrid. - -[2] To Captain O'Shea. - -[3] Captain O'Shea. - - - - -{91} - -CHAPTER XI - -PARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATIONS - -"_Live to-day--the past is registered--the future is unguessed--the -instant ours._"--MORTIMER COLLINS. - - -Forster's Coercion Bill was introduced on January 24th, 1881, and on -the 25th Mr. Gladstone moved that it should have precedence of all -other business before the House. Mr. Parnell fiercely opposed this -motion, and kept his followers hard at work in opposition--thus -forcing the House to sit from 4 p.m. on Tuesday until 2 p.m. of the -next day. The details of these sittings have been recounted ad -nauseam, and I need not repeat them here, but only record Parnell's -fierce joy in these political fights, and my pride in him as I -watched him from the Ladies' Gallery. Sometimes Willie would wish to -give the seats he secured in the Ladies' Gallery to friends of his, -and on such occasions I always knew that Mr. Parnell would ballot one -for me. Of course, later on I could always secure a seat without -ballot, if one was vacant, as I had to wait to receive messages from -Mr. Parnell and Mr. Gladstone, and it was made known to the -attendants that on any important occasion I held priority of place. - -As a rule, after an all-night sitting he used to drive down to Eltham -in order not to become well known on the Eltham railway, and come -through the conservatory into my sitting-room, where I would have -supper ready for him before the fire, with his smoking-jacket and -slippers ready to put on. He seldom spoke after his first {92} -greeting. He would take off his frock-coat and boots, and, when I -slipped on the others for him, he would eat his supper quite -silently, thinking over the events of the night. I never worried him -to talk. Supper finished, he would light a cigar and sit down in his -own arm-chair, saying, "Well, Queenie, the Old Man spoke to-night," -or "So-and-so spoke," and then slowly tell me of all that had passed -during the sitting, and his opinion of the present and future, so far -as politics were concerned. - -Sometimes when he had spoken himself he would say: "I did not speak -well to-night," and sometimes it was: "I lost that quotation you gave -me and brought it out sideways, and there it was all the time crushed -up in my hand! Then I forgot the fellow's name and called him 'the -poet.'" - -"Well, Shakespeare can be called 'the poet,'" I would return -soothingly. - -"Yes? Is that so? It seemed to worry some of the reporters; one -came and asked me what I meant! You must make me learn it better -next time." - -Once he began to talk he confided all his thoughts to me -unreservedly, and the more freely that he had not been worried to -talk when he came in cold or tired. He used to say that it was such -a relief to get right away from the House when a sitting was over, -and he enjoyed the drive down to Eltham in a hansom cab every night -or early morning. It was only an eight-miles drive, but part of it -was then very pleasant, through country lanes and over a common. Now -London has swallowed up most of these pretty bits. - -After relieving his mind of all political affairs of the day he would -talk of things that were of home interest to us--of his stone -quarries at Arklow, his saw-mills, etc., {93} of what Kerr, his Irish -agent, was doing at Avondale; or of some of his hobbies at home. So -we would talk till daylight sent pale gleams of light under the -window curtains, and he would say: "I am really sleepy, Queenie; I'll -go to bed," and as a rule he would sleep soundly until about four -o'clock in the afternoon, when he would come down to breakfast in my -sitting-room. - -Parnell was always generous in letting any members of his Party speak -when they had a chance of distinguishing themselves, and he would at -once give way when he thought any member could speak better on any -subject than himself. This most of his Party, if not all, -acknowledged at one time. I mention the characteristic because I -have noticed in more than one of the so-called "Lives" written by -those strangely ignorant of the man's real character, that -considerable stress is laid upon Parnell's jealousy. He was jealous, -abnormally so where his affections were concerned, but not in -political life. - -Gladstone once said that "Parnell always knew what he wanted to say, -and said it," but he was not a ready speaker, and his constitutional -nervousness, hidden though it was under the iron mask of reserve he -always wore in public, rendered public speaking very painful work to -him. He was extremely modest about his own speeches, and frequently -would say to me that So-and-so "would have put that much better to -the House, but I could not have trusted him to say it and leave it." -He considered that most Irishmen spoilt things by over-elaboration. -Here also I may record a protest at the tales of gross discourtesies, -spoken utterly without motive, recorded in some of these "Lives." - -The Parnell I knew--and I may claim to have known him more intimately -than anyone else on earth, both in {94} public and private life--was -incapable of such motiveless brusqueries. That Parnell could crush -utterly and without remorse I know; that he could deal harshly, even -brutally, with anyone or anything that stood against him in the path -he meant to tread, I admit; but that he would ever go out of his way -to say a grossly rude thing or make an unprovoked attack, whether -upon the personal appearance, morals, or character of another man, I -absolutely deny. Parnell was ruthless in all his dealings with those -who thwarted his will, but--he was never petty. - -Parnell had a most beautiful and harmonious voice when speaking in -public. Very clear it was, even in moments of passion against his -own and his country's foes--passion modulated and suppressed until I -have seen, from the Ladies' Gallery, his hand clenched until the -"Orders of the Day" which he held were crushed into pulp, and only -that prevented his nails piercing his hand. Often I have taken the -"Orders" out of his pocket, twisted into shreds--a fate that also -overtook the slips of notes and the occasional quotations he had got -me to look out for him. - -Sometimes when he was going to speak I could not leave my aunt long -enough to be sure of getting to the Ladies' Gallery in time to hear -him; or we might think it inexpedient that I should be seen to arrive -so soon after him at the House. On these occasions, when I was able, -I would arrive perhaps in the middle of his speech and look down upon -him, saying in my heart, "I have come!"; and invariably I would see -the answering signal--the lift of the head and lingering touch of the -white rose in his coat, which told me, "I know, my Queen!" - -This telepathy of the soul, intuition, or what you will, was so -strong between us that, whatever the business {95} before the House, -whether Parnell was speaking or not, in spite of the absolute -impossibility of distinguishing any face or form behind the grille of -the Ladies' Gallery, Parnell was aware of my presence, even though -often he did not expect me, as soon as I came in, and answered my -wordless message by the signal that I knew. - -Sometimes he would wish to speak to me before I went home, and would -signal by certain manipulations of his handkerchief to me to go and -await him at Charing Cross, or another of our meeting-places, and -there he would come to me to tell me how things were going, or to -chat for a few minutes, or get from me the replies to messages sent -through me to Mr. Gladstone. - -* * * * * * - - - DOVER, - _Wednesday, February_ 23, 1881. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--Am just starting for Calais. - - Kindly send on my portmanteau with my letters and other things in - my room or in the wardrobe to me at Hotel Brighton, Rue de - Rivoli, Paris.--Yours always, C. S. P. - - - - _February_ 25, 1881. - - MY DEAREST KATIE,--I have just received your three letters, and - am so delighted to read them hurriedly before sending you this - line in time for post. - - I never had the slightest doubt of my darling, and cannot imagine - why she should think so. - - Did not know I was going when leaving here, but was induced to - leave by private information, the nature of which I will send you - in my next. - - Am not yet sure whether I shall return, but shall manage to see - you in any case.--Yours, C. - - - - HOTEL BRIGHTON, 218 RUE DE RIVOLI, PARIS, - _Sunday evening, February_ 27, 1881. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--I cannot understand your {96} telegram - received to-day at all, although I have been thinking it over all - the evening. I wired back as you appeared to request in it, "All - right." - - There was no letter for me from you at the usual address, so I - enclose another, as I fear something may have gone wrong. You - can write me freely in my own name under cover to this address: - Thomas Adams and Co., Limited, 33 Rue d'Hauteville, Paris, and - they will forward the letters safely to me. - - I have been warned from Dublin that there is some plot on foot - against us which has been originated by information received from - Cork, and you will guess the original source. - - I am expecting further information to-morrow in reference to it. - I have received five letters in all from you since my arrival in - Paris. Best not post your letters at Eltham. - - I did not know when leaving you that I was going my departure was - influenced by information of reliable kind that my arrest was - intended for passage in Clare speech, and that bail would be - refused, and I should be left in jail until Habeas Corpus was - suspended, when I could have been again arrested. I think, - however, they have now abandoned this intention, but will make - sure before I return. - - This is my third letter to you since my arrival here.--Yours, C. - S. P. - - - - HOTEL BRIGHTON, 218 RUE DE RIVOLI, PARIS, - _Tuesday, March_ 1, 1881. - - MY DEAREST LOVE,--To-day I have received your four letters, the - earliest of which was written on Saturday. You do not seem to - have written on Friday, as there was nothing for me on Saturday - or Sunday. - - I propose returning to London on Thursday morning, leaving here - Wednesday evening, but it is just possible I may not leave till - Thursday morning, in which case I shall not be able to see my - Katie until Friday. - - If I return Thursday morning, my Queen may expect to see me about - one o'clock. - - Your letters make me both happy and sad, happy to hear from my - own, but sad when I see how troubled you are.--Always yours, - CHARLES. - - -{97} - - - GLASGOW, - _Tuesday, April_ 19, 1881. - - DEAREST KATIE,--I send you authority for letters. They are in - two forms, one authorising delivery to you, and the other to' - bearer. - - To-night I leave by boat for Dublin, arriving to-morrow morning. - I trust my own wifie has not permitted herself to be too unhappy, - and that she has not been worried. I am writing with her own - beautiful face before me, and have just kissed it.--Always your - husband. - - Please write me to Morrison's. - - - - - -{98} - -CHAPTER XII - -HOBBIES AND A CHALLENGE - - "_Admire, exult--despise--laugh, weep--for here - There is much matter for all feeling: Man! - Thou Pendulum betwixt a smile and tear._" - --BYRON. - - -In the early summer of 1881 my aunt had one of her old friends to -stay with her, and I seized the opportunity of freedom to take my -children to Brighton for a month, after settling the old ladies -together. I had gone down before the children to take rooms for -them, and was walking across Brighton Station when I was suddenly -joined by a tall man whom I did not recognize for a moment until he -said quietly, "Don't you know me?" It was Mr. Parnell, who had -slipped into the train at Clapham Junction, knowing that I was going -to Brighton, and had cut off his beard with his pocket scissors in -the train in order to avoid being recognized at Brighton. He had -wrapped a white muffler round his throat, and pulled it as high as -possible over the lower part of his face, with the result that the -manageress of the hotel he stayed at was certain that he had an -infectious illness of the throat, and rather demurred at letting him -in. It was only by the expedient of complaining loudly at being kept -waiting in the draught with his "raging toothache" that "Mr. Stewart" -was reluctantly admitted. I could not bear his appearance neither -bearded nor shaven--so he went off soon after arrival, was properly -shaved, and relieved the {99} hotel staff by discarding the muffler -and assuring them that he was free from pain now his "tooth" was out. - -He went to Cork soon after this and, to please me, was photographed -without his beard and with the ring I had given him on his finger. -We had had a little quarrel, and were very unhappy until we had made -it up again, and he had this photograph done to remind me that he -wore my ring. He also gave sittings to Henry O'Shea (no relation of -Captain O'Shea) for a portrait (pencil) at this time, and this was -sent to him while he was in Kilmainham. He liked this sketch much, -and wrote to the paper for which it was done to this effect. When he -left the prison he brought this sketch home to me, and I have it now. -It hung in our dining-room till he died, and he always liked it, but -I still think it a little hard and expressionless; the eyes are too -large and empty. There was a painting done of Parnell years -afterwards, and here also the artist failed with the eyes. This -latter portrait was not, I think, done from life, but from -photographs, so there was reason for the failure in this respect, -photographs making unsatisfactory studies. The artist who painted -this last picture gave Parnell blue eyes; presumably following the -idea that Parnell was an Irishman, and must therefore have blue eyes, -whereas the facts were that Parnell was not an Irishman, but the son -of an Englishman resident in Ireland and his American wife, and had -brown eyes, not large, but with the smouldering fires in them that -gave character to his cold, high-bred face. - -Parnell had so many hobbies and interests in his home life that it is -difficult to enumerate them all. He once said rather wearily that if -he had not "taken off his coat" in the Irish cause and for the Irish -people he could have been {100} always happy at home working at -things so much more congenial to him. - -At one time he took up all the intricacies of bookkeeping in order -that he might check his Irish agent's accounts, and many weeks he sat -immersed in double entry, estate accounts keeping, commercial -booking, etc., in the evening, while I sat near him typing replies to -his letters ready for his signature. He used to threaten me with -lessons in book-keeping, so that I might be ready to help him with -the estate management at Avondale when we went to live there; but I -felt that my duties as his extra and most private secretary were -sufficiently arduous, and declined instruction in account-keeping. - -Many hours were also spent in architectural drawings, which -interested him greatly. At that time Brighton Station was being -rebuilt, and Parnell was intensely interested in getting the "span" -of the roof. He spent hours at odd times pacing the station, -measuring distances, heights, depth of roof, etc., etc., and in -drawing up plans in order that he might build a cattle shed on the -same lines at Avondale. These plans he afterwards submitted to a -well-known architect for his opinion on them, and they were returned -as absolutely correct in every detail. He then reduced the whole -thing to scale and had the cattle shed made from these plans at -Avondale. - -I well remember his look of reproach at me when I laughed while -reading him a letter from his agent at Avondale the following winter. -The agent said that Mrs. Delia Parnell (Parnell's mother) had arrived -unexpectedly at Avondale, and, after seeing the new cattle shed, had -at once decided to give an entertainment in it. This she had done, -having the cattle shifted from their comfortable {101} quarters, the -place boarded in, and a temporary floor laid down. - -Parnell did not see that this expensive and troublesome eviction of -his cattle for so frivolous a reason was in the least funny, and was -very greatly annoyed at the whole proceeding. He was always most -chivalrously kind to his mother, however, and his protest on this -occasion was very gentle, though coupled with firm insistence, on the -instant restoration of the cattle-house to its tenants. - -Another of his hobbies was the "assaying" of small pieces of quartz -from the stream at Wicklow, and I used to help him for hours at this, -keeping his blow-pipe constantly at work, while he, silent and -absorbed, manipulated the crucibles. When we went to live at -Brighton, after my aunt's death, he had a furnace fitted up in one of -the rooms so that he could work on a larger scale. His endeavour to -obtain gold from this quartz was rewarded to a certain extent; but -the working was, of course, far too laborious and expensive to be -profitable otherwise than as a hobby. However, Parnell for five -years worked at it in various odd hours till he had extracted -sufficient gold to line my wedding ring, even though his hope of -getting enough for the whole ring was not fulfilled. - -When working at these things Parnell was absolutely oblivious to the -passing of time, and it was with difficulty that I prevailed upon him -to take sufficient exercise, or even to take his meals before they -were spoiled by waiting. He would order his horse, "President," to -be taken to a certain place about a half-mile from the house, at the -hour he wished to ride, and then become so absorbed in the particular -hobby of the moment that even I could get nothing from him but an -abstracted smile and a gentle {102} "Is that so?" in answer to the -intimation that his horse had been waiting some two hours or more for -him. - -Many a day I have let him work up to the last possible moment, and -then literally pulled off the old "cardigan" jacket he worked in, and -forced him into his frock-coat for the House; and it happened more -than once that he was due to attend a meeting in Ireland, and when I -had packed his things and had the carriage at the door ready for him -he would throw himself into a chair and with his slow, grave smile -say, "You are in a hurry to get rid of me; I will not go yet. Sit -down and let me look at you a bit, my Queen." I would protest that -he must go, that he would lose the mail train. "Then I'll be no use -at the meeting, for it will be over!" he would mockingly reply; and -so, when the last possible chance of his being in time had vanished, -he would sit opposite me through the evening talking of politics, -Avondale, the assaying--of anything that came into his head always -watching me with that intent, considering gaze that was my -bewilderment and my joy. - -When he failed a meeting like this, where hundreds of people were -waiting for him--or other appointments, private or public--I -sometimes would want him to telegraph, or write, apologizing or -excusing his non-attendance, but this he would never do, saying, "You -do not learn the ethics of kingship, Queenie. Never explain, never -apologize"; adding, with his rare laugh: "I could never keep my -rabble together if I were not above the human weakness of apology." - -When Parnell came home from Ireland after these meetings he would sit -smoking and watching me as I went through the pockets of the coats he -had worn while away. It was a most interesting game, and he enjoyed -it {103} as much as I when I brought out a new trophy from the depths -of the deepest and most obvious side pocket. It was a point of -honour that he should not "feel or look" till he got home to me, and -I have a dear little collection of souvenirs now from these -pockets--little medals with the images of various saints, scapulars -and badges, slipped in by the deft, modest fingers of sweet-faced -nuns, in the crowds, whose startled, deprecating blushes when he -turned and caught the delinquent in the act always won a courteous -bow and smile from the heretic "Chief" whose conversion their -patriotic hearts so ardently desired. I found also odds and ends -pressed upon him by the hero-worshipping peasants, some gruesome -scrap of the rope that had hanged some unknown scamp and hero, so -"aising to the bone-pains, an' his riv'rance not looking, a bit of a -twisht roun' yer honour's arrm!" or perhaps a flattened old bullet -that had gained some fancied power in its evil journey through a -man's heart. Then there were the brand-new kerchiefs of most vivid -green, most beautifully embroidered by the clever fingers of -"herself," and so many four-leaved, and therefore "lucky," shamrocks -from the "colleens," who went singing all the year if they thereby -earned a smile from the Chief. Even the little children used to make -sudden, shy offerings to their hero; a "quare bit ave a stone," a -"farden me mither giv me," or some uneasy looking fragment of what -might once have been a bird's egg. Of sticks, blackthorns and -others, I once had an enormous collection brought back to me at -various times by Parnell, but these, together with the two -riding-whips I had myself given him, were stolen from me some ten -years ago, when I was moving from one house to another. The two -riding-whips I prized very highly, for Parnell was so pleased {104} -when I gave them to him. One was gold-mounted, the other -silver-mounted, and each had "C.S.P." engraved upon it. - -Among my stick collection was one made of horn--a curious thing, -carved and inlaid with ivory, sent him by some unknown American -admirer. He used this stick on his last journey upstairs from the -sitting-room to the bed where he died. - -In January of 1881, Willie, who had rooms then in Charles Street, -Haymarket, came down to Eltham suddenly, very angry indeed with me -because he had seen some men watching his lodgings, and imagined that -I had engaged a detective to do so. As I had never had an idea of -doing anything of the sort I was extremely annoyed, and a violent -quarrel was the result. As a matter of fact, the men were watching -the upper floor, where a friend of Willie's lived, and this friend's -wife afterwards divorced him. - -All these months, since my first meeting with Mr. Parnell, Willie -knew at least that I frequently met him at the House. He had invited -him to Eltham himself, though when the visit was first proposed I -said my house was too shabby, the children would worry so nervous a -man and we had better not break the routine of our (Willie's and my) -life (which by then was tacitly accepted as a formal separation of a -friendly sort) giving any and every excuse, because of the danger I -knew I was not able to withstand. - -But Willie was blind to the existence of the fierce, bewildering -force that was rising within me in answer to call of those -passion-haunted eyes, that waking or sleeping never left me. Willie -then, as always, was content that what was his, was his for good or -ill. He knew {105} that men, in our past life together, had admired -me, even that some had loved me; but that was to their own undoing, -an impertinence that had very properly recoiled upon their own heads. -His wife could not love anyone but himself; perhaps unfortunately she -did not even do that, but after all "love" was only a relative -term--a little vulgar even, after girlhood had passed, and the mild -affection of his own feelings towards her were no doubt reciprocated, -in spite of the unfortunate temperamental differences that made -constant companionship impossible. - -So Parnell came, having in his gentle, insistent way urged his -invitation, and from Willie. And now Willie and I were quarrelling -because he, my lawful husband, had come down without the invitation -that was now (for some years) understood as due to the courtesy of -friends, and because he had become vaguely suspicious. Flying -rumours had perhaps reached his ears; and now it was too late, for he -dared not formulate them, they were too vague; too late, for I had -been swept into the avalanche of Parnell's love; too late, for I -possessed the husband of my heart for all eternity. - -I had fought against our love; but Parnell would not fight, and I was -alone. I had urged my children and his work; but he answered me: -"For good or ill, I am your husband, your lover, your children, your -all. And I will give my life to Ireland, but to you I give my love, -whether it be your heaven or your hell. It is destiny. When I first -looked into your eyes I knew." - -When Willie arrived so suddenly at Eltham Mr. Parnell was not there, -but Willie went into his room, and finding his portmanteau, sent it -to London, and left my house, declaring he would challenge Parnell to -fight a duel and would shoot him. - -{106} - -"My dear Mrs. O'Shea," wrote Parnell from London on the 7th of -January, "will you kindly ask Captain O'Shea where he left my -luggage? I inquired at both parcel office, cloak-room, and this -hotel at Charing Cross to-day, and they were not to be found." - -Willie later challenged Parnell, sending The O'Gorman Mahon to him as -his second; but the duel was not fought. My sister, Mrs. Steele, -came down to see me, and patched up a peace between myself and -Willie; and Mr. Parnell, while making arrangements to go abroad to -meet Willie, explained to him that he (Parnell) must have a medium of -communication between the Government and himself, that Mrs. O'Shea -had kindly undertaken the office for him, and, as this would render -negotiations possible and safe, he trusted that Willie would make no -objection to his meeting her after the duel. - -"I replied to Captain O'Shea's note yesterday," writes Parnell, "and -sent my reply by a careful messenger to the Salisbury Club; and it -must be waiting him there. - -"He has just written me a very insulting letter, and I shall be -obliged to send a friend to him if I do not have a satisfactory reply -to a second note I have just sent him." - -Willie then thought he had been too hasty in his action, and, knowing -I had become immersed in the Irish cause, merely made the condition -that Mr. Parnell should not stay at Eltham. - -From the date of this bitter quarrel Parnell and I were one, without -further scruple, without fear, and without remorse. - -The following are "cypher" letters of private messages to me bearing -upon the matter of the threatened duel:-- - -{107} - - - _July_ 20, 1881. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--Just a line to say that I am very well and - wondering when I shall see you again. - - I hope that your cold is better.--Your very truly, CHAS. S. - PARNELL. - - - - HOUSE OF COMMONS, - _Thursday night, July_ 22, 1881. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--I have received both your very kind letters - quite safely, and am looking forward to seeing you somewhere or - somehow to-morrow. - - I am very much troubled at everything you have to undergo, and - trust that it will not last long.--Yours always, CHAS. S. PARNELL. - - I am still quite well. Thank you very much, for enclosure. - - - - WESTMINSTER PALACE HOTEL, - VICTORIA STREET, LONDON, S.W. - _Sunday evening, July_ 25, 1881. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,---I write to ask you to send my travelling - cap, if it is at Eltham, to me here, as I may have to go over to - Paris or Boulogne some day this week. - - I hope your eyes are quite well again and that you are enjoying - these cool times. - - I have been very lonely all to-day and yesterday. Have not seen - anyone that I know.--Yours always, CHAS. S. PARNELL. - - - - _July_ 26, 1881. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--I am still staying at the same address, and - have postponed going to France, so you need not send my - cap.--Yours always, CHAS. S. PARNELL. - - - - - -{108} - -CHAPTER XIII - -ASTRONOMY, "SEDITION," AND ARREST - -"_--and there is one stirring hour ... when a wakeful influence goes -abroad over the sleeping hemisphere.... Do the stars rain down an -influence?_"--ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON. - - -During his leisure moments at Eltham Mr. Parnell took up the study of -astronomy with the vigour that always characterized him when he was -interested in a subject. He had picked out from my bookshelf a book -of stars--one of Sir Robert Ball's, I believe, that I had bought at -random one day, and became at once interested. From the teaching of -an old friend of my father's I had a fairly good knowledge of -astronomy, and, though by no means well up in the latest research and -discoveries, I was able to tell him much of the stellar systems that -was new to him. Finding how he devoured the little book of Sir -Robert Ball's, I got several of the latter's interesting works for -him, besides Herschel's. - -Then Mr. Parnell told me of a magnificent telescope he had at -Avondale, and sent for it. When this arrived he sent for a few sacks -of Portland cement, with which he made a pedestal in my garden, and -himself mounted the telescope upon it. He made an ingenious -arrangement whereby the slightest touch would tilt the telescope to -the desired angle, and we spent many nights, he and I, watching the -stars and following the courses of the planets till they faded in the -dawn. Then he thought of how near to us was the Observatory at -Greenwich, and got a permit to {109} go over the Observatory. After -that, on the days when my aunt had her readers with her, I used to -accompany him to the Observatory, where we spent many hours. - -He could always absorb very quickly any knowledge that appealed to -him, and he soon had the pleasure of teaching me much about the -latest discoveries, and about a subject intensely interesting to -him--the wonderful way in which the telescopes used in the great -observatories of the world are made. - -In time this study of the stars began to worry him too much, and he -reluctantly gave up all serious work on the subject. He said it was -all too immense and absorbing to think about in a life that was -primarily concerned with politics. But the pedestal remained, and -still we occasionally mounted the telescope and kept vigil with the -stars through the summer night. - - -On April 7, 1881, Mr. Gladstone had introduced his Land Bill into the -House of Commons. It was a better Bill than the Irish Party had -reason to expect, but it had grave defects, and the Irish had not -been consulted; while the Government's policy of coercion and -Forster's attitude towards Parnell and his followers made -co-operation between the Liberals and the Irish impossible. -Parnell's policy was to hold aloof and press for amendments. After -being crippled in the House of Lords the Bill became law. At a Land -League Convention held in Dublin on September 14 a resolution was -adopted, on the suggestion of Parnell, that the Act should be tested -by selected cases. "Nothing," said Parnell, "could be more -disastrous to our cause or our organization, and to your hopes of -getting your rents reduced, than an indiscriminate rush of the -tenantry into the Land Courts." - -{110} - -A few days later Parnell was drawn in triumph through the streets of -Dublin. The same day Forster wrote to Gladstone suggesting that -Parnell should be arrested under the Coercion Act. - -He suggested, moreover, that in his next speech at Leeds, on October -7, Mr. Gladstone should impeach Parnell and his policy. Gladstone -obeyed. The people of Ireland, he cried, wished to use the Land Act -and Parnell would not let them, but "the resources of civilisation -were not yet exhausted." - -Parnell retorted with passion and scorn in his famous Wexford speech -delivered on October 9.[1] - -"Suppose they arrest you, Mr. Parnell," asked an Irish member, who -dined with the Leader on the evening of the speech, "have you any -instructions to give us? Who will take your place?" "Ah!" he said, -deliberately, looking through a glass of champagne which he had just -raised to his lips. "Ah, if I am arrested Captain Moonlight will -take my place."[2] - -All through 1881 Parnell was constantly paying flying visits to -Ireland, and also to various parts of England, working up the -"League," addressing meetings and privately ascertaining for himself -how far the temper of the "reactionaries" could be trusted to do the -work he wished without becoming too greatly involved in the tactics -of the "Invincibles" proper. He came home to me now always between -the times of his journeyings up and down {111} the country, and if it -was not certain that I should be alone he would write me a formal -though friendly note or letter that anyone could have been shown, in -which was given some word or sign that let me know a place or time of -meeting him, either in London or nearer my home. On some of these -occasions my duties to my aunt would keep me, so that I might be an -hour or more late in arriving at the place where he awaited me; but -never once in all those years did he once fail me or leave the place -of appointment before I came, even though it might be at the loss of -the mail train to Ireland, and leaving some thousands of people -waiting in vain for the speech he was too far away to make. -Sometimes I would become conscience-stricken on such an occasion, but -he would only comment that one speech more or less was a little -matter, and what was lost by a speech not made was amply compensated -for by the deepened impression of his mystery and power gained by the -people. "For it is the strange thing I found out early in political -life," he would say, "they think I'm much more wonderful when I do -nothing than when I'm working hard." - - - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN, - _September_ 10, 1881. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--Will you kindly address and post enclosed. - - I am quite recovered from my attack, and the doctor says that I - shall be able to travel in a few days.--Yours very truly, CHAS. - S. PARNELL. - - -The enclosure was the following letter:-- - - - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN, - _September_ 10, 1881. - - MY OWN WIFIE,--I know that you must have been much {112} worried - yesterday by my failure to send you a few words, but my Beauty - will forgive her own husband. - - Your wire has been put into my hand as I write, and shall have an - instant answer. - - It gives me so much pleasure to know that your trouble has not - returned since I left, and that my wires give you pleasure. Your - King thinks very very often of his dearest Queen, and wishes her - not to be sad, but to try and be happy for his sake. Everything - is going on very well here, and your King is much satisfied. - - - - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN, - _September_ 25, 1881. - - MY OWN LOVELIEST,--I send you these few words to assure Wifie - that her husband always thinks of her and hopes that she is well - and happy. YOUR OWN KING. - - - - _October_ 4, 1881. - - MY OWN WIFIE,--I have satisfied myself, by two separate tests - to-day, that there is a good deal of silver in the dark stone of - which there is so much in the old mine. In fact nearly the whole - lode consists of this (the miners are working in it in the North - Level). I cannot say how many ounces there will be to the ton - until I get it assayed, but if there should be six or eight - ounces to the ton it ought to pay to work. - - YOUR OWN KING. - - - - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN, - _October_ 7, 1881. - - MY OWN WIFE,--I called to-day to see him[3] on my return from - Dungarvan, but he was out, and I waited for him three hours. - Calling again at eleven to-night, he was again out, but returned - just as I was writing to make an appointment for the morning. He - says that he leaves to-morrow (Friday) evening, and stops to - shoot on Saturday in Wales, and goes on Tuesday to Paris to see - the Papal Nuncio, who he says has requested him to come. This, - then, is the last letter I can send you for the present through - Eltham, so I hope to have the other address from you to-morrow - morning. - - My dearest Katie must have been very lonely ever since. {113} - Did she get my three letters? Her husband has been so busy he - has not even had time to sleep, but he has never been too busy to - think of her. - - I can go over to London early next week if I may see you. Should - I remain in London or go down to you? - - With numerous kisses to my beautiful Queenie. - - C. S. P. - - - - _October_ 8, 1881. - - MY DEAREST LITTLE WIFIE,--Your husband has been very good since - he left you, and is longing to see you again. He has kept his - eyes, thought, and love all for you, and my sweetest love may be - assured that he always will. - - To-morrow I go to Avondale, thence to Wexford on Sunday, whence I - return Monday morning and hope to be with my Queenie on Tuesday - or Wednesday at latest. - - Everything in Dublin has been settled up pretty satisfactorily, - and I trust only to have to make an occasional appearance in - Ireland during the rest of the autumn and winter. ALWAYS YOUR - KING. - - -On October 11th, Forster crossed to England, having first arranged -with Sir Thomas Steele, Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, that, should -the Cabinet agree to arrest Parnell, Forster would wire the one word -"Proceed." - -The same day Parnell returned to Avondale, and on the next night was -back in Dublin. - - - MORRISON'S HOTEL, - _October_ 11, 1881. - - MY OWN KATIE,--I found two letters and two wires from your King's - Queen here on my arrival an hour ago. Your telegram this morning - took a great weight off my mind, as your silence made me almost - panic-stricken lest you had been hurt by that ---- and had not - been able to get to town. - - To-morrow I go to Kildare,[4] and shall try and start for London - Friday morning; but I cannot be sure of this, as "something"[5] - may turn up at last moment, and there is {114} also a meeting of - the Executive on Saturday, which they want me to stay for. - - However, Wifie knows I will do the best I can, and she will get a - wire from me on Friday, soon after or as soon as she receives - this, telling her what I have done. If I arrive London Friday - night shall go to same hotel and shall wait for my darling. - - Will she mind asking for my number? - - ALWAYS YOUR OWN KING. - - - -On October 12th, 1881, I was in London on Mr. Parnell's business--to -ascertain the movements of the Government. He, of course, was in -Ireland and had warned me that it would be impossible for him to keep -out of prison much longer, and that any further effort to avoid -arrest would be inexpedient on all counts. I was much depressed -about this and urged him to put it off as long as possible. - -My health was then delicate, and I felt an unreasonable fear and -loneliness when he was away from me. He was very tender and -considerate to me, but pointed out that the turmoil and rebellion he -had brought to a head in Ireland must be very carefully handled to be -productive of ultimate good, and that he could "mark time" with the -Land League better in Kilmainham than out, thus rendering this force -more useful to the Home Rule campaign and less wanton in destruction. -Parnell used, but never abused, the weapons of political strife he -forged. - -He desired immediate information of the decision of the Government to -arrest him, that he might destroy any papers that, found on him, -might frustrate his plans and cause unnecessary difficulty to those -working with him. So when on October 12th information was sent to -me, at the house where I waited in London in the neighbourhood of -Piccadilly, that a Cabinet Council had been hurriedly {115} summoned, -I wired in code to Parnell and directly after the Cabinet Council I -was able to inform him that Forster had left for Ireland with the -warrant for his arrest. - -I could not bear the thought of his arrest, and after writing to him -under cover to a person in Ireland who would, I knew, get my letter -to him, whether in or out of prison, I telegraphed to Parnell again -to know if he could meet me at Holyhead if I started at once. I had -so much of his business in hand now, and he had expected to see me at -least once more before the inevitable separation of his imprisonment. -I felt almost unable to cope with the situation; I was not strong and -I was full of anxiety as to the probable effects upon Parnell's -health of life in Kilmainham Gaol. In addition to my anxiety, the -deception I had to practise towards Captain O'Shea, seldom as I saw -him, told upon my nerves just now. However, Parnell's message in -reply, written in our private code, reassured me. While he still -thought it better to suffer arrest at once, he would not go out of -his way to meet it, and would be careful when in Kilmainham so that -his imprisonment should be of short duration. He would not allow me -to go to the fatigue of a journey to Holyhead, nor would he go abroad -to avoid arrest, and I went home comforting myself as I could with -his confident spirit and loving messages. - -On October 13th there was a terrible gale throughout the South of -England, and at Eltham, after a sleepless night, I was up early--far -too early to disturb my old aunt--and wandered out through her park -in the gale. The battling with the wind lifted a little the load of -restlessness and anxiety as to what was happening in Ireland from my -heart. - -I was with my aunt as usual all that day, and was {116} glad of the -quiet and rest. The old lady gazed out at the still raging storm and -told me tales of her youth, while I listened to the voice I loved in -the wind outside, saying to me again and again what he had said -before he left me, "Be brave, Queenie. I cannot stay outside while -all these others are arrested, and it is bound to be soon now." - -Towards evening, when the storm had cleared a little, and my aunt had -fallen asleep before the fire, I went home to get the evening papers -I always had sent over from Blackheath before Willie came down from -London to dinner, as he had written to say he would do. However, on -my return home I found Willie already there, extremely pleased to be -able to announce to me that Parnell had been arrested that morning. -I knew his news directly I saw his face, and as I was really prepared -for it I did not flinch, but replied languidly that I had thought -Parnell "couldn't keep out of gaol much longer, didn't you?" - -But Willie was so fiercely and openly joyful that my maids, who were -ardent Parnellites, were much shocked, and I, being terribly -overwrought, laughed at their disgusted faces as I went to dress for -dinner. It was really the laugh of tears, but that laugh of jangled -nerves and misery did me good service with Willie, and we got through -dinner amicably enough, while he descanted upon the wickedness and -folly of Parnell's policy and the way the Irish question should -really be settled, and would be if it could be left to him and those -who thought with him. He observed me closely, as he criticised -Parnell and his policy, and reiterated his pleasure in knowing he was -"laid by the heels." - -I was now quite calm again, and smiled at him as I reminded him that -I was now as ardent a Parnellite as {117} Parnell himself, and had -already done so much hard work for "the cause" that my politics were -far more reactionary that when he had introduced Parnell to me: -unlike his (Willie's) own, which were less so. My heart being in -Kilmainham Gaol with my lover, I was momentarily at peace, and could -ask Willie questions as to the mode of life and prison discipline of -political prisoners. Willie, as are so many men, was never so happy -as when giving information. - -The next day I received my King's letter, written as he was -arrested:-- - - - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN, - _October 13_, 1881. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--I have just been arrested by two fine-looking - detectives, and write these words to wifie to tell her that she - must be a brave little woman and not fret after her husband. - - The only thing that makes me worried and unhappy is that it may - hurt you and our child. - - You know, darling, that on this account it will be wicked of you - to grieve, as I can never have any other wife but you, and if - anything happens to you I must die childless. Be good and brave, - dear little wifie, then. YOUR OWN HUSBAND. - - Politically it is a fortunate thing for me that I have been - arrested, as the movement is breaking fast, and all will be quiet - in a few months, when I shall be released. - - -Speaking at the Guildhall on the day of Parnell's arrest Mr. -Gladstone said: "Within these few minutes I have been informed that -towards the vindication of the law, of order, of the rights of -property, and the freedom of the land, of the first elements of -political life and civilization, the first step has been taken in the -arrest of the man who has made himself pre-eminent in the attempt to -destroy the authority of the law, and substitute what {118} would end -in being nothing more than anarchical oppression exercised upon the -people of Ireland." - -When he uttered the word "arrest" he was stopped by the audience -rising en masse and cheering frantically. "Parnell's arrest"--I -quote from the "Life of Forster"--"was hailed almost as though it had -been the news of a signal victory gained by England over a hated and -formidable enemy." - -Sexton, O'Kelly, Dillon, O'Brien, and J. P. Quinn, secretary of the -League, were quickly arrested, while warrants were issued for Biggar, -Healy, and Arthur O'Connor. Healy was in England, and Biggar and -O'Connor managed to join him there. - - - -[1] Parnell in this speech vigorously attacked Gladstone's policy, -calling him a "masquerading knight-errant" and a champion of the -liberties of every nation except Ireland. He pointed out that -Gladstone had a good word for the late Isaac Butt, and added -scornfully that "in the opinion of an English statesman no man was -good in Ireland until he was buried." By implication he challenged -the Government to arrest him under the Coercion Act. - -[2] "The Life of Parnell," by Barry O'Brien. - -[3] Captain O'Shea. - -[4] He was to have addressed a meeting at Naas. - -[5] Possibility of arrest. - - - - -{119} - -CHAPTER XIV - -KILMAINHAM DAYS - - "_Love is not a flower that grows on the dull earth; - Springs by the calendar; must wait for the sun. - * * * * * * * - E'en while you look the peerless flower is up - Consummate in the birth._"--J. S. KNOWLES. - - -At the news of the arrest a wave of indignation swept through -Ireland. In Dublin there were riots. In many places shops were -closed and towns and villages went into mourning as if for the death -of a king. - -Five days later the Land League countered the arrest by issuing the -No Rent manifesto. - -Parnell was really opposed to it. Dillon openly so, but the majority -of the leaders then in Kilmainham Gaol approved of it, and it was -signed and published in _United Ireland_ on October 17th. The -signature is interesting, it runs thus:-- - - -"Charles S. Parnell, President, Kilmainham Gaol; A. J. Kettle, -Honorary Secretary, Kilmainham Gaol; Michael Davitt, Honorary -Secretary, Portland Prison; Thomas Brennan, Honorary Secretary, -Kilmainham Gaol; Thomas Geston, Head Organizer, Kilmainham Gaol; -Patrick Egan, Treasurer, Paris." - - -Meanwhile arrests and evictions went on all over Ireland, and the -Coercion Act was used mercilessly and unscrupulously on behalf of the -landlords. The Ladies' Land League and its president, Miss Anna -Parnell, became very busy. - -* * * * * * - -{120} - -From the time of Parnell's arrest onward until the birth of his child -in the following February I lived a curiously subconscious existence; -pursuing the usual routine of my life at home and with my aunt, but -feeling that all that was of life in me had gone with my lover to -prison, and only came back to me in the letters that were my only -mark of time. I had to be careful now; Willie became solicitous for -my health, and wished to come to Eltham more frequently than I would -allow. He thought February would seal our reconciliation, whereas I -knew it would cement the cold hatred I felt towards him, and -consummate the love I bore my child's father. - - - _October_ 14, 1881. - - My OWN DEAREST WIFIE,--I have found a means of communicating with - you, and of your communicating in return. - - Please put your letters into enclosed envelope, first putting - them into an inner envelope, on the joining of which you can - write your initials with a similar pencil to mine, and they will - reach me all right. - - I am very comfortable here, and have a beautiful room facing the - sun--the best in the prison. There are three or four of the best - of the men in adjoining rooms with whom I can associate all day - long, so that time does not hang heavy nor do I feel lonely. My - only fear is about my darling Queenie. I have been racked with - torture all to-day, last night, and yesterday, lest the shock may - have hurt you or our child. Oh, darling, write or wire me as - soon as you get this that you are well and will try not to be - unhappy until you see your husband again. You may wire me here. - - I have your beautiful face with me here; it is such a comfort. I - kiss it every morning. YOUR KING. - - - - KILMAINHAM, - _October_ 17, 1881. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--I was very much pleased to receive your two - letters, which reached me safely after having {121} been duly - perused by the Governor. I am also writing to Captain O'Shea's - Paris address to acknowledge his. - - The last letter which you directed to Morrison's also reached me. - - If you have not done so already, please inquire in London about - the messages you were expecting, and about any others that may - arrive in future, and let me know in your next whether you have - received them. - - This prison is not at all damp, although the air on the north - side is rather so, but I am on the south side, and am so far - exceedingly comfortable and not in the slightest degree dull. We - are allowed to play ball, and you will be glad to hear that I won - my first game against one of the best and most practised players - in the place, although I have not played for twenty years. - - I have received the _Times, Engineer, Engineering, Mining - Journal, Pall Mall Gazette, Universe_, from a London office, also - the _Engineer_ directed in your handwriting. - - Shall be delighted to hear from you as often as you care to - write.--Yours always, C. S. P. - - When you write again, please let me know how you are. I have - been very anxious for news on that point. - - - - _October_ 19, 1881. - - MY OWN DARLING QUEENIE,--I have just received your charming - little letter of Tuesday, which I have been anxiously expecting - for the last week. It has taken an enormous load off my mind. I - shall send you a long letter to-morrow or next day, but for the - present you had better not come over, as there are five or six - other men in rooms adjacent to mine who find out about everybody - who visits me. Besides, you would not be permitted to see me - except in presence of two warders, and it might only make you - more unhappy. - - You must not be alarmed about rumours that the Government have - evidence that we are involved in a treasonable conspiracy. There - is absolutely no foundation whatever for such a statement, and it - is only made to defend their own proceedings. - - Dearest little Queenie, keep up your spirits. I am very {122} - comfortable and very well, and expect to see my darling before - the New Year. - - Don't put my name in inner envelope in future, as if opened it - might implicate others. - - - - _October_ 21, 1881. - - MY OWN DARLING WIFIE,--I wrote you a short note this afternoon, - which I succeeded in getting off safely. Now after we have been - all locked up safely for the night, and when everything is quiet - and I am alone, I am going to send my own Queenie some news. But - first I must tell you that I sleep exceedingly well, and am - allowed to read the newspapers in bed in the morning, and - breakfast there also, if I wish. - - I want, however, to give you a little history from the - commencement of my stay here. - - When I heard that the detectives were asking for me a terror--one - which has often been present with me in anticipation--fell upon - me, for I remembered that my darling had told me that she feared - it would kill her; and I kept the men out of my room while I was - writing you a few hasty words of comfort and of hope, for I knew - the shock would be very terrible to my sweet love. - - I feared that I could not post it, but they stopped the cab just - before reaching the prison and allowed me to drop the letter into - a pillar-box. My only torture during those first few days was - the unhappiness of my queen. I wired Mrs. S. to know how you - were, but the wire was sent back with a note that it could not be - delivered as she had gone to R. Finally your first letter came, - and then I knew for the first time that you were safe. You must - not mind my being in the infirmary. I am only there because it - is more comfortable than being in a cell, and you have longer - hours of association, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., instead of being - locked up at 6 and obliged to eat by yourself. The infirmary is - a collection of rooms, and each has a room to himself--Dillon is - in a cell, but he is allowed as a special privilege to come over - and associate with us during the daytime. I am obliged to invent - little maladies for myself from day to day in order to give Dr. - Kenny an excuse for keeping me in the infirmary, but I have never - felt better in {123} my life. Have quite forgotten that I am in - prison, and should very much miss the rattle of the keys and the - slam of the doors. The latest discovery is heart affection. - - The only thing I don't like is that the Government insist upon - sending a lot of police into the gaol every night, two of whom - sleep against my door and two more under my window. Just at - present we are all in great disgrace on account of the manifesto, - and the poor warders have been most of them dismissed and fresh - ones brought in. A very strict watch is kept, and I have been - obliged to exert my ingenuity to get letters out to you and to - get yours in return. If Wifie is very good and becomes strong - and happy again I may let her come over and see me after a time, - but for five days more I am not to be allowed to see any visitor, - but I will write you again about your coming. They have let us - off very easily. I fully expected that we should have been - scattered in different gaols through the country as a punishment, - but they evidently think no other place safe enough for me. - Indeed, this place is not safe, and I can get out whenever I - like, but it is probably the best policy to wait to be released. - And now good-night, my own dear little Wifie. Promise your - husband that you will sleep well and look as beautiful when we - meet again as the last time I pressed your sweet lips. YOUR OWN - HUSBAND. - - - - _October_ 26, 1881. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--Many thanks for your kind letter. I am - anxiously waiting for another note from you to say that you have - quite recovered from the indisposition you speak of. - - I was in hopes that time would pass mote slowly in prison than - outside, but it seems to pass quite as quickly as anywhere else - except those hours at Eltham.--Yours always, C. S. P. - - - - _October_ 28, 1881. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--Not having heard from you this week, I - write this to say that I hope you are better, and that the - absence of a letter from you is not to be attributed to any - increase in the indisposition of which you spoke in your last. - {124} - - I am glad to be able to tell you that I am exceedingly well. - Health and spirits never better.--Yours very truly, CHAS. S. - PARNELL. - - - - _November_ 1, 1881. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--Thanks very much for your letters and - telegram. - - I was rather indisposed yesterday, but am very much better - to-day. I am told that everybody gets a turn after they have - been here for three or four weeks, but that they then become all - right. I write you this lest you and other friends should be - troubled by exaggerated reports in the newspapers. - - My esteemed friend Mr. Forster has become very disagreeable - lately. He refuses to allow me to see my solicitor except in - presence and hearing of two warders, so I have declined to see - him at all. He also refuses to allow me to see visitors except - in the cage, which I have also declined to do, but probably - things may be relaxed again after a time.--Yours very truly, C. - S. P. - - -Parnell had a certain visitor who was permitted to see him in -Kilmainham on his "necessary and private" business, though not alone, -and this gentleman was able to take his letters out, and bring them -to him, unobserved, and after putting them into another outer -envelope address them to "Mrs. Carpenter" at an address in London, -whence I fetched them. Or sometimes he would send a formal letter to -me at Eltham enclosing one addressed to some political or other -personage. If Willie were at Eltham I would show him this note -asking me to post enclosure on a certain date. The enclosure was, of -course, to me--sent thus to keep me from the fatigue of going to town -so often. The Governor of Kilmainham for some reason became -suspicious of Parnell's visitor, and forbade his interviews except in -the close proximity of two warders selected by himself, and Parnell -refused to see him at all {125} under these restrictions. He wrote -me a friendly letter then, telling me this, and other little news of -his prison life, as to an ordinary acquaintance, and addressed it -direct to Eltham, sending it to be approved by the Governor and -posted in the ordinary way. In this letter, that anyone might have -seen, there was a message by a private sign to go to the house in -town for a letter within a few days. On doing so, I found my letter -as usual, posted by a friendly warder, and contained in it was a -recipe for invisible ink, and this ink could only be "developed" by -one particular formula, a combination known only to one chemist. We -were saved an infinity of trouble and anxiety, as we could now write -between the lines of an ordinary or typewritten letter without -detection, and it was no longer essential to get a third person to -direct the envelopes. In time the Governor again became suspicious, -and the friendly warder was dismissed--or Parnell was told so. -However, this was only a temporary inconvenience, as Parnell was able -in a couple of days to reorganize his communications with me, and -this time they were not broken. - - - _November_ 2, 1881. - - I have just succeeded in having my communications, which were cut - for a while, restored, and have received your letter of Friday - night. In writing me please always acknowledge receipt of my - letters by their date. I have quite recovered. My illness did - me good, and I have a first-rate appetite. - - You must not mind reports about my health. In fact, our "plots" - have been completely disarranged by the necessity of writing and - wiring my Queenie that there is nothing the matter with me. - - I hope to be able to arrange to see you as soon as I hear that W. - is firmly fixed. - - I look at my beautiful Queen's face every night before I {126} go - to bed and long for the time when I may be with you again. Only - for that I should be happier here than anywhere else. - - - - _November_ 5, 1881. - - MY DARLING WIFIE,--When I received your dear letter to-day I had - just time to send you a few hasty lines in acknowledgment; now - when everything is quiet and with your own sweet face before me I - can give my thoughts up entirely to my Queen, and talk to you - almost as well as if you were in my arms. It seems to me a long, - long time since our hasty good-bye, although the first three - weeks of my present life--which term will have been completed - to-morrow morning--has seemed only a moment. I often feel very - sad when I think of poor, unhappy Katie waiting for her husband - who does not come any longer as he used to come, but who will - come again to her and will not again leave her. - - I am trying to make arrangements that my own Queenie may come to - me this time. I shall ask my ruler here if I may see my cousin, - "Mrs. Bligh, who is coming from England to see me," in his - office, and with only himself present. After all, darling, the - only way in which I could have escaped being here would have been - by going to America, and then I could not have seen you at all, - and I know I should not have been so happy or so comfortable in - America as here, and, besides, I should have been beset by so - many dangers there. - - I admire supremely my life of ease, laziness, absence of care and - responsibility here. My only trouble is about your health and - happiness and this has been my only trouble from the first. - Queenie, then, will see that she also must try not to be so - unhappy, especially as her husband's love is becoming stronger - and more intense every hour and every day. - - You will be anxious to know what my short illness was about. It - was of a very unromantic kind--not the heart, but the stomach. I - had not much appetite for some days, and was tempted by a turkey - to eat too much, thence very severe indigestion and considerable - pain for about an hour. However "our doctor," by means of - mustard and chlorodyne, got me all right again, and my appetite - is now as good as ever. In fact, I have gotten over very quickly - the "mal du prison" {127} which comes on everybody sooner or - later more or less severely. - - One of the men in this quarter who has been here for nearly nine - months, poor fellow, looks after me as if he was my--brother, I - was going to say, but I will substitute Mary.[1] He makes me a - soda and lemon in the morning, and then gives me my breakfast. - At dinner he takes care that I get all the nicest bits and - concocts the most perfect black coffee in a "Kaffee Kanne" out of - berries, which he roasts and grinds fresh each day. Finally, in - the evening, just before we are separated for the night, he brews - me a steaming tumbler of hot whisky. He has marked all my - clothes for me also, and sees that the washerwoman does not rob - me. Don't you begin to feel quite jealous? - - I am going to ask Katie to put her proper initials upon the inner - envelope of her next letter---thus, K. P. Your writing on the - outside envelope of the one which came to-day will do splendidly. - - I do not think there is the least probability of my being moved; - this is the strongest place they have, and they are daily trying - to increase its strength according to their own notions, which - are not very brilliant. My room is very warm and perfectly dry. - They wanted me to go to another, which did not face the sun, but - I refused, so they did not persist. - - With a thousand kisses to my own Wifie, and hoping soon to lay my - head in its old place. - - Good-night, my darling. - - - - _November_ 7, 1881. - - I did not advertise in _Standard_. - - MY DARLING QUEENIE,--Your two letters received, and King is very - much troubled about you. - - I am very warm--have fire and gas in my room all night if I want - it. - - Dearest Wifie must try and get back her spirits and good looks - for her own husband's sake. C. S. P. - - - - _November_ 12, 1881. - - MY DARLING WIFIE,--I have received my darling's letter {128} of - the 9th quite safely, also the enclosure in the previous one, - which I will keep as you wish it; but I shall not want it, my own - love. - - The statement about the food was only to prepare the way to get - up a collection in the country so as to save the American money - for other purposes. - - We think of announcing by and by that we have gone on Government - food, and then start the subscription, as there is no other way - of getting money from the country. In any case, this could not - affect me, as I am in the infirmary, and should be entitled to - get whatever Dr. Kenny orders for me. Wifie may depend upon it - that whatever happens we shall take good care of ourselves; at - present we are living upon all the good things of the - world--game, etc. The authorities have intimated to me twice - that I may go out if I will say that I will go abroad, but I have - replied that I am not in any hurry, and that when I go out I - shall go or stay where I please. In fact, I much prefer to wait - here till the meeting of Parliament. - - Will write Wifie a long letter to-morrow. - - YOUR OWN KING. - - - - _November_ 14, 1881. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--Your husband continues very well, and very much - contented with the position of things outside. - - I am told the Government don't exactly know what to do with us - now they have got us, and will take the first decent excuse which - presents itself of sending us about our business. - - Queenie's letters give me great comfort, as I think I see by them - she is not quite so unhappy as she was, and has more hope of - seeing her King soon again. I am in a continual state of alarm, - however, lest something may hurt you. - - ALWAYS YOUR KING. - - - - _Saturday._ - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--I hope my darling will not hurt herself going - after those letters. I have got some paper to write direct to - you, and shall try one on Monday. I do not use it for writing to - anybody else, so that Queenie need not be afraid {129} of that, - but she should write very lightly, and with a gold pen. - - My own little Wifie, I so wish I could be with you to comfort and - take care of you, but will you not try to care for yourself, my - darling, for my sake? - - YOUR OWN LOVING KING. - - - - MY DEAREST QUEENIE,--I write hastily to say that I am receiving - your darling letters all right, though the watch is very close, - and it is difficult to get them either out or in. - - I am exceedingly well, sleep very well, go to bed at ten or - eleven, or whenever I like, get up at nine, or whenever I like. - - Do, beautiful Wifie, take care of yourself and your King's child. - - - - _November_ 18, 1881. - - Use thinner letter paper in future, as envelopes are suspiciously - bulky. - - Your own King continues very well, and has received your two - letters safely. - - Our mutual friend is waiting for me at present, and probably has - some more for me and will take this. I have just heard on good - authority that they intend to move me to Armagh the end of this - week or beginning of next in order to give me an opportunity of - escaping while there. However, they may change their mind, and - in any case it will make no difference to me personally. Armagh - is healthier and nicer in every way, I am told by our Chief W., - who comes from there. I am also told, on the same authority who - informed me of projected move to Armagh, that we shall be - certainly all released before Christmas. - - I am disposed to think I have got heavier, but shall know - to-morrow when I weigh. - - Best love to our child. - - YOUR LOVING HUSBAND. - - - - _November_ 21, 1881. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--Yours of the 18th has reached me safely, and - though I am relieved to know that my darling is {130} a little - less miserable, yet I am still very much troubled and anxious - about you. Has he[2] left yet? It is frightful that you should - be exposed to such daily torture. My own Wifie must try and - strengthen herself, and get some sleep for her husband's sake and - for our child's sake, who must be suffering much also. - - I am convinced that if it had not been for the unfortunate result - of Tyrone I should not be here. I hope that Stafford may be - followed by another success in Derry, and that it may open their - eyes to the danger of their present proceedings. I can really - honestly tell Wifie that my health is not only as good, but - better than it has been at any time for the last twelve months. - - I don't know who it was sent me the quilt; I am sending it to - Wicklow, as it is green--a colour I detest. I don't want it here - at all, as there are too many things on my bed as it is. - - EVER YOUR OWN KING. - - The Woolwich or Charlton post offices will do very well when you - recommence writing. - - - - _November_ 29, 1881. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--I was very happy in receiving my darling's - letter of yesterday to-day. My messenger was looking very - frightened, and fears his letters may be opened any day. So - perhaps it will be safest for Wifie not to write again for a few - days, until I see further, or until I can manage another address. - I can manage, however, to write my Queenie two or three times a - week. You must not be frightened if you see we have all gone on - P. F.[3] It will not be so as far as we are concerned here, and - will only be for a week as regards the others, but Wifie must not - tell anybody that I have not done so, as it would create - discontent amongst the others. The man who has been taking care - of me is going out to-morrow, and will be a loss to me. He has - been very ill during the last week from bad sore throat, and was - very nearly suffocated the night before last, so I sent O'Gorman - Mahon to Forster about him, with the desired effect of getting - his {131} discharge. One of the others will supply his place to - me, but not so well. - - Have not been weighed yet, but will to-morrow. I think Wifie has - my last weight. After eight at night I read books, newspapers, - and write until about twelve or one, when I go to bed. I also - think a good deal of my own darling during that time when - everything is quiet, and wonder how soon I shall be with you - again. - - The time is passing rather more slowly this month than the first, - but still it is not yet monotonous. - - With best love. - - - - _Thursday._ - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--I have just received your two letters, one of - Tuesday, the other 25th, and am enormously relieved to find you - are well. You can direct the next envelopes in a feigned hand; - it is safer than sending you any more. The outside envelope of - yours of the 25th appears to have been tampered with, but the - inside one is all right. I am trying to arrange that you may see - me as soon as he[4] is gone to Madrid, and you become quite - strong, and will write you more fully about it to-morrow. ALWAYS - YOUR KING. - - Gum your inside envelopes well. There is no risk of my being - moved. - - - - _December_ 3, 1881. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--Your letter of the 1st has just reached me. - - You ought to have had a note by the 1st explaining about P. fare, - and suggesting caution until another means of communication can - be found, as my messenger fears his letters may be opened any day. - - I am exceedingly well, and am not really on prison fare, as we - can get anything we want here. - - Am rejoiced to learn that Wifie hopes our child will be strong--I - think it ought to have a good constitution. - - All my pains and aches have quite disappeared, and I have become - quite acclimatized, I expect to be so fresh when I {132} get out - that even Wifie won't be able to hold me, although her bonds are - very strong and pleasant. - - ALWAYS YOUR KING. - - - - _Tuesday, December_ 6, 1881. - - MY QUEENIE,--I have not yet been able to arrange other means of - communication for my own darling, but hope to do so shortly. - - Her dear letter of the 1st has reached me quite safely, but it - would be a risk for her to write again to the same place. In any - case I will send you in my next a prescription which will enable - you to write ordinary letters with something added. - - Your King never felt nearly so well in his life before. The - strong exercise, ball-playing, which I have missed very much - during the last few years of my life, is improving me immensely, - as strong exercise always agreed with me. - - YOUR OWN KING. - - - - _Wednesday, December_ 7, 1881. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--You may see a paragraph about my health in the - _Freeman_ of Friday which may worry you, so write to say that it - is very much exaggerated for the purpose of preventing a change - in our rooms to some which are not in any way so nice. - - I have caught a slight cold, which the doctor thinks will pass - off in a day or two. - - I will write you direct to-morrow with the secret ink of which - the prescription is on the other side. No. 1 is for writing, No. - 2 is for bringing it out. Wifie may write me with this to the - same address as usual and in the same way, but she should write - also with ordinary ink on the first page of the letter something - as follows: - - - DEAR SIR,--I have yours of ---- inst., and will pay attention to - the directions given.--Yours truly, R. CAMPBELL. - - -The secret handwriting should be with a clean quill pen, and should -be written lightly. - -I feel much better this afternoon than I did this morning. - -ALWAYS YOUR LOVING HUSBAND. - -{133} - -You had best test the No. 1 solution by attempting to bring it out -with No. 2. If it does not come out well increase the strength of -both solutions. Use unglazed rough paper. Do not be worried, -darling, and take good care of our child. - - - - _Friday, December_ 9, 1881. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--I wired you yesterday as I was dreadfully - frightened about the effect the par in _Freeman_ would have on - you, and hope you did not get into overmuch trouble about - telegram. - - The feverish cold quite passed away yesterday after one night, - and I am up to-day but keeping a poor mouth, so as to try to - baulk a pretty scheme for moving us from our present rooms into - others where they think we will be safer. You must not pay any - attention to O. D.'s account, as it was carefully got up. - - I don't eat bread, only for breakfast, but D. and I have each two - raw chops smuggled in daily which we do for ourselves, and we - also make our own tea. - - We also always have a cold ham in stock--Queenie must not think I - am deceiving her about anything--I never felt as well in my life - as when I wrote to tell her so the evening before I was taken - ill, and next morning I woke with a hot head. - - At present I am getting all my food from the Governor's kitchen, - and it is excellent. - - We hope by the row we are making to compel Government to make the - food sufficiently good to satisfy the men and take expense of - their keep off our resources. - - In future you had best brush any letters I write you to E. with - No. 2 solution, as, unless you desire me not to do so, I will - write you for the future alternately to E. and W. Place so as to - save you the trouble and fatigue of going to London so often. - ALWAYS YOUR OWN HUSBAND. - - - - _December_ 13, 1881. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--Your two letters have reached me quite safely - and are all right. - - I am quite well again now, and could go out were it not that the - weather is so cold that the doctor does not think it prudent. - - {134} - - I hope my darling is well and has not been hurt by the anxiety. - My mind has been in the utmost distress about my Wifie and her - child all the week, and you do not know what a relief your - telegram from London was. - - - - _December_ 14, 1881. - - MY DARLING QUEENIE,--Your second letter reached me all right, and - I can read them perfectly. But, my darling, you frighten me - dreadfully when you tell me that I am "surely killing" you and - our child. - - I am quite well again now, my own, and was out to-day for a short - time, and will take much better care of myself for the future. - It was not the food, but a chill after over-heating myself at - ball. But I do not intend to go back on prison fare, even - nominally, again, as the announcement that we were on it has - served the purpose of stimulating the subscription. - - Rather than that my beautiful Wifie should run any risk I will - resign my seat, leave politics, and go away somewhere with my own - Queenie, as soon as she wishes; will she come? Let me know, - darling, in your next about this, whether it is safe for you that - I should be kept here any longer. - - YOUR OWN HUSBAND. - - There can be no doubt we shall be released at opening of - Parliament, but I think not sooner. - - Dr. K. was allowed to be with me at night while I was ill, and we - are not to be changed from our rooms. - - - - _December_ 15, 1881. - - MY OWN DARLING QUEENIE,--Nothing in the world is worth the risk - of any harm or injury to you. How could I ever live without my - own Katie?--and if you are in danger, my darling, I will go to - you at once. - - Dearest Wifie, your letter has frightened me more than I can tell - you. Do write, my darling, and tell me that you are better. I - have had nothing from you for several days. I am quite well and - strong again. - - We have made arrangements so that everybody will be allowed to - feed himself for the future, the poorer men getting so much a - week. YOUR OWN HUSBAND. - - - {135} - - - _December_ 16, 1881. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--I think it will be best to make the change you - suggest in yours of yesterday, but you need not trouble or - fatigue yourself about it immediately. - - I am going on all right, darling, and expect to have another game - of ball to-morrow, but shall take care not to heat myself. - - I could not very well make any arrangement or enter into any - undertaking with Government unless I retired altogether from - politics. - - Your letter has relieved me very much. I have been dreadfully - frightened about you for the last week. Do take care of - yourself, my own darling, and I will also take good care of - myself for the future. - - We have both to live for each other for many happy years together. - - You need not write near so heavily or use so much ink, and it - would be also better to have a softer paper, more like blotting - paper. YOUR OWN KING. - - - - _December_ 22, 1881. - - Many happy returns of Christmas, my own darling. Though your - husband cannot be with you this time, he looks forward to very - many happy returns with you. - - I am very, very happy that my own Wifie is better, and that she - has been relieved from some of the intolerable annoyance for a - time. - - Your husband is quite well. We have succeeded in getting our new - exercise ground. - - ALWAYS YOUR LOVING KING. - - - - _Xmas Eve._ - - Letters of 22nd and 23rd arrived safely. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--Just as the coming day is approaching I send my - own love what she has asked me for, and trust that it will make - her forget our squabble of last Xmas Day, as I had long since - forgotten it. - - My darling, you are and always will be everything to me, and - every day you become more and more, if possible, more than - everything to me. - - {136} - - [Illustration: FACSIMILE OF LETTER ON p. 134] - - {137} - - {138} - - Queenie need not be in the least anxious about me. I have been - getting my meals from the Governor's kitchen up to the present, - but to-morrow we return to the old arrangement of being supplied - from the outside. Nominally we are to get only one meal a day - from the outside, but in reality they will permit those who wish - and can afford it to get the other two meals as well from - outside, at their own expense, of course, and those who are with - me in these quarters intend to do this. I do not receive any - letters from any ladies I know, except one from Mrs. S., shortly - after I came here. She wrote to sympathize, and said she had - been ill. I replied after a time, asking how _you_ were, but - forgot to ask how _she_ was, and she has not written since. Am - glad to say that none of my "young women" have written. - - Let me know as soon as he goes and I will write you home. - - Government are not likely to go out for a while, but they will - scarcely go out without letting me out first. - - YOUR OWN KING. - - - - _December_ 30, 1881. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--Your two letters just received but not read yet. - I hope Wifie is sleeping better and getting stronger like her - husband. - - I am very nervous about the doctors, and you should at all events - tell one of them the right time, so that he may be on hand, - otherwise you may not have one at all. It will never do to run - this risk. - - I will write Queenie a long letter to-night. - - - -[1] My parlourmaid. - -[2] Captain O'Shea was staying at Eltham for some days. - -[3] Prison fare. - -[4] Captain O'Shea. - - - - -{139} - -CHAPTER XV - -MORE KILMAINHAM LETTERS - -"_The soul of a philosopher will consider that it is the office of -philosophy to set her free._"--SOCRATES. - - - - _January_ 3, 1882. - - MY OWN DARLING QUEENIE,--Many happy New Years, my own love, with - your husband to make you happy. - - My Queenie must take great care of herself, and must be sure to - have at least one doctor in February. It will never do to let it - trust to chance. - - There is every prospect of my being able to see my darling soon, - but it does not do to be too sure, as things change so much from - day to day. - - - - _January_ 7, 1882. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--If Queenie could see her husband reading her - letters over and over again every night she would have more faith - in their readable quality and power for giving her husband - happiness than she can have in looking at the blank paper as the - result of her work. The paper of that of the 6th, which reached - me to-day, is exactly suited; but Wifie, in sending two sheets, - one of them quite blank, makes a bad conspirator, but I must - forgive her, as the result is by no means blank to me. - - I do feel very anxious about you, my darling, and cannot help it. - You must tell the doctor, and never mind about ----. Could you - not go to London or Brighton about the beginning of February? - London would be best, if you could get him away on any pretext; - but if you could not, Brighton would leave you most free from him. - - It is perfectly dreadful that Wifie should be so worried at - night. I had hoped that the doctor's orders would have prevented - that. - - I am being fed very well. Chops or grilled turkey or eggs {140} - and bacon for breakfast, soup and chops for luncheon, and joint - and vegetables, etc., for dinner, and sometimes oysters. The - "one meal a day" is only a pretence. Each man gets £2 when - arrested, and 15s. a week, and can feed himself as he likes. - Most of them pocket the money and make the Government feed them. - You can understand the unwillingness of W.'s friend to leave - under these circumstances. The Government food is much better - now after the row about it, so most of the men can manage very - well with it, and send the 15s. home or put it in bank. I expect - the majority of the Irish people will be here after a time, the - pay is so good and it is quite a safe place. I am very well, - dearest Queenie, and enjoying our new exercise yard very much. - - YOUR OWN KING. - - - - _January_ 11, 1882. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--Yes, I will go to you, my love, immediately I am - released. There is nothing in the world that I can do in - Ireland, nor is it likely that I shall be able to do anything - here for a long time to come. Certainly until the Coercion Act - has expired I will not speak here again, so Queenie need not be - afraid that when she gets me again she will lose me. - - I am disposed to think that Government at present intend to - release me shortly before opening of Parliament, but, of course, - they may change their mind and hasten or postpone my release. - Anyhow, let Queenie's mind be quite at rest, I am very well and - am growing more vigorous every day, the air and exercise in the - new yard suiting me exactly. - - I long very, very much to be with my own Wifie again, and wish I - could take care of and comfort her in the time that is - coming--Queenie has been very good and very loving to her husband - to give him this child, and to take such care of it during this - long, sad interval, but she must remember that she is far more to - me than all the world beside, and that she must specially take - care of herself, as her King cannot now live without her. - - I had forgotten to tell you that the jacket and other things you - gave me have been very useful and comfortable. During my illness - I wore it all the time, and wear it now in the {141} mornings to - read the newspapers. It has quite cured pain in shoulder. - - I do trust you have been now relieved for a time by his - departure, and that you are getting a little sleep. It is enough - to have killed you several times over, my own Queenie. - - ALWAYS YOUR OWN HUSBAND. - - - - _January_ 17, 1882. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--The large paper is very good, the best for the - purpose of any you have tried yet. - - Your husband is so happy that you have at last been left free for - a time. - - Queenie may send her letters from any place about that she likes, - but she had best not write direct, as there is a very sharp-eyed - man over the letters. - - Very much lighter writing will do, and it might be written - between the lines of the ordinary ink, but it is best not to risk - anything just now. - - I think Brighton will do very well if Wifie likes it, and if it - would be safe for her to be so far from London. Her King could - be there quite well, as he intends to take a holiday when - released, and will not go to work at once. - - Have just received formal and usual notice of further detention, - first three months being up. The other two have also received - theirs. This has no significance one way or the other, as nobody - has ever been released at the end of the exact period. My own - Wifie must try and keep herself well and strong. Does she feel - so? I wish I could be with my poor darling. - - It is really the only reason why I wish for a change, and my - Queenie's loneliness and weariness makes me very unhappy. - Yesterday and to-day as three of us were exercising in our yard - the gates in adjoining yard leading into the outer world were - opened twice to permit some carts to come in and go out. A low - wall only separated the two yards, across which we could have - easily sprung; there was no warder in our yard, and only one in - the next, with his back turned to us. So, you see, we can get - out whenever we want to. Trying to escape is six months with - hard labour, so we have nothing {142} to gain by it, even if they - keep us till end of Act in October, which they are not at all - likely to do. - - YOUR OWN LOVING HUSBAND. - - - - _January_ 21, 1882. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--On further consideration I think it would be - much too risky for my darling to go to Brighton, as you would be - too far from the doctor, so let it be London or home. I shall - find means to see my Wifie wherever she is. - - It looks like our release shortly. - - Yours of 19th received. - - - - January 23, 1882. - - We have got an air-gun and practise every day. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--Your letter of the day before yesterday makes me - very nervous about my own love again, as I fear from it that you - are going to distress and worry yourself about me again. I can - assure you, my own, that I am exceedingly well, and am likely to - remain so. - - Notwithstanding the newspapers, it is most unlikely they will - keep us here till the commencement of session. D., indeed, will - probably go out in a day or two on account of his health; but in - any case my Queenie must not think of worrying about her husband, - as he is very comfortable and happy where he is, if he might only - see his own Wifie sometimes. I should feel quite lonely now in - London without being able to see my darling, and I should very - much prefer to stay here than to be all alone in London while - Wifie is suffering, except that I know it would comfort her to - have me even so near her. - - I hope you have received my letter saying that I think London or - home the best for you, and not Brighton; the latter would be much - too far from the doctors. Does Wifie feel strong and well? I - fear my poor Queenie has had a dreadful time of it, and our poor - little child also. - - YOUR OWN LOVING KING. - - - - _January_ 28, 1882. - - MY OWN DEAREST QUEENIE, I did not like to write direct, lest - there should be any mistake, especially as my paper is not very - suitable. It looks as if they were going to keep me here {143} - for a while longer, probably till a month or so after the opening - of session, in order that they may get their new rules more - easily. - - I do not know what to say, my darling, about your going to - Brighton, but Queenie will decide best for herself. I hope Wifie - will not feel much worried about not seeing me so soon as she - hoped. Her husband is very well indeed, and in the best of - spirits. - - I do not like your going to London so often, it may hurt you. Is - there any address you could get nearer home, so that you would - not have to go so far? - - My poor little Wifie, I wish I could be with you, but Queenie - must be good and take care of herself. - - It looks to-day as if D. would go out soon; in that case it would - facilitate our release. YOUR OWN KING. - - - - _January_ 31, 1882. - - Have received your two letters postmarked E. Be cautious about - writing for a few days. I am very well, and trust my darling is - well. - - Rumours about legal adviser being arrested, but will send you - another address to-morrow. - - - - _February_ 2, 1882. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--Have just received your third letter with E. - postmark--shall write you to-morrow direct so as to avoid for you - the fatigue of going to London. The writing between the lines - comes out perfectly, and you need at no time write more heavily. - - With best love and urgent request that my darling will take care - of herself. YOUR OWN KING. - - - - _February_ 3, 1882. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--You really must try and sleep properly at night - and stop worrying yourself about me. I can assure my darling - there is nothing to feel unhappy about so far as my health goes. - I really cannot remember when I have ever felt so well in my life. - - It is very very hard not to be able to see each other, and that - my poor Wifie should not have her husband with her {144} now--I - think after this letter I shall be able to write you a few lines - occasionally home, so as to save Wifie going to London, but if - she writes to me in the same way she must be very careful and - write very lightly and between the lines. A gold pen is, I - think, better than a quill. - - The alarm about the legal adviser has blown over, so Queenie may - direct as usual. - - The Paris failures don't concern us in any way, as everything is - secure.[1] - - Give my best love to our little child, and take good care of - yourself and it for my sake. YOUR OWN HUSBAND. - - - - _February_ 10, 1882. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--I have received your note postmarked 7th, but - have not had time to read it yet. - - I hope my darling will take better care of herself; that journey - to London in the fog was most dangerous for her. - - I think that we shall probably be released by the middle of - March, as it will be known then which way the tenants intend to - go, and we shall be able to decide whether it is worth our while - remaining here any longer. - - How does Queenie intend letting her husband know how she is? - - YOUR OWN LOVING KING - - - - _February_ 14. - - MY OWN DARLING QUEENIE,--To-day I have written you direct, - sending a few words between the lines, just to see how it will - answer. I find that rubbing with blotting paper after the words - are dry takes away any glistening or appearance of letters. My - own Wifie had best not try writing direct here, but send all her - letters as usual, and continue to do so. - - The note I have just written goes out through a warder, and I - think I shall always be able to manage in that way, but in case - Queenie should get a letter from me through the Governor she will - see it marked with his initials on the top left-hand corner, and - in that case she might write me a commonplace letter direct here, - but nothing between the lines. - - Wifie is very good indeed to write her husband such beautiful - {145} letters; if she only knew what a pleasure and happiness - every word from her is to her husband it might make her feel a - little less unhappy. I am very much troubled about my darling - having become so thin, and fear that you have suffered a great - deal more than you have ever told me, and that you are not - strong. I often reproach myself for having been so cruel to my - own love in staying so long away from her that time, which has - led to such a long, long separation. I was dragged into that - Kildare engagement, otherwise I should have been safe with Wifie. - Until then I had settled that I should leave Ireland after - Wexford. It would, however, have been very difficult for me to - have kept out of the country even if I had left then, and on the - whole I hope it will turn out all for the best. At least, I am - very glad that the days of platform speeches have gone by and are - not likely to return. I cannot describe to you the disgust I - always felt with those meetings, knowing as I did how hollow and - wanting in solidity everything connected with the movement was. - When I was arrested I did not think the movement would have - survived a month, but this wretched Government have such a - fashion for doing things by halves that it has managed to keep - things going in several of the counties up till now. However, - next month, when the seeding time comes, will probably see the - end of all things and our speedy release. - - I hope Wifie has got her house in London; I am exceedingly - anxious about those long journeys to London for you, my own. - Your husband is very well indeed, and is, I think, actually - beginning to grow fat! - - I think Queenie ought to congratulate me at being away from the - House instead of pitying me. - - When I get out I hope to have a good long rest with my own little - Wifie somewhere, and to listen to the waves breaking as we used - those mornings of spring last May. - - YOUR OWN LOVING HUSBAND. - - - - _February_ 17, 1882. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--I had written my Queenie a nice long letter - which she should have liked very much, but an alarm came before - my messenger arrived that we were all going to be searched, and I - was obliged to burn it. - - {146} - - I intend to try and send you a letter direct, written between the - lines--I find that by rubbing the words after they are dry it - removes all the glistening appearance. - - Queenie had best not write me direct at any time, but she can - send me a word in the usual way as soon as she is able to tell me - how she is. Your King will wait very anxiously for that word. - Oh, my Queenie, do take care of yourself, and do not run any risk - by remaining at E. - - It is exceedingly likely that we shall all be released about the - end of March, as then the lading time comes, and the tenants will - have to decide whether they will pay or not, and as the majority - have decided to pay already it is most likely the minority will - then follow suit. YOUR OWN KING. - - - - _February_ 17, 1882. - - MY OWN DARLING QUEENIE,--I cannot describe to you what a relief - your little note was that everything was quite right. Oh, my - Wifie, when I had your two short messages of the 14th your poor - husband burst into tears and could not hold up his head or think - of anything until my darling's note arrived that everything was - right. - - My own, you must be very good and quiet until you are quite - strong again, and do not be in a hurry to get up. - - I have only just a minute to close this as my Mercury is waiting. - YOUR OWN LOVING HUSBAND. - - -My baby was born on February 16th, 1882. I was very ill, but the joy -of possessing Parnell's child carried me through my trouble. She was -a beautiful baby, apparently strong and healthy--for the first few -weeks--and with the brown eyes of her father. This child of tragedy -rarely cried, but lay watching me with eyes thoughtful and searching -beyond the possibility of her little life. I used to seek in hers -for the fires always smouldering in the depths of her father's eyes, -but could not get beyond that curious gravity and understanding in -them, lightened only by the little smile she gave when I came near. - - -* * * * * * - -{147} - - - _March_ 5, 1882. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--It is so long since I have heard from you - that I sometimes wonder whether you have quite forgotten me. - - In case you see any of my friends who may inquire after me, will - you kindly tell them that I am very well, and that there is no - truth in the stupid rumour which appeared in some of the London - papers about the seven days' solitary confinement--I was merely - prevented from receiving or sending letters for a week; the - latter portion of the sentence did not trouble me much, as I am - an even worse correspondent in here than when I was outside. - - I think you will scarcely know me when you see me again, I have - become so fat. - - I have not heard from your sister for a great many months; in - fact have only had one letter from her since I have been here. - - Believe me, yours very truly, CHAS. S. PARNELL. - - - - _March_ 16, 1882. - - MY OWN DARLING QUEENIE,--You are very good to your husband in - writing so often and so lovingly to your King, even when you must - have been suffering terribly. I cannot describe to my little - Wifie how hopeless and utterly miserable I felt until your little - note came that all was quite right. I am very happy, my own, - that our little daughter pleases you, and that you are not too - much disappointed, and that she is strong and good-tempered. - Does Queenie think she will be too big? I shall love her very - much better than if it had been a son; indeed, my darling, I do - love her very much already, and feel very much like a father. - What do you intend to call her? - - Will you not give her papa's best love and innumerable kisses? - - I have been arranging a little happiness, I hope, for Queenie, as - soon as she is strong and well enough to come over here and can - manage it. I have been training up Captain Barlow, the chairman - of the Prisons Board, to allow me to see my married sisters in - private. To-day I got him to give {148} me a private visit with - one of them, Mrs. Dickinson, for the first time, and I did so - with the intention of passing Queenie off as another married - sister after a time. Wifie will then be able to come and see for - herself how well her husband looks, and how happy and comfortable - he is. I don't know whether they intend to move me or not, and - do not like to guess, but wherever I go I shall be probably very - well off. The dusting they got in the House the other night - about treatment of the rank and file will do them good. I am - told that all the police in the King's County were drafted into - Tullamore and put into plain clothes to form an audience for - Forster. Shall send Wifie my weight to-morrow with certificate - of chief warder so that you may believe it. - - Do you remember what it was the last time? I think Wifie has the - ticket, and that it was about twelve stone. - - I hear from all over the country that the tenants are everywhere - settling, so we shall be probably out in a couple of months, - unless we are kept to make sure that they pay the next time. - - I hope my own love will take good care of herself and not try to - go to London too soon. I want Queenie when I see her to be an - even younger little Wifie than when I gave her that last kiss. - - The idea of nursing our little daughter was too preposterous. - Do, my own darling, think of yourself and take great, great care - of your husband's own little Wifie. - - Good-night, my own darling Queenie. - - YOUR LOVING HUSBAND. - - - - _March_ 23, 1882. - - MY OWN DARLING WIFIE,--I have only just got an opportunity of - sending my Queenie a few lines, and will write a nice long letter - to-night. - - No letter came to me from you between that dated March 14 and the - two of March 20. A reference to his[2] return from Paris makes - me think that you may have sent me one between, informing me that - he had gone, which I did not receive. If you think one has been - intercepted write in {149} future to Mr. W. Kerr, Casino, - Rathdrum, and they will reach me safely, otherwise no change need - be made. - - The letter written between the lines, of which I spoke, was that - refused by the warder, and I did not send it. - - Mrs. S. has written me that she has "seen you recently," and that - you "have not left your room," assuming that I know all about it. - What am I to say to her? - - I have not been weighed yet, but shall try to-day and send my own - darling the true weight. It must be considerably more than 12-5. - - My beautiful little Wifie must continue to take great care of - herself and not go too often to town. - - YOUR OWN LOVING KING. - - - - _March_ 24, 1882. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--Since writing you yesterday have received your - letter dated 17th, which had accidentally gone astray, so if - there is no other letter which I ought to have got you can send - to the same address as usual. - - YOUR OWN KING. - - - - _March_ 27, 1882. - - MY OWN DARLING QUEENIE,--I am very anxious about our little - daughter. Is it dangerous? - - Was weighed yesterday--12 st. 7 lb. Have certainly gained five - or six pounds since I have been here. - - How did Wifie find out I had grown a beard? - - YOUR OWN LOVING KING. - - I don't think we shall be moved. - - - - _March_ 29, 1882. - - MY OWN DARLING LITTLE WIFIE,--I am very much relieved to hear - that our little child is better, and is likely to be all right - soon; but fear my poor Queenie must have been exhausted by all - that hunting about for nurses. I cannot consent to Wifie turning - nurse even when brown eyes do come. She is much too good and - beautiful for anything of the kind. - - Do you remember a small pair of scissors with fine points that - Queenie once gave me in London? I have got them still, and cut - my cigar with them every morning. - - {150} - - Shall write Mrs. ---- as you suggest, and say how sorry to hear - you had not left your room, and that I had seen the event in the - _Times_ and hoped you would soon be quite well again. If my own - can make an arrangement now for him[3] to keep away, I think she - ought to do so. It will be too intolerable having him about - always. When I see Wifie again or am released, I can consider - the situation, but until then, if you can you had best make some - arrangement. - - Wifie must not be frightened at the vapourings of the Government - yesterday; they amount to nothing, and they know perfectly well - that neither I nor any of my friends outside have sanctioned in - any way certain recent deplorable occurrences. They are simply - the result of leaving the people without guidance and appear to - be quite spontaneous. In any case the country is likely to quiet - down as the days get longer and the crops commence to spring up. - D. is to be released immediately the House adjourns for Easter, - and after a time, when they find nothing happening as a - consequence of his release, they will probably take courage and - let me out also. Anyhow this Government are going down the hill - very fast, and are not likely to last more than another session, - and we will take care that if they once go out they shall not - come in again very quickly. My own loveliest Wifie, I do not - think they intend moving me. YOUR LOVING HUSBAND. - - - - _March_ 30. - - The London correspondent of _Freeman_ is very ignorant. - - - - March 30, 1882. - - MY OWN LITTLE WIFIE,--The letter posted at Bexley reached me all - right after it had gone astray for two or three days. Queenie's - of 28th has also reached me. - - I suppose you did not address one to Casino, as I have had none - from there. I wrote yesterday to say that I think you had best - make some arrangement about him pending my release, and when that - takes place we can consider further. - - I will let my darling see me any time as soon as she is quite - strong again. We are going to have a weekly biography {151} of - doubtful Irish members in _Irishman_ or rather _United Ireland_ - which will come out again shortly in such a form as to save it - from seizure. - - If Queenie sends me some of our daughter's hair I will put it in - the locket I have with Wifie's. Would Sophie make a nice second - name? It was the name of one of my sisters whom I was said to be - most like of the family; but possibly it might make suspicions. - - I am very anxious about my darling going to London so often; it - must be very bad for you. You may try your next letter upon - ordinary paper, unglazed, and do not crowd what you write in - ordinary ink into one little space in the middle of the sheet. - After the solution has dried if you rub over the letters with an - ink eraser it will remove all the glistening and appearance of - letters. I wonder they have never opened any of them, but they - may do it at any time. It would not hurt me in any way as I do - not use it for any other purpose. Unless, indeed, they sent it - to a certain person. - - Queenie must not be alarmed about stupid rumours in the papers. - You know what these liners are, and the _Freeman_ agent in London - is singularly stupid and badly informed. - - YOUR LOVING HUSBAND. - - - - _April_ 5, 1883. - - MY OWN DEAREST WIFIE,--I think it very likely that something will - be done by the Government shortly on the arrears question. If - this be so, things will undoubtedly quiet down a great deal, and - it will give us an opportunity of coming to some arrangement. I - do not in the least apprehend that any further steps will be - taken against me in any case, though, of course, they would - eagerly grasp at the slightest thing in order to try and throw - discredit on me. - - So far as I can judge, the number of outrages has diminished very - materially during the last two or three weeks, and is likely to - continue decreasing. - - My own Wifie must remember that I was only 12 st. 2 lb. when I - came here, as I had fallen away very much after I left her, and - that I have got back 5 lb. since, notwithstanding my illness, - which left me very thin indeed. Poor little Queenie {152} must - be greatly troubled and anxious at all the rumours she hears, but - she need not regard any of them; she knows what newspaper men are. - - Give my best love and ever so many kisses to our little daughter. - I am very much troubled about her health, and hope it will not - make her permanently delicate. - - I am longing very very much to see my own Wifie. I love you, my - darling, more and more every day, and I should feel quite - reconciled to giving up politics for ever and living with my - sweet Katie all by ourselves away from everybody and everything. - I do not think anything will ever induce me to speak from a - platform again. I always disliked it excessively, but I should - loathe it now. Wifie must not, however, suppose that I am - annoyed with the way things have gone. On the contrary, - everything has succeeded remarkably, and much better than anybody - could have expected. - - It is thought that D.[4] will be released to-morrow.--Good-night, - my own Wifie. YOUR LOVING HUSBAND. - - - - _April_ 7, 1882. - - MY OWN DEAREST WIFIE,--I am so happy from receiving your letter - of the 5th to-day, although part of what you say about our - daughter makes me very anxious indeed. - - I hope the poor little thing will soon get over it. Her hair is - absolutely lovely. I am so glad it is more like Queenie's than - mine, although there is enough of mine in it to spoil it somewhat - and render it less beautiful than Wifie's. Still, there is a - splendid golden tint in it which is quite exceptional. - - Wifie need not feel at all anxious about me or anything which the - Government are likely to do or be able to do. Although there - have been one or two bad events things are getting much quieter - every day. D. is going abroad and will not even appear in the - House for a couple of months. My mother's health has, I fear, - become very much broken latterly, and after a time I think of - applying to go over to see her, but I must try and get O. K.[5] - out first. - - I am still keeping very well, although have missed the - ball-playing very much for the last three weeks, as O. K., {153} - who used to play with me, has been ill. I think my weight is - very good considering the hard exercise I have been taking and - the good condition I am in. I hope my precious one is getting - strong again and that she will have some good news to tell me of - our little daughter when she writes next. - - YOUR OWN LOVING HUSBAND. - - -I will not speak of my anguish when I found that the child of my love -was slowly dying, and that the doctors I called in could do nothing -for her. Slowly she faded from me, daily gaining in that -far-reaching expression of understanding that dying children have so -strongly, and my pain was the greater in that I feared her father -would never see her now. - -Willie was very good; I told him my baby was dying and I must be left -alone. He had no suspicion of the truth, and only stipulated that -the child should be baptized at once--urged thereto, I think, by his -mother and sister. I had no objection to this. Parnell and I had -long before agreed that it would be safer to have the child -christened as a Catholic, and he had no feeling at all against the -Catholic religion, considering, indeed, that for those who required a -religion it was an admirable one. I made an altar of flowers in my -drawing-room, as the child was much too ill to be taken to church, -and there the priest, Father Hart, came and baptized Sophie Claude. -Sophie, after Parnell's sister, Claude, after Lord Truro, an old -friend of mine. - -A few days before the death of my baby I had the unspeakable comfort -of knowing that Parnell could come to me for a few hours and perhaps -see his child while she lived. His nephew, son of his sister Delia -(Mrs. Thomson), had died in Paris, and the authorities gave Parnell -leave on "parole" to attend the young man's {154} funeral. A -brilliant, handsome fellow, great sympathy was felt with the parents -of this only son. - -Spring was very early that year, and in the April morning when the -air was fragrant with the sweet freshness of the spring flowers and -the very breath of life was in the wind, Parnell came to me and I put -his dying child into his arms. - -That evening he had to go on to Paris. - - - GRAND HOTEL, - 12 BOULEVARD DES CAPUCINES, PARIS. - _Thursday, April_ 13, 1882. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--I hope to leave Paris on Saturday morning. The - doctor says the fever is not infectious, but I doubt it very - much, as a great many people amongst the American colony are - having it just now. I am staying here, but I am obliged to go to - the house, which has been well disinfected, to see my sister, who - is very much cut up. The risk to me is a minimum, as I had this - fever very badly when I was young, and they say people very - rarely have it a second time, and then only slightly. - - At all events it is the ordinary typhoid, which doctors say is - not catching. - - I shall take a Turkish bath every day I am here, and adopt other - precautions. YOUR OWN LOVING KING. - - - - GRAND HOTEL, - 12 BOULEVARD DES CAPUCINES, PARIS, - _Saturday, April_ 15, 1882. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--I think of leaving Paris to spend a few - days in the south or elsewhere on Monday morning. Had intended - starting this evening, but caught a slight cold coming over, - which the doctor, whom my sister insisted on seeing me, says is - nothing, but think I had best not travel till Monday. - - I am very glad that I came over, as my sister is in a very low - state, and my coming has picked her up very much, believe me, - yours always truly, CHARLES S. PARNELL. - - -{155} - - - GRAND HOTEL, - 12 BOULEVARD DES CAPUCINES, PARIS, - _Sunday, April_ 16, 1882. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--Having fallen into the hands of the doctor, - he informed me to-day that he was coming again to-morrow morning, - and upon my saying that I wished to commence my journey to the - country to-morrow he said he would let me go on Tuesday morning. - Perhaps it is better so, as I might catch fresh cold if I started - so soon as to-morrow. - - I was out a good deal yesterday by the doctor's orders, and dined - with my sister in the evening. She is much better. - - To-day a north wind is blowing, and I shall not go out much, - although my cold is quite gone. I think I caught it from leaving - off a flannel jacket which I used to wear when asleep in prison. - It would have been a bad chest cold had I not taken two Turkish - baths immediately I felt it coming on. - - I am staying here under the name of Stewart, and have not been - found out yet.--Yours very sincerely, - - CHARLES S. PARNELL. - - -After his nephew's funeral he returned to Eltham, having, before, -telegraphed to Willie to say that he was coming. He wished to -conciliate Willie as much as possible, and believed that his politics -might now prove useful. - -All that night of the 21st April Parnell and Willie sat up in my -dining-room discussing the Irish question, and bit by bit working out -the "Kilmainham Treaty." Willie wanted me to join them, but I would -not leave my baby, and when the daylight came and they went to lie -down for a few hours' rest before Parnell left for Ireland, my little -one died as my lover stole in to kiss us both and say good-bye. - -Overlooking the valley in the Catholic churchyard at Chislehurst is -her little grave, headed by a granite cross {156} and wreathed about -with clematis and white roses; and often as we drove past on our way -home through the summer evenings Parnell would go in to scatter the -wild flowers he had gathered for me over little Sophie's -resting-place. - -The following letter from my sister-in-law, Mary O'Shea, I insert, as -proving, I think very conclusively, that my little one's paternity -was utterly unsuspected by the O'Sheas. - - - PARIS, AVENUE WAGRAM 137, - _Sunday, May_ 21, 1882. - - DEAREST KATIE,--We are very pleased to be able to hope that you - are better. How is your dear aunt? We trust she is better. I - cannot express our feelings of affectionate regard for her, nor - can I say adequately how truly we desire her happiness here and - for all eternity in Heaven. She has been so sweet a friend and - so charming in all her ways towards your dear children, "the - butterflies"--most attractive designation. Dear Lady O'Donnell - wrote a rapturous description of the little creatures. She loved - your dear little Claude, and shared your grief at losing her, but - happy child, how glorious is her existence! What a contrast to - ours, we who must struggle on, working out our salvation in fear - and trembling!..." - - - -[1] An allusion to political funds banked in Paris. - -[2] Captain O'Shea. - -[3] Captain O'Shea. - -[4] Dillon. - -[5] O'Kelly. - - - - -{157} - -CHAPTER XVI - -THE "KILMAINHAM TREATY" - - "_Shall I say stipulation, King?_" - "_No, Queenie, he prefers 'suggestions desirable to be - entertained!_'"--EXTRACT FROM AN OLD DIARY. - - -Parnell, in accordance with his "parole," returned to Kilmainham at -the end of the term of leave and immediately formulated the -conditions of the arrangement it was proposed to make with the -Government. The draft of this historic document was as follows:-- - - -"KILMAINHAM, April 25th, 1882. - -"We think in the first place that no time should be lost in -endeavouring to obtain a satisfactory settlement of the arrears -question, and that the solution proposed in the Bill standing for -second reading to-morrow--Wednesday--would provide a satisfactory -solution, though the Church Fund would have to be supplemented by a -grant from Imperial resources of probably a million or so. - -"Next as regards the permanent amendment of the Land Act, we consider -that the rent-fixing clauses should be amended to as great an extent -as is possible, having in view the necessity of passing an Amending -Bill through the House of Lords; that leaseholders who have taken -leases either before or since the Act of 1870 should be permitted to -apply to have a fair rent fixed, and that the purchase clauses should -be amended as suggested by the Bill, the second reading of which will -be moved by Mr. Redmond to-morrow. - -{158} - -"If the Government were to announce their intention of proposing a -satisfactory settlement of the arrears difficulty as indicated above, -we on our part would make it known that the No Rent manifesto was -withdrawn, and we should advise the tenants to settle with their -landlords; we should also then be in a better position than we ever -occupied before to make our exertions effective in putting a stop to -the outrages which are unhappily of late so prevalent. - -"If the result of the arrears settlement and the further ameliorative -measures suggested above were the material diminution of outrages -before the end of the session, and the prospect of the return of the -country after a time to something like a normal condition, we should -hope that the Government would allow the Coercion Act to lapse, and -govern the country by the same laws as in England." - - -Willie wrote to Gladstone on April 13th, and two days after Gladstone -replied promising to communicate with Forster. The rest of the -letter was taken up with compliments to Willie, and some -carefully-worded phrases which really meant that Gladstone was -prepared to go to very great lengths indeed to quiet Ireland and to -keep her quiet. - -Willie sent to Chamberlain a copy of his letter to Gladstone. -Chamberlain was impressed and guarded. He welcomed negotiations, but -pointed out that if the Government were going to smile on the Irish -Party the Irish Party must smile on the Government. With some amount -of exaggerated fervour he mooted the possibility of an anti-Irish -movement comparable with the anti-Semitic movement abroad. That, he -pointed out, would be bad for everybody, and accordingly he welcomed -the {159} olive branch. In the sequel, of course, Chamberlain took a -very active part in pressing for the release of Parnell. While on -"parole," and after his return from Paris, Parnell entered into -communication with Mr. Justin McCarthy with regard to the proposed -"Treaty," and the following letter was written from Eltham:-- - - - _Saturday, April_ 22, 1882. - - MY DEAR MCCARTHY,--I have arrived in England, and will call to - see you to-morrow afternoon some time. I cannot at present give - you the exact hour, but would it be too much to ask you to remain - at home after three o'clock? I trust you will have some news of - result of Cabinet to-day.--Yours very truly, C. S. P. - - -This letter was followed up by one from Kilmainham. - - - (_Confidential._) - - KILMAINHAM, - _April_ 25, 1882. - - MY DEAR MCCARTHY,--I send you a letter embodying our - conversation, and which, if you think it desirable, you might - take the earliest opportunity of showing to Chamberlain. - - Do not let it out of your hands, but if he wishes you might give - him a copy of the body of it.--Yours very truly, - - CHARLES S. PARNELL. - - (Enclosure.) - - -The enclosure was identical with the draft treaty--apart from a few -verbal alterations of which the chief was the substitution of "an -Amendment Bill" for an "Amending Bill" in the second paragraph. - -* * * * * * - -_Tuesday, April_ 25, 1882. - -MY OWN QUEENIE,--I enclose you a letter. What do you think I had -best say to it?[1] - -{160} - -I told my friend in Jermyn Street what steps to take, so that the -matter referred to in enclosed will probably go on all right without, -or with, the further participation of the writer. I thought of -writing him that I had received his note too late to reply for -Wednesday, but that in any case my letter from Paris ought to be -sufficient indication of confidence. - -I missed nine train on Sunday and came on by twelve, sleeping at -Crewe and getting on board mail boat before mail train arrived. -Everything went off very nicely and quietly, and I have not caught -any cold this time. O. K. had aired my bed very carefully, etc., and -they were all very glad to see me again, with the exception of the -authorities. - -I have been thinking all day of how desolate and lonely my Queenie -must be in her great sorrow. I wish so much that I might have stayed -to comfort her, but I have indeed every hope and confidence that our -separation will not now last very long. It is too terrible to think -that on this the saddest day[2] of all others--and, let us hope, the -saddest that we both shall ever see again--my Wifie should have -nobody with her. - -Good-bye, my own darling, YOUR LOVING KING. - - -Mr. Parnell wrote as follows to Captain O'Shea:-- - - - KILMAINHAM, - _April_ 28. - - I was very sorry that you had left Albert Mansions before I - reached London from Eltham, as I had wished to tell you that - after our conversation I had made up my mind that it would be - proper for me to put Mr. McCarthy in possession of the views - which I had previously communicated to you. I desire to impress - upon you the absolute necessity of a settlement of the arrears - question which will leave no recurring sore connected with it - behind, and which will enable us to show the smaller tenantry - that they have been treated with justice and some generosity. - - The proposal you have described to me as suggested in some - quarters, of making a loan, over however many years the payment - might be spread, should be absolutely rejected, {161} for reasons - which I have already fully explained to you. If the arrears - question be settled upon the lines indicated by us, I have every - confidence--a confidence shared by my colleagues--that the - exertions which we should be able to make strenuously and - unremittingly would be effective in stopping outrages and - intimidation of all kinds. - - As regards permanent legislation of an ameliorative character, I - may say that the views which you always shared with me as to the - admission of leaseholders to the fair rent clauses of the Act are - more confirmed than ever. So long as the flower of the Irish - peasantry are kept outside the Act there cannot be any permanent - settlement of the land question, which we all so much desire. - - I should also strongly hope that some compromise might be arrived - at this season with regard to the amendment of the tenure - clauses. It is unnecessary for me to dwell upon the enormous - advantages to be derived from the full extension of the purchase - clauses, which now seem practically to have been adopted by all - parties. - - The accomplishment of the programme I have sketched would, in my - judgment, be regarded by the country as a practical settlement of - the land question, and would, I feel sure, enable us to - co-operate cordially for the future with the Liberal Party in - forwarding Liberal principles; so that the Government, at the end - of the session, would, from the state of the country, feel - themselves thoroughly justified in dispensing with further - coercive measures.--Yours very truly, - - C. S. PARNELL. - - - - _Saturday, April_ 30, 1882. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--He[3] came over to see me, so I thought it best - to give him a letter, as he would have been dreadfully mortified - if he had had nothing to show. - - Everything is going very well, and I hope will continue straight. - - Received two letters from my own lovie yesterday. Do, my own, - keep up as much as you can. - - YOUR OWN KING. - - -{162} - -I had reason to know, from various sources of information kept open -by me on Parnell's behalf during his imprisonment, that the -Government would liberate him with considerable relief if given any -surety of conciliatory policy on his part. Parnell at liberty was a -disturbing force, and the culminating embarrassment of English -government in Ireland, but Parnell in prison had become merely a -concentrated embarrassment in that there was now no governmental -possibility of dealing with the reactionary spirit he had let loose -in Ireland--a spirit that was at least better controllable as a -weapon in Parnell's hand than as the scattered and absolutely -irresponsible fulminations, unreasoning and motiveless, of lawless -desperadoes. - -With Parnell as her chief the Ireland he had roused might indeed be a -scourge of whips to the British Government, but without him this -Ireland was undoubtedly a scourge of scorpions. - -So Parnell came out of Kilmainham on the treaty arranged at Eltham, -and as Willie was to be the official bearer of the olive branch to -the Government, he went over to see Parnell on his return to -Kilmainham and to get from him a letter for his own satisfaction, as -he said Parnell was "so shifty" he could not be trusted to carry out -any agreement that was not in writing, and the letter was to set -forth the various modifications of his policy of obstruction that he -would undertake to observe on his (immediate) liberation and -assurance of future concessions to Ireland. This letter had in -substance been written at Eltham, but Parnell had stipulated for a -few days to consider the matter further and would not give Willie his -final decision then. On the other side he had to consider that any -treaty with the Government would place him in {163} a very awkward -position with the Land League and would certainly affect the -financial aid to the Irish cause so generously contributed by -America. It was also certain, he knew, that the Government would be -obliged, in either case, to liberate him with the other Irish -political prisoners at no distant period, and this without his -placing himself under any obligation at all to the Government. This -would please the extreme party of his followers far better, even -though it would keep open the way to further outrage and crime in -Ireland. - -I had never before ventured to influence Parnell in any way -politically; but now I greatly dreaded for him this latter policy of -the extremists and the perpetual strain of watchfulness and control -it engendered--with the Coercion Laws such a policy must, in the long -run, inevitably produce, unless, indeed, England was prepared to -yield to force; an unthinkable proposition. - -So now I threw the whole strength of my influence on the side of the -treaty of conciliation and urged upon him the greater good for -Ireland likely to accrue in the making by him of immediate peace. I -was very anxious that he should "reign" by constitutional means, and -had every hope of establishing such amicable communications between -him and the Government as would lead to that end. But he had this -great force now to reckon with--the force of centuries of cruelty, -wrong, and oppression that had bred an irresponsibility and callous -disregard of suffering, nay, rather a vindictive madness and lust of -destruction in Ireland. In his seeking for a weapon to use for the -betterment of England's government of Ireland Parnell had discovered -this underlying force of hate, and, using the influence of his -personality, he strove to direct it into the service of the Ireland -that he loved. But he afterwards {164} stood appalled at the -intensity of the passion of hate that he had loosed, and no one but -he--and I with him--knew the awful strength of that force of -destruction that was only held in subservience by the sheer dominance -of his will. He replied to my pleadings: "Yes, I hold them now with -my back to the wall, but if I turn to the Government I turn my back -to them--and then----?" - -But my great fear for him won his decision for peace, and he wrote -and signed the "letter" that Willie wanted to take to the Government. - -The Prime Minister had been prepared for its coming, and made known -that such a treaty of peace would be acceptable. Willie took this -letter to Forster, who knew of no understanding with the Prime -Minister, and was absolutely against any such negotiations. He -scoffed at the letter, at its terms, and at Willie for bringing it, -but the latter pointed out that the matter was one for the Prime -Minister's consideration alone, and Mr. Forster was bound to submit -it to him without delay. He of course did so, but with confidence as -to its rejection and, on its immediate acceptance and the liberation -of Parnell, resigned his office as Chief Secretary for Ireland. - -Lord Cowper resigned with him. This was on the 2nd of May. On the -26th of April discussion on Mr. Redmond's Land Bill was started in -the House of Commons. This Bill, which had been drafted by Parnell -in Kilmainham, proposed to amend the Land Act of 1881 in four main -particulars: (1) Arrears of excessive rent; (2) admission of -leaseholders to the benefit of the Land Court; (3) amendment of -tenure clauses; (4) extension of purchase clauses by the advance from -the State of the whole of the purchase money. Mr. Gladstone -applauded the Irish Party and opposed the Bill. He practically {165} -admitted that recent decisions of the Irish judges were nullifying -the effect of the tenure clauses, but he did not want yet to reopen -the question. He recognized, however, the necessity of dealing with -"Arrears." - -When, on May 2nd, he announced to the House the resignation of Lord -Cowper and Mr. Forster and the decision of the Cabinet to release the -three Irish M.P.'s who had been in Kilmainham since October, he -definitely promised an Arrears Bill, and stated that there was no -present intention to renew the Coercion Act. So, with this public -promise of Mr. Gladstone, and with the tacit understanding that -Parnell would "slow down the agitation" Parnell came out of gaol. -"It is an act," averred Mr. Gladstone, "done without any negotiation, -promise, or engagement whatever." - -Two days later Forster denounced the action of the Cabinet. He -believed that the unconditioned release of the Irish leaders would -tend to the encouragement of crime. As he went on to justify the -arrests Parnell entered the House and took his seat. The Irish -cheered wildly. Then Forster continued: "The real reason why these -gentlemen were arrested ... was because they were trying to carry out -their will--'their unwritten law' ... by working the ruin and the -injury of the Queen's subjects by intimidation of one kind or -another. If Mr. Parnell had not been placed in Kilmainham he would -very quickly have become in reality what he was called by many of his -friends--the King of Ireland." He did not say Parnell and his -friends had directly incited, what they had done was far more -dangerous. They had established a system of intimidation.... They -should have been released after a public promise had been given, or -when Ireland was quiet, or fresh powers had been granted {166} to the -Government. "A surrender is bad, a compromise or arrangement is -worse.... If all England cannot govern the Member for Cork then let -us acknowledge he is the greatest power in Ireland to-day." - -Mr. Gladstone, in reply, said he had no right to humiliate Parnell by -demanding a penitential confession of guilt, and once more he -disclaimed that the release was the result of a bargain. Parnell, -following him, asserted--what was the truth--that no mention of his -release was made by him in any written or oral communication with his -friends. - -The same night, May 4th, was announced the appointment of Lord -Spencer as Lord-Lieutenant and Lord Frederick Cavendish as Chief -Secretary. The post had first been offered to Sir Charles Dilke, but -he had refused the offer. It is stated that in certain quarters the -name of Mr. Chamberlain had been mentioned, and that he had signified -his willingness to accept the offer if it were made. Apparently it -was not made. We cannot avoid speculating what would have happened -had he gone to Ireland. He had taken a leading part in the release -of Parnell; would that have saved him--since the Phoenix Park -murderers did not intend to kill Lord Frederick? And if Mr. -Chamberlain had been killed in May, 1882, what other course might -British politics have taken? Would Tariff Reform ever have been a -Tory election cry? Would there have been no Boer War? Would the -Tories not have enjoyed that long term of office which for years kept -the question of Home Rule in abeyance? It were foolish to say yes or -no to any of these questions, but at least we may say that the fact -Mr. Chamberlain was not asked to become Irish Secretary in 1882 is -one of the most momentous in British politics. - -{167} - -While in Kilmainham Parnell had found it absolutely impossible to -control in any way the incitements to crime and the wild expenditure -of the Ladies' Land League. His sister, Anna Parnell, was at the -head of this marvellous organization which she spread in well-ordered -ramifications throughout the country. Her generalship was -magnificent and complete, and there appeared to be no detail of this -revolutionary army with which she was not completely familiar and -completely determined to control. Parnell wrote to her again and -again from prison, pointing out the crass folly of the criminality -for which the Ladies' League, now, solely existed. He even urged the -Governmental representations made to him for the suppression of this -league of anarchy, and the hopeless financial position it was -creating--the estimated weekly expenditure of these ladies running -into thousands of pounds; money contributed chiefly by America for -the fighting policy of the Irish Party--but to no purpose. - -The fanatic spirit in these ladies was extreme; in Anna Parnell it -was abnormal, and Parnell saw no way of saving her, or the country, -from her folly but by fulfilling his threat of vetoing the payment of -another penny to the Ladies' Land League. This he then did, and thus -automatically broke up this wild army of mercenaries. Anna Parnell -never forgave her brother for this act, and to the last day of his -life refused to hold any communication with him again. Parnell had -much family affection, and many times made overtures of peace to his -sister, of whom he was really fond, and for whose strength of mind -and will he had much respect. On two occasions he met her -accidentally and tried to speak to her, but she resolutely turned -from him and refused any reply to the letters he wrote her. - - - -[1] From Captain O'Shea _re_ "Kilmainham Treaty." - -[2] The day of our little daughter's funeral. - -[3] Captain O'Shea. - - - - -{168} - -CHAPTER XVII - -THE PHOENIX PARK MURDERS AND AFTER - - "_The blood more stirs - To rouse a lion than to start a hare._" - --SHAKESPEARE. - - -On Parnell's release from Kilmainham he returned to me at Eltham, and -on May 6, 1882, went to Weymouth to welcome Michael Davitt, who came -out of Portland prison on that day. He returned to Eltham that -Saturday evening, and the next morning, Sunday, I drove with him to -Blackheath Station, as he had to go to London to see Davitt and -others. At the station I asked him to get me a newspaper before he -left, and waited for it in the carriage. - -From where I sat in the carriage I could see Parnell's back as he -stood just inside the station door. I was watching him, and he half -turned and smiled at me as he opened the paper--the _Sunday -Observer_--to glance at the news before he brought it to me. He told -me afterwards that he wanted to see what was said about Michael -Davitt. He had now come to the top of the steps and, as he suddenly -stopped, I noticed a curious rigidity about his arms--raised in -holding the newspaper open. He stood so absolutely still that I was -suddenly frightened, horribly, sickeningly afraid--of I knew not -what, and, leaning forward, called out, "King, what is it?" Then he -came down the steps to me and, pointing to the headline, said, -"Look!" And I read, "Murder of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr. -Burke!" - -{169} - -I heard the train coming in, and tried to pull myself together, for -the awful significance of the horrible thing to my lover, just -released from Kilmainham on the Treaty, came home to me with a rush -of pain. His face was ashen, and he stared, frowning heavily, before -him, unconsciously crushing the hand I had slipped into his until the -rings I wore cut and bruised my fingers. - -I said to him, "Quick, you must catch this train. See Davitt and the -others as arranged and as many more as you can find. Go, you will -know what to do, but you must meet them all at once." He turned -heavily away, saying, "I shall resign," and I answered as I ran -beside him to the platform, "No, you are not a coward." - -Before I left Blackheath I wired to Willie to bring Parnell to dinner -at Eltham if he could possibly manage it, and spent one of the most -terrible days of my life considering the effect this awful crime -would probably have upon my lover's career. - -Willie came down that evening, Parnell with him. They were both very -gloomy and depressed, and Parnell, after his greeting of me--as -though this were our first meeting since he came out of prison--sat -gazing stonily before him, only glancing across at Willie with the -stormy flare in his eyes when the latter--who was really sorry for -Parnell, as well as shocked at the murders--said something that -jarred upon him. During dinner Willie told me of what had been done -during the day, of the absolute horror and consternation of the Irish -Party, of what Mr. Chamberlain had said on hearing of the murders, -and of Parnell's continuous threat, throughout that awful day, of -retiring from public life altogether. - -Willie said to me: "I wish you would urge Parnell not to talk so, -Dick; he can't resign his seat now, the {170} thing's impossible; he -must show that it simply does not touch him politically in any way." - -I turned to Parnell and said: "I do absolutely agree with Willie -about it, Mr. Parnell. It would be throwing the whole country over -and a reflection upon all who joined in that Treaty." - -Parnell at last roused himself and said: "Well, I will write to the -G.O.M.[1] and offer to resign, and abide by his decision; the thing -makes me feel hopeless of doing any good." - -On the wall of the dining-room where we sat hung a large engraving of -the "House" of 1880. All the members of that Parliament were in the -picture, and among them, of course, Mr. Parnell and Captain O'Shea. -As the maid turned to leave the room, after placing the coffee tray -on a little side table, this picture, which hung immediately behind -Parnell, fell to the floor with a crash that, in the state of nervous -tension we were all in, brought us to our feet in alarm. Willie's -chair overturned as he jumped up; but Parnell's was steady, held in a -grip that showed his knuckles white as he held it slightly raised off -the floor, while he stood, half turned, staring at the picture as it -lay among the splintered glass. - -Willie laughed, and, coming to help the parlourmaid to pick up the -picture, exclaimed: "There goes Home Rule, Parnell!" But he also had -in him a slight dash of the superstition that was so highly developed -in Parnell's fatalistic nature, and his smile turned to gravity as he -glanced at Parnell's tense expression and listened to my hasty -explanation of the fall: "Perhaps the wire was rotten, or the maid -had shaken the picture as she passed!" Parnell took the loose end of -the wire in both hands and {171} tried to break it. He could not. -Willie said: "Mary (the parlourmaid) was the other side of the room, -so she could not have shaken it." Parnell said nothing, and we began -to speak of other things. - -Afterwards I said to him: "You did not really mind about that -picture, did you? It was only a rotten wire!" and he answered: "It -was an omen, I think, darling, but for whom? Willie or me?" and when -I told him I wished he would not talk such nonsense, and that I did -not believe in omens or want any falling pictures to be "omens" for -either of them, he smiled and said no more. - -The immediate consequence of the Phoenix Park murders was the -introduction of a Crimes Bill by Sir William Harcourt on May 11th. -Parnell was not approached on the subject. He was given no -opportunity of criticizing the proposals and of suggesting any more -moderate measure which might have appealed to that great body of -Irish Nationalists who viewed the murders with horror. The new Bill -went roughshod over Irish opinion, and the conciliatory effect of the -Arrears Bill, introduced a few days later, was altogether marred. - -The second reading of the latter measure was moved by Mr. Gladstone -on May 22nd. In the course of his speech he said: "Eviction in the -exercise of a legal right may be to the prejudice of your neighbours, -may involve the highest reprehension, may even imply deep moral -guilt. There may be outrages which--all things considered, the -persons and the facts--may be less guilty in the sight of God than -evictions." - -The Bill was bitterly opposed by the Tory Party. - -I had written to Mr. Gladstone expressing a wish that {172} he should -see Mr. Parnell. He wrote in answer from Downing Street on May 25th, -1882, declining to do so in private, though in public he was more -than ready to co-operate with Parnell. - -I suggested in reply that we should meet and talk the matter over, -and it was arranged that he should come to see me at Thomas's Hotel -on June 2nd. He arrived punctually at three o'clock. We had a long -talk about Parnell and about politics--chiefly, of course, as -referring to Ireland. He was extremely agreeable and courteous, and -I remember very well the great charm of manner he possessed, a charm -that struck me afresh at each subsequent meeting. A natural charm -and, no doubt, a natural insincerity, but one which is such an -immense asset in the career of a great man: that of making others -believe--or wish to believe--that they are on the same plane of -intellect and diplomacy as himself! He was a very great old man, I -thought, as his wonderful eagle's eyes showed just sufficient -admiration in them to savour of homage without offence. And I may -say here that, with all the perfect courtesy of which, when he chose, -he was past master, he knew before the conclusion of our interview, -and allowed me to know that he knew, what I desired that he should -know--that my personal interest in Parnell was my only interest in -Irish politics. - -Mr. Gladstone having agreed that it would be of considerable -convenience to the Government to be in private and amicable -communication with Mr. Parnell, and that I, whose interests were -inseparable from those of the Irish leader, would be confidently -accepted as such intermediary by him, we parted satisfied, I think, -on both sides with the afternoon's compact. - -After this first interview with Mr. Gladstone I had {173} frequently -to see him at Downing Street--taking him drafts, clauses, and various -proposed amendments (of Bills affecting Ireland) that Parnell -proposed, altered, and suggested privately to Gladstone before -putting them before the House. Parnell, of course, always intent on -the betterment of the law as affecting Ireland; Gladstone bargaining -for the Irish vote, when without it he would have lost his majority. - -Parnell would sometimes write the rough draft of what he wished -Gladstone to know, or sometimes write what he had to say in the form -of a letter (often dating it from my house!), but occasionally he -would do neither, as, on more than one important occasion, he said: -"I don't trust that Grand Old Spider farther than I can see him. -Sweetheart, learn this by heart, and let it off at him yourself." -Then I had to take down in my own handwriting what he wished proposed -to Gladstone, and at the subsequent interview "let it off" at him. -Very often letters were sufficient, and in this case I almost -invariably wrote them, or, if the letter was in Parnell's handwriting -addressed to me, under cover of my envelope, I would request its -return, and this was done; letters intended for Parnell by Gladstone -being invariably addressed to me. - -It was by my suggestion Mr. Gladstone opened these private -negotiations with Mr. Parnell, and I was myself much amused to find -that both these great statesmen were of one mind as to the danger of -such a trusting of one another as such negotiations necessitated. -When I said to Parnell, "Why not see Gladstone yourself privately, -and get what you can from him, in return for the Irish vote?" he at -once replied that such a proceeding would be fatal to the "cause," -and when I said much the same thing to {174} Gladstone at our first -interview--which latter was a brilliant inspiration of Parnell's -own--he replied that "such a proceeding" would be fatal to his -position, but, he added, "it might be advantageous to the Irish -leader and myself if you, Mrs. O'Shea, would accept the thankless -office of go-between, as you suggest. A safe and secret intermediary -might well prove to be of the greatest assistance to us both in our -efforts for the welfare of the country." I have wondered since which -country the G.O.M. had in his mind as he spoke. - -On June 17 and 18, 1882, Gladstone wrote to me. The letter of the -17th was little more than a formal acknowledgment, but in his note of -the following day he referred me to something which had passed at our -last interview. He had on that occasion directed my attention to the -proposal to amend certain severe clauses of the Crimes Act. - -Meanwhile the Irish were fighting the Crimes Bill inch by inch. It -had been read a second time on May 25 after three nights' debate. -The most drastic clause, from the legal point of view, was the -suspension of the right of trial by jury in all grave cases of -agrarian crime, which (and the Government would decide when) would be -tried by a Court of three judges, in such district as the -Attorney-general might decide. Public meetings could be proclaimed -and newspapers suppressed. The police were vested with power to -search private houses and arrest night wanderers. Finally, and -against this the Irish Party especially protested--magistrates were -empowered to convict summarily on charges of incitement, boycotting, -and membership of a secret society. - -This was the iron heel with a vengeance; it took from the Irish the -last vestige of citizen right. Parnell opposed, {175} yet not -violently; the remembrance of the Phoenix Park murders held him back. -But the speeches of his followers were bitter in the extreme. "What -profit," cried Dillon, "can you ever expect from governing a nation -which nothing conciliates, and nothing can subdue?" Of all the fifty -Coercion Acts passed in the eighty-eight years since the Union this -was the worst. - -The second reading was carried by 383 votes against 45. - -Parnell expressed a desire that Gladstone should have his (Parnell's) -views distinctly put before him by me--not in writing. This did not -suit Gladstone. He had no intention of giving away his hand in -regard to the Crimes Bill, and, in the then temper of his own Party -and of the Conservatives, was not at all desirous of making any -further private concession that would certainly place him in a too -favourable light (as regards this Bill) in the eyes of the Irishmen. - -He was determined not to see me again with reference to the Crimes -Bill, and on June 23 he wrote me to that effect. It was obvious from -the tone of his letter that he was annoyed by the continued -opposition of the Irish Party, which, from his point of view, only -served to impede the progress of the Arrears Bill. - -On one of my visits to Downing Street I told Gladstone of the inner -working of the Ladies' Land League, about which he was curious. I -mentioned to him the enormous sum these Lady Leaguers had expended -and the great difficulty Parnell had had in suppressing them. When -he heard the sum of their estimated weekly expenditure a grim smile -flitted over his face. "Very satisfactory," he remarked, "as the -ladies have evidently put these large sums beyond the power of--of -the Land League's expenditure!" - -{176} - -Gladstone would not sit still when he talked to me, but liked to pace -up and down the long room with me. On my entry he would rise from -his desk to greet me and, solemnly handing me a chair, would walk -down the room to the door at the end, which was always open when I -entered, close it firmly and, pacing back to the door of my entry, -push it. These preparations always made me smile--a smile in which -he joined as, coming up to me and offering me his arm, he said: "Do -you mind walking up and down the room, I talk better so." So we -paced up and down while I voiced Parnell's instructions and listened -to the G.O.M.'s views, intentions, and tentative suggestions, always -on my part keeping to "It is considered that, etc.," in giving -Parnell's point, and always receiving "your friend should, etc.," or -"I am prepared to concede to your friend, etc., in return." - -He was so careful in this regard that one day I said: "What is it you -shut up in that room, Mr. Gladstone, when I come to see you?" - -"Persons, or a person, you do not come to see, Mrs. O'Shea. Only a -secretary or so, and occasionally, in these times of foolish panic, -detectives. No," in answer to my look of inquiry, "no one can -overhear a word we say when we pace up and down like this, and, as -you do not mind it, it refreshes me." - -Always as I stood face to face with this Grand Old Man on leaving, -and looked into his slate-coloured eyes, so like those of an eagle, I -experienced a sudden uneasy feeling, in spite of his gracious -courtesy, of how like to a beautiful bird of prey this old man was: -with the piercing, cruel eyes belying the tender, courteous smile, -and how, relentless as an eagle, men like this had struck and torn -their victims. But to me, personally, he always showed {177} the -marvellous charm of manner which sent me away feeling that I was at -least a compelling force in the great game of politics and worthy of -the place I held. - -The political history of this time has been written many times, and -from various points of view, and in this book I do not propose to -repeat it, but only to record such point or detail as at the time -affected my King in his home life. - - - -[1] Gladstone. - - - - -{178} - -CHAPTER XVIII - -ENVOY TO GLADSTONE - - "_Good Cinna, take this paper, and look you, lay it in the - praetor's chair, where Brutus may but find it!_" - --SHAKESPEARE (JULIUS CÆSAR). - - -Negotiations concerning the Crimes Bill were broken off, but before -the end of June, 1882, I was once more acting as envoy to Gladstone. -The following is a characteristic memorandum drafted by Parnell for -transmission by me to the Prime Minister:-- - - -Although the Coercion Bill as likely to pass into law is of such a -character as to render it impossible for him to take any further part -in the Irish Land movement, yet he trusts that the administration of -the Act by the Government will be of such a moderate character as to -enable him to co-operate generally with Mr. G. in Parliament and in -the English constituencies in carrying to a successful end that land -legislation the foundations of which were so broadly laid in the Act -of last session, and in gaining those other measures of general -reform for the benefit of the peoples of both England and Ireland -which now constitute the programme of the Liberal Party. - -Since his (Parnell's) release he has taken steps to secure that no -portion of the invested surplus of the fund shall be drawn without -his signature, and he will endeavour to provide that future -remittances from the offices of the central organization in America -shall be added to this fund; the remittances through the _Irish -World_, however, he has no hopes of being able to control in any way. - -The Bill[1] to go through all its stages in six days--Supply to be -facilitated. - -{179} - -Duration to be limited to three months after assembly of a new -Parliament if present Parliament is dissolved within three -years--treason felony struck out on report. - -Centres of disturbance are being rapidly created throughout Ireland, -owing to loss by tenants of legal interest in their holdings through -sale or expiry of period of redemption. The formation of the new -Landlord Corporation accompanied by a harsh administration of the -Coercion Act will tend to encourage landlords to resist reasonable -concessions. - -He has placed new clauses on the notice paper for the Arrears Bill -which will go far to meet these difficulties, and will do what he can -to facilitate Supply and the passage of that Bill, also to prevent -obstruction to other Government business. - - -These notes were submitted a second time to Mr. Gladstone, with the -addition of the following paragraphs:-- - - -This danger might be met by insertion of clauses in Arrears Bill -having compulsory retrospective effect as far back as June, 1880, and -making provision for payment of costs. - -It is most desirable that Parliament should reassemble after short -holiday to make whatever permanent amendments the Government think -necessary in the Land Act. - - -On June 29th Mr. Gladstone wrote thanking me for my letter and -returning "the enclosure."[2] Reference was made by him to the -murders of Mr. Walter Bourke and Corporal Wallace in Galway; and -though I have no doubt he did not suspect Parnell of the least shade -of complicity, it was plain that he did not completely acquit the -extremists of the _Irish World_. - -The progress of the Crimes Bill was more hotly contested than ever in -the committee stage, which extended over twenty-four sittings of the -House. Clauses were {180} fought word by word, sentence by sentence. -The Bill was read a third time on July 8th, and was passed by the -Lords four days later, receiving the Royal Assent on the following -day. In less than a week 17 counties were proclaimed; and by the -beginning of August 170 suspects were in custody. - -On July 21st the Arrears Bill passed the Commons by 169 to 98. Lord -Eversley (Mr. Shaw Lefevre) rightly observes that instead of -appealing to justice Mr. Gladstone based his support of the Bill on -expediency. For years tenants had been burdened with excessive rents -on land which their efforts had raised from prairie value. The -wiping out of the accumulated arrears of these unjust rents could -hardly be termed a mere act of expediency. - -On July 31st the Lords returned the Bill to the Commons cut to -pieces. Certain minor concessions were made, and the Bill was sent -back otherwise in its original form. When next it appeared in the -Lords the Irish landlord peers revolted. The Bill promised them part -payment of what they had looked upon as a bad debt; and so--not for -the sake of justice, but for the sake of that bait of two years' -rent--they supported the Bill, which was passed by the Lords on -August 10th. On or about August 18th, when it became law, fifty -suspects were released. - -I had addressed an appeal to Mr. Gladstone against the death sentence -passed upon a young Irishman on very doubtful evidence. On September -14th he wrote saying that he would certainly bring the appeal under -the notice of Lord Spencer. I was in correspondence with Mr. -Gladstone throughout November of this year. - -Ireland did not figure largely in the Parliamentary legislation of -1883, though a number of minor Irish Bills, on tramways, fisheries -and so forth, which received the {181} support of Parnell, were -carried. Parnell's position in Ireland was impregnable, but the -extremists in America were exasperated by his constitutional -agitation. Early in 1883 Patrick Ford started a dynamite crusade -against England in the _Irish World_, and attempts were actually made -to blow up public buildings in London, while a nitro-glycerine -factory was discovered in Birmingham. Immediately an Explosives Bill -of the most drastic character was introduced by Sir William Harcourt -and rushed through the Commons in a single sitting. The Irish Party -offered no opposition. - -It is significant of the tactics of Mr. Gladstone that he was -secretly striving to influence the Vatican against Home Rule. A Mr. -Errington, an Irish Catholic, but a Whig member of Parliament, had -been sent to Rome with a letter of recommendation from Lord -Granville. Mr. Gladstone had also written about him through Cardinal -Manning, who was opposed to the mission. His business was at first -to work for a Papal reprimand of priests who engaged in Land League -agitation. He succeeded finally in engineering a rescript, dated May -11th, 1883, calling upon bishops to restrain priests from taking part -in the Parnell testimonial. - -Willie was very anxious that Mr. O'Hart (O'Hart's Irish Pedigrees) -should be granted a pension from the Civil List. Mr. Gladstone had -already declined to include him in the List of Beneficiaries. Now at -Willie's urgent request I most reluctantly asked Mr. Gladstone to -reconsider his decision as to Mr. O'Hart, and on September 19th, -1884, received a snub for my pains. I had told Gladstone that Lord -Spencer was credited with having expressed the opinion that Parnell -had some connexion with the Phoenix Park murders. Gladstone {182} -now said he was sure that Spencer did not really believe this. - -In October, 1884, Mr. Trevelyan ceased to be Irish Secretary and -entered the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The -vacant post was offered to Mr. Shaw Lefevre, but on hearing that Lord -Spencer intended to seek for the renewal of the Coercion Act when it -expired in September, 1885, he refused the offer. Mr. (afterwards -Sir Henry) Campbell-Bannerman became Chief Secretary on October 24th. - -During 1884 Parnell kept quiet, and my negotiations on his behalf -with Gladstone were intermittent. - -In the early part of the year, however, a document of tremendous -import was submitted--none other than "A Proposed Constitution for -Ireland," drawn up by Parnell, which was as follows:-- - - - - An elected Chamber with power to make enactments regarding all - the domestic concerns of Ireland, but without power to interfere - in any Imperial matter. - - The Chamber to consist of three hundred members. - - Two hundred and six of the number to be elected under the present - suffrage, by the present Irish constituencies, with special - arrangements for securing to the Protestant minority a - representation proportionate to their numbers; the remaining 94 - members to be named in the Act constituting the Chamber. - - The principle of nomination regarding this proportion of members - to last necessarily only during the duration of the first Chamber. - - The number of elected members, suffrage, and boundaries - constituencies for election of succeeding Chamber to be capable - of alteration by the preceding Chamber, excepting those special - arrangements for securing to the Protestant minority a - proportionate representation, which arrangements shall be fixed - and immutable. - - The first Chamber to last for three years, unless sooner - dissolved by the Crown. - - {183} - - The Chamber shall have power to enact laws and make regulations - regarding all the domestic and internal affairs of Ireland, - including her sea fisheries. - - The Chamber shall also have power to raise a revenue for any - purpose over which it has jurisdiction, by direct taxation upon - property, by Customs duties, and by licences. - - The Chamber shall have power to create departments for the - transaction of all business connected with the affairs over which - it has jurisdiction, and to appoint and dismiss chief and - subordinate officials for such departments, to fix the term of - their office, and to fix and pay their salaries; and to maintain - a police force for the preservation of order and the enforcement - of the law. - - This power will include the constitution of Courts of Justice and - the appointment or payment of all judges, magistrates, and other - officials of such Courts, provided that the appointment of judges - and magistrates shall in each case be subject to the assent of - the Crown. - - No enactment of the Chamber shall have the force of law until it - shall have received the assent of the Crown. - - A sum of one million pounds sterling per annum shall be paid by - the Chamber to the Imperial Treasury in lieu of the right of the - Crown to levy taxes in Ireland for Imperial purposes, which right - would be held in suspense so long as punctual payment was made of - the above annual sum. - - The right of the Imperial Parliament to legislate regarding the - domestic concerns and internal affairs of Ireland will also be - held in suspense, only to be exercised for weighty and urgent - cause. - - The abolition of the office of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and all - other offices in Ireland under the Crown connected with the - domestic affairs of that country. - - The representation of Ireland in the Imperial Parliament might be - retained or might be given up. If it be retained the Speaker - might have the power of deciding what questions the Irish members - might take part in as Imperial questions, if this limitation were - thought desirable. - - Such Naval and Military force as the Crown thought requisite from - time to time would be maintained in Ireland out {184} of the - contribution of one million pounds per annum to the Imperial - Treasury; any excess in the cost of these forces over such sum - being provided for out of the Imperial Revenue (i.e. by Great - Britain). - - The Militia would also be levied, controlled, and paid by the - Crown, and all forts, military barracks, posts, and strong places - of the country would be held and garrisoned by the Crown forces. - - No volunteer force to be raised in Ireland without the consent of - the Crown and enactment of the Imperial Parliament, and, if - raised, to be paid for and controlled by the Crown. - - - On May 11th, 1884, Lord Richard Grosvenor wrote a non-committal - acknowledgment of the receipt of this memorandum. - - The Government was then devoting its attention to the Franchise - Bill and the Redistribution of Seats Bill, and it had been - decided to incorporate Ireland in the scheme. This Parnell - considered to be of tremendous importance. Speaking in December, - 1883, at the Dublin banquet held in his honour, he alluded to the - force which had then been gained for Ireland. The change was, in - fact, enormous. Instead of the franchise being confined - practically to the farmers, it would now include the labourers - and the cottier tenants, and the number of voters in Ireland - would go up from 200,000 to 600,000. How would those labourers - and cottier tenants vote? Lord Randolph Churchill (who supported - the Bill against his Party) and Mr. Chamberlain thought, - strangely enough, that their inclusion would help the landlord - interest. Parnell knew better, and when the Bill became law, in - December, 1884, he leapt into action. This was the weapon for - which he had been waiting. From December to March of the - following year he went through Ireland organizing for the - imminent General Election. - - {185} - - In the early months of 1885 the Liberal Government was in a bad - way. It had narrowly escaped defeat on the vote of censure for - its failure to relieve Gordon at Khartoum. The Cabinet was - divided against itself. Many of the Liberal members were - inclined to rebel, and the Irish were working with the Tory - Opposition. Ireland was the rock upon which the Government was - to come to a wreck. The majority of the Cabinet was in favour of - continued coercion. Mr. Chamberlain, Sir Charles Dilke, and Mr. - Shaw Lefevre were strongly opposed to it. But on the subject of - local government for Ireland the difference of opinion was even - more dangerous. Chamberlain submitted a scheme for an elective - National Council in Dublin, with control over administrative - Boards and Departments, but not over the police and the - administration of the law. It had been ascertained indirectly - that Parnell would accept this scheme, and would not oppose a - moderate Coercion Act. Gladstone was prepared to go a step - further and give the National Council control over the police. A - vote was taken in the Cabinet. All the Peers, with the exception - of Lord Granville,[3] were against, and the Commoners, with the - exception of Lord Hartington, were in favour of the scheme. - Therefore "for the present" the scheme was abandoned. This was - in May. The battle over coercion remained to be fought. In less - than four weeks the Government was out of office. - - Gladstone had not been able to make up his mind to abandon - coercion altogether, though he had endeavoured to sweeten the - draught with the promise of a Land Purchase Bill, and Parnell had - been able to arrange privately {186} with the Conservative - Opposition that if they came into power coercion would be dropped. - - On June 8th the Government was beaten on the second reading of - the Budget. The ostensible question, which concerned nobody, was - that of a tax on wine and beer. The whole of the thirty-nine - Irish members voted for the Opposition, and the Government was - beaten by twelve. Thereupon Gladstone resigned and Lord - Salisbury formed his first Ministry. Parnell held the key of the - position. He had put the Tories into power; at his will he could - put them out again. - - Lord Carnarvon became Lord Lieutenant, Sir Michael Hicks-Beach - Chief Secretary, and the intention was expressed to govern - Ireland by constitutional methods. Coercion for the time being - was abandoned, Lord Carnarvon had thought much on Irish - questions, and his rule was in marked contrast to that of his - immediate predecessors. - - On July 14th Lord Richard Grosvenor suddenly remembered Parnell's - draft Constitution for Ireland which I had submitted to - Gladstone. Did it still hold good? To this letter I replied, - and on July 23rd Lord Richard wrote again asking for a plain - answer. But this at the moment it was impossible to give, for - the attitude the Tories would take up with regard to Home Rule - was not yet certain. Lord Carnarvon, the Lord Lieutenant, was - believed to be very favourably disposed to the Irish demands, and - Lord Randolph Churchill seemed willing to go far. On July 28th - Lord Richard wrote again, imploring us to show our hand. - Evidently the Irish vote was worth securing. - - It is interesting to note that on July 17th Mr. Chamberlain, - speaking at Holloway, urged that the pacification {187} of - Ireland depended on the concession to her of the right to govern - herself in the matter of purely local business. - - At the end of July Parnell met Lord Carnarvon in London. The - Lord Lieutenant had already been in communication with Sir - Charles Gavan Duffy and Mr. Justin McCarthy upon the subject of - Home Rule, and there can be little doubt he was in earnest in his - agreement with the principle. How far he was used by his Party - as a cat's-paw to play for the Irish vote is another question. - At least Lord Salisbury knew of the proceedings of his colleague - and was perhaps not averse from using Lord Carnarvon's - convictions to win Parnell's support at the forthcoming elections - without giving a definite Party pledge. The conversation between - Lord Carnarvon and Parnell led the latter to believe that the - Tories were prepared to support a measure of local government for - Ireland. But how far were the Liberals prepared to go? - - On August 4th Mr. Gladstone wrote to me further with reference to - the proposed constitution for Ireland. Did this represent - Parnell's views now? He was urgent in asking for an answer. In - one of my notes I had spoken of the suggestion that a proposition - of his son, Mr. Herbert (now Lord) Gladstone, should be - substituted for it. Mr. Gladstone now assured me on the best - authority that no such proposition had been made. I gathered, - however, that his son had made some suggestions. - - To this a long and comprehensive reply was sent--apparently too - long and comprehensive. No doubt he wanted a definite and - limited scheme to be set before him. I had referred in my letter - to certain changes which had occurred since the draft was sent. - I knew that Gladstone knew what those changes were, for the - frantic appeals for {188} a definite statement were precisely the - counter-bidding against the heightened biddings of Lord Randolph - Churchill and the Conservative Party in which Gladstone declared - he would not engage. He was obviously disinclined to make an - offer until Parnell had pinned himself down to a final demand. - If only he could know what the Home Rule Party wanted! - - The following day Mr. Gladstone set out on a yachting expedition - (to Norway), and a few days later, on August 11th, Parliament was - prorogued. - - Parnell opened his campaign in Dublin on August 11th, when he - announced that he and his Party would stand for an Irish - Parliament and nothing else. There was no talk now of a National - Council. Lord Hartington replied declaring Parnell's proposals - to be fatal and mischievous, and on September 9th Lord Richard - wrote, on behalf of Mr. Gladstone, who was back in England, - pleading for details. - - On October 7th Lord Salisbury, speaking at Newport (Mon.), made a - diplomatic statement about Ireland which suggested much and - promised nothing. - - Later in the month I sent Mr. Gladstone a paper containing the - views of Mr. Parnell, and on November 3rd Lord Richard Grosvenor - replied, referring me to the Government of the day, but thanking - me for the information. There was some mention in the letter of - Willie's prospects for Mid-Armagh. Apparently that affair was - off, since Willie had himself written to such an effect. Willie - was given a gentle rap on the fingers for having in Ireland - talked over the plans for his election with another person.[4] - - {189} - - On November 9th, at Edinburgh, Mr. Gladstone made a speech which - rivalled Lord Salisbury's in elusiveness. The constitutional - demands of Ireland must not be disregarded, but it would be a - vital danger if at such a time there was not a Party politically - independent of the Irish vote. - - Parnell desired precisely the contrary, and on November 21st, the - eve of the General Election, a manifesto was issued calling upon - Irish voters in Great Britain to vote against the Liberal Party. - - Before Parnell's interview with Lord Carnarvon I had sent - Gladstone Parnell's suggestions for a new Home Rule Bill. Mr. - Gladstone wrote expressing satisfaction at the news of the - intended interview, but he would not be drawn. Nevertheless - Parnell made another attempt, {190} and on December 14th, 1885, - addressed the following letter from my house at Eltham:-- - - - - NORTH PARK, ELTHAM, KENT. - _December_ 14th, 1885. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--It appeared to me from Mr. Gladstone's - utterances in Scotland that he would admit the justice of - Ireland's claim for autonomy, and also the expediency of soon - endeavouring to satisfy it provided the result of the General - Election went to show an overwhelming preponderance of the - opinion of the representatives of Ireland in favour of this - claim. A very proper reservation was also made regarding the - maintenance of the supremacy of the Crown in Ireland and all the - authority of Parliament necessary for this supremacy. - - We now know that more than five-sixths of the Irish members - elected by household suffrage have been returned, mostly by very - large majorities, as supporters of the institution of an Irish - Parliament, that a clear majority, seventeen out of thirty-three, - from the Ulster constituencies have been so returned, and that - only one county and one city in Ireland, Antrim and Belfast - respectively, are without Nationalist representation. - - Under these circumstances does it not seem that the question has - now resolved itself firstly into a consideration of the details - of the proposed settlement, and secondly, as to the procedure to - be adopted in obtaining the assent of Parliament, and if needful - of the British electorate to this settlement? As regards the - first matter, the rough sketch, which I sent you some weeks back, - appeared then, and still appears to me, the smallest proposal - which would be likely to find favour in Ireland if brought - forward by an English Minister, but it is not one which I could - undertake to suggest publicly myself, though if it were enacted I - would work in Ireland to have it accepted bona fide as a final - settlement, and I believe it would prove to be one. - - -[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF A PORTION OF LETTER ON pp. 190, 192-3.] - - - This proposal was carefully designed with a view to propitiate - English prejudice, and to afford those guarantees against hasty - legislation, interference in extraneous matters, and unfair - action against particular classes, apprehended by {192} many - persons as a result of the establishment of an Irish Parliament. - It did not involve a repeal of the Act of Union, an irrevocable - step, and the Imperial Parliament having conferred the privilege - by statute would thus always be in a position to recall it by a - similar method, if the privilege was abused. - - It provided for a special proportionate representation for the - large Protestant minority of Ireland. It also left to the - Imperial Parliament the practical decision from time to time as - to the matters which did or did not come within the province of - the local legislature. These are all important concessions and - guarantees, and some opinion must surely have been formed by now - upon these and other details. - - As regards the question of procedure, I am desirous of knowing - after a time whether the solution of the Irish question would be - made the first and only business by a Liberal Government till the - question was settled. The reform of procedure would probably be - found not so necessary or pressing if the Imperial Parliament - could get rid of its Irish work. It appeared to me that the best - way to turn out the present Government would be by a general vote - of censure without special reference to Ireland, or by a vote - directed against some act of policy other than Irish, for which - occasion may shortly arise. We might then either abstain or vote - for the censure as might be deemed best. I have not seen Lord - C.,[5] and shall probably not arrange to do so for a week or two, - as I wish to know how the other side is disposed first. I have - always felt Mr. Gladstone is the only living statesman who has - both the power and the will to carry a settlement it would be - possible for me to accept and work with. - - I doubt Lord C.'s power to do so, though I know him to be very - well disposed. However, if neither party can offer a solution of - the question I should prefer the Conservatives to remain in - office, as under them we could at least work out gradually a - solution of the Land question. You will see from this letter - that I am very much in the dark, except as to my own mind and - that of Ireland, that I want information as to whether Mr. - Gladstone has, as I suppose, accepted the principle of a Chamber - for Ireland with power over her domestic and {193} internal - affairs, and, if so, which, if any, of the details contained in - sketch he objects to or is in doubt about. Further, it is - important that I should be advised before the meeting of - Parliament what procedure would in his judgment be best for - bringing about that change of Government which would enable Mr. - Gladstone to deal authoritatively with the Irish question.--Yours - very truly, CHAS. S. PARNELL. - - -I sent this letter to Gladstone, and on December 16, three days -before the completion of the General Election, he dispatched from -Hawarden a long reply; but he said nothing more than he had already -said in public at Midlothian and elsewhere and in private letters to -me. Throughout this period the one fact apparent was that he would -pledge the Liberal Party to nothing until he was in office and -supported by the Irish Party. While there was a Tory Government in -alliance with Parnell he would do nothing. Whether or no he was -sincere in his advice to us to take Home Rule rather from the Tories -than the Liberals if possible--because many Liberals would support a -Tory Home Rule Bill, while all Tories would oppose a Liberal -measure--this I cannot say. He offered it constantly, though he -urged that a trafficking with both Parties for the purpose of getting -the best terms possible, when, as in the end it must be, avowed, -would injure a Tory measure and kill a Liberal one. - -The result of the election was that the Tories in alliance with the -Parnellites outnumbered the Liberals by four. The Liberals in -alliance with Parnell would have outnumbered the Tories by 167. -Parnell had swept the board in Ireland, and in the House of Commons -he was dictator. - -Immediately after the General Election the Salisbury Cabinet met to -consider its Irish policy, and Lord Carnarvon at once tendered his -resignation. The conclusion {194} to be drawn is obvious. Compact -or no compact, Lord Carnarvon had reason to believe that the Cabinet -were prepared to pursue a certain line of policy which it now -appeared they had no intention of pursuing. The reason for the -_volte face_, too, is plain. Tories plus Parnellites formed too -narrow a majority of the House for Governmental purposes. The Irish -were no longer of any use, and they were abandoned. - -Correspondence with Mr. Gladstone continued, and his letters were -still cautious. He seemed to fear the soreness of certain Liberals -over the Parnellite opposition at the polls, but he confessed to be -very willing to co-operate with the Tory Government in the matter of -Home Rule, and he stated that he had acquainted the Government with -his disposition. Letters of December 19th, 22nd, and 24th are all -more or less to this effect. He harped on the word "bribe." - -As a matter of fact, Mr. Gladstone had approached the Cabinet through -Mr. Balfour, both personally and by letter, urging that it would be a -calamity if this great question were to fall into the lines of Party -conflict. The Cabinet seem to have treated Mr. Gladstone's letter -with scant respect. In spite of Lord Carnarvon's tendered -resignation, Lord Salisbury was resolved to make no concession to -Home Rule. Lord Carnarvon agreed not to resign until the opening of -Parliament. - -A statement in the Press inspired by Mr. Herbert Gladstone to the -effect that Mr. Gladstone was prepared to concede an Irish Parliament -in Dublin was declared by the latter to be "inaccurate and not -authentic." But on December 26 he issued a memorandum to certain of -his more reliable followers to the effect that he would support the -Tories in a Home Rule policy which should satisfy {195} him and the -Irish Nationalists, and that if he were called upon to form a -Government the preparation of a scheme of duly guarded Home Rule -would be an indispensable condition. - -On December 29 I wrote to Gladstone, forwarding a memorandum from -Parnell. On the last day of the year he sent me a memorandum marked -"Secret," in which he summarized the position between Parnell and -himself. It amounted to this: Parnell wanted a definite pledge that -there should be no more coercion before throwing the Tories out of -power and putting the Liberals in. Gladstone, while realizing the -gravity of O'Brien's statistics in the _Nineteenth Century_ as to the -result of exceptional legislation, refused to give this pledge. He -alluded philosophically to the probable course of events if the -Address went through unamended. Mr. Parnell wrote to me to the -following effect embodying the points I was to pass on to Gladstone. - - - - DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--In reply to your query it would be inexpedient - that the Government.... But, in any case, we should move a - series of separate amendments to the Address--one asking for a - suspension of the support by the naval, military and constabulary - forces of the Crown of ejectments, pending the consideration by - Parliament of the proposed Land measure; another praying the - Crown to remove Chief Justice May from the Bench; a third - condemning the practice of jury packing, resorted to by the Crown - in all the recent trials; a fourth asking her Majesty to fulfil - the promise contained in the Speech of last year for the - equalization of the borough franchise in Ireland to that in - England; a fifth condemning the proclamation of the meetings at - Brookeboro' and Cullohill; and a sixth protesting against the - proclamation and additional police force sent to several of the - counties. - - This would be an assault along the whole line of English - misgovernment in Ireland, and should, in my opinion, be {196} - delivered before we allow the Address to leave the House. The - first fortnight or so of the session would thus be occupied while - the Government were making up their minds as to their proposed - Land Bill. - - At the meeting of the Party I think of proposing a resolution - recommending the minority to pay more deference to the opinion of - the majority than they did last session, and urging all the Irish - members to sit together in opposition. - - Kindly let me know what you think of these proposals.--Yours - truly, CHARLES S. PARNELL. - - - -These blanks were left in the letter as the phrases omitted were too -confidential to be written. I learnt them and quoted them to -Gladstone. - -On January 21 Parliament met to transact business, and the -resignations of Lord Carnarvon and Sir W. Hart Dyke were announced. -Notice was given of a new Coercion Act, and on the 26th the -Government was defeated by 331 to 252 votes--not, however, on an -Irish amendment, but on the motion of Jesse Collings raising the -question of "three acres and a cow." - - - -[1] The Coercion Bill - -[2] The enclosure was a letter from a notorious Invincible in America -who had written to Parnell assuring him of his support and protesting -against the anti-Parnell pro-Davitt agitation got up by Ford in the -_Irish World_. Gladstone had expressed a wish to see one of his -letters. - -[3] Lord Morley has stated that Granville voted for the scheme, and -Lord Eversley that all Peers voted against it. - -[4] Captain O'Shea had made himself unpopular with the Irish Party, -and when in 1885 he wanted their co-operation in his re-election for -County Clare, only Parnell was ready to help him. He had always -refused to sit with the Party, had taken a place on the Government -benches, and thence kept up a running fire of sarcastic comment on -the speeches and mannerisms of his fellow-countrymen. His intimacy -with Chamberlain was also a cause of suspicion, and he would not take -the Party pledge. Mrs. O'Shea was anxious for him to remain in -Parliament, as his political interests left him little time for -visiting Eltham. The need for watchful diplomacy when he was there -was irksome to her. Especially since the February of 1882 she could -not bear to be near him. Parnell had great doubt of the possibility -of getting Captain O'Shea returned for Clare or any other Irish seat -without the pledge. O'Shea, under the impression that he himself had -been the chief negotiator of the "Kilmainham Treaty," accused Parnell -of ingratitude and treachery. Mrs. O'Shea then got into touch with -Lord Richard Grosvenor, and a scheme was put on foot for getting -Captain O'Shea nominated for the Exchange Division of Liverpool as a -Liberal. The united strength of the Liberal Party, exercised by Lord -Richard Grosvenor and through him by Mr. Gladstone, and of Parnell's -influence on the Irish vote, failed to carry him in. The retirement -of the English Liberal candidate, Mr. T. E. Stephens, even after -nomination and the concentration of the Liberal forces on O'Shea's -election did not suffice. Mr. L. R. Baily, the Conservative, -defeated him by 55 votes. Captain O'Shea then returned to the demand -for an Irish seat, and persisted in being nominated at the -by-election pending in Galway. He still refused to take the Party -pledge. Parnell, therefore, at first refused to countenance his -candidature, but finally gave way, and he was elected. - -[5] Lord Carnarvon. - - - - -{197} - -CHAPTER XIX - -THE FIRST HOME RULE BILL - - "_Memories, images and precious thoughts - That shall not die, and cannot be destroyed._" - --WORDSWORTH. - - -Before forming his Cabinet Mr. Gladstone enunciated the necessity for -an examination whether it was practicable to establish a legislative -body to sit in Dublin, and to deal with Irish, as distinguished from -Imperial affairs. - -Five of the members of his last Cabinet--Lords Hartington, Derby, -Northbrook, Selborne and Carlingford--signified their absolute -opposition to Home Rule. Two--Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. -Trevelyan--agreed to the inquiry provisionally. Two--Sir Charles -Dilke and Mr. Shaw Lefevre--had been defeated at the General -Election. Seven--Lords Granville, Spencer, Kimberley, Ripon and -Rosebery, Sir William Harcourt and Mr. Childers--agreed absolutely. -Four new men--Mr. Morley, Mr. Campbell-Bannerman, Mr. Mundella and -Lord Herschell--came into the Cabinet. Mr. Morley became Irish -Secretary. A scheme was drafted by Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Morley. It -consisted of two Bills, a Home Rule Bill and a Land Bill. On the -scheme being laid before the Cabinet Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. -Trevelyan resigned.[1] - -{198} - -On April 8th, 1886, the evening of the introduction of the Home Rule -Bill, Mr. Gladstone sent his private secretary down to Eltham with a -letter to me asking me to telegraph one word, "Yes," if he was to -introduce the Bill that night. In this case he was to speak shortly -after four o'clock. Mr. Parnell had not given him the required -answer earlier, as he had up to the last moment been trying to induce -Mr. Gladstone to give the Bill wider and more comprehensive clauses -than the G.O.M. would assent to. Now, however, he had said to me, as -he started that evening for the House: "This Bill will do as a -beginning; they shall have more presently. If the Old Man wires to -know if it is all right answer 'Yes.'" Mr. Gladstone had previously -arranged with me that I should be at home waiting for his message in -order that I might let him know that Parnell and the "Party" were -ready. - -His messenger was so late that I simply snatched Gladstone's letter -from him and, scribbling my "Yes" on the enclosed Government form, -sent my waiting servant flying to the telegraph office with it. -After which I had time to join in the regrets of Mr. Gladstone's -secretary that his master had made it impossible for me to get up to -the House in time for his introduction of the Bill. The secretary -told me that he would have "derived considerable interest" from the -proceedings, but I felt much {199} more keenly than that about this -Bill that I had taken so often in its swaddling clothes from parent -to foster parent, and I was very much disappointed at not being -present at its introduction to a larger life. - -The debate on the first and second readings lasted sixteen days. It -is to be remembered that in his attack on the Bill Mr. Chamberlain -did not oppose Home Rule, but only this particular scheme. - -A great wish of Willie's was to be appointed Under-secretary for -Ireland. I had on various occasions made the suggestion to Mr. -Gladstone, but without successful issue. Gladstone had a perfect -manner of refusing appointments when personally asked for them; it -was always an apparent pain to him; nothing but the knowledge of his -duty restrained him from interference, and though I was not really -anxious that Willie should receive this appointment I was willing to -please him by asking for it, and it might have excited suspicion if I -had not asked. I must admit that Mr. Gladstone never to my knowledge -of him all those years made an appointment from motives of private -favour. Here once more, when he wrote regretting he couldn't poach -on his colleagues' patronage preserves, his manners were perfect. - -On May 8th an urgent letter from Gladstone at Downing Street was -delivered at my house. Mr. Morley had lost track of Mr. Parnell, and -wanted to know where he was. It was apparently the most natural -thing in the world to ask me where was Parnell. A form of Government -telegram was enclosed for my reply. - -In view of the fact that Mr. Gladstone and his colleagues were so -pained, surprised, and properly shocked when Mr. Parnell was publicly -arraigned as my lover, the frantic way in which they applied to me, -when they were {200} unable to find him, was, afterwards, a source of -considerable amusement to us both. - -From the time of my first interview with Mr. Gladstone onwards, no -time was lost in "failing to trace him here" before hurried -application was made to me at my--and Parnell's--permanent address. -I did not choose that the Irish Party should have his private -address--nor did Parnell choose it--but I was most particular that -the Government should know it. Governments--especially Liberal -Governments--are before all things simple-minded and of childlike -guilelessness. - -I remember when on one occasion the Government desired to know -Parnell's views on certain matters before elaborating a Bill shortly -to go before the House, a special messenger was sent to Eltham with a -letter. I had gone to the seaside with my children, and my servants -had standing orders that they knew nothing of Mr. Parnell or of his -whereabouts. So the nonplussed Governmental messenger meditated upon -my doorstep for one moment only, then, armed with "_Mrs. O'Shea's -address_" at Hastings, came straight on to receive Mr. Parnell's -reply, and safely deliver it within the stipulated time. But there -can be no doubt, of course, that Mr. Gladstone's "Poor fellow, poor -fellow, what a terrible fall," subsequent to the hounding, at his -word, of his gallant opponent to death by the Irish sycophants, -alluded to the breaking of the eleventh commandment of social life: -"Thou shalt not be found out" (publicly), rather than to the seventh -of orthodox Christianity. - -On June 7th Mr. Parnell spoke on the Home Rule Bill. It was the last -night of the debate, and he had carefully prepared his speech. - -The rejection of the Bill by a full House--343 against {201} 313 -votes--was immediately followed by the dissolution of Parliament. -Thus in July, 1886, the Liberals went out in alliance with the Irish -leader, whom, only twelve months before, they had gone out -_denouncing_ with all his followers. - -So ends the most important period of my negotiations with Gladstone. -The subsequent course of them may be sketched briefly. - -In July, 1886, Gladstone replied to certain suggestions of Parnell -recommending perseverance with the Home Rule scheme, with the -objection that he was unable to carry the Gladstonian Party beyond a -certain point. - -There were times when Mr. Gladstone became somewhat uneasy in regard -to the possible consequences of so many interviews with me. Also -someone said once to him, "Supposing Mrs. O'Shea told Parnell you -said so and so, and it was more than you meant to say?" On June -15th, 1887, for example, he wrote asking with utmost politeness for a -letter instead of an interview. - -However, on August 22nd of the same year I find him writing from -Hawarden thanking me for some gift (of game or fruit) and expressing -hope of the future. - -Gladstone now told me that he wished to meet Parnell in order to talk -over the political situation, and I suggested that a visit to -Hawarden by Parnell would have a good effect politically. Gladstone -then asked Parnell to Hawarden to discuss the outlook in politics, an -invitation which Parnell did not answer at once, as he first wished -to ascertain the tactics of the Conservative Party. - -On August 30th, 1889, Mr. Gladstone wrote to Parnell a most private -letter, lamenting that he had not heard from him and his friends with -reference to a visit to Hawarden. The fact was that since Parnell -had received {202} Gladstone's invitation the Tories had been making -advances, and had just proffered a Roman Catholic University for -Ireland. Gladstone was right in supposing that here was the cause of -Parnell's silence. He was not angry, but he threatened Parnell with -the effect of this new proposal on Nonconformist and Presbyterian -Liberals. - -In October the air was clearer, the Government's Irish University -scheme had gone awry, and Gladstone was jubilant. He wrote on the -16th renewing the invitation. With regard to the Home Rule Bill he -was all for reserve; with regard to Parnell's action against the -_Times_ all for dispatch. - -It was two months later, however (on December 19th), that Parnell, on -his way to Liverpool, visited Gladstone at Hawarden. It was a short -but agreeable visit, and at dinner Mr. Parnell sat next to Miss -Gladstone. The conversation turned upon actors and acting, and Miss -Gladstone said, "Who is the greatest actor you have ever seen, Mr. -Parnell?" "Your father, undoubtedly!" he promptly returned, much to -her delight. - -As Parnell became moderate in politics Gladstone became more extreme. -I remember one evening in April or May, 1888, driving with Parnell to -Morley's house in Elm Park Gardens where Parnell and Morley had a -quiet conversation together. - -I waited in the hansom cab a little way off the house for a -considerable time, and at last Parnell came out with an amused -expression on his face. As we were driving home he said: - -"We can never satisfy English politicians! They imprisoned me for -causing agitation in Ireland, and now they want agitation, if not -outrage. Morley said to me: 'The people must be made to wake up a -bit; can't you {203} do anything to stir them up?'" Then with a -laugh: "If they knew how easy it was for me to stir Ireland up, and -how confoundedly difficult I have found it to quiet her down again, -they would be very careful before giving me such an invitation!" -And, with the experience of the past to give force and conviction to -his words, he had shown Mr. Morley the extreme danger of Mr. -Gladstone's suggestions. - - - -[1] The letters of Captain O'Shea preserved by Mrs. Parnell throw -some light on Mr. Chamberlain's mind. In December, 1884, Chamberlain -dealt at length with the Nationalist movement and the sentiment -behind it, and unfolded his plan for a "National Board" for Ireland. -In March, 1885, he was discussing the possibility of an arrangement -with the Irish Party to get the Redistribution Bill and the Crimes -Bill quickly into law on condition that the Government brought in -Local Government Bills, including one for Ireland. In May, Captain -O'Shea wrote that Gladstone was strongly in favour of this solution, -and that, to Chamberlain's surprise, Lord Hartington did not reject -the proposal off-hand, as expected. He added that the Cardinal had -power to assure Parnell and the Government of the full support of the -Catholic Church. Captain O'Shea's personal interest in the abortive -scheme is revealed in the following passage from a letter of May 4, -1885: "The reason I am anxious about the Local Self-Government scheme -is that if Chamberlain has power, which I think he will in the next -Parliament, he will offer me the Chief Secretaryship, or the -equivalent post if the name is abolished, if the boys will let me -have it." - - - - -{204} - -CHAPTER XX - -MR. PARNELL IN DANGER--FOUNDING OF THE NATIONAL LEAGUE - - "_He who for winds and clouds - Maketh a pathway free, - Through waste or hostile crowds - Can make a way for thee._" - --PAUL GERHARDT. - - -One morning in 1882 I saw in the morning papers a cable message -announcing the death of Miss Fanny Parnell. Mr. Parnell was at my -house at the time, but asleep. After an all-night sitting I would -never allow him to be roused until four in the afternoon, when he -would have breakfast and chat with me until it was time to go to the -House. On seeing the newspaper cable from America about his sister I -thought it better to wake him and tell him of it, lest he should read -it while I was away with my aunt. I knew that Fanny Parnell was his -favourite sister, and he had told me that she was the cleverest and -most beautiful woman in his family. This I knew was high praise, as -Willie had met Mrs. Thomson--another of Parnell's sisters--and had -told me that she was the most strikingly beautiful woman he had ever -met. - -I woke him and told him of his sister's death as gently as I could, -but he was terribly shocked, and I could not leave him at all that -day. For a time he utterly broke down, but presently a cable arrived -for him--sent on from London--saying that his sister's body was to be -embalmed and brought to Ireland, and his horror and indignation {205} -were extreme. He immediately wrote out a message for me to cable -from London on his behalf, absolutely forbidding the embalmment of -his sister's body, and saying that she was to be buried in America. - -The idea of death was at all times very painful to him, but that -anyone should be embalmed and taken from one place to another after -death was to him unspeakably awful. For this, amongst other reasons, -I could not bear to have him taken to Ireland--to Glasnevin -Cemetery--after his death. My desire was to have him near me and, as -he would have wished, to have taken care of his grave myself. But I -gave way to the longing of the Ireland he had lived for, and to the -clamour of those who had helped to kill him. How they dealt with him -alive is history now, but how they dealt with him in death is not so -well known; and I give an extract from the message of a friend, who -had gone to see his grave a few short years after his death: "Your -husband's grave is the most desolate and neglected spot in the whole -cemetery, and I grieve to tell you of the painful impression it made -upon me." - -I then sent over a servant, with some flowers, and his report was -even worse. Fragments of glass from the broken artificial wreaths, -placed there years before; trampled, neglected grass, and little of -that but weeds; and the bare untidy backings and wires of the wreaths -I had been sending for the greeting of so many days marked only in -the calendar of our love. - -Poor Ireland--a child in her asking, a child in her receiving, and so -much a child in her forgetting. - -When Mr. Parnell first came to Eltham he told me that he had had, -since his boyhood at school, a habit of sleep-walking whenever he was -at all run down in health. {206} When he was in America he used to -lock the door of his room and put the key into a box with a spring -lock that he had bought for the purpose. He feared he might wander -about the hotel in his sleep. Also he warned me, when he first came, -that he was subject to "night terrors," very much as a highly strung -child is, and in these he would spring up panic-stricken out of deep -sleep, and, without fully awaking, try to beat off the imaginary foe -that pressed upon him. It was a species of nightmare; not apparently -excited by any particular cause other than general want of tone. -After a few years of careful dieting I succeeded in freeing him of -these painful and most wearing attacks. - -When the attacks came on I went into his room and held him until he -became fully conscious, for I feared that he would hurt himself. -They were followed by a profuse perspiration and deep sleep of -several hours. He was terribly worried about these nightmares, but I -assured him that it was only indigestion in a peculiar form. "You -really think so?" he would reply, and when I told him that they would -pass off with careful dieting he was reassured, and he followed my -directions so implicitly as to diet that he soon proved me right. - -He became very much run down again after his sister's death, but -recovered perfectly, and had no recurrence of these attacks until -some years after, when he suffered from a nervous breakdown brought -on by overwork. Sir Henry Thompson treated him then, and he quickly -recovered. - -Soon after I met Mr. Parnell I sent to Worcester for some white roses -in pots to keep in my hothouse in order to provide my exigeant lover -with buttonholes. He loved white roses, he told me, and would not be -content with any other flower from me; nor would he wear a rose from -{207} my garden, as he said anyone could have those who asked me for -them. So I had to keep a constantly blooming company of white roses -in my conservatory to provide a buttonhole of ceremony on his speech -days, or on other occasions when I wished him to look particularly -well. Sometimes we would drive out miles into the country. Keston -Common was a favourite resort of ours, and, as we rarely took a -servant with us, we would either put up the horse I drove (Dictator, -given to me by Mr. Parnell) at some inn, or tie him to a tree while -we wandered about or sat under the trees talking. - -He would do his best to learn the names of the wild flowers he picked -for me--with uncomfortably short stalks!--but, beyond being at last -able to name a dandelion or buttercup at sight, he did not shine in -any branch of botany. "What did you call this fine plant?" he would -ask with a glimmer of fun in his eyes. "It is not a plant you have, -but a single flower branch, and it is called a king-cup--picked much -too short!" I would answer severely, and he laughed as he tumbled his -trophies into my lap and insisted that the ferns ruthlessly dug and -cut out with his pocket-knife would grow all right, in spite of their -denuded roots, if I "made them do it, in the greenhouse!" - -When it was too wet to go out, or if he was not well, he used to -amuse himself at home in my sitting-room practising shooting with an -air-gun. He used a lighted candle for target, and became so expert -in putting out the light this way that it became too troublesome to -light the candle so often, and we substituted other targets. - -Sometimes he would go to the farther end of my aunt's park, where -there was a pond basin, dried up long before, {208} and many happy -hours were spent there, shooting in turn, with his revolvers. - -I remember on one Sunday afternoon my aunt's bailiff came down, -having heard revolver shots, though the sound was deadened by the -high banks. The bailiff was much perturbed by our Sunday sport, -chiefly because it was Sunday. He did not dare press his opinion -upon me, as he knew my position in my aunt's household was -impregnable, but he had always been jealous of my coming to Eltham, -where he had served her for over forty years, and he was now so -plainly antagonistic that Mr. Parnell, who did not particularly wish -his presence with me talked about, rose to the occasion with the tact -he could exert when he considered it worth while. - -"Oh, is that you, Mr. ----?" rising from an absorbed examination of -his last bull's-eye. "Mrs. O'Shea was telling me when we started -this match of your being such a good shot with a gun. Do have a shot -with my revolver; see here, I've got a bull's-eye five times running -against Mrs. O'Shea's one. Now let us see what you can do." - -Mr. ---- hesitated; he was a fine shot and had won prizes in his -youth, and was susceptible to flattery. - -Mr. Parnell said dryly: "I don't suppose you have had so much -practice as I lately, but--" The bailiff turned a wary eye on his -wife, who was waiting for him at the gate of a rookery some way off, -and Mr. Parnell smiled as he said: "The lady will not see you," in -such a gently sarcastic manner that Mr. ---- was nettled, and picking -up the revolver shot so wildly that he missed the little target -altogether. - -I said: "Mr. ---- _can_ shoot, really, Mr. Parnell, as I told you, -but he is nervous!" So Mr. ---- went on, making shot after shot with -varying success till {209} Mrs. ---- appeared on the scene dressed in -her best and Sunday virtue, which was resplendent in Eltham. She -gazed with pain upon Mr. ----, who, to appear at ease, entered into a -discussion of revolver patterns with Mr. Parnell. I talked -cheerfully to her for a few moments, and introduced Mr. Parnell, -which gratified her immensely, and the two went off happy, but so -conscious of the enormity of having given countenance to such -desecration of the Sabbath, in Sunday shooting, that we knew we were -safe from their perhaps inconvenient chatter. - -Mr. Parnell was always interested in cricket, and I had a private -pitch laid out for him at Eltham in a two-acre field. As a young man -he had been an enthusiast, and the captain of his eleven. He never -went to matches, however, after he entered Parliament. - -He talked to me much about Avondale. He loved the place, and was -never tired of planning the alterations and improvements he meant to -make in the old house when we could marry. He often went over to -Ireland expressly to see how things were going there, but after 1880 -he could never stay even a few days there in peace. The -after-effects of the awful famine, in such terrible cases of poverty -and woe as were brought to his notice the moment he arrived in his -old home, made it impossible for him to remain there at all. No one -man could deal charitably with all these poor people and live, and as -time went on Mr. Parnell's visits became necessarily shorter, for the -demands were so many, and the poverty so great, that he could not -carry the burden and continue the political life necessary to their -alleviation. He told me that he despaired of ever having a penny in -his pocket when he took me there, as he always hoped to do. - -He was very fond of the old woman he kept at {210} Avondale in charge -of the house, and who attended to his few needs when he was there; -and whenever he went there he would get me to go to Fortnum and -Mason's to buy a pound of their 4s. a pound tea for the old dame, who -much appreciated this delicious tea, though she of course stewed it -into poison before drinking it. - -This old servant of his had the most curious ideas on "first aid to -the injured," and when on one occasion Mr. Parnell had his hand -crushed in some machinery at his Arklow quarries, she dressed the -injured fingers with cobwebs from the cellar walls. To my -astonishment he asked for cobwebs at Eltham once, when he had cut his -finger, to "wrap it in." My children, with delighted interest, -produced cobwebs (and spiders) from the cellar, and I had the -greatest difficulty in preventing a "cure" so likely to produce -blood-poisoning. He accepted the peasant lore of Ireland with the -simplicity of a child, and I still remember his doubtful "Is that -so?" when I told him it was most dangerous to put anything so dusty -as a cobweb on an open wound. "Susan Gaffney said cobwebs would stop -the poison. They all do it," meaning the peasants. - -On August 16th, 1882, he was presented with the freedom of the City -of Dublin. He wished to avoid a public demonstration, but the -Corporation insisted on making the most of the occasion. - - - - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN, - _Saturday, August_ 20, 1882. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--Your two letters have given me the greatest - pleasure, and I am so much obliged to Wifie for the trouble she - has taken about the request I made to her. - - The two D.'s[1] have quarrelled with, me because I won't {211} - allow any further expenditure by the ladies and because I have - made arrangements to make the payments myself for the future. - They were in hopes of creating a party against me in the country - by distributing the funds amongst their own creatures and are - proportionately disappointed. - - I hope to have everything settled by Tuesday evening so as to - enable me to leave town then, and after a week in the country - propose to return to Wifie. - - YOUR OWN HUSBAND. - - - -In October, 1882, was founded the National League, which was to fill -the gap caused by the suppression of the Land League. A Convention -had been called for the 17th of the month. - - - - _October_ 10, 1882. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--I hope to be able to start for London on - Thursday evening. - - The doctor says it was an attack of dysenterical diarrhoea, but - not of a severe character, and very little fever. It is now - quite over. He says my stomach must have been getting out of - order for some time. - - I hope Wifie has been taking good care of herself, and that she - has not been alarmed. - - Her husband will go right back to her, and will not return to - Avondale for the shooting. - - With ever so much love, my own Queenie, - - YOUR LOVING HUSBAND. - - - - - _Friday evening, October_ 14, 1882. - - My OWN DARLING WIFIE,--I have been so longing to be with you - during all these dreary hours, still more dreary as they have - been made by the knowledge that Wifie has been unhappy and - anxious all the time. Her letters came to me quite safely and - were a great pleasure, and I want some more. On Tuesday or - Wednesday, I forget which, I left my room for the first time and - caught a slight cold, which threw me back somewhat, but I have - more than regained my lost ground to-day, and am to leave my room - again to-morrow, and if I {212} don't over-eat myself or catch - cold again, shall go on all right. - - The Conference will most probably last two days, but I hope to be - able to leave on Wednesday, or at latest on Thursday evening, to - be with my Queenie until the end of the Session. - - Do please write me a nice letter, my darling. - - YOUR OWN HUSBAND. - - - - - _October_ 17. - - MY DEAREST WIFIE,--I have arrived all right, and got through the - first day of the Convention successfully. - - You will be glad to hear that the telegrams which I missed were - of no importance, and I received them this morning unopened, as - well as yours also unopened. - - With best love to my own Katie. - - - -The Convention duly met, Parnell presiding, and the National League -was formed, with Home Rule and peasant proprietorship as the two main -articles of its creed. - - - - _Sunday._ - - MY OWN DARLING WIFIE,--I have been so delighted to receive both - your letters quite safely; you have no idea how much I long for a - letter or a wire from you, and how frightened and nervous I feel - when, as sometimes happens, a whole day goes by without any news. - - I was very much afraid that my little wife would not have - approved of all my speech, and so much relieved to find that you - did not scold me. - - Has anything been done about the monument yet? I hope there will - not be any hitch. - - Am trying to get together a meeting of directors in Dublin for - next Saturday, which I can take on my way back to you, and which - I trust may afford the desired relief. I have been doing a good - deal of healthy and necessary work since my arrival here, out - riding or driving in the open air all day long. I ride a horse - called Tory, a splendid thoroughbred of my sister's, though he - has now seen his best days. He goes just {213} like an - india-rubber ball. I have been very successful in that part of - the business which I came over for that I have been able to - attend to thus far; having already discovered several quarries on - my own land, much nearer to the railway station than the one we - are working on, and for which we have to pay a heavy royalty. I - have every confidence that one and all of them will be found - suitable upon trial. Kerr is rather a duffer about anything - except book-keeping. He ought to have found these out for - himself long since, as I gave him the clue when leaving here last - September. - - My brother-in-law's funeral takes place to-morrow. I am going in - a closed carriage, and shall be careful not to expose myself or - stand about in the churchyard. - - I am certain of being able to finish up everything here so as to - leave Ireland on Saturday or Sunday at the latest, and shall soon - have my only and best treasure in my arms again. - - YOUR LOVING KING AND HUSBAND. - - I shall be in Dublin on Tuesday evening, and shall sleep at - Morrison's that night, returning here next day. - - - -From these quarries at Arklow Parnell supplied the Dublin Corporation -with "setts" for many of the streets in Dublin. These setts -(granite, pavement kerbing) were not turned out quickly enough by his -men at first, so he tried the experiment of giving the men a share in -the profits, and this he found answered well in keeping the supply up -to the demand of the corporation. - -Some of the polished granite work turned out by his men was -beautiful, and a heavy granite garden vase and a Celtic cross -appeared in the London (Irish) Exhibition and also in the Cork -Exhibition. - -1882-83 was a very anxious time for me, and the nervous tension -caused by the agitation in the political world and the continual -threatenings of violence, intrigue, and physical force, made -privately to Parnell, against him and others, was so great that, by -the end of '83, if I had not {214} had my lover's health to care for -I should myself have broken down altogether. As it was, there were -days when the slightest sound or movement was an agony to me in the -throes of neuralgia brought on by the overstrain of the nerves. But -for his sake I concealed my misery of pain as well as I could, and in -so doing won back a measure of health for myself, which would perhaps -have been lost to me had I been able to give way to my "nerves." - -During this time I attended the sittings of the House as often as I -was able, going up to town as soon as I could leave my aunt for the -night, so that I might hear Parnell if he spoke, and in any case -drive home with him. We always drove home in a hansom cab, as we -both loved the cool of the night or of the early morning air. - -During these anxious days I did not let Parnell have one-half of the -threatening and other worrying letters he received. He brought me -his letters and parcels from the House, and from a London address he -had, to be sorted out. I gave him those for his secretary's -answering, any personal ones I thought he would wish to see, and just -as many "threats" as I thought would make him a little careful of -himself for my sake. The bulk of the "warnings," threats of murder, -and invitations to murder I kept to myself, fearing that he would -worry himself on my account and object to my continual "shadowing" of -him, which I considered his chief protection. He always carried a -revolver in his pocket during this time, and insisted on my being -similarly provided when I drove home with him at night. - -These precautions may appear fantastic in these later sober times, -but they were very necessary during that time of lawlessness and -unrest in Ireland, when the prophecy made by Parnell to me ere he -finally decided to leave {215} Kilmainham on the Treaty had become -fact: "If I turn to the Government I turn away from them--and then?" - -The force of his personality was carrying him through the seething of -the baffled hatred he would not use, but not without a danger so real -and so acute that many a time I was tempted to throw his honour to -the winds and implore from the Government the protection he would -have died rather than ask for himself. But I held on to the end till -the sheer force of his dauntless courage and proud will broke down -the secret intrigue of spleen that, held by him back from England's -governance, would have revenged itself upon the holding hand, had it -dared. - -There was a lonely part of the road between London and Eltham after -going through Lee, over a common where, to the right, was a deep -ditch, and, beyond, the land of (the late) Mr. Blenkiorn, breeder of -racehorses. There were no houses near in those days, and on -moonlight nights we could see a long way on each side of a rather -desolate bit of country. The moon which gave light also gave -shadows, and more than once from some way off we saw the shadow of a -man running behind the hedge on the way we had to pass. I always -took the side of the hansom near the park, as I thought it would -conceal to some degree the fact of Parnell's being there. I knew, -too, that the fact of my being a woman was still some little -protection, but I took the precaution of telling the driver to drive -quickly and not stop for anyone at any lonely point in the road. -Once, to my horror, when we were nearly over the common, I saw a man -rise from the ditch and the glint of steel in the moonlight. The man -driving saw it, too, and, with a lurch that threw us forward in the -cab, he lashed his horse into a gallop. I could just see that the -man threw up his arms as he staggered {216} backwards into the ditch -and a shot rang out; but nothing dreadful had happened after all. -The man had obviously slipped as he sprang up the bank, and, in -throwing up his arms to recover his balance, his pistol had gone -off--for neither of ours had been discharged. So this exciting drive -had no more serious consequences than the rather heavy price of the -cabman's putting up in the village till day brought him renewed -confidence in the safety of the London road. - -Sometimes after a late sitting Parnell and I would get some coffee at -the early coffee stalls for workmen on the way from London. In the -early morning half-light, when the day was just beginning to break, -we loved to watch drowsy London rubbing the sleep from her eyes, -hastening her labouring sons upon their way to ease the later waking -of their luxurious brothers. Parnell was always interested in manual -labourers; he loved to watch them at work, and he liked to talk to -them of their work and of their homes. A man with a hammer or a -pick-axe was almost an irresistible attraction to him, and he would -often get me to stand and watch the men engaged on a road or harbour -work. - -About this time (it was in 1883) Mr. (afterwards Sir) Howard Vincent, -head of the Detective Department of Scotland Yard, sent a note to the -House of Commons asking Parnell to see him for a few minutes, as he -had an important communication to make to him. Parnell was just -going to speak, so he brought me the note up to the Ladies' Gallery, -and, hastily putting it into my hand, said: "See to this for me." - -It was a morning sitting, and I hurried off to Scotland Yard hoping -to get back in time to hear Parnell speak, and yet anxious to hear -what the note meant. I was shown {217} into Sir Howard Vincent's -private room directly I arrived, and he expressed great pleasure, as -well as great surprise, at seeing me. I showed him his note to -Parnell, and asked him to what it referred. He answered that the -"officials" all considered the matter serious, and that the -Government were prepared to give Mr. Parnell protection if he wished -it. - -I told him that Mr. Parnell would, I was sure, not like that at all, -and, after a long conversation of no particular definiteness, Sir -Howard said: "I do not think you believe in this particular threat -against Mr. Parnell, do you, Mrs. O'Shea?" - -I replied: "Well, it does seem rather like a hoax to me. Would you -mind letting me see the 'letter of warning'?" He laughed and said: -"Not at all, but I've torn it up and flung it into the waste-paper -basket." - -I promptly picked up the basket in question and turned it over on his -table, saying: "Let us piece it together." He pretended to help me -for a few moments, as I neatly put together various uninteresting -documents, and then, with a deprecating smile, swept them all -together, saying: "It is your game, Mrs. O'Shea; you are too clever. -Why didn't you send Mr. Parnell round?" and we parted with laughing -expressions of goodwill and amusement on his part that we had not -been taken in. - -The Government, of course, were bent on forcing "police protection" -on Parnell as a convenience to themselves and a means of ascertaining -the extent of his influence over the Invincibles. The Government did -not trust Parnell, and they wished to frighten him into care of -himself and thus weaken the trust of the Irish in him. - -One evening in 1882 or 1883, when Parnell and I were waiting at -Brighton station to catch the train to London, {218} we noticed that -there was much crowding round the book-stall placards and much -excitement among buyers of newspapers. Parnell did not wish to be -recognized, as he was supposed at that time to be in Ireland; but, -hearing Gladstone's name mentioned by a passer-by, our curiosity got -the better of our caution and we went to get a paper. Parnell, being -so tall a man, could see over the heads of the crowd, and, reading -the placard, turned back without getting a paper to tell me that the -excitement was over the report of "the assassination of Mr. Parnell." -I then asked him to get into the train so that we should run no risk -of his being known, and managed to get through the crowd to buy a -paper myself. How the report arose we never knew, but at that time, -when every post brought Parnell some threat of violence and my nerves -were jarred and tense with daily fear for him, it took all my -fortitude to answer his smile and joke at the unfounded report which -left me sick and shaken. - - - -[1] Dillon and Davitt. - - - - -{219} - -CHAPTER XXI - -A WINTER OF MEMORIES - - "_Feeling is deep and still, and the word that floats on the surface - Is as the tossing buoy, that betrays where the anchor is hidden._" - --LONGFELLOW. - - -Mr. Forster made his notorious attack upon Mr. Parnell in February, -1883, accusing him of encouraging and conniving at murder, outrage, -and treachery. On his return home Parnell showed, as he would not -deign to show in the House, a fierce joy in the false move of his -enemies and the scorn and contempt of the lack of control which could -lead a politician of Forster's experience into such a _faux pas_ as -this personal attack on him. Here, then, he had what he wanted; in -this attack was the repudiation of those charges, made by the -"extremists" in Ireland and America, of pandering to the -Government--made by them ever since he left Kilmainham on the -Treaty--here was another cord to bind the Nationalist forces together -without in any way repudiating that Treaty. Here was a fresh weapon -given into his hand by an ex-Government official who could not govern -his personal spleen by political intelligence. - -"No," he said to me, when I asked him if he did not mean to answer -Forster at all, "I shall not answer. I shall let him hang himself -with his own rope." - -But the Party would not have this, and urged him so strongly that he -did--not answer--but show his contempt of the whole thing and of the -English politicians who had played their hand so badly. He said to -me before he started {220} for the House: "By the judgment of the -Irish people only do I, and will I, stand or fall," and this he -repeated in the House. - -The astonishment of the House was unbounded. It had been prepared -for anything but this scornful repudiation of the right of the -English to judge him--for a downright denial of the charges made, for -a skilful fencing with the arguments. The speech of Parnell was a -challenge to war. Impassive as ever, betraying no slightest sign of -emotion, he tore up the accusations and threw them scornfully in the -face of his accuser.[1] - -Some time afterwards, in an interview I had with him, Mr. Gladstone -referred to this declaration of Parnell's--that he would stand or -fall only by the judgment of the Irish people. - -He said: "You know Mr. Parnell's inmost feelings better than others; -does this truly represent his mind, Mrs. O'Shea?" - -I answered, as I could truly do: "Yes, Mr. Gladstone, that is his -only and absolute ideal. I may say Ireland's is the only voice he -regards as having any authority over him in the whole world." - -"Yet Mr. Parnell is so much an Englishman in his coldness and -reserve?" - -"He is a paradox, Mr. Gladstone, the enigma of genius herself, a -volcano capped with snow. Englishman himself, at least he is -descended from Englishmen, he hates England and the English and does -not understand them; he loves Ireland and her people through and -through, {221} understands them absolutely, and is in nature as apart -and aloof from the Irish nature as you are yourself." - -The hard, flint-like eyes softened a little in the eagle face as the -G.O.M. answered with a little sigh: "I have much sympathy with his -ambitions for Ireland, Mrs. O'Shea. His is a curious personality; -you are right, I think--yes, a paradox indeed, but a wonderful man!" - -At the end of June, 1883, Parnell went over to conduct Mr. Healy's -election at Monaghan (an Ulster stronghold), for which division he -was returned a month after he had quitted Richmond Prison. - -He immediately afterwards (on July 4) attended the Cork banquet given -in his honour. He wrote the following letter to me to allay the -fears I had expressed in regard to certain political actions which he -here repudiates and which had reached my ears from other sources:-- - - - - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN, - _Tuesday night._ - - When I received your note I at once determined to go over to you - to-morrow morning and to give up my engagement to speak at the - Cork banquet to-morrow night, as I knew my own was very much - troubled about something, and felt sure that I could comfort and - reassure her. I have since been besieged the whole evening by - entreaties and threats not to throw over Cork, and it has been - represented to me, and with truth, that half the result of the - Monaghan victory will be lost if I leave Cork to the Whigs and my - enemies. I have been very much perplexed and dragged in - different ways, but have at this hour (2 a.m.) made up my mind to - ask my own Wifie to suspend her judgment for another twenty-four - hours about whatever is tormenting her, to place some little - confidence in her husband's honour and fidelity for that short - time, and to believe that he now swears to her, and that he will - repeat the same oath to her on Thursday evening, that whatever - statement has been made about him which is calculated to {222} - lower him in his wife's opinion in the slightest degree is a foul - lie. - - I feel that I can ask this of my own Wifie, and that she will not - withdraw her confidence and love from her own husband until he - can return and defend himself. - - I shall leave for Cork by to-morrow morning's train at nine - o'clock, speak at banquet, and return by night mail the same day - to Dublin, and be in time to leave Dublin by mail train for - London on Thursday morning. Let me know at Palace Chambers where - I shall see you on Thursday evening. - - Trust your husband, and do not credit any slander of him. - - - - - AVONDALE, RATHDRUM, - 2 _a.m., July_ 4, 1883. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--I seize a vacant moment to write you a few - words, as it does not look as if Irish affairs would permit me to - see you for some time longer. Perhaps even a week or ten days - may pass by before I can see Eltham again. I also wish you to - forward enclosed to Captain O'Shea, as I have not got his address. - - I have had several conversations with Fr. White, who is a very - superior man, and has impressed me very much. - - I intend to make it my first business to look up West Clare, and - trust that Captain O'Shea may be able to meet me there.--With - best regards, yours always sincerely, - - C. S. PARNELL. - - - - - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN, - _Tuesday._ - - MY DEAREST WIFIE,--Your letters received, and always give me the - greatest happiness to read. - - Please continue writing. I will make arrangements to have them - kept out of sight here. - - Shall see him[2] Wednesday evening or Thursday morning, and do - what I can. I fear his position in Clare is irretrievable.--With - best love, YOUR HUSBAND. - - - -{223} - - - AVONDALE, - _Sunday._ - -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--Will you kindly direct, enclose, and post -enclosed. - -Many thanks for your letter, also for two from Captain O'Shea, which -I will reply to shortly.--Believe me, in haste, yours very truly, -CHAS. S. PARNELL. - - -Just before Christmas in 1883 I took a furnished house in Brighton -for three months for my children. I had arranged to go into a house -in Second Avenue, which both Parnell and I liked, but Willie came -down and insisted on my taking one facing the sea in Medina Terrace; -so I (with difficulty) got out of my former agreement, and certainly -the house Willie chose was very much pleasanter, owing to its close -proximity to the sea. - -Willie undertook to stay here to be with the children while I went -back to my aunt (coming myself to Brighton for one or two days in the -week). - -Willie asked Parnell to come and stay. He did so, and Willie and he -discussed the Local Government Bill at all hours, as Parnell wished -to find out what the views of Mr. Chamberlain and the Tories -were--better ascertainable by Willie than others. - -I went back to my aunt for Christmas Eve. It was bitterly cold, and -as the old lady never cared for festivities, she was soon glad to -shut herself up in her warm house and "forget in slumber the foolish -junketings I permit in my domestics, my love." - -There was snow that Christmas, very deep at Eltham; and Parnell, who -had joined me there, walked round the snowy paths of my aunt's place -with me in the moonlight. Now and then he moved with me into the -shadow of the trees as a few lads and men, with the inevitable cornet -and {224} trombone of a village "band," plunged through the drifts on -their short cut to the old house. There they sang Christmas carols -to their hearts' content, knowing they were earning their yearly -bonus, to be presented with a polite message of her "distaste" for -carol singing by "Mrs. Ben's" (as she was affectionately called in -the village) man-servant the next morning. - -Parnell and I enjoyed that pacing up and down the wide terrace in the -snowy moonlight. The snow had drifted up against the old urns and -the long, low balustrade that divided the north and south lawns; and -the great shadows of the beech trees looked unfamiliar and -mysterious--pierced here and there, where the blanket covering of -snow had dropped off, by the cold glitter of moonlight on the -whiteness. - -Right away to the south lay the "Chase," leading away to Chislehurst, -wide, cold, and lonely in the moonlight, and I told Parnell that the -cloud shadows that flitted over the glistening whiteness were the -phantoms of the hunters of King John's time, who used to hunt over -this ground, renewing their sport in the moonlight. - -Parnell loved to hear these little imaginations, and I loved to tell -them to him for the sake of seeing the grave smile come, and of -hearing the naïve "Is that so?" of his appreciation. - -We walked up and down in the moonlight till the carols died away, and -we heard the church clocks strike twelve. Then we stood together to -listen to the Christmas bells sound clear and sharp from many -villages on the frosty air, while Parnell again spoke to me of his -belief that the soul after death resumed life in the planet under -whose influence it was born. He spoke of his belief in a personal -destiny and fate, against which it was useless {225} for mortals to -contend or fight, and how he believed that certain souls had to meet -and become one, till in death the second planet life parted them -until the sheer longing for one another brought them together again -in after ages.[3] - -I said, "But it seems so lonely like that!" and he answered, "It is -lonely; that is why I am so afraid always of death, and why I hope -with every bit of me that we shall die together." - -The next day I went to Brighton to see the children for Christmas, -and in the New Year Willie went to Ireland, returning to Brighton to -stay with the children for a short time before they came home in -February and he went to Lisbon. - -The following telegrams and letters show the development of affairs -during the course of this year:-- - - -(Telegrams.) - - - _Feb._ 29, 1884. - - (Handed in at the House of Commons Office.) - - _From_ PARNELL. - - _To_ MRS. O'SHEA, ELTHAM, KENT. - - Thanks. Happy to accept your invitation to dinner this evening - for seven o'clock. - - - _May_ 30, 1884. - - _From_ PARNELL, AVONDALE. - - _To_ MRS. O'SHEA, ELTHAM. - - Captain and I arrived safely. - - - -(Willie went to stay at Avondale for a couple of days.--K. P.) - -{226} - - - _May_ 31, 1884. - - (Rathdrum Office.) - - _From_ PARNELL. - - _To_ MRS. O'SHEA, ELTHAM. - - Captain leaves here to-morrow (Sunday) morning, and leaves - Kingstown to-morrow evening. - - - - DUBLIN, - _Sept._ 10. - - Willie is looking very well indeed, in fact much better than I - have ever seen him before. - - I hope soon to be through pressing business here and in country, - and to be able to leave on Saturday.--Yours, C. S. P. - - - - _Friday, Oct._ 28, 1884. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--I shall be at Dover for a few days longer, - and afterwards propose visiting the Netherlands and returning - through Paris. If I thought that Captain O'Shea would soon be in - England I should wait for him, but if not should take my chance - of meeting him in Paris on my return. - - My stay in the Netherlands will not exceed three days, but I - shall remain in Paris for at least a similar period. I say "the - Netherlands" because I don't yet know whether I shall have to go - to Holland or Belgium or both. Kindly let me have a line or wire - to former address.--Always yours, - - CHAS. S. PARNELL. - - -I was ill at the time the following letters were written, and Captain -O'Shea was coming to Eltham a good deal. - - - ELTHAM, 1884. - - Should have come sooner, but could not get away. There was an - explosion of a bomb at the Home Office just before I left; it - blew down a large piece of the front wall and did a great deal of - damage, they say. - - I will not go near the hotel to-night if I see a crowd there, - {227} and will leave early in the morning and come down here to - breakfast. - - - - ELTHAM, - _Friday,_ 4 p.m. - - I came down here late last night and was immensely relieved to - hear that you were better. - - I slept very comfortably here last night, and had an excellent - breakfast this morning, which Phyllis brought me. - - Am now going up to London to settle the report of Labourers' - Committee, which had not time to attend to yesterday, and hope to - be back about eleven o'clock.--Yours, C. S. P. - - - - ELTHAM. - - Do you think I had best wait here or go up to London and wait for - a telegram from you? - - We finished our committee yesterday, so if he[4] goes early I - could return perhaps early enough to see you this evening for a - few minutes. - - I felt very much relieved by your letter last night. However, it - is evident you must take great care. - - If you think I had best not wait, will you telegraph? Otherwise - see me later, when I will wait.--Yours. - - - - ELTHAM. - - Many thanks for kind note. - - I am going to London now, and hope to return reasonably early, as - the debate is not likely to last long. I do not feel the cold at - all. - - There ought to be no difficulty in my seeing you to-morrow, and I - will manage it. - - I do not like your having a headache, and you must really take - care of yourself and not get up too soon.--Yours always. - - - I am obliged to go up early to attend Labourers' Committee, which - meets at eleven to-day to consider its final report. - - Please send me telegram to House if you can, as I ought to be - able to return early this evening. - - Phyllis is looking after me first rate.--Yours. - - - - -{228} - -Parnell was always unselfish and most considerate when I was ill, and -once when I was very weak after an illness of some duration he -returned home to Eltham in broad daylight in a hansom cab, -triumphantly supporting one end of a large couch, the other end of -which spread its upholstered length over the roof. This invalid's -chair he with the help of my maids, arranged in my sitting-room, -adjusting its complicated "rests" with earnest abstraction, after -which he led the procession up to my room, and in spite of my amused -protests carried me down and placed me on the couch amid cushions and -shawls, and spent a happy evening in "watching me" as I lay -comfortably on my new possession. - -In 1884 we ran down to Hastings for a few days in the middle of the -Session, when my aunt's old friend came to stay with her and gave me -freedom. Parnell delighted in these sudden "run-away" visits to the -sea when the House was in full swing of business, and said they -braced and freshened him up more than anything else could do. We -stayed at the Queen's Hotel, and Parnell revelled in the sudden -freedom from politics--casting all thought and care from him as we -walked by the sea and gave ourselves up to the enjoyment of the fresh -salt air. - -He was hugely pleased, on going into a shop in Robertson Street for -notepaper, to find some embossed with the monogram "K.P." in blue and -gold. He declared it was a good omen, and bought me more boxes of it -than I could use for many years. He also bought me a little red -diary, after long and earnest efforts in selection. Red he did not -like much, as he said it was the sanguinary hue of English -oppression; but diaries can apparently only be bound in red, green, -or purple, and purple was the {229} colour of sorrow, and green the -most painful expression of all ill-luck! - -This diary was to make up to me for my natural indignation at, -nearly, his first act on returning to me from some absence. He had -gone over to the fire and caught sight of my diary, bound in green, -that I had inadvertently left on the mantelpiece. With an -exclamation of horror he had thrown it straight into the fire, -holding me back from the rescue I struggled to attempt, and only -replying to my indignant protests that he was sorry if the contents -were really so valuable as I said, but anything between green covers -was better burnt! - -In these short visits to the seaside we always looked about for a -house that Parnell could buy later on, but as he always kept a -regretful eye upon Brighton, where it was inexpedient that we should -be seen much together, we never really settled on one for purchase, -though he rented one in Eastbourne with that idea, only to discover -that a brother of his was living there. When we had a few hours to -spare we had very happy times hunting round Sussex in the -neighbourhood of Brighton (Brighton air did him so much good), hoping -to find a suitable country house, but the train service was always a -difficulty, except in the town itself. - - - -[1] "The time will come," said Parnell in this speech, "when this -House and the people of this country will admit that they have been -deceived, and that they have been cheered by those who ought to be -ashamed of themselves, that they have been led astray as to the right -mode of governing a noble, a brave, a generous and an impulsive -people." - -[2] Captain O'Shea. - -[3] On the day of Parnell's death, October 6, 1891, a new planet was -discovered. - -[4] Captain O'Shea. - - - - -{230} - -CHAPTER XXII - -HORSES AND DOGS - -"_Amid all the forms of life that surround us, not one, excepting the -dog, has made an alliance with us._"--MAURICE MAETERLINCK. - - -In 1885 I had a new room built on to my house at Eltham, adjoining my -sitting-room and leading into the greenhouse, and thence to the -garden. Parnell and I took the greatest interest in the building of -this room; he superintended every detail, saw that the cement was -laid to the proper depth under the flooring, and sent to Avondale for -sufficient sweet-chestnut wood to have the room panelled half-way up -and to make beautiful, heavy double-doors, window settings and the -mantelpiece and fittings. It was a very comfortable and warm room -when finished, and, to celebrate its completion--it was to be -Parnell's own study and workroom--I photographed him in it, sitting -in his own special easy chair, surrounded by his assaying -paraphernalia and holding his pestle and mortar. This photograph was -published years ago without permission or acknowledgment by one or -other of two persons to whom I had given it, after my husband's -death, as a very private and special memento of him. It hurt me much -when I first knew of it--but people do these things. - -Early in 1885 Parnell bought a new horse in Ireland which he arranged -to bring to England, and subsequently brought others over. The two -letters which follow refer to these matters, and were written to me -in case the horses {231} should be noticed arriving in Eltham and the -fact reported to Captain O'Shea. - - - - AVONDALE, - _January_ 14, 1885. - - MY OWN QUEENIE,--A word to say that your promised letter has not - yet reached me, and I suppose it may turn up to-morrow. The - parcel came safely to Dublin, and the hamper here. Mary and I - unpacked it with fear and trembling, lest there should have been - no tea and sugar, as I had forgotten to say anything to you about - them; but they were all right. - - The new horse is very quiet and a very fine one; strong and short - legs, with plenty of bone, a splendid fore-quarter, and a good - turn of speed. I suppose I may bring him back with me. The - telegram I sent you on Day of Convention was found late at night - posted in a letter box, and was returned to bearer, who never - said anything to me about it, otherwise you would have heard - result about six o'clock.--With best love to my little wife, YOUR - KING. - - - - - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN. - _February_ 3, 1885. - - MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,--I have sent two horses to London to-day - (Euston) and should feel very much obliged if you would allow - them to stand in your stables for a few days, until I can make - other arrangements. - - They will reach Euston about 1 p.m. to-morrow. Could you find - two careful men to meet them? One saddle is gone with the - horses, so another saddle would be necessary. They should be - walked carefully through London, as one of them specially is very - shy and unused to town. - - I am going over to Liverpool to-night. I enclose order for the - horses.---Yours very truly, CHAS. S. PARNELL. - - - -Parnell rented some stables fairly near my house for his horses, and -took much interest in their welfare. He was not a man who had very -much knowledge of horses, but he was a fine horseman, and on his -hunter President, a beautiful horse of sixteen hands and a -weight-carrier, {232} he looked remarkably well. He took a -scientific interest in the shoeing of the horses and, to the great -annoyance of his grooms, would constantly try new methods of shoeing -in order to deaden the "jar" of the contact of the road. This trial -of new methods proved a boon to my horse Dictator--given me by -Parnell--for the tenderness of his feet was completely cured when -Parnell, dead against the conservative ideas of my stableman, -insisted on his having leathers inserted between Dictator's foot and -shoe. - -This horse Dictator was a great pleasure to us, though he pulled -rather badly. He was very fast and extraordinarily sure-footed, -keeping his feet in the worst frost, even when driven on the slippery -London paving in hard night frosts. He would trot away to London in -much less time than Parnell could get there by any other means. -Parnell did not drive well, leaving the reins slack upon the horse's -back, so that he had no control over it in any emergency. My -nervousness in this was so great that he very good-naturedly left all -the driving to me, saying: "Well, that's how the jarveys drive in -Ireland!" in answer to my plaintive "I've never seen anyone drive -like that." - -President was a very solid horse, in mind as well as in body, and -once when Parnell had ridden him up to New Cross in a frost President -sat down violently and was so impressed with the safety of his -position that he refused to get up again until Parnell--who was of -immense muscular strength--with the help of a couple of stalwart -policemen, literally lifted him to his feet. - -Parnell then went into an adjacent saddler's shop to buy a "rubber" -to give President a rub down and, finding a rather original make of -pocket-book on the counter, with beautifully-sewn leather covers, -became so immersed in the selection of one for me that at length an -irate policeman {233} looked in to order him to remove his horse at -once, as it was causing "an obstruction!" Parnell, recalled to the -problem of how to get President and himself to Westminster Bridge, -where his servant was waiting to take the horse, proceeded to rub him -down while considering the matter, thereby delighting the crowd of -onlookers. - -The policeman besought him to "get on the 'orse, sir, and ride hoff," -before the whole street got "'eld hup," but Parnell gently declined, -as he knew that President had now no chance of keeping his feet on -the ice-coated pavement. After fully considering the matter he found -the chief thing was to get himself out of the crowd as quickly as -possible, and, slipping a little comfort into the constable's hand, -he ordered him to put the horse up at the nearest stables and drove -off, ignoring all queries and protests. - -He sent me a telegram from the House to assure me of his safe -arrival, but forgot all about his waiting servant, who, after some -hours, not daring to return home, telegraphed to me to know what he -was to do, as his master had not arrived. The whole thing amused -Parnell intensely, but unfortunately he had given the policeman the -name of Prescott, and, in absence of mind, sent his groom the next -day to find and bring back the horse of "Mr. Stewart." It was a most -expensive trial of President's utility. The pocket-book I still use -daily, and prize very highly; it is as perfect, though much worn, as -when he bought it, some twenty-six years ago. - -After my old collie Elfie died, Parnell offered to get me another -dog, and, as I wanted an Irish wolf-hound, he and I went to see one -that was advertised for sale. It was a magnificent animal, but we -had much doubt as to {234} its true breed, and decided that Mr. -Parnell should not buy it. - -He then suggested bringing me an Irish setter the next time he went -to Ireland, and, as the idea pleased me, he brought a half-grown -setter given him by Mr. Corbett, M.P., who said this dog, Grouse, was -the very best he had ever had. Grouse became at once the constant -companion and pleasure of his master and myself. He was a beautiful -dog, and most faithful and affectionate. Mr. Parnell would tease him -by pretending to be jealous when Grouse lay at my feet with his head -on my foot, and when the dog rose with the dignity that always -characterized him, and went over to Parnell, resting his head on his -knee and assuring him of his absolute devotion, I would in my turn -despair at having no dog to love me. - -After a few moments of this game poor Grouse would sit exactly -between us, looking from one to the other, and whining at the -impossibility of pleasing us both at once. Then Parnell would move -to my side on the sofa so that Grouse could rest his chin on our -clasped hands, to his great contentment. The dog always slept in -Parnell's room, and, in his last illness, when the doctors wished to -have Grouse removed, Parnell would not allow it. - -Mr. Corbett was very sad when he heard that Grouse had become a -lady's pet, as the old sportsman considered it a sin to "spoil" a gun -dog; but I think that if he had known the pleasure Grouse gave "the -Chief" he would have been glad that the dog should have exchanged the -Wicklow Mountains for the hated Saxon's home. Parnell took Grouse -over for the grouse-shooting one season and telegraphed to me that he -had done very well, but he soon brought him back to me. - -Another dog that Parnell brought home to me from {235} Ireland was a -mongrel Irish terrier that he had found wandering in the streets of -Killaloe. He had been dreadfully starved and ill-used, and was quite -savage when handed over to me at Brighton with muzzle and chain on, -but with kindness and good feeding he soon became as devoted to us as -Grouse was, and with him used thoroughly to enjoy following Parnell -when he rode over the Downs for his daily exercise. - -After we went to Brighton Parnell would give the dogs a swim in the -sea every day, and Grouse's strong swimming was a great delight to -his master. Pincher, the terrier, was the cause of much anxiety, as -he used to swim right out to sea--so far that we lost sight of the -little dark head--and Parnell had very often to get a boat out and -fetch the exhausted little beast back. This little dog lived for -many years after his master's death (Grouse only two years), but he -would never allow another man to touch him without trying to bite -him. He was fond of Parnell, but always on guard with other men, -though quite good-tempered with women. Parnell used to say that -Pincher must have been so badly treated by some man that he had -learned distrust of all males. Many a time he came home from his -rides with rueful amusement at the exaggerated value placed upon -their legs by shepherds or labourers he had met on the Downs who had -been bitten by Pincher with a careless indiscrimination that at last -earned him a muzzle. - -Parnell also brought to Eltham a very old setter, Ranger. He had -been a splendid dog, and now his limbs were too feeble to follow his -faithful heart in his master's sport. So Mr. Parnell took pity on -him, and asked Mr. Corbett to let him have the dog for a lady who -would care for his old age, and Ranger came to us, spending the {236} -evening of his life in basking on the sunny lawn at Eltham, wagging a -dignified tail of appreciation and greeting to those of us he met on -his stiff walks about the place or dreaming his doggie dreams of the -sport of the past, happy and cared for till he died. - -* * * * * * - -The following letter was sent to _United Ireland_ on April 11, 1885, -in regard to the proposed visit of the Prince of Wales to Ireland:-- - - - - You ask for my views regarding the visit of the Prince of Wales. - In reply, I desire to say that if the usages of the Constitution - existed in Ireland as they do in England there would, to my - judgment, be no inconsistency in those who believe in the limited - monarchy as the best form of government taking a suitable part in - the reception of the Prince. But in view of the fact that the - Constitution has never been administered in Ireland according to - its spirit and precedents, that the power of the Crown as wielded - by Earl Spencer and other Viceroys is despotic and unlimited to - the last degree, and that in the present instance the Royal - personage is to be used by the two English political parties in - Ireland for the purpose of injuring and insulting the Irish - Nationalist Party, and of impeding, if possible, their work, I - fail to see upon what ground it can be claimed from any lover of - constitutional government under a limited monarchy that the - Prince is entitled to a reception from the independent and - patriotic people of Ireland, or to any recognition save from the - garrison of officials and landowners and place-hunters who fatten - upon the poverty and misfortunes of the country. Let me suggest - a parallel. Would it be tolerated in England for a moment if the - Government, for their own party purposes, on the eve of a general - election, were to use the Prince of Wales as an electioneering - agent in any section of the country, and were to send him upon a - Royal progress in order to embarrass their political opponents? - The breach of constitutional privilege becomes still graver when - we consider that it is the march of {237} a nation which is now - sought to be impeded--the fruition of a long struggle and of many - sacrifices which the adventitious aid of this Royal visit is - enlisted to injure. I have, however, every confidence that our - people, having been suitably forewarned, will not allow their - hospitable nature and cordial disposition to carry them into any - attitude which might be taken as one of condonation for the past - or satisfaction with the present state of affairs. - - CHARLES S. PARNELL. - - - -This letter was written at Eltham, and there was a laughing battle -between us over the writing of it. I threatened to make him hang out -"Union Jacks" from every window of Avondale if he made things -unpleasant in Ireland for the Prince, and he, in pretended horror, -wrote the above, and tossed it to me for the alterations (which I, of -course, did not make) that my "English prejudices" demanded. But he -seriously believed that this visit of the Prince to Ireland was timed -by the advisers of his Royal Highness with singular and malicious -advertence to the State of the political situation, and he commented -most strongly upon the poverty of imagination and chivalry of a great -country such as England who could find no better use for her Prince -than that of an electioneering agent. - - - - -{238} - -CHAPTER XXIII - -SEASIDE HOLIDAYS - - "_Green leaves a-floating, - Castles of the foam, - Boats of mine a-boating, - Where will all come home?_" - --STEVENSON. - - -In May, 1886, I took my children to the Queen's Hotel, Eastbourne, -for a change, and, after a few days spent in looking for lodgings, I -settled them in St. John's Road. Parnell enjoyed the bathing at -Eastbourne greatly, and was much distressed that the weakness of my -heart prevented my joining him in his swims, and that boating had -most disastrous effects on me. - -He was boyishly determined that I should at any rate join him in some -way in his sea "sports," and one warm May evening he insisted that if -I went into the sea fully dressed it could not hurt me. I thought it -would at any rate be most uncomfortable, but to please him I held -tightly to his arm while we waded far out to sea till the waves came -to my shoulder and threw me off my feet. - -He held me tightly, laughing aloud as the ripple of waves and wind -caught my hair and loosed it about my shoulders; and, as I grew cold -and white, my wonderful lover carried me, with all my weight of -soaked clothing, back to the shore, kissing the wet hair that the -wind twisted about his face and whispering the love that almost -frightened me in its strength. Luckily the dusk of evening had come -down upon us, and I was able to get back {239} to the house in my wet -things, half-walking and half-carried by Parnell, without unduly -shocking Eastbourne's conventions. - -As I thought I should be able to be away from my aunt, with -occasional flying visits to her, for about two months, Parnell had -two of our horses brought down to Eastbourne. He had during that -time to go to London and Ireland, but it was on the whole a peaceful -little interlude in his strenuous political life, and we were very -happy. He rode his horse President in the morning, and afterwards I -drove him far out into the country around Eastbourne with Dictator in -my phaeton. - -We often drove out to Birling Gap--a favourite haunt of ours--and -there we selected a site for the ideal house of our dreams; a place -where one could hear nothing but the beating of the surf on the rocks -below and the wild call of the sea-birds. He loved that place, where -we could be absolutely alone save for the coastguardsman along the -cliff, who never intruded his interesting conversation, but who was -always ready for a chat when we cared to hear his stories of the sea. - -It was impossible to drive near the place, so we had to leave -Dictator and the phaeton far off on the last bit possible to drive -upon. Parnell had an easy method of "hitching" a horse to something, -in the firm faith that he would find it there on return a few hours -later, and this made me very uneasy where my far from patient -Dictator was concerned. Parnell would settle the horse with a feed, -in charge of his groom, well sheltered behind a hill, and take a -fantastic pleasure in observing the sulky gloom of the young man's -face after an hour or so of this isolated meditation. - -Parnell had a great love of sea-storms, and when there {240} was a -gale blowing from the west, and rough weather assured, he loved to -get me out to Birling Gap to listen to the roar of the sea and the -screaming of the wind as it blew around us, nearly carrying us off -our feet. He would tie his coat about me, and hold me firmly against -the wind as it tore about us, and while we gazed out at the raging -waves he would exclaim: "Isn't this glorious, my Queen? Isn't it -alive?" - -Our coastguardsman friend always seemed somewhat pleased to see us, -though undoubtedly he thought us odd in our amusements. I have often -thought since that if we had built our house in that isolated -loveliness, where the sound of the sea and moan of the wind were -incessant, there would have been some truth in what was said -afterwards as to our house in Walsingham Terrace, that it was so -"terribly dreary." - -On one occasion we drove to Pevensey, and, passing the station on our -return, a crowd from some local train came pouring out. Parnell -asked me to pull up to let the crowd go by; but to his consternation -this attracted the attention of some young men in the crowd, who at -once recognized him, and, waving their hats, cried "Parnell, -Parnell!" with that horrible emphasis on the "nell" that is so -prevalent. Parnell, lifting his hat, urged me in an agonized tone to -drive on, but it was too late. The crowd clustered about us, -insisting on shaking hands with him, and throwing covertly interested -glances at his companion. They would not let us go on till he had -made a little impromptu speech on current affairs, after which we -drove off amid cheers. - -Parnell never swore, and "Goodness gracious!" learned from his nurse -in extreme youth, was the strongest expression he ever used, but the -dull, quiet anger such a {241} contretemps as this caused him would, -I felt, have been relieved could he have acquired the habit of -"language." This little incident at Pevensey would lead to newspaper -paragraphs, and it was hard we could not have a few days' quiet -amusement without having it boomed through the country. However, a -brilliant thought struck me. If we were to be bothered by paragraphs -let them be our own! So we drew up by the wayside, and concocted a -paragraph which told an over-interested world that "Mr. Parnell had -been staying at Hastings with his sister, and on visiting Pevensey -with her had," etc., etc. This, forwarded to the Press Association, -left us in peace at Eastbourne to complete our little holiday. - -Apropos of Parnell's "Goodness gracious," he was at first quite -unconscious of his use of the words, and it was only on Willie's -plaintive query as to why he did not d---n like other men, instead of -using "that foolish and vulgar expression," he became aware of it. -He then admitted with some amusement that he liked the homely old -expression and did not d---n merely because it never occurred to him -to do so. - -On the cliffs towards Beachy Head is a house that at that time was -built but not quite finished. Parnell took me up to see it, and -suggested that it might be a charming seaside retreat for us, even -though not the ideal we always had in our minds. This house then had -a beautiful and wide outlook over the sea, and I liked it so much -that he arranged to take it on a three years' agreement directly it -was finished. He wanted to have all the walls distempered instead of -papered, and we spent many hours over this and the selection of the -Minton tiles for the hall. The details of the house interested him -greatly, and one day when the men working there had gone to dinner -Parnell {242} showed me how to lay the tiles with so much energy that -we had finished their work by the time the men returned. He then -insisted upon my writing "Heatherbell Cottage" on a tile, which he -proceeded to inlay over the front door, earning the comment from the -men working there that he seemed to know as much about the "job" as -they did. - -He then turned his attention to making a smooth lawn in our little -garden, spending hours pulling a roller up and down, while I sat on -the steps writing from his dictation "A Proposed Constitution for the -Irish and the English Peoples"--a production that excited the -greatest wrath in the minds of some of the Irish Party at a -subsequent meeting. I do not think that the English members of -Parliament were ever made acquainted with the benefits proposed for -their consideration under this "Constitution." - -This Constitution was more fun than anything else. Parnell -undoubtedly put it before certain members of the Irish Party instead -of one drafted by his own hand. He told me afterwards that they -looked "absolutely ill" when they saw my handwriting, so he would not -withdraw it in favour of his own--till later. - -I was sitting on the doorstep of our new house one day, idly watching -Parnell build a bank that was to be turfed over to keep us from -prying eyes, when he stopped suddenly and, leaning on his spade, -said: "I am a poet! And descended from the poet, Thomas Parnell." - -"Not a poet," I answered gently, "even though descended from one." - -"I am a poet myself; give me a pencil and paper." And, throwing -himself down beside me, he wrote down the following verse proudly. -"It came to me while I was digging," he said as he tossed it over to -me, "and it is a {243} real poem, and makes me a real poet. It's as -good as any of Tom Parnell's stuff!" - -I was forced to confess that I agreed with him, as I do now, that it -was and is as good as, and better to me than, any of Thomas Parnell's -stuff, or "the stuff" of any poet who ever graced the world with -song. This is it:-- - - "The grass shall cease to grow, - The river's stream to run, - The stars shall ponder in their course, - No more shall shine the sun; - The moon shall never wane or grow, - The tide shall cease to ebb and flow, - Ere I shall cease to love you." - CHAS. PARNELL. - - -One evening in 1886, on his return from town, Parnell told me about -Mr. O'Brien's Plan of Campaign. He did not approve of it, and said -that he did not wish to have anything to do with the working of it, -adding: "I shall let O'Brien run it by himself." - -Parnell was looking and feeling very ill at this time, and when Mr. -O'Brien took upon himself to call at my house to see him, entirely -uninvited, Parnell was not really well enough to see him. He was -suffering from nervous breakdown, chiefly brought on by gastric -trouble, which in its turn was produced by overwork and the strain of -political life. All through his life Parnell was delicate. From -1880, when I first met him (and nursed him into health) to 1891, when -he died, it was only by incessant watchfulness and care that I was -able to maintain his health at all. It is certainly the fact that -only his indomitable will and power of mind rendered him capable of -enduring the strain of his public life and of the feats {244} of -strength that few men of far greater physique would have attempted. - -It was in allusion to this illness at the time of the visit of Mr. -O'Brien that Parnell said in his speech at the Eighty Club (May 8, -1888): "I was ill, dangerously ill; it was an illness from which I -have not entirely recovered up to this day. I was so ill that I -could not put pen to paper, or even read the newspaper. I knew -nothing about the movement until weeks after it had started, and even -then I was so feeble that for several months--absolutely up to the -meeting of Parliament--I was positively unable to take part in any -public matter, and was scarcely able to do so for months afterwards. -But, if I had been in a position to advise, I candidly submit to you -that I should have advised against it." - -Mr. O'Brien called again to see Parnell during the time he was so -ill, and he left his room for the first time to go down to the -sitting-room to see him. They had a long talk over the Plan of -Campaign and other matters, and the interview left Parnell so -exhausted that he was very ill again for some days afterwards. - -Long after he told me, "All I got for getting up to see O'Brien was -that he went about telling people that I was insane." - -Mr. Parnell had been feeling low and depressed all through the summer -of this year, and towards the autumn I became very much worried about -his lassitude and general feeling of illness. I tried different -diets without effect, and, thinking it might be better for him to go -straight to bed after "the House," I took a house in London for him -and settled him there, but he could not bear the loneliness and came -back to Eltham as usual after a few nights. In November he became -worse, and I insisted {245} upon his consulting a doctor, suggesting -Sir Henry Thompson, as I had heard he was very clever. I took him to -London on the afternoon of November 6, in a closed carriage, and he -was feeling so weak and nervous that he asked me to go in and see Sir -Henry first for him. His nerves had completely broken down and I -felt terribly worried about him. He stayed in the waiting-room while -I went into the consulting-room. Here Sir Henry hurried in from -dinner, extremely irritable at being disturbed at such an unseemly -hour for a "Mr. Charles Stewart," whom he did not know. "Look, look, -_look_! Look at the clock! What's the matter? I have a -consultation in a few minutes!" - -I was very glad that the door between the rooms was shut, as I felt -that such a reception in his state of nerves would have caused -Parnell to leave the house without waiting for an interview. I began -to point out that "my" patient could not, in such a low state, face -such an ungenial reception. So he permitted me to explain a little -about Mr. Stewart's ill-health, and as he was kindness itself, losing -every trace of impatience, he helped Parnell into his room, where, -after receiving a smile of assurance from Parnell, and having seen -the relief in his face, I left them together, feeling what an -inestimable blessing it was to have placed Parnell's health in such a -haven of security in so far as human skill could aid it. - -The knowledge, throughout the rest of Parnell's life, of being able -to obtain Sir Henry Thompson's advice was a great comfort to this -overwrought man. - -Sir Henry Thompson warned me that it was most important for Mr. -Parnell's health that his feet should be kept very warm, as his -circulation was bad. When his feet became cold it upset his -digestion, and this so {246} disorganized his general health that he -was then laid up for several days. I always insisted upon his -frequently changing his shoes and socks when he was at home, and gave -him a little black bag containing a change whenever he was sure to be -away for a few hours, as I found that the trouble of the frequent -changing was amply compensated for in warm feet and therefore better -health. - -So curiously inquisitive were some of the Irish Party about its -contents that the little bag with the change of socks and shoes -became an obsession with them till one of them made the brilliant -discovery that "Parnell had boots and socks in it to save him from -wet feet!" Parnell used to complain to me when he handed it over to -me that I might see by the different coloured socks that he had kept -his promise of "changing" in town, that ----'s eyes seemed to be -boring holes in the bag, and he was really thinking it would be -better to hang the other shoes and socks round his neck if he must -take them about with him! - -When Parnell had to go over to Ireland he desired his secretary, Mr. -Campbell, to bring his correspondence down to me at Eastbourne in -order that I might deal with one or two matters on which he desired -immediate intelligence telegraphed to him in our private code. He -had long since registered the telegraphic address of "Satellite" for -me that he might be able to telegraph with more privacy, and this -arrangement had proved its usefulness many times in political and -private matters. He had himself put together the code words we used, -and insisted on my learning them by heart, to obviate the risk of any -misunderstanding in case of loss. - -Most of the words used were taken from his assaying operations, -though not all, and were sent as from one {247} engineer to another -about work in hand. In the code Willie appeared as "Tailings" and -with Middlings, Crude, Gas, Overseer, Slag, Concentrate, Deposit, and -a few other such words for Gladstone, Chamberlain, and other -politicians, our code was an excellent working medium of private -communication. - -Before we took the house in Eastbourne we made a flying visit to -Bognor, but this, though in those days a pretty, fresh, little place, -was very difficult to get at, and impossible from a politician's -point of view. We went there on a gloriously stormy day, and -thoroughly enjoyed it. In our search for houses we even got as far -as Selsey, but when, on our going into the house we had come to see, -the caretaker carefully double-locked the door, Parnell turned with a -horrified gesture to me, and insisted upon leaving at once without -going over the house at all. It was an omen of misfortune, he said, -and we could never be happy in such a house. - -I have always thought that one of the greatest charms of Parnell's -personality was the extraordinary simplicity of his outlook on -ordinary life allied to the extremely subtle trend of his intellect. - -A man of moods, he never permitted a mood to blind him to probable, -or possible, issues in political matters. A keen judge of character, -he summed up, mentally docketed, and placed in the pigeon-hole of -memory, each and every man who came into his political vision, and -could thus at any time place, sort, and direct any pawn of the Irish -political game. Yet in things having no political significance his -simplicity was almost absurd in its naïveté. - -An amusing instance of what I mean occurred while we were at -Eastbourne in '86. There was a boy I {248} employed about the house -at Eltham, who was growing too fast, and looked as though he would be -all the better for a little sea air. As I was taking my own servants -down to Eastbourne I took this boy down also for a holiday, since it -made little difference as to expense. This child was, I suppose, -about fourteen years old, and once as I sat at the window, sorting -Parnell's letters, and enjoying the morning air, I was suddenly -struck with consternation to see my protégé, Jimmie, escorted up the -road between two of Eastbourne's largest policemen. I said to -Parnell, "Look!" and, following the direction of my horrified -forefinger, he gazed sadly out at Jimmie, and replied, "Throwing -stones, I'll wager. _More_ paragraphs, sweetheart! You shouldn't -have boys about." - -But the large policeman insisted upon an interview with "the -gentleman," with "Mr. Stewart," and, on my having the whole party in -to hear the worst, we were informed that poor Jimmie had been caught -trying to change a £50 note at the grocer's shop! "Mr. Stewart's" -cold gravity of expression changed to one of deprecating amusement as -I glanced indignantly at him. "I had no change, constable, so of -course sent the boy to change the note," explained Parnell. "Told -'em so," threw in Jimmie, now feeling fairly safe and the centre of -interest. But Eastbourne policemen are far too unimaginative to -believe that boys of Jimmie's age are to be sent for change for £50 -notes, and it was with the utmost difficulty we got rid of these -stolid guardians of our pockets. - -Parnell, after sending the boy for change, had temporarily forgotten -the matter, and no explanation could convince him that it was the -obvious thing that the boy should be "arrested" on trying to change -so large a note. {249} "Jimmie's a nuisance, but anyone can see that -he is honest," was his conclusion. - -On one of our excursions, ostensibly to look for a house, but really -as much as anything for the purpose of getting away for a few hours -to the sea, we went to Herne Bay. This was a charming and lonely -little place then; a cluster of houses set in green fields and a -fresh sea dashing over the little pier. It was always on days when -the wind was high that the longing for the sea came over us, and thus -we generally found the sea responding to our mood. - -At this little village of Herne Bay the house we saw was unsuitable, -but the day is a memory of salt wind and rough waves, followed by a -picnic dinner at the little inn, where Parnell ordered a fowl to be -roasted, and was momentarily saddened by my refusal to eat that -murdered bird, which had been so pleasantly finding its own dinner -when he gave the order. - - - - -{250} - -CHAPTER XXIV - -LONDON REMEMBRANCES - - "_My true love hath my heart and I have his._" - --SIR PHILIP SIDNEY. - - -Once when Parnell had to go to Ireland by the morning mail, after a -late sitting of the House, I went up to the St. Pancras Hotel, where -he had a room that night, and made the waiter bring up a tray into -the bedroom, with a cold bird, some tomatoes and materials for salad -dressing, adding a bottle of still Moselle (Parnell always drank -still Moselle by his doctor's, Sir Henry Thompson's, orders, and no -other wine). I knew he would be rushed to catch the train when he -returned in the early morning, and that he would miss the little meal -I always had ready for him, and this missing a meal was very bad for -him. - -When I had prepared the supper table to my liking I sat down by the -open window and watched the flare of light in the sky and the wide -panoramic view of mean streets and wide spaces I had from this -window, of one of the rooms highest up in this high building; and the -shrieks and oaths of men and women came up to me as they quarrelled, -and the drunken brawls of some past semblance of humanity floated up -to me till dawn brought peace to the city, as these poor dregs of -life slunk back to their dens to seek the oblivion of sleep. I shall -never forget the sights and sounds of that night, for never before -had the horror of a great city's streets at night been so forcibly -brought before me. - -{251} - -In the early dawn Parnell came, and, seeing his supper there, sat -down to eat it without question, as I had known he would. He ate in -a preoccupied way as he thought over his speech, and after telling of -various points in it, suddenly said, "Ah, I was really hungry; and -you found some tomatoes. I'll make the salad if you'll eat some." -So he made a delicious salad, and we feasted upon it before I left -him to go down to Eltham by the early train, and to give him time for -a short rest before catching the mail train for Ireland. - -* * * * * * - -"There is one great comfort about this," I used to say to myself, -after two hours' walking up and down that most uncomfortable station, -Waterloo Junction, "and that is that he always comes at last." I had -often to comfort myself with that reflection as I waited about at -various stations for Parnell. - -When he had to be late I often went up to the House to fetch him out -to dinner at a restaurant. He hated dining in the House, and there -were one or two points in the diet ordered him by Sir Henry Thompson -that I insisted upon for him where he would not take the trouble to -insist for himself. After dinner I would drive him nearly back to -the House. There he got out, and if he felt lonely at the idea of -driving down to Eltham by himself as he sometimes did, or if he -thought he would want to talk to me again before he came home (as he -very often did!) I would promise to wait for him at some station, so -that he could find me without observation. It would have been much -more comfortable, of course, for me to have waited in a house or -rooms somewhere, but people were so extraordinarily curious about -Parnell that it would have been {252} impossible so to get any peace -unless we changed the address every week, and this would have been -decidedly too expensive. As it was, he was often followed to the -station by a detective or some private busybody who could not realize -that even a public man may possible prefer to keep a little of his -life to himself. - -So very many hours I waited for him at various stations! The -officials (at each and all) were most kind and considerate to the -lonely lady who had to be driven, by sheer force of regulations, from -one waiting-room to another as the lights were put out, and who -finally would take to a steady tramp up and down the station platform -till at length (such a long length sometimes!) she was joined by her -husband and almost lifted into the hansom-cab they invariably drove -off in. - -When I felt that he really wanted me to wait I could not bear to go -home, and though Waterloo was the most uncomfortable station of all -to keep vigil in I often chose it, as, owing to the early morning -trains at the Junction, I could always be sure that it would not be -altogether shut up. - -I think the officials must have known who Parnell was, as I always -had a free pass (from him) for all these lines, but they never -intruded, and, in spite of my pass, received and kept his telegrams -for me (he often telegraphed from the little office near the House, -in the name "Preston") with perfect tact. The porters were very good -to me also, and many a scuttle of coal was recklessly emptied on a -waiting-room fire after hours as "reg'lations 'gainst keepin' on gas -strong, but it will be fairly cheerful like with the firelight, -ma'am." The railway men are a kindly race, for I rarely tipped these -men. - -* * * * * * - -{253} - - - HOUSE OF COMMONS, - 12.30. - - I arrived here to-night. - - I fear I may be detained till rather late to-night, so hope you - will not wait up for me. I expect to return home about 3.30. - - -The above is a note, one of very many, sent down to me at Eltham, so -that I should, if I wished, go to bed before Parnell came home. I -did this only once or twice, as I fancied I heard him directly I -closed my eyes, and would go down, only to find a dreary blank of -disappointment. So I made him agree to my staying in my -sitting-room, where from the open window I could hear for miles the -regular trotting of the cab-horse bringing him home. - -He only stipulated that I should not go out along the roads to meet -him at night. In March, 1887, I thought my King was looking tired -and worried. There had been various annoying happenings owing to new -reports of his life at Eltham having been put about. I had had -unpleasant letters from Willie, and the latter and I were not now on -speaking terms. With this and his hard work Parnell was looking -fagged and worn. His health, always an anxiety to me, seemed to -fail, and the languor that grew upon him frightened me. I determined -that he should be spared the long cold night-drive down to Eltham, -and suggested his having a house near the House of Commons to which -he could return and get immediate rest after a night sitting. He had -a little house at Brockley, which he had taken in the name of -"Clement Preston," and furnished, and here he had a man and wife to -look after him. I had never lived there, but used to drive over to -see him for a short time when it was inexpedient that he should be at -Eltham. He never liked this house, and hated the way the people used -to hang about to see him go in and {254} out, "Clement Preston" -apparently being but a poor protection in keeping off curiosity as to -Parnell's habits. He wearily said he did not want to live in London -unless I would live there too, but, as I pointed out, that was -impossible, and I took a house in York Terrace, Regent's Park -(furnished), for him. Here I installed him with two servants, who -absolutely worshipped the ground he walked upon, and, having placed -various books about, books that he considered of pleasant relaxation, -such as engineering and mining treatises, with a couple of Dickens' -works that he had always been "going to read," and a few technical -journals, I went home haunted by his grave, considering eyes and his -sad "You must not leave me here by myself; I don't want to be here -without you!" hoping that after a day or two he would settle down and -feel the benefit of getting more quickly to bed. - -The house was charming, with, on one side, a lovely outlook over -Regent's Park. It was very pretty and comfortable, and I used to -make flying visits to him, to sit with him while he ate his breakfast. - -For three weeks I congratulated myself on having been self-denying -enough to earn him better rest, even at the cost to myself of not -having him so much with me; then, on my return from my aunt, whose -great age was now beginning to tell upon her, late one evening, I -felt anxious and worried about my lover, even though my good-night -telegram was awaiting me. He always telegraphed "good-night" if he -was away from me. I tried to shake the feeling off, but after dinner -I found myself mechanically making up the fire in my sitting-room as -I did when sitting up for Parnell after a late sitting of the House. -I felt amused at my absent-mindedness, and sat down before the fire, -thinking that I would take advantage of {255} the beautiful blaze I -had made. I sat there idly, thinking of Parnell, wondering what -exactly he was doing at that moment, and presently, hearing the -servants go to bed, and feeling disinclined for bed myself, I got a -book. - -I could not settle to reading, and began to feel very lonely and to -wish I were really waiting up for Parnell, as I used to. I thought -of my aunt, of how very old she was, of her immense goodness to me -ever since I had lived at Eltham, and of what a great blank there -would be when she died--her life seemed to be like a flame flickering -in the wind now, and it might go out any day. I got up to shake off -my sad thoughts, and, throwing open my window, leant out and listened -to the wind in the trees. - -I heard the clock strike two, and listened, as I had always done, -about this time, for the regular beat of the horse's hoofs that would -bring my King home. I could hear nothing, and my longing for his -presence was so great that I called out under my breath, "I wish you -would come. I do wish you would come." Then I think I became -drowsy, for I started up from the window, suddenly hearing three -o'clock ring out from the village and the steady trot-trot of a horse -in the distance. - -I held my breath to listen, my heart beating with an eager joy. I -could hear the beat of the hoofs round the corner into the village as -they came from the Common, then lost as they went up the High Street, -and suddenly clearer with the jingle of the cab bells as they turned -the top of the road and stopped. I knew now, and opened the door -quickly as my love came up the little side-walk past the window, -giving the familiar signal as he went up the two steps; and I was in -his arms as he whispered, "Oh, my love, you must not leave me alone -again." - - - - -{256} - -CHAPTER XXV - -THE PARNELL COMMISSION - - "_For none on earth so lone as he - Whose way of thought is high and free, - Beyond the mist, beyond the cloud, - Beyond the clamour of the crowd._" - - -I had long since had a high paling put round my garden to screen it -from the inquisitive eyes of persons who had, until this was done, -the impertinence to lean over the short stone wall and railings to -watch Parnell as he went in and out. This new paling was seven feet -high. On the carriage gates there was bronze ornamental work, thick -and heavy. Once this was cut through by someone unknown and fell, -the next time the gate was opened, upon the head of the groom, as he -stooped to unbolt it. - -This little "accident" was no doubt intended for Mr. Parnell's or for -my benefit, and the fact that the young man's arm was pushed against -the gate, above his head, as he stooped to ease the bolt, doubtless -saved him from a cracked skull. As it was, he was badly bruised and -cut, some fifty pounds of bronze work falling partly upon him. After -this he examined the work on the other gate, and, finding that this -also had been cut through, with the help of the gardener lifted it -off before further damage was done. This pointless and malignant -spite might easily have had far more serious consequences, since my -children were going out by these gates driving their ponies, and it -was quite by chance that they had called {257} the groom to open the -gates for them, for one or other of them generally played at being -the "footman" on these occasions. The police could not trace the -perpetrators of the little pleasantry. - -I then made a beautiful, thick rose-hedge at one side of this garden, -and the roses grew and flourished to such an extent that it proved an -effectual screen from the too-pressing attention of persons, who had -not, I suppose, very many interests of their own. - -On the morning that the (so-called) Parnell letters appeared in the -_Times_ (March 7, 1887), they were cut out and pasted on the gate by -a person or persons unknown; and here also the perspicacity of our -local police failed to find the merrymaker. - -On that day I did not give Parnell the _Times_ opened as usual for -his glance over the political reports while he breakfasted. He asked -for it, but I wanted him to finish his breakfast first, and replied: -"The _Times_ is unusually stodgy; do eat your breakfast first." - -He said he must finish a bit of assaying he had left over-night -before going to London, and would not have time for papers -afterwards, so I told him of the letters, and propped the _Times_ -against the teapot as usual. - -He read the whole thing; meditatively buttering and eating his toast -the while. I supplied him with marmalade, and turned over the folded -paper for him so that he could read more easily. - -He made no remark at all till he had finished breakfast, and -carefully clipped the end off his cigar; then, with a smile, he -tossed the paper at me, saying, "Now for that assaying I didn't -finish! Wouldn't you hide your head with shame if your King were so -stupid as that, my Queen?" - -{258} - -I helped him to set his chemicals right, urging on him that the thing -was very serious, and that he must attend to it; but he only replied: -"You think about it for me while I am finishing this. Now don't -spoil this for me. It will do presently!" and I subsided with the -_Times_ while he worked at his crucibles, and jotted down -results--absolutely absorbed for more than two hours, and only -brought back to politics by my call of "You absolutely must start -now." - -He had a wonderful little machine--a balance that gave the weight of -almost infinitesimal parts of a grain--and this might be touched by -no one but himself. He now reluctantly covered it with its glass -case and lovingly padded it round with a cloth, lest a rough movement -in the room should put it out of balance. - -I said, "Now, my King, you must attend to the _Times_. You must take -an action against them." - -"No. Why should I?" struggling into his coat as I held it for him. -"I have never taken any notice of any newspapers, nor of anyone. Why -should I now?" - -However, he promised me he would consult the "Party" about the -letters, and left assuring me that the English _Times_ was a paper of -no particular importance, after all. - -He got home before I did that evening, and I found him on my return -weighing the infinitesimal specks of his morning's extraction of gold -with the utmost accuracy. He gave me a smile and the fire-flame of -his welcoming eyes as usual, but murmured, "Don't speak for one -moment; I'll tell you the moment I have finished this," and I had to -sit with as much patience as I could muster while he finished his -calculations. Then, coming over to me in triumph, he informed my for -once uninterested ears {259} that he had now completed the extraction -of something or other of a grain of the gold for my wedding ring. - -On my firmly recalling his attention to the matter of the letters he -said wearily--all the interest and buoyancy gone--"They want me to -fight it, but it will be a terrible nuisance, my Queenie; I have seen -Lewis, and he is going to see Russell--Sir Charles, you know--and -then I am to see him again." - -He was very undecided about the necessity of taking the action -against the _Times_, and more than once pointed out to me that the -opinion of that paper and its readers did not really interest him; -but, on my refusing to accept this at all, and urging that Ireland -required that he should defend himself in this, and that my view was -that of the Irish Party, he promised to take the matter seriously, -merely remarking with an amused cynicism that if Ireland wanted him -to cudgel a clean bill of health out of England she would find work -for all the blackthorns she grew. - -Soon my absorbed study of the forged letters caught Parnell's -interest, he shook off his apathy, and joined my study of his -handwriting of many years, and those of the various possible (and -impossible) imitators. Once he became interested he threw himself -into it as wholeheartedly as he did into any other hobby. We spent -hours in this study of calligraphy, and made some interesting and -amusing discoveries. - -After a couple of interviews with Mr. Lewis and Sir Charles Russell, -Parnell one evening asked me if I would mind seeing Lewis, as he had -expressed a wish to see me. I went therefore to Ely Place, and had -an interview with Mr. (Sir George) Lewis. After we had talked over -the situation he gave me tea, and made an appointment for another -interview in a few days' time. I put before {260} him my various -conclusions as to handwritings, one of which he considered might be -useful. - -We had frequent consultations after this, and, as the time of the -trial drew near, Lewis's offices and the passages leading to it, with -the waiting rooms, were filled with the witnesses from Ireland -concerned in the trial. The case did not worry Parnell much--except -that it took up so much of our all too little leisure time, which was -so precious to us. - -The following letters, written from Avondale during the anxious time -preceding the trial, will serve to show how little the matter -affected his ordinary interests. - - - - _August_ 30, 1887. - - MY OWN WIFIE,--I have been exceedingly anxious about you ever - since I left. You seemed so very ill that it has been haunting - me ever since that I ought to have stayed in London. My own - darling may write to me whenever she pleases. I was so longing - for a telegram all day yesterday, but not getting one came to the - conclusion that you had not been able to go to London. - - I have been round the place here, everything going on well. The - new mine is improving, so I have been tempted to continue it for - a short while longer. - - It will not be necessary for me to remain here longer than a few - days, so that whenever you are ready for me I can return. - - YOUR OWN LOVING HUSBAND. - - I am very well indeed. - - - - _January_ 4, 1888. - - I finished will before going to bed on Monday, and will execute - it and send it north to-morrow. Am pretty sure to be able to - return next Monday or Tuesday at latest. - - MY OWN DARLING QUEENIE,--I got off all right yesterday morning, - forgetting the lamp, however, until I was in train, when I - decided upon telegraphing them from Chester to send it on at - once, which I did. I am having the carpenter to fix {261} a - strong hook in the ceiling joist for it to hang upon, and it will - be a great improvement on the present state of affairs, as the - consumption of candles is enormous, while giving very little - light. They are undoubtedly the best and safest lamps out; in - fact, absolutely safe. - - One of the little lamps here was broken since, so I have - suspended the other one also, as it was no use by itself. - - The room will be very nice for a large suspended lamp; it is - about 13½ feet high, by 24 feet by 20 feet. - - I had only half an hour to wait at Kingstown for the train, which - I spent in the waiting-room, and a quarter of an hour at Bray. - - The sea was rather rough, but not too rough for me. I studied - the swinging of a lamp minutely during the passage, and derived - valuable lessons for the new ship.[1] - - Am going to Arklow in the morning. Everything going on here very - well, notwithstanding which I have been advising and admonishing - K.[2] all day. - - E.[3] is here all by herself, mother being expected to-night. - - Miss B. B. was very old, very ugly, and very vulgar; in fact, E. - says the worst sponge that ever got hold of my mother. She drank - nothing but whisky, and took it to bed with her. - - There was dancing after theatricals till six in the morning.[4] - - I am very anxious about my own love, and so glad to get telegram - to-day; expect letter to-morrow. Raining torrents all day. YOUR - OWN HUSBAND. - - -A couple of weeks before the action came on Parnell came home in -great amusement. Lewis had written asking him most particularly to -call, as he had had a consultation with Sir Charles Russell and -wished to report the result to Parnell. On Parnell's calling, -thinking some {262} new phase of the case had been evolved, Mr. Lewis -had "hoped he would not be annoyed," but Sir Charles and he were -rather worried about his (Parnell's) clothes, and would he very much -mind having a new frock-coat from Poole's for the trial! Parnell had -great fun with me over that Poole coat, and when it came home we -tried it on with great ceremony, Parnell stroking its silk facings -with pride, and insisting upon a back view of it in the long mirror -in my room. - -Mr. Lewis inspired me with the greatest confidence, and his -charmingly deferential manner fascinated me, while the keen brown -eyes seemed to read the hidden secrets of the soul. He was always -exquisitely dressed, and, when I made some playful remark about -Parnell's new coat, he told me in confidence that Parnell's Irish -homespuns were a great trial to him--this with such earnestness that -I tried to suppress my laughter, as I explained to him what a -pleasure it was to me to be possessed of a man who was above clothes; -not below them in slovenliness, but above them and unconscious of his -coverings. - -Very many years after this, long after my husband's death, this -acquaintance with Sir George Lewis served me in good stead. -Circumstances arose which rendered me very doubtful and uneasy in -regard to the probity of my trustee and solicitor, who had charge of -my whole income and the capital thereof. I had had no communication -with Sir George Lewis for very many years; but then the happy thought -struck me that he would advise me privately and disinterestedly. My -son went to him on my behalf, and it is entirely owing to the prompt -action taken by Sir George that any part of my little income was -saved to me. - -{263} - -My trustee had been speculating wildly, and, among that of other -clients, every penny of my small fortune had been misappropriated. -Sir George compelled the repayment of what was possible by the -discredited and ruined man, and thus saved me by his kind and -energetic intervention from absolute destitution. Apart from the -very serious loss it entailed upon me, the downfall of my trustee, -clever, good-looking and altogether charming, was a great blow to us -all. He had been so much a friend, and I and my son and daughters -had trusted him so completely. - -The result of the Parnell Commission is well known. I continued to -see Mr. Lewis regularly before the case came on, and on one occasion -he asked me if I would mind going to Wood's Hotel, close by Ely -Place, to meet him on a matter that had to do with the case. This I -did, and, being early, awaited him in the coffee room. When he came -we had a long business talk about the case, and he assured me that -the issue was now completely secured. People were passing in and out -as we talked, and several I noticed passed very close to us, and -stared curiously at me before going out. - -Suddenly, on observing this, I asked Mr. Lewis why he had arranged -our interview in this place instead of at his office as usual. He -made some evasive reply about a client of his who occupied a very -distinguished position--and he mentioned this personage by -name--having an appointment at the office, and disliking the fact of -any other person being received during the same hour of his visit. - -I pointed out to Mr. Lewis that he was surely speaking at random, as -the person he mentioned could not be left about at his office like a -nobody while he talked to {264} me at an hotel. At this he laughed, -and asked that I should be satisfied with his reply until he saw me -again, and with this I had to be content, though I was somewhat -ruffled at his not offering a sufficient explanation of his odd place -of appointment, and I curtly refused to make another at the office -for the following week. - -Our interview had ostensibly been for the purpose of discussing -certain letters I had given into his care at a former interview, but, -as he afterwards told me, he had asked those persons, who had, I -thought, stared at me in the hotel, if they could identify me with -someone who had been impersonating me with the hope of better -entangling Parnell, and of preventing him from publicly protecting -his honour for fear of dragging me into the case. The "gentlemen -from Ireland" who had had so good a look at me were forced to admit -that they had never seen me before in their lives. - -Shortly before the case came on I asked Mr. Lewis if he would mind my -going to see Mr. Soames (solicitor for the _Times_). He answered, "I -do not see why you should not do so if you wish it," and to Parnell, -who had just come in, "It will be quite safe for her to see Soames." -"Yes, of course, she knows best," answered Parnell, and off I went, -pursued by Mr. Lewis's "You must come straight back here, Mrs. -O'Shea," as he put me into the waiting cab. - -My waiting cab was always an acute irritation to Lewis. Alter his -first greeting of me he invariably asked me if my cab was waiting. -"Yes, of course, how else should get home?" "You are not going to -drive home!" with horror. "No, but to the station." "Pay him off, -my dear lady, and I'll send for another when I have given you some -tea," encouragingly. "But I _like_ this horse, he {265} has such -good legs." Then dear Mr. Lewis used to get intensely irritated, and -send someone flying to pay my cab to go away at once. I never dared -at this stage to tell him that I always made a compact with the -cabman that "waiting did not count." - -On my arrival at Mr. Soames's office he saw me at once without any -pretence of being "too busy." In fact his office appeared almost -deserted, and he welcomed me as his "cousin." He took some time in -arranging the exact collateral degree of our relationship, but beyond -this our interview behind his closely shut glass-panelled door led to -nothing. I was desirous of finding out which way his suspicions -tended--as obviously he did not really think that Parnell had written -the letters; he, on his part, was trying to find out why I had come. - -On the 1st of March, 1889, Pigott shot himself in Madrid. It was a -painful affair, and Parnell was sorry for the poor creature. - -When Parnell attended the House for the first time after the result -of the Parnell Commission was made known, I was not well, and could -not get to the Ladies' Gallery, as I had hoped to do, but long before -he came I had had reports of the tremendous ovation he received; how -every section of the House--Ministers, Opposition--all rose at his -entry as one man, cheering themselves hoarse and shouting his name. -I asked him afterwards if he had not felt very proud and happy then, -but he only smiled, and answered, "They would all be at my throat in -a week if they could!" I thought of that speech a little later on. - -Soon after the death of Pigott Mr. Parnell met Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone -at Mrs. Sydney Buxton's[5] "at home." {266} Almost the only comment, -when he got home was: "That's over; thank goodness!" - -On May 28th, 1889, Sir Charles and Lady Russell gave a reception in -honour of the hero of the fight. Parnell hated these affairs, but, -as I pointed out to him, it would be very sad if all those people -assembled to meet him and he was not there. The reception was a time -of adulation for him from first to last, I afterwards heard, but when -Parnell came home and told me all about it he remarked, "It was all -very kind and just as troublesome as usual--or would have been had I -not discovered a pretty little brown head with friendly eyes that -looked as shy as I felt." - -I answered, "Dear me, who was this charming lady? I should like to -know!" - -"That is just what she was, a charming little lady, an Irishwoman. -You know, Queenie, you are the only Englishwoman I can bear! This -was Katharine Tynan; you read some of her things to me," and he went -on to speak of others at the reception, afterwards reverting to the -pleasure he had felt in meeting Katharine Tynan, who he believed -genuinely felt what all "those others" were saying. - -Presumably "those others" were perfectly sincere in their -appreciation of him, but Parnell, so English in his own nature, had a -constitutional distrust of English people, and, curiously enough, he -did not understand them well, while the Irish character was an open -book to him. At a reception like this where the guests were, of -course, mostly English, Parnell would retire behind his coldest, most -aloof bulwark of exquisite courtesy, and, to use his own simile about -Katharine Tynan, "I felt as though a little friendly bird had made a -song for me in {267} an unfriendly land." We often afterwards spoke -of the "little friendly bird," and, should Mrs. Hinkson (Katharine -Tynan) ever see this book, she will know that the "Chief" appreciated -both her loyalty and her song. - -Directly the result of the Parnell Commission was made known Mr. -Parnell was elected a life member of the National Liberal Club; an -election which afforded him a certain grave amusement at the time and -a query later on, when the "National Liberals" wished to depose him, -as to whether a "life member" can dare be so illogical as to continue -life without the membership. - -On the 8th March, 1889, he was entertained for the second time at the -Eighty Club, and, a few days later, at a great meeting at St. James's -Hall. At both meetings the enthusiasm was so great that the whole -body of people present rose en masse as he entered, cheering, waving -handkerchiefs, and shouting his name for some time before they -allowed him to sit down. - -Naturally these ovations of my hero gave me the greatest pride and -joy, but he would never allow me to say much about them. - -"You see, my dear, these people are not really pleased with me," he -would say. "They thought I had written those letters, and now they -are extolling their own sense of justice in cheering me because I did -not write them. I might as wisely shout myself hoarse if a court of -law decided that Gladstone had not told somebody to rob a bank!" And -I would reply: "Well, I love to hear and read about your being -properly appreciated," only to get a reproving "You are an illogical -woman. These people do not appreciate me, they only howl with joy -because I have been found within the law. The English make a law and -bow down and worship it till they find it {268} obsolete--long after -this is obvious to other nations--then they bravely make another, and -start afresh in the opposite direction. That's why I am glad Ireland -has a religion; there is so little hope for a nation that worships -laws." - -And when I persisted, "But don't you feel a little excited and proud -when they all cheer you, really you?" and the little flames showed in -his eyes as he said, "Yes, when it is really me, when I am in the -midst of a peasant crowd in Ireland. Then I feel a little as I do -when I see you smile across the street at me before we meet, but for -these others it is then I know how I hate the English, and it is -then, if I begin to feel a little bit elated, I remember the howling -of the mob I once saw chasing a man to lynch him years ago. Don't be -too pleased with the clapping of these law-lovers, Queenie. I have a -presentiment that you will hear them another way before long, and I -am exactly the same, either way!" - -At the National Liberal Club, at which Sir Frank Lockwood presided, -Mr. Parnell and Lord Spencer shook hands for the first time. When -Parnell rose to speak he received a perfect ovation. He said: - -"There is only one way in which you can govern Ireland within the -Constitution, and that is by allowing her to govern herself in all -those matters which cannot interfere with the greatness and -well-being of the Empire of which she forms a part. I admit there is -another way. That is a way that has not been tried yet.... There is -a way in which you might obtain at all events some present success in -the government of Ireland. It is not Mr. Balfour's bastard plan of a -semi-constitutional, a semi-coercive method. You might find among -yourselves some great Englishman or Scotsman, who would go over to -Ireland--her Parliamentary representation having been taken away -{269} from her--and would do justice to her people notwithstanding -the complaints of Irish landlordism. Such a man might be found who, -on the other hand, would oppose a stern front to the inciters of -revolution or outrage, and on the other hand would check the -exorbitant demands of the governing classes in that country, and -perhaps the result might be successful. But it would have to be a -method outside the Constitution both on the one side and on the -other. Your Irish Governor would have to have full power to check -the evil-doer; whether the evil-doer were a lord or a peasant, -whether the malefactor hailed from Westminster or New York, the power -should be equally exercised and constantly maintained. In that way, -perhaps, as I have said, you might govern Ireland for a season. -That, in my judgment, from the first time when I entered political -life, appeared to me to be the only alternative to the concession to -Ireland of full power over her own domestic interests, and her -future. In one way only, I also saw, could the power and influence -of a constitutional party be banded together within the limits of the -law; by acting on those principles laid down by Lucas and Gavan Duffy -in 1852, that they should hold themselves aloof from all English -political parties and combinations, that they should refuse place and -office for themselves or for their friends or their relations, and -that the Irish constituencies should refuse to return any member who -was a traitor to those pledges." - -In July Parnell was presented with the freedom of the City of -Edinburgh. In his speech of acknowledgment he said: - -"In what way could Ireland, supposing she wished to injure you, be -more powerful to effect injury to your Imperial interests than she is -at present? If you concede {270} to her people the power to work out -their own future, to make themselves happy and prosperous, how do you -make yourselves weaker to withstand wrongdoing against yourselves? -Will not your physical capacity be the same as it is now? Will you -not still have your troops in the country? Will you not still have -all the power of the Empire? ... In what way do we make you weaker? -In what way shall we be stronger to injure you? What soldiers shall -we have? What armed policemen shall we have? What cannons shall we -have? What single means shall we have, beyond the constitution, that -we have not now, to work you injury?"[6] - - - -[1] He studied the balance of the lamp for the "new ship" he was -inventing--the one he was always trying at Brighton. (See p. 277.) - -[2] Kerr, Mr. Parnell's agent and bailiff. - -[3] Emily Dickinson, Parnell's sister. - -[4] Mrs. Delia Parnell was giving the theatricals and dance in the -great new cattle-shed he had had built from his own plans, modelled -on the plan of the new station at Brighton. - -[5] Now Viscountess Buxton. - -[6] A letter of this period from Parnell to Cecil Rhodes, dealing -with the Imperial aspect of Home Rule, is unfortunately the only -important document left of the correspondence between the two, the -rest having been accidentally destroyed. Parnell had been greatly -interested in the political tactics of Rhodes in South Africa. When -in London Rhodes sought an interview, which took place at the -Westminster Palace Hotel. In the letter of June 23, 1888, Parnell -expresses his gladness at knowing that Rhodes considers that the -measure of Home Rule to be granted to Ireland should be -"thoroughgoing," and adds: "I cordially agree with your opinion that -there should be effective safeguards for the maintenance of Imperial -unity." The two men had been discussing the question of the -exclusion or inclusion of Irish representation at Westminster. -Parnell judged exclusion to have been a defect of the Bill of 1886, -and shared Rhodes's view that inclusion would facilitate the larger -measure of Imperial federation. - -Parnell returned to this point in 1891 in the course of his -correspondence with Dillon and O'Brien on the question of the -leadership of the Nationalist Party. He asserted in a letter to -Gill, one of the intermediaries in these discussions, that he could -prove "by documentary evidence" that the second reading of the 1886 -Bill was lost "because the Liberal leaders declined till too late to -agree to the retention of any Irish Members in any shape or for any -purpose." - - - - -{271} - -CHAPTER XXVI - -BRIGHTON HAUNTS - - "_We went as children joyous, or oprest, - In some absorbing care, or blest, - In nodding conversation--hand in hand._" - --HONORA SHEE (THE LOVER'S DIARY). - - -My aunt appeared to me to be failing in health a good deal at the -beginning of 1888, and, though she sometimes seemed to be stronger, -and chatted with all her old interest in the things of the past, -there were days when she was so quiet and drowsy that I feared to -rouse her by talking. At other times she would like me to talk and -read to her as usual, but was so languid and tired that a little -smile and pressure of the hand I held was the only response she made. -In April she had a slight attack of bronchitis, and her doctor -ordered her opium to ease her lungs. She much objected to all -opiates, but her doctor's treatment seemed to ease her. She would -not let me sleep in her house, as she thought, as usual, that it -would "disorganize the household," but I went now nearly every night -across the park in the fragrant spring nights to inquire, under her -maid's window, if Mrs. "Ben" was asleep. - -The owls had nested for years in a great tree by my aunt's bedroom -windows, and I loved to watch them in the moonlight hawking for the -food they had to supply in such abundance now to the screeching -owlets in the nest. The old birds used to sit on Aunt Ben's -window-sill, and hoot, and had done so, much to her pleasure, for the -sixty {272} or seventy years of her residence in the house; but now -her maid shook her head sadly, as she leant out of the window to tell -me of her mistress's condition, saying "That's an omen, m'am; the -dear mistress must be going soon." I answered irritably that the -owls had hooted there since Mr. Benjamin's time, as her mistress had -often told her, but felt her "Time will show, m'am," to be -unanswerable. - -On these May nights, if he was at home, Parnell would walk across the -park with me and wait on a seat for me till I had obtained the latest -bulletin. - -One morning, very early, when her night had been restless, I made -Mary Ann (my aunt's personal maid) come down and let me in. On going -up to the great four-post bed where the dear little old lady lay, -looking as small and frail as a child, she put out one, now feeble, -white hand, and held mine. I told the maid she could go and rest a -bit, and I would call her if my aunt wanted her. - -When she was gone, my aunt, who was breathing with difficulty, -whispered as I bent down to kiss her hand, "You do believe, do you -not, my Swan?" I answered, "Yes, auntie, of course I do believe, most -firmly." She said, "I am glad. I wish you could come with me, my -darling!" and I sobbingly told her that I wished I could too. - -I stayed by her side and smoothed her hand till she ceased to -breathe, and then waited by her as all her servants who had been with -her for many years filed past the bed, and took a last look at their -stern but just and much-loved mistress. - -She left a great void in my life, and the sensation of being always -wanted and tied to one place that I had sometimes felt so keenly hard -I would now have given {273} much to feel again. With this old lady -died, so far as my acquaintance went, the last of the old world--that -old world of leisure and books and gentle courtesy of days when men -might wear their gallantry without foolishness, and women knew the -value of their sex. - -Through all those years in which I waited on my aunt I never heard -her use a clipped word, or use a sentence not grammatically perfect -and beautifully rounded off, and although in the hurry of modern life -I sometimes felt impatient when chided for some swallowed -pronunciation or ignored g's, I look back upon the years of my life -spent in that old-world atmosphere as a very precious memory. - -After my aunt's death Eltham became intolerable to me, and I took a -small country house near Mottingham till I could let my own house. -Directly we left Eltham the pretty garden was devastated by -relic-hunters, who pulled the place to pieces in obtaining mementoes -of "the house where Parnell had lived." - -The house at Mottingham was damp, and we longed for the sea. - -For various reasons we had been obliged to relinquish any idea of -living in the little house we had finished, with so much pleasure, at -Eastbourne, and at last we had removed the few things we had stored -there, and in 1887 had finally decided to take the end house of -Walsingham Terrace (No. 10), Brighton. Shortly after my aunt's death -we went down to live there. The position then was attractive to us: -cornfields from one side of the house away up to Shoreham basin and -harbour, a waste of hay at the back of the house, an excellent train -service and a sufficient distance from Brighton proper to enable us -to avoid the crowd. While we were living there people used to walk -and drive out to see "Parnell's house," but this was not {274} -particularly annoying, as when he was at home we went out early, or -late--anyhow, at a time when the average person is kept at home by -appetite. Personally, if it was not glaringly inconvenient, I was -always rather proud and interested in the popular attention Parnell -attracted wherever he went. - -Here Parnell had the dining-room as his own sitting-room, where he -kept the roll-top desk I had given him for all his papers and -political work, while down in the basement there was a room in which -he had a furnace fitted up, and where we used to burn the crushed ore -before assaying it. We spent many hours down there, and I sometimes -feared the excessive heat must have been bad for him; but he did not -think so, and would become so absorbed in this work that I used to -have the greatest difficulty in getting him out for the gallop on his -horse President across the Downs, which did him so much good. - -I found at length the only way was to get his cap and whip and show -them to the dogs. Immediately I did this they would begin to bark -wildly and jump up at him to make him start for the run they loved so -much. Parnell would then say reproachfully, "Oh, Queenie, how can -you deceive the poor dogs like that?" and I would answer that the -only way to keep them believing in us was to go at once for that -belated ride. Once started none of the party, dogs or horses, -enjoyed it more than he. - -In this house we had from the side windows of Parnell's and from my -room in which he afterwards died, a view of the most wonderful -sunsets I have ever seen in England. Then the whole west was a -veritable fairyland of gold and crimson, and the harbour and Shoreham -town, with the little country church of Aldrington against the -setting of the Downs, were touched with a pearly mist of {275} light -that lifted them far out of the prosaic ugliness we knew by the blank -light of midday. Parnell used to say to me as we walked away to the -golden harbour, "Is it really like this, my Queen, or as we see it at -noon?" I could only reply that it was both--the both that made life -at once so interesting and so difficult. - -Often in the following spring my King and I would drive out as far as -the foot of the Downs near the training stables beyond Southwick; and -then, climbing to the crest of the hills, go for long walks, away -over the Downs, walking or resting as we felt inclined, returning as -night fell, to drive home. - -One sunny morning, lengthening into a brighter day, I especially -remember, when the south-west wind sent the flickering shadows across -the Downs where its sea-scents mingled with the sweet pungency of the -young herbage. As we walked along hand in hand we were gay in the -glorious spring of the year, feeling that while love walked so -closely with us youth could not lag too far behind, and in the wide -expanse of the South Downs, which appealed so much to both our -natures, we forgot all care and trouble. - -Very far away, standing clear against the skyline, there was a figure -of a shepherd, his flock a little lower showed grey against the dull -green distance. He stood motionless, as these lonely Down shepherds -do. The tumbled heap by him, we said, was his dog. So we watched -him some miles away for more than an hour. We wondered what he -thought of, and whether all this lonely loveliness meant anything to -him, or if he would be glad to change his quiet life for the rush and -hurry of a town. - -Presently, from where we sat, at the highest point of the hills, we -saw some horses going at full gallop over the training ground, the -horses straining at the bit, and {276} seemingly glad to be alive. -The dull thud of the hoofs came up to us to mingle with the incessant -trilling of the skylarks and the bleating of the distant sheep. Now -we turned seaward, overlooking Shoreham Harbour, and watched the -vessels going out to sea on voyages fraught with unknown -possibilities. - -In spite of the excessive beauty of the scene, in the region of -thought it had a saddening effect on us; and, as the last gleams of -sunlight fell across the sea, lightly touching the sails as they -slipped out of the light into the wider darkness of the leaden waves, -we turned and retraced our steps, I leaning on his arm as we went -down to the valley again. - -A favourite haunt of ours at Brighton was a little shop in Pool -Valley altogether devoted to the sale of pebbles and crystals of -various sorts, also of jet. Parnell did not like the jet, but was -greatly interested in the pebbles and the polishing of them. - -He spent much time after we had found this shop in watching the -process of cutting crystals and polishing the pebbles. Onyx ball -beads he selected in sizes with the greatest care, and had a long -chain of them made for me with a gold ball between each two onyx -beads. To these he had added a locket composed of crystal and onyx, -and was much pleased with the result. - -The chain, when finished, was a little heavy, but he had had such a -happy time in selecting each bead and so carefully matching the -markings that I wore it with a light heart till he noticed it was -rubbing my neck, and insisted upon my taking it off there and then -for ever. - -Another favourite haunt of ours was Smith's second-hand bookshop in -North Street, where he would stand for an hour at a time poring over -old books on mechanics, {277} or mining, while I dug out "bargains" -amongst the poets of a bygone age, and discussed books with the -proprietor. - -Parnell always tried to get a few days' shooting every year in -Ireland on the grouse moors he hired at Anghavanagh, and I had much -pleasure in getting together hampers of provisions for him in London -to take over with him, as the arrangements he had been used to before -I met him were decidedly primitive and very trying to his health. I -always found that a good supply of hams and tongues, with the very -best tea that I could procure, a new spirit kettle (every year) and a -goodly supply of rugs and blankets rendered him sufficiently -comfortable, and returned him to me without the acute attacks of -indigestion that had formerly rendered these holidays among the -mountains so little gain to him in health. - -I had to insist upon his learning to make his own tea to save him -from the "stewed" tea made by his servant in Ireland, and I found it -better to label the tea I got for his personal use: "For presents," -and that which he might give away: "For Mr. Parnell's own use," as he -said plaintively, "They seem to like my tea best!" - -He used to love these shooting expeditions, but would never stay more -than a few days, as he could not bear to be away from me longer. I -used to wish it were possible for me to go to Ireland with him in -order that he might enjoy his shooting to the full, but that was -impossible, and he always declared that "Three or four days broke the -back of that little shoot, anyhow!" - -For many months Parnell tried to invent a vessel which would so cut -through the water as to obviate any sensation of the motion of the -waves. When he had done this the ship was to be built, and I would -be enabled to cross the Atlantic as comfortably as I now made the -journey {278} to Brighton! Incidentally this invention was also to -make our fortunes. Although the building of the ship had to be -indefinitely postponed, the models made and tested by Parnell were -really wonderful. He had had no training in mechanics, nor did he -know anything of shipbuilding or engineering, except such information -as he obtained from the various books he read for amusement at rare -intervals--but these models he made, and tried off the underdeck of -the Chain Pier at Brighton, were extraordinarily ingenious. - -I do not venture to record this on my own authority, for I know -absolutely nothing of such matters, but the firm, who cast the copper -"floats" for him from his plans, and continually altered and -corrected the models after trials, came to the conclusion that Mr. -"Smith" was on the verge of a very useful invention; though, to his -annoyance, they would not dissociate the torpedo-like structure from -Portsmouth and the Admiralty. I frequently took my children down to -Brighton for a few days' change, and on these occasions Mr. Parnell -would stay at a place near the Chain Pier, and we would spend most of -the day on the underdeck of the pier-head trying the "invention." - -Once a hobby like this got hold of him he could think of nothing else -in his leisure time, and this note is a specimen of many sent round -from his hotel:-- - - - - Am making new float, which will sink five feet, and shall have it - ready to try to-morrow at 12.30. Will meet you on Chain Pier at - that hour. Am anxious to make this trial before returning, and - we will take Hassocks and Burgess Hill in afternoon on way back - to look at houses to let. - - - -This new model we tried in all weathers, and, as at last it seemed to -answer perfectly, with the exception of its lack of speed, he said he -would patent it, and get {279} someone who had more knowledge than he -to overcome the speed difficulty. To my uninitiated mind the thing -looked like a treble torpedo-boat. Had he lived I think he would -have gone further into the matter, but, by the time this was -finished, one thing after another occurred with such rapidity that it -was perforce laid aside. - -I remember one rough, stormy day when we had been much worried and -were wondering whether the time of waiting we had imposed upon -ourselves (that Ireland might not risk the leadership which seemed -her only hope) till the way could be opened to our complete union -before the world, was not to be too long for our endurance. It was a -wild storm, and Parnell had to hold me as we slowly beat our way to -the pier-head. The chains were up to prevent anyone going on to the -lower deck, but Parnell lifted me over, and we tried the "float," -though it was useless to do so, as the waves shattered the slight -thing against the pier before Parnell could sink it to the required -depth. - -Then we stood looking out at the great waves--so near, and shaking -the whole pier-head in their surge. Parnell remarked that the old -place could not last long, and as I turned to get a fresh hold on -him, for I could not stand against the wind, and the motion of the -sea sickened me, the blazing fires in his eyes leapt to mine, and, -crushing me roughly to himself, he picked me up and held me clear -over the sea, saying, "Oh, my wife, my wife, I believe I'll jump in -with you, and we shall be free for ever." - -Had I shown any fear I think he would have done it, but I only held -him tight and said: "As you will, my only love, but the children?" -He turned then, and carried me to the upper deck, hiding my eyes from -the horrible roll and sucking of the sea beneath our feet. - - - - -{280} - -CHAPTER XXVII - -THE DIVORCE CASE [1] - - "Papel y tinta y poca justicia." - ("Paper, ink, and a little justice.") - --OLD SPANISH PROVERB. - - -In November, 1890, Parnell was served with a copy of the petition in -the divorce case, O'Shea _v._ O'Shea and Parnell, by Wontner at -Messrs. Lewis and Lewis's. I was served with the petition in the -same month at 10, Walsingham Terrace, Brighton. Mr. George Lewis and -his confidential clerk came down, and took some evidence for the case -from me, but Parnell declined to instruct any solicitor from the -first to last. He, however, accompanied me when I went to town to -consult Sir Frank Lockwood, my counsel, a junior counsel being also -present. - -"The consultation broke up in peals of laughter," said one of the -less important of the evening papers of the time. This was quite -true, but it had no bearing on the case at all, for the laughter was -caused by the extremely funny stories told us, in his own inimitable -way, by Sir Frank Lockwood. The two or three times I saw him stand -out in my memory as hours of brilliant wit and nonsense, that cheered -and invigorated us far more than the advice we did not ask for could -have done. Parnell would not fight the case, and I could not fight -it without him. The last time I saw Sir Frank Lockwood, the day -before the case came on, he begged me to get Parnell to let him fight -it. I was suffering acutely from neuralgic headache at the {281} -time, but I did my best to get Parnell to defend the case, though to -no purpose. - -We left Sir Frank Lockwood with a promise to telegraph to him by -eight o'clock the next morning if we would go up and appear in Court -at all, as he had to be there by ten o'clock. - -We had to return to Brighton in the Pullman car, as we could not get -a carriage to ourselves. It was crowded, and Parnell was known; it -was therefore very difficult to talk without being overheard. -Parnell appeared absolutely unconscious of the eyes furtively -watching him from behind every newspaper, or, indeed, openly in the -carriage, and he had the power of putting himself absolutely beyond -and above self-consciousness. This is what rendered him so -completely impervious to criticism. But to me, with a splitting -headache, the gleam of so many eyes, seen through a mist of pain, had -the most uncanny effect. They seemed like animals watching from -their lair. Parnell gave me a cheerful little smile now and then, -and directly we got home he insisted upon my going to bed. There he -fed me himself with the tiny amount I forced myself to take to please -him, and held the glass to my lips while I sipped the sparkling -Moselle I had been ordered to take for the bad attacks of neuralgia. - -After he had had his own dinner he came up and smoked by my bedside. -I tried to persuade him to go up with me in the morning to the Court -and make some fight in the case, but he said: - -"No, Queenie. What's the use? We want the divorce, and, divorce or -not, I shall always come where you are. I shall always come to my -home every night whatever happens. Now I'm going to read you to -sleep." - -He was always the most gentle and tender of nurses, {282} and would -sit by my side for hours without moving when I was ill, reading or -thinking. After a short sleep I lay awake wondering what it would be -best to say to Lockwood in the morning. I had told him that anyhow I -would go up; but, as my lover said, what would be the use of it? And -whatever I could make of Captain O'Shea's desertion--or practical -desertion--of me, I knew absolutely nothing of his private life, and -cared less. Our position would be worse if we were not enabled to -marry, for we were inseparable while life lasted. - -Then, after going over the pros and cons till my brain felt on fire, -I said irritably, "I don't believe you are listening to what I say!" -He replied, "I am not, beloved; here is the telegram all written out -for you while you slept. We have been longing for this freedom all -these years, and now you are afraid!" - -I broke down and cried, because I feared for him and for his work, -and he soothed me as one would a child as he told me that his -life-work was Ireland's always, but that his heart and his soul were -mine to keep for ever--since first he looked into my eyes that summer -morning, ten years before. - -"Queenie," he went on, "put away all fear and regret for my public -life. I have given, and will give, Ireland what is in me to give. -That I have vowed to her, but my private life shall never belong to -any country, but to one woman. There will be a howl, but it will be -the howl of hypocrites; not altogether, for some of these Irish fools -are genuine in their belief that forms and creeds can govern life and -men; perhaps they are right so far as they can experience life. But -I am not as they, for they are among the world's children. I am a -man, and I have told these children what they want, and they clamour -for it. {283} If they will let me, I will get it for them. But if -they turn from me, my Queen, it matters not at all in the end. What -the ultimate government of Ireland will be is settled, and it will be -so, and what my share in the work has been and is to be, also. I do -wish you would stop fretting about me. We know nothing of how or -why, but only that we love one another, and that through all the ages -is the one fact that cannot be forgotten nor put aside by us." - -He spoke slowly, with many silences between sentence and sentence, -and presently I said: "But perhaps I have hurt your work." - -"No, you have not. I sometimes think that is why you came to me, for -I was very ill then and you kept the life in me and the will to go on -when I was very weary of it all; you have stood to me for comfort and -strength and my very life. I have never been able to feel in the -least sorry for having come into your life. It had to be, and the -bad times I have caused you and the stones that have been flung and -that will be flung at you are all no matter, because to us there is -no one else in all the world that matters at all--when you get to the -bottom of things." - -Late next morning I awoke from the deep sleep of exhaustion to find -him sitting by me superintending the arrangement of "letters, tea and -toast," and to my anxious query as to the time I was answered by his -quiet laugh, and "I've done you this time, Queenie; I sent the -telegram long ago, and they must be enjoying themselves in Court by -now!" - -That was Saturday, November 15th, and on Monday, the 17th, my -Brighton solicitor brought me down a copy of the "decree nisi." We -were very happy that evening, and Parnell declared he would have the -"decree" framed. We made many plans for the future that evening of -where {284} we should go when the six months had passed and the -decree made absolute. I even ventured to suggest that he might marry -someone else once I was set completely free, but my lover was not -amused and scolded me for suggesting such disgusting ideas. - -Sir Frank Lockwood was terribly distressed about us and his inability -to "save Parnell for his country," but he was very kind to me, and -did all he could to help me in certain legal matters. - -On November 26th there was a meeting of the Irish Party, which my -King attended. The meeting was adjourned until December 1st. When -my lover came home to me that evening I would not let him speak till -he had changed his cold boots and socks; then he came over to me, and -took me into his arms, saying, "I think we shall have to fight, -Queenie. Can you bear it? I'm afraid it is going to be tough work." - -I said, "Yes, if you can." But I must confess that when I looked at -the frail figure and white face that was so painfully delicate, whose -only vitality seemed to lie in the deep, burning eyes, my heart -misgave me for I very much doubted if his health would stand any -prolonged strain. - -I burst out passionately, "Why does it matter more now? They have -all known for years," and his rare, low laugh came out with genuine -amusement as he replied, "My sweetheart, they are afraid of shocking -Mr. Gladstone." - -"But Gladstone----" I began, bewildered. - -"Just so, but we are public reprobates now, it just makes the -difference. He is a 'devout Christian,' they tell me." - -While Parnell sat down at work at his manifesto I {285} deliberated -for hours as to whether I ought to let him go on. Should I urge him -to come abroad with me? I knew he would come if I said I could not -bear the public fight. I looked at him as he sat now absolutely -absorbed in what he was writing, and now looking across at me when he -had something ready to be pinned together. He did not speak, only -the smoulder in his eyes grew deeper as he wrote. - -I loved him so much, and I did so long to take him away from all the -ingratitude and trouble--to some sunny land where we could forget the -world and be forgotten. But then I knew that he would not forget; -that he would come at my bidding, but that his desertion of Ireland -would lie at his heart; that if he was to be happy he must fight to -the end. I knew him too well to dare to take him away from the cause -he had made his life-work; that even if it killed him I must let him -fight--fight to the end--it was himself--the great self that I loved, -and that I would not spoil even through my love, though it might -bring the end in death. - -I looked up feeling that he was watching me, and met the burning -fire-flame of his eyes steadily, through my tears, as he said, -closing his hand over mine, "I am feeling very ill, Queenie, but I -think I shall win through. I shall never give in unless you make me, -and I want you to promise me that you will never make me less than -the man you have known." I promised it. - -He was feeling very ill. November was always a bad month for his -health, and the cold and damp gave him rheumatism. His left arm -pained him almost continuously all this winter. I used to rub it and -his shoulder with firwood oil, in which he had great belief, and pack -his arm in wool, which seemed to be some relief. - -{286} - -On Saturday morning, November 29th, his manifesto appeared in all the -papers.[2] - -War was now declared, and the first battle was fought in Committee -Room 15, where all the miserable treachery of Parnell's -followers--and others--was exposed. The Grand Old Man had spoken, -and his mandate must be obeyed. Ever swift to take advantage of a -political opportunity, he struck at the right moment, remorselessly, -for he knew that without giving away the whole of his policy Parnell -could not point to the hypocrisy of a religious scruple so suddenly -afflicting a great statesman at the eleventh hour. For ten years -Gladstone had known of the relations between Parnell and myself, and -had taken full advantage of the facility this intimacy offered him in -keeping in touch with the Irish leader. For ten years. But that was -a private knowledge. Now it was a public knowledge, and an English -statesman must always appear on the side of the angels. - -So Mr. Gladstone found his religion could at last be useful to his -country. Parnell felt no resentment towards Gladstone. He merely -said to me, with his grave smile: "That old Spider has nearly all my -flies in his web," and, to my indignation against Gladstone he -replied: "You don't make allowances for statecraft. He has the -Non-conformist conscience to consider, and you know as well {287} as -I do that he always loathed me. But these fools, who throw me over -at his bidding, make me a little sad." And I thought of that old -eagle face, with the cruel eyes that always belied the smile he gave -me, and wondered no longer at the premonition of disaster that I had -so often felt in his presence. - -For the Irish Party I have never felt anything but pity--pity that -they were not worthy of the man and the opportunity, and, seeing the -punishment that the years have brought upon Ireland, that their -craven hearts could not be loyal to her greatest son. I have -wondered at the blindness of her mistress, England; wondered that -England should still hold out the reward of Home Rule to Ireland, -whose sons can fight even, it is said, their brothers, but who fight -as children, unknowing and unmeaning, without the knowledge of a -cause and without idea of loyalty. - -How long the Irish Party had known of the relations between Parnell -and myself need not be here discussed. Some years before certain -members of the Party opened one of my letters to Parnell. I make no -comment. - -Parnell very seldom mentioned them. His outlook was so much wider -than is generally understood and his comment on members of the Party -was always, both before and after the split, calm, considerate, and -as being impersonal to himself. - -He regarded the Catholic Church's attitude towards him as being the -logical outcome of her profession. He was not, even in the last -months, when the priests' veto to their people turned the fight -against him in Ireland, bitter against them, even though I was. His -strongest comment was:--"They have to obey their bishops, and they -Rome--and that's why the whole system of their interference in -politics is so infernal!" - -{288} - -Mr. Gladstone sent the following letter to Mr. Morley on November -24th:-- - - - - ... While clinging to the hope of communication from Mr. Parnell - to whomsoever addressed, I thought it necessary, viewing the - arrangements for the commencement of the Session to-morrow, to - acquaint Mr. McCarthy with the conclusion at which, after using - all the means of observation and reflection in my power, I had - myself arrived. It was that, notwithstanding the splendid - services rendered by Mr. Parnell to his country, his continuance - at the present moment in the leadership would be productive of - consequences disastrous in the highest degree to the cause of - Ireland. - - I think I may be warranted in asking you so far to expand the - conclusion I have given above as to add that the continuance I - speak of would not only place many hearty and effective friends - of the Irish cause in a position of great embarrassment, but - would render my retention of the leadership of the Liberal Party, - based as it has been mainly upon the presentation of the Irish - cause, almost a nullity. - - - -Thus Mr. Gladstone signed the death-warrant of Home Rule for Ireland. - -On November 18th, 1890, there was a meeting of the National League in -Dublin. On the same day the following paragraph appeared in the -London letter of the _Freeman's Journal_:-- - - - - "I have direct authority for stating that Mr. Parnell has not the - remotest intention of abandoning either permanently or - temporarily his position or his duties as leader of the Irish - Parliamentary Party. This may be implicitly accepted as Mr. - Parnell's firm resolution, and perhaps by learning it in time the - Pigottist Press may be spared the humiliation of indulging in a - prolonged outburst of useless vilification. In arriving at this - determination, I need not say that Mr. Parnell is actuated - exclusively by a sense of his responsibility to the Irish people, - by whose suffrages he holds his public position, {289} and who - alone have the power or the right to influence his public action. - The wild, unscrupulous, and insincere shriekings of the - Pigottists on the platform and in the Press can and will do - nothing to alter Mr. Parnell's resolve." - - - -Parnell wrote to me from London after the meeting in Committee Room -15. - - - - MY OWN DARLING WIFIE,--I have received your letter through - Phyllis, and hope to return to Brighton to-night per last train - and tell you all the news. Meanwhile I may say that I am - exceedingly well, having had twelve hours' sleep last night. - - The meeting adjourned to-day till to-morrow at 12 or 1 to - consider an amendment moved by one of my side that Gladstone, - Harcourt, and Morley's views should be obtained as to their - action on certain points in my manifesto. - - YOUR OWN KING. - - December 3, 1890. - - -The following letters speak for themselves:-- - - - - PARNELL _to_ MR. WILLIAM REDMOND. - - MY DEAR WILLIE,--Thanks very much for your kind letter, which is - most consoling and encouraging. It did not require this fresh - proof of your friendship to convince me that I have always justly - relied upon you as one of the most single-minded and attached of - my colleagues.--Yours very sincerely, - - CHAS. S. PARNELL. - - - - - PARNELL _to_ DR. KENNY. - - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN, - _Saturday._ - - MY DEAR DOCTOR,--I shall be very much obliged if you can call - over to see me this afternoon, as I am not feeling very well, and - oblige, yours very truly, - - CHARLES S. PARNELL. - - Don't mention that I am unwell to anybody, lest it should get - into the newspapers.---C. S. P. - - - -To all his brothers and sisters, and, most of all, to his mother, -Parnell was most generous and affectionate, {290} and of that -generosity and affectionate regard I have abundant proof. - -One of the last letters he wrote was to his mother:-- - - - - I am weary, dear mother, of these troubles, weary unto death; but - it is all in a good cause. With health and the assistance of my - friends I am confident of the result. The statements my enemies - have so often made regarding my relations with you are on a par - with the endless calumnies they shoot upon me from behind every - bush. Let them pass. They will die of their own venom. It - would indeed be dignifying them to notice their existence! - - ------------------- - - - NOTE.--Mrs. Parnell preserved a long series of letters from - Captain O'Shea, dating from 1882 to 1891. The earlier ones are - mainly concerned with tactical political movements, the most - important of which are the conversations between O'Shea and - Chamberlain, noted on page 197. Those of the 1885 period deal - chiefly with O'Shea's grievance against Parnell in connexion with - the Clare election. In one he complains of the "absolute - baseness" of Parnell's conduct. To all who spoke to him of it he - says, "I replied, 'Poor devil, he is obliged to allow himself to - be kicked to the right or the left and look pleasant. But he has - the consolation of having been well paid for the pain--£40,000, - the tribute of the priests and people of Ireland!'" The - reference was to the great Irish subscription, headed by the - Archbishop of Cashel, made in order to enable Parnell to clear - his estates from the mortgages which oppressed them. - - The later letters, from the end of 1886 onwards, reveal the - violent strain in the relations of Captain and Mrs. O'Shea. - Beginning with a private letter to Mr. Stead, objecting to a - statement in _The Pall Mall Gazette_ that Parnell was staying on - a visit with him, O'Shea went on to write to his wife's - solicitor, Mr. H. Pym, suggesting that she should, for her - children's sake, "declare her renunciation of communication with" - Parnell, and then consulted Chamberlain on his difficulties. - - Finally, as a Catholic, he turned to Cardinal Manning for advice. - His first interview with the head of the Roman Catholic {291} - Church in England was on October 19th, 1889, when the question of - separation as against divorce was discussed. A long - correspondence followed. Manning was reluctant to agree to the - proceedings for divorce, and delayed his decision till December - 4th, when he laid down the course to be pursued, viz., (1) to - collect all evidence in writing; (2) to lay it before the Bishop - of the Diocese and ask for trial; (3) the latter would appoint a - day for hearing; (4) judgment having been given, the case would - go to Rome with a full report of the proceedings. O'Shea had - already become impatient, and when, in another interview, Manning - described to him the constitution of the Ecclesiastical Court - which would report to Rome, he declared that he hesitated to - approach a tribunal not having the right to administer the oath, - and respectfully intimated his intention to take the case into - the English Divorce Court. - - The letters close in 1891 with a correspondence between Captain O - Shea and the Primate of Ireland in which the former repudiates a - suggestion made by the Bishop of Galway (Dr. MacCormack) in - February of that year that "in 1886 after having failed to foist - Captain O'Shea upon a neighbouring county, the then leader had - the effrontery of prostituting the Galway City constituency as a - hush gift to O'Shea." Describing this as a "grotesquely false" - libel, Captain O'Shea details the course of events before the - election, his refusal to take the Nationalist pledge, and his - support by the then Bishop of Galway (Dr. Carr) and his clergy. - - Mr. Healy, in a speech at Kilkenny, had made an attack on Captain - O'Shea on the same lines. O'Shea was defended by Lord Stalbridge - (formerly Lord Richard Grosvenor) and also by Chamberlain. The - former related the part he played in the promotion of O'Shea's - candidature at Liverpool as a supporter of Mr. Gladstone and the - latter quoted a letter in which on January 22, 1896, he had urged - O'Shea to "get Mr. Parnell's exequatur for one of the vacant - seats" in Ireland, as "it is really the least he can do for you - after all you have done for him." "Surely," wrote Chamberlain, - "it must be to the interest of the Irish Party to keep open - channels of communication with the Liberal leaders." The point - was clinched by a letter addressed by Mr. Timothy Harrington to - the _Freeman's {292} Journal_, stating that "Mr. Parnell, during - the Galway election in 1886, explained to his followers that he - had only adopted Captain O'Shea as candidate for Galway at the - special request of Mr. Chamberlain.... The strongest - confirmation was given to it immediately after the election, when - Captain O'Shea followed Mr. Chamberlain out of the House of - Commons, and refused to vote on the Home Rule Bill." On this - aspect of the question, O'Shea himself says, in his letter to the - Primate: "If I were such a man as Dr. MacCormack insinuates--a - man who would buy a seat in Parliament at the price of his - honour--I need only have given a silent vote for Mr. Gladstone's - Home Rule Bill and my seat was as safe as any in Ireland." - - - - [1] See Note, page 290. - - [2] Parnell dealt in detail with the question of the - Parliamentary independence of the Irish Party, and repudiated the - right of any English party to exercise a veto on the Irish - leadership. He described his conversations at Hawarden with - Gladstone in the previous November on the details of the scheme - to be fathered by the Liberal Party when it returned to office, - related the circumstances of Morley's suggestion to him that he - should become Chief Secretary for Ireland, and referred - scornfully to "the English wolves now howling for my - destruction." He thought the Irish people would agree with him - that even if their threats of the indefinite postponement of a - Home Rule scheme were realized, postponement would be preferable - to a compromise of Irish national rights. - - - - - {293} - - CHAPTER XXVIII - - A KING AT BAY - - "_Vulneratus non victus._" - - - In December a vacancy occurred in Kilkenny, and, on December 9th, - my King started for Ireland, and stayed with Dr. Kenny for the - night in Dublin. Of the great meeting in the Rotunda I give Miss - Katharine Tynan's description, because of all the eye-witnesses' - accounts of it that I have kept, none gives the true glimpse of - Parnell as she does. - - "It was nearly 8.30 when we heard the bands coming; then the - windows were lit up by the lurid glare of thousands of torches in - the street outside. There was a distant roaring like the sea. - The great gathering within waited silently with expectation. - Then the cheering began, and we craned our necks and looked on - eagerly, and there was the tall, slender, distinguished figure of - the Irish leader making its way across the platform. I don't - think any words could do justice to his reception. The house - rose at him; everywhere around there was a sea of passionate - faces, loving, admiring, almost worshipping that silent, pale - man. The cheering broke out again and again; there was no - quelling it. Mr. Parnell bowed from side to side, sweeping the - assemblage with his eagle glance. The people were fairly mad - with excitement. I don't think anyone outside Ireland can - understand what a charm Mr. Parnell has for the Irish heart; that - wonderful personality of his, his proud {294} bearing, his - handsome, strong face, the distinction of look which marks him - more than anyone I have ever seen. All these are irresistible to - the artistic Irish. - - "I said to Dr. Kenny, who was standing by me, 'He is the only - quiet man here.' 'Outwardly,' said the keen medical man, - emphatically. Looking again, one saw the dilated nostrils, the - flashing eye, the passionate face; the leader was simply drinking - in thirstily this immense love, which must have been more - heartening than one can say after that bitter time in the English - capital. Mr. Parnell looked frail enough in body--perhaps the - black frock-coat, buttoned so tightly across his chest, gave him - that look of attenuation; but he also looked full of indomitable - spirit and fire. - - "For a time silence was not obtainable. Then Father Walter - Hurley climbed on the table and stood with his arms extended. It - was curious how the attitude silenced a crowd which could hear no - words. - - "When Mr. Parnell came to speak, the passion within him found - vent. It was a wonderful speech; not one word of it for - oratorical effect, but every word charged with a pregnant message - to the people who were listening to him, and the millions who - should read him. It was a long speech, lasting nearly an hour; - but listened to with intense interest, punctuated by fierce cries - against men whom this crisis has made odious, now and then marked - in a pause by a deep-drawn moan of delight. It was a great - speech, simple, direct, suave--with no device and no - artificiality. Mr. Parnell said long ago, in a furious moment in - the House of Commons, that he cared nothing for the opinion of - the English people. One remembered it now, noting his passionate - assurances to his own people, who loved him too well to ask him - questions." - - {295} - - During this meeting the anti-Parnellites took the opportunity to - seize Parnell's paper, _United Ireland_, and the offices. A - witness's account of the incident contained in Mr. Barry - O'Brien's "Life of Charles Stewart Parnell" appealed to me - immensely, because this little affair was of intense interest to - me, and all, or nearly all, I could get out of Parnell himself on - the subject was a soft laugh and, "It was splendid fun. I wish I - could burgle my own premises every day!" - - Something like this appears to have happened. The - anti-Parnellite garrison was strongly entrenched in the offices - of the newspaper--doors and windows all barred. The streets were - filled with a crowd of Parnellites crying death and destruction - on the enemy, and pouring in faster from the side streets. Men - threading their way through the mass were distributing sticks and - revolvers. - - Parnell had been apprised of the event at the meeting, and a - pony-trap was waiting for him outside the Rotunda. He got into - it with Dr. Kenny, and they dashed off to the scene of action. - At the sight of their Chief the crowd went wild; cheers for - Parnell and curses for his enemies filled the air. At full - gallop the pony-trap dashed through the mass of people (which - gave way as if by magic), and was brought up before the offices - with a jerk that sent the horse sprawling on the ground. Parnell - jumped out of the trap, sprang up the steps, and knocked loudly - at the door of the offices. There was a dramatic moment of - silence--the crowd hushed and expectant. Then Parnell quietly - gave some orders to those nearest him. In a brief space they - were off and back again with pickaxe and crowbar. Parnell wished - to vault the area railings and attack the area door, but he was - held back. So several of his followers dropped into the area, - while Parnell {296} himself attacked the front door with the - crowbar. The door yielded, and he and many others rushed into - the house. A second party came from the area, and the united - force dashed upstairs. The rest was a Homeric struggle between - garrison and besiegers, fought from staircase to staircase and - story to story. At length the garrison was downed to the last - man. A window of the second story was removed, and Parnell came - out to his people. He had lost his hat, his hair was tumbled, - his face was quite white, his eyes were filled with the wild joy - of the battle. His face and clothes were powdered with dust and - plaster. For a moment again the crowd was silent; then it burst - into a roar. - - Parnell made a short speech, came down, got into the trap, and - drove to the railway station. - - On the 11th, when he nominated Mr. Vincent Scully, he stayed at - Kilkenny. That day he wrote to me that he was feeling ill, and - his telegram of "good night" was weary in tone. But the next day - he wrote that he was feeling far better, and his letter was very - hopeful of success. He insisted on returning to me every - Saturday, if it was in any way possible, during these months of - fighting, and going back to Ireland on the next evening, Sunday. - I begged him to spare himself the fatigue of this constant - journeying, but he could not rest away; so, in despair, I gave up - the fight against my own desire to have him at home for even - these few hours. This election lasted ten days. Polling took - place on December 22, and that morning he telegraphed to me not - to expect victory, so I knew he was sure of defeat long before - the poll was declared. He returned to Dublin that night, and - addressed a meeting outside the National Club. - - {297} - - It was during one of these last meetings that someone in the - crowd threw lime in the Chief's face. It has been said that the - thing was a hoax, and that the substance thrown was flour. It - was not flour, but lime, and had not Parnell shut his eyes in - time he would undoubtedly have been blinded. As it was his eyes - were not injured, and but for a tiny scar on the outer edge of - his right eye he was not hurt. I well remember the awful hours I - passed pacing up and down my room at Brighton waiting, waiting - for news after seeing the morning paper. He had telegraphed to - me directly after the cowardly assault was made, but he could not - send it himself as he could not leave his friends. The man to - whom he gave the telegram for dispatch boasted to his fellows - that he had a message from Parnell, and in the crowd and scuffle - it was taken from him; so it was not until midday, when my own - telegram of inquiry reached him, that Parnell knew that I had not - received his; and by the time his reassuring message arrived I - was nearly out of my mind. The newspapers had made the very most - of the affair, and I thought my husband was blinded. - - At the end of December Mr. William O'Brien returned from America, - but, as a warrant was out for his arrest, he could not enter - Ireland. Much against his own wish Parnell went over to Boulogne - to see him, as the Party were so anxious that he should go. He - did not think that it would do any good, and, feeling ill, he - hated undertaking the extra fatigue. He felt, too, that he would - have to fight "all along the line" in Ireland, and continued the - war without cessation, although he went over to Boulogne several - times to hear what Mr. O'Brien had to say. He was, however, on - good terms with O'Brien, and suggested him as leader of the Party - in the {298} event of his own resignation. The suggestion did - not prove acceptable to the Party.[1] - - Throughout this time he occasionally attended the sittings of the - House, and, on returning home one sad evening, he did not speak - much after his first greeting. I felt that something had - troubled him unusually, but forbore to worry him, knowing that he - would tell me presently. After a while he turned to me, and all - he said was, "O'Kelly has gone too." - - I did not answer in words, for my heart bled for him in this the - only personal sorrow he had suffered in the disloyalty of his - Party. Anger, scorn, and contempt, yes! but this was the first - and only blow to his affections. For the first time since that - miserable and most cowardly exhibition of treachery in Committee - Room 15 there was a little break in his voice. They had been - friends for so long, and had worked with each other in American - and Irish politics so intimately. He had loved him, and now - O'Kelly had "gone too." - - When Mr. Gladstone gave the word, and the insecure virtue of the - country obeyed it, because it is a very shocking thing to be - found out, the anti-Parnellites were {299} extremely ingenious in - inventing new forms of scurrility in connexion with my supposed - name. From one end of chivalrous Ireland to the other--urged on - more especially by a certain emotional Irish member of - Parliament--the name of "Kitty" O'Shea was sung and screamed, - wrapped about with all the filth that foul minds, vivid - imaginations, and black hatred of the aloof, proud Chief could - evolve, the Chief whom they could not hurt save through the woman - he loved! - - They hurt him now a little, it is true, but not very greatly. My - husband said to me after the Kilkenny election, "It would really - have hurt, my Queen, if those devils had got hold of your real - name, my Queenie, or even the 'Katie' or 'Dick' that your - relations and Willie called you." And then I was glad, so very - glad that the gallant company of mud-slingers had with one accord - leapt to the conclusion that those who love me called me "Kitty" - because my name was Katharine. For me it was a little thing to - bear for the man who loved me as never woman has been loved - before, and the only thing that I could not have borne would have - been the thought that one of those who hated him had pierced the - armour of his pride and touched his heart. - - * * * * * * - - On 22nd April, 1891, Mr. Frederick Kerley wrote from 10, Broad - Court, Bow Street, W.C., to Mr. Thomson, to say that he had - succeeded that day in serving Mr. Parnell with a copy of the - Judge's Order, which Mr. Thomson had handed to him on the evening - of the 20th instant. He saw Mr. Parnell at 7.5 p.m. pass through - the barrier on to the Brighton platform at Victoria Station. He - walked by his side and, addressing him, {300} said, "Mr. Parnell, - I believe?" Parnell replied, "Yes." He said he was desired to - hand him that paper, at the same time handing him the copy, when - the following conversation ensued: - - Parnell: "What is it?" - - Kerley: "It is a Judge's Order." - - P.: "Oh, it is the costs." - - K.: "Yes, it is. That is a copy, this is the original, and the - signature of Mr. Justice Butt," and Kerley showed the original to - him. - - P.: "Oh, very well." - - K.: "This is Mr. Wontner's card, who is the solicitor in the - matter." - - Mr. Parnell took the card and said, "Thank you." - - It had all been clone very quietly. No one saw what was done, - and Parnell was not subjected to the slightest annoyance, and he - did not appear to be the least annoyed. Kerley did not enclose - the original, as he was afraid to trust it through the post, but - would hand it to Mr. Thomson personally. - - - WONTNERS, 19 LUDGATE HILL., E.C. - _Wired_ 10 _a.m.,_ 23 _April,_ '91. - - Copy Order costs P. served personally last evening. Letter - follows. - - - - -[1] The conversations with O'Brien and Dillon in France and the -correspondence which followed were concerned with the attitude of the -Irish Party towards the details of the Home Rule Bill to be -introduced when the Liberals came into power. Mr. Justin McCarthy -had been elected leader of the party, but Parnell insisted on his -traditional right to a predominant voice in its decisions. At the -beginning of 1891 there were anxious discussions about Gladstone's -intentions as to the number of Irish Members to be retained at -Westminster and as to the basis of a public declaration of Liberal -policy. The proposals made to him were not satisfactory either to -Parnell's political judgment or to his _amour propre_. They came to -nothing, however, and both O'Brien and Dillon were arrested on their -return to Ireland and put "out of the way for a bit," as Parnell -said. He complained of the "depressing effect" these two colleagues -had upon him; it was "so hard to keep them to the difficulties of the -moment while they were so eagerly passing on the troubles of -to-morrow." - - - - -{301} - -CHAPTER XXIX - -PARNELL AS I KNEW HIM - -"_If I must speake the schoole-master's language, I will confess that -character comes of the infinite moode_ [Greek: charázo], _which -signifieth to ingrave or make a deep impression._"--(CHARACTERS) -OVERBURY. - - -When I first met Mr. Parnell in 1880 he was unusually tall and very -thin. His features were delicate with that pallid pearly tint of -skin that was always peculiarly his. The shadows under his deep -sombre eyes made them appear larger than they were, and the eyes -themselves were the most striking feature of his cold, handsome face. -They were a deep brown, with no apparent unusualness about them -except an odd compulsion and insistence in their direct gaze that, -while giving the impression that he was looking through and beyond -them, bent men unconsciously to his will. But when moved by strong -feeling a thousand little fires seemed to burn and flicker in the -sombre depths, and his cold, inscrutable expression gave way to a -storm of feeling that held one spellbound by its utter unexpectedness. - -His hair was very dark brown, with a bronze glint on it in sunlight, -and grew very thickly on the back of the shapely head, thinning about -the high forehead. His beard, moustache and eyebrows were a lighter -brown. His features were very delicate, especially about the -fine-cut nostrils; and the upper lip short, though the mouth was not -particularly well shaped. His was a very {302} handsome, -aristocratic face, very cold, proud and reserved; almost all the -photographs of him render the face too heavy, and thicken the -features. - -He had an old-world courtliness of manner when speaking to women, a -very quiet, very grave charm of consideration that appealed to them -at once in its silent tribute to the delicacy of womanhood. I always -thought his manner to women, whether equals or dependents, was -perfect. In general society he was gracious without being familiar, -courteous but reserved, interested yet aloof, and of such an -unconscious dignity that no one, man or woman, ever took a liberty -with him. - -In the society of men his characteristic reserve and "aloofness" were -much more strongly marked, and even in the true friendship he had -with at least two men he could more easily have died than have lifted -the veil of reserve that hid his inmost feeling. I do not now allude -to his feeling for myself, but to any strong motive of his heart--his -love for Ireland and of her peasantry, his admiration that was almost -worship of the great forces of nature--the seas and the winds, the -wonders of the planet worlds and the marvels of science. - -Yet I have known him expand and be thoroughly happy, and even boyish, -in the society of men he trusted. Immensely, even arrogantly proud, -he was still keenly sensitive and shy, and he was never gratuitously -offensive to anyone. In debate his thrusts were ever within the -irony permitted to gentlemen at war, even if beyond that which could -be congenial to the Speaker of the House or to a chairman of -committee. - -He was never petty in battle, and all the abuse, hatred and -execration showered upon him in public and in private, whether by the -opponents of his political life or by the {303} (self-elected) judges -of his private life, caused no deviation in the policy that was his -or on the path that he meant to tread. His policy was the outcome of -long, silent deliberation, with every probable issue considered, -every possible contingency allowed for, and then followed up with -quiet, unwearying persistency and determination. When he succeeded -in forcing his will upon the House it was well, but he was not -elated, passing on to the next point to be gained. When he failed, -he had done his best; but "the fates" willed otherwise than he, and -again he passed on to the next thing without perturbation. No one -could flatter Parnell, neither could anyone humiliate him. "What I -am, I am, what I am not I cannot be," was his summing up of his own -and of every other man's personality. - -His cold, scientific way of sorting out and labelling his own Party -at first made me hesitatingly complain, "But, after all, they are -human beings!" and his characteristic answer was "In politics, as in -war, there are no men, only weapons." - -In regard to "Nationalization," he declared that, while there must be -growth, there could be no change, and when I would point out in -friendly malice that his "nationalism" of one year need not -necessarily be that of another, and could very easily be less -comprehensive, he would answer with smiling scorn, "That only means -that lack of judgment is righted by growth in understanding!" - -Parnell went into nothing half-heartedly, and was never content till -he had grasped every detail of his subject. For this reason he gave -up the study of astronomy, which had become of engrossing interest to -him, for he said that astronomy is so enormous a subject that it -would have demanded his whole time and energy to satisfy him. He -{304} was constitutionally lazy, and absolutely loathed beginning -anything, his delicate health having, no doubt, much to do with this -inertia, of which he was very well aware. He always made me promise -to "worry" him into making a start on any important political work, -meeting or appointment, when the proper time came, and often I found -this a very sad duty, for he was so absolutely happy when working at -one of his many hobbies, or sitting quietly in his chair "watching" -me, and talking or keeping silent as the mood possessed him, that it -was misery to me to disturb him and send him off to do something that -was not interesting to him. He used to comfort me by assuring me -that it was only the "beginnings" he hated, and that he was all right -when he was "once started." - -He was extraordinarily modest about his own intellectual ability, and -decidedly underrated the wonderful powers of his mind, while he had -the utmost admiration for "brain," whether of friend or foe. -Frequently he would say that that "Grand Old Spider" (his private -name for Mr. Gladstone) was worth fighting because he was so -amazingly clever. His own followers he picked with careful -consideration of their usefulness to his policy, and appreciated to -the full the occasionally brilliant ability some of them showed. His -mind, in politics at least, was analytical, and he would sift, and -sort, and mentally docket each member of the Irish Party, in company -with the more prominent of the Liberal Party, till the whole assumed -to him the aspect of an immense game, in which he could watch and -direct most of the more important moves. The policy of the -Conservatives he considered to be too obvious to require study. - -In character Parnell was curiously complex. Just, {305} tender and -considerate, he was nevertheless incapable of forgiving an injury, -and most certainly he never forgot one. His code of honour forbade -him to bring up a wrong of private life against a public man, and he -had the subtle love of truth that dares to use it as the shield of -expediency. - -Physically Parnell was so much afraid of pain and ill-health that he -suffered in every little indisposition and hurt far more than others -of less highly strung and sensitive temperament. He had such a -horror of death that it was only by the exercise of the greatest -self-control that he could endure the knowledge or sight of it; but -his self-control was so perfect that never by word or deed did he -betray the intense effort and real loathing he suffered when obliged -to attend a funeral, or to be in any way brought into contact with -death or the thought thereof. Whenever we passed, in our drive, a -churchyard or cemetery he would turn his head away, or even ask me to -take another road. The only exception to this very real horror of -his was the little grave of our baby girl at Chislehurst, which he -loved; but then he always said she did not die, "she only went to -sleep." - -Oppression of the weak and helpless, or any act of cruelty, filled -him with the deep hatred and indignation that had first led him to -make the cause of his hapless country his own, and he would spend -hours in silent, concentrated thought, altogether oblivious of his -surroundings, working out some point or way to lift a little of the -burden of the wronged. - -Parnell was very fond of animals, and was their very good friend -always, taking every care himself to see that his horses and dogs -were properly looked after. During one of the last meetings he -attended in Ireland he jumped {306} off his car in the midst of a -hostile crowd to rescue a terrier that was being kicked and run over -by the mob. - -His will was autocratic, and once he had made up his mind to any -course he would brook no interference, nor suffer anything to stand -in his way. Yet, in his home life, he would come to no decision -without seeking my approval, and was absolutely unselfish and -considerate. I have known him deadly white, with the still, cold -passion that any deliberate thwarting of his will produced in him, -sweep aside out of "the Party" and out of all further recognition in -any capacity a man who had done useful work, and who, thus thrown -out, might have been--and was--dangerous to Parnell's political -policy in many ways. He had gone against Parnell's explicit -instructions in a certain matter. I ventured to point out that this -man might be dangerous as an enemy, and he answered: "While I am -leader they (the Party) are my tools, or they go!" From his servants -also he exacted prompt, unquestioning obedience always, but he was -the most gentle and considerate of masters, and they, as a rule, -almost worshipped him. - -He had much pride of family and family affection, but he was utterly -undemonstrative and shy. Even when he nursed his brother John -through a long and painful illness, caused by a railway accident in -America when they were both very young men, the wall of reserve was -never broken down, and I do not think his family ever realized how -strong his affection for them was. - -Parnell was not in the least a well-read man. His genius was natural -and unaided; he was a maker of history, not a reader of it. He took -no interest in literature as such, but for works on subjects -interesting to him--mining, mechanics, or engineering and (later) -astronomy--he {307} had an insatiable appetite and such a tremendous -power of concentration that he absolutely absorbed knowledge where he -chose. I have known him to argue some intricate and technical point -of engineering with a man of thirty years' practical experience (in -America and India), who at length admitted Parnell to be right and -himself mistaken, though on this particular point Parnell's -deductions were made from a two hours' study of the subject some -three years or more before. - -For pictures he cared not at all, and music he absolutely disliked; -though to amuse me he would sometimes "sing," in a soft undertone and -with much gravity, funny little nursery rhymes and snatches of the -songs of his college days. - -His dislike of social life was so great that he would never accept -any invitation that could be in any way avoided; and if sometimes I -absolutely insisted upon his going to any reception or dinner party, -he would go with the grim determination of one fulfilling a most -unpleasant duty. He often told me that it was because he hated -"Saxons" (a hatred which years of tradition had fostered) so much, -and felt ill at ease in any gathering of English people. - -He certainly did not feel this with the working classes, with whom he -would constantly converse and watch at work when we were out -together. Agricultural labourers did not interest him so much, but -he used to spend hours talking to mechanics of all classes, seamen, -road-menders, builders, and any and every kind of artisan. To these -he always spoke in an easy, friendly way of their work, their wages, -and the conditions of labour, and I never remarked that -suspiciousness and reserve, characteristic of the English wageworker, -in these men when Parnell talked {308} with them. They seemed to -accept him, not as one of themselves, but as an interesting and an -interested "labour leader," who had the unusual merit of wishing to -hear their views instead of offering them his own. - -Parnell was intensely superstitious, with all the superstition of the -Irish peasant, and in this he was unreasoning and unreasonable. This -trait was evidently acquired in earliest childhood and had grown with -his growth, for some of these superstitions are the heritage of ages -in the Irish people, and have their origin in some perfectly natural -fear, or association, that has, generation by generation, by -alteration of habit or circumstance, lost its force while retaining, -or even adding to, its expression. - -Parnell would agree perfectly that this was a fact, nevertheless to -do so-and-so was "unlucky," and there was the end of it--it must not -be done. Certain combinations of numbers, of lights or -circumstances, were "omens," and must be carefully avoided. -Evidently, as an intelligent child will, he had eagerly caught up and -absorbed all and every suggestion offered him by the converse of his -nurse and her associates, and the impressions thus made were -overlaid, but not erased, as he grew up isolated, by the very -reticence of his nature, from his fellows. His dislike of the colour -green, as being unlucky, he could not himself understand, for it is -certainly not an Irish feeling, but it was there so decidedly that he -would not sit in any room that had this colour in it, nor would he -allow me to wear or use any of the magnificent silks or embroideries -that were so often presented to him, if, as was generally the case, -they had green in their composition. - -Parnell had no religious conviction of creed and {309} dogma, but he -had an immense reverence, learnt, I think, from the Irish peasantry, -for any genuine religious conviction. He personally believed in a -vast and universal law of "attraction," of which the elemental forces -of Nature were part, and the whole of which tended towards some -unknown, and unknowable, end, in immensely distant periods of time. -The world, he considered, was but a small part of the unthinkably -vast "whole" through which the "Spirit" (the soul) of man passed -towards the fulfilment of its destiny in the completion of -"attraction." Of a first "Cause" and predestined "End" he was -convinced, though he believed their attributes to be unknown and -unknowable. - -As I have said before, he was not a man who read, or sought to -acquire the opinions or knowledge of others, unless he had some -peculiar interest in a subject. He considered, and formed his own -beliefs and opinions, holding them with the same quiet, convinced -recognition of his right of judgment that he extended to the judgment -of others. - -Parnell's moral standard was a high one, if it is once conceded that -as regards the marriage bond his honest conviction was that there is -none where intense mutual attraction--commonly called love--does not -exist, _or where it ceases to exist_. To Parnell's heart and -conscience I was no more the wife of Captain O'Shea when he (Parnell) -first met me than I was after Captain O'Shea had divorced me, ten -years later. He took nothing from Captain O'Shea that the law of the -land could give, or could dispossess him of, therefore he did him no -wrong. I do not presume to say whether in this conviction he was -right or wrong, but here I set down Parnell's point of view, with the -happy knowledge that never for one moment have I {310} regretted that -I made his point of view my own in this as in all things else. - -Parnell's political life was one single-minded ambition for the good -of his country. He was no place or popularity hunter. Stung to the -quick in early manhood by the awful suffering of the Irish peasantry -and by the callous indifference of the English Government, he, with -all the pure chivalry of youth, vowed himself to their service, and, -so far as in him lay, to the forcing of the governing country to a -better fulfilment of her responsibilities. In the course of years -the gaining of Home Rule for Ireland became for him the only solution -of the problem. To this end he devoted all his energies, and for -this end men became as tools to him, to be used and thrown aside, so -that he could carve out the liberation of Ireland from the great -nation whom he declared could "rule slaves as freemen, but who would -only rule free men as slaves." - -Some have said that Parnell was avaricious. He was not. In small -matters he was careful, and on himself he spent the very smallest -amount possible for his position. He indulged himself in no luxuries -beyond the purchase of a few scientific books and instruments, on -which indulgence he spent many moments of anxious deliberation lest -he should need the money for political purposes. His own private -income was spent in forwarding his political work, in the "relief -funds" of Ireland's many needs, and on his estates in Ireland, where -he did his utmost to promote industries that should prove to be of -real benefit to the people. To his mother and other near relations -he was always generous, and to the many calls upon his charity _in -Ireland_ he was rarely unresponsive. - -In temper Parnell was quiet, deep and bitter. He was {311} so -absolutely self-controlled that few knew of the volcanic force and -fire that burned beneath his icy exterior. - -In the presence of suffering he was gentle, unselfish and helpful. -Indeed, I may say that at all times at home he was the most unselfish -man I have ever met. - -Of his moral courage all the world knows, yet no one, I think, but -myself can know how absolute it was; how dauntless and unshaken, how -absolutely and unconsciously heroic Parnell's courage was. Through -good report, or ill report, in his public life, or in his private -life, he never changed, never wavered. Hailed as his country's -saviour, execrated as her betrayer, exalted as a conqueror, or judged -and condemned by the self-elected court of English hypocrisy, he kept -a serene heart and unembittered mind, treading the path he had -chosen, and doing the work he had made his own for Ireland's sake. - -And there are those who can in no way understand that some few men -are born who stand apart, by the very grandeur of Nature's plan--men -of whom it is true to say that "after making him the mould was -broken," and of whom the average law can neither judge aright nor -understand. In his childhood, in his boyhood, and in his manhood -Parnell was "apart." I was the one human being admitted into the -inner sanctuaries of his soul, with all their intricate glooms and -dazzling lights; mine was not the folly to judge, but the love to -understand. - - - - -{312} - -CHAPTER XXX - -MARRIAGE, ILLNESS AND DEATH - - "_O gentle wind that bloweth south - To where my love re-paireth, - Convey a kiss to his dear mouth - And tell me how he fareth._" - --OLD BALLAD. - -"_He that well and rightly considereth his own works will find little -cause to judge hardly of another._"--THOMAS À KEMPIS. - - -On June 24th, 1891, Mr. Parnell drove over to Steyning to see that -all the arrangements for our marriage at the registrar's office there -on the next day were complete. Mr. Edward Cripps, the registrar, had -everything in order, and it was arranged that we should come very -early so as to baffle the newspaper correspondents, who had already -been worrying Mr. Cripps, and who hung about our house at Brighton -with an inconvenient pertinacity. We had given Mr. Parnell's servant -elaborate orders to await us, with Dictator in the phaeton, at a -short distance from the house about eleven o'clock on the 25th, and -told him he would be required as a witness at our wedding. This -little ruse gave us the early morning of the 25th clear, as the -newspaper men soon had these instructions out of the discomfited -young man, who had been told not to talk to reporters. - -On June 25th I was awakened at daybreak by my lover's tapping at my -door and calling to me: "Get up, get up, it is time to be married!" -Then a humming and excitement began through the house as the maids -flew {313} about to get us and breakfast ready "in time," before two -of them, Phyllis Bryson, my very dear personal maid--who had put off -her own marriage for many years in order to remain with me--and my -children's old nurse, drove off to catch the early train to Steyning, -where they were to be witnesses of our marriage. Phyllis was so -determined to put the finishing touches to me herself that she was at -last hustled off by Parnell, who was in a nervous fear that everyone -would be late but the newspaper men. Phyllis was fastening a posy at -my breast when Parnell gently but firmly took it from her and -replaced it with white roses he had got for me the day before. -Seeing her look of disappointment he said, "She must wear mine -to-day, Phyllis, but she shall carry yours, and you shall keep them -in remembrance; now you must go!" - -He drove the maids down the stairs and into the waiting cab, going -himself to the stables some way from the house, and returning in an -amazingly short time with Dictator in the phaeton and with a -ruffled-looking groom who appeared to have been sleeping in his -livery--it was so badly put on. Parnell ordered him in to have a cup -of tea and something to eat while he held the horse, nervously -calling to me at my window to be quick and come down. Then, giving -the groom an enormous "buttonhole," with fierce orders not to dare to -put it on till we were well on our way, Parnell escorted me out of -the house, and settled me in the phaeton with elaborate care. - -As a rule Parnell never noticed what I wore. Clothes were always -"things" to him. "Your things become you always" was the utmost -compliment for a new gown I could ever extract from him; but that -morning, as he climbed in beside me and I took the reins, he said, -{314} "Queenie, you look lovely in that lace stuff and the beautiful -hat with the roses! I am so proud of you!" - -And I was proud of my King, of my wonderful lover, as we drove -through that glorious June morning, past the fields of growing corn, -by the hedges heavy with wild roses and "traveller's joy," round the -bend of the river at Lancing, past the ruined tower where we had so -often watched the kestrels hover, over the bridge and up the street -of pretty, old-world Bramber into Steyning, and on to the -consummation of our happiness. - -Parnell hardly spoke at all during this drive. Only, soon after the -start at six o'clock, he said, "Listen," and, smiling, "They are -after us; let Dictator go!" as we heard the clattering of horses far -behind. I let Dictator go, and he--the fastest (driving) horse I -have ever seen--skimmed over the nine miles in so gallant a mood that -it seemed to us but a few minutes' journey. - -Mr. Cripps was in attendance, and Mrs. Cripps had very charmingly -decorated the little room with flowers, so there was none of the -dreariness usual with a registry marriage. As we waited for our -witnesses to arrive--we had beaten the train!--my King looked at us -both in the small mirror on the wall of the little room, and, -adjusting his white rose in his frock-coat, said joyously, "It isn't -every woman who makes so good a marriage as you are making, Queenie, -is it? and to such a handsome fellow, too!" blowing kisses to me in -the glass. Then the two maids arrived, and the little ceremony that -was to legalize our union of many years was quickly over. - -On the return drive my husband pulled up the hood of the phaeton, -and, to my questioning look--for it was a hot morning--he answered -solemnly, "It's the right thing to do." As we drove off, bowing and -laughing {315} our thanks to Mr. Cripps and the others for their kind -and enthusiastic felicitations, he said, "How could I kiss you good -wishes for our married life unless we were hooded up like this!" - -Just as we drove out of Steyning we passed the newspaper men arriving -at a gallop, and we peered out doubtfully at them, fearing they would -turn and come back after us. But I let Dictator have his head, and, -though they pulled up, they knew that pursuit was hopeless. My -husband looked back round the hood of the phaeton, and the groom -called out delightedly, "They've give up, and gone on to Mr. Cripps, -sir." - -On our return to Walsingham Terrace we had to run the gauntlet -between waiting Pressmen up the steps to the house, but at my -husband's imperious "Stand back; let Mrs. Parnell pass! Presently, -presently; I'll see you presently!" they fell back, and we hid -ourselves in the house and sat down to our dainty little wedding -breakfast. Parnell would not allow me to have a wedding cake, -because he said he would not be able to bear seeing me eat our -wedding cake without him, and, as I knew, the very sight of a rich -cake made him ill. - -Meanwhile the reporters had taken a firm stand at the front door, and -were worrying the servants to exasperation. One, a lady reporter for -an American newspaper, being more enterprising than the rest, got -into the house adjoining ours, which I also rented at that time, and -came through the door of communication on the balcony into my -bedroom. Here she was found by Phyllis, and as my furious little -maid was too small to turn the American lady out, she slipped out of -the door and locked it, to prevent further intrusion. - -Then she came down to us in the dining-room, found {316} on the way -that the cook had basely given in to bribery, having "Just let one of -the poor gentlemen stand in the hall," and gave up the battle in -despair--saying, "Will Mrs. O'Shea see him, Mr. ---- wants to know?" - -"Phyllis!" exclaimed my husband in a horrified voice, "what do you -mean? _Who_ is Mrs. O'Shea?" - -Poor Phyllis gave one gasp at me and fled in confusion. - -Then my King saw some of the newspaper people, and eased their minds -of their duty to their respective papers. The lady from America he -utterly refused to see, as she had forced herself into my room, but, -undaunted, she left vowing that she would cable a better "interview" -than any of them to her paper. They were kind enough to send it to -me in due course, and I must admit that even if not exactly accurate, -it was distinctly "bright." It was an illustrated "interview," and -Parnell and I appeared seated together on a stout little sofa, he -clad in a fur coat, and I in a dangerously _décolleté_ garment, -diaphanous in the extreme, and apparently attached to me by large -diamonds. My sedate Phyllis had become a stage "grisette" of most -frivolous demeanour, and my poor bedroom--in fact, the most solid and -ugly emanation of Early Victorian virtue I have ever had bequeathed -to me--appeared to an interested American State as the "very utmost" -in fluffy viciousness that could be evolved in the united capitals of -the demi-mondaine. - -I showed this "interview" to my husband, though rather doubtful if he -would be amused by it; but he only said, staring sadly at it, "I -don't think that American lady can be a very nice person." - -After he had sent the reporters off my King settled into his old coat -again, and subsided into his easy chair, smoking and quietly watching -me. I told him he must {317} give up that close scrutiny of me, and -that I did not stare at him till he grew shy. - -"Why not?" he said. "A cat may look at a king, and surely a man may -look at his wife!" - -But I refused to stay indoors talking nonsense on so lovely a day, -and we wandered out together along the fields to Aldrington. Along -there is a place where they make bricks. We stood to watch the men -at work, and Parnell talked to them till they went off to dinner. -Parnell watched them away till they were out of sight, and then said, -"Come on, Queenie, we'll make some bricks, too. I've learnt all -about it in watching them!" So we very carefully made two bricks -between us, and put them with the others in the kiln to burn. I -suggested marking our two bricks, so that we might know them when we -returned, but when we looked in the kiln some hours later they all -appeared alike. - -Then we got down to the sea and sat down to watch it and rest. Far -beyond the basin at Aldrington, near the mouth of Shoreham Harbour, -we had the shore to ourselves and talked of the future, when Ireland -had settled down, and my King--king, indeed, in forcing reason upon -that unreasonable land and wresting the justice of Home Rule from -England--could abdicate; when we could go to find a better climate, -so that his health might become all I wished. We talked of the -summer visits we would make to Avondale, and of the glorious days -when he need never go away from me. Of the time when his hobbies -could be pursued to the end, instead of broken off for political -work. And we talked of Ireland, for Parnell loved her, and what he -loved I would not hate or thrust out from his thoughts, even on this -day that God had made. - -Yet, as we sat together, silent now, even though we {318} spoke -together still with the happiness that has no words, a storm came -over the sea. It had been very hot all day and a thunderstorm was -inevitable; but, as we sheltered under the breakwater, I wished that -this one day might have been without a storm. - -Reading my thoughts, he said: "The storms and thunderings will never -hurt us now, Queenie, my wife, for there is nothing in the wide world -that can be greater than our love; there is nothing in all the world -but you and I." And I was comforted because I did not remember death. - -The news of our marriage was in all the evening papers, and already -that night began the bombardment of telegrams and letters of -congratulation and otherwise! The first telegram was to me, "Mrs. -Parnell," and we opened it together with much interest and read its -kind message from "Six Irish Girls" with great pleasure. The others, -the number of which ran into many hundreds, varied from the heartiest -congratulation to the foulest abuse, and were equally of no moment to -my husband, as he made no attempt to open anything in the -ever-growing heap of correspondence that, for weeks I kept on a large -tray in my sitting-room, and which, by making a determined effort -daily, I kept within bounds. - -"Why do you have to open them all?" he asked me, looking at the heap -with the indolent disgust that always characterized him at the sight -of many letters. - -"Well, I like reading the nice ones, and I can't tell which they are -till they're opened," I explained. "Now here is one that looks the -very epitome of all that is good and land outside-thick, good paper, -beautiful handwriting--and yet the inside is unprintable!" - -Parnell held out his hand for it, but I would not give {319} anything -so dirty into his hand, and tore it across for the wastepaper basket, -giving him instead a dear little letter from a peasant woman in -Ireland, who invoked more blessings upon our heads than Heaven could -well spare us. - -Little more than three months afterwards the telegrams and letters -again poured into the house. This time they were messages of -condolence, and otherwise. And again their message fell upon -unheeding ears, for the still, cold form lying in the proud -tranquillity of death had taken with him all my sorrow and my joy; -and as in that perfect happiness I had known no bitterness, for he -was there, now again these words of venom, speaking gladness because -he was dead, held no sting for me, for he was gone, and with him took -my heart. - -The very many letters of true sympathy which reached me after my -husband's death were put away in boxes, and kept for me till I was -well enough for my daughter to read them to me. Among these were -many from clergymen of all denominations and of all ranks in the -great army of God. As I lay with closed eyes listening to the -message of these hearts I did not know I seemed to be back in the -little church at Cressing, and to hear my father's voice through the -mists of remembrance, saying: "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, -these three; but the greatest of these is _Charity_." ... - -Among our many wedding presents was a charming little alabaster clock -from my husband's sister, Emily Dickinson. It was a ship's "wheel," -and we were very gay over its coming, disputing as to which of us -should henceforth be the "man at the wheel." Parnell's mother also -was very sweet and kind to me, sending me several much prized -letters. Other members of my husband's family also wrote very kindly -to me, and I can still see {320} his tender smile at me as he saw my -appreciation of his family's attitude. - -The presents we liked best, after Mrs. Dickinson's clock, were the -little humble offerings of little value and much love sent by working -men and women, by our servants, and by others of far countries and -near. Parcels arrived from the four quarters of the globe, and many -were beyond recognition on arrival, but the fragments were grateful -to me as bearing a message of true homage to my King. - -Of other feeling there was little among these wedding gifts, though -one evening my eldest daughter who was with me, remarked casually to -me that she had confiscated a newly arrived "registered" parcel -addressed to me. "Oh, but you must not," I exclaimed, "I want them -all!" But she answered gloomily that this parcel had contained a -mouse, and "not at all the kind of mouse that anyone could have -wanted for days past." So I subsided without further interrogation. - -Once when Parnell and I were staying at Bournemouth we became very -fond of some old engravings hanging in our hotel sitting-room, -illustrating "The Dowie Dens of Yarrow," and now, through these -fighting months in Ireland, we used this old ballad as a medium for -private telegrams, as we could not be sure they would not fall into -other hands. The idea took root when he first left me to attend what -I feared would be a hostile meeting in Ireland. He had wired the -political result to me, but had not said how he was feeling. I -telegraphed to him: "O gentle wind that bloweth south," and promptly -came the reply to me: "He fareth well." - -All through these fighting months in Ireland he telegraphed to me -always in the morning and also in the {321} evening of every day he -was away from me, and whenever he could snatch a moment he wrote to -me. He was in no way unhappy in this last fight, and had only the -insidious "tiredness" that grew upon him with such deadly -foreshadowing of the end we would not see given him a little respite, -he could, he said, have enjoyed the stress and storm of battle. To -bend these rebels in Ireland to his will became but a secondary -driving force to that of gaining for Ireland the self-government to -which he had pledged himself for her, and I think it gave that zest -and joy in hardness to the battle that all the great fighters of the -world seem to have experienced. - -I am not giving all his letters of this time; just a few of the -little messages of my husband's love in these last days I must keep -for my own heart to live upon; but the two or three that I give are -sufficient to show the high, quiet spirit of the man who was said to -be "at bay." Letters, I think, rather of a king, serene in his -belief in the ultimate sanity of his people and of the justice of his -cause. - - - - BALLINA, - _March_ 24, 1891. - - The reception here yesterday was magnificent, and the whole - country for twenty-five miles from here to the town of Sligo is - solid for us, and will vote 90 out of 100 for us, the priests - being in our favour with one exception, and the seceders being - unable to hold a meeting anywhere. I am to keep in this friendly - district, and to hold meetings there, and shall not go outside of - it. - - The town of Sligo, and the district from there to Cliffony, is - hostile, the priests being against us, and I shall not go into - it, but we have a good friendly minority even in this district, - whom our agents will canvass privately. You will see the - situation on the map. - - Wire me to Ballina, every day, which will be my headquarters; - also write particulars if any news. - - -{322} - - - BIG ROCK QUARRIES, ARKLOW, Co. WICKLOW, - _August_ 15, 1891. - - MY OWN WIFIE,--Your telegram only received this evening, in - consequence of my being at the mine. - - I think you might fix the end of the year as the time you and I - would guarantee the payment of the costs.[1] If Wontner accepts - this or any modification of it which would give me, say, three - months to pay, telegraph Pym as follows: "No." If he declines to - accept, or you cannot come to any definite arrangement with - Wontner by Tuesday at midday, telegraph Pym "Yes." I have - written Pym advising him accordingly about the appeal, and - sending the lodgment money, but it would be better if possible - that you should telegraph Pym on Monday afternoon. I trust to be - able to cross on Tuesday morning or evening at latest. It is - very fine here, but I have had no shooting, and do not expect - any, as I have to be in Dublin all day Monday arranging about new - paper.---With best love, YOUR OWN HUSBAND. - - You should ask Wontner to telegraph you definitely as early as - possible on Monday. - - - - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN, - _September_ 1, 1891. - - MY OWN WIFIE,--I have received Magurri's letter safely, and hope - to be able to leave here on Wednesday (to-morrow) evening, - sleeping at Holyhead, and visiting the place in Wales[2] next - morning on my way back to London. - - MacDermott says he does not think I can get the loan from - Hibernian Bank concluded within a fortnight, but will hasten - matters as much as possible. The bank and their solicitors - approve the security and proposal generally, but it will take a - little time to make the searches and go through other formalities - which lawyers always insist upon in such cases. - - By to-morrow I expect to have done as much as I possibly can for - the present in the matter of the new paper. It has been a very - troublesome business, as a dispute has arisen between different - sections of my own friends as to who shall {323} have the largest - share in the management of the new organ. This dispute somewhat - impedes progress and increases the difficulties. However, the - matter is not so pressing, as the _Freeman_ question is again - postponed for another fortnight. I expect to make a satisfactory - arrangement about my _Freeman_ shares, under which I shall lose - nothing by them. Kerr is making progress in getting up a small - company to buy a steamer, and I think he may succeed. - - I have been very much bored, as I am obliged to remain in the - hotel all day every day, waiting to see people who may call about - the different undertakings. I wonder whether you have been - driving at all, and how the eyes are, and how you have been - doing. You have not written to tell me.--With much love, - - MY OWN LITTLE WIFIE'S HUSBAND. - - - - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN, - _Monday, September_ 7, 1801 - - MY OWN WIFIE,--I have told Kerr that he cannot have any of the - first thousand, so he is going to manage without it for the - present, so you may reckon on that amount - - The bank was to have given me that sum to-day, but a hitch - occurred on Saturday which I removed to-day, and the board will - meet to-morrow and ratify the advance. - - YOUR OWN HUSBAND. - - In great haste. - - The trouble about the jealousies of would-be directors on the new - board still continues, and have postponed selection till next - week--crossing to-morrow night. - - -On my husband's return home from Ireland in September, after having -established the _Irish Daily Independent_, he was looking so worn out -and ill that I was thoroughly alarmed about his health. He was very -cheerful and happy while he was at home, and I had much difficulty in -keeping him quietly lying down to rest on the sofa. But, though he -protested while following my wishes, I saw as I sat watching him -while he slept that {324} the tired, grey shadows were growing deeper -upon his beautiful face, and that in sleep he had that absolute -stillness which one only finds in very healthy children or in the -absolutely exhausted sleep of adults. - -I tried to induce him to see Sir Henry Thompson in town, but he would -not consent--saying that he could not waste a moment of his little -time at home, and that, though he did feel tired, that was all. - -"I am not ill," he said, "only a little tired. Queenie, my wife, you -do not really think I am ill, do you?" - -Knowing the one weakness of his brave heart, his anger and terror at -the idea of illness and of the far-off death that might divide us, I -answered only that I thought he was too tired, that nothing, not even -Ireland, was worth it, and I besought him now at last to give it all -up, and to hide away with me till a long rest, away from the turmoil -and contention, had saved him from the tiredness that would, I -feared, become real illness if he went on. - -He lay watching me as I spoke, and, after a long pause, he answered, -"I am in your hands, Queenie, and you shall do with me what you will; -but you promised." - -"You mean I promised that I would never make you less than-----" - -"Less than your King," he interrupted, "and if I give in now I shall -be less than that. I would rather die than give in now--give in to -the howling of the English mob. But if you say it I will do it, and -you will never hear of it again from me, my love, my own wife." And -as I gazed down into the deep, smouldering eyes, where the little -flames always leapt out to meet mine, I knew I could not say it, I -knew that in the depths of those eyes was more than even my love -could fathom, that in the martyrdom of our love was to be our -reparation. - -{325} - -I sent him off bright and happy to the last meeting at Creggs. As he -drove off to the station and Dictator rounded the corner of the -house, he turned, as usual, to wave to me, and raised the white rose -in his buttonhole to his lips with an answering smile. - -He sent me a telegram from London as he was starting from Euston -Station, one from Holyhead, and another from Dublin. For the Creggs -meeting he stayed with Mr. and Mrs. Mahoney, and his telegram from -their house was cheerful, though he said he was not feeling very well. - -In the few lines I had from him here I knew he was in much pain again -from the rheumatism in his left arm. He always told me exactly how -he was feeling, as he knew that unless he did this I would have -suffered untold misery from apprehension while he was away. From -Creggs he telegraphed that he was about to speak, and it was -"terrible weather." I thought with satisfaction that I had put a -special change into a bag for him, and he had promised not to be -parted from it, so I knew he would find means of changing his things -directly after the meeting. His "good night" telegram did not -reassure me; he was in bad pain from the rheumatism, but hoped to get -it out with a Turkish bath on the way home. - -He stayed in Dublin to see about the new paper which though "going" -well, was a perpetual trouble to him owing to the petty jealousies of -the staff. He crossed over from Ireland feeling very ill, with -violent pains all over him; he was implored to go to bed, and remain -there for a few days till he felt better, before starting for -England; but he only replied: "No, I want to get home; I must go -home!" - -He telegraphed to me from Holyhead as usual, and {326} directly he -got to London, and before coming on to Brighton he had a Turkish bath -in London. - -He seemed to me very weak when he got out of the buggy. I had sent a -closed fly to meet him, as well as the buggy, but as a forlorn hope, -for he would always be met by Dictator in the buggy at the station - -I helped him into the house, and he sank into his own chair before -the blazing fire I had made, in spite of the warm weather, and said: -"Oh, my Wifie, it is good to be back. You may keep me a bit now!" - -I was rather worried that he should have travelled immediately after -a Turkish bath, but he said it had done him much good. I did not -worry him then, but after he had eaten a fairly good dinner I told -him that I wanted him to have Sir Henry Thompson down the next day. -He laughed at the idea, but I was very much in earnest, and he said -he would see how he felt in the morning. - -He told me that he had had to have his arm in a sling all the time he -was away, but that he thought he had become so much worse because the -change of clothes I had packed separately in a small bag (which he -had promised not to be parted from) in case he had to speak in the -rain, had been taken home in error by his host, and he had had to sit -in his wet things for some hours. - -I was much vexed when I heard this, for I always made such a point of -his not keeping on damp things, and provided against it so carefully -when starting him off. - -He said: "It is no matter, really, I think, and I won't go away again -till I'm really well this time. They were all so kind to me, but I -was feeling so ill that I had to point out that breakfast was made -for me, not I for breakfast, when I was expected to come down quickly -for it. {327} I do hate being away from home, especially when I feel -ill." - -After dinner that night he sat before the fire trying to smoke a -cigar, but he did not care for it as usual, and presently threw it -away half smoked. He wanted to "feel" I was there, he said, so I sat -by his feet on the rug, and leant my head against his knee while he -stroked my hair. I stopped his hand because I feared the pain might -come on again, and held it while he smiled assent to my suggestion -that he should try to sleep a little. Grouse and Pincher, our setter -and terrier, had to come close by us, and, as they settled by his -feet, he said: "This is really a beautiful rest." - -He dozed now and then, and I could see how wan and exhausted the -still, clear-cut face was, and I vowed to myself that he should not -again leave my care until his health was completely re-established. - -Presently he asked for his stick and wanted to go into the other room -for a while, but he could not walk without my assistance, his legs -were too weak to support him. I was terribly worried now, but did -not let him see it, and only said: "Now you are up you must let me -help you to bed, so that you can get all the rest you need--and you -are not going to leave home again till you take me for a real -honeymoon in a country where the sun is strong enough to get the cold -out of your bones. We will get out of England this winter." And he -answered: "So we will, Wifie, directly I get that mortgage through." - -Then, as we made our painful way up the stairs--for the last time--he -laughed at the Irish setter, who was trying to help him lift the -stick he used, and said: "Grouse thinks we are doing this for his own -special benefit." I undressed him, and got him into bed, and he -said: "Come {328} and lie down as quickly as you can, Wifie," but I -rubbed him with the firwood oil, and packed his arm in the wool he so -much believed in, before I lay down. - -He dozed off, but woke shortly, and could not sleep again. He asked -me if I thought the champagne Dr. Kenny had made him take in Dublin -had made him worse, but I reassured him, for he had been so exhausted -he had required something, and no doubt Dr. Kenny had known that it -would do him good, although in a general way it was bad for him. - -During the night I made him promise he would see a doctor in the -morning. Presently he said: "I would rather write to Thompson, as he -understands me." I said I would telegraph to him to come down, but -this excited my husband, who said, "No, the fee would be enormous at -this distance." I pointed out that his health was more precious than -the quarries and saw-mills at Arklow, on which he was just proposing -to spend some hundreds of pounds, but he put me off with, "We'll make -it all right in the morning, Wifie." - -Finding he still did not sleep, I gently massaged his shoulders and -arms with oil, and wrapped him in wool again. - -He talked a good deal, chiefly of the Irish peasantry, of their -privations and sufferings, the deadly poverty and the prevalence of -the very pain (rheumatism) from which he was suffering, in their case -aggravated by the damp, insanitary cabins in which they lived. And -he murmured under his breath: "There are no means at hand for -calculating the people who suffered in silence during those awful -years of famine." That was what J. H. Mohonagy said of the famine, -from '79 to '80. And he went on: "I wish I could do something for -them--the Irish {329} peasantry--they are worth helping. I have -always wished it, but there is so much between--and they 'suffer in -silence,' Wifie." - -In the morning he felt better, and was much happier about himself. -He absolutely refused to let me send for Sir Henry Thompson, and, -sitting up in bed after a good breakfast, smoked a cigar while he -wrote notes for a speech. During his last absence I had bought a -large engraving of Lord Leighton's picture "Wedded," and, seeing this -hanging in the room, he made me bring it and put it up at the foot of -the bed for him to see. He was very much amused at the muscular -young couple in the picture, and waving his cigar at it said: "We are -a fine pair, Wifie; hang us up where I can look at us." - -I had ready for him to sign an agreement to rent a house near -Merstham, Surrey, that we had arranged to take so that he could get -to London more quickly, and have a change from the sea. It was a -pretty little country house, and he had taken great interest in it. -I would not let him sign it now, or do any business, but he made me -read the agreement over to him, and said that part of our real -"honeymoon" should be spent there. He later insisted upon writing to -his solicitor (his brother-in-law, Mr. MacDermott) about a mortgage -he was raising on his estate, as he wished to have the matter -completed quickly. (It was not completed, owing to his death.) - -On Sunday he was not so well, but insisted that what he had written -to Sir Henry Thompson was enough, as he would answer at once. My -persistence seemed to fret him so much that I desisted, and told him -that I had sent for a local doctor, as I could not bear to be without -advice about the pain. - -He was a good patient in one way, scrupulously {330} following his -doctor's directions, but in another a very difficult patient, as he -was so very easily depressed about himself, all the fatalism that was -natural to him tending to overcome his immense desire for health. A -short talk with the doctor who saw him seemed to inspire him with -confidence, and he said he felt better. - -That night (Sunday) he did not sleep, and this worried him a great -deal, as he had a superstition that if he did not sleep for two -consecutive nights he would die. I tried at first to reason him out -of this idea, but he said he had always "felt" this, and had never -before failed to sleep. I besought him to let me telegraph for Sir -Henry Thompson now, but he would not allow it, and became so feverish -at the idea that I did not press the point, though I determined to -consult the doctor in attendance about this in the morning. Towards -morning he became very feverish, and it was difficult to keep his -skin in the perspiration that he desired. - -That morning Sir Henry Thompson telegraphed recommending me to call -in Dr. Willoughby Furner, but as Dr. Jowers was already in -attendance, and my husband liked him, there was no reason to change. -That day he was in much pain, afraid to move a finger because of it. -He heard from Sir Henry Thompson and, after I read the letter to him, -he said: "You see, sweetheart, I was right; Thompson says just what -Jowers does; there's no need to have him down." - -After my husband's death I received the following letters from Sir -Henry Thompson:-- - - - 35 WIMPOLE STREET, W., - _October_ 7, 1891. - - DEAR MRS. PARNELL,--I am indeed shocked and distressed by the - news which the afternoon journals announce here to-day. - - {331} - - So little did I think when I received the letter written by my - old esteemed patient, dated October 3, that his end was so near. - - With the feelings which this shock have aroused I cannot do - otherwise than ask permission to express my sincere sympathy and - condolence in the terrible and, I imagine, even to you who must - have known more of his health than anyone else, this sudden - affliction. The more so as I think you accompanied him once, if - not more than once, in his visits to me in Wimpole Street. Of - such expression of feeling towards you in this great trial you - will at least find multitudes ready to join, and may find some - slight consolation in the knowledge that sympathy with you will - be widely felt both here and in America. - - Under present circumstances I cannot expect or wish to trouble - you to communicate with me. But I should be deeply interested in - knowing (for my private interest in him and in what befell him) - what followed the communication I made to you, whether you had - attendance (professional) on the spot before my letter arrived, - and what was said, or supposed, to have been the cause of the - fatal result, or any details which some friend could send me. - - With renewed assurance of my deep sympathy,--Believe me, yours - truly, HENRY THOMPSON. - - I think I must have received one of his very last letters, if not - his last. - - - - - 35 WIMPOLE STREET, W., - _Saturday afternoon, October_ 10, 1891. - - DEAR MRS. PARNELL,--I am very glad you have written me, if the - doing so, or if the reply I may be able to send you, can in any - way help to mitigate any one of the numerous and infinitely - painful circumstances, or their influence, rather, on your mind - just now. - - Such inquiries as those which suggest themselves to you are so - natural that it is impossible to repress them. - - One never knows exactly what might have happened in any incident - of life had some other course been taken. But whatever course - may be supposed, it is useless to pursue it, {332} since only one - can ever be taken in this life, namely, that one which is chosen - by the individual in every case. - - In reference to that asked by you, I feel very strongly that the - sad catastrophe was by no means the outcome of any one act--or - omission to act--and is far more truly indicated in that passage - in yours which describes him as saying to Dr. Jowers, "had he - only been able to follow my advice during the last few months," - etc. There is the gist of the matter! I doubt whether anything - would have saved him when passing through London. A blow had - been struck--not so heavy--apparently a light one; but his - worn-out constitution, of late fearfully overtaxed by a spirit - too strong for its bodily tenement, had no power to resist, and - gave way, wholly unable to make any fight for itself against the - enemy. Hence what would in a fairly robust state of health have - been only a temporary conflict with a mild attack of - inflammation, developed into a severe form, overwhelming the - vital force with great rapidity and rendering all medical aid - powerless. I don't believe that any medicine, any treatment, - could have enabled his weakened condition to resist successfully. - He wanted no medicine to combat the complaint. He wanted - physical force, increased vitality to keep the attack at bay. I - have nothing to say of the prescription, except that it appears - to me quite appropriate under the circumstances and these I have - learnt from the public Press. Dr. Jowers is an experienced and - most capable man, and I think you may rest assured that he could - scarcely have been in safer hands. - - If I were to regret anything it would be that he had not found a - spare half-hour to come and see me _some time ago_. Let me see - then how his strength was and whether he could not be fortified a - little for the wearing life he was leading. But then these are - acts of prudence and foresight which very few ardent men of - action ever find time to take. Nevertheless, it is then that - advice is really efficient. It is in nine times out of ten - sought too late; when it is indeed a matter of little consequence - what prescription is written, or, indeed, who has written it, - provided only that it does no mischief. - - I should very much have liked to see him again at any time. - After the first visit I always knew my patient, and felt much - interested in him, although I never showed any {333} reference to - the fact, preferring to follow his own lead in reference to name, - a matter he refers to in the letter of the 3rd inst. - - By the way, you know, of course, I received that letter only on - Monday morning, and lost not an instant in replying, telegraphing - that I was doing so. - - You ask me to return it--"_his last letter_"--as I suspected. I - cannot tell you how I was valuing it, and that I intended to - place it among my most treasured souvenirs, of which I have many. - But I cannot refuse it to his suffering and heart-broken widow, - if she desires me to return it, and will do so. It consists only - of a few professional words, a patient to his doctor--nothing - more, and it is addressed by yourself--as I believe. It is not - here--I am writing at the club; but if you still ask me I cannot - hesitate an instant, and will send it to you. - - Come and see me any time you are able, by and by. I will answer - any inquiries you may wish to make. I am at home (only let me - know a day beforehand, if you can) every morning from 9.30 to - 12--not after, except by quite special arrangement. - - With sincere sympathy, believe me, dear Mrs. Parnell, yours - truly, HENRY THOMPSON. - - -My husband was in great pain on the Monday, and seemed to feel a -sudden horror that he was being held down by some strong unseen -power, and asked my help--thank God, always my help--to fight against -it. He tried to get out of bed, although he was too weak to stand, -and I had to gently force him back, and cover him up, telling him how -dangerous a chill would be. He said: "Hold me tight, then, yourself, -till I can fight those others." Then he seemed to doze for a few -minutes, and when he opened his eyes again it was to ask me to lie -down beside him and put my hand in his, so that he could "feel" I was -there. I did so, and he lay still, quite happy again, and spoke of -the "sunny land" where we would go as soon as he was better. "We -will be so happy, Queenie; there are so many things happier than -politics." - -{334} - -He did not sleep that night, and the next morning (Tuesday) he was -very feverish, with a bright colour on his usually white face. I -wanted to send the dogs from the room, because I feared they would -disturb him, but he opened his eyes and said: "Not Grouse; let old -Grouse stay, I like him there." - -His doctor said that for a day or two we could not look for much -improvement. After his medicine that afternoon he lay quietly with -his eyes closed, just smiling if I touched him. The doctor came in -again, but there was no change, and he left promising to call early -the next morning. During the evening my husband seemed to doze, and, -listening intently, I heard him mutter "the Conservative Party." - -Late in the evening he suddenly opened his eyes and said: "Kiss me, -sweet Wifie, and I will try to sleep a little." I lay down by his -side, and kissed the burning lips he pressed to mine for the last -time. The fire of them, fierce beyond any I had ever felt, even in -his most loving moods, startled me, and as I slipped my hand from -under his head he gave a little sigh and became unconscious. The -doctor came at once, but no remedies prevailed against this sudden -failure of the heart's action, and my husband died without regaining -consciousness, before his last kiss was cold on my lips. - -There is little more to add. All that last night I sat by my husband -watching and listening for the look and the word he would never give -me again. All that night I whispered to him to speak to me, and I -fancied that he moved, and that the fools who said he was dead did -not really know. He had never failed to answer my every look and -word before. His face was so peaceful; so well, all the tiredness -had gone from it now. I would not open {335} the door because I -feared to disturb him--he had always liked us to be alone. And the -rain and the wind swept about the house as though the whole world -shared my desolation. - -He did not make any "dying speech," or refer in any way at the last -to his "Colleagues and the Irish people," as was at the time -erroneously reported. I was too broken then and too indifferent to -what any sensation-lovers put about to contradict this story, but, as -I am now giving to the world the absolutely true account of the -Parnell whom I knew and loved, I am able to state that he was -incapable of an affectation so complete. The last words Parnell -spoke were given to the wife who had never failed him, to the love -that was stronger than death--"Kiss me, sweet Wifie, and I will try -to sleep a little." - - - -[1] Of the Divorce Case. - -[2] We had an idea of renting a house in Wales. - - - - -{337} - -INDEX - - "AGONY" column advertisements, 35 - - Aldershot, a review at, 7 - - Allen, Fenian leader, 52 - - Arklow, quarries at, 213 - - Arms Bill, the, introduction of, 50 - - Arrears Bill, a promised, 165 - becomes law, 180 - introduction of, 171 - - Astronomy, Parnell's study of, 303 - - "Aunt Ben" (_see_ Mrs. Benjamin Wood) - - Austin, Alfred, friendship with, 37 - - Avondale, Parnell's estates at, 51 - Parnell's love of, 209 - - - BADER, DR., 43, 68 - - Baily, L. R., 189 (note) - - Balfour, Rt. Hon. A. J., 194 - - Ballina, Parnell's reception at, 321 - - Ballot Act, the, passing of, 52 - - Barker, Edgar, 35 - - Barlow, Captain, 147 - - Barrett-Lennard, Lady, 10, 14, 16, 19 - Sir Thomas, 6, 14, 31 - - Beaufort Gardens, 36 - - Belhus, visits to, 6, 16 - - Bennington Park, Hertfordshire, 24 - - Biggar, J. G., 74 - obstructs Parliamentary business, 53 - warrant for arrest of, 118 - - Birling Gap, visits to, 239 - - Bognor, visit to, 247 - - Book-keeping, Parnell's studies in, 100 - - Boulogne, Parnell meets O'Brien at, 297 - - Bourke, Walter, murder of, 179 - - Boycott, principle enunciated, 74 - - Brennan, Thomas, 119 - - Brighton, a day on the downs at, 30 _et seq._ - life at, 28 - - Brighton, Local Government Bill discussed at, 223 - Mrs. O'Shea's house at, 273 - railway station rebuilt, 100 - visits to, 229 - - Brompton Oratory, 37 - - Bryson, Phyllis, 313, 315, 316 - - Burke, Mr., murder of, 168 - - Butt, Isaac, 50, 53 - - Butt, Mr. Justice, 300 - - Buxton, Mrs. Sydney, 265 - - - CALASHER, MR., 35 - - Campbell, Mr. Parnell's secretary, 246 - - Campbell-Bannerman, Sir Henry, accepts Irish Secretaryship, 182 - enters the Cabinet, 197 - - Canada, Parnell's reception in, 54 - - Carlingford, Lord, opposes Home Rule, 197 - - Carnarvon, Lord, becomes Lord Lieutenant, 186 - meets Parnell, 187 - resignation of, 193, 196 - - Carr, Dr., Bishop of Galway, 291 - - Cavendish, Lord Frederick, becomes Chief Secretary, 166 - murder of, 168 - - Chamberlain, Joseph, 158, 184 - and Healy's speech, 291 - and the Chief Secretaryship, 166 - opposes coercion, 185 - proposes National Board for Ireland, 185, 197 (note) - resignation of, 197 - - Childers, Mr., supports Home Rule, 197 - - Churchill, Lord Randolph, 184 - - Clare, Capt. O'Shea returned for, 56 - - Clive, Colonel, 13 - - Coercion Bill, the, introduced, 91 - memorandum on, from Parnell to Gladstone, 178 - - Collings, Jesse, 196 - - Colthurst, Col., 58 - - Committee Room Fifteen, momentous meeting in, 286 - - Compensation for Disturbances Bill, 73 - - Congleton, Lord, 51 - - Constable and Mrs. Wood, 2 - - Corbett, Mr., 234 - - Cork, banquet at, in honour of Parnell, 221 - - Cowper, Lord, resignation of, 164 - - Creggs, Parnell goes to his last meeting at, 325 - - Crimes Bill, becomes law, 180 - introduced by Sir W. Harcourt, 171 - negotiations on, 199 - second reading of, 174 - - Cripps, Edward, 312, 314 - - - DALLAS, MR., 18 - - Dasent, Sir George, 18 - - Davitt, Michael, 53, 54, 119 - quarrels with Parnell, 210 - release of, 168 - - Derby, Lord, opposes Home Rule, 197 - - Devoy, John, 53, 54 - - Dickinson, Emily, 261 (note), 319 - - "Dictator," horse named, 207, 232, 313, 314, 339 - - Dilke, Sir Charles, 166 - defeated at General Election, 197 - opposes coercion, 185 - - Dillon, John, arrest of, 118 - quarrels with Parnell, 210 - sails for New York, 54 - - "Disturbances Bill," debate on, 78 _et seq._ - - Dublin, freedom of, presented to Parnell, 210 - Land League Convention at, 109 - Parnell defeated in, 52 - Parnell's meeting at, 293 - - Duffy, Sir Charles Gavan, 187 - - Dyke, Sir W. Hart, resigns, 196 - - - EASTBOURNE, holiday at, 238 _et seq._ - - Edinburgh, freedom of, presented to Parnell, 269 - - Egan, Patrick, 119 - - Eighty Club, ovation for Parnell at 267 - Parnell's speech at, 244 - - Eltham, a snowy Christmas at, 223, 224 - fifth of November celebrations at, 75 - life at, 30, 43 _et seq._, 68 _et seq._, 223, 228 - new room built at, 230 - Parnell at, 69, 79, 83, 223, 228 - - Errington, Mr., 181 - - Eversley, Lord (_see_ Lefevre, Shaw) - - Evictions in Ireland, 81 - Gladstone on, 171 - - Explosives Bill, introduction of, 181 - - - FARWELL, GEORGE (Lord Justice), 9 - - Fenian movement, the, 52 - - Finden, the brothers, 2 - - Fitzgerald, Sir Seymour, 19 - - Ford, Patrick, starts dynamite crusade against England, 181 - - Forster, W. E., and the Land League, 74 - attacks Parnell, 219 - becomes "disagreeable," 124 - Coercion Bill of, 91 - denounces the Cabinet, 165 - introduces "Disturbances Bill," 78 - resignation of, 164 - suggests Parnell's arrest, 110 - - Franchise Bill, 184 - - _Freeman's Journal_, announcement as to Parnell's intentions in, 288 - letter from Timothy Harrington to, 291 - - - GAFFNEY, SUSAN, and "first aid," 210 - - Galway, Bishop of, 291 - O'Shea returned for, 291 - - Geston, Thomas, 119 - - Gill, Mr., 270 (note) - - Gimson, Dr., 26 - - Gladstone Herbert (Lord), 187, 194 - - Gladstone, Rt. Hon. W. E., 158 - a tribute to Parnell, 93 - a yachting expedition, 188 - action after divorce case, 286 - an elusive speech of, 189 - and Capt. O'Shea, 68 - and evictions, 171 - and Parnell's Home Rule draft, 187 - and the Coercion Bill, 91 - announces arrest of Parnell, 117 - approaches Tory Party on Home Rule, 194 - forms a Ministry, 50, 54 - interviews Mrs. O'Shea, 172 - introduces his Land Bill, 109 - letter to Morley on overthrow of Parnell, 288 - on Parnell's character, 220 - perfect manners of, 199 - promises an Arrears Bill, 165 - resignation of, 186 - speech on "Disturbances Bill," 79 - summarizes position between Parnell and himself, 195 - - Glasnevin Cemetery, Parnell's grave in, 205 - - Glazenwood, life at, 3 - - Graham, Robert Bontine Cunninghame, 15 - - Graham, Robert Cunninghame, 15, 18 - - Grantley-Barkley, the Hon., 9 - - Granville, Lord, 185 - supports Home Rule, 197 - - Greenwich Observatory, visits to, 109 - - Grosse, Rev. Thomas, author and, 4 - - Grosvenor, Lord Richard, 184, 188 - and Capt. O'Shea's candidature for Liverpool, 189 (note), 291 - asks for Home Rule draft, 186 - - "Grouse," dog named, 234, 327, 334 - - Gull, Sir William, 39 - - - HARCOURT, SIR W., introduces Crimes Bill, 171 - introduces Explosives Bill, 181 - supports Home Rule, 197 - - Harrington, Timothy, and O'Shea's candidature, 291 - - Hartington, Lord, 54 - opposes Home Rule, 188, 197 - - Hastings, visits to, 41, 228 - - Hatherley, Lord Chancellor, 28, 38 - - Hawarden, Parnell's visit to, 202 - - Healy, Timothy, attacks Capt. O'Shea, 291 - returned for Monaghan, 221 - State trial of, 83 - warrant issued for arrest of, 118 - - Herne Bay, a day at, 249 - - Herschell, Lord, enters the Cabinet, 197 - - Hertfordshire, social customs in, 24 _et seq._ - - Hicks-Beach, Sir Michael, becomes Chief Secretary, 186 - - Hinkson, Mrs. (_see_ Tynan, Katharine) - - Hobson, Mr., 27 - - Holbrook Hall, honeymoon at, 19 - - Home Office, explosion of bomb at, 226 - - Home Rule Bill, the first, 197 _et seq._ - - Home Rule League, the formation of, 52 - - Home Rule scheme submitted to Gladstone, 182 - - Hood, Marion, actress, 59 - - Hook, Dean, 39 - - Hozier, Mr. (Sir H.) 12, 13 - - Hurley, Father Walter, 294 - - - IRELAND, evictions in, 81 - fundamental failure in English government of, 79 - how news of Parnell's arrest was received in, 119 - State trials in, 79 _et seq._ - - _Irish Daily Independent_ founded by Parnell, 323 - - Irish Party, the, Parnell and, 50 _et seq._ - Parnell elected chairman of, 57 - treachery of, after divorce case, 287 - - _Irish World_, Patrick Ford's crusade in, 199 (note), 181 - - - JENNER, SIR WILLIAM, 39, 40 - - Jowers, Dr., 330, 332 - - - KENNY, DR., 122, 289, 293, 294, 328 - - Kent, hop-pickers' reception of Parnell in, 70 - - Kerley, Frederick, serves Parnell with Judge's Order, 299 - - Kerr, Mr., Parnell's agent, 93, 261 - - Kettle, A. J., 118 - - Kilkenny, a vacancy in, 293 - Healy's speech at, 291 - - Kilmainham Gaol, Parnell in, 99, 119 _et seq._ - - Kilmainham Treaty, the, 157 _et seq._ - - Kimberley, Lord, supports Home Rule, 197 - - - LABOURERS' COMMITTEE, the, 227 - - Ladies' Land League, 119, 167, 175 - - Land Bill, Gladstone's, 197 - introduction of, 109 - - Land League, the, amazing growth of, 78 - formation of, 53 - Forster and, 74 - "three F's of," 55 - - Land Purchase Bill, 185 - - Landseer, Edwin, 2 - - Lane, Charles, 28 - - Larkin, Fenian leader, 52 - - Lefevre, Shaw, defeated at General Election, 197 - opposed to coercion, 180, 185 - refuses Irish Secretaryship, 182 - - Lewes, Mr., 18 - - Lewis, Sir George, and divorce case, 280 - and the "Parnell letters," 259, 261, 262 - - Liberal Government in 1885, 185 - - Lime thrown in Parnell's face, 297 - - Liverpool, Capt. O'Shea's candidature for, 189 (note) - - Lockwood, Sir Frank, 268, 280, 284 - - London remembrances, 250 _et seq._ - - Lords, House of, and the Arrears Bill, 180 - - Lytton, Lord, 37 - - - MACCORMACK, DR., BISHOP OF GALWAY, 291 - - MacDermott, Mr., 329 - - Madrid, Pigott's suicide in, 265 - - Manchester, the Fenian movement in, 52 - - Manning, Cardinal, and O'Shea's divorce, 290 et seq. - opposes Mr. Errington's mission, 181 - - Mary (parlourmaid), 86, 87, 127 - - McCarthy, Justin, 58, 59, 187 - and Kilmainham Treaty, 159 - leader of Irish Party, 298 (note) - - Meath, Parnell M.P. for, 52 - - Meredith, George, reminiscences of, 43 - - Michell, Admiral, 1 - - Michell, Caroline, 1 - - Michell, Maria, 1 - - Mohonagy, J. H., 328 - - Monaghan, election at, 221 - - Morley, John (Lord), 16, 17, 185 (note) - enters the Cabinet, 197 - Parnell and, 202 - - Mundella, Mr., enters the Cabinet, 197 - - - NATIONAL LEAGUE founded, 211, 212 - - National Liberal Club, Parnell elected a life member of, 267 - Parnell's speech at, 268 - - Nationalism, Parnell's conception of, 303 - - Niton, a visit to, 39-40 - - Nolan, Colonel, 58 - - No Rent manifesto, issue of the, 119 - - Northbrook, Lord, opposes Home Rule, 197 - - - O'BRIEN, Fenian leader, 52 - - O'Brien, William, arrest of, 118 - chats with Parnell, 244 - meets Parnell at Boulogne, 297 - - O'Connell, Daniel, 89 - - O'Connor, Arthur, 118 - - O'Gorman Mahon, The, 49, 56, 106 - - O'Hart and Civil List pension, 181 - - O'Kelly, arrest of, 118 - deserts Parnell, 298 - - O'Shea, Capt. ("Willie"), 18 - a forgotten appointment, 49 - an accident to, 14 - and Kilmainham Treaty, 159-160 - and Land League's policy, 80 - and Mid-Armagh election, 188 - and Phoenix Park murders, 169 - and "Romeo," 34-5 - and the Irish Party, 188-9 (note) - as actor, 7 - candidate for Liverpool, 189 (note) - challenges Parnell to fight a duel, 106 - desire for Under-Secretaryship, 198 (note), 199 - divorce case against Mrs. O'Shea, 280 _et seq._ - enters 18th Hussars, 11 (note) - enters political life, 49 - financial difficulties of, [25 _et seq._, 34 _et seq._ - his ancestry, 11 - illness of, and operation on, 35 - leaves his regiment, 11 (note), 19 - love of social life, 24, 37 - marriage of, 18 - returned for Parliament, 56 - strained relations with his wife, 104, 253, 290 - stud-farming, 24 - takes Parnell's letter to Forster, 164 - week-end visits to Eltham, 48 - - O'Shea, Carmen, birth of, 38 - George Meredith and, 46 - - O'Shea, Comtesse, 11 (note), 20, 21 _et seq._, 38 - - O'Shea, Gerard, 27 - - O'Shea, Henry, 11 (note) - pencil portrait of Parnell, 99 - - O'Shea, John, 11 (note), 20 - - O'Shea, Katharine, 29 - a dinner to Parnell, 59 - a prized pocket-book, 233 - an afternoon with George Meredith, 44 - and Longfellow, 6 - as companion to "Aunt Ben," 43 - as intermediary between Government and Parnell, 91, 95, 172, - 174, 178 _et seq._ - assists at an operation, 35 - astronomical studies, 108 - birth of Parnell's child, 120, 146 - children of, 27, 37, 38, 46 - death of "Aunt Ben," 272 - death of Parnell's child, 155 - dinner parties in London, 57 _et seq._ - dislike of society, 24, 37, 48 - early life of, 3 _et seq._ - family life, 5 _et seq._ - first letter from Parnell, 59 - first literary success, 5 - first meeting with Parnell, 58 - friction with Capt. O'Shea, 104, 253, 290 - her love of music, 6 - her name abused by anti-Parnellites, 299 - hides Parnell at Eltham, 84 - instructed in the Catholic religion, 38 - interview with Gladstone on Parnell's feelings, 220 - interviews Mr. Soames, 265 - interviews Sir G. Lewis, 259, 262, 263 - intimate knowledge of Parnell's character, 301 _et seq._ - leaves Eltham, 273 - letter from Parnell formulating Irish policy, 190 - letters from Capt. O'Shea, 290 - London remembrances, 250 _et seq._ - marries Capt. O'Shea, 18 - marries Parnell, 314 - meets Capt. O'Shea, 10 _et seq._ - nurses Parnell, 69 - overstrained nerves, 214 - parliamentary associations, 91 - refuses to fight divorce case, 282 - reminiscences of Gladstone, 174 _et seq._ - removes to Brighton, 273 - "Romeo" and, 34-5 - seaside holidays, 338 _et seq._ - served with petition in divorce case, 280 - wedding presents, 19, 20, 31 - with Parnell at his death, 334 - - O'Shea, Mary, 11 (note), 20, 21 _et seq._, 38, 156 - - O'Shea, Norah, 46 - - O'Shea, Thaddeus, 11 (note) - - O'Shea, William, 11 (note) - - "Owen Meredith" (_see_ Lytton, Lord) - - - PARIS, a visit to, 21 - - Parliament, a long sitting of, 91 - - Parnell, Anna, 119 - and the Ladies' Land League, 167 - burned in effigy, 76 - - Parnell, Charles Stewart, a love avowal by, 33 - a poem by, 243 - a warrant for his arrest, 115 - aim of his political life, 310 - and Cecil Rhodes, 270 (note) - and death of his sister Fanny, 204 - and O'Shea's candidature, 189 (note) - and the Irish Party, 50 _et seq._, 284 - arrested for sedition, 116 - as autocrat, 306 - assaying work of, 101 - astronomical studies of, 108 - at Brighton, 98, 100, 223, 229, 273 - at Eltham, 69, 79, 83, 223, 228 - attends banquet at Cork, 221 - attends nephew's funeral on parole, 153 _et seq._ - birth of his child, 120 - buys dogs for Mrs. O'Shea, 234, 235 - complex character of, 304 - conducts Healy's election, 221 - consults Sir Henry Thompson, 245 - death of his daughter, 155 - death of his father, 51 - deserted by O'Kelly, 298 - dictator in the Commons, 193 - discusses Local Government Bill with Capt. O'Shea, 223 - dislike of green bindings, 229 - dislike of social life, 307 - distrust of Gladstone, 110 (note), 173 - elected life member of National Liberal Club, 267 - entrusts political correspondence to Mrs. O'Shea, 85 - family affection of, 306 - fatalism of, 170 - founds _Irish Daily Independent_, 323 - freedom of City of Dublin presented to, 210 - freedom of City of Edinburgh for, 269 - general appearance of, 301 _et seq._ - generosity of, 310 - great meeting at Rotunda, Dublin, 293 - hatred of oppression, 305 - his ancestry, 51 - his fear of death, 225, 305 - his hatred of England, 51, 81 - his love of animals, 305 - hobbies and interests of, 99 _et seq._ - holiday at Eastbourne, 238 - Home Rule scheme submitted to Gladstone, 182 - illness of, 243 - in danger, 204 et seq. - interest in the working classes, 216, 307 - interviews newspaper men after his marriage, 316 - interviews Sir Geo. Lewis, 261 - Irish subscribe to pay off mortgages on his estates, 290 (note) - joins Home Rule League, 52 - Kilmainhain days and letters, 119 _et seq._, 139 _et seq._ - last hours and death of, 319, 333 _et seq._ - learns of Phoenix Park murders, 168 - leaves for Ireland, 320 - letter to his mother, 290 - letters in invisible ink, 125, 132, 133 - letters of congratulation (and otherwise) on his marriage, 318 - love of white roses, 206 - makes bricks, 317 - makes model ships, 278 - manifesto to people of Ireland, 284, 286 - marries Mrs. O'Shea, 314 - meets Katharine Tynan, 266 - meets Lord Carnarvon, 187 - meets O'Brien at Boulogne, 297 - modesty of, 304 - moral standard of, 309 - nightmares and sleep-walking, 205-6 - nominates Vincent Scully for Kilkenny, 296 - on trial for conspiracy, 79 - opens Home Rule campaign, 188 - organizes for General Election, 184 - ovation in Parliament after trial, 265 - ovations at Eighty Club and St. James's Hall, 267 - picks wild flowers, 207 - President of Home Rule Confederation, 53 - President of the Land League, 53 - puts Tories in power, 186 - quarrying at Arklow, 213 - reads forged letters in the _Times_, 257 - reads report of his assassination, 218 - recognized at Pevensey, 240 - refuses to defend divorce case, 280, 281 - release of, 165 - religious beliefs of, 309 - replies to Forster's attack, 219 - retakes offices of _United Ireland_, 295-6 - return home and beginning of last illness, 323 - sails for New York, 54 - sees his dying child, 154, 155 - sends horses to Eltham, 231 - served with Judge's Order, 299 - shaves his beard, 98 - shooting in Ireland, 277 - shooting practice of, 207 - speech at Eighty Club, 244 - speech at National Liberal Club, 268 - speech on first Home Rule Bill, 200 - stands for Parliament, 52 - superstitious nature of, 247, 308 - takes house at Brockley, 253 - takes house in Regent's Park, 254 - takes house near Beachy Head, 241 - telegraphic code with Mrs. O'Shea, 246 - temper of, 310 - threats against, 214 - unselfishness of, 311 - views on proposed visit of Prince of Wales, 236 - visits "Aunt Ben," 89 - visits Gladstone, 202 - visits Morley, 202 - wedding presents, 319 - Wexford speech of, 110 - with Mrs. O'Shea at Hastings, 228 - - Parnell, Fanny, 52 - death of, 204 - - Parnell, Mrs. Delia, 51, 100, 261 (note), 319 - - Parnell, John, 306 - - Parnell, Sir John, 51 - - Parnell, Thomas, poet, 51 - - Parnell Commission, the, 256 _et seq._ - - Patcham, life at, 28 - - Pevensey, Parnell recognized at, 240 - - Phoenix park murders, 166, 168 _et seq._ - - Pigott, suicide of, 265 - - "Pincher," dog named, 235 - - Power, Richard, 58 - - "President," Parnell's horse, 231, 239 - - "Preston, Clement," 253 - - Pym, H., 290, 322 - - - QUINLAN, CATHERINE, 11 (note) - (_see also_ O'Shea, Comtesse) - - Quinlan, Edward, 11 (note) - - Quinn, J. P., arrest of, 118 - - - "RANGER," dog named, 235 - - Redistribution of Seats Bill, 184 - - Redmond, William, letter from Parnell to, 289 - - Redmond's Land Bill, 164 - - Rhodes, Cecil, Parnell's letter to, - on Home Rule, 270 (note) - - Ripon, Lord, supports Home Rule, 197 - - Rivenhall, life at, 3 _et seq._, 18 - visitors at, 8, 26 - - "Romeo," 34, 35 - - Rosebery, Lord, supports Home Rule, 197 - - Russell, Sir Charles, 259 - a reception to Parnell, 266 - - - ST. JAMES'S HALL, ovation for Parnell at, 267 - - St. Peter's, Cornhill, 1 - - Salisbury, Lord, diplomatic statement about Ireland, 188 - first Ministry of, 186 - - Scully, Vincent, nominated for Kilkenny, 296 - - Selby, stud-groom of Capt. O'Shea, 28, 36 - - Sexton, Mr., arrest of, 118 - - Shaw, William, and the Irish Parliamentary Party, 50, 57 - - Sheridan, Charles, and Mrs. Wood, 2 - - Sleeplessness, a specific for, 40 - - Sligo, hostility of, to Parnell, 321 - - Smart, Capt. Hawley, 27 - - Soames, Mr., interview with, 265 - - Spain, Capt. and Mrs. O'Shea in, 24 - Capt. O'Shea's managerial post in, 47 - - Spencer, Lord, and Phoenix Park murders, 181 - appointed Lord-Lieutenant, 166 - shakes hands with Parnell, 268 - supports Home Rule, 197 - - Stalbridge, Lord (_see_ Grosvenor, Lord Richard) - - Stanley, Dean, 39 - - "State trials" in Ireland, 79 _et seq._ - - Stead, Mr., O'Shea and, 290 - - Steele, Lt.-Col., 8 - - Steele, Mrs., 18, 58, 59, 60, 106 - - Steele, Sir Thomas, 113 - - Stephens, T. E., retirement of, 189 (note) - - Stephens, William, Dean of Winchester, 39 - - Stewart, Commodore Charles, 51 - - Steyning, Parnell's marriage at, 312 - - Sussex, Duke of, 1 - - - TELEGRAPHIC CODE, Parnell's, 246 - - Thomson, Mrs., 204 - - Thompson, Sir Henry, consulted by Parnell, 245 - letters to Mrs. Parnell, 330, 331 - treats Parnell for nervous breakdown, 206 - - "Three acres and a cow," 196 - - _Times_, the, "Parnell letters" in, 257 - - Tintern, Mr., and Capt. O'Shea, 67 - - "Tory," Parnell's horse, 212 - - Trevelyan, Mr., ceases to be Irish Secretary, 182 - resignation of, 197 - - Trollope, Anthony, 8 - - Tynan, Katharine, on Parnell's Dublin meeting, 293 - Parnell's meeting with, 266 - - - _United Ireland_, and proposed visit of Prince of Wales, 236 - publishes No Rent manifesto, 119 - seized by anti-Parnellites, 295 - - United States, Parnell in the, 54 - - - VAUGHAN, MRS., 29 - - Ventnor, a visit to, 40 - - Vincent, Sir Howard, and police protection for Parnell, 217 - - - WALES, Prince of, a proposed visit to Ireland, 236 - - Wallace, Corporal, murder of, 179 - - Weguelin, Christopher, 47 - - Weston, Sir Thomas Sutton, 3 - - Werford speech, Parnell's, 110 - - Whitbread, Judge, 43 - - Wilkinson, Rev. Mr., 43 - - Wonersh Lodge, Eltham, 47 - - Wontner, Mr., and the costs of divorce case, 322 - - Wood, Anna, 4, 7, 15, 37 - marriage of, 8 - - Wood, Benjamin, death of, 42 - marriage of, 1 - - Wood, Charlie, 5 - - Wood, Clarissa, 6 - - Wood, Emma, 6 - - Wood, Evelyn, 4 _et seq._, 17 - - Wood, Frank, 6, 7, 10, 26 - - Wood, Fred, death of, 3, 6 - - Wood, Katharine (see O'Shea, Katharine) - - Wood, Lady, 1 _et seq._, 27 - - Wood, Maria (Pollie), 6 - - Wood, Mrs. Benjamin ("Aunt Ben"), 1, 18, 27, 28, 31, 39, 40, - 41 _et seq._, 68 - and carol singers, 224 - and George Meredith, 43 _et seq._ - and O'Connell, 89 - and Parnell, 89 - death of, 43, 272 - - Wood, Sir Matthew, 1 - - Wood, Sir Matthew (grandson of preceding), 59 - - Wood, Sir John Page, 1 - appointed rector of St. Peter's, Cornhill, 1 _et seq._ - becomes vicar of Cressing, 2 - birth of a son, 2 - death of, 17 - political views of, 3 - - - YATES, Mrs. A., 27 - - - - PRINTED BY CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED, LA BELLE SAUVAGE LONDON, E.C.4 - F35.621 - - - - - - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Charles Stewart Parnell, by Katharine O'Shea - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLES STEWART PARNELL *** - -***** This file should be named 60895-8.txt or 60895-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/8/9/60895/ - -Produced by Al Haines -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Charles Stewart Parnell - His Love Story and Political Life - -Author: Katharine O'Shea - -Release Date: January 9, 2020 [EBook #60895] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLES STEWART PARNELL *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines - - - - - -</pre> - - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="capcenter"> -<a id="img-front"></a> -<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-front.jpg" alt="CHARLES STEWART PARNELL Taken in the sitting-room at Wonersh Lodge, Eltham by Mrs. Parnell" /> -<br /> -CHARLES STEWART PARNELL <br /> -Taken in the sitting-room at Wonersh Lodge, Eltham <br /> -by Mrs. Parnell -</p> - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<h1> -<br /><br /> -CHARLES STEWART PARNELL -</h1> - -<p class="t2"> -His Love Story and Political Life -</p> - -<p class="t3"> -BY -</p> - -<p class="t2"> -KATHARINE O'SHEA -</p> - -<p class="t3b"> -(Mrs. Charles Stewart Parnell) -</p> - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="poem"> - "<i>No common soul was his; for good or ill<br /> - There was a mighty power</i>"<br /> - HAWKSHAW—<i>Sonnet IX</i><br /> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t3"> - CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD<br /> - London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne<br /> - 1921<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t4"> - First published in Two Volumes 1914<br /> - One Volume Edition 1921<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t3"> - DEDICATED TO<br /> - LOVE<br /> -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - Had the whole rich world been in my power,<br /> - I should have singled out thee, only thee,<br /> - From the whole world's collected treasury."<br /> - MOORE<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t3"> -<i>PUBLISHERS' NOTE</i> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -<i>Of all the love stories in history possibly none had more -intense reactions upon politics than that of Charles Stewart -Parnell and Katharine O'Shea, which is unfolded with -candour so compelling in this record of their life.</i> -</p> - -<p> -<i>The engrossing interest in Ireland has demanded a new -and popular edition of Mrs. Parnell's book. No real -comprehension of the Irish question is possible without a -thorough knowledge of Parnell's life and his part in the -creation of the modern Home Rule movement; and no -intimate knowledge of Parnell's character and the springs -of his policy during the critical decade of the 'eighties can -be had without studying the revelations of his -correspondence with his wife.</i> -</p> - -<p> -<i>In this edition some abridgment has been necessary to -bring the book within the compass of a single volume. The -less material parts of Mrs. Parnell's narrative of her own -girlhood have been curtailed, and the long correspondence -of Captain O'Shea has been summarised in a note appended -to Chapter xxvii. One or two omissions are indicated -in footnotes. The text has been subject to no other -interference.</i> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> - <i>La Belle Sauvage,<br /> - September</i>, 1921.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="Pix"></a>ix}</span> -</p> - -<p class="t3b"> -MRS. PARNELL'S PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -On October 6th, 1891, nearly twenty-three years ago, -Charles Stewart Parnell died in the arms of his wife; -nearly twenty-three years ago the whole of the civilized -world awoke to laud—or to condemn—the dead chief. It -ranked him with the greatest heroes, or with the vilest -sinners, of the world, because he had found and kept the -haven of her arms with absolute disregard of that world's -praise or blame, till death, the only power greater than the -love that held him there, tore him from them. -</p> - -<p> -And then the hate that followed him to the grave turned -to the woman he had loved, to vent upon her its baffled -spleen; not considering that such a man as he would keep -the heart of his wife as closely in death as he had kept it -in life, so closely that none could come near it, so secretly -that none could find the way to plant therein a sting. And -so for these more than twenty-two years, I, his wife, have -lived upon memories so happy and so precious that, after -time had brought back some meaning to my life, I took a -certain pleasure in reading all men had to say of him -whom they so little knew. Never in all the "lives," -"articles," or "appreciations" I read had there been one -that could say—or one that desired to say—that Parnell -was not a man who stands out sharp and clear from other -men for good or ill. -</p> - -<p> -But now, after all these years, one of Parnell's erstwhile -followers has arisen to explain to another generation -that Parnell was not really such a man as this, that he -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="Px"></a>x}</span> -was one of Ireland's eternal failures. One who held her -dear indeed, but one who balanced her welfare against the -clutches of a light o' love with all the foolishness of callow -degeneracy, so fondly imagined chivalry by the weak. -Not a man who gave his country his whole life, and found -the peace and courage of that life in the heart of the -woman he loved. No, that is how a man lives and loves, -whether in secret or before the whole world. That is how -Parnell lived and loved, and now after these long years -I break my silence lest the unmanly echo of excuse given -forth by Mr. O'Brien in an age that loves excuse may -cling about the name of the man I loved. It is a very -poignant pain to me to give to the world any account of -the sacred happiness of eleven years of my life and of the -agony of sorrow that once seemed too great to bear; but -I have borne it, and I am so near him now that I fear to -leave near the name of that proud spirit the taint of excuse -that he loathed. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell never posed as "rather the victim than the -destroyer of a happy home," as Mr. O'Brien suggested in -the <i>Cork Free Press</i> of last year, and he maintained to -the last day of his life that he suffered no "dishonour and -discredit" in making the woman he loved his own. -</p> - -<p> -And because Parnell contravened certain social laws, -not regarding them as binding him in any way, and -because I joined him in this contravention since his love -made all else of no account to me, we did not shrink at -the clamour of the upholders of those outraged laws, nor -resent the pressing of the consequences that were -inevitable and always foreseen. The freedom of choice we had -ourselves claimed we acknowledged for others, and were -wise enough to smile if, in some instances, the greatness -of our offence was loudly proclaimed by those who he -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="Pxi"></a>xi}</span> -knew lived in a freedom of love more varied than our -own. For the hypocrisy of those statesmen and politicians -who, knowing for ten years that Parnell was my lover, -had with the readiest tact and utmost courtesy accepted -the fact as making a sure and safe channel of communication -with him, whom they knew as a force to be placated; -for those who, when the time came to stand by him in order -to give Ireland the benefits they had promised him for -her, repudiated him from under the cloak of the religion -they thereby forswore, he, and I with him, felt a -contempt unspeakable. -</p> - -<p> -In this book I am giving to the public letters so sacred -to my lover and myself that no eyes other than our own -should ever have seen them, but that my son was jealous -for his father's honour, and that I would not my lover's -life should seem in these softer days a lesser thing, beset -with fears and indecisions that he did not know. I have, -lived in those eleven years of Parnell's love so constantly -that nothing has been lost to me of them, and the few -details of them that I give will show a little of what manner -of man he was, while still I keep for my own heart so -much that none shall ever know but he and I. -</p> - -<p> -In regard to the political aspect of the book those who -know the Irish history of those days will understand. My -lover was the leader of a nation in revolt, and, as I could, -I helped him as "King's Messenger" to the Government -in office. It has been erroneously said by some of the -Irish Party that I "inspired" certain measures of his, and -biased him in various ways politically. Those who have -said so did not know the man, for Parnell was before all -a statesman; absolutely convinced of his policy and of -his ability to carry that policy to its logical conclusion. -Self-reliant and far-seeing, the master of his own mind. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="Pxii"></a>xii}</span> -</p> - -<p> -I was never a "political lady," and, apart from him, -I have never felt the slightest interest in politics, either -Irish or English, and I can honestly say that except for -urging him to make terms with the Government in order -to obtain his liberation from prison, I did not once -throughout those eleven years attempt to use my influence over -him to "bias" his public life or politics; nor, being -convinced that his opinions and measures were the only ones -worth consideration, was I even tempted to do so. In -my many interviews with Mr. Gladstone I was Parnell's -messenger, and in all other work I did for him it was -understood on both sides that I worked for Parnell alone. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -KATHARINE PARNELL. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -<i>Brighton, April</i>, 1914. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="Pxiii"></a>xiii}</span> -</p> - -<p class="t3b"> -CONTENTS -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -CHAPTER -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -1. <a href="#chap01">MY EARLY LIFE</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -2. <a href="#chap02">VISITORS AT RIVENHALL</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -3. <a href="#chap03">MY FATHER'S DEATH AND MY MARRIAGE</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -4. <a href="#chap04">A DAY ON THE DOWNS</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -5. <a href="#chap05">MORE FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -6. <a href="#chap06">CAPTAIN O'SHEA ENTERS POLITICAL LIFE</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -7. <a href="#chap07">MR. PARNELL AND THE IRISH PARTY</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -8. <a href="#chap08">THE FIRST MEETING WITH MR. PARNELL</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -9. <a href="#chap09">AT ELTHAM</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -10. <a href="#chap10">THE LAND LEAGUE TRIALS</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -11. <a href="#chap11">PARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATIONS</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -12. <a href="#chap12">HOBBIES AND A CHALLENGE</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -13. <a href="#chap13">ASTRONOMY, "SEDITION," AND ARREST</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -14. <a href="#chap14">KILMAINHAM DAYS</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -15. <a href="#chap15">MORE KILMAINHAM LETTERS</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -16. <a href="#chap16">THE "KILMAINHAM TREATY"</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -17. <a href="#chap17">THE PHOENIX PARK MURDERS AND AFTER</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -18. <a href="#chap18">ENVOY TO GLADSTONE</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -19. <a href="#chap19">THE FIRST HOME RULE BILL</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -20. <a href="#chap20">MR. PARNELL IN DANGER—FOUNDING OF NATIONAL LEAGUE</a> -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="Pxiv"></a>xiv}</span> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -21. <a href="#chap21">A WINTER OF MEMORIES</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -22. <a href="#chap22">HORSES AND DOGS</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -23. <a href="#chap23">SEASIDE HOLIDAYS</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -24. <a href="#chap24">LONDON REMEMBRANCES</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -25. <a href="#chap25">THE PARNELL COMMISSION</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -26. <a href="#chap26">BRIGHTON HAUNTS</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -27. <a href="#chap27">THE DIVORCE CASE</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -28. <a href="#chap28">A KING AT BAY</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -29. <a href="#chap29">PARNELL AS I KNEW HIM</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -30. <a href="#chap30">MARRIAGE, ILLNESS AND DEATH</a> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -<a href="#index">INDEX</a> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap01"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P1"></a>1}</span> -</p> - -<p class="t2"> -Charles Stewart Parnell -</p> - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER I -<br /> -MY EARLY LIFE -</h3> - -<p class="poem"> - "<i>Go forth; and if it be o'er stoney way<br /> - Old Joy can lend what newer grief must borrow,<br /> - And it was sweet, and that was yesterday.<br /> - And sweet is sweet, though purchased with sorrow.</i>"<br /> - F. THOMPSON.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -My father, Sir John Page Wood, was descended from the -Woods of Tiverton, and was the eldest of the three sons -of Sir Matthew Wood, Baronet, of Hatherley House, -Gloucestershire. He was educated at Winchester and at -Trinity College, Cambridge, and after entering into holy -orders, before he was twenty-four years of age, was -appointed private chaplain and secretary to Queen -Caroline, performing the last offices for her at her death -in 1820, and attending her body to its final resting-place -in Brunswick. He then became chaplain to the Duke of -Sussex, and in 1824 was appointed by the Corporation of -London to the rectory of St. Peter's, Cornhill. -</p> - -<p> -In 1820 my father married Emma Caroline, the youngest -of the three daughters of Admiral Michell (and my -father's uncle, Benjamin Wood, M.P. for Southwark at -the time, married the second daughter, Maria, the "Aunt -Ben" of this book). She was eighteen. My father was -still at Cambridge. The improvident young pair found -it difficult to live on the small allowance that was -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P2"></a>2}</span> -considered sufficient for my father at college. They appear -to have been very happy notwithstanding their difficulties, -which were augmented a year later by the birth of -a son; and while my father became "coach" to young -men of slower wit, my mother, who was extremely talented -with her brush, cheerfully turned her beautiful miniature -painting to account for the benefit of her young husband -and son. She soon became an exhibitor of larger works -in London, and the brothers Finden engraved several of -her pictures. -</p> - -<p> -She and my father seem to have idolized their first -child, "Little John," and his early death, at about four -years old, was their first real sorrow. The boy was too -precocious, and when he was three years old his proud -young parents were writing "he can read well now, and -is getting on splendidly with his Latin!" -</p> - -<p> -Constable, the artist, was a friend of my mother's, who -thought highly of her work, and gave her much encouragement, -and the young people seem to have had no lack of -friends in the world of art and letters. Of my mother, -Charles Sheridan said he "delighted in her sparkling -sallies," and the young Edwin Landseer was "mothered" -by her to his "exceeding comfort." -</p> - -<p> -My mother was appointed bedchamber woman to -Queen Caroline, and became very fond of her. The -consort of George IV. appears to have taken the greatest -interest in "Little John," and I had until a short time -ago—when it was stolen—a little workbox containing a -half-finished sock the Queen was knitting for the little boy when -her fatal illness began. -</p> - -<p> -My parents then lived in London for some years while -my father did duty at St. Peter's. In 1832 my father -became vicar of Cressing, in Essex, and he took my -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P3"></a>3}</span> -mother and their (I think three) children there, leaving a -curate in charge of St. Peter's. Thirteen children in all -were born to my parents (of whom I was the thirteenth), -and of my brothers and sisters there were seven living -at the time of my birth. -</p> - -<p> -There was little room for all these young people in -the vicarage at Cressing, and it was so extremely damp -as to be unhealthy; so my parents moved to Glazenwood, -a charming house with the most beautiful gardens I have -ever seen in a place of moderate size. I think my brother -Fred died here; but my first memories are of Rivenhall, -where my parents moved soon after my birth. Rivenhall -Place belonged to a friend of my father's, Sir Thomas -Sutton Weston, of Felix Hall. The beautiful old place -was a paradise for growing children, and the space and -beauty of this home of my youth left me with a sad -distaste for the little houses of many conveniences that it -has been my lot to inhabit for the greater part of my -life. -</p> - -<p> -In politics my father was a thoroughgoing Whig, and -as he was an able and fluent speaker, and absolutely -fearless in his utterances, he became a great influence in the -county during election times. I remember, when he was -to speak at a political meeting, how he laughed as he tied -me up in enormous orange ribbons and made me drive -him there, and how immensely proud of him I was -(though, of course, I could not understand a word of it -all) as he spoke so persuasively that howls and ribald cries -turned to cheers for "Sir John's man." -</p> - -<p> -When he went to London to "take duty" at St. Peter's -Cornhill, he and I used to stay at the Green Dragon, -Bishopsgate Street. There was a beautiful old courtyard -to this hotel with a balcony, overhung with creepers, -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P4"></a>4}</span> -running all round the upper rooms. I loved this place, -and when I was too young to care much for the long -service and sermons, I was quite content that my father -should tuck me up safely in bed before going to evensong -at St. Peter's. -</p> - -<p> -Sometimes I was not well enough to go to London -with him, and on these occasions comforted myself as -much as possible with a compensating interest in the -habits of the Rev. Thomas Grosse, who took my father's -place at Cressing. He was very good and kind to me, and -in the summer evenings, when he knew I was missing -my father, he would take me out to look for glow-worms, -and show me the stars, teaching me the names of the -planets. Years afterwards the knowledge I thus gained -became a great happiness to me, as I taught Mr. Parnell -all I knew of astronomy, and opened up to him a new -world of absorbing interest. -</p> - -<p> -Friends of my brother Evelyn frequently stayed at -Rivenhall, and one of them, a colonel of Light Dragoons, -was engaged to one of my elder sisters. This gentleman -appealed to my youthful mind as being all that a hero -should be, and I used to stick a red fez on my golden -curls and gallop my pony past the dining-room windows -so that he might see and admire the intrepid maiden, as -the prince in my fairy book did! -</p> - -<p> -I loved the winter evenings at Rivenhall when my -brothers were not at home. My father used to sit by -the fire reading his <i>Times</i>, with his great white cat on -his knee, while I made his tea and hot buttered toast, and -my mother and sister Anna read or sketched. I used to -write the plots of tragic little stories which my "Pip"[<a id="chap01fn1text"></a><a href="#chap01fn1">1</a>] -used to read and call "blood-stained bandits," owing to the -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P5"></a>5}</span> -violent action and the disregard of convention shown by -all the characters concerned. -</p> - -<p> -However, these childish efforts of mine led to greater -results, as one evening my mother and sister laughingly -offered to buy my "plot" in order to "write it up" into -a novel. I was, of course, very proud to sell my idea, and -thenceforth both my mother and sister wrote many successful -novels, published by Chapman and Hall—and, I -believe, at prices that are rarely realized by present-day -novelists. -</p> - -<p> -I was thus the unwitting means of greatly relieving -my parents' anxiety of how to meet, with their not very -large income, the heavy expense of educating and -maintaining my brothers, and the responsibilities of their -position. -</p> - -<p> -My brothers loved to tease me, and, as I was so much -younger than they, I never understood if they were really -serious or only laughing at me. Evelyn was specially -adroit in bewildering me, and used to curb my rebellion, -when I was reluctant to fetch and carry for him, by drawing -a harrowing picture of my remorse should he be killed -"in the next war." The horror of this thought kept me -a ready slave for years, till one day, in a gust of temper, -I burst out with: "I shan't be sorry at all when you're -killed in a war cos' I didn't find your silly things, and -I wish you'd go away and be a dead hero now, so there!" I -remember the horrified pause of my mother and sister -and then the howl of laughter and applause from Evelyn -and Charlie. Evelyn was very good to me after this, -and considered, more, that even little girls have their -feelings. -</p> - -<p> -As a matter of fact, my mother was so entirely wrapped -up in Evelyn that I think I was jealous, even though I -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P6"></a>6}</span> -had my father so much to myself. My mother was most -affectionate to all her children, but Evelyn was her idol, -and from the time when, as a mere lad, he was wounded -in the Crimean War, to the day of her death, he was first -in all her thoughts. -</p> - -<p> -Of my brothers and sisters I really knew only four at -all well. Clarissa had died at seventeen, and Fred when -I was very young; Frank was away with his regiment, -my sister Pollie was married and away in India before I -was born, and my sister Emma married Sir Thomas -Barrett-Lennard while I was still very young. She was -always very kind to me, and I used to love going to visit -her at her house in Brighton. Visiting Sir Thomas -Barrett-Lennard's country seat, Belhus, I did not like so -much, because, though Belhus is very beautiful, I loved -Rivenhall better. -</p> - -<p> -My mother was a fine musician, and as I grew older, -I began to long to play as she did. There was a beautiful -grand piano in the drawing-room, and I used to try -to pick out tunes upon it. My mother had spent much -money on her eldest daughter's—Maria's (Pollie)—musical -education. At the end of this Pollie said she detested it, -and would never play a note again if she could help it. -When I asked that I might be taught to play my mother -said, "No. There is the piano; go and play it if you -really want to learn." In time I could play very well -by ear, and began to compose a little and seek for wider -knowledge. My love of music led me to try composition, -and I used to set to music any verses that took my -fancy. Among these I was much pleased with -Longfellow's "Weariness," and was so encouraged by my -mother's praise of the setting that I sent the poet a copy. -I was a very happy girl when he wrote to thank me, -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P7"></a>7}</span> -saying that mine was the best setting of his poem he had -ever heard. -</p> - -<p> -Armed with the manuscript of this music and some -others, the next time I went to London with my father -I went to Boosey's, the musical publishers, and asked -their representative to publish them. -</p> - -<p> -"Quite impossible, my dear young lady," he answered -at once. "We never take beginners' work!" I plaintively -remarked that even Mozart was a "beginner" once, -and could not understand why he laughed. Still, with a -smile, he consented to look at the manuscript, and to -my joy he ceased to laugh at me and tried some of it -over, finally agreeing, much to my joy, to publish -"Weariness" and a couple of other songs. -</p> - -<p> -I remember my father's pleasure and the merry -twinkle in his eye as he gravely assented to my -suggestion that we were a very gifted family! -</p> - -<p> -While my brother Frank (who was in the 17th Foot) -was stationed at Aldershot he invited my sister Anna -and myself down to see a review. He was married, and -we stayed with him and his wife and children in the -married officers' quarters, which appeared to us to be very -gay and amusing. -</p> - -<p> -I greatly enjoyed seeing the cavalry, with all the -officers and men in full dress. -</p> - -<p> -Many of the officers came over to call after the review, -and among them was Willie O'Shea, who was then a -cornet in the 18th Hussars. There was a small drama -acted by the officers in the evening which my brother's -wife took us to see, and there were many of the 18th -Hussars, who paid us much attention, though, personally, -I found the elderly and hawk-eyed colonel of the regiment -far more interesting than the younger men. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap01fn1"></a> -[<a href="#chap01fn1text">1</a>] Sir John. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap02"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P8"></a>8}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER II -<br /> -VISITORS AT RIVENHALL -</h3> - -<p class="poem"> - "<i>A chiel's amang you takin' notes,<br /> - And, faith, he'll prent it!</i>"—BURNS.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Among other visitors to Rivenhall was Lieut.-Colonel -Steele, of the Lancers, a dark, handsome man, who married -my sister Anna. -</p> - -<p> -I remember looking at Anna consideringly when I was -told this was to be, for, as children do, I had hitherto -merely regarded Anna as a sister too "grown-up" to -play with on equal terms, and yet not as a person sufficiently -interesting to be married to one of the magnificent -beings who, like Evelyn's friends, wore such beautiful -uniforms and jingly spurs. But my sister had soft brown -hair and a lovely skin, blue eyes that were mocking, gay, -or tender in response to many moods, and a very pretty -figure. And I solemnly decided that she was really pretty, -and quite "grown-up" enough to be loved by the -"beautiful ones." -</p> - -<p> -Anthony Trollope was a great friend of my father -and mother, and used to stay with us a good deal for -hunting. He was a very hard rider to hounds, and was -a cause of great anxiety to my mother, for my sister Anna -loved an intrepid "lead" out hunting, and delighted in -following Trollope, who stuck at nothing. I used to -rejoice in his "The Small House at Allington," and go -about fitting the characters in the book to the people about -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P9"></a>9}</span> -me—a mode of amusement that palled considerably on the -victims. -</p> - -<p> -I was always glad when our young cousin George -(afterwards Sir George) Farwell (Lord Justice Farwell) -came to see us. A dear lad, who quite won my childish -admiration with his courtly manners and kind, -considerate ways. -</p> - -<p> -The Hon. Grantley-Barkley (who was seventy, I -believe) was a dear old man who was very fond of me—as -I was of him. I was but a child when he informed my -parents that he wished to marry me when I was old -enough! He was a dear friend of my father's, but, -though the latter would not consider the matter seriously, -my mother, who was an extraordinarily sympathetic -woman, encouraged the idea. -</p> - -<p> -Grantley-Barkley was always called the "Deer-slayer" -by his friends. A fine old sportsman, his house, "The -Hut," at Poole, Dorset, was a veritable museum of slain -beasts, and I used to shudder secretly at the idea of -becoming mistress of so many heads and horns. -</p> - -<p> -The dear old man used to write long letters to me -before I could answer them in anything but laborious -print, and he wrote sheets to my mother inquiring of my -welfare and the direction of my education. I still have -many of the verses he composed in my honour, and though -the last line of the verse that I insert worries me now as -much as it did when I received it, so many years ago, -I still think it very pretty sentiment: -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - "Then the Bird that above me is singing<br /> - Shall chase the thought that is drear,<br /> - When the soul to <i>her</i> side it is winging<br /> - The limbs <i>must</i> be lingering near!"<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -This little one-sided romance died a natural death as -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P10"></a>10}</span> -I grew up, my old friend continuing to take the kindest -interest in me, but accepting the fact that I was no -exception to the law of youth that calls to youth in mating. -</p> - -<p> -My brother Frank suggested to my brother-in-law, Sir -Thomas Barrett-Lennard, that Willie O'Shea, who was -a first-class steeplechase rider, would no doubt, if asked, -ride the horse Honesty that Tom was going to run in the -Brentwood Steeplechase. He had already ridden and won -many races. Willie readily agreed to ride, and came to -stay at Belhus for the race. -</p> - -<p> -I was staying there at the time, and though I was -considered too young to be really "out," as a rule I had -my share in any festivities that were going on. I -remember my brother-in-law saying casually to my sister Emma, -who was giving a dinner party that evening: "Who is -Katie to go in with, milady?" and she answered promptly, -"Oh, she shall go in with O'Shea." A mild witticism -that rather ruffled my youthful sense of importance. -</p> - -<p> -My first sight of Willie then, as a grown-up, was on -this evening, when I came rather late into the hall before -dressing for dinner. He was standing near the fire, -talking, with the eagerness that was not in those days bad -form in young men, of the steeplechase he had ridden and -won on Early Bird. -</p> - -<p> -I had been so much the companion of older men than -he that I was pleased with his youthful looks and vivacity. -His dress pleased me also, and, though it would appear -a terrible affair in the eyes of a modern young man, it was -perfectly correct then for a young officer in the 18th -Hussars, and extremely becoming to Willie: a brown -velvet coat, cut rather fully, sealskin waistcoat, -black-and-white check trousers, and an enormous carbuncle and -diamond pin in his curiously folded scarf. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P11"></a>11}</span> -</p> - -<p> -When introduced to me he was most condescending, -and nettled me so much by his kindly patronage of my -youthfulness that I promptly plunged into such a -discussion of literary complexities, absorbed from my elders -and utterly undigested, and he soon subsided into a -bewildered and shocked silence. -</p> - -<p> -However, in the few days of that visit we became very -good friends, and I was immensely pleased when, on -parting, Willie presented me with a really charming little -poem written about my "golden hair and witsome speech." -</p> - -<p> -Of course, as usual, I flew to show my father, who, -reading, sighed, "Ah, too young for such nonsense. I -want my Pippin for myself for years to come."[<a id="chap02fn1text"></a><a href="#chap02fn1">1</a>] -</p> - -<p> -In the summer at Belhus I met Willie again. Unconsciously -we seemed to drift together in the long summer -days. The rest of the household intent on their own -affairs, we were content to be left together to explore the -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P12"></a>12}</span> -cool depths of the glades, where the fallow deer ran before -us, or the kitchen garden, where the high walls were -covered with rose-coloured peaches, warm with the sun as -we ate them. What we talked about I cannot remember, -but it was nothing very wise I should imagine. -</p> - -<p> -Week after week went by in our trance of contentment. -I did not look forward, but was content to exist -in the languorous summer heat—dreaming through the -sunny days with Willie by my side, and thinking not -at all of the future. I suppose my elders were content -with the situation, as they must have known that such -propinquity could have but one ending. -</p> - -<p> -There was a man by whom I was attracted and who -had paid me considerable attention—E.S., stationed at -Purfleet. He was a fine athlete, and used to fill me with -admiration by jumping over my pony's back without -touching him at all. I sometimes thought idly of him -during these days with Willie, but was content to drift -along, until one day my sister asked me to drive over with -a note of invitation to dinner for the officers at Purfleet. -</p> - -<p> -In the cool of the evening I set out, with Willie, of -course, in attendance. Willie, on arrival, sprang out of -the pony cart to deliver the note, and as he was jumping -in again glanced up at the window above us, where it -happened E. S. and another officer were standing. -Without a moment's hesitation Willie leant forward and kissed -me full on the lips. Furious and crimson with the -knowledge that the men at the window had seen him kiss me, -I hustled my poor little pony home, vowing I would never -speak to Willie again; but his apologies and explanation -that he had only just wanted "to show those fellows that -they must not make asses of themselves" seemed so funny -and in keeping with the dreamy sense I had of belonging -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P13"></a>13}</span> -to Willie that I soon forgave him, though I felt a little -stab of regret when I found that E. S. declined the -invitation to dinner. He never came again. -</p> - -<p> -Willie had now to rejoin his regiment, and in the -evening before his going, as I was leaving the drawing-room, -he stopped to offer me a rose, kissing me on the -face and hair as he did so. -</p> - -<p> -A few mornings after I was sleeping the dreamless -sleep of healthy girlhood when I was awakened by feeling -a thick letter laid on my cheek and my mother leaning over -me singing "Kathleen Mavourneen" in her rich contralto -voice. I am afraid I was decidedly cross at having been -awakened so suddenly, and, clasping my letter unopened, -again subsided into slumber. -</p> - -<p> -So far nearly all my personal communication with -Willie when he was away had been carried on by telegraph, -and I had not quite arrived at knowing what to -reply to the sheets of poetic prose which flowed from his -pen. Very frequently he came down just for a day to -Rivenhall, and I drove to meet him at the station with -my pony-chaise. Then we used to pass long hours at the -lake fishing for pike, or talking to my father, who was -always cheered by his society. -</p> - -<p> -At this time Colonel Clive, of the Grenadier Guards, -was a frequent visitor. I was really fond of him, and he -pleased me by his pleasure in hearing me sing to my own -accompaniment. I spent some happy hours in doing so -for him when staying at Claridge's Hotel with my sister, -and I remember that when I knew he was coming I used -to twist a blue ribbon in my hair to please him. -</p> - -<p> -Once, when staying at Claridge's, my sister and I -went to his rooms to see the sketches of a friend of my -brother Evelyn's, Mr. Hozier, the clever newspaper -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P14"></a>14}</span> -correspondent, afterwards Sir H. Hozier, and father of -Mrs. Winston Churchill. The drawings were, I believe, -very clever, and I know the tea was delicious. -</p> - -<p> -It was some time after this that the 18th Hussars were -stationed at Brighton. Willie loved early morning gallops -on the Downs, and, on one occasion, he rode off soon after -daybreak on his steeplechaser, Early Bird, for a gallop on -the race-course. At the early parade that morning Willie -was missing, and, as inquiries were being made as to his -whereabouts, a trooper reported that Early Bird had just -been brought in dead lame, and bleeding profusely from -a gash in the chest. -</p> - -<p> -He had been found limping his way down the hill from -the race-course. Willie's brother officers immediately set -out to look for him, and found him lying unconscious some -twenty yards from a chain across the course which was -covered with blood, and evidently the cause of the mishap. -They got him down to the barracks on a stretcher, and -there he lay with broken ribs and concussion of the brain. -</p> - -<p> -He told us afterwards that he was going at a hard -gallop, and neither he nor Early Bird had seen the chain -till they were right on it, too late to jump. There had -never been a chain up before, and he had galloped over -the same course on the previous morning. -</p> - -<p> -I was at Rivenhall when I heard of the accident to -Willie, and for six unhappy weeks I did little else than -watch for news of him. My sister, Lady Barrett-Lennard, -and Sir Thomas had gone to Preston Barracks to nurse -him, and as soon as it was possible they moved him to -their own house in Brighton. For six weeks he lay -unconscious, and then at last the good news came that he -was better, and that they were going to take him to Belhus -to convalesce. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P15"></a>15}</span> -</p> - -<p> -A great friend of Willie's, also in the 18th—Robert -Cunninghame Graham—was invited down to keep him -amused, and my sister, Mrs. Steele, and I met them in -London and went down to Belhus with them. Willie was -looking very ill, and was tenderly cared for by his friend -Graham. He was too weak to speak, but, while driving to -Belhus, he slipped a ring from his finger on to mine and -pressed my hand under cover of the rugs. -</p> - -<p> -Robert Cunninghame Graham, uncle of Robert Bontine -Cunninghame Graham, the Socialist writer and traveller, -walked straight into our hearts, so gay, so careful of Willie -was he, and so utterly <i>bon camarade</i>, that we seemed to -have known him for years. In a few days Anna and I -left Belhus, and Willie's father came over from Ireland to -stay with him till he was completely recovered. -</p> - -<p> -Before Willie left I was back at Belhus on the occasion -of a dinner party, and was shyly glad to meet him again -and at his desire to talk to me only. -</p> - -<p> -While the others were all occupied singing and talking -after dinner we sat on the yellow damask sofa, and he -slipped a gold and turquoise locket on a long gold and blue -enamel chain round my neck. It was a lovely thing, and I -was very happy to know how much Willie cared for me. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap02fn1"></a> -[<a href="#chap02fn1text">1</a>] Captain O'Shea's family, the O'Sheas of Limerick, were a collateral -branch of the O'Sheas of County Kerry. William O'Shea had three -sons, Henry, John and Thaddeus, of whom the first named was Captain -O'Shea's father. John went to Spain (where a branch of the family had -been settled since 1641, and become the Duges of Sanlucas), founded a -bank and prospered. Henry found the family estate (Rich Hill) heavily -mortgaged, entered the law, and by hard work pulled the property out -of bankruptcy and made a fortune. He married Catherine Quinlan, -daughter of Edward Quinlan, of Tipperary, a Comtesse of Rome, and -had two children, Captain O'Shea and Mary, afterwards Lady of the -Royal Order of Theresa of Bavaria. The children had a cosmopolitan -education, and the son went into the 18th Hussars, a keen sporting -regiment, where he spent great sums of money. Finally, a bill for -£15,000 coming in, his father told him that his mother and sister would -have to suffer if this rate of expenditure continued. Captain O'Shea -left the regiment just before his marriage to Miss Wood. The Comtesse -O'Shea was a highly educated woman, assiduous in her practice of -religion, but valetudinarian and lacking a sense of humour. Mary -O'Shea's education had left her French in all her modes of thought and -speech. Both ladies disapproved of the engagement between Captain -O'Shea and Miss Wood. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap03"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P16"></a>16}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER III -<br /> -MY FATHER'S DEATH AND MY MARRIAGE -</h3> - -<p class="poem"> - "<i>Fair shine the day on the house with open door;<br /> - Birds come and cry there and twitter in the chimney,<br /> - But I go for ever and come again no more.</i>"<br /> - —STEVENSON.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -The following autumn my father, mother, and I went to -stay at Belhus on a long visit, my father going to Cressing -each week for the Sunday duty, and returning to us on -Monday morning. -</p> - -<p> -We all enjoyed spending Christmas at Belhus. My -mother and my sister Emma were devoted to one another, -and loved being together. We were a much larger party -also at Belhus, and there were so many visitors coming -and going that I felt it was all more cheerful than being -at home. -</p> - -<p> -Among other visitors that winter, I well remember -Mr. John Morley—now Lord Morley—as he was told off for me -to entertain during the day. He was a very brilliant young -man, and my elders explained to me that his tense intellect -kept them at too great a strain for pleasurable conversation. -"You, dear Katie, don't matter, as no one expects you to -know anything!" remarked my sister with cheerful -kindness. So I calmly invited John Morley to walk with me, -and, as we paced through the park from one lodge to the -other, my companion talked to me so easily and readily -that I forgot my rôle of "fool of the family," and responded -most intelligently to a really very interesting conversation. -</p> - -<p> -With the ready tact of the really clever, he could already -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P17"></a>17}</span> -adapt himself to great or small, and finding me simply -ready to be interested, was most interesting, and I returned -to my family happily conscious that I could now afford to -ignore my brother Evelyn's advice to "look lovely and -keep your mouth shut!" -</p> - -<p> -John Morley, so far as I remember him then, was a -very slight young man with a hard, keen face, the features -strongly marked, and fair hair. He had (to me) a kindly -manner, and did not consider it beneath him to talk -seriously to a girl so young in knowledge, so excessively and -shyly conscious of his superiority, and so much awed by -my mission of keeping him amused and interested while -my elders rested from his somewhat oppressive -intellectuality. I remember wondering, in some alarm, as to -what topic I should start if he suddenly stopped talking. -But my fear was entirely groundless; he passed so easily -from one thing interesting to me to another that I forgot -to be self-conscious, and we discussed horses and dogs, -books and their writers—agreeing that authors were, of -all men, the most disappointing in appearance—my father, -soldiers, and "going to London," with the greatest pleasure -and mutual self-confidence. And I think that, after that -enlightening talk, had I been told that in after years this -suave, clever young man was to become—as Gladstone's -lieutenant—one of my bitterest foes, I should perhaps have -been interested, but utterly unalarmed, for I had in this -little episode lost all awe of cleverness as such. -</p> - -<p> -My father died in February, 1866. The vexed question -of ways and means—always a vexed question in a clergyman's -household when the head of the house dies—pressed -heavily on my mother, who was left almost penniless by -my father's death. -</p> - -<p> -My mother and sisters were discussing what was best -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P18"></a>18}</span> -to be done, and my mother was speaking sadly as I went -into her room. "We must sell the cow, and, of course, -the pig," my eldest sister (Emma) replied in her sweet, -cheerful voice, which produced a little laugh, though a -rather dismal one, and our sorrow was chased away for -the moment. -</p> - -<p> -My mother's sister, Mrs. Benjamin Wood, on hearing -of her troubles, settled a yearly income on her, thus saving -her from all future anxiety, most of her children being -provided for under our grandfather's—old Sir Matthew -Wood's—will. -</p> - -<p> -During that year we lived chiefly at Rivenhall. It was -a very quiet, sad year, but we had a few pleasant visitors. -Sir George Dasent, of the <i>Times</i>, and also Mr. Dallas, -who wrote leading articles for the same paper, were -frequent visitors, and Mr. Chapman (of Chapman and Hall, -publishers), with pretty Mrs. Chapman, Mr. Lewes, and -many other literary people were very welcome guests. -My mother and sister Anna (Mrs. Steele) were writing -books, and much interested in all things literary. At the -end of the year we joined my eldest sister and her -husband at Brighton, and soon after this Willie returned -from Spain and called on us at once, with the ever-faithful -Cunninghame Graham. I now yielded to Willie's protest -at being kept waiting longer, and we were married very -quietly at Brighton on January 25, 1867. I narrowly -escaped being married to Mr. Cunninghame Graham by -mistake, as Willie and he—the "best man"—had got into -wrong positions. It was only Mr. Graham's horrified -"No, no, no," when asked whether he would have "this -woman" to be his wife, that saved us from many -complications. -</p> - -<p> -My mother, brothers and sisters gave me beautiful -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P19"></a>19}</span> -presents, and my dear sister Emma gave me my trousseau, -while Willie himself gave me a gold-mounted dressing-bag. -My old Aunt H. sent me a gold and turquoise bracelet. -Willie saw this after I had shown him what my sister -Mrs. Steele had given me—a carbuncle locket with diamond -centre. Aunt H. was a very wealthy woman, my sister -not at all well off, though in any case her present would -have been much more to me than that of Aunt H. However, -Willie merely remarked of Anna's gift: "That is -lovely, darling, and this," taking up Aunt H.'s bracelet, -"this will do for the dog," snapped it round the neck of -my little Prince. -</p> - -<p> -Long afterwards he and I went to call on Aunt H., -and as usual I had Prince under my arm. I noticed Aunt -H. break off in a sentence, and fix a surprised and -indignant eye on my dog. I had forgotten all about Prince's -collar being Aunt H.'s bracelet, and only thought she did -not like my bringing the dog to call, till I caught Willie's -eye. He had at once taken in the situation, and became -so convulsed with laughter that I hastily made my adieu -and hustled him off. -</p> - -<p> -Sir Seymour Fitzgerald lent us Holbrook Hall for our -honeymoon, a kindness that proved unkind, as the pomp -and ceremony entailed by a large retinue of servants for -our two selves were very wearisome to me. There was -little or no occupation for us, as the weather was too bad -to get out much; our kind host had naturally not lent us -his hunters, and we were, or Willie was, too much in awe -of the conventions to ask anyone to come and relieve our -ennui. Indeed, I think that no two young people were -ever more rejoiced than we were when we could return to -the life of the sane without comment. -</p> - -<p> -Willie had sold out of the army just before his marriage, -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P20"></a>20}</span> -and his Uncle John, who had married a Spanish lady and -settled in Madrid, offered Willie a partnership in his bank, -O'Shea and Co., if he would put the £4,000 he received -for his commission into it. This was too good an offer -to be refused, so I said good-bye to my people, and bought -some little presents for the servants at home, including a -rich silk dress for my old nurse Lucy, who had been in -my mother's service since the age of sixteen, and who was -much upset that her youngest and dearest nursling should -be taken away to such "heathenish, far-off places." -</p> - -<p> -Before leaving England Willie and I stayed for a few -days in London, and his mother and sister Mary called -on us. They had not attended the marriage, as they -would not lend their countenance to a "mixed" marriage, -though once accomplished they accepted the situation. -They were very nice and kind, and so gently superior that -at once I became politely antagonistic. They brought me -some beautiful Irish poplins which were made into gowns -to wear in Madrid to impress the Spanish cousins, and a -magnificent emerald bracelet, besides £200 worth of lovely -Irish house-linen. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law -were most generous indeed, and I then, and always, -acknowledged them to be thoroughly good, kind-hearted -women, but so hidebound with what was to me bigotry, -with conventionality and tactlessness, that it was really a -pain to me to be near them. They admired me, and very -plainly disapproved of me; I admired them for their -Parisian finish—(for want of a better term)—and for their -undoubted goodness, but, though I was rather fond of -Mary, they wearied me to death. -</p> - -<p> -That week we crossed over to Boulogne, and there we -had to stay for a few days, as I was too ill from the -crossing to go farther. The second morning Willie, seeing I -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P21"></a>21}</span> -was better, wanted to go out to <i>déjeuner</i>, and told me to -lie still in bed, and he would tell them to send a maid with -my food, as he knew that I, not being used to French -customs, would not like a waiter to bring it. To make -sure of my not being disturbed he locked the door. To -my horror half an hour after he had gone there was a tap -at the door, and a manservant opened it with his key, and -marched in, despite my agitated protests in very -home-made French. Once in, however, he made me so -comfortable by his deft arrangement of a most tempting meal -and paternal desire that "Madame should eat and recover -herself," that I was able to laugh at Willie's annoyance -on his return to find the waiter once more in possession and -removing the tray. -</p> - -<p> -We then went to Paris to stay with my mother-in-law -and Mary for a few days, while they found me a French -maid and showed me the sights. I had a great quantity -of very long hair in those days, and Willie insisted on my -having it very elaborately dressed—much to my annoyance—in -the latest French fashion, which I did not consider -becoming to me. My maid was also much occupied in -making the toilet of my little dog. He was a lovely little -creature, and Caroline would tie an enormous pale blue -bow on him as a reward for the painful business of combing -him. From the time Willie gave me this little dog to the -day it died, about six years afterwards, it went everywhere -with me. He was as good and quiet as possible when -with me, but if I ever left him for a moment the shrill little -howls would ring out till the nearest person to him would -snatch him up, and fly to restore him to his affectionate, -though long-suffering, mistress. -</p> - -<p> -At Paris there was trouble with my mother-in-law and -Mary at once because of him. They took me to see Notre -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P22"></a>22}</span> -Dame, and as a matter of course Prince was in my arm -under my cloak. As we came out I let my little dog down -to run, and the Comtesse nearly fainted. "You took the -dog into the <i>church</i>! Oh, Katie, how wrong, how could, -you! Mary! what shall we do? Do you not think——?" -and turning a reproachful glance on me, Mary responded, -"Come, mother," and, leaving me amazed and indignant -on the steps, they passed into Notre Dame again. With -some curiosity I peeped in after them, and beheld them -kneeling at prayer just inside the door. They came out -almost at once, and the old Comtesse looked happier. -"You did not understand, dear," said Mary kindly, "it -is better not to take the little dog into a church." I was -young enough to resent being told I did not understand, -and promptly returned, "I understand, Mary, that you -and the Comtesse consider it wicked to take Prince into -Notre Dame. Well, I don't, and you must excuse me if -I remind you that God made the dog; and I seem to -remember something about a Child that was born in a -stable with a lot of nice friendly beasts about, so you need -not have gone back to pray about me and Prince, I think!" And, -scooping up Prince, I stalked off with a dignity that -was rather spoilt by my not having sufficient French to -find my own way home, and having to wait at the carriage -for them. We drove home with much stiffness, and only -thawed sufficiently to assure Willie how much we had -enjoyed ourselves! -</p> - -<p> -While I was abroad I often used to get away by myself -to spend many happy hours in the beautiful churches with -Prince tucked under my arm, and often a friendly old -priest would give us a smile as he passed on his way about -the church, so it was apparently not a very deadly sin to -take him with me. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P23"></a>23}</span> -</p> - -<p> -Willie's mother and Mary became more reconciled to -the little dog when they found how much admired he was -in Paris. An old Frenchman, after seeing him one -evening as Willie and I were leaving table d'hôte, made -inquiries as to where we were staying, and called on Willie -to offer £100 for "madame's pet" if at any time she wished -to sell him. Willie was too wise to approach me with the -offer, and assured monsieur that madame would consider -the offer an insult only to be wiped out in monsieur's -blood! -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap04"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P24"></a>24}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER IV -<br /> -A DAY ON THE DOWNS -</h3> - -<p class="poem"> - "<i>A son to clasp my finger tight.</i>"—NORMAN GALE.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -When we had been in Spain for nearly a year, there was -some dispute about the business arrangements of Willie's -partnership in his uncle's bank, and Willie withdrew -altogether from the affair. We then decided to return to -England. Though glad to go home, I parted from my -Spanish relations with regret, and have always since my -visit to them thought that the admixture of Irish and -Spanish blood is most charming in its result. -</p> - -<p> -On our return to England we lived in Clarges Street, -London, for some time, while Willie was looking for a -place in the country where he could start a stud farm. -Willie was very fond of horses, and understood them well, -and I was delighted at the idea of his getting some really -good brood mares and breeding race-horses. We knew, -of course, nothing of the enormous expense and many losses -such an undertaking was certain to entail. -</p> - -<p> -At last we decided to take Bennington Park, Hertfordshire, -and on going there Willie bought some good blood -stock, among the pick of which were Alice Maud, Scent, -and Apricot. Soon we had all the boxes tenanted, and -I spent many happy hours petting the lovely thoroughbred -mares with their small velvety noses and intelligent eyes. -</p> - -<p> -The chief form of social intercourse in the county was -the giving of long, heavy, and most boring dinners. -People thought nothing of driving eight or even ten miles -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P25"></a>25}</span> -(and there were no motor-cars then) to eat their dinner in -each other's houses, and this form of entertainment used -to produce such an absolutely painful boredom in me that -I frequently hid the invitations from Willie, who wished -to "keep up with the county." -</p> - -<p> -Willie and I were a good-looking young couple, and -people liked to have us about. Willie, too, was a good -conversationalist, and had a ready wit that made him -welcome, since an Irishman and wit are synonymous to the -conventional mind. That his witticisms pertained rather -to the France of his education than the Ireland of his -birth was unrecognized because unexpected. -</p> - -<p> -I was—rather, I fear, to Willie's annoyance—labelled -"delightfully unusual" soon after our going to Bennington, -the cause being that I received my guests one evening -with my then abundant hair hanging loosely to below my -waist, twisted through with a wide blue ribbon. To -Willie's scandalized glance I replied with a hasty whisper, -"The very latest from Paris," and was rewarded with the -mollified though puzzled expression very properly awarded -by all men to the "latest fashion" of their womenkind. -</p> - -<p> -I put off the queries of the ladies after dinner in the -same way, and was rewarded by them by the general -admission that it was a fashion for the few—who had the -hair. Never did I admit that I had been out with the -horses so late that I had had just time for Caroline to hurry -me into a gown and shake down my hair as my first guest -arrived. So little do we deserve the fame forced upon us. -</p> - -<p> -Willie was never good at dunning friends for money -owed, and as we had many brood mares, not our own, -left with us for months at a time, the stable expenses, -both for forage and wages, became appallingly large. It -was always difficult to get the accounts in, and while Willie -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P26"></a>26}</span> -did not like to worry the owners even for the amount for -the bare keep of the animals, he was himself perpetually -worried by forage contractors, the shoeing smith, and the -weekly wage bill, besides the innumerable extra expenses -pertaining to a large stable. -</p> - -<p> -As I urged against the sale of the mares, which he so -often threatened, their happy, peaceful maternity, in the -long lush grass and shade of trees by day, their comfortable -boxes at night, and their fondness of me, he used to stare -gloomily at me and swear gently as he wished there were -more profit than peace in their maternity and my -sentimentality. But he could forget his worries in the pleasure -of schooling the yearlings, and we agreed always to hold -on as long as possible to a life we both found so interesting, -and with the facile hope of youth we thought to get the -better of our expenses in time. -</p> - -<p> -In this year (1869) my eldest (surviving) brother, -Frank, became very ill, and Willie and I went to Rivenhall -to see him. He wanted me to nurse him, so I stayed on -in my old home while Willie returned to Bennington. -</p> - -<p> -Frank had consumption, and very badly; he suffered -intensely, and I think I have never longed for the presence -of a doctor with more anxiety than I did for Dr. Gimson's -at that time. My perpetual fear was that the effect of the -opiate he gave to deaden poor Frank's pain would -wear off before he came again. When it grew dusk -Frank desired me to put candles in every window, that -he might not see the shadows—the terrifying shadows -which delirium and continual doses of morphia never fail -to produce. -</p> - -<p> -Frank's very dear friend, Captain Hawley Smart, the -novelist, came to Rivenhall in the hope that he could cheer -poor Frank's last hours; but he was too ill to know or care, -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P27"></a>27}</span> -and Hawley Smart could, like the rest of us, only await the -pitying release of death. -</p> - -<p> -We went on at Bennington in very much the same -way until the end of that year. Willie had been betting -very heavily in the hope of relieving the ever-increasing -difficulty of meeting our heavy expenses, and now, in -view of his losses in racing added to the cost attendant -on keeping up such a large stud, the kind-hearted bank -manager insisted that the large overdraft on his bank must -be cleared. Hitherto, whenever he had become very -pressing, Willie had sent him "something on account," and -we had given a breakfast for his hunt, as Willie said such -a good fellow "could not eat and ask at the same time." Now, -however, Mr. Cheshire sorrowfully declined to eat, -and maintained that his duty to his firm necessitated his -insisting upon the clearing of the overdraft. -</p> - -<p> -When Willie was made bankrupt, Mr. Hobson—a -gentleman living near us with his very charming wife, who -afterwards became Mrs. A. Yates—very kindly took my -little old pony across the fields at night to his own place -and kept him there so that he should not go into the sale -of our goods. This defrauded no one, as the pony (my -own) was beyond work, being my childhood's pet. -</p> - -<p> -I was now nearing my first confinement, and my aunt, -Mrs. Benjamin Wood, took a house for me at Brighton -close to my sister's, Lady Barrett-Lennard. There my -son Gerard was born. -</p> - -<p> -I was very ill for some time after this, and my mother, -Lady Wood, stayed with me, employing her time in -making a lovely water-colour sketch for me. -</p> - -<p> -Willie's affairs were now settled, and I had to give up -all hope of returning to my dearly loved country home and -all my pets; but I had the consolation of my beautiful babe, -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P28"></a>28}</span> -and I forgot my sorrow in my greater possession. He was -very healthy, so I had no trouble on that score. -</p> - -<p> -A young solicitor who took Willie's affairs in hand, -Mr. Charles Lane (of Lane and Monroe), very kindly took -upon himself to call on my Uncle William, who was then -Lord Chancellor of England, and ask him to assist us in -our financial difficulties. Uncle William was much -astonished at the application of this obviously nervous young -solicitor, who with the courage born of despair went on to -suggest that Lord Hatherley might give Willie a lucrative -appointment. -</p> - -<p> -Strangely enough it had never occurred to me to apply -to Uncle William for anything, and when Mr. Lane called -on us and solemnly presented me with a substantial cheque -and a kind message from my uncle, Willie and I were as -surprised as we were pleased, even though Mr. Lane -explained that "the Lord Chancellor had no post suitable" -for Willie's energies. -</p> - -<p> -We then moved into a house on the Marine Parade, -as the one we were in was very expensive, and though I -was glad to be next door to my sister, I felt it was not -fair to my aunt, Mrs. Wood, who was paying the rent -for us. -</p> - -<p> -My faithful French maid Caroline stuck to us all -through our fallen fortunes, as also did our stud-groom, -Selby, and though we could no longer pay them the high -wages they had always had, they refused to leave us. -</p> - -<p> -My aunt now took a cottage for me at Patcham, just -put of Brighton, and I was able to have my pony there. -The house at Patcham was a dear, little, old-fashioned -place right against the Downs, and there I used to walk -for miles in the early morning, the springy turf almost -forcing one foot after the other, while the song of the -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P29"></a>29}</span> -larks and scent of the close-growing, many-tinted herbage -in the clear bright air filled me with joyous exhilaration. -</p> - -<p> -Willie went to town, and often was away for days, on -various businesses, and I was very lonely at home—even -though I daily drove the old pony into Brighton that I -might see my sister. -</p> - -<p> -I had a cousin of Willie's, Mrs. Vaughan, to stay with -me for some time, but she was perpetually wondering what -Willie was doing that kept him so much away, and this -added irritation to loneliness. I had had such a busy life -at Bennington that I suffered much from the want of -companionship and the loss of the many interests of my life -there. I felt that I must make some friends here, and, -attracted by a dark, handsome woman whom I used to meet -riding when I walked on to the Downs, I made her -acquaintance, and found in her a very congenial companion. -Quiet and rather tragic in expression, she thawed to me, -and we were becoming warmly attached to one another -when Willie, in one of his now flying visits, heard me -speak of my new friend. On hearing her name—it was -one that a few years before had brought shame and sudden -death into one of the oldest of the "great" families of -England—he professed to be absolutely scandalized, and, -with an assumption of authority that at once angered me, -forbade me to have any more to do with her. He met my -protests with a maddening superiority, and would not tell -me why she was "beyond the pale." I explained to him -my own opinion of many of the women he liked me to know -and almost all the men, for I had not then learnt the hard -lesson of social life, and that the one commandment still -rigorously observed by social hypocrisy was, "Thou shalt -not be found out." -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P30"></a>30}</span> -</p> - -<p> -When I met Mrs. —— again she soothed my indignation -on her behalf, and as we sat there, high on a spur of -a hill, watching the distant sea, she smiled a little sadly -as she said to me: "Little fool, I have gambled in love -and have won, and those who win must pay as well as -those who lose. Never gamble, you very young thing, -if you can help it; but if you do be sure that the stake -is the only thing in the world to you, for only that will -make it worth the winning and the paying." -</p> - -<p> -It was nearly ten years afterwards that I, feeling restless -and unhappy, had such a sudden longing for the sea, that -one morning I left my home (at Eltham) very early and -went down to Brighton for the day. I was alone, and -wished to be alone; so I got out of the train at Preston, -for fear I should meet any of my relations at Brighton -station. A fancy then seized me to drive out to Patcham, -about a mile farther on, to see if my former little house -was occupied. Having decided that it was I dismissed -my fly and walked up the bridle path beyond the -house out on to the Downs, where, turning south, -towards the sea, I walked steadily over the scented turf, -forcing out of my heart all but the joy of movement -in the sea wind, with the song of the skylarks in my -ears. -</p> - -<p> -I sang as I walked, looking towards the golden light -and sullen blue of the sea, where a storm was beating up -with the west wind. Presently I realized that I was very -tired, and I sat down to rest upon a little hilltop where I -could see over the whole of Brighton. The wind brought -up the rain, and I rose and began to descend the hill -towards Brighton. I wondered apathetically if my sister -was in Brighton or if they were all at Belhus still. -Anyhow, I knew there would be someone at her house who -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P31"></a>31}</span> -would give me something to eat. Then I turned round, -and began deliberately to climb up the hill on to the -Downs again. After all, I thought, I had come here to -be alone, and did not want to see my sister particularly. -The family might all be there, and anyhow I did not want -to see anybody who loved me and could bias my mind. -I had come down to get away from Willie for a little -while—or rather from the thought of him, for it was rarely -enough I saw him. If I went down to see Emma and -Tom they would ask how Willie was, and really I did not -know, and then how were the children. Well, I could -thankfully answer that the children were always well. Why -should I be supposed to have no other interests than Willie -and my children? Willie was not, as a matter of fact, at -all interesting to me. As to my children, I loved them -very dearly, but they were not old enough, or young -enough, to engross my whole mind. Then there was dear -old Aunt Ben, who was so old that she would not tolerate -any topic of conversation of more recent date than the -marriage of Queen Victoria. What a curiously narrow -life mine was, I thought, narrow, narrow, narrow, and so -deadly dull. It was better even to be up there on the -Downs in the drifting rain—though I was soaked to the -skin and so desperately tired and hungry. I paused for -shelter behind a shepherd's hut as I saw the lithe spare -form of my brother-in-law, Sir Thomas, dash past, head -down and eyes half closed against the rain. He did not -see me, and I watched him running like a boy through the -driving mist till he disappeared. He had come over from -Lewes, I supposed. He was a J.P., and had perhaps been -over to the court; he never rode where he could walk—or -rather run. -</p> - -<p> -I waited, sheltering now from the rain, and through the -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P32"></a>32}</span> -mist there presently came a girl riding. On seeing me -she pulled up to ask the quickest way to Brighton, as the -mist had confused her. As I answered her I was struck -by a certain resemblance, in the dark eyes and proud tilt -of the chin, to my friend of many years ago, whose battles -I had fought with Willie, and who had told me something -of her life while we sat very near this place. The girl now -before me was young, and life had not yet written any -bitterness upon her face; but as she thanked me, and, -riding away, laughingly urged me to give up the attempt -to "keep dry," and to fly home before I dissolved -altogether, I had the voice of my old-time friend in my ears, -and I answered aloud, "I am afraid; I tell you, I am -afraid." But she was dead, I knew, and could not answer -me, and I smiled angrily at my folly as I turned down the -track to Preston, while I thought more quietly how the -daughter whose loss had caused such bitter pain to my dear -friend, when she had left all for love, had grown to happy -womanhood in spite of all. -</p> - -<p> -I was now feeling very faint from my long day of hard -exercise without food, but there was a train about to start -for London, and I would not miss it. -</p> - -<p> -On the platform for Eltham, at Charing Cross, stood -Mr. Parnell, waiting, watching the people as they passed -the barriers. As our eyes met he turned and walked by -my side. He did not speak, and I was too tired to do so, -or to wonder at his being there. He helped me into the -train and sat down opposite me, and I was too exhausted -to care that he saw me wet and dishevelled. There were -others in the carriage. I leant back and closed my eyes, -and could have slept but that the little flames deep down -in Parnell's eyes kept flickering before mine, though they -were closed. I was very cold; and I felt that he took off -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P33"></a>33}</span> -his coat and tucked it round me, but I would not open my -eyes to look at him. He crossed over to the seat next to -mine, and, leaning over me to fold the coat more closely -round my knees, he whispered, "I love you, I love you. -Oh, my dear, how I love you." And I slipped my hand -into his, and knew I was not afraid. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap05"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P34"></a>34}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER V -<br /> -MORE FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES -</h3> - -<p class="poem"> - "<i>Thus while Thy several mercies plot<br /> - And work on me, now cold, now hot,<br /> - The work goes on and slacketh not.</i>"<br /> - —VAUGHAN.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Willie was away more than ever after this, and I became -so bored and lonely that I told him that I must join him -in London if he meant to be there so much. He then -proposed to give up the Patcham house and move the small -household to Harrow Road, London, temporarily, till we -had time to find something less depressing. -</p> - -<p> -In going we also hoped to shake off an acquaintance -who haunted us at Brighton and Patcham, a Mr. D., but -he soon found us out, and, realizing that I was determined -to be "not at home" to him, he took to leaving gifts of -beautiful Spanish lace at the door, directed to me, and -only the words "from Romeo" inside. -</p> - -<p> -This man had lived most of his life in Spain, and was -a remarkably good judge of Spanish lace, and I must -confess I was tempted to keep the rich creamy-white stuff -that arrived anonymously. This "Romeo" was more than -middle-aged, and, when he wrote that for "safety's sake" -he would address messages to me through the "agony" -column of the newspapers, Willie's wrath was unbounded. -</p> - -<p> -He wrote to poor "Romeo" in sarcastic vein, alluding -to his age and figure, his insolence in addressing "a young -and beautiful" woman with his "pestilent" twaddle. He -told him, too, that he withdrew from all business transactions -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P35"></a>35}</span> -with him, and would have much pleasure in kicking -"Romeo" if he dared call at the house again. I was -almost sorry for the foolish old man; but that was wasted -on him, for he continued, undeterred by Willie's anger, -to address "Juliet" in prose and verse in the daily papers. -As he said, the "Daily Press was open to all, and the -Captain could not stop that!" I used to laugh helplessly -as Willie opened the morning paper at breakfast, and, -first gravely turning to the "agony" column, would read -the latest message to "Juliet" from her devoted "Romeo," -becoming so angry that breakfast was spoiled to him. The -sudden cessation of our acquaintance prevented our making -that of Mme. Adelina Patti though "Romeo" had -arranged a dinner in order that I should meet her. -</p> - -<p> -A few weeks after we arrived in Harrow Road Willie -began to complain of feeling ill, and a swelling that had -formed on his neck became very painful. He was confined -to bed, and after great suffering for weeks, Mr. Edgar -Barker, who was constantly in attendance, said he must -operate to save Willie's life. I had no nurse, as at this -time we were in such financial straits that I really did not -know which way to turn, and Willie was too ill to be asked -about anything. Mr. Barker said to me, "You must hold -his head perfectly still, and not faint." So he operated, -and all went well, in spite of my inexperience in surgical -nursing. Mr. Barker, for whose kindness at this time I -can never be sufficiently grateful, helped me in every way, -and would not allow even Willie's mother and sister to -do so, as their presence irritated the patient so intensely. -</p> - -<p> -During this time of trouble a Mr. Calasher, a money-lender, -called to have some acceptances of Willie's met. -I left Willie's bedside for a few minutes to see him, and -he was kindness itself, agreeing to a renewal on my signature -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P36"></a>36}</span> -alone, and most kindly sending in some little delicacies -that he thought Willie might fancy. When Willie had -recovered and went to see Mr. Calasher about the bills, -it being then more than ever impossible to meet them, he -(Mr. Calasher) would not consent to a further renewal, but -tore the bills across and gave them back to Willie, saying, -"Don't worry yourself, Captain O'Shea, but pay me when -you can, and add six per cent. interest if you are able." I -am glad to say we did this within the year. His courtesy -about these bills was a great relief to me, as Willie was -far too ill to be spoken to about business, and I was at -my wits' end for money to meet everyday expenses. The -accommodating Jew who lends the indiscreet Christian his -money—naturally with a businesslike determination to -increase it—has so much said against him that I am glad to -be able to speak my little word of gratitude of one who -was considerate and chivalrous to Willie as well as myself, -to his own detriment. -</p> - -<p> -Better circumstances arising on Willie's recovery of -health, we were anxious to get away from the depressions -of Harrow Road, with its constant procession of hearses -and mourners on the way to Kensal Green Cemetery. -After a weary hunt we finally decided upon a house in -Beaufort Gardens. My French maid rejoiced in returning -to her light duties as lady's maid, and reigned over a staff -of maids in unison with the butler. Selby, at last -convinced that race-horses were out of the question with us, -left us, with mutual expressions of esteem, to seek more -congenial surroundings. -</p> - -<p> -We went to Beaufort Gardens in 1872, and Willie -insisted upon my making many new acquaintances. We -soon found ourselves in a social swirl of visits, visitors and -entertainments. I had always disliked society, as such. -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P37"></a>37}</span> -Willie, however, thoroughly enjoyed this life, and as he -was always worrying me to dress in the latest fashion, and -would have a Frenchman in to dress my hair before every -party, I became very rebellious. -</p> - -<p> -Here my eldest daughter was born, and I was glad of -the rest from parties and balls—even though so many -people I did not care to see came "to cheer me up!" As -soon as I was about again the life I found so wearisome -recommenced. After escorting me home from a dance or -reception that I had not wanted to go to, Willie would go -off again to "finish up the night," and one night, when in -terror I was seeking for burglars, I found a policeman -sitting on the stairs. He explained genially that the door -was open, and he thought it better to come inside and -guard the door for the Captain's return! -</p> - -<p> -Alfred Austin—not then Poet Laureate—was a great -friend and constant visitor of ours at that time. He had -been at school—at Oscott—with Willie, and he was, I -remember, extremely sensitive to criticism. "Owen Meredith," -Lord Lytton, was also a frequent visitor, especially -when my sister Anna was with us—she being sympathetic -to his genius. -</p> - -<p> -I think Willie and I were beginning to jar upon one -another a good deal now, and I loved to get away for long -walks by myself through the parks of London. Kensington -Gardens was a great solace to me in all seasons and -weathers, and I spent much of my time there. I often -turned into the Brompton Oratory on my way home for -a few minutes' peace and rest of body and soul, and these -quiet times were a comfort to me when suffering from the -fret and worry of my domestic life. -</p> - -<p> -I first made my way to the Oratory when my daughter -Norah was baptized, and some little time afterwards one -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P38"></a>38}</span> -of the Fathers called on me. Finally Father —— undertook -to call regularly to instruct me in the Catholic religion. -He and the other priests lent me any books I wanted, and -"The Threshold of the Catholic Faith," and one other I -have now. That I never got beyond the "Threshold" -was no fault of these good Fathers, who taught me with -endless patience and uncompromising directness. But I -had before me two types of Catholic in Willie and his -mother and sister, and both were to me stumbling-blocks. -The former was, as I knew, what they call a "careless -Catholic," and I thought that if he who had been born in -that faith that means so much made so little of it, perhaps -it was more of a beautiful dream than a reality of life. -Yet when I turned and considered those "good Catholics," -his mother and sister, I found such a fierce bigotry and -deadly dullness of outlook, such an immense piety and so -small a charity, that my whole being revolted against such -a belittling of God-given life. Now, I know that Mary -and the Comtesse disliked me personally, and also that my -temperament was antagonistic to theirs, as indeed to -Willie's, though the affection he and I had for one another -eased the friction between us; but youth judges so much -by results, and my excursion into the Catholic religion -ended in abrupt revolt against all forms and creeds. This -feeling was intensified when my second little girl, Carmen, -was born and christened at the Oratory. I would not go -in, but stood waiting in the porch, where I had so often -marked tired men and women passing in to pray after -their hard and joyless day of toil, and I felt that my -children were taken from me, and that I was very lonely. -</p> - -<p> -My Uncle William, Lord Hatherley, was Lord High -Chancellor at this time, and we were a good deal at his -house, both at "functions" and privately. His great -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P39"></a>39}</span> -friend, Dean Stanley, was very kind to me; Dean Hook -came, too, and many other Churchmen were continually -in and out in their train. My cousin, William Stephens, -who afterwards became Dean of Winchester, was then a -very good-looking and agreeable young man; he followed -my uncle about like a shadow, and my uncle and Aunt -Charlotte were devoted to him. But my uncle gathered -other society than that of Churchmen about him, and it -amused me to watch for the pick of the intellectual world -of the day as they swarmed up and down the stairs at the -receptions, with the necessary make-weight of people who -follow and pose in the wake of the great. -</p> - -<p> -Willie insisted upon his wife being perfectly gowned -on these occasions, and as he so often got out of going to -those functions and insisted on my going alone, certain -other relations of Lord Hatherley's would hover round me -with their spiteful remarks of: "Dear Katie, alone again I -poor dear girl, where does he go? How odd that you are -so often alone—how little you know!" I was fond of my -old uncle and he of me, but these little amenities did not -make me like these social functions better, especially as his -wife, my Aunt Charlotte, had a most irritating habit of -shutting her eyes when greeting me, and, with her head -slightly to one side, saying, "Poor dear! Poor lovely -lamb!" -</p> - -<p> -This winter, following the birth of my second girl, was -bitterly cold, and my health, which had not been good for -some time before her birth, caused much anxiety. After -a consultation between Sir William Gull, Sir William -Jenner, and my usual doctor, it was decided that we should -go to Niton, Isle of Wight, as I was too weak to travel far. -My dear old aunt, Mrs. Benjamin Wood, sent her own -doctor to me, and he recommended me to inject opium—an -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P40"></a>40}</span> -expression of opinion that horrified Sir William Jenner -into saying, "That man's mad, or wants to get rid of -you!" -</p> - -<p> -Our pecuniary affairs were again causing us considerable -anxiety, but my dear aunt played the fairy godmother -once more, and sent Willie a cheque so that we could go -to Niton without worry or anxiety, and stop there until -my health should be re-established. We were delighted -with the summer warmth of the sun, and spent a happy -Christmas basking in it. Since the hotel was very -expensive, Willie established me in lodgings with the -children and nurses in Ventnor, and, finding the place -decidedly dull, returned to London. -</p> - -<p> -The local doctor at Ventnor, who had been put in charge -of my shattered health, was not satisfied that it was in any -way improving, and, finding one day that I was in the -habit of taking sleeping draughts, he snorted angrily off -to the chemist and returned with a large tin of meat extract, -with which he presented me, adding the intimation that -it was worth a dozen bottles of my draught—which -happened to be a powder—and that my London doctors -were bereft of intelligence. I was too tired to argue the -point and contented myself with the observation that all -doctors save the one in attendance were fellows in -intelligence—a sentiment he considered suspiciously for -some moments before snorting away like the amiable little -steam engine he was. His specific for sleeplessness was -much more wholesome than drugs, and I have always -found it so since then. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap06"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P41"></a>41}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER VI -<br /> -CAPTAIN O'SHEA ENTERS POLITICAL LIFE -</h3> - -<p class="poem"> - "<i>D'un coeur qui t'aime,<br /> - Mon Dieu, qui peut troubler la tranquille paix?<br /> - Il cherche, en tout, ta volunté suprème,<br /> - Et ne se cherche jamais.<br /> - Sur la terre, dans le ciel même,<br /> - Est-il d'autre bonheur que la tranquille paix<br /> - D'un coeur qui t'aime?</i>"—RACINE.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Willie was too busy to come down to Ventnor again, and -I became so depressed by the relaxing air and by the sight -of the many poor consumptive people I met at every turn, -veritable signposts in their different stages of disease of -the road I had been warned that I was on, that I decided -to go nearer home. My doctor suggested Hastings, and -there I went, taking my small family under the kindly -escort of one of my nephews. -</p> - -<p> -Willie soon came down, and, as my health improved -rapidly, we stayed on for some time, making frequent -visits to my Aunt "Ben" at Eltham, who was making our -stay at the seaside possible. This was practically my first -introduction to my aunt, as my former visits were when, -as a little child, I was only allowed to sit by her side in -the "tapestry room" trying to do some needlework under -her supervision, and assisting her in the consumption of -the luscious peaches she always had on the table. In those -days I would have been wild with terror at the idea of -being left alone with this aunt, who always wore the -fashions of her early Victorian youth, and who would not -tolerate the slightest noise in the house. I now found her -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P42"></a>42}</span> -of fascinating interest, and even the painful sense of -"hush" in her house, the noiseless stepping of the servants -and the careful seclusion of sunlight had attractions -for me. My uncle, Benjamin Wood, had died very many -years before, and my aunt never alluded to him. She -herself had never left Eltham since his death, and had only -once been in a railway train, living in complete seclusion -in her fine old Georgian house, only "taking the air" in -the grounds adjoining or emerging forth in her chariot to -drive for an hour daily. -</p> - -<p> -She lived in the intellectual world of the Greek poets, -and of Addison, Swift and Racine; and there was a leisure -and a scholarly atmosphere about her life that seemed to -banish the hurry and turmoil of the modern world at her -gate. She was extremely generous in subscribing to what -she termed "Organizations for the better conduct of charitable -relief," and, though of no particular religious belief, -she subscribed to the various objects of local charity when -asked to do so by the clergyman of the parish. The latter -gentleman once made the mistake of offering to read the -Scriptures to her on the occasion of an illness, and I well -remember his face of consternation when she replied: "I -thank you, Mr. ——, but I am still well able to read, and -the Scriptures do not interest me." Yet during the many -years I spent in constant companionship with her the -quiet peace which reigned by her side gave me the most -restful and soothing hours of my life. -</p> - -<p> -After we had paid her several visits in this way she -informed me that she had ascertained that I was much -alone, that she was very tenderly attached to me, and would -wish to provide for me and my children if I would come -to live near her so that I could be her constant companion. -She added that she considered that this arrangement would -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P43"></a>43}</span> -be more "seemly" for me, as Willie was obliged to be -away from home so much. -</p> - -<p> -After consultation with the (county court) judge, -Gordon Whitbread, her nephew and my cousin, who -always transacted her business for her, she bought a house -for me at the other side of her park, and arranged to settle -a regular income on me and to educate my children. In -return she asked that her "Swan"—as she always called -me—should be her daily companion. This I was until her -death, at the age of ninety-four, about fifteen years later. -</p> - -<p> -My aunt lived a life of great seclusion, and, with the -exception of George Meredith (the author), and the -Rev. —— Wilkinson, who each came down once a week to read -to her, her oculist and great friend, Dr. Bader, and two -old ladies, friends of her youth, she rarely saw anyone. -Her house—"The Lodge," Eltham—was fine old Georgian, -spoilt inside by the erection of mock pillars in the hall. -She was very particular that no one should tread upon -the highly polished floors, and, as the two large halls -had only rugs laid about on the shining surface, one had -either to make many "tacks" to reach the desired door or -seat, or take a short cut on tiptoe and risk her -"displeasure." -</p> - -<p> -It was amusing to watch George Meredith on his excursion -from the front door to the dressing-room at the foot -of the stairs, where my aunt kept three pairs of slippers -for the use of her "gentlemen readers" lest their boots -should soil the carpets. To reach this little room he -had—if in a good mood and conforming to his old friend's -regulations—to walk straight ahead past the room, and -make a detour round a pillar of (imitation) green marble -and a table, back to the door. On days of rebellion -against these forms and ceremonies he would hesitate for -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P44"></a>44}</span> -a moment just inside the door, and, with a reckless -uplifting of his head, begin a hasty stride across the sacred -places; a stride which became an agitated tip-toeing under -the scandalized gaze of the footman. Before he began -to read to my aunt the following dialogue invariably took -place:— -</p> - -<p> -"Now, my dear lady, I will read you something of -my own." -</p> - -<p> -"Indeed, my dear Mr. Meredith, I cannot comprehend -your works." -</p> - -<p> -"I will explain my meaning, dear Mrs. Wood." -</p> - -<p> -"You are prodigiously kind, dear Mr. Meredith, but -I should prefer Molière to-day." -</p> - -<p> -While Willie and I were still living in London we went -down one day to see a furnished house we wished to rent -for a few weeks, and, remembering my Aunt Ben's injunction -to convey her "felicitations to her dear Mr. Meredith," -we called on him. -</p> - -<p> -I had not before met George Meredith, and had only -read one of his works—and that "behind the door" when -I was very young, owing to some belated scruple of my -elders. I remember, as we neared the house, asking Willie -the names of Meredith's other works, so that I might be -ready primed with intelligent interest, and Willie's -sarcastic little smile, as he mentioned one or two, adding, -"You need not worry yourself; Meredith will soon -enlighten us as to his books. They say it's the one thing -he ever talks about." But we spent a delightful afternoon -with Mr. Meredith, who showed us all his literary treasures -and the little house at the end of the garden where he wrote. -While we sat in the lovely little garden drinking tea our -host descanted on the exquisite haze of heat that threw -soft shadows about the house and gave the great trees -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P45"></a>45}</span> -in the background the appearance of an enchanted forest. -George Meredith was "reader" to Chapman and Hall in -those days, and he spoke to me appreciatively of the work -of my mother and sister, who published with Chapman -and Hall. -</p> - -<p> -In these days at Eltham I learnt to know George -Meredith very well, as I saw him almost every week when -he came down to read to my aunt. The old lady did not -like triangular conversation, so as soon as they were fairly -launched in reading or conversation, I would gladly slip -away to my own occupations. To Aunt Ben, Meredith -appeared to be a very young man indeed, and in her -gentle, high-bred way she loved to tease him about his -very great appreciation of his own work—and person. -Meredith took her gentle raillery absolutely in good part -and would hold forth upon what the literary world "of all -time" owed him in his books, and also upon what Lady -This-or-that had said in admiration of his good looks at -such-and-such a gathering. My aunt used to delight in -these tales, which were delivered in the mock serious -manner of a boy telling his mother of his prowess, real -or imagined; and after a time of listening to him, with -only her gently modulated little bursts of laughter to -encourage him, she would say, "Oh, my dear Mr. -Meredith, your conceit is as wonderful as your -genius!"—bringing forth from him the protest, "My dear lady, no! -But it is a pleasure to you to hear of my successes and -to me to tell you of them." And so I would leave them -to their playful badinage and reading. -</p> - -<p> -Meredith was very fond of his old friend, and always -treated her with the chivalrous and rather elaborate courtesy -that he well knew she delighted in. His weekly visits -were a great pleasure to her, and although she would not -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P46"></a>46}</span> -allow him to read anything modern and never anything -of his own work, I think he must have enjoyed his reading -and talk with this clever old lady, for often the stipulated -two hours of the "classics and their discussion" lengthened -into the three or four that caused him to miss all the -most convenient trains home. -</p> - -<p> -One evening as I was going into the house I saw him -standing on the terrace gazing after the retreating form -of my little girl Carmen, then about six years old. As I -came up he pointed at the stiff little back and said, "She -was flying along like a fairy Atalanta when I caught her, -and said, 'What is your name?' 'Miss Nothin'-at-all!' -she replied, with such fierce dignity that I dropped her -in alarm." -</p> - -<p> -I called the child to come back and speak politely -to Mr. Meredith, but, to his amusement, was only -rewarded by an airy wave of the hand as she fled down -a by-path. -</p> - -<p> -As I sometimes chatted to Mr. Meredith on his way -through the grounds to the station, he would tell me of -"that blessed woman," as he used to call his (second) -wife, already then dead, and of how he missed her kind -and always sympathetic presence on his return home and -in his work. Sometimes the handsome head would droop, -and I thought he looked careworn and sad as he spoke of -her, and in doing so he lost for the moment all the -mannerisms and "effectiveness" which were sometimes rather -wearisome in him. As my aunt grew very old she—in -the last few years of her life—became unequal to listening -and talking to her "gentlemen readers," and to me she -deputed the task of telling them so. In the case of George -Meredith it was rather painful to me, as I feared the loss -of the £300 a year my aunt had so long paid him for his -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P47"></a>47}</span> -weekly visits might be a serious one to him. But he, too, -had aged in all these years, and perhaps his visits to his -old friend were becoming rather irksome to him in their -regularity. Curiously enough, I shared my aunt's -inability to enjoy his work, and to the last I met his mocking -inquiry as to my "progress in literature" (i.e. his novels) -by a deprecating "Only 'Richard Feverel.'" -</p> - -<p> -The house my aunt bought for me was just across her -park, and she had a gate made in the park fence so that -I might go backwards and forwards to her house more -quickly. My house was a comfortable villa with the usual -little "front garden" and larger one in the rear. There -were excellent stables at the end of this garden. The -house, "Wonersh Lodge," had the usual dining-room and -drawing-room, with two other sitting-rooms opening -severally into the garden, and a large conservatory, which I -afterwards made over to Mr. Parnell for his own use. My -aunt furnished the house, and we were most comfortable, -while my children rejoiced in having the run of the park -and grounds after the restraint of town life. -</p> - -<p> -Willie was very much in London now, and occupied -himself in getting up a company to develop some mining -business in Spain. He always drew up a prospectus -excellently; on reading it one could hardly help believing—as -he invariably did—that here at last was the golden -opportunity of speculators. Some influential men put into -the Spanish venture sums varying from £1,000 to -£10,000. Our old friend Christopher Weguelin took -great interest in it, and eventually Willie was offered -the post of manager, at La Mines, at a good salary. It -was a very acceptable post to Willie, as he loved the life -in foreign countries. There was a very good house, and -he had it planted round with eucalyptus trees to keep off the -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P48"></a>48}</span> -fever so prevalent there, and from which the men working -the mines suffered greatly. -</p> - -<p> -Willie was, however, immune to fever, and never had -it. He was away in Spain for over eighteen months this -time, and did not come home at all during the period. -</p> - -<p> -My son now, at eight years old, proved too much for -his French governess, so we arranged for him to go to a -school at Blackheath, though he was two years younger -than the age generally accepted there. The little girls -were started afresh with a German governess, and on -Willie's return from Spain he stayed at Eltham for a -time. -</p> - -<p> -We were pleased to see one another again, but once -more the wearing friction caused by our totally dissimilar -temperaments began to make us feel that close companionship -was impossible, and we mutually agreed that he -should have rooms in London, visiting Eltham to see -myself and the children at week-ends. After a while the -regularity of his week-end visits became very much broken, -but he still arrived fairly regularly to take the children -to Mass at Chislehurst on Sunday mornings, and he would -often get me up to town to do hostess when he wished to -give a dinner-party. I had all my life been well known -at Thomas's Hotel, Berkeley Square, as my parents and -family had always stayed there when in London. So here -I used to help Willie with his parties, and to suffer the -boredom incidental to this form of entertainment. -</p> - -<p> -On one occasion Willie, who always said that even -if only for the sake of our children I ought not to "drop -out of everything," worried me into accepting invitations -to a ball given by the Countess ——, whom I did not -know, and for this I came up to town late in the afternoon, -dined quietly at the hotel by myself, and dressed -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P49"></a>49}</span> -for the ball, ready for Willie to fetch me as he had -promised after his dinner with some friends. I was ready -at half-past eleven as had been arranged, and the carriage -came round for me at a quarter to twelve. At twelve the -manageress, a friend from my childhood, came to see if -she could "do anything for me" as Captain O'Shea was -so late. At 12.30 the head waiter, who used to lift me -into my chair at table on our first acquaintance, came to -know if "Miss Katie" was anxious about "the Captain," -and got snubbed by the manageress for his pains. At one -o'clock, white with anger and trembling with mortification, -I tore off my beautiful frock and got into bed. At -nine o'clock the next morning Willie called, having only -just remembered my existence and the ball to which he -was to have taken me. -</p> - -<p> -Willie was now longing for some definite occupation, -and he knew many political people. While he was on -a visit to Ireland early in 1880 he was constantly urged -by his friends, the O'Donnells and others, to try for a seat -in the next Parliament. A dissolution seemed imminent. -He had often talked of becoming a member for some Irish -constituency, and now, on again meeting The O'Gorman -Mahon in Ireland, he was very easily persuaded to stand -in with him for County Clare. He wrote home to me to -know what I thought of the idea, saying that he feared -that, much as he should like it, the expenses would be -almost too heavy for us to manage. I wrote back strongly -encouraging him to stand, for I knew it would give him -occupation he liked and keep us apart—and therefore good -friends. Up to this time Willie had not met Mr. Parnell. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap07"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P50"></a>50}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER VII -<br /> -MR. PARNELL AND THE IRISH PARTY -</h3> - -<p class="poem"> - "<i>I loved those hapless ones—the Irish Poor—<br /> - All my life long.<br /> - Little did I for them in outward deed,<br /> - And yet be unto them of praise the meed<br /> - For the stiff fight I urged 'gainst lust and greed:<br /> - I learnt it there.</i>"<br /> - —SIR WILLIAM BUTLER.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -"The introduction of the Arms Bill has interfered with -Mr. Parnell's further stay in France, and it is probable -he will be in his place in the House of Commons by the -time this is printed." -</p> - -<p> -This paragraph appeared in the Nation early in 1880. -On the 8th March of that year, the Disraeli Parliament -dissolved, and on the 29th April Mr. Gladstone formed -his Ministry. -</p> - -<p> -In the Disraeli Parliament Mr. Parnell was the actual, -though Mr. Shaw had been the nominal, leader of the -Irish Parliamentary Party since the death of Mr. Isaac -Butt in 1879. Shaw continued the Butt tradition of -moderation and conciliation which had made the Irish -Party an unconsidered fraction in British politics. Parnell -represented the new attitude of uncompromising hostility -to all British parties and of unceasing opposition to all -their measures until the grievances of Ireland were -redressed. He carried the majority of his Party with him, -and in Ireland he was already the people's hero. -</p> - -<p> -Born in June, 1846, Parnell was still a young man. -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P51"></a>51}</span> -He came of a fine race; he was a member of the same -family as the famous poet, Thomas Parnell, as Lord -Congleton, Radical reformer and statesman, and, above -all, Sir John Parnell, who sat and worked with Grattan -in Ireland's Great Parliament and shared with him the -bitter fight against the Union. On his mother's side he -was the grandson of the famous Commodore Charles -Stewart, of the American Navy, whose bravery and success -in the War of Independence are well known. It was -natural that a man of such ancestry should become a -champion of the rights of his native land. -</p> - -<p> -Yet though in 1879 he was the virtual chief of the -Irish Party, eight years before he was an Irish country -gentleman, living quietly on his estates at Avondale in -County Wicklow. -</p> - -<p> -It is a mistake to say that his mother "planted his -hatred of England in him," as she so seldom saw him -as a boy. He was sent to school in England at six years -old, and he used to tell me how his father—who died when -he (Charles S. Parnell) was twelve years old—would send -for him to come to Ireland to see him. His mother, -Mrs. Delia Parnell, lived chiefly in America, going over to -Avondale that her children might be born in Ireland, and -returning as soon as possible to America. After her -husband's death she only visited the place occasionally, and -altogether saw very little of her son Charles. He often -told me how well he remembered being sent for in his -father's last illness to go to him at Dublin, and the -last journey with his dying father back to Avondale. -His father had made him his heir and a ward of -Court. -</p> - -<p> -In reality Parnell's hatred of England arose when he -began to study the records of England's misgovernment -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P52"></a>52}</span> -in Ireland, and of the barbarities that were inflicted upon -her peasantry in the name of England's authority. -</p> - -<p> -For years before he left the seclusion of Avondale this -hatred had been growing. He followed the Fenian movement -with the liveliest interest, and he often accompanied -his sister Fanny when she took her verses to the offices -of the <i>Irish World</i>. The sufferings of the Fenian -prisoners, so courageously borne, stirred his blood and -awakened his imagination. It can be imagined with what -inward anger the young man heard of the detective raid -on his mother's house in Temple Street, Dublin—when -they found and impounded the sword he was privileged to -wear as an officer of the Wicklow Militia. -</p> - -<p> -But it was the Manchester affair of 1867 and the execution -of Allen, Larkin and O'Brien which crystallized his -hatred of England. From that moment he was only -biding his time. Yet he was slow to move, and loath to -speak his mind, and, until he went to America in 1871, -he was better known for his cricketing and his autumn -shooting than for his politics. When he returned to -Avondale with his brother John in 1872 the Ballot Act -had just been passed, and it was the consciousness of the -possibilities of the secret vote as a weapon against England -that finally persuaded him to be a politician. -</p> - -<p> -But, though he joined the newly formed Home Rule -League, it was not until 1874 that he stood for Parliament -in Dublin County. He came out at the bottom of the -poll. The election cost him £2,000; the £300 which he -had received from the Home Rule League he handed back -to them. In April, 1875, he stood for Meath and was -placed at the top of the poll. -</p> - -<p> -When he entered Parliament the Irish Party, as I have -said, was of little account. The case for Ireland was -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P53"></a>53}</span> -argued by Isaac Butt with fine reasonableness and forensic -skill, but it produced absolutely no effect. The English -parties smiled and patted the Irish indulgently on the -head. In Ireland all the more resolute and enthusiastic -spirits had an utter contempt for their Parliamentary -representatives; from the machine nothing was to be hoped. -It was the mission of Parnell to change all that, to unite -all the warring elements of the Nationalist movements -into one force to be hurled against England. -</p> - -<p> -But still he waited and watched—learning the rules of -the House, studying the strength and weaknesses of the -machine he was to use and to attack. He found it more -instructive to watch Biggar than Butt, for Biggar was -employing those methods of obstruction which Parnell -afterwards used with such perfect skill. From June, 1876, -he took a hand in affairs. Side by side with Biggar, he -began his relentless obstruction of Parliamentary business -until the demands of Ireland should be considered. -Already in 1877 he was fighting Butt for the direction of -the Irish Party. On September 1st of that year Parnell -became President of the Home Rule Confederation of -Great Britain in place of Butt, and the victory was really -won. Thenceforward Parnell was the true leader of the -Irish movement inside Parliament and out of it. He -attracted the support of Fenians by his uncompromising -tactics and his fearless utterances, and when the New -Departure was proclaimed by Michael Davitt (just out of -prison) and John Devoy, and the Land League was formed -in 1879, Parnell was elected president. -</p> - -<p> -The objects of the League were "best to be attained -by defending those who may be threatened with eviction -for refusing to pay unjust rents; and by obtaining such -reforms in the laws relating to land as will enable every -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P54"></a>54}</span> -tenant to become the owner of his holding by paying a -fair rent for a limited number of years." The League was -meant by its founders, Davitt and Devoy, to work for the -abolition of landlordism in Ireland, which, in turn, should -pave the way for separation. Though Parnell was -himself working for Home Rule, the League became a -tremendous driving power behind his constitutional demands. -For some months Disraeli's Government did nothing, -while the agitation spread like wildfire. Then in November -three of the leaders were arrested, on December 5th a -fourth—and in a few days released! Ireland laughed, and -the League grew. On December 21st Parnell and Dillon -sailed for New York to appeal for funds to save the tenant -farmers and to tighten the bond between the new -movement and the revolutionary societies of America. His -triumphal progress through the States and Canada, his -reception by the Governors of States, members of Congress, -judges and other representative men, and finally his -appearance before Congress to develop his views on the -Irish situation, are well known. It was on this journey—at -Toronto—that he was first hailed as the "Uncrowned -King." -</p> - -<p> -The unexpected news of the dissolution summoned him -home. In going out Disraeli tried to make Home Rule -the issue of the election, but Lord Hartington—who was -then leading the Liberal Party—and Mr. Gladstone -refused to take up the challenge. All the English parties -were united in hostility to Home Rule. -</p> - -<p> -But the violent manifesto of Disraeli threw the Irish -voting strength in England into the Liberal scale. The -Liberals swept the country. -</p> - -<p> -Curiously enough, even in Ireland the issue of the -election was not Home Rule. There it was the land, and -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P55"></a>55}</span> -nothing but the land. For the harvest of 1879 had been -the worst since the great famine; evictions were in full -swing, and the Land League had begun its work. -</p> - -<p> -The demand was for a measure securing the "three -F's": Fixity of tenure, fair rents determined by a legal -tribunal, and free sale of the tenant's interest. But in -many constituencies the demand was for the extinction of -landlordism. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell carried the election on his back. He was fighting -not only the Liberals and the Tories, but the moderate -Home Rule followers of Mr. Shaw. His energy seemed -inexhaustible; from one end of Ireland to the other he -organized the campaign, and addressed meetings. The -result was a triumph for his policy and for the Land -League. Of the 61 Home Rulers elected, 39 were -Parnellites. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap08"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P56"></a>56}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER VIII -<br /> -THE FIRST MEETING WITH MR. PARNELL -</h3> - -<p class="poem"> - "<i>One evening he asked the miller where the river went.</i>"<br /> - "<i>'It goes down the valley,' answered he, 'and turns a power<br /> - of mills.'</i>"—R. L. STEVENSON.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Willie and The O'Gorman Mahon had been returned at -the General Election, and many and varied were the -stories The O'Gorman Mahon told me subsequently of -their amusing experiences. How they kissed nearly every -girl in Clare and drank with every man—and poor Willie -loathed Irish whisky—how Willie's innate fastidiousness -in dress brought gloom into the eyes of the peasantry -until his unfeigned admiration of their babies and live -stock, scrambing together about the cabins, "lifted a smile -to the lip." -</p> - -<p> -The O'Gorman Mahon was then a tall, handsome old -man with a perfect snowstorm of white hair, and eyes as -merry and blue as those of a boy. He could look as fierce -as an old eagle on occasion, however, and had fought, -in his day, more duels than he could remember. A fine -specimen of the old type of Irishman. -</p> - -<p> -When he came down to Eltham to see us, Willie and -I took him over to Greenwich and gave him a fish dinner. -We sat late into the night talking of Irish affairs, and The -O'Gorman Mahon said to me, "If you meet Parnell, -Mrs. O'Shea, be good to him. His begging expedition to -America has about finished him, and I don't believe he'll -last the session out." -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P57"></a>57}</span> -</p> - -<p> -He went on to speak of Mr. Parnell; how aloof and -reserved he was, and how he received any inquiries as -to his obviously bad health with a freezing hostility that -gave the inquirers a ruffled sense of tactlessness. -</p> - -<p> -Willie broke in to say that he and I were going to -give some political dinners in London and would ask -Parnell, though he was sure he would not come. The -O'Gorman Mahon paid some idle compliment, but I was -not interested particularly in their stories of Parnell, -though I mentally decided that if I gave any dinners to the -Irish Party for Willie I would make a point of getting -Parnell. -</p> - -<p> -On the 26th of April the members of the Irish Party -met in Dublin to elect a chairman, and the meeting was -adjourned without coming to a decision, but in May -Mr. Parnell was chosen as leader. Willie voted for him, with -twenty-two others, and telegraphed to me to say that he -had done so, but feared that Mr. Parnell might be too -"advanced." The fact was that many people admired -steady-going William Shaw, the then chairman, as being -very "safe," and doubted whither their allegiance to -Mr. Parnell would lead them. Years after, when their politics -had diverged, Mr. Parnell said: "I was right when I said -in '80, as Willie got up on that platform at Ennis, dressed -to kill, that he was just the man we did not want in the -Party." -</p> - -<p> -After the meeting of Parliament Willie was insistent -that I should give some dinner parties in London, and, -as his rooms were too small for this purpose, we arranged -to have a couple of private rooms at Thomas's Hotel—my -old haunt in Berkeley Square. There were no ladies' -clubs in those days, but this hotel served me for many years -as well as such a club could have done. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P58"></a>58}</span> -</p> - -<p> -We gave several dinners, and to each of them I asked -Mr. Parnell. Among the first to come were Mr. Justin -McCarthy (the elder), Colonel Colthurst, Richard Power, -Colonel Nolan, and several others; but—in spite of his -acceptance of the invitation—Mr. Parnell did not come. -Someone alluded to the "vacant chair," and laughingly -defied me to fill it; the rest of our guests took up the -tale and vied with each other in tales of the inaccessibility -of Parnell, of how he ignored even the invitations of the -most important political hostesses in London, and of his -dislike of all social intercourse—though he had mixed -freely in society in America and Paris before he became -a politician for the sake of the Irish poor. I then became -determined that I would get Parnell to come, and said, -amid laughter and applause: "The uncrowned King of -Ireland shall sit in that chair at the next dinner I -give!" -</p> - -<p> -One bright sunny day when the House was sitting I -drove, accompanied by my sister, Mrs. Steele (who had -a house in Buckingham Gate), to the House of Commons -and sent in a card asking Mr. Parnell to come out and -speak to us in Palace Yard. -</p> - -<p> -He came out, a tall, gaunt figure, thin and deadly pale. -He looked straight at me smiling, and his curiously -burning eyes looked into mine with a wondering intentness -that threw into my brain the sudden thought: "This man -is wonderful—and different." -</p> - -<p> -I asked him why he had not answered my last invitation -to dinner, and if nothing would induce him to come. -He answered that he had not opened his letters for days, -but if I would let him, he would come to dinner directly -he returned from Paris, where he had to go for his sister's -wedding. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P59"></a>59}</span> -</p> - -<p> -In leaning forward in the cab to say good-bye a rose -I was wearing in my bodice fell out on to my skirt. He -picked it up and, touching it lightly with his lips, placed -it in his button-hole. -</p> - -<p> -This rose I found long years afterwards done up in an -envelope, with my name and the date, among his most -private papers, and when he died I laid it upon his -heart. -</p> - -<p> -This is the first letter I had from Mr. Parnell:— -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - LONDON,<br /> - <i>July</i> 17, 1880.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—We have all been in such a "disturbed" -condition lately that I have been quite unable to -wander further from here than a radius of about one hundred -<i>paces allons</i>. And this notwithstanding the powerful attractions -which have been tending to seduce me from my duty towards -my country in the direction of Thomas's Hotel. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am going over to Paris on Monday evening or Tuesday -morning to attend my sister's wedding, and on my return will -write you again and ask for an opportunity of seeing -you.—Yours very truly, CHAS. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -On his return from Paris Mr. Parnell wrote to me, -and again we asked him to dinner, letting him name his -own date. We thought he would like a quiet dinner, and -invited only my sister, Mrs. Steele, my nephew, Sir -Matthew Wood, Mr. Justin McCarthy, and a couple of -others whose names I forget. On receiving his reply -accepting the invitation for the following Friday, we -engaged a box at the Gaiety Theatre—where Marion Hood -was acting (for whom I had a great admiration)—as we -thought it would be a relief to the "Leader" to get away -from politics for once. -</p> - -<p> -On the day of the dinner I got this note:— -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P60"></a>60}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - HOUSE OF COMMONS,<br /> - <i>Friday.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—I dined with the Blakes on Wednesday, -and by the time dinner was over it was too late to go -to the meeting—the Post Office is all right here. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I cannot imagine who originated the paragraph. I have -certainly made no arrangements up to the present to go either -to Ireland or America or announced any intention to -anybody.—Yours, CHAS. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -He arrived late, but apologetic, and was looking painfully -ill and white, the only life-light in his face being -given by the fathomless eyes of rich brown, varying to -the brilliance of flame. The depth of expression and -sudden fire of his eyes held me to the day of his death. -</p> - -<p> -We had a pleasant dinner, talking of small nothings, -and, avoiding the controversial subject of politics, -Mr. Parnell directed most of his conversation to my sister -during dinner. She could talk brilliantly, and her quick, -light handling of each subject as it came up kept him -interested and amused. I was really anxious that he -should have an agreeable evening, and my relief was great -when he said that he was glad to go to the theatre with -us, as the change of thought it gave was a good rest for -him. -</p> - -<p> -On arrival at the theatre he and I seemed to fall naturally -into our places in the dark corner of the box facing -the stage and screened from the sight of the audience, -while my sister and the others sat in front. -</p> - -<p> -After we had settled in our seats Mr. Parnell began -to talk to me. I had a feeling of complete sympathy and -companionship with him, as though I had always known -this strange, unusual man with the thin face and pinched -nostrils, who sat by my side staring with that curious -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P61"></a>61}</span> -intent gaze at the stage, and telling me in a low monotone -of his American tour and of his broken health. -</p> - -<p> -Then, turning more to me, he paused; and, as the -light from the stage caught his eyes, they seemed like -sudden flames. I leaned a little towards him, still with -that odd feeling of his having always been there by my -side; and his eyes smiled into mine as he broke off his -theme and began to tell me of how he had met once more -in America a lady to whom he had been practically -engaged some few years before. -</p> - -<p> -Her father would not dower her to go to Ireland, and -Parnell would not think of giving up the Irish cause and -settling in America. The engagement therefore hung -fire; but on this last visit to America he had sought her -out and found himself cold and disillusioned. -</p> - -<p> -She was a very pretty girl, he said, with golden hair, -small features and blue eyes. One evening, on this last -visit, he went to a ball with her, and, as she was going -up the stairs, she pressed into his hand a paper on which -was written the following verse: -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - "Unless you can muse in a crowd all day<br /> - On the absent face that fixed you,<br /> - Unless you can dream that his faith is fast<br /> - Through behoving and unbehoving,<br /> - Unless you can die when the dream is past,<br /> - Oh, never call it loving."<br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -He asked me who had written the lines, and I answered -that it sounded like one of the Brownings (it is -E. B. Browning's), and he said simply: "Well, I could not do -all that, so I went home." -</p> - -<p> -I suggested that perhaps the lady had suffered in his -desertion, but he said that he had seen her, that same -evening, suddenly much attracted by a young advocate -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P62"></a>62}</span> -named A——, who had just entered the room, and -decided in his own mind that his vacillation had -lost him the young lady. The strenuous work he had -then put his whole heart into had driven out all traces -of regret. -</p> - -<p> -After this dinner-party I met him frequently in the -Ladies' Gallery of the House. I did not tell him when I -was going; but, whenever I went, he came up for a few -minutes; and, if the Wednesday sittings were not very -important or required his presence, he would ask me to -drive with him. We drove many miles this way in a -hansom cab out into the country, to the river at Mortlake, -or elsewhere. We chiefly discussed Willie's chances of -being returned again for Clare, in case another election -was sprung upon us. Both Willie and I were very anxious -to secure Mr. Parnell's promise about this, as The -O'Gorman Mahon was old, and we were desirous of -making Willie's seat in Parliament secure. -</p> - -<p> -While he sat by my side in the meadows by the river -he promised he would do his best to keep Willie in -Parliament, and to secure County Clare for him should the -occasion arise. Thus we would sit there through the -summer afternoon, watching the gay traffic on the river, -in talk, or in the silence of tried friendship, till the -growing shadows warned us that it was time to drive back to -London. -</p> - -<p> -Soon after my first meeting with Mr. Parnell, my sister, -Mrs. Steele, invited Mr. Parnell, Mr. McCarthy and -myself to luncheon. We had a very pleasant little party -at her house. During lunch Mr. Parnell told us he was -going to his place in Ireland for some shooting, and -Mr. McCarthy and my sister chaffed him for leaving us for -the lesser game of partridge shooting, but he observed -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P63"></a>63}</span> -gravely, "I have the partridges there, and here I cannot -always have your society." -</p> - -<p> -I had to leave early, as I was anxious to return to see -my aunt; and Mr. Parnell said he would accompany me -to the station. When we got to Charing Cross the train -had already gone; and Mr. Parnell picked out a good -horse from the cab rank, saying it would be much -pleasanter to drive down on such a beautiful afternoon. -We did so, but I would not let him stay, as I was not -sure what state of confusion the house might be in, left -in my absence in the possession of the children and -governess. I told him I had to hurry over the park to my -aunt, as really was the case, and he reluctantly returned -to London. -</p> - -<p> -On the next Wednesday evening Mr. Parnell was to -dine with me at Thomas's Hotel. He met me at Cannon -Street Station as the train came in, and asked me to have -some tea with him at the hotel there and go on to Thomas's -together. We went to the Cannon Street Hotel dining-rooms, -but on looking in he saw some of the Irish members -there and said it would be more comfortable for us in his -private sitting-room. I was under the impression that he -lived at Keppel Street, but he told me he had just taken -rooms in the Cannon Street Hotel. We had tea in his -sitting-room, and he talked politics to me freely till I was -interested and at ease, and then lapsed into one of those -long silences of his that I was already beginning to know -were dangerous in the complete sympathy they evoked -between us. -</p> - -<p> -Presently I said, "Come! we shall be late!"; and he -rose without a word and followed me downstairs. There -were some members of his Party still standing about in -the hall, but, as he always did afterwards when I was -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P64"></a>64}</span> -with him, he ignored them absolutely and handed me into -a waiting cab. -</p> - -<p> -He and I dined at Thomas's Hotel that evening, and -after dinner I returned home to Eltham. Mr. Parnell left -for Ireland by the morning mail. -</p> - -<p> -From Dublin he wrote to me:— -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>September</i> 9, 1880.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—Just a line to say that I have -arrived here, and go on to Avondale, Rathdrum, this evening, -where I hope to hear from you before very long. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I may tell you also in confidence that I don't feel quite so -content at the prospect of ten days' absence from London -amongst the hills and valleys of Wicklow as I should have -done some three months since. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The cause is mysterious, but perhaps you will help me to -find it, or her, on my return.—Yours always, -CHAS. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Then from his home:— -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - AVONDALE, RATHDRUM,<br /> - <i>September</i> 11, 1880.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—I take the opportunity which a -few hours in Dublin gives me of letting you know that I am -still in the land of the living, notwithstanding the real difficulty -of either living or being, which every moment becomes more -evident, in the absence of a certain kind and fair face. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Probably you will not hear from me again for a few days, as -I am going into the mountains for some shooting, removed -from post offices and such like consolations for broken-hearted -politicians, but if, as I hope, a letter from you should reach me -even there, I shall try and send you an answer.—Yours very -sincerely, CHAS. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap09"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P65"></a>65}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER IX -<br /> -AT ELTHAM -</h3> - -<p class="poem"> - "<i>But then—I supposed you to be but a fellow guest?</i>"<br /> - "<i>Ah, no" he answered, he in that cold, unshaken voice, "I<br /> - have but come home.</i>"—(THE BAGMAN) HONORA SHEE.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Whenever I went to town, or elsewhere, I always -returned at night to see that my children were all right and -to be ready to go to my aunt as usual every morning. -One day, on my return from a drive with my aunt, I -found that my old nurse Lucy, who still lived with me, -was very ill, having had a stroke of paralysis while I was -away. She lingered only a couple of days before she died -and left a great void in my heart. My children missed -their admiring old confidante sadly. She had always been -devoted to me as the youngest of her "own babies," as -she called my mother's children, and had shared in all -my fortunes and misfortunes since I returned from Spain. -She was always very proud, and so fearful of becoming -a burden to anyone, that she rented a room in her sister's -house so that she should feel independent. So often, -when "times were bad" with us, she would press some -of her savings into my hand and say that "The Captain -must want a little change, Dearie, going about as he -does!" -</p> - -<p> -In her earlier life she had had her romance, and had -spent some years in saving up to marry her "sweetheart," -as she called him; but shortly before the wedding her -father's business failed, and she immediately gave him -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P66"></a>66}</span> -all her little nest-egg, with the result that her lover -refused to marry her. So then, at the great age of ninety, -after her blameless life had been passed since the age of -sixteen in unselfish devotion to us all, we laid her to rest -by the side of my father and mother at Cressing, Willie -taking her down to Essex and attending the funeral. -</p> - -<p> -As she lay dying I got this note from Mr. Parnell:— -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>September</i> 22, 1880.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—I cannot keep myself away from -you any longer, so shall leave to-night for London. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Please wire me to 16, Keppel Street, Russell Square, if I -may hope to see you to-morrow and where, after 4 p.m.—Yours -always, C. S. P. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Owing to the piteous clinging to my fingers of my -old Lucy I was unable to go to London even for an hour -to meet Mr. Parnell, so I telegraphed to that effect, and -received the following letter:— -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - EUSTON STATION,<br /> - <i>Friday evening, September</i> 24, 1880.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—On arriving at Keppel Street -yesterday I found that your wire had just arrived, and that -the boy refused to leave it as I was not stopping there. Going -at once to the district postal office I asked for and received -the wire, and to-day went to London Bridge Station at 12.15. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The train from Eltham had just left, so I came on to Charing -Cross and sent a note by messenger to you at Thomas's, with -directions to bring it back if you were not there, which turned -out to be the case. I am very much troubled at not having -seen you, especially as I must return to Ireland to-night—I -came on purpose for you, and had no other business. I think it -possible, on reflection, that the telegraph people may have wired -you that they were unable to deliver your message, and, if so, -must reproach myself for not having written you last -night.—Your very disappointed C. S. P. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P67"></a>67}</span> -</p> - -<p> -From Dublin he wrote me: -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>Saturday morning, September</i> 25, 1880.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—In my hurried note to you last -night I had not time to sympathize with you in this troublesome -time you have been going through recently; how I wish it -might have been possible for me to have seen you even for a -few minutes to tell you how very much I feel any trouble which -comes to you. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am just starting for New Ross, where there is a meeting -to-morrow. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -If you can spare time to write me to Avondale, the letters -will reach me in due course.—Yours always, C. S. P. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>September</i> 29, 1880.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—I have received your wire, but not -the letter which you say you were writing me to Dublin for -Monday. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I suppose then you may have sent it to Rathdrum instead, -whither I am going this evening, and that I may soon have the -happiness of reading a few words written by you. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am due at Cork on Sunday, after which I propose to visit -London again, and renew my attempt to gain a glimpse of -you. Shall probably arrive there on Tuesday if I hear from -you in the meanwhile that you will see me. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -On Friday evening I shall be at Morrison's on my way -to Kilkenny for Saturday, and shall be intensely delighted to -have a wire from you to meet me there.—Yours always, -CHAS. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Meanwhile Willie was in communication with Mr. Gladstone, -Mr. Tintern (one of the Liberal agents) and -others, in reference to a meeting held by him. -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Tintern wrote from Tenby commenting with satisfaction -on the report of Willie's successful meeting, on -Willie's kind mention of the Government, and on the -good the meeting must do by promoting orderly progress -and better feeling between one class and another. But he -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P68"></a>68}</span> -expressed surprise that Willie should think the -Government had not treated him and West Clare well. He at -least...! Mr. Gladstone wrote from Downing Street -on the 21st September about the meeting in much the same -terms. He expressed himself as gratified to think that the -important local proceedings with regard to the land -question showed the union of people and pastors against the -extremists. -</p> - -<p> -Life at Eltham went on in the same routine. My aunt -was well, and would sit for long hours at the south door -of her house—looking away up "King John's Chase"—the -ruins of King John's Palace were at Eltham, and my -aunt's park and grounds were part of the ancient Royal -demesne. In these summer evenings she loved to sit at -the top of the broad flight of shallow steps with me, and -tell my little girls stories of her life of long ago. -</p> - -<p> -Sometimes her favourite Dr. Bader would bring his -zither down from London and play to us; or my aunt and -I would sit in the great tapestry room with all of the -seven windows open, listening to the song of the æolian -harp as the soft breeze touched its strings and died away -in harmony through the evening stillness. -</p> - -<p> -Sometimes, too, she would sing in her soft, gentle -old voice the songs of her youth, to the accompaniment -of her guitar. "We met, 'twas in a crowd," was a -favourite old song of hers, half forgotten since she used to -sing it to the music of her spinet seventy years before, -but Dr. Bader found the words in an old book, and the -dear old lady crooned it sentimentally to me as we sat -waiting for the hooting of the owls which signalled to -her maid the time for shutting her lady's windows. -</p> - -<p> -And I was conscious of sudden gusts of unrest and -revolt against these leisured, peaceful days where the -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P69"></a>69}</span> -chiming of the great clock in the hall was the only -indication of the flight of time, and the outside world of -another age called to me with the manifold interests into -which I had been so suddenly plunged with the power to -help in the making and marring of a destiny. -</p> - -<p> -In the autumn of 1880 Mr. Parnell came to stay with -us at Eltham, only going to Dublin as occasion required. -Willie had invited him to come, and I got in some flowers -in pots and palms to make my drawing-room look pretty -for him. -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Parnell, who was in very bad health at that time, -a few days later complained of sore throat, and looked, -as I thought, mournfully at my indoor garden, which I -industriously watered every day. It then dawned upon -me that he was accusing this of giving him sore throat, -and I taxed him with it. He evidently feared to vex me, -but admitted that he did think it was so, and "wouldn't -it do if they were not watered so often?" He was -childishly touched when I at once had them all removed, -and he sank happily on to the sofa, saying that "plants -were such damp things!" -</p> - -<p> -His throat became no better, and he looked so terribly -ill when—as he often did now—he fell asleep from sheer -weakness on the sofa before the fire, that I became very -uneasy about him. Once, on awaking from one of these -sleeps of exhaustion, he told me abruptly that he believed -it was the green in the carpet that gave him sore throat. -There and then we cut a bit out, and sent it to London -to be analysed, but without result. It was quite a harmless -carpet. -</p> - -<p> -During this time I nursed him assiduously, making -him take nourishment at regular intervals, seeing that -these day-sleeps of his were not disturbed, and forcing -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P70"></a>70}</span> -him to take fresh air in long drives through the country -around us. At length I had the satisfaction of seeing -his strength gradually return sufficiently to enable him to -take the exercise that finished the process of this -building-up, and he became stronger than he had been for some -years. I do not think anyone but we who saw him then -at Eltham, without the mask of reserve he always -presented to the outside world, had any idea of how near -death's door his exertions on behalf of the famine-stricken -peasants of Ireland had brought him. -</p> - -<p> -Once in that autumn, after he came to us, I took him -for a long drive in an open carriage through the -hop-growing district of Kent. I had not thought of the fact -that hundreds of the poorest of the Irish came over for the -hop-picking, and might recognize him. -</p> - -<p> -After driving over Chislehurst Common and round by -the lovely Grays, we came right into a crowd of the Irish -"hoppers"—men, women, and children. In a moment -there was a wild surge towards the carriage, with cries of -"The Chief! The Chief!" and "Parnell! Parnell! -Parnell!" The coachman jerked the horses on to their -haunches for fear of knocking down the enthusiastic men -and women who were crowding up—trying to kiss Parnell's -hand, and calling for "a few words." -</p> - -<p> -He lifted his cap with that grave, aloof smile of his, -and said no, he was not well enough to make the smallest -of speeches, but he was glad to see them, and would talk -to them when they went home to Ireland. Then, bidding -them to "mind the little ones," who were scrambling about -the horses' legs, to the manifest anxiety of the coachman, -he waved them away, and we drove off amid fervent "God -keep your honours!" and cheers. -</p> - -<p> -These Irish hop-pickers were so inured to privation -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P71"></a>71}</span> -in their own country that they were very popular among -the Kentish hop-farmers, as they did not grumble so much -as did the English pickers at the scandalously inefficient -accommodation provided for them. -</p> - -<p> -Often before Parnell became really strong I used to -watch for hours beside him as he slept before the drawing-room -fire, till I had to rouse him in time to go to the House. -Once, when he was moving restlessly, I heard him murmur -in his sleep, as I pulled the light rug better over him: -"Steer carefully out of the harbour—there are breakers -ahead." -</p> - -<p> -He now had all the parcels and letters he received sent -on to me, so that I might open them and give him only -those it was necessary for him to deal with. There were -hundreds of letters to go through every week, though, as -he calmly explained, "If you get tired with them, leave -them and they'll answer themselves." -</p> - -<p> -Often among the parcels there were comestibles, and -among these every week came a box of eggs without the -name and address of the sender. I was glad to see these -eggs as the winter came on and with it the usual reluctance -of our hens to provide us with sufficient eggs, but -Mr. Parnell would not allow me to use them, for he said: -"They might be eggs, but then again they might not," -and I had to send them a good distance down the garden -and have them broken to make sure of their genuineness, -and then he would worry lest our dogs should find them -and poison themselves. -</p> - -<p> -On his visits to Ireland he wrote to me continually:— -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>Tuesday.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—I have just a moment on my return -from Ennis to catch the late post and reply to your wire. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P72"></a>72}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I received your two letters quite safely, and you may write -me even nicer ones with perfect confidence. I blame myself -very much for not having written you on my way through -Dublin on Saturday, as you were evidently anxious about -your notes, but I hope you will forgive me as there were only -a few minutes to spare. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I trust to see you in London on Tuesday next. Is it true -that Captain O'Shea is in Paris, and, if so, when do you expect -his return? ... I have had no shooting, weather too wet, -but shall try to-morrow, when you may expect some heather. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>Friday evening, October</i> 2, 1880.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Have just received your wire; somehow or other something -from you seems a necessary part of my daily existence, -and if I have to go a day or two without even a telegram it -seems dreadful. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I want to know how you intend to excuse yourself for telling -me not to come on purpose if I must return. (To Ireland.) Of -course, I am going on purpose to see you; and it is also -unhappily true that I cannot remain long. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Shall cross Monday evening, and shall call at Morrison's for -a message. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Please write or wire me in London to 16 Keppel Street, -Russell Square, where I shall call on Tuesday. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>Monday night, October</i> 4, 1880.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Just arrived.... I write you on the only bit of paper -to be found at this late hour (a scrap taken from one of your -own notes), to say that I hope to reach London to-morrow -(Tuesday) evening and to see you on Wednesday when and -where you wish. Please write or wire me to Keppel Street. -This envelope will present the appearance of having been -tampered with, but it has not. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>Tuesday evening, October</i> 5, 1880.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -A frightful gale has been blowing all day in Channel and -still continues. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P73"></a>73}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Under these circumstances shall postpone crossing till -to-morrow evening. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Can meet you in London at 9 to-morrow evening anywhere -you say. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>Monday evening, October</i> 17, 1880.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN LOVE,—You cannot imagine how much you have -occupied my thoughts all day and how very greatly the -prospect of seeing you again very soon comforts me. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -On Monday evening I think it will be necessary for me to -go to Avondale; afterwards I trust, if things are propitious on -your side, to return to London on Tuesday or Wednesday.—Yours -always, C. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - AVONDALE, RATHDRUM,<br /> - <i>October</i> 22, 1880.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I was very much pleased to receive your wire this morning, -forwarded from Dublin, that you had received my note of last -Saturday. I was beginning to fear that it had gone wrong. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -After I had finished at Roscommon and received your -message in Dublin on Monday I decided upon coming here -where I have been unexpectedly detained. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -If all goes well you will see me in London on Monday -evening next.... I send you enclosed one or two poor sprigs -of heather, which I plucked for you three weeks ago, also my -best love, and hope you will believe that I always think of -you as the one dear object whose presence has ever been a -great happiness to me. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Meanwhile the Government had been temporizing with -the land question. They had brought in a very feeble -Compensation for Disturbances Bill and they had allowed -it to be further weakened by amendments. This Bill was -rejected by the House of Lords, with the result that the -number of evictions in Ireland grew hourly greater and -the agitation of the Land League against them; outrages, -too, were of common occurrence and increased in intensity. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P74"></a>74}</span> -</p> - -<p> -Speaking at Ennis on September 19th Mr. Parnell -enunciated the principle which has since gone by the -name of "The Boycott." -</p> - -<p> -"What are you to do," he asked, "to a tenant who -bids for a farm from which another tenant has been -evicted?" -</p> - -<p> -Several voices cried: "Shoot him!" -</p> - -<p> -"I think," went on Mr. Parnell, "I heard somebody -say 'Shoot him!' I wish to point out to you a very much -better way—a more Christian and charitable way, which -will give the lost man an opportunity of repenting. When -a man takes a farm from which another has been unjustly -evicted, you must shun him on the roadside when you -meet him; you must shun him in the shop; you must shun -him on the fair-green and in the market-place, and even -in the place of worship, by leaving him alone; by putting -him into a sort of moral Coventry; by isolating him from -the rest of the country, as if he were a leper of old—you -must show him your detestation of the crime he has -committed." -</p> - -<p> -Forster, the Irish Secretary, who had some amount of -sympathy for the tenants, was, however, a Quaker, and -the outrages horrified him more than the evictions. Nor, -strangely, was he able to connect the one with the other. -Undoubtedly the evictions almost ceased, but, said he, -they have ceased because of the outrages, and the -outrages were the work of the Land League; and he pressed -for the arrest of its leaders. This was unwise, considering -that it was Parnell who had advocated the abandonment -of violence for the moral suasion of the boycott. -</p> - -<p> -On November 3rd Forster decided to prosecute the -leaders of the Land League, and among them Parnell, -Dillon, Biggar, Sexton and T. D. Sullivan. Two days -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P75"></a>75}</span> -later, in a speech at Dublin, Parnell expressed his regret -that Forster was degenerating from a statesman to a tool -of the landlords. Biggar when he heard the news -exclaimed, "Damned lawyers, sir, damned lawyers! -Wasting the public money! Wasting the public money! -Whigs damned rogues! Forster damned fool!" -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - DUBLIN,[<a id="chap09fn1atext"></a><a href="#chap09fn1">1</a>]<br /> - <i>November</i> 4, 1880.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—I take advantage of almost the -first moment I have had to myself since leaving you to write a -few hasty lines. And first I must again thank you for all your -kindness, which made my stay at Eltham so happy and pleasant. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The thunderbolt, as you will have seen, has at last fallen, -and we are in the midst of loyal preparations of a most appalling -character. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I do not suppose I shall have an opportunity of being in -London again before next Thursday, but trust to be more -fortunate in seeing Captain O'Shea then than the last -time.—Yours very truly, CHAS. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - DUBLIN,[<a id="chap09fn1btext"></a><a href="#chap09fn1">1</a>]<br /> - <i>Saturday.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—I hope to arrive in London on -Tuesday morning, and trust to have the pleasure of seeing -you before I leave. Do you think you shall be in town on -Tuesday? -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Kindly address 16, Keppel Street.—Yours very truly, -CHAS. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -On November 5th that year the village was great on -the subject of "gunpowder, treason, and plot," and during -dinner that evening there was such a noise and shouting -outside my house that I asked the maid who was waiting -what all the excitement was about. -</p> - -<p> -She answered breathlessly that "the procession, ma'am, -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P76"></a>76}</span> -have got Miss Anna Parnell in a effigy 'longside of the -Pope, and was waiting outside for us to see before they -burnt 'em in the village." -</p> - -<p> -This electrifying intelligence was received with grave -indifference by Mr. Parnell till the disappointed maid left -the room; then with a sudden bubble of laughter—"Poor -Anna! Her pride in being burnt, as a menace to England, -would be so drowned in horror at her company that -it would put the fire out!" -</p> - -<p> -The cheering and hooting went on for some time outside -the house, but, finding we were not to be drawn, -the crowd at last escorted the effigies down to the village -and burnt them, though with less amusement than they -had anticipated. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - DUBLIN,[<a id="chap09fn2text"></a><a href="#chap09fn2">2</a>]<br /> - <i>November</i> 6, 1880.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—You can have very little idea how -dreadfully disappointed I felt on arriving here this evening -not to find a letter from either you or Captain O'Shea. I send -this in hope that it may induce you to write in reply to my -last letter and telegram, which would appear not to have -reached you.—Yours very sincerely, CHAS. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - AVONDALE,<br /> - <i>Monday.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—I enclose keys, which I took away -by mistake. Will you kindly hand enclosed letter to the proper -person[<a id="chap09fn3text"></a><a href="#chap09fn3">3</a>] and oblige,—Yours very truly, -CHAS. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>Wednesday night, November</i> 11, 1880.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAREST LOVE,—I have made all arrangements to be -in London on Saturday morning, and shall call at Keppel -Street for a letter from you. It is quite impossible for me to -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P77"></a>77}</span> -tell you just how very much you have changed my life, what -a small interest I take in what is going on about me, and how -I detest everything which has happened during the last few -days to keep me away from you—I think of you always, and -you must never believe there is to be any "fading." By the -way, you must not send me any more artificial letters. I -want as much of your own self as you can transfer into written -words, or else none at all.—Your always, C. S. P. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -A telegram goes to you, and one to W.,[<a id="chap09fn4text"></a><a href="#chap09fn4">4</a>] to-morrow, which -are by no means strictly accurate. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>December</i> 2, 1880.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—I succeeded in getting the train at -Euston with just ten minutes to spare, and, arriving here this -morning, found that my presence to-day was indispensable. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I need not tell you how much I regretted leaving Eltham -so suddenly; but we cannot always do as we wish in this world. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -My stay with you has been so pleasant and charming that -I was almost beginning to forget my other duties; but Ireland -seems to have gotten on very well without me in the interval. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Trusting to see you again next week on my way to -Paris.—Yours very sincerely, CHAS. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I have been exceedingly anxious all day at not receiving -your promised telegram to hear how you got home. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap09fn1"></a> -[<a href="#chap09fn1atext">1</a>] These letters were really written from London. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap09fn2"></a> -[<a href="#chap09fn2text">2</a>] Sent to Dublin to be posted. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap09fn3"></a> -[<a href="#chap09fn3text">3</a>] Myself. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap09fn4"></a> -[<a href="#chap09fn4text">4</a>] Captain O'Shea. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap10"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P78"></a>78}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER X -<br /> -THE LAND LEAGUE TRIALS -</h3> - -<p class="intro"> -"<i>The surest way to prevent seditions is to take away the matter -of them.</i>"—LORD BACON. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Through the whole of 1880 Parnell was determinedly -organizing the Land League throughout Ireland, and -during the winter, doubtless encouraged by the enormous -distress that prevailed over the whole country, the force -and power of the League grew with a rapidity that surpassed -even the expectations of Parnell and his party. All -through the vacation Parnell and his followers held meetings -in carefully calculated areas of Ireland, and in his -speeches Parnell explained the meaning and wide-reaching -scope of the League's agitation, i.e. that tenant farmers -were to trust in their own combination alone and "should -give no faith to the promises of the English Ministers." -</p> - -<p> -During the early session that year Parnell had introduced -a Bill called "Suspension of Ejectments Bill," and -this first pressed upon the House the necessity of -dealing with the Irish landlord troubles. Parnell's party -urged this Bill with so united a front that Mr. Gladstone -was obliged to consider the main substance of it, and he -agreed to insert a clause in the "Relief of Distress Bill" -which would deal with impending evictions of Irish -tenants. But the Speaker of the House held that the -interpolation of such a clause would not be "in order," and -the Chief Secretary for Ireland (Mr. Forster) then, by -Mr. Gladstone's direction, brought in his "Disturbances Bill," -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P79"></a>79}</span> -which was to all practical purposes Parnell's Bill under -another name. -</p> - -<p> -In the course of the debate on this Bill Mr. Gladstone -himself said that "in the circumstances of distress prevalent -in Ireland (at that time) a sentence of eviction is the -equivalent of a sentence of death." These absolutely true words -of Gladstone's were used by Parnell very many times -during his Land League tours both in speeches and privately, -and many times he added—as so often he did to me at -home—bitter comment upon the apathy of the English -Government, upon the curious insensibility of the English -law-makers, who knew these things to be true in Ireland -and yet were content to go on in their policy of drift, -unless forced into action by those who saw the appalling -reality of the distress among the Irish poor that was so -comfortably deplored in London. -</p> - -<p> -In this connexion Parnell used to say that the fundamental -failure in the English government of Ireland was: -First, the complete inability of the Ministers in power to -realize anything that was not before their eyes; and, -secondly, their cast-iron conviction that Ireland was the one -country of the world that was to be understood and -governed by those to whom she was little but a name. -</p> - -<p> -In all this time of trouble and eviction Parnell went -backwards and forwards between England (Eltham) and -Ireland as occasion required, and so successful were his -efforts in spreading the agitation and linking up the -League that the Government became uneasy as to the -outcome of this new menace to landlordism. Finally Parnell -and fourteen of his followers were put on trial, charged -with "conspiracy to impoverish landlords." Parnell, of -course, went over to Ireland for these "State trials," but -he considered the whole thing such a farce, in that it was -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P80"></a>80}</span> -an impotent effort of the Government to intimidate him, -that he could not take it seriously in any way. No jury -(in Ireland) would agree to convict him he was well aware, -and he attended the trials chiefly, he said, for the "look -of the thing," and to give the support of his presence to -his colleagues. Incidentally he told me on one occasion -that he had considerably hurried the jury when he was -very anxious to catch a train in time for the night mail to -England (Eltham) by "willing" them to agree (to disagree) -without the long discussion of local politics with -which all self-respecting Irish jurors beguile the weary -ways of law. He observed that here, in the question of -how far an unconscious agent can be "willed" into a -desired action, he had discovered another and most -entrancing study for us when we had more time to go into it -thoroughly. -</p> - -<p> -Talking of the Land League's procedure against the -interests of the Irish landlords, I may, I think, here -pertinently remind those who have, among so many other -accusations, brought against Parnell the charge of -self-seeking in regard to money matters, that Parnell himself -was an Irish landlord and of very considerable estates, -and that this land campaign (really, of course, directed -against eviction), meant, to all practical purposes, the loss -of his rents, and that not only for a time, as in other cases, -but, with the very generous interpretation put upon his -wishes by the "Chief's" tenants, for all time—or rather -for all his lifetime. Captain O'Shea also had certain -estates in Ireland, and naturally, not being in sympathy -with Parnell's policy, but being at heart a thorough Whig -and a strong advocate for Mr. Shaw, the ex-leader of the -Irish party, he was furious at the League's anti-landlord -work, and refused to have any hand in it. He considered -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P81"></a>81}</span> -that hapless as was the plight of those who had to pay in -rent the money they did not possess, that of the landlord -whose rent was his all was but little to be preferred. -</p> - -<p> -During this period the stories of the evictions brought -home to me by Parnell himself made my heart sick, and -often he sat far into the night at Eltham speaking in that -low, broken monotone, that with him always betokened -intense feeling strongly held in check, of the terrible -cruelty of some of the things done in the name of justice -in unhappy Ireland. How old people, and sometimes -those sick beyond recovery, women with the children they -had borne but a few hours before, little children naked as -they had come into the world, all thrust out from the little -squalid cabins which were all they had for home, thrust -out on the roadside to perish, or to live as they could. I -in my English ignorance used to say: "Why did they -not go into the workhouse or to neighbours?" and Parnell -would look wonderingly at me as he told me that for the -most part such places were few and far between in Ireland, -and "neighbours," good as they were to each other, were -in the same trouble. There were instances where a wife -would beg, and with none effect, that the bailiffs and police -should wait but the little half-hour that her dying husband -drew his last breath; and where a husband carried his -wife from her bed to the "shelter" of the rainswept moor -that their child might be born out of the sight of the -soldiers deputed to guard the officials who had been sent -to pull their home about their ears. And, remembering -these and so many other tales of some of the 50,000 -evictions that he afterwards calculated had taken place in -Ireland, I have never wondered at the implacable hatred -of England that can never really die out of the Irish -heart. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P82"></a>82}</span> -</p> - -<p> -On December 4th, 1880, he wrote to me from Dublin: -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I was exceedingly pleased to receive your letters; to say -the truth, I have been quite homesick since leaving Eltham, -and news from you seems like news from home. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The Court refused our application to-day for a postponement -of the trial (of the Land League), but this we expected, -and it does not much signify, as it turns out that we need not -necessarily attend the trial unless absolutely directed to do so -by the Court. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -You will also be pleased to hear that the special jury panel, -of which we obtained a copy last night, is of such a character -as in the opinion of competent judges to give us every chance -of a disagreement by the jury in their verdict, but we cannot, -of course, form an absolute conclusion until the jury has been -sworn, when we shall be able to tell pretty certainly one way -or the other. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Since writing Captain O'Shea it does not look as if I could -get further away from Ireland than London, as Paris is -inconvenient from its distance. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I have no letter from him yet in reply to mine. -</p> - -<p><br /> -</p> - -<p> -And again on the 9th:— -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I returned from Waterford last night, and shall probably -get through all necessary work here by Saturday evening so -as to enable me to start for London on Sunday morning. I -do not know how long I can remain in London, but shall run -down and see you on Monday, and perhaps my plans will be -more fixed by that time. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I have decided not to attend any more meetings until after -the opening of Parliament, as everything now can go on -without me. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Kindly inform Captain O'Shea that the meeting of Irish -members will be in Dublin on the 4th January. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -On December 12th of that year Mr. Parnell wrote from -Avondale to say that the jury panel was to be struck on -the following Monday for the prosecution of the Land -League. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P83"></a>83}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -... And it will be necessary for me to see it before -giving final directions. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I have consequently postponed my departure till Monday -evening. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I have come here to arrange my papers and find a number -which I should not like to destroy, and which I should not -like the Government to get hold of in the event of their -searching my house in the troublous times which appear before us. -May I leave them at Eltham? -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -And the next day:— -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I have just received a note from Healy, who is to be tried -at Cork on Thursday, saying that his counsel thinks it of the -utmost importance I should be present. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -This is very hard lines on me, as I had looked forward to -a little rest in London before my own trial commences; but -I do not see how it can be helped, as Healy's is the first of -the State trials, and it is of the utmost importance to secure an -acquittal and not merely a disagreement. I shall leave Cork -on Thursday night and arrive in London Friday evening, -and shall call to see you at Eltham Saturday. Your letters, -one directed here and the others to Morrison's, reached me -in due course, and I hope to hear from you again very soon. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Parnell, now, always made my house his headquarters -in England, and on his return from Ireland after the trials -came down at once as soon as he had ascertained that I -was alone. -</p> - -<p> -There were times when he wished to keep quiet and -let no one know where he was; and, as it became known -to the Government that Mr. Parnell frequented my house -a good deal, it was somewhat difficult to avoid the -detectives who were employed to watch his comings and goings. -</p> - -<p> -On one occasion in 1880 he was informed privately -that his arrest for "sedition" was being urged upon the -Government, and that it would be well to go abroad for -a short time. I think his enigmatic reply, "I will -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P84"></a>84}</span> -disappear for a few weeks," must have puzzled his informant. -He came down to me at night, and when I answered his -signal at my sitting-room window, and let him in, he told -me with a deprecating smile that I must hide him for a -few weeks. As I sat watching him eat the supper I always -had ready for him at 3 a.m. I felt rather hopeless, as he -was a big man, and I did not see how he could be hidden -from the servants. He said the latter must not know he -was there, as they would talk to the tradespeople, and -they to the Government men. He did not wish to be -arrested until later on, when it might be more useful than -not. -</p> - -<p> -Then he awaited suggestions, and at length we decided -that a little room opening out of my own must be utilized -for him, as I always kept it locked and never allowed a -servant into it—except very occasionally to "turn it -out." It was a little boudoir dressing-room, and had a sofa -in it. -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Parnell was then still feeling ill and run down, -and enjoyed his fortnight's absolute rest in this room. -None of the servants knew that he was there, and I took -all his food up at night, cooking little dainty dishes for -him at the open fire, much to his pleasure and amusement. -He spent the time very happily, resting, writing -"seditious" speeches for future use, and reading "Alice in -Wonderland." This book was a favourite of his, and I -gave it to him with the solemnity that befitted his grave -reading of it. I do not think he ever thought it in the -least amusing, but he would read it earnestly from cover -to cover, and, without a smile, remark that it was a -"curious book." -</p> - -<p> -In all this fortnight no one had the least idea that he -was in the house, and the only comment I ever heard upon -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P85"></a>85}</span> -my prisoner's diet was that "the mistress ate much more -when she had her meals served in her sitting-room." -</p> - -<p> -At the end of this fortnight he had arranged to go to -Paris on some Land League business, and wanted me to -go to see him off. He had brought certain political -correspondence from Avondale and London and placed it in -my charge, and this I kept in a box in this little private -room, where I hid them. But there were two papers that -he did not wish left even here, and, fearing arrest, could -not carry on him. For these he had a wide, hollow gold -bracelet made in Paris, and after inserting the papers he -screwed the bracelet safely on my arm; there it remained -for three years, and was then unscrewed by him and the -contents destroyed. -</p> - -<p> -The winter of 1880 was terribly cold, and as I let him -out of the house in the bitterly cold morning I wished -he did not consider it necessary to go to Paris by such -a roundabout route as he had chosen. -</p> - -<p> -However, we drove off to Lewisham that morning, -quite unobserved; from thence we went by train to New -Cross, and drove by cab to London Bridge. At Vauxhall -we started for Lowestoft; for Mr. Parnell had arranged to -go to Paris via Harwich. I was anxious about him, for -the cold was intense, and the deep snow over the large -dreary waste of salt marshes seemed reflected in his pallor. -Our train slowly passed through the dreary tract of -country, feet deep in its white covering, and we could see no -sign of life but an occasional seagull vainly seeking for -food, and sending a weird call through the lonely -silences. -</p> - -<p> -I wrapped Parnell up in his rugs as he tried to sleep. -I loathed the great white expanse that made him look so -ill, and I wished I had him at home again, where I could -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P86"></a>86}</span> -better fight the great fear that so often beset my heart: -that I could not long keep off the death that hovered near -him. A lady and gentleman in the carriage remarked to -me—thinking he slept—that my husband looked terribly -ill, could they do anything? And I noticed the little smile -of content that flitted over his face as he heard me briskly -reply that, No, he had been ill, but was so much better -and stronger that I was not at all uneasy. It was the cold -glare of the snow that made him look so delicate, but he -was really quite strong. He hated to be thought ill, and -did not see the doubt in their faces at my reply. -</p> - -<p> -Arrived at Lowestoft I insisted upon his resting and -having a good meal, after which he felt so cheered up that -he decided to return to London with me, and go to Paris -by the usual route the next day! -</p> - -<p> -We had a new Irish cook at this time, from County -Tipperary, and her joy exceeded all bounds when she -learnt that the Irish leader was really in the house and she -was to cook for him. I had to ask Mr. Parnell to see -her for a moment, as she was too excited to settle to her -cooking. Directly she got into the room Ellen fell down -on her knees and kissed his hands, much to his horror, -for, although used to such homage in Ireland, he disliked -it extremely, and he told me with some reproach that he -had expected to be quite free from that sort of thing in -my house. -</p> - -<p> -At Christmas he tipped my servants generously, and -indeed Ellen and the parlourmaid Mary vied with each -other in their attention to his comfort. The enthusiasm -of the cook was so great that she bought an enormous gold -locket, and, having inserted a portrait of Mr. Parnell in -it, wore it constantly. Mary, not to be outdone, thereupon -bought a locket of identically the same design, and -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P87"></a>87}</span> -wore it with an air of defiance, when bringing in tea, on -New Year's Day. -</p> - -<p> -This was against all regulations, and I said laughingly -to Mr. Parnell that he was introducing lawlessness into -my household. He answered, "Leave it to me," and -when Mary appeared again he said gently to her, "Mary, -that is a magnificent locket, and I see you are kind enough -to wear my portrait in it. Mrs. O'Shea tells me that Ellen -has bought one also, but I just want you and Ellen not to -wear them outside like that, for Mrs. O'Shea lets me come -down here for a rest, and if people know I'm here I shall -be worried to death with politics and people calling." So -Mary promised faithfully, and Ellen came running in to -promise too, and to threaten vengeance on "the others" -if absolute silence was not observed. The lockets went -"inside," and only a tiny bit of chain was allowed to show -at the throat in evidence of homage continued, though -hidden. -</p> - -<p> -Meanwhile, events were fusing in Ireland. Parnell had -gone over there immediately after Christmas. From -Dublin he wrote:— -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>Monday evening, December</i> 27, 1880.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—I have been exceedingly anxious -all day at not receiving your promised telegram to hear how -you got home; trust I may have something to-morrow morning -that it is all right.[<a id="chap10fn1text"></a><a href="#chap10fn1">1</a>]—Yours in haste, C. S. P. -</p> - -<p><br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - MORRISON'S HOTEL,<br /> - <i>Tuesday, December</i> 28, 1880.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAREST WIFE,—You will be delighted to learn that -everything is proceeding first-rate so far. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The jury sworn to-day cannot possibly convict us, and -there is a very fair chance of an acquittal. I do not think -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P88"></a>88}</span> -the Government will attempt to prevent me from being -present at the opening of Parliament, though I am not quite -sure yet whether it will be prudent for me to leave until -Wednesday evening. So far as I can see there is no necessity -for the presence of any of the Traversers; one of them, Gordon, -who has broken his leg, has not appeared at all, and his absence -has not been even mentioned or noticed. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I was immensely relieved by your letter this morning. -You must take great care of yourself for my sake and your -and my future.—Yours always, C. S. P. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I have wired and written to Madrid[<a id="chap10fn2text"></a><a href="#chap10fn2">2</a>] explaining situation -lest my observations at yesterday's meeting as to doubt of -my being in Parliament, intended to throw dust in eyes of -Government, might be literally interpreted. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>Thursday, December</i> 30, 1880.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAREST LOVE,—Your letters have reached me quite -safely, and you cannot tell how much pleasure they give me. -I fear I was very foolish to allow you to come with me the -day of my departure; I felt sure it would do much harm, -and until your first letter arrived I was in a continual panic -lest some dreadful disaster had happened. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -That my poor love should have suffered so much makes -my heart very sore, and she must take great care of herself -for the sake of our future.... -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I enclose letter from W.S.[<a id="chap10fn3text"></a><a href="#chap10fn3">3</a>]—Yours always affectionately, -C. S. P. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Will send you photo to-morrow. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>January</i> 3, 1881.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAREST WIFIE,—Was most delighted on return this -morning from Avondale to find your three letters and telegrams. -I think it would make you happy and more contented during -my absence if you knew how I watched for your letters, and -how often I read and re-read them. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I felt very much tempted to run over and spend the New -Year and Sunday with you, but feared you might not be alone. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P89"></a>89}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -It pains me very much that my own love was unhappy -about that stupid thing in the <i>Freeman</i> on Thursday. An -old and ugly woman with whom I was very slightly acquainted, -but who wanted to put herself <i>en evidence</i>, perched herself -just behind me, and got a gentleman sitting next to her to -hand me down a slip of paper, on which was written some -message of congratulation. I only rewarded her with a stare, -did not even bow or smile, and certainly sent no communication -of any kind in reply. That was all. I will ask my own -dearest to believe in me while I am away, and never again to -feel unhappiness from want of confidence. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I have made all arrangements to leave by mail on Wednesday -morning, and shall be with my own wifie on Wednesday -evening about eight.—Yours, C. S. P. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Mr. Parnell held the Party meeting in Dublin on -January 4th, and returned to me on January 5th, in time -for the meeting of the House (on 6th January, 1881), not -having thought it necessary to remain in Ireland till the -termination of the trials—a circumstance which, curiously -enough, was not publicly remarked upon. We spent some -days together at Eltham, and I took Mr. Parnell to see my -aunt, who was much charmed with him. His quiet manners -and soft, clear voice pleased her greatly, as also did -his personal appearance. She took his arm, and paced up -and down the tapestry room with him, while she told him -how she was introduced to O'Connell in the old days, when -her husband, Benjamin Wood, was M.P. for Southwark. -She had met O'Connell at the House, and heard what was -said to have been one of his greatest speeches. She said, -"I much prefer your voice, Mr. Parnell, for Daniel -O'Connell's enunciation was startling to me." -</p> - -<p> -Though such a great age, my aunt had still a very -pretty round arm, and as she always wore the net sleeves -of her youth, fastened with old-fashioned bracelets, -Mr. Parnell noticed this, and commented upon the fact to me. -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P90"></a>90}</span> -The old lady was much gratified when I told her of this. -She enlisted his sympathy by telling him that she had to -pay £500 a year in order to keep her beautiful old grounds -intact, as the Crown desired to sell the place for building -lots, and she was determined to die in the old house she -had lived in for over fifty years. -</p> - -<p> -The State trial ended on January 25th, 1881, the -foreman of the jury stating: "We are unanimous that we -cannot agree," as Mr. Parnell had assured me they would. -He was in Court and loudly cheered as he hastened off to -catch the boat to England. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap10fn1"></a> -[<a href="#chap10fn1text">1</a>] That Captain O'Shea had left Eltham for Madrid. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap10fn2"></a> -[<a href="#chap10fn2text">2</a>] To Captain O'Shea. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap10fn3"></a> -[<a href="#chap10fn3text">3</a>] Captain O'Shea. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap11"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P91"></a>91}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XI -<br /> -PARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATIONS -</h3> - -<p class="intro"> -"<i>Live to-day—the past is registered—the future is -unguessed—the instant ours.</i>"—MORTIMER COLLINS. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Forster's Coercion Bill was introduced on January 24th, -1881, and on the 25th Mr. Gladstone moved that it should -have precedence of all other business before the House. -Mr. Parnell fiercely opposed this motion, and kept his -followers hard at work in opposition—thus forcing the House -to sit from 4 p.m. on Tuesday until 2 p.m. of the next -day. The details of these sittings have been recounted -ad nauseam, and I need not repeat them here, but only -record Parnell's fierce joy in these political fights, and my -pride in him as I watched him from the Ladies' Gallery. -Sometimes Willie would wish to give the seats he secured -in the Ladies' Gallery to friends of his, and on such -occasions I always knew that Mr. Parnell would ballot one for -me. Of course, later on I could always secure a seat without -ballot, if one was vacant, as I had to wait to receive -messages from Mr. Parnell and Mr. Gladstone, and it was -made known to the attendants that on any important -occasion I held priority of place. -</p> - -<p> -As a rule, after an all-night sitting he used to drive -down to Eltham in order not to become well known on -the Eltham railway, and come through the conservatory -into my sitting-room, where I would have supper ready -for him before the fire, with his smoking-jacket and -slippers ready to put on. He seldom spoke after his first -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P92"></a>92}</span> -greeting. He would take off his frock-coat and boots, -and, when I slipped on the others for him, he would eat -his supper quite silently, thinking over the events of the -night. I never worried him to talk. Supper finished, he -would light a cigar and sit down in his own arm-chair, -saying, "Well, Queenie, the Old Man spoke to-night," or -"So-and-so spoke," and then slowly tell me of all that -had passed during the sitting, and his opinion of the -present and future, so far as politics were concerned. -</p> - -<p> -Sometimes when he had spoken himself he would say: -"I did not speak well to-night," and sometimes it was: -"I lost that quotation you gave me and brought it out -sideways, and there it was all the time crushed up in my -hand! Then I forgot the fellow's name and called him -'the poet.'" -</p> - -<p> -"Well, Shakespeare can be called 'the poet,'" I would -return soothingly. -</p> - -<p> -"Yes? Is that so? It seemed to worry some of the -reporters; one came and asked me what I meant! You -must make me learn it better next time." -</p> - -<p> -Once he began to talk he confided all his thoughts to -me unreservedly, and the more freely that he had not -been worried to talk when he came in cold or tired. He -used to say that it was such a relief to get right away from -the House when a sitting was over, and he enjoyed the -drive down to Eltham in a hansom cab every night or early -morning. It was only an eight-miles drive, but part of it -was then very pleasant, through country lanes and over -a common. Now London has swallowed up most of these -pretty bits. -</p> - -<p> -After relieving his mind of all political affairs of the -day he would talk of things that were of home interest to -us—of his stone quarries at Arklow, his saw-mills, etc., -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P93"></a>93}</span> -of what Kerr, his Irish agent, was doing at Avondale; -or of some of his hobbies at home. So we would talk till -daylight sent pale gleams of light under the window -curtains, and he would say: "I am really sleepy, Queenie; -I'll go to bed," and as a rule he would sleep soundly until -about four o'clock in the afternoon, when he would come -down to breakfast in my sitting-room. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell was always generous in letting any members -of his Party speak when they had a chance of distinguishing -themselves, and he would at once give way when he -thought any member could speak better on any subject -than himself. This most of his Party, if not all, acknowledged -at one time. I mention the characteristic because -I have noticed in more than one of the so-called "Lives" -written by those strangely ignorant of the man's real -character, that considerable stress is laid upon Parnell's -jealousy. He was jealous, abnormally so where his -affections were concerned, but not in political life. -</p> - -<p> -Gladstone once said that "Parnell always knew what -he wanted to say, and said it," but he was not a ready -speaker, and his constitutional nervousness, hidden though -it was under the iron mask of reserve he always wore in -public, rendered public speaking very painful work to him. -He was extremely modest about his own speeches, and -frequently would say to me that So-and-so "would have -put that much better to the House, but I could not have -trusted him to say it and leave it." He considered that -most Irishmen spoilt things by over-elaboration. Here -also I may record a protest at the tales of gross discourtesies, -spoken utterly without motive, recorded in some of -these "Lives." -</p> - -<p> -The Parnell I knew—and I may claim to have known -him more intimately than anyone else on earth, both in -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P94"></a>94}</span> -public and private life—was incapable of such motiveless -brusqueries. That Parnell could crush utterly and without -remorse I know; that he could deal harshly, even brutally, -with anyone or anything that stood against him in the path -he meant to tread, I admit; but that he would ever go out -of his way to say a grossly rude thing or make an -unprovoked attack, whether upon the personal appearance, -morals, or character of another man, I absolutely deny. -Parnell was ruthless in all his dealings with those who -thwarted his will, but—he was never petty. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell had a most beautiful and harmonious voice -when speaking in public. Very clear it was, even in -moments of passion against his own and his country's -foes—passion modulated and suppressed until I have seen, -from the Ladies' Gallery, his hand clenched until the -"Orders of the Day" which he held were crushed into -pulp, and only that prevented his nails piercing his hand. -Often I have taken the "Orders" out of his pocket, twisted -into shreds—a fate that also overtook the slips of notes -and the occasional quotations he had got me to look out -for him. -</p> - -<p> -Sometimes when he was going to speak I could not -leave my aunt long enough to be sure of getting to the -Ladies' Gallery in time to hear him; or we might think it -inexpedient that I should be seen to arrive so soon after -him at the House. On these occasions, when I was able, -I would arrive perhaps in the middle of his speech and -look down upon him, saying in my heart, "I have come!"; -and invariably I would see the answering signal—the lift -of the head and lingering touch of the white rose in his -coat, which told me, "I know, my Queen!" -</p> - -<p> -This telepathy of the soul, intuition, or what you -will, was so strong between us that, whatever the business -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P95"></a>95}</span> -before the House, whether Parnell was speaking or not, -in spite of the absolute impossibility of distinguishing any -face or form behind the grille of the Ladies' Gallery, -Parnell was aware of my presence, even though often he -did not expect me, as soon as I came in, and answered -my wordless message by the signal that I knew. -</p> - -<p> -Sometimes he would wish to speak to me before I went -home, and would signal by certain manipulations of his -handkerchief to me to go and await him at Charing Cross, -or another of our meeting-places, and there he would come -to me to tell me how things were going, or to chat for a -few minutes, or get from me the replies to messages sent -through me to Mr. Gladstone. -</p> - -<p class="t3"> -* * * * * * -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - DOVER,<br /> - <i>Wednesday, February</i> 23, 1881.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—Am just starting for Calais. -</p> - -<p> -Kindly send on my portmanteau with my letters and other -things in my room or in the wardrobe to me at Hotel Brighton, -Rue de Rivoli, Paris.—Yours always, C. S. P. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>February</i> 25, 1881.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAREST KATIE,—I have just received your three letters, -and am so delighted to read them hurriedly before sending -you this line in time for post. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I never had the slightest doubt of my darling, and cannot -imagine why she should think so. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Did not know I was going when leaving here, but was -induced to leave by private information, the nature of which -I will send you in my next. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Am not yet sure whether I shall return, but shall manage -to see you in any case.—Yours, C. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - HOTEL BRIGHTON, 218 RUE DE RIVOLI, PARIS,<br /> - <i>Sunday evening, February</i> 27, 1881.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—I cannot understand your -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P96"></a>96}</span> -telegram received to-day at all, although I have been thinking it -over all the evening. I wired back as you appeared to request -in it, "All right." -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -There was no letter for me from you at the usual address, -so I enclose another, as I fear something may have gone wrong. -You can write me freely in my own name under cover to this -address: Thomas Adams and Co., Limited, 33 Rue d'Hauteville, -Paris, and they will forward the letters safely to me. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I have been warned from Dublin that there is some plot -on foot against us which has been originated by information -received from Cork, and you will guess the original source. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am expecting further information to-morrow in reference -to it. I have received five letters in all from you since my -arrival in Paris. Best not post your letters at Eltham. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I did not know when leaving you that I was going my -departure was influenced by information of reliable kind that -my arrest was intended for passage in Clare speech, and that -bail would be refused, and I should be left in jail until Habeas -Corpus was suspended, when I could have been again arrested. -I think, however, they have now abandoned this intention, but -will make sure before I return. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -This is my third letter to you since my arrival -here.—Yours, C. S. P. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - HOTEL BRIGHTON, 218 RUE DE RIVOLI, PARIS,<br /> - <i>Tuesday, March</i> 1, 1881.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAREST LOVE,—To-day I have received your four -letters, the earliest of which was written on Saturday. You -do not seem to have written on Friday, as there was nothing -for me on Saturday or Sunday. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I propose returning to London on Thursday morning, -leaving here Wednesday evening, but it is just possible I may -not leave till Thursday morning, in which case I shall not be -able to see my Katie until Friday. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -If I return Thursday morning, my Queen may expect to -see me about one o'clock. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Your letters make me both happy and sad, happy to hear -from my own, but sad when I see how troubled you -are.—Always yours, CHARLES. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P97"></a>97}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - GLASGOW,<br /> - <i>Tuesday, April</i> 19, 1881.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -DEAREST KATIE,—I send you authority for letters. They -are in two forms, one authorising delivery to you, and the -other to' bearer. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -To-night I leave by boat for Dublin, arriving to-morrow -morning. I trust my own wifie has not permitted herself to -be too unhappy, and that she has not been worried. I am -writing with her own beautiful face before me, and have just -kissed it.—Always your husband. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Please write me to Morrison's. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap12"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P98"></a>98}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XII -<br /> -HOBBIES AND A CHALLENGE -</h3> - -<p class="poem"> - "<i>Admire, exult—despise—laugh, weep—for here<br /> - There is much matter for all feeling: Man!<br /> - Thou Pendulum betwixt a smile and tear.</i>"<br /> - —BYRON.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -In the early summer of 1881 my aunt had one of her old -friends to stay with her, and I seized the opportunity of -freedom to take my children to Brighton for a month, -after settling the old ladies together. I had gone down -before the children to take rooms for them, and was -walking across Brighton Station when I was suddenly joined -by a tall man whom I did not recognize for a moment -until he said quietly, "Don't you know me?" It was -Mr. Parnell, who had slipped into the train at Clapham -Junction, knowing that I was going to Brighton, and -had cut off his beard with his pocket scissors in the train -in order to avoid being recognized at Brighton. He had -wrapped a white muffler round his throat, and pulled it -as high as possible over the lower part of his face, with the -result that the manageress of the hotel he stayed at was -certain that he had an infectious illness of the throat, and -rather demurred at letting him in. It was only by the -expedient of complaining loudly at being kept waiting -in the draught with his "raging toothache" that -"Mr. Stewart" was reluctantly admitted. I could not bear his -appearance neither bearded nor shaven—so he went off -soon after arrival, was properly shaved, and relieved the -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P99"></a>99}</span> -hotel staff by discarding the muffler and assuring -them that he was free from pain now his "tooth" was -out. -</p> - -<p> -He went to Cork soon after this and, to please me, was -photographed without his beard and with the ring I had -given him on his finger. We had had a little quarrel, and -were very unhappy until we had made it up again, and -he had this photograph done to remind me that he wore -my ring. He also gave sittings to Henry O'Shea (no -relation of Captain O'Shea) for a portrait (pencil) at this -time, and this was sent to him while he was in Kilmainham. -He liked this sketch much, and wrote to the paper -for which it was done to this effect. When he left the -prison he brought this sketch home to me, and I have it -now. It hung in our dining-room till he died, and he -always liked it, but I still think it a little hard and -expressionless; the eyes are too large and empty. There was -a painting done of Parnell years afterwards, and here also -the artist failed with the eyes. This latter portrait was not, -I think, done from life, but from photographs, so there -was reason for the failure in this respect, photographs -making unsatisfactory studies. The artist who painted this -last picture gave Parnell blue eyes; presumably following -the idea that Parnell was an Irishman, and must therefore -have blue eyes, whereas the facts were that Parnell was -not an Irishman, but the son of an Englishman resident in -Ireland and his American wife, and had brown eyes, not -large, but with the smouldering fires in them that gave -character to his cold, high-bred face. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell had so many hobbies and interests in his home -life that it is difficult to enumerate them all. He once said -rather wearily that if he had not "taken off his coat" in -the Irish cause and for the Irish people he could have been -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P100"></a>100}</span> -always happy at home working at things so much more -congenial to him. -</p> - -<p> -At one time he took up all the intricacies of bookkeeping -in order that he might check his Irish agent's -accounts, and many weeks he sat immersed in double -entry, estate accounts keeping, commercial booking, etc., -in the evening, while I sat near him typing replies to his -letters ready for his signature. He used to threaten me -with lessons in book-keeping, so that I might be ready to -help him with the estate management at Avondale when -we went to live there; but I felt that my duties as his extra -and most private secretary were sufficiently arduous, and -declined instruction in account-keeping. -</p> - -<p> -Many hours were also spent in architectural drawings, -which interested him greatly. At that time Brighton -Station was being rebuilt, and Parnell was intensely -interested in getting the "span" of the roof. He spent -hours at odd times pacing the station, measuring -distances, heights, depth of roof, etc., etc., and in drawing -up plans in order that he might build a cattle shed on the -same lines at Avondale. These plans he afterwards -submitted to a well-known architect for his opinion on them, -and they were returned as absolutely correct in every -detail. He then reduced the whole thing to scale -and had the cattle shed made from these plans at -Avondale. -</p> - -<p> -I well remember his look of reproach at me when I -laughed while reading him a letter from his agent at -Avondale the following winter. The agent said that Mrs. Delia -Parnell (Parnell's mother) had arrived unexpectedly at -Avondale, and, after seeing the new cattle shed, had at -once decided to give an entertainment in it. This she had -done, having the cattle shifted from their comfortable -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P101"></a>101}</span> -quarters, the place boarded in, and a temporary floor laid -down. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell did not see that this expensive and troublesome -eviction of his cattle for so frivolous a reason was -in the least funny, and was very greatly annoyed at the -whole proceeding. He was always most chivalrously kind -to his mother, however, and his protest on this occasion -was very gentle, though coupled with firm insistence, -on the instant restoration of the cattle-house to its -tenants. -</p> - -<p> -Another of his hobbies was the "assaying" of small -pieces of quartz from the stream at Wicklow, and I used -to help him for hours at this, keeping his blow-pipe -constantly at work, while he, silent and absorbed, -manipulated the crucibles. When we went to live at Brighton, -after my aunt's death, he had a furnace fitted up in one -of the rooms so that he could work on a larger scale. His -endeavour to obtain gold from this quartz was rewarded -to a certain extent; but the working was, of course, far -too laborious and expensive to be profitable otherwise than -as a hobby. However, Parnell for five years worked at it -in various odd hours till he had extracted sufficient gold -to line my wedding ring, even though his hope of getting -enough for the whole ring was not fulfilled. -</p> - -<p> -When working at these things Parnell was absolutely -oblivious to the passing of time, and it was with difficulty -that I prevailed upon him to take sufficient exercise, or -even to take his meals before they were spoiled by waiting. -He would order his horse, "President," to be taken to a -certain place about a half-mile from the house, at the hour -he wished to ride, and then become so absorbed in the -particular hobby of the moment that even I could get -nothing from him but an abstracted smile and a gentle -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P102"></a>102}</span> -"Is that so?" in answer to the intimation that his horse -had been waiting some two hours or more for him. -</p> - -<p> -Many a day I have let him work up to the last -possible moment, and then literally pulled off the old -"cardigan" jacket he worked in, and forced him into his -frock-coat for the House; and it happened more than -once that he was due to attend a meeting in Ireland, and -when I had packed his things and had the carriage at the -door ready for him he would throw himself into a chair -and with his slow, grave smile say, "You are in a hurry -to get rid of me; I will not go yet. Sit down and let me -look at you a bit, my Queen." I would protest that he -must go, that he would lose the mail train. "Then I'll be -no use at the meeting, for it will be over!" he would -mockingly reply; and so, when the last possible chance -of his being in time had vanished, he would sit opposite -me through the evening talking of politics, Avondale, the -assaying—of anything that came into his head always -watching me with that intent, considering gaze that was -my bewilderment and my joy. -</p> - -<p> -When he failed a meeting like this, where hundreds of -people were waiting for him—or other appointments, -private or public—I sometimes would want him to telegraph, -or write, apologizing or excusing his non-attendance, -but this he would never do, saying, "You do not -learn the ethics of kingship, Queenie. Never explain, -never apologize"; adding, with his rare laugh: "I could -never keep my rabble together if I were not above the -human weakness of apology." -</p> - -<p> -When Parnell came home from Ireland after these -meetings he would sit smoking and watching me as I -went through the pockets of the coats he had worn while -away. It was a most interesting game, and he enjoyed it -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P103"></a>103}</span> -as much as I when I brought out a new trophy from the -depths of the deepest and most obvious side pocket. It -was a point of honour that he should not "feel or look" -till he got home to me, and I have a dear little collection of -souvenirs now from these pockets—little medals with the -images of various saints, scapulars and badges, slipped in -by the deft, modest fingers of sweet-faced nuns, in the -crowds, whose startled, deprecating blushes when he -turned and caught the delinquent in the act always won -a courteous bow and smile from the heretic "Chief" whose -conversion their patriotic hearts so ardently desired. I -found also odds and ends pressed upon him by the -hero-worshipping peasants, some gruesome scrap of the rope -that had hanged some unknown scamp and hero, so -"aising to the bone-pains, an' his riv'rance not looking, a -bit of a twisht roun' yer honour's arrm!" or perhaps a -flattened old bullet that had gained some fancied power -in its evil journey through a man's heart. Then there -were the brand-new kerchiefs of most vivid green, most -beautifully embroidered by the clever fingers of -"herself," and so many four-leaved, and therefore "lucky," -shamrocks from the "colleens," who went singing all -the year if they thereby earned a smile from the Chief. -Even the little children used to make sudden, shy offerings -to their hero; a "quare bit ave a stone," a "farden me -mither giv me," or some uneasy looking fragment of what -might once have been a bird's egg. Of sticks, blackthorns -and others, I once had an enormous collection -brought back to me at various times by Parnell, but these, -together with the two riding-whips I had myself given -him, were stolen from me some ten years ago, when I -was moving from one house to another. The two riding-whips -I prized very highly, for Parnell was so pleased -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P104"></a>104}</span> -when I gave them to him. One was gold-mounted, the -other silver-mounted, and each had "C.S.P." engraved -upon it. -</p> - -<p> -Among my stick collection was one made of horn—a -curious thing, carved and inlaid with ivory, sent him by -some unknown American admirer. He used this stick on -his last journey upstairs from the sitting-room to the bed -where he died. -</p> - -<p> -In January of 1881, Willie, who had rooms then in -Charles Street, Haymarket, came down to Eltham -suddenly, very angry indeed with me because he had seen -some men watching his lodgings, and imagined that I -had engaged a detective to do so. As I had never had -an idea of doing anything of the sort I was extremely -annoyed, and a violent quarrel was the result. As a -matter of fact, the men were watching the upper floor, -where a friend of Willie's lived, and this friend's wife -afterwards divorced him. -</p> - -<p> -All these months, since my first meeting with Mr. Parnell, -Willie knew at least that I frequently met him -at the House. He had invited him to Eltham himself, -though when the visit was first proposed I said my house -was too shabby, the children would worry so nervous a -man and we had better not break the routine of our -(Willie's and my) life (which by then was tacitly accepted -as a formal separation of a friendly sort) giving any and -every excuse, because of the danger I knew I was not -able to withstand. -</p> - -<p> -But Willie was blind to the existence of the fierce, -bewildering force that was rising within me in answer to -call of those passion-haunted eyes, that waking or -sleeping never left me. Willie then, as always, was -content that what was his, was his for good or ill. He knew -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P105"></a>105}</span> -that men, in our past life together, had admired me, even -that some had loved me; but that was to their own -undoing, an impertinence that had very properly recoiled -upon their own heads. His wife could not love anyone -but himself; perhaps unfortunately she did not even do -that, but after all "love" was only a relative term—a little -vulgar even, after girlhood had passed, and the mild -affection of his own feelings towards her were no doubt -reciprocated, in spite of the unfortunate temperamental -differences that made constant companionship impossible. -</p> - -<p> -So Parnell came, having in his gentle, insistent way -urged his invitation, and from Willie. And now Willie -and I were quarrelling because he, my lawful husband, -had come down without the invitation that was now (for -some years) understood as due to the courtesy of friends, -and because he had become vaguely suspicious. Flying -rumours had perhaps reached his ears; and now it was -too late, for he dared not formulate them, they were too -vague; too late, for I had been swept into the avalanche -of Parnell's love; too late, for I possessed the husband of -my heart for all eternity. -</p> - -<p> -I had fought against our love; but Parnell would not -fight, and I was alone. I had urged my children and -his work; but he answered me: "For good or ill, I am -your husband, your lover, your children, your all. And -I will give my life to Ireland, but to you I give my love, -whether it be your heaven or your hell. It is destiny. -When I first looked into your eyes I knew." -</p> - -<p> -When Willie arrived so suddenly at Eltham Mr. Parnell -was not there, but Willie went into his room, and -finding his portmanteau, sent it to London, and left my -house, declaring he would challenge Parnell to fight a duel -and would shoot him. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P106"></a>106}</span> -</p> - -<p> -"My dear Mrs. O'Shea," wrote Parnell from London -on the 7th of January, "will you kindly ask Captain -O'Shea where he left my luggage? I inquired at both -parcel office, cloak-room, and this hotel at Charing Cross -to-day, and they were not to be found." -</p> - -<p> -Willie later challenged Parnell, sending The O'Gorman -Mahon to him as his second; but the duel was not fought. -My sister, Mrs. Steele, came down to see me, and patched -up a peace between myself and Willie; and Mr. Parnell, -while making arrangements to go abroad to meet Willie, -explained to him that he (Parnell) must have a medium -of communication between the Government and himself, -that Mrs. O'Shea had kindly undertaken the office for him, -and, as this would render negotiations possible and safe, -he trusted that Willie would make no objection to his -meeting her after the duel. -</p> - -<p> -"I replied to Captain O'Shea's note yesterday," writes -Parnell, "and sent my reply by a careful messenger to the -Salisbury Club; and it must be waiting him there. -</p> - -<p> -"He has just written me a very insulting letter, and I -shall be obliged to send a friend to him if I do not have -a satisfactory reply to a second note I have just sent -him." -</p> - -<p> -Willie then thought he had been too hasty in his -action, and, knowing I had become immersed in the Irish -cause, merely made the condition that Mr. Parnell should -not stay at Eltham. -</p> - -<p> -From the date of this bitter quarrel Parnell and I were -one, without further scruple, without fear, and without -remorse. -</p> - -<p> -The following are "cypher" letters of private messages -to me bearing upon the matter of the threatened -duel:— -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P107"></a>107}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>July</i> 20, 1881. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—Just a line to say that I am very -well and wondering when I shall see you again. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I hope that your cold is better.—Your very truly, -CHAS. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - HOUSE OF COMMONS,<br /> - <i>Thursday night, July</i> 22, 1881.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—I have received both your very -kind letters quite safely, and am looking forward to seeing you -somewhere or somehow to-morrow. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am very much troubled at everything you have to undergo, -and trust that it will not last long.—Yours always, -CHAS. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am still quite well. Thank you very much, for enclosure. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - WESTMINSTER PALACE HOTEL,<br /> - VICTORIA STREET, LONDON, S.W.<br /> - <i>Sunday evening, July</i> 25, 1881.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—-I write to ask you to send my -travelling cap, if it is at Eltham, to me here, as I may have -to go over to Paris or Boulogne some day this week. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I hope your eyes are quite well again and that you are -enjoying these cool times. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I have been very lonely all to-day and yesterday. Have -not seen anyone that I know.—Yours always, -CHAS. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>July</i> 26, 1881. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—I am still staying at the same -address, and have postponed going to France, so you need not -send my cap.—Yours always, CHAS. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap13"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P108"></a>108}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XIII -<br /> -ASTRONOMY, "SEDITION," AND ARREST -</h3> - -<p class="intro"> -"<i>—and there is one stirring hour ... when a wakeful influence -goes abroad over the sleeping hemisphere.... Do the stars rain -down an influence?</i>"—ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -During his leisure moments at Eltham Mr. Parnell took -up the study of astronomy with the vigour that always -characterized him when he was interested in a subject. -He had picked out from my bookshelf a book of stars—one -of Sir Robert Ball's, I believe, that I had bought at -random one day, and became at once interested. From the -teaching of an old friend of my father's I had a fairly -good knowledge of astronomy, and, though by no means -well up in the latest research and discoveries, I was able -to tell him much of the stellar systems that was new to -him. Finding how he devoured the little book of Sir -Robert Ball's, I got several of the latter's interesting works -for him, besides Herschel's. -</p> - -<p> -Then Mr. Parnell told me of a magnificent telescope -he had at Avondale, and sent for it. When this arrived -he sent for a few sacks of Portland cement, with which he -made a pedestal in my garden, and himself mounted the -telescope upon it. He made an ingenious arrangement -whereby the slightest touch would tilt the telescope to the -desired angle, and we spent many nights, he and I, watching -the stars and following the courses of the planets till -they faded in the dawn. Then he thought of how near to -us was the Observatory at Greenwich, and got a permit to -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P109"></a>109}</span> -go over the Observatory. After that, on the days when -my aunt had her readers with her, I used to accompany -him to the Observatory, where we spent many hours. -</p> - -<p> -He could always absorb very quickly any knowledge that -appealed to him, and he soon had the pleasure of teaching -me much about the latest discoveries, and about a subject -intensely interesting to him—the wonderful way in which -the telescopes used in the great observatories of the world -are made. -</p> - -<p> -In time this study of the stars began to worry him too -much, and he reluctantly gave up all serious work on the -subject. He said it was all too immense and absorbing to -think about in a life that was primarily concerned with -politics. But the pedestal remained, and still we occasionally -mounted the telescope and kept vigil with the stars -through the summer night. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -On April 7, 1881, Mr. Gladstone had introduced his -Land Bill into the House of Commons. It was a better -Bill than the Irish Party had reason to expect, but it had -grave defects, and the Irish had not been consulted; while -the Government's policy of coercion and Forster's attitude -towards Parnell and his followers made co-operation -between the Liberals and the Irish impossible. Parnell's -policy was to hold aloof and press for amendments. After -being crippled in the House of Lords the Bill became law. -At a Land League Convention held in Dublin on September -14 a resolution was adopted, on the suggestion of -Parnell, that the Act should be tested by selected cases. -"Nothing," said Parnell, "could be more disastrous to our -cause or our organization, and to your hopes of getting -your rents reduced, than an indiscriminate rush of the -tenantry into the Land Courts." -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P110"></a>110}</span> -</p> - -<p> -A few days later Parnell was drawn in triumph through -the streets of Dublin. The same day Forster wrote to -Gladstone suggesting that Parnell should be arrested -under the Coercion Act. -</p> - -<p> -He suggested, moreover, that in his next speech at -Leeds, on October 7, Mr. Gladstone should impeach -Parnell and his policy. Gladstone obeyed. The people -of Ireland, he cried, wished to use the Land Act and -Parnell would not let them, but "the resources of -civilisation were not yet exhausted." -</p> - -<p> -Parnell retorted with passion and scorn in his famous -Wexford speech delivered on October 9.[<a id="chap13fn1text"></a><a href="#chap13fn1">1</a>] -</p> - -<p> -"Suppose they arrest you, Mr. Parnell," asked an -Irish member, who dined with the Leader on the evening -of the speech, "have you any instructions to give us? -Who will take your place?" "Ah!" he said, deliberately, -looking through a glass of champagne which he had just -raised to his lips. "Ah, if I am arrested Captain -Moonlight will take my place."[<a id="chap13fn2text"></a><a href="#chap13fn2">2</a>] -</p> - -<p> -All through 1881 Parnell was constantly paying flying -visits to Ireland, and also to various parts of England, -working up the "League," addressing meetings and -privately ascertaining for himself how far the temper of -the "reactionaries" could be trusted to do the work he -wished without becoming too greatly involved in the tactics -of the "Invincibles" proper. He came home to me now -always between the times of his journeyings up and down -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P111"></a>111}</span> -the country, and if it was not certain that I should be alone -he would write me a formal though friendly note or letter -that anyone could have been shown, in which was given -some word or sign that let me know a place or time of -meeting him, either in London or nearer my home. On -some of these occasions my duties to my aunt would keep -me, so that I might be an hour or more late in arriving -at the place where he awaited me; but never once in all -those years did he once fail me or leave the place of -appointment before I came, even though it might be at -the loss of the mail train to Ireland, and leaving some -thousands of people waiting in vain for the speech he was -too far away to make. Sometimes I would become -conscience-stricken on such an occasion, but he would only -comment that one speech more or less was a little matter, -and what was lost by a speech not made was amply -compensated for by the deepened impression of his mystery -and power gained by the people. "For it is the strange -thing I found out early in political life," he would say, -"they think I'm much more wonderful when I do nothing -than when I'm working hard." -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>September</i> 10, 1881.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—Will you kindly address and post -enclosed. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am quite recovered from my attack, and the doctor says -that I shall be able to travel in a few days.—Yours very truly, -CHAS. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -The enclosure was the following letter:— -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>September</i> 10, 1881.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN WIFIE,—I know that you must have been much -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P112"></a>112}</span> -worried yesterday by my failure to send you a few words, but -my Beauty will forgive her own husband. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Your wire has been put into my hand as I write, and shall -have an instant answer. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -It gives me so much pleasure to know that your trouble -has not returned since I left, and that my wires give you -pleasure. Your King thinks very very often of his dearest Queen, -and wishes her not to be sad, but to try and be happy for his -sake. Everything is going on very well here, and your King is -much satisfied. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>September</i> 25, 1881.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN LOVELIEST,—I send you these few words to assure -Wifie that her husband always thinks of her and hopes that -she is well and happy. YOUR OWN KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>October</i> 4, 1881.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN WIFIE,—I have satisfied myself, by two separate -tests to-day, that there is a good deal of silver in the dark stone -of which there is so much in the old mine. In fact nearly the -whole lode consists of this (the miners are working in it in -the North Level). I cannot say how many ounces there will -be to the ton until I get it assayed, but if there should be six -or eight ounces to the ton it ought to pay to work. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR OWN KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>October</i> 7, 1881.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN WIFE,—I called to-day to see him[<a id="chap13fn3text"></a><a href="#chap13fn3">3</a>] on my return -from Dungarvan, but he was out, and I waited for him three -hours. Calling again at eleven to-night, he was again out, -but returned just as I was writing to make an appointment for -the morning. He says that he leaves to-morrow (Friday) -evening, and stops to shoot on Saturday in Wales, and goes -on Tuesday to Paris to see the Papal Nuncio, who he says -has requested him to come. This, then, is the last letter I -can send you for the present through Eltham, so I hope to -have the other address from you to-morrow morning. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -My dearest Katie must have been very lonely ever since. -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P113"></a>113}</span> -Did she get my three letters? Her husband has been so busy -he has not even had time to sleep, but he has never been too -busy to think of her. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I can go over to London early next week if I may see you. -Should I remain in London or go down to you? -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -With numerous kisses to my beautiful Queenie. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -C. S. P. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>October</i> 8, 1881. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAREST LITTLE WIFIE,—Your husband has been very -good since he left you, and is longing to see you again. He -has kept his eyes, thought, and love all for you, and my sweetest -love may be assured that he always will. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -To-morrow I go to Avondale, thence to Wexford on Sunday, -whence I return Monday morning and hope to be with my -Queenie on Tuesday or Wednesday at latest. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Everything in Dublin has been settled up pretty -satisfactorily, and I trust only to have to make an occasional -appearance in Ireland during the rest of the autumn and -winter. ALWAYS YOUR KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -On October 11th, Forster crossed to England, having -first arranged with Sir Thomas Steele, Commander-in-Chief -in Ireland, that, should the Cabinet agree to arrest -Parnell, Forster would wire the one word "Proceed." -</p> - -<p> -The same day Parnell returned to Avondale, and on -the next night was back in Dublin. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - MORRISON'S HOTEL,<br /> - <i>October</i> 11, 1881.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN KATIE,—I found two letters and two wires from -your King's Queen here on my arrival an hour ago. Your -telegram this morning took a great weight off my mind, as -your silence made me almost panic-stricken lest you had been -hurt by that —— and had not been able to get to town. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -To-morrow I go to Kildare,[<a id="chap13fn4text"></a><a href="#chap13fn4">4</a>] and shall try and start for -London Friday morning; but I cannot be sure of this, as -"something"[<a id="chap13fn5text"></a><a href="#chap13fn5">5</a>] may turn up at last moment, and there is -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P114"></a>114}</span> -also a meeting of the Executive on Saturday, which they want -me to stay for. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -However, Wifie knows I will do the best I can, and she -will get a wire from me on Friday, soon after or as soon as -she receives this, telling her what I have done. If I arrive -London Friday night shall go to same hotel and shall wait for -my darling. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Will she mind asking for my number? -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -ALWAYS YOUR OWN KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -On October 12th, 1881, I was in London on Mr. Parnell's -business—to ascertain the movements of the -Government. He, of course, was in Ireland and had -warned me that it would be impossible for him to keep out -of prison much longer, and that any further effort to avoid -arrest would be inexpedient on all counts. I was much -depressed about this and urged him to put it off as long -as possible. -</p> - -<p> -My health was then delicate, and I felt an unreasonable -fear and loneliness when he was away from me. He was -very tender and considerate to me, but pointed out that -the turmoil and rebellion he had brought to a head in -Ireland must be very carefully handled to be productive -of ultimate good, and that he could "mark time" with the -Land League better in Kilmainham than out, thus rendering -this force more useful to the Home Rule campaign and -less wanton in destruction. Parnell used, but never -abused, the weapons of political strife he forged. -</p> - -<p> -He desired immediate information of the decision of -the Government to arrest him, that he might destroy any -papers that, found on him, might frustrate his plans and -cause unnecessary difficulty to those working with him. -So when on October 12th information was sent to me, at -the house where I waited in London in the neighbourhood -of Piccadilly, that a Cabinet Council had been hurriedly -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P115"></a>115}</span> -summoned, I wired in code to Parnell and directly after -the Cabinet Council I was able to inform him that Forster -had left for Ireland with the warrant for his arrest. -</p> - -<p> -I could not bear the thought of his arrest, and after -writing to him under cover to a person in Ireland who -would, I knew, get my letter to him, whether in or out -of prison, I telegraphed to Parnell again to know if he -could meet me at Holyhead if I started at once. I had so -much of his business in hand now, and he had expected to -see me at least once more before the inevitable separation -of his imprisonment. I felt almost unable to cope with -the situation; I was not strong and I was full of anxiety -as to the probable effects upon Parnell's health of life in -Kilmainham Gaol. In addition to my anxiety, the deception -I had to practise towards Captain O'Shea, seldom as -I saw him, told upon my nerves just now. However, -Parnell's message in reply, written in our private code, -reassured me. While he still thought it better to suffer -arrest at once, he would not go out of his way to meet it, -and would be careful when in Kilmainham so that his -imprisonment should be of short duration. He would -not allow me to go to the fatigue of a journey to Holyhead, -nor would he go abroad to avoid arrest, and I went home -comforting myself as I could with his confident spirit and -loving messages. -</p> - -<p> -On October 13th there was a terrible gale throughout -the South of England, and at Eltham, after a sleepless -night, I was up early—far too early to disturb my old -aunt—and wandered out through her park in the gale. The -battling with the wind lifted a little the load of restlessness -and anxiety as to what was happening in Ireland from my -heart. -</p> - -<p> -I was with my aunt as usual all that day, and was -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P116"></a>116}</span> -glad of the quiet and rest. The old lady gazed out at -the still raging storm and told me tales of her youth, -while I listened to the voice I loved in the wind outside, -saying to me again and again what he had said before -he left me, "Be brave, Queenie. I cannot stay outside -while all these others are arrested, and it is bound to be -soon now." -</p> - -<p> -Towards evening, when the storm had cleared a little, -and my aunt had fallen asleep before the fire, I went home -to get the evening papers I always had sent over from -Blackheath before Willie came down from London to -dinner, as he had written to say he would do. However, -on my return home I found Willie already there, extremely -pleased to be able to announce to me that Parnell had -been arrested that morning. I knew his news directly I -saw his face, and as I was really prepared for it I did not -flinch, but replied languidly that I had thought Parnell -"couldn't keep out of gaol much longer, didn't you?" -</p> - -<p> -But Willie was so fiercely and openly joyful that my -maids, who were ardent Parnellites, were much shocked, -and I, being terribly overwrought, laughed at their -disgusted faces as I went to dress for dinner. It was really -the laugh of tears, but that laugh of jangled nerves and -misery did me good service with Willie, and we got -through dinner amicably enough, while he descanted upon -the wickedness and folly of Parnell's policy and the way -the Irish question should really be settled, and would be -if it could be left to him and those who thought with -him. He observed me closely, as he criticised Parnell and -his policy, and reiterated his pleasure in knowing he was -"laid by the heels." -</p> - -<p> -I was now quite calm again, and smiled at him as I -reminded him that I was now as ardent a Parnellite as -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P117"></a>117}</span> -Parnell himself, and had already done so much hard work -for "the cause" that my politics were far more reactionary -that when he had introduced Parnell to me: unlike his -(Willie's) own, which were less so. My heart being in -Kilmainham Gaol with my lover, I was momentarily at -peace, and could ask Willie questions as to the mode of -life and prison discipline of political prisoners. Willie, as -are so many men, was never so happy as when giving -information. -</p> - -<p> -The next day I received my King's letter, written as -he was arrested:— -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>October 13</i>, 1881.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—I have just been arrested by two fine-looking -detectives, and write these words to wifie to tell her -that she must be a brave little woman and not fret after her -husband. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The only thing that makes me worried and unhappy is -that it may hurt you and our child. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -You know, darling, that on this account it will be wicked -of you to grieve, as I can never have any other wife but you, -and if anything happens to you I must die childless. Be good -and brave, dear little wifie, then. YOUR OWN HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Politically it is a fortunate thing for me that I have been -arrested, as the movement is breaking fast, and all will be -quiet in a few months, when I shall be released. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Speaking at the Guildhall on the day of Parnell's -arrest Mr. Gladstone said: "Within these few minutes -I have been informed that towards the vindication of the -law, of order, of the rights of property, and the freedom -of the land, of the first elements of political life and -civilization, the first step has been taken in the arrest of the -man who has made himself pre-eminent in the attempt -to destroy the authority of the law, and substitute what -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P118"></a>118}</span> -would end in being nothing more than anarchical -oppression exercised upon the people of Ireland." -</p> - -<p> -When he uttered the word "arrest" he was stopped -by the audience rising en masse and cheering frantically. -"Parnell's arrest"—I quote from the "Life of Forster"—"was -hailed almost as though it had been the news of a -signal victory gained by England over a hated and -formidable enemy." -</p> - -<p> -Sexton, O'Kelly, Dillon, O'Brien, and J. P. Quinn, -secretary of the League, were quickly arrested, while -warrants were issued for Biggar, Healy, and Arthur -O'Connor. Healy was in England, and Biggar and -O'Connor managed to join him there. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap13fn1"></a> -[<a href="#chap13fn1text">1</a>] Parnell in this speech vigorously attacked Gladstone's policy, calling -him a "masquerading knight-errant" and a champion of the liberties -of every nation except Ireland. He pointed out that Gladstone had a -good word for the late Isaac Butt, and added scornfully that "in the -opinion of an English statesman no man was good in Ireland until he -was buried." By implication he challenged the Government to arrest him -under the Coercion Act. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap13fn2"></a> -[<a href="#chap13fn2text">2</a>] "The Life of Parnell," by Barry O'Brien. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap13fn3"></a> -[<a href="#chap13fn3text">3</a>] Captain O'Shea. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap13fn4"></a> -[<a href="#chap13fn4text">4</a>] He was to have addressed a meeting at Naas. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap13fn5"></a> -[<a href="#chap13fn5text">5</a>] Possibility of arrest. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap14"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P119"></a>119}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XIV -<br /> -KILMAINHAM DAYS -</h3> - -<p class="poem"> - "<i>Love is not a flower that grows on the dull earth;<br /> - Springs by the calendar; must wait for the sun.<br /> - * * * * * * *<br /> - E'en while you look the peerless flower is up<br /> - Consummate in the birth.</i>"—J. S. KNOWLES.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -At the news of the arrest a wave of indignation swept -through Ireland. In Dublin there were riots. In many -places shops were closed and towns and villages went into -mourning as if for the death of a king. -</p> - -<p> -Five days later the Land League countered the arrest -by issuing the No Rent manifesto. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell was really opposed to it. Dillon openly so, -but the majority of the leaders then in Kilmainham Gaol -approved of it, and it was signed and published in <i>United -Ireland</i> on October 17th. The signature is interesting, it -runs thus:— -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="quote"> -"Charles S. Parnell, President, Kilmainham Gaol; A. J. Kettle, -Honorary Secretary, Kilmainham Gaol; Michael Davitt, -Honorary Secretary, Portland Prison; Thomas Brennan, -Honorary Secretary, Kilmainham Gaol; Thomas Geston, Head -Organizer, Kilmainham Gaol; Patrick Egan, Treasurer, Paris." -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Meanwhile arrests and evictions went on all over -Ireland, and the Coercion Act was used mercilessly and -unscrupulously on behalf of the landlords. The Ladies' -Land League and its president, Miss Anna Parnell, -became very busy. -</p> - -<p class="t3"> -* * * * * * -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P120"></a>120}</span> -</p> - -<p> -From the time of Parnell's arrest onward until the -birth of his child in the following February I lived a -curiously subconscious existence; pursuing the usual -routine of my life at home and with my aunt, but feeling -that all that was of life in me had gone with my lover to -prison, and only came back to me in the letters that were -my only mark of time. I had to be careful now; Willie -became solicitous for my health, and wished to come to -Eltham more frequently than I would allow. He thought -February would seal our reconciliation, whereas I knew it -would cement the cold hatred I felt towards him, and -consummate the love I bore my child's father. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>October</i> 14, 1881. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -My OWN DEAREST WIFIE,—I have found a means of -communicating with you, and of your communicating in return. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Please put your letters into enclosed envelope, first putting -them into an inner envelope, on the joining of which you -can write your initials with a similar pencil to mine, and they -will reach me all right. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am very comfortable here, and have a beautiful room -facing the sun—the best in the prison. There are three or four -of the best of the men in adjoining rooms with whom I can -associate all day long, so that time does not hang heavy nor do -I feel lonely. My only fear is about my darling Queenie. I -have been racked with torture all to-day, last night, and -yesterday, lest the shock may have hurt you or our child. -Oh, darling, write or wire me as soon as you get this that you -are well and will try not to be unhappy until you see your -husband again. You may wire me here. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I have your beautiful face with me here; it is such a comfort. -I kiss it every morning. YOUR KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - KILMAINHAM,<br /> - <i>October</i> 17, 1881.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—I was very much pleased to -receive your two letters, which reached me safely after having -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P121"></a>121}</span> -been duly perused by the Governor. I am also writing to -Captain O'Shea's Paris address to acknowledge his. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The last letter which you directed to Morrison's also -reached me. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -If you have not done so already, please inquire in London -about the messages you were expecting, and about any others -that may arrive in future, and let me know in your next whether -you have received them. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -This prison is not at all damp, although the air on the north -side is rather so, but I am on the south side, and am so far -exceedingly comfortable and not in the slightest degree dull. -We are allowed to play ball, and you will be glad to hear that -I won my first game against one of the best and most practised -players in the place, although I have not played for twenty -years. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I have received the <i>Times, Engineer, Engineering, Mining -Journal, Pall Mall Gazette, Universe</i>, from a London office, -also the <i>Engineer</i> directed in your handwriting. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Shall be delighted to hear from you as often as you care to -write.—Yours always, C. S. P. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -When you write again, please let me know how you are. I -have been very anxious for news on that point. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>October</i> 19, 1881. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN DARLING QUEENIE,—I have just received your -charming little letter of Tuesday, which I have been anxiously -expecting for the last week. It has taken an enormous load -off my mind. I shall send you a long letter to-morrow or next -day, but for the present you had better not come over, as -there are five or six other men in rooms adjacent to mine who -find out about everybody who visits me. Besides, you would -not be permitted to see me except in presence of two warders, -and it might only make you more unhappy. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -You must not be alarmed about rumours that the Government -have evidence that we are involved in a treasonable -conspiracy. There is absolutely no foundation whatever for -such a statement, and it is only made to defend their own -proceedings. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Dearest little Queenie, keep up your spirits. I am very -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P122"></a>122}</span> -comfortable and very well, and expect to see my darling before -the New Year. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Don't put my name in inner envelope in future, as if opened -it might implicate others. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>October</i> 21, 1881. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN DARLING WIFIE,—I wrote you a short note this -afternoon, which I succeeded in getting off safely. Now after -we have been all locked up safely for the night, and when -everything is quiet and I am alone, I am going to send -my own Queenie some news. But first I must tell you that -I sleep exceedingly well, and am allowed to read the -newspapers in bed in the morning, and breakfast there also, if -I wish. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I want, however, to give you a little history from the -commencement of my stay here. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -When I heard that the detectives were asking for me a terror—one -which has often been present with me in anticipation—fell -upon me, for I remembered that my darling had told me -that she feared it would kill her; and I kept the men out of -my room while I was writing you a few hasty words of comfort -and of hope, for I knew the shock would be very terrible -to my sweet love. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I feared that I could not post it, but they stopped the cab -just before reaching the prison and allowed me to drop the -letter into a pillar-box. My only torture during those first -few days was the unhappiness of my queen. I wired Mrs. S. to -know how you were, but the wire was sent back with a note -that it could not be delivered as she had gone to R. Finally -your first letter came, and then I knew for the first time that -you were safe. You must not mind my being in the infirmary. -I am only there because it is more comfortable than being -in a cell, and you have longer hours of association, from 8 a.m. to -8 p.m., instead of being locked up at 6 and obliged to eat by -yourself. The infirmary is a collection of rooms, and each -has a room to himself—Dillon is in a cell, but he is allowed as -a special privilege to come over and associate with us during -the daytime. I am obliged to invent little maladies for -myself from day to day in order to give Dr. Kenny an excuse -for keeping me in the infirmary, but I have never felt better in -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P123"></a>123}</span> -my life. Have quite forgotten that I am in prison, and should -very much miss the rattle of the keys and the slam of the doors. -The latest discovery is heart affection. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The only thing I don't like is that the Government insist -upon sending a lot of police into the gaol every night, two of -whom sleep against my door and two more under my window. -Just at present we are all in great disgrace on account of the -manifesto, and the poor warders have been most of them -dismissed and fresh ones brought in. A very strict watch -is kept, and I have been obliged to exert my ingenuity to get -letters out to you and to get yours in return. If Wifie is very -good and becomes strong and happy again I may let her come -over and see me after a time, but for five days more I am not -to be allowed to see any visitor, but I will write you again -about your coming. They have let us off very easily. I fully -expected that we should have been scattered in different gaols -through the country as a punishment, but they evidently think -no other place safe enough for me. Indeed, this place is not -safe, and I can get out whenever I like, but it is probably the -best policy to wait to be released. And now good-night, my -own dear little Wifie. Promise your husband that you will -sleep well and look as beautiful when we meet again as the -last time I pressed your sweet lips. YOUR OWN HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>October</i> 26, 1881. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—Many thanks for your kind letter. -I am anxiously waiting for another note from you to say -that you have quite recovered from the indisposition you -speak of. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I was in hopes that time would pass mote slowly in prison -than outside, but it seems to pass quite as quickly as anywhere -else except those hours at Eltham.—Yours always, -C. S. P. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>October</i> 28, 1881. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—Not having heard from you this -week, I write this to say that I hope you are better, and that -the absence of a letter from you is not to be attributed to any -increase in the indisposition of which you spoke in your last. -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P124"></a>124}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am glad to be able to tell you that I am exceedingly -well. Health and spirits never better.—Yours very truly, -CHAS. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>November</i> 1, 1881. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—Thanks very much for your letters -and telegram. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I was rather indisposed yesterday, but am very much better -to-day. I am told that everybody gets a turn after they have -been here for three or four weeks, but that they then become -all right. I write you this lest you and other friends should -be troubled by exaggerated reports in the newspapers. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -My esteemed friend Mr. Forster has become very disagreeable -lately. He refuses to allow me to see my solicitor -except in presence and hearing of two warders, so I have -declined to see him at all. He also refuses to allow me to see -visitors except in the cage, which I have also declined to do, -but probably things may be relaxed again after a time.—Yours -very truly, C. S. P. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Parnell had a certain visitor who was permitted to see -him in Kilmainham on his "necessary and private" business, -though not alone, and this gentleman was able to -take his letters out, and bring them to him, unobserved, -and after putting them into another outer envelope address -them to "Mrs. Carpenter" at an address in London, -whence I fetched them. Or sometimes he would send -a formal letter to me at Eltham enclosing one addressed -to some political or other personage. If Willie were at -Eltham I would show him this note asking me to post -enclosure on a certain date. The enclosure was, of course, -to me—sent thus to keep me from the fatigue of going to -town so often. The Governor of Kilmainham for some -reason became suspicious of Parnell's visitor, and forbade -his interviews except in the close proximity of two warders -selected by himself, and Parnell refused to see him at all -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P125"></a>125}</span> -under these restrictions. He wrote me a friendly letter -then, telling me this, and other little news of his prison -life, as to an ordinary acquaintance, and addressed it -direct to Eltham, sending it to be approved by the Governor -and posted in the ordinary way. In this letter, that -anyone might have seen, there was a message by a private -sign to go to the house in town for a letter within a few -days. On doing so, I found my letter as usual, posted -by a friendly warder, and contained in it was a recipe for -invisible ink, and this ink could only be "developed" by -one particular formula, a combination known only to one -chemist. We were saved an infinity of trouble and -anxiety, as we could now write between the lines of an -ordinary or typewritten letter without detection, and it was -no longer essential to get a third person to direct the -envelopes. In time the Governor again became suspicious, -and the friendly warder was dismissed—or Parnell was -told so. However, this was only a temporary inconvenience, -as Parnell was able in a couple of days to reorganize -his communications with me, and this time they were not -broken. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>November</i> 2, 1881. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I have just succeeded in having my communications, which -were cut for a while, restored, and have received your letter -of Friday night. In writing me please always acknowledge -receipt of my letters by their date. I have quite recovered. -My illness did me good, and I have a first-rate appetite. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -You must not mind reports about my health. In fact, -our "plots" have been completely disarranged by the necessity -of writing and wiring my Queenie that there is nothing -the matter with me. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I hope to be able to arrange to see you as soon as I hear -that W. is firmly fixed. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I look at my beautiful Queen's face every night before I -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P126"></a>126}</span> -go to bed and long for the time when I may be with you again. -Only for that I should be happier here than anywhere else. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>November</i> 5, 1881. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DARLING WIFIE,—When I received your dear letter -to-day I had just time to send you a few hasty lines in -acknowledgment; now when everything is quiet and with your own -sweet face before me I can give my thoughts up entirely to -my Queen, and talk to you almost as well as if you were in my -arms. It seems to me a long, long time since our hasty good-bye, -although the first three weeks of my present life—which -term will have been completed to-morrow morning—has seemed -only a moment. I often feel very sad when I think of poor, -unhappy Katie waiting for her husband who does not come -any longer as he used to come, but who will come again to her -and will not again leave her. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am trying to make arrangements that my own Queenie -may come to me this time. I shall ask my ruler here if I may -see my cousin, "Mrs. Bligh, who is coming from England to -see me," in his office, and with only himself present. After all, -darling, the only way in which I could have escaped being -here would have been by going to America, and then I could -not have seen you at all, and I know I should not have been -so happy or so comfortable in America as here, and, besides, -I should have been beset by so many dangers there. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I admire supremely my life of ease, laziness, absence of -care and responsibility here. My only trouble is about your -health and happiness and this has been my only trouble from -the first. Queenie, then, will see that she also must try not to -be so unhappy, especially as her husband's love is becoming -stronger and more intense every hour and every day. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -You will be anxious to know what my short illness was -about. It was of a very unromantic kind—not the heart, -but the stomach. I had not much appetite for some days, -and was tempted by a turkey to eat too much, thence very -severe indigestion and considerable pain for about an hour. -However "our doctor," by means of mustard and chlorodyne, -got me all right again, and my appetite is now as good as ever. -In fact, I have gotten over very quickly the "mal du prison" -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P127"></a>127}</span> -which comes on everybody sooner or later more or less -severely. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -One of the men in this quarter who has been here for nearly -nine months, poor fellow, looks after me as if he was -my—brother, I was going to say, but I will substitute Mary.[<a id="chap14fn1text"></a><a href="#chap14fn1">1</a>] He -makes me a soda and lemon in the morning, and then gives -me my breakfast. At dinner he takes care that I get all the -nicest bits and concocts the most perfect black coffee in a -"Kaffee Kanne" out of berries, which he roasts and grinds -fresh each day. Finally, in the evening, just before we are -separated for the night, he brews me a steaming tumbler of -hot whisky. He has marked all my clothes for me also, and -sees that the washerwoman does not rob me. Don't you -begin to feel quite jealous? -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am going to ask Katie to put her proper initials upon -the inner envelope of her next letter—-thus, K. P. Your writing -on the outside envelope of the one which came to-day will -do splendidly. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I do not think there is the least probability of my being -moved; this is the strongest place they have, and they are -daily trying to increase its strength according to their own -notions, which are not very brilliant. My room is very warm -and perfectly dry. They wanted me to go to another, which -did not face the sun, but I refused, so they did not persist. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -With a thousand kisses to my own Wifie, and hoping soon -to lay my head in its old place. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Good-night, my darling. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>November</i> 7, 1881. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I did not advertise in <i>Standard</i>. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DARLING QUEENIE,—Your two letters received, and -King is very much troubled about you. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am very warm—have fire and gas in my room all night -if I want it. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Dearest Wifie must try and get back her spirits and good -looks for her own husband's sake. C. S. P. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>November</i> 12, 1881. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DARLING WIFIE,—I have received my darling's letter -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P128"></a>128}</span> -of the 9th quite safely, also the enclosure in the previous one, -which I will keep as you wish it; but I shall not want it, my -own love. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The statement about the food was only to prepare the -way to get up a collection in the country so as to save the -American money for other purposes. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -We think of announcing by and by that we have gone on -Government food, and then start the subscription, as there -is no other way of getting money from the country. In any -case, this could not affect me, as I am in the infirmary, and -should be entitled to get whatever Dr. Kenny orders for me. -Wifie may depend upon it that whatever happens we shall -take good care of ourselves; at present we are living upon -all the good things of the world—game, etc. The authorities -have intimated to me twice that I may go out if I will say -that I will go abroad, but I have replied that I am not in any -hurry, and that when I go out I shall go or stay where I please. -In fact, I much prefer to wait here till the meeting of -Parliament. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Will write Wifie a long letter to-morrow. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR OWN KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>November</i> 14, 1881.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—Your husband continues very well, and -very much contented with the position of things outside. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am told the Government don't exactly know what to do -with us now they have got us, and will take the first decent -excuse which presents itself of sending us about our business. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Queenie's letters give me great comfort, as I think I see -by them she is not quite so unhappy as she was, and has more -hope of seeing her King soon again. I am in a continual state -of alarm, however, lest something may hurt you. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -ALWAYS YOUR KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>Saturday.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—I hope my darling will not hurt herself -going after those letters. I have got some paper to write -direct to you, and shall try one on Monday. I do not use it -for writing to anybody else, so that Queenie need not be afraid -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P129"></a>129}</span> -of that, but she should write very lightly, and with a gold -pen. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -My own little Wifie, I so wish I could be with you to -comfort and take care of you, but will you not try to care for -yourself, my darling, for my sake? -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR OWN LOVING KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAREST QUEENIE,—I write hastily to say that I am -receiving your darling letters all right, though the watch is -very close, and it is difficult to get them either out or in. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am exceedingly well, sleep very well, go to bed at ten -or eleven, or whenever I like, get up at nine, or whenever I -like. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Do, beautiful Wifie, take care of yourself and your King's -child. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>November</i> 18, 1881.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Use thinner letter paper in future, as envelopes are -suspiciously bulky. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Your own King continues very well, and has received -your two letters safely. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Our mutual friend is waiting for me at present, and probably -has some more for me and will take this. I have just -heard on good authority that they intend to move me to -Armagh the end of this week or beginning of next in order -to give me an opportunity of escaping while there. However, -they may change their mind, and in any case it will -make no difference to me personally. Armagh is healthier -and nicer in every way, I am told by our Chief W., who comes -from there. I am also told, on the same authority who -informed me of projected move to Armagh, that we shall be -certainly all released before Christmas. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am disposed to think I have got heavier, but shall know -to-morrow when I weigh. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Best love to our child. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR LOVING HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>November</i> 21, 1881. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—Yours of the 18th has reached me -safely, and though I am relieved to know that my darling is -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P130"></a>130}</span> -a little less miserable, yet I am still very much troubled and -anxious about you. Has he[<a id="chap14fn2text"></a><a href="#chap14fn2">2</a>] left yet? It is frightful that -you should be exposed to such daily torture. My own Wifie -must try and strengthen herself, and get some sleep for her -husband's sake and for our child's sake, who must be -suffering much also. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am convinced that if it had not been for the unfortunate -result of Tyrone I should not be here. I hope that Stafford -may be followed by another success in Derry, and that it -may open their eyes to the danger of their present proceedings. -I can really honestly tell Wifie that my health is not only as -good, but better than it has been at any time for the last -twelve months. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I don't know who it was sent me the quilt; I am sending -it to Wicklow, as it is green—a colour I detest. I don't want it -here at all, as there are too many things on my bed as it is. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -EVER YOUR OWN KING. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The Woolwich or Charlton post offices will do very well -when you recommence writing. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>November</i> 29, 1881. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—I was very happy in receiving my -darling's letter of yesterday to-day. My messenger was looking -very frightened, and fears his letters may be opened any -day. So perhaps it will be safest for Wifie not to write again -for a few days, until I see further, or until I can manage -another address. I can manage, however, to write my Queenie -two or three times a week. You must not be frightened if -you see we have all gone on P. F.[<a id="chap14fn3text"></a><a href="#chap14fn3">3</a>] It will not be so as far -as we are concerned here, and will only be for a week as regards -the others, but Wifie must not tell anybody that I have not -done so, as it would create discontent amongst the others. -The man who has been taking care of me is going out to-morrow, -and will be a loss to me. He has been very ill during -the last week from bad sore throat, and was very nearly -suffocated the night before last, so I sent O'Gorman Mahon to -Forster about him, with the desired effect of getting his -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P131"></a>131}</span> -discharge. One of the others will supply his place to me, but not -so well. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Have not been weighed yet, but will to-morrow. I think -Wifie has my last weight. After eight at night I read books, -newspapers, and write until about twelve or one, when I go -to bed. I also think a good deal of my own darling during -that time when everything is quiet, and wonder how soon I -shall be with you again. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The time is passing rather more slowly this month than -the first, but still it is not yet monotonous. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -With best love. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>Thursday.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—I have just received your two letters, -one of Tuesday, the other 25th, and am enormously relieved -to find you are well. You can direct the next envelopes in a -feigned hand; it is safer than sending you any more. The -outside envelope of yours of the 25th appears to have been -tampered with, but the inside one is all right. I am trying to -arrange that you may see me as soon as he[<a id="chap14fn4text"></a><a href="#chap14fn4">4</a>] is gone to Madrid, -and you become quite strong, and will write you more fully -about it to-morrow. ALWAYS YOUR KING. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Gum your inside envelopes well. There is no risk of my -being moved. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>December</i> 3, 1881.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—Your letter of the 1st has just reached -me. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -You ought to have had a note by the 1st explaining about -P. fare, and suggesting caution until another means of -communication can be found, as my messenger fears his letters -may be opened any day. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am exceedingly well, and am not really on prison fare, -as we can get anything we want here. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Am rejoiced to learn that Wifie hopes our child will be -strong—I think it ought to have a good constitution. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -All my pains and aches have quite disappeared, and I have -become quite acclimatized, I expect to be so fresh when I -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P132"></a>132}</span> -get out that even Wifie won't be able to hold me, although -her bonds are very strong and pleasant. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -ALWAYS YOUR KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>Tuesday, December</i> 6, 1881. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY QUEENIE,—I have not yet been able to arrange other -means of communication for my own darling, but hope to do -so shortly. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Her dear letter of the 1st has reached me quite safely, -but it would be a risk for her to write again to the same place. -In any case I will send you in my next a prescription which -will enable you to write ordinary letters with something added. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Your King never felt nearly so well in his life before. The -strong exercise, ball-playing, which I have missed very much -during the last few years of my life, is improving me immensely, -as strong exercise always agreed with me. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR OWN KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>Wednesday, December</i> 7, 1881. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—You may see a paragraph about my -health in the <i>Freeman</i> of Friday which may worry you, so -write to say that it is very much exaggerated for the purpose -of preventing a change in our rooms to some which are not in -any way so nice. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I have caught a slight cold, which the doctor thinks will -pass off in a day or two. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I will write you direct to-morrow with the secret ink of -which the prescription is on the other side. No. 1 is for -writing, No. 2 is for bringing it out. Wifie may write me with -this to the same address as usual and in the same way, but she -should write also with ordinary ink on the first page of the -letter something as follows: -</p> - -<p class="letter2"> -DEAR SIR,—I have yours of —— inst., and will pay -attention to the directions given.—Yours truly, -R. CAMPBELL. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The secret handwriting should be with a clean quill pen, -and should be written lightly. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I feel much better this afternoon than I did this morning. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -ALWAYS YOUR LOVING HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P133"></a>133}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -You had best test the No. 1 solution by attempting to bring -it out with No. 2. If it does not come out well increase the -strength of both solutions. Use unglazed rough paper. Do -not be worried, darling, and take good care of our child. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>Friday, December</i> 9, 1881. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—I wired you yesterday as I was dreadfully -frightened about the effect the par in <i>Freeman</i> would -have on you, and hope you did not get into overmuch trouble -about telegram. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The feverish cold quite passed away yesterday after one -night, and I am up to-day but keeping a poor mouth, so as -to try to baulk a pretty scheme for moving us from our -present rooms into others where they think we will be safer. -You must not pay any attention to O. D.'s account, as it was -carefully got up. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I don't eat bread, only for breakfast, but D. and I have -each two raw chops smuggled in daily which we do for -ourselves, and we also make our own tea. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -We also always have a cold ham in stock—Queenie must -not think I am deceiving her about anything—I never felt -as well in my life as when I wrote to tell her so the evening -before I was taken ill, and next morning I woke with a hot head. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -At present I am getting all my food from the Governor's -kitchen, and it is excellent. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -We hope by the row we are making to compel Government -to make the food sufficiently good to satisfy the men and take -expense of their keep off our resources. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -In future you had best brush any letters I write you to -E. with No. 2 solution, as, unless you desire me not to do so, -I will write you for the future alternately to E. and W. Place -so as to save you the trouble and fatigue of going to London -so often. ALWAYS YOUR OWN HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>December</i> 13, 1881. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—Your two letters have reached me quite -safely and are all right. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am quite well again now, and could go out were it not -that the weather is so cold that the doctor does not think it -prudent. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P134"></a>134}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I hope my darling is well and has not been hurt by the -anxiety. My mind has been in the utmost distress about my -Wifie and her child all the week, and you do not know what -a relief your telegram from London was. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>December</i> 14, 1881. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DARLING QUEENIE,—Your second letter reached me all -right, and I can read them perfectly. But, my darling, you -frighten me dreadfully when you tell me that I am "surely -killing" you and our child. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am quite well again now, my own, and was out to-day -for a short time, and will take much better care of myself for -the future. It was not the food, but a chill after over-heating -myself at ball. But I do not intend to go back on prison -fare, even nominally, again, as the announcement that we were -on it has served the purpose of stimulating the subscription. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Rather than that my beautiful Wifie should run any risk -I will resign my seat, leave politics, and go away somewhere -with my own Queenie, as soon as she wishes; will she come? -Let me know, darling, in your next about this, whether it is -safe for you that I should be kept here any longer. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR OWN HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -There can be no doubt we shall be released at opening of -Parliament, but I think not sooner. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Dr. K. was allowed to be with me at night while I was ill, -and we are not to be changed from our rooms. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>December</i> 15, 1881. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN DARLING QUEENIE,—Nothing in the world is -worth the risk of any harm or injury to you. How could I -ever live without my own Katie?—and if you are in danger, -my darling, I will go to you at once. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Dearest Wifie, your letter has frightened me more than I -can tell you. Do write, my darling, and tell me that you are -better. I have had nothing from you for several days. I -am quite well and strong again. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -We have made arrangements so that everybody will be -allowed to feed himself for the future, the poorer men getting -so much a week. YOUR OWN HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P135"></a>135}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>December</i> 16, 1881.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—I think it will be best to make the -change you suggest in yours of yesterday, but you need not -trouble or fatigue yourself about it immediately. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am going on all right, darling, and expect to have another -game of ball to-morrow, but shall take care not to heat myself. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I could not very well make any arrangement or enter into -any undertaking with Government unless I retired altogether -from politics. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Your letter has relieved me very much. I have been dreadfully -frightened about you for the last week. Do take care -of yourself, my own darling, and I will also take good care -of myself for the future. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -We have both to live for each other for many happy years -together. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -You need not write near so heavily or use so much ink, -and it would be also better to have a softer paper, more like -blotting paper. YOUR OWN KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>December</i> 22, 1881.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Many happy returns of Christmas, my own darling. -Though your husband cannot be with you this time, he looks -forward to very many happy returns with you. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am very, very happy that my own Wifie is better, and -that she has been relieved from some of the intolerable -annoyance for a time. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Your husband is quite well. We have succeeded in getting -our new exercise ground. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -ALWAYS YOUR LOVING KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>Xmas Eve.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Letters of 22nd and 23rd arrived safely. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—Just as the coming day is approaching -I send my own love what she has asked me for, and trust -that it will make her forget our squabble of last Xmas Day, -as I had long since forgotten it. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -My darling, you are and always will be everything to me, -and every day you become more and more, if possible, more -than everything to me. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P136"></a>136}</span> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="capcenter"> -<a id="img-136"></a> -<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-136.jpg" alt="FACSIMILE OF LETTER ON p. 134" /> -<br /> -FACSIMILE OF LETTER ON p. 134 -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P137"></a>137}</span> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P138"></a>138}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Queenie need not be in the least anxious about me. I -have been getting my meals from the Governor's kitchen up -to the present, but to-morrow we return to the old arrangement -of being supplied from the outside. Nominally we are -to get only one meal a day from the outside, but in reality -they will permit those who wish and can afford it to get the -other two meals as well from outside, at their own expense, -of course, and those who are with me in these quarters intend -to do this. I do not receive any letters from any ladies I -know, except one from Mrs. S., shortly after I came here. -She wrote to sympathize, and said she had been ill. I replied -after a time, asking how <i>you</i> were, but forgot to ask how <i>she</i> -was, and she has not written since. Am glad to say that none -of my "young women" have written. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Let me know as soon as he goes and I will write you home. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Government are not likely to go out for a while, but they -will scarcely go out without letting me out first. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR OWN KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>December</i> 30, 1881. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—Your two letters just received but not -read yet. I hope Wifie is sleeping better and getting stronger -like her husband. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am very nervous about the doctors, and you should at -all events tell one of them the right time, so that he may be -on hand, otherwise you may not have one at all. It will never -do to run this risk. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I will write Queenie a long letter to-night. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap14fn1"></a> -[<a href="#chap14fn1text">1</a>] My parlourmaid. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap14fn2"></a> -[<a href="#chap14fn2text">2</a>] Captain O'Shea was staying at Eltham for some days. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap14fn3"></a> -[<a href="#chap14fn3text">3</a>] Prison fare. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap14fn4"></a> -[<a href="#chap14fn4text">4</a>] Captain O'Shea. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap15"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P139"></a>139}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XV -<br /> -MORE KILMAINHAM LETTERS -</h3> - -<p class="intro"> -"<i>The soul of a philosopher will consider that it is the office -of philosophy to set her free.</i>"—SOCRATES. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>January</i> 3, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN DARLING QUEENIE,—Many happy New Years, my own -love, with your husband to make you happy. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -My Queenie must take great care of herself, and must be -sure to have at least one doctor in February. It will never -do to let it trust to chance. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -There is every prospect of my being able to see my darling -soon, but it does not do to be too sure, as things change so -much from day to day. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>January</i> 7, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—If Queenie could see her husband -reading her letters over and over again every night she would -have more faith in their readable quality and power for giving -her husband happiness than she can have in looking at the -blank paper as the result of her work. The paper of that of -the 6th, which reached me to-day, is exactly suited; but Wifie, -in sending two sheets, one of them quite blank, makes a bad -conspirator, but I must forgive her, as the result is by no means -blank to me. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I do feel very anxious about you, my darling, and cannot -help it. You must tell the doctor, and never mind about ——. -Could you not go to London or Brighton about the beginning -of February? London would be best, if you could get him -away on any pretext; but if you could not, Brighton would -leave you most free from him. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -It is perfectly dreadful that Wifie should be so worried at -night. I had hoped that the doctor's orders would have -prevented that. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am being fed very well. Chops or grilled turkey or eggs -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P140"></a>140}</span> -and bacon for breakfast, soup and chops for luncheon, and joint -and vegetables, etc., for dinner, and sometimes oysters. The -"one meal a day" is only a pretence. Each man gets £2 -when arrested, and 15s. a week, and can feed himself as he -likes. Most of them pocket the money and make the -Government feed them. You can understand the unwillingness of -W.'s friend to leave under these circumstances. The Government -food is much better now after the row about it, so most -of the men can manage very well with it, and send the 15s. home -or put it in bank. I expect the majority of the Irish -people will be here after a time, the pay is so good and it is -quite a safe place. I am very well, dearest Queenie, and -enjoying our new exercise yard very much. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR OWN KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>January</i> 11, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—Yes, I will go to you, my love, -immediately I am released. There is nothing in the world that -I can do in Ireland, nor is it likely that I shall be able to do -anything here for a long time to come. Certainly until the -Coercion Act has expired I will not speak here again, so Queenie -need not be afraid that when she gets me again she will lose me. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am disposed to think that Government at present intend -to release me shortly before opening of Parliament, but, of -course, they may change their mind and hasten or postpone -my release. Anyhow, let Queenie's mind be quite at rest, I -am very well and am growing more vigorous every day, the -air and exercise in the new yard suiting me exactly. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I long very, very much to be with my own Wifie again, -and wish I could take care of and comfort her in the time -that is coming—Queenie has been very good and very loving -to her husband to give him this child, and to take such care -of it during this long, sad interval, but she must remember -that she is far more to me than all the world beside, and that -she must specially take care of herself, as her King cannot -now live without her. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I had forgotten to tell you that the jacket and other things -you gave me have been very useful and comfortable. During -my illness I wore it all the time, and wear it now in the -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P141"></a>141}</span> -mornings to read the newspapers. It has quite cured pain in -shoulder. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I do trust you have been now relieved for a time by his -departure, and that you are getting a little sleep. It is enough -to have killed you several times over, my own Queenie. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -ALWAYS YOUR OWN HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>January</i> 17, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—The large paper is very good, the best -for the purpose of any you have tried yet. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Your husband is so happy that you have at last been left -free for a time. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Queenie may send her letters from any place about that -she likes, but she had best not write direct, as there is a very -sharp-eyed man over the letters. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Very much lighter writing will do, and it might be written -between the lines of the ordinary ink, but it is best not to risk -anything just now. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I think Brighton will do very well if Wifie likes it, and if -it would be safe for her to be so far from London. Her King -could be there quite well, as he intends to take a holiday when -released, and will not go to work at once. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Have just received formal and usual notice of further -detention, first three months being up. The other two have -also received theirs. This has no significance one way or the -other, as nobody has ever been released at the end of the -exact period. My own Wifie must try and keep herself well -and strong. Does she feel so? I wish I could be with my -poor darling. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -It is really the only reason why I wish for a change, and -my Queenie's loneliness and weariness makes me very unhappy. -Yesterday and to-day as three of us were exercising in -our yard the gates in adjoining yard leading into the outer -world were opened twice to permit some carts to come in and -go out. A low wall only separated the two yards, across which -we could have easily sprung; there was no warder in our -yard, and only one in the next, with his back turned to us. -So, you see, we can get out whenever we want to. Trying -to escape is six months with hard labour, so we have nothing -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P142"></a>142}</span> -to gain by it, even if they keep us till end of Act in October, -which they are not at all likely to do. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR OWN LOVING HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>January</i> 21, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—On further consideration I think it -would be much too risky for my darling to go to Brighton, as -you would be too far from the doctor, so let it be London or -home. I shall find means to see my Wifie wherever she is. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -It looks like our release shortly. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Yours of 19th received. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -January 23, 1882. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -We have got an air-gun and practise every day. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—Your letter of the day before yesterday -makes me very nervous about my own love again, as I -fear from it that you are going to distress and worry -yourself about me again. I can assure you, my own, that I am -exceedingly well, and am likely to remain so. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Notwithstanding the newspapers, it is most unlikely they -will keep us here till the commencement of session. D., indeed, -will probably go out in a day or two on account of his health; -but in any case my Queenie must not think of worrying about -her husband, as he is very comfortable and happy where he is, -if he might only see his own Wifie sometimes. I should feel -quite lonely now in London without being able to see my -darling, and I should very much prefer to stay here than to -be all alone in London while Wifie is suffering, except that I -know it would comfort her to have me even so near her. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I hope you have received my letter saying that I think -London or home the best for you, and not Brighton; the latter -would be much too far from the doctors. Does Wifie feel -strong and well? I fear my poor Queenie has had a dreadful -time of it, and our poor little child also. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR OWN LOVING KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>January</i> 28, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN DEAREST QUEENIE, I did not like to write direct, -lest there should be any mistake, especially as my paper is not -very suitable. It looks as if they were going to keep me here -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P143"></a>143}</span> -for a while longer, probably till a month or so after the -opening of session, in order that they may get their new rules -more easily. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I do not know what to say, my darling, about your going -to Brighton, but Queenie will decide best for herself. I hope -Wifie will not feel much worried about not seeing me so soon -as she hoped. Her husband is very well indeed, and in the -best of spirits. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I do not like your going to London so often, it may hurt -you. Is there any address you could get nearer home, so that -you would not have to go so far? -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -My poor little Wifie, I wish I could be with you, but -Queenie must be good and take care of herself. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -It looks to-day as if D. would go out soon; in that case it -would facilitate our release. YOUR OWN KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>January</i> 31, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Have received your two letters postmarked E. Be cautious -about writing for a few days. I am very well, and trust my -darling is well. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Rumours about legal adviser being arrested, but will send -you another address to-morrow. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>February</i> 2, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—Have just received your third letter -with E. postmark—shall write you to-morrow direct so as to -avoid for you the fatigue of going to London. The writing -between the lines comes out perfectly, and you need at no -time write more heavily. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -With best love and urgent request that my darling will take -care of herself. YOUR OWN KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>February</i> 3, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—You really must try and sleep properly -at night and stop worrying yourself about me. I can assure -my darling there is nothing to feel unhappy about so far as my -health goes. I really cannot remember when I have ever felt -so well in my life. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -It is very very hard not to be able to see each other, and -that my poor Wifie should not have her husband with her -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P144"></a>144}</span> -now—I think after this letter I shall be able to write you a -few lines occasionally home, so as to save Wifie going to -London, but if she writes to me in the same way she must be -very careful and write very lightly and between the lines. A -gold pen is, I think, better than a quill. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The alarm about the legal adviser has blown over, so -Queenie may direct as usual. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The Paris failures don't concern us in any way, as -everything is secure.[<a id="chap15fn1text"></a><a href="#chap15fn1">1</a>] -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Give my best love to our little child, and take good care -of yourself and it for my sake. YOUR OWN HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>February</i> 10, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—I have received your note postmarked -7th, but have not had time to read it yet. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I hope my darling will take better care of herself; that -journey to London in the fog was most dangerous for her. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I think that we shall probably be released by the middle -of March, as it will be known then which way the tenants -intend to go, and we shall be able to decide whether it is -worth our while remaining here any longer. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -How does Queenie intend letting her husband know how -she is? -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR OWN LOVING KING -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>February</i> 14.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN DARLING QUEENIE,—To-day I have written you -direct, sending a few words between the lines, just to see how -it will answer. I find that rubbing with blotting paper after -the words are dry takes away any glistening or appearance of -letters. My own Wifie had best not try writing direct here, -but send all her letters as usual, and continue to do so. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The note I have just written goes out through a warder, and -I think I shall always be able to manage in that way, but in -case Queenie should get a letter from me through the Governor -she will see it marked with his initials on the top left-hand -corner, and in that case she might write me a commonplace -letter direct here, but nothing between the lines. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Wifie is very good indeed to write her husband such beautiful -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P145"></a>145}</span> -letters; if she only knew what a pleasure and happiness -every word from her is to her husband it might make her -feel a little less unhappy. I am very much troubled about -my darling having become so thin, and fear that you have -suffered a great deal more than you have ever told me, and that -you are not strong. I often reproach myself for having been -so cruel to my own love in staying so long away from her that -time, which has led to such a long, long separation. I was -dragged into that Kildare engagement, otherwise I should -have been safe with Wifie. Until then I had settled that I -should leave Ireland after Wexford. It would, however, have -been very difficult for me to have kept out of the country -even if I had left then, and on the whole I hope it will turn -out all for the best. At least, I am very glad that the days -of platform speeches have gone by and are not likely to return. -I cannot describe to you the disgust I always felt with those -meetings, knowing as I did how hollow and wanting in solidity -everything connected with the movement was. When I was -arrested I did not think the movement would have survived -a month, but this wretched Government have such a fashion -for doing things by halves that it has managed to keep things -going in several of the counties up till now. However, next -month, when the seeding time comes, will probably see the end -of all things and our speedy release. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I hope Wifie has got her house in London; I am exceedingly -anxious about those long journeys to London for you, -my own. Your husband is very well indeed, and is, I think, -actually beginning to grow fat! -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I think Queenie ought to congratulate me at being away -from the House instead of pitying me. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -When I get out I hope to have a good long rest with my -own little Wifie somewhere, and to listen to the waves breaking -as we used those mornings of spring last May. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR OWN LOVING HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>February</i> 17, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—I had written my Queenie a nice long -letter which she should have liked very much, but an alarm -came before my messenger arrived that we were all going -to be searched, and I was obliged to burn it. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P146"></a>146}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I intend to try and send you a letter direct, written -between the lines—I find that by rubbing the words after they -are dry it removes all the glistening appearance. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Queenie had best not write me direct at any time, but she -can send me a word in the usual way as soon as she is able to -tell me how she is. Your King will wait very anxiously for -that word. Oh, my Queenie, do take care of yourself, and do -not run any risk by remaining at E. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -It is exceedingly likely that we shall all be released about -the end of March, as then the lading time comes, and the -tenants will have to decide whether they will pay or not, and -as the majority have decided to pay already it is most likely -the minority will then follow suit. YOUR OWN KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>February</i> 17, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN DARLING QUEENIE,—I cannot describe to you what -a relief your little note was that everything was quite right. -Oh, my Wifie, when I had your two short messages of the -14th your poor husband burst into tears and could not hold -up his head or think of anything until my darling's note arrived -that everything was right. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -My own, you must be very good and quiet until you are -quite strong again, and do not be in a hurry to get up. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I have only just a minute to close this as my Mercury is -waiting. YOUR OWN LOVING HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -My baby was born on February 16th, 1882. I was -very ill, but the joy of possessing Parnell's child carried -me through my trouble. She was a beautiful baby, -apparently strong and healthy—for the first few weeks—and -with the brown eyes of her father. This child of tragedy -rarely cried, but lay watching me with eyes thoughtful -and searching beyond the possibility of her little life. I -used to seek in hers for the fires always smouldering in -the depths of her father's eyes, but could not get beyond -that curious gravity and understanding in them, lightened -only by the little smile she gave when I came near. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="t3"> -* * * * * * -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P147"></a>147}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>March</i> 5, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—It is so long since I have heard -from you that I sometimes wonder whether you have quite -forgotten me. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -In case you see any of my friends who may inquire after -me, will you kindly tell them that I am very well, and that -there is no truth in the stupid rumour which appeared in -some of the London papers about the seven days' solitary -confinement—I was merely prevented from receiving or sending -letters for a week; the latter portion of the sentence did -not trouble me much, as I am an even worse correspondent in -here than when I was outside. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I think you will scarcely know me when you see me again, -I have become so fat. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I have not heard from your sister for a great many months; -in fact have only had one letter from her since I have been -here. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Believe me, yours very truly, CHAS. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>March</i> 16, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN DARLING QUEENIE,—You are very good to your -husband in writing so often and so lovingly to your King, -even when you must have been suffering terribly. I cannot -describe to my little Wifie how hopeless and utterly miserable -I felt until your little note came that all was quite right. -I am very happy, my own, that our little daughter pleases -you, and that you are not too much disappointed, and that -she is strong and good-tempered. Does Queenie think she -will be too big? I shall love her very much better than if it -had been a son; indeed, my darling, I do love her very much -already, and feel very much like a father. What do you intend -to call her? -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Will you not give her papa's best love and innumerable -kisses? -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I have been arranging a little happiness, I hope, for -Queenie, as soon as she is strong and well enough to come -over here and can manage it. I have been training up Captain -Barlow, the chairman of the Prisons Board, to allow me to -see my married sisters in private. To-day I got him to give -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P148"></a>148}</span> -me a private visit with one of them, Mrs. Dickinson, for the first -time, and I did so with the intention of passing Queenie off -as another married sister after a time. Wifie will then be -able to come and see for herself how well her husband looks, -and how happy and comfortable he is. I don't know whether -they intend to move me or not, and do not like to guess, but -wherever I go I shall be probably very well off. The dusting -they got in the House the other night about treatment of the -rank and file will do them good. I am told that all the police -in the King's County were drafted into Tullamore and put -into plain clothes to form an audience for Forster. Shall -send Wifie my weight to-morrow with certificate of chief -warder so that you may believe it. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Do you remember what it was the last time? I think -Wifie has the ticket, and that it was about twelve stone. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I hear from all over the country that the tenants are -everywhere settling, so we shall be probably out in a couple of -months, unless we are kept to make sure that they pay the -next time. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I hope my own love will take good care of herself and not -try to go to London too soon. I want Queenie when I see her -to be an even younger little Wifie than when I gave her that -last kiss. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The idea of nursing our little daughter was too preposterous. -Do, my own darling, think of yourself and take great, -great care of your husband's own little Wifie. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Good-night, my own darling Queenie. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR LOVING HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>March</i> 23, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN DARLING WIFIE,—I have only just got an opportunity -of sending my Queenie a few lines, and will write a -nice long letter to-night. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -No letter came to me from you between that dated -March 14 and the two of March 20. A reference to his[<a id="chap15fn2text"></a><a href="#chap15fn2">2</a>] -return from Paris makes me think that you may have sent me -one between, informing me that he had gone, which I did -not receive. If you think one has been intercepted write in -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P149"></a>149}</span> -future to Mr. W. Kerr, Casino, Rathdrum, and they will -reach me safely, otherwise no change need be made. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The letter written between the lines, of which I spoke, -was that refused by the warder, and I did not send it. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Mrs. S. has written me that she has "seen you recently," -and that you "have not left your room," assuming that -I know all about it. What am I to say to her? -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I have not been weighed yet, but shall try to-day and send -my own darling the true weight. It must be considerably -more than 12-5. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -My beautiful little Wifie must continue to take great care -of herself and not go too often to town. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR OWN LOVING KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>March</i> 24, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—Since writing you yesterday have -received your letter dated 17th, which had accidentally gone -astray, so if there is no other letter which I ought to have -got you can send to the same address as usual. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR OWN KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>March</i> 27, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN DARLING QUEENIE,—I am very anxious about our -little daughter. Is it dangerous? -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Was weighed yesterday—12 st. 7 lb. Have certainly gained -five or six pounds since I have been here. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -How did Wifie find out I had grown a beard? -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR OWN LOVING KING. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I don't think we shall be moved. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>March</i> 29, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN DARLING LITTLE WIFIE,—I am very much relieved -to hear that our little child is better, and is likely to be all -right soon; but fear my poor Queenie must have been exhausted -by all that hunting about for nurses. I cannot consent to -Wifie turning nurse even when brown eyes do come. She is -much too good and beautiful for anything of the kind. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Do you remember a small pair of scissors with fine points -that Queenie once gave me in London? I have got them -still, and cut my cigar with them every morning. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P150"></a>150}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Shall write Mrs. —— as you suggest, and say how sorry to -hear you had not left your room, and that I had seen the -event in the <i>Times</i> and hoped you would soon be quite well -again. If my own can make an arrangement now for him[<a id="chap15fn3text"></a><a href="#chap15fn3">3</a>] -to keep away, I think she ought to do so. It will be too -intolerable having him about always. When I see Wifie again or -am released, I can consider the situation, but until then, if -you can you had best make some arrangement. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Wifie must not be frightened at the vapourings of the -Government yesterday; they amount to nothing, and they -know perfectly well that neither I nor any of my friends -outside have sanctioned in any way certain recent deplorable -occurrences. They are simply the result of leaving the people -without guidance and appear to be quite spontaneous. In any -case the country is likely to quiet down as the days get longer -and the crops commence to spring up. D. is to be released -immediately the House adjourns for Easter, and after a time, -when they find nothing happening as a consequence of his -release, they will probably take courage and let me out also. -Anyhow this Government are going down the hill very fast, -and are not likely to last more than another session, and we -will take care that if they once go out they shall not come in -again very quickly. My own loveliest Wifie, I do not think -they intend moving me. YOUR LOVING HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>March</i> 30. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The London correspondent of <i>Freeman</i> is very ignorant. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -March 30, 1882. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN LITTLE WIFIE,—The letter posted at Bexley -reached me all right after it had gone astray for two or three -days. Queenie's of 28th has also reached me. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I suppose you did not address one to Casino, as I have -had none from there. I wrote yesterday to say that I think -you had best make some arrangement about him pending -my release, and when that takes place we can consider further. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I will let my darling see me any time as soon as she is -quite strong again. We are going to have a weekly biography -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P151"></a>151}</span> -of doubtful Irish members in <i>Irishman</i> or rather <i>United -Ireland</i> which will come out again shortly in such a form as to -save it from seizure. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -If Queenie sends me some of our daughter's hair I will put -it in the locket I have with Wifie's. Would Sophie make a -nice second name? It was the name of one of my sisters whom -I was said to be most like of the family; but possibly it might -make suspicions. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am very anxious about my darling going to London so -often; it must be very bad for you. You may try your next -letter upon ordinary paper, unglazed, and do not crowd what -you write in ordinary ink into one little space in the middle of -the sheet. After the solution has dried if you rub over the -letters with an ink eraser it will remove all the glistening and -appearance of letters. I wonder they have never opened -any of them, but they may do it at any time. It would not -hurt me in any way as I do not use it for any other purpose. -Unless, indeed, they sent it to a certain person. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Queenie must not be alarmed about stupid rumours in the -papers. You know what these liners are, and the <i>Freeman</i> -agent in London is singularly stupid and badly informed. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR LOVING HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>April</i> 5, 1883.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN DEAREST WIFIE,—I think it very likely that something -will be done by the Government shortly on the arrears -question. If this be so, things will undoubtedly quiet down -a great deal, and it will give us an opportunity of coming to -some arrangement. I do not in the least apprehend that any -further steps will be taken against me in any case, though, -of course, they would eagerly grasp at the slightest thing in -order to try and throw discredit on me. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -So far as I can judge, the number of outrages has diminished -very materially during the last two or three weeks, and -is likely to continue decreasing. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -My own Wifie must remember that I was only 12 st. 2 lb. when -I came here, as I had fallen away very much after I left -her, and that I have got back 5 lb. since, notwithstanding -my illness, which left me very thin indeed. Poor little Queenie -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P152"></a>152}</span> -must be greatly troubled and anxious at all the rumours she -hears, but she need not regard any of them; she knows what -newspaper men are. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Give my best love and ever so many kisses to our little -daughter. I am very much troubled about her health, and -hope it will not make her permanently delicate. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am longing very very much to see my own Wifie. I love -you, my darling, more and more every day, and I should feel -quite reconciled to giving up politics for ever and living with -my sweet Katie all by ourselves away from everybody and -everything. I do not think anything will ever induce me -to speak from a platform again. I always disliked it -excessively, but I should loathe it now. Wifie must not, however, -suppose that I am annoyed with the way things have gone. -On the contrary, everything has succeeded remarkably, and -much better than anybody could have expected. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -It is thought that D.[<a id="chap15fn4text"></a><a href="#chap15fn4">4</a>] will be released to-morrow.—Good-night, -my own Wifie. YOUR LOVING HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>April</i> 7, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN DEAREST WIFIE,—I am so happy from receiving -your letter of the 5th to-day, although part of what you say -about our daughter makes me very anxious indeed. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I hope the poor little thing will soon get over it. Her -hair is absolutely lovely. I am so glad it is more like Queenie's -than mine, although there is enough of mine in it to spoil it -somewhat and render it less beautiful than Wifie's. Still, -there is a splendid golden tint in it which is quite exceptional. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Wifie need not feel at all anxious about me or anything -which the Government are likely to do or be able to do. -Although there have been one or two bad events things are -getting much quieter every day. D. is going abroad and will -not even appear in the House for a couple of months. My -mother's health has, I fear, become very much broken latterly, -and after a time I think of applying to go over to see her, but -I must try and get O. K.[<a id="chap15fn5text"></a><a href="#chap15fn5">5</a>] out first. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am still keeping very well, although have missed the -ball-playing very much for the last three weeks, as O. K., -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P153"></a>153}</span> -who used to play with me, has been ill. I think my weight -is very good considering the hard exercise I have been taking -and the good condition I am in. I hope my precious one is -getting strong again and that she will have some good news -to tell me of our little daughter when she writes next. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR OWN LOVING HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -I will not speak of my anguish when I found that the -child of my love was slowly dying, and that the doctors -I called in could do nothing for her. Slowly she faded -from me, daily gaining in that far-reaching expression -of understanding that dying children have so strongly, -and my pain was the greater in that I feared her father -would never see her now. -</p> - -<p> -Willie was very good; I told him my baby was dying -and I must be left alone. He had no suspicion of the -truth, and only stipulated that the child should be -baptized at once—urged thereto, I think, by his mother and -sister. I had no objection to this. Parnell and I had -long before agreed that it would be safer to have the child -christened as a Catholic, and he had no feeling at all -against the Catholic religion, considering, indeed, that for -those who required a religion it was an admirable one. I -made an altar of flowers in my drawing-room, as the -child was much too ill to be taken to church, and there -the priest, Father Hart, came and baptized Sophie Claude. -Sophie, after Parnell's sister, Claude, after Lord Truro, -an old friend of mine. -</p> - -<p> -A few days before the death of my baby I had the -unspeakable comfort of knowing that Parnell could come -to me for a few hours and perhaps see his child while -she lived. His nephew, son of his sister Delia -(Mrs. Thomson), had died in Paris, and the authorities gave -Parnell leave on "parole" to attend the young man's -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P154"></a>154}</span> -funeral. A brilliant, handsome fellow, great sympathy -was felt with the parents of this only son. -</p> - -<p> -Spring was very early that year, and in the April -morning when the air was fragrant with the sweet freshness -of the spring flowers and the very breath of life was -in the wind, Parnell came to me and I put his dying child -into his arms. -</p> - -<p> -That evening he had to go on to Paris. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - GRAND HOTEL,<br /> - 12 BOULEVARD DES CAPUCINES, PARIS.<br /> - <i>Thursday, April</i> 13, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—I hope to leave Paris on Saturday -morning. The doctor says the fever is not infectious, but I -doubt it very much, as a great many people amongst the -American colony are having it just now. I am staying here, -but I am obliged to go to the house, which has been well -disinfected, to see my sister, who is very much cut up. The -risk to me is a minimum, as I had this fever very badly when -I was young, and they say people very rarely have it a second -time, and then only slightly. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -At all events it is the ordinary typhoid, which doctors -say is not catching. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I shall take a Turkish bath every day I am here, and adopt -other precautions. YOUR OWN LOVING KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - GRAND HOTEL,<br /> - 12 BOULEVARD DES CAPUCINES, PARIS,<br /> - <i>Saturday, April</i> 15, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—I think of leaving Paris to spend -a few days in the south or elsewhere on Monday morning. -Had intended starting this evening, but caught a slight cold -coming over, which the doctor, whom my sister insisted on -seeing me, says is nothing, but think I had best not travel -till Monday. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am very glad that I came over, as my sister is in a very -low state, and my coming has picked her up very much, -believe me, yours always truly, CHARLES S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P155"></a>155}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - GRAND HOTEL,<br /> - 12 BOULEVARD DES CAPUCINES, PARIS,<br /> - <i>Sunday, April</i> 16, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—Having fallen into the hands of -the doctor, he informed me to-day that he was coming again -to-morrow morning, and upon my saying that I wished to -commence my journey to the country to-morrow he said he -would let me go on Tuesday morning. Perhaps it is better so, -as I might catch fresh cold if I started so soon as to-morrow. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I was out a good deal yesterday by the doctor's orders, -and dined with my sister in the evening. She is much better. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -To-day a north wind is blowing, and I shall not go out -much, although my cold is quite gone. I think I caught it -from leaving off a flannel jacket which I used to wear when -asleep in prison. It would have been a bad chest cold had -I not taken two Turkish baths immediately I felt it coming -on. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am staying here under the name of Stewart, and have -not been found out yet.—Yours very sincerely, -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -CHARLES S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -After his nephew's funeral he returned to Eltham, -having, before, telegraphed to Willie to say that he was -coming. He wished to conciliate Willie as much as -possible, and believed that his politics might now prove -useful. -</p> - -<p> -All that night of the 21st April Parnell and Willie -sat up in my dining-room discussing the Irish question, -and bit by bit working out the "Kilmainham Treaty." Willie -wanted me to join them, but I would not leave my -baby, and when the daylight came and they went to lie -down for a few hours' rest before Parnell left for Ireland, -my little one died as my lover stole in to kiss us both and -say good-bye. -</p> - -<p> -Overlooking the valley in the Catholic churchyard at -Chislehurst is her little grave, headed by a granite cross -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P156"></a>156}</span> -and wreathed about with clematis and white roses; and -often as we drove past on our way home through the -summer evenings Parnell would go in to scatter the wild -flowers he had gathered for me over little Sophie's -resting-place. -</p> - -<p> -The following letter from my sister-in-law, Mary -O'Shea, I insert, as proving, I think very conclusively, -that my little one's paternity was utterly unsuspected by -the O'Sheas. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - PARIS, AVENUE WAGRAM 137,<br /> - <i>Sunday, May</i> 21, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -DEAREST KATIE,—We are very pleased to be able to hope -that you are better. How is your dear aunt? We trust she -is better. I cannot express our feelings of affectionate regard -for her, nor can I say adequately how truly we desire her -happiness here and for all eternity in Heaven. She has been -so sweet a friend and so charming in all her ways towards -your dear children, "the butterflies"—most attractive -designation. Dear Lady O'Donnell wrote a rapturous description -of the little creatures. She loved your dear little Claude, -and shared your grief at losing her, but happy child, how -glorious is her existence! What a contrast to ours, we who -must struggle on, working out our salvation in fear and -trembling!..." -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap15fn1"></a> -[<a href="#chap15fn1text">1</a>] An allusion to political funds banked in Paris. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap15fn2"></a> -[<a href="#chap15fn2text">2</a>] Captain O'Shea. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap15fn3"></a> -[<a href="#chap15fn3text">3</a>] Captain O'Shea. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap15fn4"></a> -[<a href="#chap15fn4text">4</a>] Dillon. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap15fn5"></a> -[<a href="#chap15fn5text">5</a>] O'Kelly. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap16"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P157"></a>157}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XVI -<br /> -THE "KILMAINHAM TREATY" -</h3> - -<p class="intro"> - "<i>Shall I say stipulation, King?</i>"<br /> - "<i>No, Queenie, he prefers 'suggestions desirable to be<br /> - entertained!</i>'"—EXTRACT FROM AN OLD DIARY.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Parnell, in accordance with his "parole," returned to -Kilmainham at the end of the term of leave and immediately -formulated the conditions of the arrangement it was -proposed to make with the Government. The draft of -this historic document was as follows:— -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="noindent"> -"KILMAINHAM, April 25th, 1882. -</p> - -<p> -"We think in the first place that no time should be -lost in endeavouring to obtain a satisfactory settlement -of the arrears question, and that the solution proposed in -the Bill standing for second reading to-morrow—Wednesday—would -provide a satisfactory solution, though the -Church Fund would have to be supplemented by a grant -from Imperial resources of probably a million or so. -</p> - -<p> -"Next as regards the permanent amendment of the -Land Act, we consider that the rent-fixing clauses should -be amended to as great an extent as is possible, having -in view the necessity of passing an Amending Bill through -the House of Lords; that leaseholders who have taken -leases either before or since the Act of 1870 should be -permitted to apply to have a fair rent fixed, and that the -purchase clauses should be amended as suggested by the -Bill, the second reading of which will be moved by -Mr. Redmond to-morrow. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P158"></a>158}</span> -</p> - -<p> -"If the Government were to announce their intention -of proposing a satisfactory settlement of the arrears -difficulty as indicated above, we on our part would make it -known that the No Rent manifesto was withdrawn, and -we should advise the tenants to settle with their landlords; -we should also then be in a better position than we -ever occupied before to make our exertions effective in -putting a stop to the outrages which are unhappily of -late so prevalent. -</p> - -<p> -"If the result of the arrears settlement and the further -ameliorative measures suggested above were the material -diminution of outrages before the end of the session, and -the prospect of the return of the country after a time to -something like a normal condition, we should hope that -the Government would allow the Coercion Act to lapse, -and govern the country by the same laws as in England." -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Willie wrote to Gladstone on April 13th, and two days -after Gladstone replied promising to communicate with -Forster. The rest of the letter was taken up with compliments -to Willie, and some carefully-worded phrases which -really meant that Gladstone was prepared to go to very -great lengths indeed to quiet Ireland and to keep her -quiet. -</p> - -<p> -Willie sent to Chamberlain a copy of his letter to -Gladstone. Chamberlain was impressed and guarded. He -welcomed negotiations, but pointed out that if the -Government were going to smile on the Irish Party the Irish -Party must smile on the Government. With some -amount of exaggerated fervour he mooted the possibility -of an anti-Irish movement comparable with the anti-Semitic -movement abroad. That, he pointed out, would -be bad for everybody, and accordingly he welcomed the -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P159"></a>159}</span> -olive branch. In the sequel, of course, Chamberlain took -a very active part in pressing for the release of Parnell. -While on "parole," and after his return from Paris, -Parnell entered into communication with Mr. Justin -McCarthy with regard to the proposed "Treaty," and the -following letter was written from Eltham:— -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>Saturday, April</i> 22, 1882. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MCCARTHY,—I have arrived in England, and will -call to see you to-morrow afternoon some time. I cannot -at present give you the exact hour, but would it be too much -to ask you to remain at home after three o'clock? I trust -you will have some news of result of Cabinet to-day.—Yours -very truly, C. S. P. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -This letter was followed up by one from Kilmainham. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -(<i>Confidential.</i>) -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - KILMAINHAM,<br /> - <i>April</i> 25, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MCCARTHY,—I send you a letter embodying our -conversation, and which, if you think it desirable, you might -take the earliest opportunity of showing to Chamberlain. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Do not let it out of your hands, but if he wishes you might -give him a copy of the body of it.—Yours very truly, -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -CHARLES S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -(Enclosure.) -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -The enclosure was identical with the draft treaty—apart -from a few verbal alterations of which the chief was -the substitution of "an Amendment Bill" for an "Amending -Bill" in the second paragraph. -</p> - -<p class="t3"> -* * * * * * -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>Tuesday, April</i> 25, 1882. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—I enclose you a letter. What do you -think I had best say to it?[<a id="chap16fn1text"></a><a href="#chap16fn1">1</a>] -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P160"></a>160}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I told my friend in Jermyn Street what steps to take, so -that the matter referred to in enclosed will probably go on -all right without, or with, the further participation of the -writer. I thought of writing him that I had received his note -too late to reply for Wednesday, but that in any case my letter -from Paris ought to be sufficient indication of confidence. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I missed nine train on Sunday and came on by twelve, -sleeping at Crewe and getting on board mail boat before mail -train arrived. Everything went off very nicely and quietly, -and I have not caught any cold this time. O. K. had aired -my bed very carefully, etc., and they were all very glad to -see me again, with the exception of the authorities. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I have been thinking all day of how desolate and lonely -my Queenie must be in her great sorrow. I wish so much that -I might have stayed to comfort her, but I have indeed every -hope and confidence that our separation will not now last -very long. It is too terrible to think that on this the saddest -day[<a id="chap16fn2text"></a><a href="#chap16fn2">2</a>] of all others—and, let us hope, the saddest that we both -shall ever see again—my Wifie should have nobody with her. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Good-bye, my own darling, YOUR LOVING KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Mr. Parnell wrote as follows to Captain O'Shea:— -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - KILMAINHAM,<br /> - <i>April</i> 28.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I was very sorry that you had left Albert Mansions before -I reached London from Eltham, as I had wished to tell you -that after our conversation I had made up my mind that it -would be proper for me to put Mr. McCarthy in possession of -the views which I had previously communicated to you. I -desire to impress upon you the absolute necessity of a settlement -of the arrears question which will leave no recurring -sore connected with it behind, and which will enable us to -show the smaller tenantry that they have been treated with -justice and some generosity. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The proposal you have described to me as suggested in -some quarters, of making a loan, over however many years -the payment might be spread, should be absolutely rejected, -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P161"></a>161}</span> -for reasons which I have already fully explained to you. If -the arrears question be settled upon the lines indicated by us, -I have every confidence—a confidence shared by my colleagues—that -the exertions which we should be able to make strenuously -and unremittingly would be effective in stopping outrages -and intimidation of all kinds. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -As regards permanent legislation of an ameliorative -character, I may say that the views which you always shared with -me as to the admission of leaseholders to the fair rent clauses -of the Act are more confirmed than ever. So long as the -flower of the Irish peasantry are kept outside the Act there -cannot be any permanent settlement of the land question, -which we all so much desire. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I should also strongly hope that some compromise might -be arrived at this season with regard to the amendment of -the tenure clauses. It is unnecessary for me to dwell upon -the enormous advantages to be derived from the full extension -of the purchase clauses, which now seem practically to have -been adopted by all parties. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The accomplishment of the programme I have sketched -would, in my judgment, be regarded by the country as a -practical settlement of the land question, and would, I feel -sure, enable us to co-operate cordially for the future with -the Liberal Party in forwarding Liberal principles; so that -the Government, at the end of the session, would, from the -state of the country, feel themselves thoroughly justified in -dispensing with further coercive measures.—Yours very truly, -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -C. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>Saturday, April</i> 30, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—He[<a id="chap16fn3text"></a><a href="#chap16fn3">3</a>] came over to see me, so I thought -it best to give him a letter, as he would have been dreadfully -mortified if he had had nothing to show. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Everything is going very well, and I hope will continue -straight. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Received two letters from my own lovie yesterday. -Do, my own, keep up as much as you can. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR OWN KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P162"></a>162}</span> -</p> - -<p> -I had reason to know, from various sources of information -kept open by me on Parnell's behalf during his -imprisonment, that the Government would liberate him -with considerable relief if given any surety of conciliatory -policy on his part. Parnell at liberty was a disturbing -force, and the culminating embarrassment of English -government in Ireland, but Parnell in prison had become -merely a concentrated embarrassment in that there was -now no governmental possibility of dealing with the -reactionary spirit he had let loose in Ireland—a spirit that -was at least better controllable as a weapon in Parnell's -hand than as the scattered and absolutely irresponsible -fulminations, unreasoning and motiveless, of lawless -desperadoes. -</p> - -<p> -With Parnell as her chief the Ireland he had roused -might indeed be a scourge of whips to the British -Government, but without him this Ireland was undoubtedly a -scourge of scorpions. -</p> - -<p> -So Parnell came out of Kilmainham on the treaty -arranged at Eltham, and as Willie was to be the official -bearer of the olive branch to the Government, he went -over to see Parnell on his return to Kilmainham and to -get from him a letter for his own satisfaction, as he said -Parnell was "so shifty" he could not be trusted to carry -out any agreement that was not in writing, and the letter -was to set forth the various modifications of his policy of -obstruction that he would undertake to observe on his -(immediate) liberation and assurance of future concessions -to Ireland. This letter had in substance been written at -Eltham, but Parnell had stipulated for a few days to -consider the matter further and would not give Willie his -final decision then. On the other side he had to consider -that any treaty with the Government would place him in -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P163"></a>163}</span> -a very awkward position with the Land League and would -certainly affect the financial aid to the Irish cause so -generously contributed by America. It was also certain, -he knew, that the Government would be obliged, in either -case, to liberate him with the other Irish political prisoners -at no distant period, and this without his placing himself -under any obligation at all to the Government. This would -please the extreme party of his followers far better, even -though it would keep open the way to further outrage -and crime in Ireland. -</p> - -<p> -I had never before ventured to influence Parnell in any -way politically; but now I greatly dreaded for him this -latter policy of the extremists and the perpetual strain of -watchfulness and control it engendered—with the Coercion -Laws such a policy must, in the long run, inevitably -produce, unless, indeed, England was prepared to yield to -force; an unthinkable proposition. -</p> - -<p> -So now I threw the whole strength of my influence on -the side of the treaty of conciliation and urged upon him -the greater good for Ireland likely to accrue in the making -by him of immediate peace. I was very anxious that he -should "reign" by constitutional means, and had every -hope of establishing such amicable communications -between him and the Government as would lead to that end. -But he had this great force now to reckon with—the force -of centuries of cruelty, wrong, and oppression that had -bred an irresponsibility and callous disregard of suffering, -nay, rather a vindictive madness and lust of destruction in -Ireland. In his seeking for a weapon to use for the -betterment of England's government of Ireland Parnell had -discovered this underlying force of hate, and, using the -influence of his personality, he strove to direct it into the -service of the Ireland that he loved. But he afterwards -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P164"></a>164}</span> -stood appalled at the intensity of the passion of hate that -he had loosed, and no one but he—and I with him—knew -the awful strength of that force of destruction that was -only held in subservience by the sheer dominance of his -will. He replied to my pleadings: "Yes, I hold them now -with my back to the wall, but if I turn to the Government -I turn my back to them—and then——?" -</p> - -<p> -But my great fear for him won his decision for peace, -and he wrote and signed the "letter" that Willie wanted -to take to the Government. -</p> - -<p> -The Prime Minister had been prepared for its coming, -and made known that such a treaty of peace would be -acceptable. Willie took this letter to Forster, who knew -of no understanding with the Prime Minister, and was -absolutely against any such negotiations. He scoffed at -the letter, at its terms, and at Willie for bringing it, but -the latter pointed out that the matter was one for the -Prime Minister's consideration alone, and Mr. Forster -was bound to submit it to him without delay. He of course -did so, but with confidence as to its rejection and, on its -immediate acceptance and the liberation of Parnell, -resigned his office as Chief Secretary for Ireland. -</p> - -<p> -Lord Cowper resigned with him. This was on the -2nd of May. On the 26th of April discussion on -Mr. Redmond's Land Bill was started in the House of -Commons. This Bill, which had been drafted by Parnell -in Kilmainham, proposed to amend the Land Act of 1881 -in four main particulars: (1) Arrears of excessive rent; -(2) admission of leaseholders to the benefit of the Land -Court; (3) amendment of tenure clauses; (4) extension -of purchase clauses by the advance from the State of the -whole of the purchase money. Mr. Gladstone applauded -the Irish Party and opposed the Bill. He practically -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P165"></a>165}</span> -admitted that recent decisions of the Irish judges were -nullifying the effect of the tenure clauses, but he did not -want yet to reopen the question. He recognized, -however, the necessity of dealing with "Arrears." -</p> - -<p> -When, on May 2nd, he announced to the House the -resignation of Lord Cowper and Mr. Forster and the -decision of the Cabinet to release the three Irish M.P.'s -who had been in Kilmainham since October, he definitely -promised an Arrears Bill, and stated that there was no -present intention to renew the Coercion Act. So, with -this public promise of Mr. Gladstone, and with the tacit -understanding that Parnell would "slow down the agitation" -Parnell came out of gaol. "It is an act," averred -Mr. Gladstone, "done without any negotiation, promise, -or engagement whatever." -</p> - -<p> -Two days later Forster denounced the action of the -Cabinet. He believed that the unconditioned release of -the Irish leaders would tend to the encouragement of -crime. As he went on to justify the arrests Parnell -entered the House and took his seat. The Irish cheered -wildly. Then Forster continued: "The real reason why -these gentlemen were arrested ... was because they were -trying to carry out their will—'their unwritten law' -... by working the ruin and the injury of the Queen's -subjects by intimidation of one kind or another. If -Mr. Parnell had not been placed in Kilmainham he would -very quickly have become in reality what he was called -by many of his friends—the King of Ireland." He did -not say Parnell and his friends had directly incited, what -they had done was far more dangerous. They had -established a system of intimidation.... They should have -been released after a public promise had been given, or -when Ireland was quiet, or fresh powers had been granted -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P166"></a>166}</span> -to the Government. "A surrender is bad, a compromise -or arrangement is worse.... If all England cannot -govern the Member for Cork then let us acknowledge he -is the greatest power in Ireland to-day." -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Gladstone, in reply, said he had no right to -humiliate Parnell by demanding a penitential confession -of guilt, and once more he disclaimed that the release was -the result of a bargain. Parnell, following him, asserted—what -was the truth—that no mention of his release was -made by him in any written or oral communication with -his friends. -</p> - -<p> -The same night, May 4th, was announced the appointment -of Lord Spencer as Lord-Lieutenant and Lord -Frederick Cavendish as Chief Secretary. The post had -first been offered to Sir Charles Dilke, but he had refused -the offer. It is stated that in certain quarters the name of -Mr. Chamberlain had been mentioned, and that he had -signified his willingness to accept the offer if it were made. -Apparently it was not made. We cannot avoid speculating -what would have happened had he gone to Ireland. -He had taken a leading part in the release of Parnell; -would that have saved him—since the Phoenix Park -murderers did not intend to kill Lord Frederick? And if -Mr. Chamberlain had been killed in May, 1882, what other -course might British politics have taken? Would Tariff -Reform ever have been a Tory election cry? Would there -have been no Boer War? Would the Tories not have -enjoyed that long term of office which for years kept the -question of Home Rule in abeyance? It were foolish to -say yes or no to any of these questions, but at least we -may say that the fact Mr. Chamberlain was not asked to -become Irish Secretary in 1882 is one of the most -momentous in British politics. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P167"></a>167}</span> -</p> - -<p> -While in Kilmainham Parnell had found it absolutely -impossible to control in any way the incitements to crime -and the wild expenditure of the Ladies' Land League. -His sister, Anna Parnell, was at the head of this marvellous -organization which she spread in well-ordered -ramifications throughout the country. Her generalship was -magnificent and complete, and there appeared to be no -detail of this revolutionary army with which she was not -completely familiar and completely determined to control. -Parnell wrote to her again and again from prison, pointing -out the crass folly of the criminality for which the -Ladies' League, now, solely existed. He even urged the -Governmental representations made to him for the -suppression of this league of anarchy, and the hopeless -financial position it was creating—the estimated weekly -expenditure of these ladies running into thousands of -pounds; money contributed chiefly by America for the -fighting policy of the Irish Party—but to no purpose. -</p> - -<p> -The fanatic spirit in these ladies was extreme; in -Anna Parnell it was abnormal, and Parnell saw no way -of saving her, or the country, from her folly but by -fulfilling his threat of vetoing the payment of another penny -to the Ladies' Land League. This he then did, and thus -automatically broke up this wild army of mercenaries. -Anna Parnell never forgave her brother for this act, and -to the last day of his life refused to hold any communication -with him again. Parnell had much family affection, -and many times made overtures of peace to his sister, of -whom he was really fond, and for whose strength of mind -and will he had much respect. On two occasions he met -her accidentally and tried to speak to her, but she resolutely -turned from him and refused any reply to the letters -he wrote her. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap16fn1"></a> -[<a href="#chap16fn1text">1</a>] From Captain O'Shea <i>re</i> "Kilmainham Treaty." -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap16fn2"></a> -[<a href="#chap16fn2text">2</a>] The day of our little daughter's funeral. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap16fn3"></a> -[<a href="#chap16fn3text">3</a>] Captain O'Shea. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap17"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P168"></a>168}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XVII -<br /> -THE PHOENIX PARK MURDERS AND AFTER -</h3> - -<p class="poem"> - "<i>The blood more stirs<br /> - To rouse a lion than to start a hare.</i>"<br /> - —SHAKESPEARE.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -On Parnell's release from Kilmainham he returned to me -at Eltham, and on May 6, 1882, went to Weymouth to -welcome Michael Davitt, who came out of Portland prison -on that day. He returned to Eltham that Saturday -evening, and the next morning, Sunday, I drove with him -to Blackheath Station, as he had to go to London to see -Davitt and others. At the station I asked him to get me -a newspaper before he left, and waited for it in the -carriage. -</p> - -<p> -From where I sat in the carriage I could see Parnell's -back as he stood just inside the station door. I was -watching him, and he half turned and smiled at me as he opened -the paper—the <i>Sunday Observer</i>—to glance at the news -before he brought it to me. He told me afterwards that -he wanted to see what was said about Michael Davitt. He -had now come to the top of the steps and, as he suddenly -stopped, I noticed a curious rigidity about his arms—raised -in holding the newspaper open. He stood so absolutely -still that I was suddenly frightened, horribly, -sickeningly afraid—of I knew not what, and, leaning forward, -called out, "King, what is it?" Then he came down the -steps to me and, pointing to the headline, said, "Look!" -And I read, "Murder of Lord Frederick Cavendish and -Mr. Burke!" -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P169"></a>169}</span> -</p> - -<p> -I heard the train coming in, and tried to pull myself -together, for the awful significance of the horrible thing -to my lover, just released from Kilmainham on the Treaty, -came home to me with a rush of pain. His face was -ashen, and he stared, frowning heavily, before him, -unconsciously crushing the hand I had slipped into his until -the rings I wore cut and bruised my fingers. -</p> - -<p> -I said to him, "Quick, you must catch this train. See -Davitt and the others as arranged and as many more as -you can find. Go, you will know what to do, but you -must meet them all at once." He turned heavily away, -saying, "I shall resign," and I answered as I ran beside -him to the platform, "No, you are not a coward." -</p> - -<p> -Before I left Blackheath I wired to Willie to bring -Parnell to dinner at Eltham if he could possibly manage -it, and spent one of the most terrible days of my life -considering the effect this awful crime would probably have -upon my lover's career. -</p> - -<p> -Willie came down that evening, Parnell with him. -They were both very gloomy and depressed, and Parnell, -after his greeting of me—as though this were our first -meeting since he came out of prison—sat gazing stonily -before him, only glancing across at Willie with the -stormy flare in his eyes when the latter—who was really -sorry for Parnell, as well as shocked at the murders—said -something that jarred upon him. During dinner -Willie told me of what had been done during the day, of -the absolute horror and consternation of the Irish Party, -of what Mr. Chamberlain had said on hearing of the -murders, and of Parnell's continuous threat, throughout -that awful day, of retiring from public life altogether. -</p> - -<p> -Willie said to me: "I wish you would urge Parnell -not to talk so, Dick; he can't resign his seat now, the -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P170"></a>170}</span> -thing's impossible; he must show that it simply does not -touch him politically in any way." -</p> - -<p> -I turned to Parnell and said: "I do absolutely agree -with Willie about it, Mr. Parnell. It would be throwing -the whole country over and a reflection upon all who joined -in that Treaty." -</p> - -<p> -Parnell at last roused himself and said: "Well, I -will write to the G.O.M.[<a id="chap17fn1text"></a><a href="#chap17fn1">1</a>] and offer to resign, and abide -by his decision; the thing makes me feel hopeless of -doing any good." -</p> - -<p> -On the wall of the dining-room where we sat hung a -large engraving of the "House" of 1880. All the -members of that Parliament were in the picture, and among -them, of course, Mr. Parnell and Captain O'Shea. As -the maid turned to leave the room, after placing the coffee -tray on a little side table, this picture, which hung -immediately behind Parnell, fell to the floor with a crash that, -in the state of nervous tension we were all in, brought us -to our feet in alarm. Willie's chair overturned as he -jumped up; but Parnell's was steady, held in a grip that -showed his knuckles white as he held it slightly raised off -the floor, while he stood, half turned, staring at the picture -as it lay among the splintered glass. -</p> - -<p> -Willie laughed, and, coming to help the parlourmaid -to pick up the picture, exclaimed: "There goes Home -Rule, Parnell!" But he also had in him a slight dash -of the superstition that was so highly developed in -Parnell's fatalistic nature, and his smile turned to gravity as -he glanced at Parnell's tense expression and listened to -my hasty explanation of the fall: "Perhaps the wire was -rotten, or the maid had shaken the picture as she -passed!" Parnell took the loose end of the wire in both hands and -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P171"></a>171}</span> -tried to break it. He could not. Willie said: "Mary -(the parlourmaid) was the other side of the room, so she -could not have shaken it." Parnell said nothing, and we -began to speak of other things. -</p> - -<p> -Afterwards I said to him: "You did not really mind -about that picture, did you? It was only a rotten wire!" -and he answered: "It was an omen, I think, darling, but -for whom? Willie or me?" and when I told him I -wished he would not talk such nonsense, and that I did -not believe in omens or want any falling pictures to -be "omens" for either of them, he smiled and said -no more. -</p> - -<p> -The immediate consequence of the Phoenix Park -murders was the introduction of a Crimes Bill by Sir -William Harcourt on May 11th. Parnell was not -approached on the subject. He was given no opportunity -of criticizing the proposals and of suggesting any more -moderate measure which might have appealed to that -great body of Irish Nationalists who viewed the -murders with horror. The new Bill went roughshod -over Irish opinion, and the conciliatory effect of the -Arrears Bill, introduced a few days later, was altogether -marred. -</p> - -<p> -The second reading of the latter measure was moved -by Mr. Gladstone on May 22nd. In the course of his -speech he said: "Eviction in the exercise of a legal right -may be to the prejudice of your neighbours, may involve -the highest reprehension, may even imply deep moral -guilt. There may be outrages which—all things -considered, the persons and the facts—may be less guilty in -the sight of God than evictions." -</p> - -<p> -The Bill was bitterly opposed by the Tory Party. -</p> - -<p> -I had written to Mr. Gladstone expressing a wish that -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P172"></a>172}</span> -he should see Mr. Parnell. He wrote in answer from -Downing Street on May 25th, 1882, declining to do so -in private, though in public he was more than ready to -co-operate with Parnell. -</p> - -<p> -I suggested in reply that we should meet and talk -the matter over, and it was arranged that he should come -to see me at Thomas's Hotel on June 2nd. He arrived -punctually at three o'clock. We had a long talk about -Parnell and about politics—chiefly, of course, as referring -to Ireland. He was extremely agreeable and courteous, -and I remember very well the great charm of manner he -possessed, a charm that struck me afresh at each subsequent -meeting. A natural charm and, no doubt, a natural -insincerity, but one which is such an immense asset in -the career of a great man: that of making others believe—or -wish to believe—that they are on the same plane of -intellect and diplomacy as himself! He was a very great -old man, I thought, as his wonderful eagle's eyes showed -just sufficient admiration in them to savour of homage -without offence. And I may say here that, with all the -perfect courtesy of which, when he chose, he was past -master, he knew before the conclusion of our interview, -and allowed me to know that he knew, what I desired that -he should know—that my personal interest in Parnell was -my only interest in Irish politics. -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Gladstone having agreed that it would be of -considerable convenience to the Government to be in private -and amicable communication with Mr. Parnell, and that -I, whose interests were inseparable from those of the Irish -leader, would be confidently accepted as such intermediary -by him, we parted satisfied, I think, on both sides with the -afternoon's compact. -</p> - -<p> -After this first interview with Mr. Gladstone I had -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P173"></a>173}</span> -frequently to see him at Downing Street—taking him -drafts, clauses, and various proposed amendments (of -Bills affecting Ireland) that Parnell proposed, altered, and -suggested privately to Gladstone before putting them -before the House. Parnell, of course, always intent on -the betterment of the law as affecting Ireland; Gladstone -bargaining for the Irish vote, when without it he would -have lost his majority. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell would sometimes write the rough draft of -what he wished Gladstone to know, or sometimes write -what he had to say in the form of a letter (often dating it -from my house!), but occasionally he would do neither, -as, on more than one important occasion, he said: "I -don't trust that Grand Old Spider farther than I can see -him. Sweetheart, learn this by heart, and let it off at him -yourself." Then I had to take down in my own handwriting -what he wished proposed to Gladstone, and at -the subsequent interview "let it off" at him. Very often -letters were sufficient, and in this case I almost invariably -wrote them, or, if the letter was in Parnell's handwriting -addressed to me, under cover of my envelope, I would -request its return, and this was done; letters intended -for Parnell by Gladstone being invariably addressed -to me. -</p> - -<p> -It was by my suggestion Mr. Gladstone opened these -private negotiations with Mr. Parnell, and I was myself -much amused to find that both these great statesmen were -of one mind as to the danger of such a trusting of one -another as such negotiations necessitated. When I said to -Parnell, "Why not see Gladstone yourself privately, and -get what you can from him, in return for the Irish vote?" -he at once replied that such a proceeding would be fatal to -the "cause," and when I said much the same thing to -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P174"></a>174}</span> -Gladstone at our first interview—which latter was a -brilliant inspiration of Parnell's own—he replied that "such a -proceeding" would be fatal to his position, but, he added, -"it might be advantageous to the Irish leader and myself -if you, Mrs. O'Shea, would accept the thankless office of -go-between, as you suggest. A safe and secret intermediary -might well prove to be of the greatest assistance -to us both in our efforts for the welfare of the country." I -have wondered since which country the G.O.M. had in -his mind as he spoke. -</p> - -<p> -On June 17 and 18, 1882, Gladstone wrote to me. The -letter of the 17th was little more than a formal acknowledgment, -but in his note of the following day he referred -me to something which had passed at our last interview. -He had on that occasion directed my attention to the -proposal to amend certain severe clauses of the Crimes -Act. -</p> - -<p> -Meanwhile the Irish were fighting the Crimes Bill inch -by inch. It had been read a second time on May 25 after -three nights' debate. The most drastic clause, from the -legal point of view, was the suspension of the right of -trial by jury in all grave cases of agrarian crime, which -(and the Government would decide when) would be tried -by a Court of three judges, in such district as the -Attorney-general might decide. Public meetings could be -proclaimed and newspapers suppressed. The police were -vested with power to search private houses and arrest night -wanderers. Finally, and against this the Irish Party -especially protested—magistrates were empowered to -convict summarily on charges of incitement, boycotting, and -membership of a secret society. -</p> - -<p> -This was the iron heel with a vengeance; it took from -the Irish the last vestige of citizen right. Parnell opposed, -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P175"></a>175}</span> -yet not violently; the remembrance of the Phoenix Park -murders held him back. But the speeches of his followers -were bitter in the extreme. "What profit," cried Dillon, -"can you ever expect from governing a nation which -nothing conciliates, and nothing can subdue?" Of all -the fifty Coercion Acts passed in the eighty-eight years -since the Union this was the worst. -</p> - -<p> -The second reading was carried by 383 votes against 45. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell expressed a desire that Gladstone should have -his (Parnell's) views distinctly put before him by me—not -in writing. This did not suit Gladstone. He had no -intention of giving away his hand in regard to the Crimes -Bill, and, in the then temper of his own Party and of the -Conservatives, was not at all desirous of making any -further private concession that would certainly place him -in a too favourable light (as regards this Bill) in the eyes -of the Irishmen. -</p> - -<p> -He was determined not to see me again with reference -to the Crimes Bill, and on June 23 he wrote me to that -effect. It was obvious from the tone of his letter that he -was annoyed by the continued opposition of the Irish -Party, which, from his point of view, only served to -impede the progress of the Arrears Bill. -</p> - -<p> -On one of my visits to Downing Street I told Gladstone -of the inner working of the Ladies' Land League, about -which he was curious. I mentioned to him the enormous -sum these Lady Leaguers had expended and the great -difficulty Parnell had had in suppressing them. When he -heard the sum of their estimated weekly expenditure a -grim smile flitted over his face. "Very satisfactory," he -remarked, "as the ladies have evidently put these -large sums beyond the power of—of the Land League's -expenditure!" -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P176"></a>176}</span> -</p> - -<p> -Gladstone would not sit still when he talked to me, -but liked to pace up and down the long room with me. -On my entry he would rise from his desk to greet me -and, solemnly handing me a chair, would walk down the -room to the door at the end, which was always open when -I entered, close it firmly and, pacing back to the door of -my entry, push it. These preparations always made me -smile—a smile in which he joined as, coming up to me -and offering me his arm, he said: "Do you mind walking -up and down the room, I talk better so." So we paced -up and down while I voiced Parnell's instructions and -listened to the G.O.M.'s views, intentions, and tentative -suggestions, always on my part keeping to "It is -considered that, etc.," in giving Parnell's point, and always -receiving "your friend should, etc.," or "I am prepared to -concede to your friend, etc., in return." -</p> - -<p> -He was so careful in this regard that one day I said: -"What is it you shut up in that room, Mr. Gladstone, -when I come to see you?" -</p> - -<p> -"Persons, or a person, you do not come to see, Mrs. O'Shea. -Only a secretary or so, and occasionally, in these -times of foolish panic, detectives. No," in answer to my -look of inquiry, "no one can overhear a word we say -when we pace up and down like this, and, as you do not -mind it, it refreshes me." -</p> - -<p> -Always as I stood face to face with this Grand Old -Man on leaving, and looked into his slate-coloured eyes, -so like those of an eagle, I experienced a sudden uneasy -feeling, in spite of his gracious courtesy, of how like to a -beautiful bird of prey this old man was: with the piercing, -cruel eyes belying the tender, courteous smile, and how, -relentless as an eagle, men like this had struck and torn -their victims. But to me, personally, he always showed -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P177"></a>177}</span> -the marvellous charm of manner which sent me away -feeling that I was at least a compelling force in the great -game of politics and worthy of the place I held. -</p> - -<p> -The political history of this time has been written many -times, and from various points of view, and in this book -I do not propose to repeat it, but only to record such point -or detail as at the time affected my King in his home life. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap17fn1"></a> -[<a href="#chap17fn1text">1</a>] Gladstone. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap18"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P178"></a>178}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XVIII -<br /> -ENVOY TO GLADSTONE -</h3> - -<p class="intro"> - "<i>Good Cinna, take this paper, and look you, lay it in the<br /> - praetor's chair, where Brutus may but find it!</i>"<br /> - —SHAKESPEARE (JULIUS CÆSAR).<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Negotiations concerning the Crimes Bill were broken off, -but before the end of June, 1882, I was once more acting -as envoy to Gladstone. The following is a characteristic -memorandum drafted by Parnell for transmission by me -to the Prime Minister:— -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="quote"> -Although the Coercion Bill as likely to pass into law is -of such a character as to render it impossible for him to take -any further part in the Irish Land movement, yet he trusts -that the administration of the Act by the Government will -be of such a moderate character as to enable him to co-operate -generally with Mr. G. in Parliament and in the English -constituencies in carrying to a successful end that land legislation -the foundations of which were so broadly laid in the Act of last -session, and in gaining those other measures of general reform -for the benefit of the peoples of both England and Ireland -which now constitute the programme of the Liberal Party. -</p> - -<p class="quote"> -Since his (Parnell's) release he has taken steps to secure -that no portion of the invested surplus of the fund shall be -drawn without his signature, and he will endeavour to provide -that future remittances from the offices of the central organization -in America shall be added to this fund; the remittances -through the <i>Irish World</i>, however, he has no hopes of being -able to control in any way. -</p> - -<p class="quote"> -The Bill[<a id="chap18fn1text"></a><a href="#chap18fn1">1</a>] to go through all its stages in six days—Supply -to be facilitated. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P179"></a>179}</span> -</p> - -<p class="quote"> -Duration to be limited to three months after assembly of -a new Parliament if present Parliament is dissolved within three -years—treason felony struck out on report. -</p> - -<p class="quote"> -Centres of disturbance are being rapidly created throughout -Ireland, owing to loss by tenants of legal interest in their -holdings through sale or expiry of period of redemption. The -formation of the new Landlord Corporation accompanied by -a harsh administration of the Coercion Act will tend to -encourage landlords to resist reasonable concessions. -</p> - -<p class="quote"> -He has placed new clauses on the notice paper for the -Arrears Bill which will go far to meet these difficulties, and will -do what he can to facilitate Supply and the passage of that -Bill, also to prevent obstruction to other Government business. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -These notes were submitted a second time to Mr. Gladstone, -with the addition of the following paragraphs:— -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="quote"> -This danger might be met by insertion of clauses in Arrears -Bill having compulsory retrospective effect as far back as -June, 1880, and making provision for payment of costs. -</p> - -<p class="quote"> -It is most desirable that Parliament should reassemble after -short holiday to make whatever permanent amendments the -Government think necessary in the Land Act. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -On June 29th Mr. Gladstone wrote thanking me for my -letter and returning "the enclosure."[<a id="chap18fn2text"></a><a href="#chap18fn2">2</a>] Reference was -made by him to the murders of Mr. Walter Bourke and -Corporal Wallace in Galway; and though I have no doubt -he did not suspect Parnell of the least shade of complicity, -it was plain that he did not completely acquit the -extremists of the <i>Irish World</i>. -</p> - -<p> -The progress of the Crimes Bill was more hotly contested -than ever in the committee stage, which extended -over twenty-four sittings of the House. Clauses were -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P180"></a>180}</span> -fought word by word, sentence by sentence. The Bill -was read a third time on July 8th, and was passed by the -Lords four days later, receiving the Royal Assent on the -following day. In less than a week 17 counties were -proclaimed; and by the beginning of August 170 suspects -were in custody. -</p> - -<p> -On July 21st the Arrears Bill passed the Commons -by 169 to 98. Lord Eversley (Mr. Shaw Lefevre) rightly -observes that instead of appealing to justice Mr. Gladstone -based his support of the Bill on expediency. For years -tenants had been burdened with excessive rents on land -which their efforts had raised from prairie value. The -wiping out of the accumulated arrears of these unjust -rents could hardly be termed a mere act of expediency. -</p> - -<p> -On July 31st the Lords returned the Bill to the Commons -cut to pieces. Certain minor concessions were made, -and the Bill was sent back otherwise in its original form. -When next it appeared in the Lords the Irish landlord -peers revolted. The Bill promised them part payment of -what they had looked upon as a bad debt; and so—not -for the sake of justice, but for the sake of that bait of -two years' rent—they supported the Bill, which was passed -by the Lords on August 10th. On or about August 18th, -when it became law, fifty suspects were released. -</p> - -<p> -I had addressed an appeal to Mr. Gladstone against -the death sentence passed upon a young Irishman on very -doubtful evidence. On September 14th he wrote saying -that he would certainly bring the appeal under the notice -of Lord Spencer. I was in correspondence with -Mr. Gladstone throughout November of this year. -</p> - -<p> -Ireland did not figure largely in the Parliamentary -legislation of 1883, though a number of minor Irish Bills, -on tramways, fisheries and so forth, which received the -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P181"></a>181}</span> -support of Parnell, were carried. Parnell's position in -Ireland was impregnable, but the extremists in America -were exasperated by his constitutional agitation. Early -in 1883 Patrick Ford started a dynamite crusade against -England in the <i>Irish World</i>, and attempts were actually -made to blow up public buildings in London, while a -nitro-glycerine factory was discovered in Birmingham. -Immediately an Explosives Bill of the most drastic -character was introduced by Sir William Harcourt and rushed -through the Commons in a single sitting. The Irish -Party offered no opposition. -</p> - -<p> -It is significant of the tactics of Mr. Gladstone that -he was secretly striving to influence the Vatican against -Home Rule. A Mr. Errington, an Irish Catholic, but a -Whig member of Parliament, had been sent to Rome -with a letter of recommendation from Lord Granville. -Mr. Gladstone had also written about him through -Cardinal Manning, who was opposed to the mission. His -business was at first to work for a Papal reprimand of -priests who engaged in Land League agitation. He -succeeded finally in engineering a rescript, dated May 11th, -1883, calling upon bishops to restrain priests from taking -part in the Parnell testimonial. -</p> - -<p> -Willie was very anxious that Mr. O'Hart (O'Hart's -Irish Pedigrees) should be granted a pension from the -Civil List. Mr. Gladstone had already declined to -include him in the List of Beneficiaries. Now at Willie's -urgent request I most reluctantly asked Mr. Gladstone -to reconsider his decision as to Mr. O'Hart, and on -September 19th, 1884, received a snub for my pains. I -had told Gladstone that Lord Spencer was credited with -having expressed the opinion that Parnell had some -connexion with the Phoenix Park murders. Gladstone -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P182"></a>182}</span> -now said he was sure that Spencer did not really -believe this. -</p> - -<p> -In October, 1884, Mr. Trevelyan ceased to be Irish -Secretary and entered the Cabinet as Chancellor of the -Duchy of Lancaster. The vacant post was offered to -Mr. Shaw Lefevre, but on hearing that Lord Spencer intended -to seek for the renewal of the Coercion Act when it expired -in September, 1885, he refused the offer. Mr. (afterwards -Sir Henry) Campbell-Bannerman became Chief Secretary -on October 24th. -</p> - -<p> -During 1884 Parnell kept quiet, and my negotiations -on his behalf with Gladstone were intermittent. -</p> - -<p> -In the early part of the year, however, a document of -tremendous import was submitted—none other than "A -Proposed Constitution for Ireland," drawn up by Parnell, -which was as follows:— -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -An elected Chamber with power to make enactments regarding -all the domestic concerns of Ireland, but without power to -interfere in any Imperial matter. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The Chamber to consist of three hundred members. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Two hundred and six of the number to be elected under -the present suffrage, by the present Irish constituencies, with -special arrangements for securing to the Protestant minority a -representation proportionate to their numbers; the remaining -94 members to be named in the Act constituting the Chamber. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The principle of nomination regarding this proportion of -members to last necessarily only during the duration of the -first Chamber. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The number of elected members, suffrage, and boundaries -constituencies for election of succeeding Chamber to be -capable of alteration by the preceding Chamber, excepting -those special arrangements for securing to the Protestant -minority a proportionate representation, which arrangements -shall be fixed and immutable. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The first Chamber to last for three years, unless sooner -dissolved by the Crown. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P183"></a>183}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The Chamber shall have power to enact laws and make -regulations regarding all the domestic and internal affairs of -Ireland, including her sea fisheries. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The Chamber shall also have power to raise a revenue for -any purpose over which it has jurisdiction, by direct taxation -upon property, by Customs duties, and by licences. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The Chamber shall have power to create departments for -the transaction of all business connected with the affairs over -which it has jurisdiction, and to appoint and dismiss chief and -subordinate officials for such departments, to fix the term of -their office, and to fix and pay their salaries; and to maintain -a police force for the preservation of order and the enforcement -of the law. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -This power will include the constitution of Courts of Justice -and the appointment or payment of all judges, magistrates, -and other officials of such Courts, provided that the appointment -of judges and magistrates shall in each case be subject -to the assent of the Crown. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -No enactment of the Chamber shall have the force of law -until it shall have received the assent of the Crown. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -A sum of one million pounds sterling per annum shall be -paid by the Chamber to the Imperial Treasury in lieu of the -right of the Crown to levy taxes in Ireland for Imperial -purposes, which right would be held in suspense so long as punctual -payment was made of the above annual sum. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The right of the Imperial Parliament to legislate regarding -the domestic concerns and internal affairs of Ireland will also -be held in suspense, only to be exercised for weighty and urgent -cause. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The abolition of the office of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland -and all other offices in Ireland under the Crown connected with -the domestic affairs of that country. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The representation of Ireland in the Imperial Parliament -might be retained or might be given up. If it be retained the -Speaker might have the power of deciding what questions the -Irish members might take part in as Imperial questions, if this -limitation were thought desirable. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Such Naval and Military force as the Crown thought requisite -from time to time would be maintained in Ireland out -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P184"></a>184}</span> -of the contribution of one million pounds per annum to the -Imperial Treasury; any excess in the cost of these forces over -such sum being provided for out of the Imperial Revenue -(i.e. by Great Britain). -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The Militia would also be levied, controlled, and paid by -the Crown, and all forts, military barracks, posts, and strong -places of the country would be held and garrisoned by the -Crown forces. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -No volunteer force to be raised in Ireland without the -consent of the Crown and enactment of the Imperial Parliament, -and, if raised, to be paid for and controlled by the Crown. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -On May 11th, 1884, Lord Richard Grosvenor wrote a -non-committal acknowledgment of the receipt of this -memorandum. -</p> - -<p> -The Government was then devoting its attention to the -Franchise Bill and the Redistribution of Seats Bill, and it -had been decided to incorporate Ireland in the scheme. -This Parnell considered to be of tremendous importance. -Speaking in December, 1883, at the Dublin banquet -held in his honour, he alluded to the force which had -then been gained for Ireland. The change was, in -fact, enormous. Instead of the franchise being confined -practically to the farmers, it would now include the -labourers and the cottier tenants, and the number of voters -in Ireland would go up from 200,000 to 600,000. How -would those labourers and cottier tenants vote? Lord -Randolph Churchill (who supported the Bill against his -Party) and Mr. Chamberlain thought, strangely enough, -that their inclusion would help the landlord interest. -Parnell knew better, and when the Bill became law, in -December, 1884, he leapt into action. This was the -weapon for which he had been waiting. From December -to March of the following year he went through Ireland -organizing for the imminent General Election. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P185"></a>185}</span> -</p> - -<p> -In the early months of 1885 the Liberal Government -was in a bad way. It had narrowly escaped defeat on -the vote of censure for its failure to relieve Gordon at -Khartoum. The Cabinet was divided against itself. -Many of the Liberal members were inclined to rebel, and -the Irish were working with the Tory Opposition. Ireland -was the rock upon which the Government was to come to -a wreck. The majority of the Cabinet was in favour of -continued coercion. Mr. Chamberlain, Sir Charles Dilke, -and Mr. Shaw Lefevre were strongly opposed to it. But -on the subject of local government for Ireland the -difference of opinion was even more dangerous. Chamberlain -submitted a scheme for an elective National Council in -Dublin, with control over administrative Boards and -Departments, but not over the police and the administration -of the law. It had been ascertained indirectly that -Parnell would accept this scheme, and would not oppose -a moderate Coercion Act. Gladstone was prepared to go -a step further and give the National Council control over -the police. A vote was taken in the Cabinet. All the -Peers, with the exception of Lord Granville,[<a id="chap18fn3text"></a><a href="#chap18fn3">3</a>] were -against, and the Commoners, with the exception of Lord -Hartington, were in favour of the scheme. Therefore -"for the present" the scheme was abandoned. This -was in May. The battle over coercion remained to be -fought. In less than four weeks the Government was -out of office. -</p> - -<p> -Gladstone had not been able to make up his mind to -abandon coercion altogether, though he had endeavoured -to sweeten the draught with the promise of a Land Purchase -Bill, and Parnell had been able to arrange privately -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P186"></a>186}</span> -with the Conservative Opposition that if they came into -power coercion would be dropped. -</p> - -<p> -On June 8th the Government was beaten on the second -reading of the Budget. The ostensible question, which -concerned nobody, was that of a tax on wine and beer. -The whole of the thirty-nine Irish members voted for the -Opposition, and the Government was beaten by twelve. -Thereupon Gladstone resigned and Lord Salisbury formed -his first Ministry. Parnell held the key of the position. -He had put the Tories into power; at his will he could -put them out again. -</p> - -<p> -Lord Carnarvon became Lord Lieutenant, Sir Michael -Hicks-Beach Chief Secretary, and the intention was -expressed to govern Ireland by constitutional methods. -Coercion for the time being was abandoned, Lord -Carnarvon had thought much on Irish questions, and his -rule was in marked contrast to that of his immediate -predecessors. -</p> - -<p> -On July 14th Lord Richard Grosvenor suddenly -remembered Parnell's draft Constitution for Ireland which -I had submitted to Gladstone. Did it still hold good? -To this letter I replied, and on July 23rd Lord Richard -wrote again asking for a plain answer. But this at the -moment it was impossible to give, for the attitude the -Tories would take up with regard to Home Rule was not -yet certain. Lord Carnarvon, the Lord Lieutenant, was -believed to be very favourably disposed to the Irish -demands, and Lord Randolph Churchill seemed willing -to go far. On July 28th Lord Richard wrote again, -imploring us to show our hand. Evidently the Irish vote -was worth securing. -</p> - -<p> -It is interesting to note that on July 17th Mr. Chamberlain, -speaking at Holloway, urged that the pacification -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P187"></a>187}</span> -of Ireland depended on the concession to her of the right -to govern herself in the matter of purely local business. -</p> - -<p> -At the end of July Parnell met Lord Carnarvon in -London. The Lord Lieutenant had already been in -communication with Sir Charles Gavan Duffy and Mr. Justin -McCarthy upon the subject of Home Rule, and there can -be little doubt he was in earnest in his agreement with the -principle. How far he was used by his Party as a -cat's-paw to play for the Irish vote is another question. At -least Lord Salisbury knew of the proceedings of his -colleague and was perhaps not averse from using Lord -Carnarvon's convictions to win Parnell's support at the -forthcoming elections without giving a definite Party pledge. -The conversation between Lord Carnarvon and Parnell -led the latter to believe that the Tories were prepared to -support a measure of local government for Ireland. But -how far were the Liberals prepared to go? -</p> - -<p> -On August 4th Mr. Gladstone wrote to me further -with reference to the proposed constitution for Ireland. -Did this represent Parnell's views now? He was urgent -in asking for an answer. In one of my notes I had spoken -of the suggestion that a proposition of his son, -Mr. Herbert (now Lord) Gladstone, should be substituted -for it. Mr. Gladstone now assured me on the best -authority that no such proposition had been made. -I gathered, however, that his son had made some -suggestions. -</p> - -<p> -To this a long and comprehensive reply was -sent—apparently too long and comprehensive. No doubt he -wanted a definite and limited scheme to be set before him. -I had referred in my letter to certain changes which had -occurred since the draft was sent. I knew that Gladstone -knew what those changes were, for the frantic appeals for -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P188"></a>188}</span> -a definite statement were precisely the counter-bidding -against the heightened biddings of Lord Randolph -Churchill and the Conservative Party in which Gladstone -declared he would not engage. He was obviously -disinclined to make an offer until Parnell had pinned himself -down to a final demand. If only he could know what the -Home Rule Party wanted! -</p> - -<p> -The following day Mr. Gladstone set out on a yachting -expedition (to Norway), and a few days later, on -August 11th, Parliament was prorogued. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell opened his campaign in Dublin on August -11th, when he announced that he and his Party would -stand for an Irish Parliament and nothing else. There -was no talk now of a National Council. Lord Hartington -replied declaring Parnell's proposals to be fatal and -mischievous, and on September 9th Lord Richard wrote, -on behalf of Mr. Gladstone, who was back in England, -pleading for details. -</p> - -<p> -On October 7th Lord Salisbury, speaking at Newport -(Mon.), made a diplomatic statement about Ireland which -suggested much and promised nothing. -</p> - -<p> -Later in the month I sent Mr. Gladstone a paper -containing the views of Mr. Parnell, and on November 3rd -Lord Richard Grosvenor replied, referring me to the -Government of the day, but thanking me for the -information. There was some mention in the letter of -Willie's prospects for Mid-Armagh. Apparently that -affair was off, since Willie had himself written to such an -effect. Willie was given a gentle rap on the fingers for -having in Ireland talked over the plans for his election -with another person.[<a id="chap18fn4text"></a><a href="#chap18fn4">4</a>] -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P189"></a>189}</span> -</p> - -<p> -On November 9th, at Edinburgh, Mr. Gladstone made -a speech which rivalled Lord Salisbury's in elusiveness. -The constitutional demands of Ireland must not be -disregarded, but it would be a vital danger if at such a time -there was not a Party politically independent of the Irish -vote. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell desired precisely the contrary, and on November -21st, the eve of the General Election, a manifesto was -issued calling upon Irish voters in Great Britain to vote -against the Liberal Party. -</p> - -<p> -Before Parnell's interview with Lord Carnarvon I had -sent Gladstone Parnell's suggestions for a new Home -Rule Bill. Mr. Gladstone wrote expressing satisfaction -at the news of the intended interview, but he would not -be drawn. Nevertheless Parnell made another attempt, -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P190"></a>190}</span> -and on December 14th, 1885, addressed the following letter -from my house at Eltham:— -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - NORTH PARK, ELTHAM, KENT.<br /> - <i>December</i> 14th, 1885.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—It appeared to me from Mr. Gladstone's -utterances in Scotland that he would admit the -justice of Ireland's claim for autonomy, and also the expediency -of soon endeavouring to satisfy it provided the result of -the General Election went to show an overwhelming -preponderance of the opinion of the representatives of Ireland -in favour of this claim. A very proper reservation was also -made regarding the maintenance of the supremacy of the -Crown in Ireland and all the authority of Parliament necessary -for this supremacy. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -We now know that more than five-sixths of the Irish members -elected by household suffrage have been returned, mostly -by very large majorities, as supporters of the institution of an -Irish Parliament, that a clear majority, seventeen out of -thirty-three, from the Ulster constituencies have been so returned, -and that only one county and one city in Ireland, Antrim and -Belfast respectively, are without Nationalist representation. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Under these circumstances does it not seem that the question -has now resolved itself firstly into a consideration of -the details of the proposed settlement, and secondly, as to the -procedure to be adopted in obtaining the assent of Parliament, -and if needful of the British electorate to this settlement? -As regards the first matter, the rough sketch, which I sent -you some weeks back, appeared then, and still appears to me, -the smallest proposal which would be likely to find favour in -Ireland if brought forward by an English Minister, but it is -not one which I could undertake to suggest publicly myself, -though if it were enacted I would work in Ireland to have it -accepted bona fide as a final settlement, and I believe it would -prove to be one. -</p> - -<p class="capcenter"> -<a id="img-191"></a> -<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-191.jpg" alt="FACSIMILE OF A PORTION OF LETTER ON pp. 190, 192-3." /> -<br /> -FACSIMILE OF A PORTION OF LETTER ON pp. 190, 192-3. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -This proposal was carefully designed with a view to -propitiate English prejudice, and to afford those guarantees -against hasty legislation, interference in extraneous matters, -and unfair action against particular classes, apprehended by -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P192"></a>192}</span> -many persons as a result of the establishment of an Irish -Parliament. It did not involve a repeal of the Act of Union, -an irrevocable step, and the Imperial Parliament having conferred -the privilege by statute would thus always be in a position -to recall it by a similar method, if the privilege was abused. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -It provided for a special proportionate representation for -the large Protestant minority of Ireland. It also left to the -Imperial Parliament the practical decision from time to time -as to the matters which did or did not come within the -province of the local legislature. These are all important -concessions and guarantees, and some opinion must surely have -been formed by now upon these and other details. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -As regards the question of procedure, I am desirous of -knowing after a time whether the solution of the Irish -question would be made the first and only business by a Liberal -Government till the question was settled. The reform of -procedure would probably be found not so necessary or pressing -if the Imperial Parliament could get rid of its Irish work. -It appeared to me that the best way to turn out the present -Government would be by a general vote of censure without -special reference to Ireland, or by a vote directed against some -act of policy other than Irish, for which occasion may shortly -arise. We might then either abstain or vote for the censure as -might be deemed best. I have not seen Lord C.,[<a id="chap18fn5text"></a><a href="#chap18fn5">5</a>] and shall -probably not arrange to do so for a week or two, as I wish to -know how the other side is disposed first. I have always felt -Mr. Gladstone is the only living statesman who has both the -power and the will to carry a settlement it would be possible -for me to accept and work with. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I doubt Lord C.'s power to do so, though I know him to -be very well disposed. However, if neither party can offer -a solution of the question I should prefer the Conservatives -to remain in office, as under them we could at least work out -gradually a solution of the Land question. You will see from -this letter that I am very much in the dark, except as to my -own mind and that of Ireland, that I want information as to -whether Mr. Gladstone has, as I suppose, accepted the principle -of a Chamber for Ireland with power over her domestic and -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P193"></a>193}</span> -internal affairs, and, if so, which, if any, of the details -contained in sketch he objects to or is in doubt about. Further, -it is important that I should be advised before the meeting of -Parliament what procedure would in his judgment be best for -bringing about that change of Government which would enable -Mr. Gladstone to deal authoritatively with the Irish -question.—Yours very truly, CHAS. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -I sent this letter to Gladstone, and on December 16, -three days before the completion of the General Election, -he dispatched from Hawarden a long reply; but he said -nothing more than he had already said in public at -Midlothian and elsewhere and in private letters to me. -Throughout this period the one fact apparent was that -he would pledge the Liberal Party to nothing until he -was in office and supported by the Irish Party. While -there was a Tory Government in alliance with Parnell he -would do nothing. Whether or no he was sincere in his -advice to us to take Home Rule rather from the Tories -than the Liberals if possible—because many Liberals would -support a Tory Home Rule Bill, while all Tories would -oppose a Liberal measure—this I cannot say. He offered -it constantly, though he urged that a trafficking with both -Parties for the purpose of getting the best terms possible, -when, as in the end it must be, avowed, would injure -a Tory measure and kill a Liberal one. -</p> - -<p> -The result of the election was that the Tories in alliance -with the Parnellites outnumbered the Liberals by four. -The Liberals in alliance with Parnell would have -outnumbered the Tories by 167. Parnell had swept the board -in Ireland, and in the House of Commons he was dictator. -</p> - -<p> -Immediately after the General Election the Salisbury -Cabinet met to consider its Irish policy, and Lord -Carnarvon at once tendered his resignation. The conclusion -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P194"></a>194}</span> -to be drawn is obvious. Compact or no compact, Lord -Carnarvon had reason to believe that the Cabinet were -prepared to pursue a certain line of policy which it now -appeared they had no intention of pursuing. The reason -for the <i>volte face</i>, too, is plain. Tories plus Parnellites -formed too narrow a majority of the House for Governmental -purposes. The Irish were no longer of any use, -and they were abandoned. -</p> - -<p> -Correspondence with Mr. Gladstone continued, and -his letters were still cautious. He seemed to fear the -soreness of certain Liberals over the Parnellite opposition at -the polls, but he confessed to be very willing to co-operate -with the Tory Government in the matter of Home Rule, -and he stated that he had acquainted the Government with -his disposition. Letters of December 19th, 22nd, and 24th -are all more or less to this effect. He harped on the word -"bribe." -</p> - -<p> -As a matter of fact, Mr. Gladstone had approached the -Cabinet through Mr. Balfour, both personally and by -letter, urging that it would be a calamity if this great -question were to fall into the lines of Party conflict. The -Cabinet seem to have treated Mr. Gladstone's letter with -scant respect. In spite of Lord Carnarvon's tendered -resignation, Lord Salisbury was resolved to make no -concession to Home Rule. Lord Carnarvon agreed not to -resign until the opening of Parliament. -</p> - -<p> -A statement in the Press inspired by Mr. Herbert -Gladstone to the effect that Mr. Gladstone was prepared -to concede an Irish Parliament in Dublin was declared by -the latter to be "inaccurate and not authentic." But on -December 26 he issued a memorandum to certain of his -more reliable followers to the effect that he would support -the Tories in a Home Rule policy which should satisfy -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P195"></a>195}</span> -him and the Irish Nationalists, and that if he were called -upon to form a Government the preparation of a scheme -of duly guarded Home Rule would be an indispensable -condition. -</p> - -<p> -On December 29 I wrote to Gladstone, forwarding a -memorandum from Parnell. On the last day of the year -he sent me a memorandum marked "Secret," in which he -summarized the position between Parnell and himself. It -amounted to this: Parnell wanted a definite pledge that -there should be no more coercion before throwing the -Tories out of power and putting the Liberals in. Gladstone, -while realizing the gravity of O'Brien's statistics -in the <i>Nineteenth Century</i> as to the result of exceptional -legislation, refused to give this pledge. He alluded -philosophically to the probable course of events if the Address -went through unamended. Mr. Parnell wrote to me to -the following effect embodying the points I was to pass on -to Gladstone. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—In reply to your query it would be -inexpedient that the Government.... But, in any case, -we should move a series of separate amendments to the -Address—one asking for a suspension of the support by the naval, -military and constabulary forces of the Crown of ejectments, -pending the consideration by Parliament of the proposed Land -measure; another praying the Crown to remove Chief Justice -May from the Bench; a third condemning the practice of jury -packing, resorted to by the Crown in all the recent trials; a -fourth asking her Majesty to fulfil the promise contained in -the Speech of last year for the equalization of the borough -franchise in Ireland to that in England; a fifth condemning the -proclamation of the meetings at Brookeboro' and Cullohill; and -a sixth protesting against the proclamation and additional police -force sent to several of the counties. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -This would be an assault along the whole line of English -misgovernment in Ireland, and should, in my opinion, be -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P196"></a>196}</span> -delivered before we allow the Address to leave the House. The -first fortnight or so of the session would thus be occupied -while the Government were making up their minds as to their -proposed Land Bill. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -At the meeting of the Party I think of proposing a resolution -recommending the minority to pay more deference to the -opinion of the majority than they did last session, and urging -all the Irish members to sit together in opposition. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Kindly let me know what you think of these proposals.—Yours -truly, CHARLES S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -These blanks were left in the letter as the phrases -omitted were too confidential to be written. I learnt them -and quoted them to Gladstone. -</p> - -<p> -On January 21 Parliament met to transact business, -and the resignations of Lord Carnarvon and Sir W. Hart -Dyke were announced. Notice was given of a new -Coercion Act, and on the 26th the Government was -defeated by 331 to 252 votes—not, however, on an Irish -amendment, but on the motion of Jesse Collings raising -the question of "three acres and a cow." -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap18fn1"></a> -[<a href="#chap18fn1text">1</a>] The Coercion Bill -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap18fn2"></a> -[<a href="#chap18fn2text">2</a>] The enclosure was a letter from a notorious Invincible in America -who had written to Parnell assuring him of his support and protesting -against the anti-Parnell pro-Davitt agitation got up by Ford in the -<i>Irish World</i>. Gladstone had expressed a wish to see one of his letters. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap18fn3"></a> -[<a href="#chap18fn3text">3</a>] Lord Morley has stated that Granville voted for the scheme, and -Lord Eversley that all Peers voted against it. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap18fn4"></a> -[<a href="#chap18fn4text">4</a>] Captain O'Shea had made himself unpopular with the Irish Party, -and when in 1885 he wanted their co-operation in his re-election for -County Clare, only Parnell was ready to help him. He had always -refused to sit with the Party, had taken a place on the Government -benches, and thence kept up a running fire of sarcastic comment on the -speeches and mannerisms of his fellow-countrymen. His intimacy with -Chamberlain was also a cause of suspicion, and he would not take the -Party pledge. Mrs. O'Shea was anxious for him to remain in Parliament, -as his political interests left him little time for visiting Eltham. The -need for watchful diplomacy when he was there was irksome to her. -Especially since the February of 1882 she could not bear to be near him. -Parnell had great doubt of the possibility of getting Captain O'Shea -returned for Clare or any other Irish seat without the pledge. O'Shea, -under the impression that he himself had been the chief negotiator of -the "Kilmainham Treaty," accused Parnell of ingratitude and treachery. -Mrs. O'Shea then got into touch with Lord Richard Grosvenor, and a -scheme was put on foot for getting Captain O'Shea nominated for the -Exchange Division of Liverpool as a Liberal. The united strength of -the Liberal Party, exercised by Lord Richard Grosvenor and through him -by Mr. Gladstone, and of Parnell's influence on the Irish vote, failed to -carry him in. The retirement of the English Liberal candidate, -Mr. T. E. Stephens, even after nomination -and the concentration of the Liberal -forces on O'Shea's election did not suffice. Mr. L. R. Baily, the -Conservative, defeated him by 55 votes. Captain O'Shea then returned to -the demand for an Irish seat, and persisted in being nominated at the -by-election pending in Galway. He still refused to take the Party pledge. -Parnell, therefore, at first refused to countenance his candidature, but -finally gave way, and he was elected. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap18fn5"></a> -[<a href="#chap18fn5text">5</a>] Lord Carnarvon. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap19"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P197"></a>197}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XIX -<br /> -THE FIRST HOME RULE BILL -</h3> - -<p class="poem"> - "<i>Memories, images and precious thoughts<br /> - That shall not die, and cannot be destroyed.</i>"<br /> - —WORDSWORTH.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Before forming his Cabinet Mr. Gladstone enunciated -the necessity for an examination whether it was practicable -to establish a legislative body to sit in Dublin, and to deal -with Irish, as distinguished from Imperial affairs. -</p> - -<p> -Five of the members of his last Cabinet—Lords Hartington, -Derby, Northbrook, Selborne and Carlingford—signified -their absolute opposition to Home Rule. -Two—Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Trevelyan—agreed to the -inquiry provisionally. Two—Sir Charles Dilke and -Mr. Shaw Lefevre—had been defeated at the General Election. -Seven—Lords Granville, Spencer, Kimberley, Ripon and -Rosebery, Sir William Harcourt and Mr. Childers—agreed -absolutely. Four new men—Mr. Morley, -Mr. Campbell-Bannerman, Mr. Mundella and Lord Herschell—came -into the Cabinet. Mr. Morley became Irish Secretary. -A scheme was drafted by Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Morley. -It consisted of two Bills, a Home Rule Bill and -a Land Bill. On the scheme being laid before the Cabinet -Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Trevelyan resigned.[<a id="chap19fn1text"></a><a href="#chap19fn1">1</a>] -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P198"></a>198}</span> -</p> - -<p> -On April 8th, 1886, the evening of the introduction of -the Home Rule Bill, Mr. Gladstone sent his private -secretary down to Eltham with a letter to me asking me -to telegraph one word, "Yes," if he was to introduce the -Bill that night. In this case he was to speak shortly after -four o'clock. Mr. Parnell had not given him the required -answer earlier, as he had up to the last moment been -trying to induce Mr. Gladstone to give the Bill wider and -more comprehensive clauses than the G.O.M. would assent -to. Now, however, he had said to me, as he started that -evening for the House: "This Bill will do as a beginning; -they shall have more presently. If the Old Man -wires to know if it is all right answer 'Yes.'" Mr. Gladstone -had previously arranged with me that I should be -at home waiting for his message in order that I might let -him know that Parnell and the "Party" were ready. -</p> - -<p> -His messenger was so late that I simply snatched -Gladstone's letter from him and, scribbling my "Yes" on -the enclosed Government form, sent my waiting servant -flying to the telegraph office with it. After which I had -time to join in the regrets of Mr. Gladstone's secretary -that his master had made it impossible for me to get up -to the House in time for his introduction of the Bill. -The secretary told me that he would have "derived -considerable interest" from the proceedings, but I felt much -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P199"></a>199}</span> -more keenly than that about this Bill that I had taken so -often in its swaddling clothes from parent to foster parent, -and I was very much disappointed at not being present at -its introduction to a larger life. -</p> - -<p> -The debate on the first and second readings lasted -sixteen days. It is to be remembered that in his attack -on the Bill Mr. Chamberlain did not oppose Home Rule, -but only this particular scheme. -</p> - -<p> -A great wish of Willie's was to be appointed Under-secretary -for Ireland. I had on various occasions made -the suggestion to Mr. Gladstone, but without successful -issue. Gladstone had a perfect manner of refusing -appointments when personally asked for them; it was always -an apparent pain to him; nothing but the knowledge of -his duty restrained him from interference, and though I -was not really anxious that Willie should receive this -appointment I was willing to please him by asking for it, -and it might have excited suspicion if I had not asked. -I must admit that Mr. Gladstone never to my knowledge -of him all those years made an appointment from motives -of private favour. Here once more, when he wrote -regretting he couldn't poach on his colleagues' patronage -preserves, his manners were perfect. -</p> - -<p> -On May 8th an urgent letter from Gladstone at Downing -Street was delivered at my house. Mr. Morley had -lost track of Mr. Parnell, and wanted to know where he -was. It was apparently the most natural thing in the -world to ask me where was Parnell. A form of Government -telegram was enclosed for my reply. -</p> - -<p> -In view of the fact that Mr. Gladstone and his colleagues -were so pained, surprised, and properly shocked -when Mr. Parnell was publicly arraigned as my lover, the -frantic way in which they applied to me, when they were -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P200"></a>200}</span> -unable to find him, was, afterwards, a source of -considerable amusement to us both. -</p> - -<p> -From the time of my first interview with Mr. Gladstone -onwards, no time was lost in "failing to trace him here" -before hurried application was made to me at my—and -Parnell's—permanent address. I did not choose that the -Irish Party should have his private address—nor did -Parnell choose it—but I was most particular that the -Government should know it. Governments—especially -Liberal Governments—are before all things simple-minded -and of childlike guilelessness. -</p> - -<p> -I remember when on one occasion the Government -desired to know Parnell's views on certain matters before -elaborating a Bill shortly to go before the House, a special -messenger was sent to Eltham with a letter. I had gone -to the seaside with my children, and my servants had -standing orders that they knew nothing of Mr. Parnell or -of his whereabouts. So the nonplussed Governmental -messenger meditated upon my doorstep for one moment -only, then, armed with "<i>Mrs. O'Shea's address</i>" at -Hastings, came straight on to receive Mr. Parnell's reply, -and safely deliver it within the stipulated time. But there -can be no doubt, of course, that Mr. Gladstone's "Poor -fellow, poor fellow, what a terrible fall," subsequent to -the hounding, at his word, of his gallant opponent to death -by the Irish sycophants, alluded to the breaking of the -eleventh commandment of social life: "Thou shalt not -be found out" (publicly), rather than to the seventh of -orthodox Christianity. -</p> - -<p> -On June 7th Mr. Parnell spoke on the Home Rule -Bill. It was the last night of the debate, and he had -carefully prepared his speech. -</p> - -<p> -The rejection of the Bill by a full House—343 against -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P201"></a>201}</span> -313 votes—was immediately followed by the dissolution of -Parliament. Thus in July, 1886, the Liberals went out -in alliance with the Irish leader, whom, only twelve months -before, they had gone out <i>denouncing</i> with all his -followers. -</p> - -<p> -So ends the most important period of my negotiations -with Gladstone. The subsequent course of them may -be sketched briefly. -</p> - -<p> -In July, 1886, Gladstone replied to certain suggestions -of Parnell recommending perseverance with the Home -Rule scheme, with the objection that he was unable to -carry the Gladstonian Party beyond a certain point. -</p> - -<p> -There were times when Mr. Gladstone became somewhat -uneasy in regard to the possible consequences of -so many interviews with me. Also someone said once to -him, "Supposing Mrs. O'Shea told Parnell you said so -and so, and it was more than you meant to say?" On -June 15th, 1887, for example, he wrote asking with utmost -politeness for a letter instead of an interview. -</p> - -<p> -However, on August 22nd of the same year I find him -writing from Hawarden thanking me for some gift (of -game or fruit) and expressing hope of the future. -</p> - -<p> -Gladstone now told me that he wished to meet Parnell -in order to talk over the political situation, and I -suggested that a visit to Hawarden by Parnell would have -a good effect politically. Gladstone then asked Parnell -to Hawarden to discuss the outlook in politics, an -invitation which Parnell did not answer at once, as he first -wished to ascertain the tactics of the Conservative Party. -</p> - -<p> -On August 30th, 1889, Mr. Gladstone wrote to Parnell -a most private letter, lamenting that he had not heard -from him and his friends with reference to a visit to -Hawarden. The fact was that since Parnell had received -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P202"></a>202}</span> -Gladstone's invitation the Tories had been making -advances, and had just proffered a Roman Catholic -University for Ireland. Gladstone was right in supposing that -here was the cause of Parnell's silence. He was not -angry, but he threatened Parnell with the effect of this -new proposal on Nonconformist and Presbyterian Liberals. -</p> - -<p> -In October the air was clearer, the Government's Irish -University scheme had gone awry, and Gladstone was -jubilant. He wrote on the 16th renewing the invitation. -With regard to the Home Rule Bill he was all for reserve; -with regard to Parnell's action against the <i>Times</i> all for -dispatch. -</p> - -<p> -It was two months later, however (on December 19th), -that Parnell, on his way to Liverpool, visited Gladstone -at Hawarden. It was a short but agreeable visit, and at -dinner Mr. Parnell sat next to Miss Gladstone. The -conversation turned upon actors and acting, and Miss -Gladstone said, "Who is the greatest actor you have ever -seen, Mr. Parnell?" "Your father, undoubtedly!" he -promptly returned, much to her delight. -</p> - -<p> -As Parnell became moderate in politics Gladstone -became more extreme. I remember one evening in April -or May, 1888, driving with Parnell to Morley's house in -Elm Park Gardens where Parnell and Morley had a quiet -conversation together. -</p> - -<p> -I waited in the hansom cab a little way off the house -for a considerable time, and at last Parnell came out with -an amused expression on his face. As we were driving -home he said: -</p> - -<p> -"We can never satisfy English politicians! They -imprisoned me for causing agitation in Ireland, and now -they want agitation, if not outrage. Morley said to me: -'The people must be made to wake up a bit; can't you -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P203"></a>203}</span> -do anything to stir them up?'" Then with a laugh: -"If they knew how easy it was for me to stir Ireland up, -and how confoundedly difficult I have found it to quiet -her down again, they would be very careful before giving -me such an invitation!" And, with the experience of -the past to give force and conviction to his words, he had -shown Mr. Morley the extreme danger of Mr. Gladstone's -suggestions. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap19fn1"></a> -[<a href="#chap19fn1text">1</a>] The letters of Captain O'Shea preserved by Mrs. Parnell throw -some light on Mr. Chamberlain's mind. In December, 1884, Chamberlain -dealt at length with the Nationalist movement and the sentiment behind -it, and unfolded his plan for a "National Board" for Ireland. In March, -1885, he was discussing the possibility of an arrangement with the Irish -Party to get the Redistribution Bill and the Crimes Bill quickly into law -on condition that the Government brought in Local Government Bills, -including one for Ireland. In May, Captain O'Shea wrote that Gladstone -was strongly in favour of this solution, and that, to Chamberlain's -surprise, Lord Hartington did not -reject the proposal off-hand, as expected. -He added that the Cardinal had power to assure Parnell and the Government -of the full support of the Catholic Church. Captain O'Shea's personal -interest in the abortive scheme is revealed in the following passage -from a letter of May 4, 1885: "The reason I am anxious about the -Local Self-Government scheme is that if Chamberlain has power, which -I think he will in the next Parliament, he will offer me the Chief -Secretaryship, or the equivalent post if the name is abolished, if the -boys will let me have it." -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap20"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P204"></a>204}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XX -<br /> -MR. PARNELL IN DANGER—FOUNDING OF THE NATIONAL LEAGUE -</h3> - -<p class="poem"> - "<i>He who for winds and clouds<br /> - Maketh a pathway free,<br /> - Through waste or hostile crowds<br /> - Can make a way for thee.</i>"<br /> - —PAUL GERHARDT.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -One morning in 1882 I saw in the morning papers a -cable message announcing the death of Miss Fanny -Parnell. Mr. Parnell was at my house at the time, but -asleep. After an all-night sitting I would never allow -him to be roused until four in the afternoon, when he -would have breakfast and chat with me until it was time -to go to the House. On seeing the newspaper cable from -America about his sister I thought it better to wake him and -tell him of it, lest he should read it while I was away with -my aunt. I knew that Fanny Parnell was his favourite -sister, and he had told me that she was the cleverest and -most beautiful woman in his family. This I knew was -high praise, as Willie had met Mrs. Thomson—another -of Parnell's sisters—and had told me that she was the most -strikingly beautiful woman he had ever met. -</p> - -<p> -I woke him and told him of his sister's death as gently -as I could, but he was terribly shocked, and I could not -leave him at all that day. For a time he utterly broke -down, but presently a cable arrived for him—sent on from -London—saying that his sister's body was to be embalmed -and brought to Ireland, and his horror and indignation -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P205"></a>205}</span> -were extreme. He immediately wrote out a message for -me to cable from London on his behalf, absolutely -forbidding the embalmment of his sister's body, and saying -that she was to be buried in America. -</p> - -<p> -The idea of death was at all times very painful to him, -but that anyone should be embalmed and taken from one -place to another after death was to him unspeakably awful. -For this, amongst other reasons, I could not bear to have -him taken to Ireland—to Glasnevin Cemetery—after his -death. My desire was to have him near me and, as he -would have wished, to have taken care of his grave -myself. But I gave way to the longing of the Ireland he -had lived for, and to the clamour of those who had helped -to kill him. How they dealt with him alive is history -now, but how they dealt with him in death is not so -well known; and I give an extract from the message of -a friend, who had gone to see his grave a few short years -after his death: "Your husband's grave is the most -desolate and neglected spot in the whole cemetery, and I -grieve to tell you of the painful impression it made upon -me." -</p> - -<p> -I then sent over a servant, with some flowers, and his -report was even worse. Fragments of glass from the -broken artificial wreaths, placed there years before; -trampled, neglected grass, and little of that but weeds; -and the bare untidy backings and wires of the wreaths I -had been sending for the greeting of so many days marked -only in the calendar of our love. -</p> - -<p> -Poor Ireland—a child in her asking, a child in her -receiving, and so much a child in her forgetting. -</p> - -<p> -When Mr. Parnell first came to Eltham he told me -that he had had, since his boyhood at school, a habit of -sleep-walking whenever he was at all run down in health. -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P206"></a>206}</span> -When he was in America he used to lock the door of his -room and put the key into a box with a spring lock that -he had bought for the purpose. He feared he might -wander about the hotel in his sleep. Also he warned me, -when he first came, that he was subject to "night terrors," -very much as a highly strung child is, and in these he -would spring up panic-stricken out of deep sleep, and, -without fully awaking, try to beat off the imaginary foe -that pressed upon him. It was a species of nightmare; -not apparently excited by any particular cause other than -general want of tone. After a few years of careful dieting -I succeeded in freeing him of these painful and most -wearing attacks. -</p> - -<p> -When the attacks came on I went into his room and -held him until he became fully conscious, for I feared that -he would hurt himself. They were followed by a profuse -perspiration and deep sleep of several hours. He was -terribly worried about these nightmares, but I assured him -that it was only indigestion in a peculiar form. "You -really think so?" he would reply, and when I told him -that they would pass off with careful dieting he was -reassured, and he followed my directions so implicitly as -to diet that he soon proved me right. -</p> - -<p> -He became very much run down again after his sister's -death, but recovered perfectly, and had no recurrence of -these attacks until some years after, when he suffered from -a nervous breakdown brought on by overwork. Sir Henry -Thompson treated him then, and he quickly recovered. -</p> - -<p> -Soon after I met Mr. Parnell I sent to Worcester for -some white roses in pots to keep in my hothouse in order -to provide my exigeant lover with buttonholes. He loved -white roses, he told me, and would not be content with -any other flower from me; nor would he wear a rose from -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P207"></a>207}</span> -my garden, as he said anyone could have those who asked -me for them. So I had to keep a constantly blooming -company of white roses in my conservatory to provide a -buttonhole of ceremony on his speech days, or on other -occasions when I wished him to look particularly well. -Sometimes we would drive out miles into the country. -Keston Common was a favourite resort of ours, and, as -we rarely took a servant with us, we would either put up -the horse I drove (Dictator, given to me by Mr. Parnell) -at some inn, or tie him to a tree while we wandered about -or sat under the trees talking. -</p> - -<p> -He would do his best to learn the names of the wild -flowers he picked for me—with uncomfortably short -stalks!—but, beyond being at last able to name a dandelion or -buttercup at sight, he did not shine in any branch of -botany. "What did you call this fine plant?" he would -ask with a glimmer of fun in his eyes. "It is not a plant -you have, but a single flower branch, and it is called a -king-cup—picked much too short!" I would answer -severely, and he laughed as he tumbled his trophies into -my lap and insisted that the ferns ruthlessly dug and cut -out with his pocket-knife would grow all right, in spite -of their denuded roots, if I "made them do it, in the -greenhouse!" -</p> - -<p> -When it was too wet to go out, or if he was not well, -he used to amuse himself at home in my sitting-room -practising shooting with an air-gun. He used a lighted -candle for target, and became so expert in putting out -the light this way that it became too troublesome to -light the candle so often, and we substituted other -targets. -</p> - -<p> -Sometimes he would go to the farther end of my aunt's -park, where there was a pond basin, dried up long before, -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P208"></a>208}</span> -and many happy hours were spent there, shooting in turn, -with his revolvers. -</p> - -<p> -I remember on one Sunday afternoon my aunt's bailiff -came down, having heard revolver shots, though the sound -was deadened by the high banks. The bailiff was much -perturbed by our Sunday sport, chiefly because it was -Sunday. He did not dare press his opinion upon me, as -he knew my position in my aunt's household was -impregnable, but he had always been jealous of my coming to -Eltham, where he had served her for over forty years, -and he was now so plainly antagonistic that Mr. Parnell, -who did not particularly wish his presence with me talked -about, rose to the occasion with the tact he could exert -when he considered it worth while. -</p> - -<p> -"Oh, is that you, Mr. ——?" rising from an absorbed -examination of his last bull's-eye. "Mrs. O'Shea was -telling me when we started this match of your being such -a good shot with a gun. Do have a shot with my revolver; -see here, I've got a bull's-eye five times running against -Mrs. O'Shea's one. Now let us see what you can do." -</p> - -<p> -Mr. —— hesitated; he was a fine shot and had won -prizes in his youth, and was susceptible to flattery. -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Parnell said dryly: "I don't suppose you have -had so much practice as I lately, but—" The bailiff -turned a wary eye on his wife, who was waiting for him -at the gate of a rookery some way off, and Mr. Parnell -smiled as he said: "The lady will not see you," in such a -gently sarcastic manner that Mr. —— was nettled, and -picking up the revolver shot so wildly that he missed the -little target altogether. -</p> - -<p> -I said: "Mr. —— <i>can</i> shoot, really, Mr. Parnell, -as I told you, but he is nervous!" So Mr. —— went -on, making shot after shot with varying success till -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P209"></a>209}</span> -Mrs. —— appeared on the scene dressed in her best and Sunday -virtue, which was resplendent in Eltham. She gazed with -pain upon Mr. ——, who, to appear at ease, entered into -a discussion of revolver patterns with Mr. Parnell. I -talked cheerfully to her for a few moments, and introduced -Mr. Parnell, which gratified her immensely, and the two -went off happy, but so conscious of the enormity of having -given countenance to such desecration of the Sabbath, in -Sunday shooting, that we knew we were safe from their -perhaps inconvenient chatter. -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Parnell was always interested in cricket, and I had -a private pitch laid out for him at Eltham in a two-acre -field. As a young man he had been an enthusiast, and -the captain of his eleven. He never went to matches, -however, after he entered Parliament. -</p> - -<p> -He talked to me much about Avondale. He loved -the place, and was never tired of planning the alterations -and improvements he meant to make in the old house -when we could marry. He often went over to Ireland -expressly to see how things were going there, but after -1880 he could never stay even a few days there in peace. -The after-effects of the awful famine, in such terrible cases -of poverty and woe as were brought to his notice the -moment he arrived in his old home, made it impossible -for him to remain there at all. No one man could deal -charitably with all these poor people and live, and as time -went on Mr. Parnell's visits became necessarily shorter, -for the demands were so many, and the poverty so great, -that he could not carry the burden and continue the political -life necessary to their alleviation. He told me that -he despaired of ever having a penny in his pocket when -he took me there, as he always hoped to do. -</p> - -<p> -He was very fond of the old woman he kept at -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P210"></a>210}</span> -Avondale in charge of the house, and who attended to his few -needs when he was there; and whenever he went there -he would get me to go to Fortnum and Mason's to buy a -pound of their 4s. a pound tea for the old dame, who much -appreciated this delicious tea, though she of course stewed -it into poison before drinking it. -</p> - -<p> -This old servant of his had the most curious ideas on -"first aid to the injured," and when on one occasion -Mr. Parnell had his hand crushed in some machinery at his -Arklow quarries, she dressed the injured fingers with -cobwebs from the cellar walls. To my astonishment he asked -for cobwebs at Eltham once, when he had cut his finger, -to "wrap it in." My children, with delighted interest, -produced cobwebs (and spiders) from the cellar, and I had -the greatest difficulty in preventing a "cure" so likely -to produce blood-poisoning. He accepted the peasant -lore of Ireland with the simplicity of a child, and I still -remember his doubtful "Is that so?" when I told him -it was most dangerous to put anything so dusty as a -cobweb on an open wound. "Susan Gaffney said cobwebs -would stop the poison. They all do it," meaning the -peasants. -</p> - -<p> -On August 16th, 1882, he was presented with the -freedom of the City of Dublin. He wished to avoid a -public demonstration, but the Corporation insisted on -making the most of the occasion. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>Saturday, August</i> 20, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—Your two letters have given me the -greatest pleasure, and I am so much obliged to Wifie for the -trouble she has taken about the request I made to her. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The two D.'s[<a id="chap20fn1text"></a><a href="#chap20fn1">1</a>] have quarrelled with, me because I won't -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P211"></a>211}</span> -allow any further expenditure by the ladies and because I have -made arrangements to make the payments myself for the future. -They were in hopes of creating a party against me in the -country by distributing the funds amongst their own creatures -and are proportionately disappointed. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I hope to have everything settled by Tuesday evening so -as to enable me to leave town then, and after a week in the -country propose to return to Wifie. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR OWN HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -In October, 1882, was founded the National League, -which was to fill the gap caused by the suppression of -the Land League. A Convention had been called for the -17th of the month. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>October</i> 10, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—I hope to be able to start for London -on Thursday evening. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The doctor says it was an attack of dysenterical diarrhoea, -but not of a severe character, and very little fever. It is now -quite over. He says my stomach must have been getting out -of order for some time. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I hope Wifie has been taking good care of herself, and -that she has not been alarmed. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Her husband will go right back to her, and will not return -to Avondale for the shooting. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -With ever so much love, my own Queenie, -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR LOVING HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>Friday evening, October</i> 14, 1882.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -My OWN DARLING WIFIE,—I have been so longing to be -with you during all these dreary hours, still more dreary as -they have been made by the knowledge that Wifie has been -unhappy and anxious all the time. Her letters came to me -quite safely and were a great pleasure, and I want some more. -On Tuesday or Wednesday, I forget which, I left my room -for the first time and caught a slight cold, which threw me -back somewhat, but I have more than regained my lost ground -to-day, and am to leave my room again to-morrow, and if I -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P212"></a>212}</span> -don't over-eat myself or catch cold again, shall go on -all right. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The Conference will most probably last two days, but I -hope to be able to leave on Wednesday, or at latest on -Thursday evening, to be with my Queenie until the end of the -Session. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Do please write me a nice letter, my darling. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR OWN HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>October</i> 17.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAREST WIFIE,—I have arrived all right, and got -through the first day of the Convention successfully. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -You will be glad to hear that the telegrams which I missed -were of no importance, and I received them this morning -unopened, as well as yours also unopened. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -With best love to my own Katie. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -The Convention duly met, Parnell presiding, and the -National League was formed, with Home Rule and -peasant proprietorship as the two main articles of its -creed. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>Sunday.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN DARLING WIFIE,—I have been so delighted to -receive both your letters quite safely; you have no idea how -much I long for a letter or a wire from you, and how frightened -and nervous I feel when, as sometimes happens, a whole day -goes by without any news. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I was very much afraid that my little wife would not have -approved of all my speech, and so much relieved to find that -you did not scold me. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Has anything been done about the monument yet? I hope -there will not be any hitch. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Am trying to get together a meeting of directors in Dublin -for next Saturday, which I can take on my way back to you, -and which I trust may afford the desired relief. I have been -doing a good deal of healthy and necessary work since my -arrival here, out riding or driving in the open air all day long. -I ride a horse called Tory, a splendid thoroughbred of my -sister's, though he has now seen his best days. He goes just -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P213"></a>213}</span> -like an india-rubber ball. I have been very successful in that -part of the business which I came over for that I have been -able to attend to thus far; having already discovered several -quarries on my own land, much nearer to the railway station -than the one we are working on, and for which we have to -pay a heavy royalty. I have every confidence that one and -all of them will be found suitable upon trial. Kerr is rather -a duffer about anything except book-keeping. He ought to -have found these out for himself long since, as I gave him -the clue when leaving here last September. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -My brother-in-law's funeral takes place to-morrow. I am -going in a closed carriage, and shall be careful not to expose -myself or stand about in the churchyard. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am certain of being able to finish up everything here so -as to leave Ireland on Saturday or Sunday at the latest, and -shall soon have my only and best treasure in my arms again. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR LOVING KING AND HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I shall be in Dublin on Tuesday evening, and shall sleep at -Morrison's that night, returning here next day. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -From these quarries at Arklow Parnell supplied the -Dublin Corporation with "setts" for many of the streets -in Dublin. These setts (granite, pavement kerbing) were -not turned out quickly enough by his men at first, so he -tried the experiment of giving the men a share in the -profits, and this he found answered well in keeping the -supply up to the demand of the corporation. -</p> - -<p> -Some of the polished granite work turned out by his -men was beautiful, and a heavy granite garden vase and -a Celtic cross appeared in the London (Irish) Exhibition -and also in the Cork Exhibition. -</p> - -<p> -1882-83 was a very anxious time for me, and the nervous -tension caused by the agitation in the political world and -the continual threatenings of violence, intrigue, and -physical force, made privately to Parnell, against him and -others, was so great that, by the end of '83, if I had not -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P214"></a>214}</span> -had my lover's health to care for I should myself have -broken down altogether. As it was, there were days when -the slightest sound or movement was an agony to me in -the throes of neuralgia brought on by the overstrain of the -nerves. But for his sake I concealed my misery of pain -as well as I could, and in so doing won back a measure -of health for myself, which would perhaps have been lost -to me had I been able to give way to my "nerves." -</p> - -<p> -During this time I attended the sittings of the House -as often as I was able, going up to town as soon as I -could leave my aunt for the night, so that I might hear -Parnell if he spoke, and in any case drive home with him. -We always drove home in a hansom cab, as we both -loved the cool of the night or of the early morning air. -</p> - -<p> -During these anxious days I did not let Parnell have -one-half of the threatening and other worrying letters he -received. He brought me his letters and parcels from the -House, and from a London address he had, to be sorted -out. I gave him those for his secretary's answering, any -personal ones I thought he would wish to see, and just -as many "threats" as I thought would make him a little -careful of himself for my sake. The bulk of the "warnings," -threats of murder, and invitations to murder I kept -to myself, fearing that he would worry himself on my -account and object to my continual "shadowing" of him, -which I considered his chief protection. He always carried -a revolver in his pocket during this time, and insisted on -my being similarly provided when I drove home with him -at night. -</p> - -<p> -These precautions may appear fantastic in these later -sober times, but they were very necessary during that time -of lawlessness and unrest in Ireland, when the prophecy -made by Parnell to me ere he finally decided to leave -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P215"></a>215}</span> -Kilmainham on the Treaty had become fact: "If I turn to -the Government I turn away from them—and then?" -</p> - -<p> -The force of his personality was carrying him through -the seething of the baffled hatred he would not use, but -not without a danger so real and so acute that many a time -I was tempted to throw his honour to the winds and -implore from the Government the protection he would have -died rather than ask for himself. But I held on to the -end till the sheer force of his dauntless courage and proud -will broke down the secret intrigue of spleen that, held -by him back from England's governance, would have -revenged itself upon the holding hand, had it dared. -</p> - -<p> -There was a lonely part of the road between London -and Eltham after going through Lee, over a common -where, to the right, was a deep ditch, and, beyond, the -land of (the late) Mr. Blenkiorn, breeder of racehorses. -There were no houses near in those days, and on -moonlight nights we could see a long way on each side of a -rather desolate bit of country. The moon which gave -light also gave shadows, and more than once from some -way off we saw the shadow of a man running behind the -hedge on the way we had to pass. I always took the side -of the hansom near the park, as I thought it would conceal -to some degree the fact of Parnell's being there. I knew, -too, that the fact of my being a woman was still some -little protection, but I took the precaution of telling the -driver to drive quickly and not stop for anyone at any -lonely point in the road. Once, to my horror, when we -were nearly over the common, I saw a man rise from the -ditch and the glint of steel in the moonlight. The man -driving saw it, too, and, with a lurch that threw us forward -in the cab, he lashed his horse into a gallop. I could just -see that the man threw up his arms as he staggered -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P216"></a>216}</span> -backwards into the ditch and a shot rang out; but nothing -dreadful had happened after all. The man had obviously -slipped as he sprang up the bank, and, in throwing up his -arms to recover his balance, his pistol had gone off—for -neither of ours had been discharged. So this exciting -drive had no more serious consequences than the rather -heavy price of the cabman's putting up in the village till -day brought him renewed confidence in the safety of the -London road. -</p> - -<p> -Sometimes after a late sitting Parnell and I would get -some coffee at the early coffee stalls for workmen on the -way from London. In the early morning half-light, when -the day was just beginning to break, we loved to watch -drowsy London rubbing the sleep from her eyes, hastening -her labouring sons upon their way to ease the later -waking of their luxurious brothers. Parnell was always -interested in manual labourers; he loved to watch them at -work, and he liked to talk to them of their work and of -their homes. A man with a hammer or a pick-axe was -almost an irresistible attraction to him, and he would often -get me to stand and watch the men engaged on a road -or harbour work. -</p> - -<p> -About this time (it was in 1883) Mr. (afterwards Sir) -Howard Vincent, head of the Detective Department of -Scotland Yard, sent a note to the House of Commons -asking Parnell to see him for a few minutes, as he had an -important communication to make to him. Parnell was -just going to speak, so he brought me the note up to the -Ladies' Gallery, and, hastily putting it into my hand, -said: "See to this for me." -</p> - -<p> -It was a morning sitting, and I hurried off to Scotland -Yard hoping to get back in time to hear Parnell speak, -and yet anxious to hear what the note meant. I was shown -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P217"></a>217}</span> -into Sir Howard Vincent's private room directly I arrived, -and he expressed great pleasure, as well as great surprise, -at seeing me. I showed him his note to Parnell, and -asked him to what it referred. He answered that the -"officials" all considered the matter serious, and that the -Government were prepared to give Mr. Parnell protection -if he wished it. -</p> - -<p> -I told him that Mr. Parnell would, I was sure, not -like that at all, and, after a long conversation of no -particular definiteness, Sir Howard said: "I do not think you -believe in this particular threat against Mr. Parnell, do -you, Mrs. O'Shea?" -</p> - -<p> -I replied: "Well, it does seem rather like a hoax to -me. Would you mind letting me see the 'letter of -warning'?" He laughed and said: "Not at all, but I've torn -it up and flung it into the waste-paper basket." -</p> - -<p> -I promptly picked up the basket in question and turned -it over on his table, saying: "Let us piece it together." He -pretended to help me for a few moments, as I neatly -put together various uninteresting documents, and then, -with a deprecating smile, swept them all together, saying: -"It is your game, Mrs. O'Shea; you are too clever. Why -didn't you send Mr. Parnell round?" and we parted with -laughing expressions of goodwill and amusement on his -part that we had not been taken in. -</p> - -<p> -The Government, of course, were bent on forcing -"police protection" on Parnell as a convenience to -themselves and a means of ascertaining the extent of his -influence over the Invincibles. The Government did not -trust Parnell, and they wished to frighten him into care -of himself and thus weaken the trust of the Irish in him. -</p> - -<p> -One evening in 1882 or 1883, when Parnell and I were -waiting at Brighton station to catch the train to London, -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P218"></a>218}</span> -we noticed that there was much crowding round the -book-stall placards and much excitement among buyers of -newspapers. Parnell did not wish to be recognized, as he was -supposed at that time to be in Ireland; but, hearing -Gladstone's name mentioned by a passer-by, our curiosity got -the better of our caution and we went to get a paper. -Parnell, being so tall a man, could see over the heads of the -crowd, and, reading the placard, turned back without -getting a paper to tell me that the excitement was over the -report of "the assassination of Mr. Parnell." I then -asked him to get into the train so that we should run no -risk of his being known, and managed to get through the -crowd to buy a paper myself. How the report arose we -never knew, but at that time, when every post brought -Parnell some threat of violence and my nerves were jarred -and tense with daily fear for him, it took all my fortitude -to answer his smile and joke at the unfounded report which -left me sick and shaken. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap20fn1"></a> -[<a href="#chap20fn1text">1</a>] Dillon and Davitt. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap21"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P219"></a>219}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XXI -<br /> -A WINTER OF MEMORIES -</h3> - -<p class="poem"> - "<i>Feeling is deep and still, and the word that floats on the surface<br /> - Is as the tossing buoy, that betrays where the anchor is hidden.</i>"<br /> - —LONGFELLOW.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Mr. Forster made his notorious attack upon Mr. Parnell -in February, 1883, accusing him of encouraging and -conniving at murder, outrage, and treachery. On his return -home Parnell showed, as he would not deign to show in -the House, a fierce joy in the false move of his enemies -and the scorn and contempt of the lack of control which -could lead a politician of Forster's experience into such a -<i>faux pas</i> as this personal attack on him. Here, then, he -had what he wanted; in this attack was the repudiation of -those charges, made by the "extremists" in Ireland and -America, of pandering to the Government—made by them -ever since he left Kilmainham on the Treaty—here was -another cord to bind the Nationalist forces together without -in any way repudiating that Treaty. Here was a fresh -weapon given into his hand by an ex-Government official -who could not govern his personal spleen by political -intelligence. -</p> - -<p> -"No," he said to me, when I asked him if he did not -mean to answer Forster at all, "I shall not answer. I shall -let him hang himself with his own rope." -</p> - -<p> -But the Party would not have this, and urged him so -strongly that he did—not answer—but show his contempt -of the whole thing and of the English politicians who had -played their hand so badly. He said to me before he started -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P220"></a>220}</span> -for the House: "By the judgment of the Irish people only -do I, and will I, stand or fall," and this he repeated in -the House. -</p> - -<p> -The astonishment of the House was unbounded. It -had been prepared for anything but this scornful -repudiation of the right of the English to judge him—for a -downright denial of the charges made, for a skilful fencing -with the arguments. The speech of Parnell was a challenge -to war. Impassive as ever, betraying no slightest -sign of emotion, he tore up the accusations and threw them -scornfully in the face of his accuser.[<a id="chap21fn1text"></a><a href="#chap21fn1">1</a>] -</p> - -<p> -Some time afterwards, in an interview I had with him, -Mr. Gladstone referred to this declaration of Parnell's—that -he would stand or fall only by the judgment of the -Irish people. -</p> - -<p> -He said: "You know Mr. Parnell's inmost feelings -better than others; does this truly represent his mind, -Mrs. O'Shea?" -</p> - -<p> -I answered, as I could truly do: "Yes, Mr. Gladstone, -that is his only and absolute ideal. I may say Ireland's is -the only voice he regards as having any authority over -him in the whole world." -</p> - -<p> -"Yet Mr. Parnell is so much an Englishman in his -coldness and reserve?" -</p> - -<p> -"He is a paradox, Mr. Gladstone, the enigma of genius -herself, a volcano capped with snow. Englishman himself, -at least he is descended from Englishmen, he hates -England and the English and does not understand them; -he loves Ireland and her people through and through, -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P221"></a>221}</span> -understands them absolutely, and is in nature as apart and -aloof from the Irish nature as you are yourself." -</p> - -<p> -The hard, flint-like eyes softened a little in the eagle -face as the G.O.M. answered with a little sigh: "I have -much sympathy with his ambitions for Ireland, Mrs. O'Shea. -His is a curious personality; you are right, I -think—yes, a paradox indeed, but a wonderful man!" -</p> - -<p> -At the end of June, 1883, Parnell went over to conduct -Mr. Healy's election at Monaghan (an Ulster stronghold), -for which division he was returned a month after he had -quitted Richmond Prison. -</p> - -<p> -He immediately afterwards (on July 4) attended the -Cork banquet given in his honour. He wrote the following -letter to me to allay the fears I had expressed in regard to -certain political actions which he here repudiates and -which had reached my ears from other sources:— -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>Tuesday night.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -When I received your note I at once determined to go over -to you to-morrow morning and to give up my engagement to -speak at the Cork banquet to-morrow night, as I knew my -own was very much troubled about something, and felt sure -that I could comfort and reassure her. I have since been -besieged the whole evening by entreaties and threats not to -throw over Cork, and it has been represented to me, and with -truth, that half the result of the Monaghan victory will be -lost if I leave Cork to the Whigs and my enemies. I have -been very much perplexed and dragged in different ways, but -have at this hour (2 a.m.) made up my mind to ask my own -Wifie to suspend her judgment for another twenty-four hours -about whatever is tormenting her, to place some little confidence -in her husband's honour and fidelity for that short time, -and to believe that he now swears to her, and that he will -repeat the same oath to her on Thursday evening, that whatever -statement has been made about him which is calculated to -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P222"></a>222}</span> -lower him in his wife's opinion in the slightest degree is a -foul lie. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I feel that I can ask this of my own Wifie, and that she -will not withdraw her confidence and love from her own husband -until he can return and defend himself. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I shall leave for Cork by to-morrow morning's train at -nine o'clock, speak at banquet, and return by night mail the -same day to Dublin, and be in time to leave Dublin by mail -train for London on Thursday morning. Let me know at -Palace Chambers where I shall see you on Thursday evening. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Trust your husband, and do not credit any slander of him. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - AVONDALE, RATHDRUM,<br /> - 2 <i>a.m., July</i> 4, 1883.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—I seize a vacant moment to write -you a few words, as it does not look as if Irish affairs would -permit me to see you for some time longer. Perhaps even a -week or ten days may pass by before I can see Eltham again. -I also wish you to forward enclosed to Captain O'Shea, as I -have not got his address. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I have had several conversations with Fr. White, who is -a very superior man, and has impressed me very much. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I intend to make it my first business to look up West -Clare, and trust that Captain O'Shea may be able to meet -me there.—With best regards, yours always sincerely, -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -C. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>Tuesday.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAREST WIFIE,—Your letters received, and always give -me the greatest happiness to read. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Please continue writing. I will make arrangements to have -them kept out of sight here. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Shall see him[<a id="chap21fn2text"></a><a href="#chap21fn2">2</a>] Wednesday evening or Thursday morning, -and do what I can. I fear his position in Clare is -irretrievable.—With best love, YOUR HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P223"></a>223}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - AVONDALE,<br /> - <i>Sunday.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—Will you kindly direct, enclose, -and post enclosed. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Many thanks for your letter, also for two from Captain -O'Shea, which I will reply to shortly.—Believe me, in haste, -yours very truly, CHAS. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Just before Christmas in 1883 I took a furnished house -in Brighton for three months for my children. I had -arranged to go into a house in Second Avenue, which both -Parnell and I liked, but Willie came down and insisted -on my taking one facing the sea in Medina Terrace; -so I (with difficulty) got out of my former agreement, and -certainly the house Willie chose was very much pleasanter, -owing to its close proximity to the sea. -</p> - -<p> -Willie undertook to stay here to be with the children -while I went back to my aunt (coming myself to Brighton -for one or two days in the week). -</p> - -<p> -Willie asked Parnell to come and stay. He did so, -and Willie and he discussed the Local Government Bill at -all hours, as Parnell wished to find out what the views of -Mr. Chamberlain and the Tories were—better ascertainable -by Willie than others. -</p> - -<p> -I went back to my aunt for Christmas Eve. It was -bitterly cold, and as the old lady never cared for festivities, -she was soon glad to shut herself up in her warm house -and "forget in slumber the foolish junketings I permit -in my domestics, my love." -</p> - -<p> -There was snow that Christmas, very deep at Eltham; -and Parnell, who had joined me there, walked round the -snowy paths of my aunt's place with me in the moonlight. -Now and then he moved with me into the shadow of the -trees as a few lads and men, with the inevitable cornet and -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P224"></a>224}</span> -trombone of a village "band," plunged through the drifts -on their short cut to the old house. There they sang -Christmas carols to their hearts' content, knowing they -were earning their yearly bonus, to be presented with a -polite message of her "distaste" for carol singing by -"Mrs. Ben's" (as she was affectionately called in the village) -man-servant the next morning. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell and I enjoyed that pacing up and down the -wide terrace in the snowy moonlight. The snow had -drifted up against the old urns and the long, low balustrade -that divided the north and south lawns; and the great -shadows of the beech trees looked unfamiliar and -mysterious—pierced here and there, where the blanket -covering of snow had dropped off, by the cold glitter of -moonlight on the whiteness. -</p> - -<p> -Right away to the south lay the "Chase," leading away -to Chislehurst, wide, cold, and lonely in the moonlight, -and I told Parnell that the cloud shadows that flitted over -the glistening whiteness were the phantoms of the hunters -of King John's time, who used to hunt over this ground, -renewing their sport in the moonlight. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell loved to hear these little imaginations, and I -loved to tell them to him for the sake of seeing the grave -smile come, and of hearing the naïve "Is that so?" of -his appreciation. -</p> - -<p> -We walked up and down in the moonlight till the -carols died away, and we heard the church clocks strike -twelve. Then we stood together to listen to the Christmas -bells sound clear and sharp from many villages on the -frosty air, while Parnell again spoke to me of his belief -that the soul after death resumed life in the planet under -whose influence it was born. He spoke of his belief in a -personal destiny and fate, against which it was useless -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P225"></a>225}</span> -for mortals to contend or fight, and how he believed that -certain souls had to meet and become one, till in death -the second planet life parted them until the sheer longing -for one another brought them together again in after -ages.[<a id="chap21fn3text"></a><a href="#chap21fn3">3</a>] -</p> - -<p> -I said, "But it seems so lonely like that!" and he -answered, "It is lonely; that is why I am so afraid always -of death, and why I hope with every bit of me that we -shall die together." -</p> - -<p> -The next day I went to Brighton to see the children -for Christmas, and in the New Year Willie went to Ireland, -returning to Brighton to stay with the children for a short -time before they came home in February and he went to -Lisbon. -</p> - -<p> -The following telegrams and letters show the development -of affairs during the course of this year:— -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="t3"> -(Telegrams.) -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>Feb.</i> 29, 1884. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -(Handed in at the House of Commons Office.) -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>From</i> PARNELL. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>To</i> MRS. O'SHEA, ELTHAM, KENT. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Thanks. Happy to accept your invitation to dinner this -evening for seven o'clock. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>May</i> 30, 1884. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>From</i> PARNELL, AVONDALE. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>To</i> MRS. O'SHEA, ELTHAM. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Captain and I arrived safely. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -(Willie went to stay at Avondale for a couple of -days.—K. P.) -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P226"></a>226}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>May</i> 31, 1884. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -(Rathdrum Office.) -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>From</i> PARNELL. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>To</i> MRS. O'SHEA, ELTHAM. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Captain leaves here to-morrow (Sunday) morning, and leaves -Kingstown to-morrow evening. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>Sept.</i> 10.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Willie is looking very well indeed, in fact much better than -I have ever seen him before. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I hope soon to be through pressing business here and in -country, and to be able to leave on Saturday.—Yours, -C. S. P. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -<i>Friday, Oct.</i> 28, 1884. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—I shall be at Dover for a few -days longer, and afterwards propose visiting the Netherlands -and returning through Paris. If I thought that Captain -O'Shea would soon be in England I should wait for him, but -if not should take my chance of meeting him in Paris on my -return. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -My stay in the Netherlands will not exceed three days, -but I shall remain in Paris for at least a similar period. I -say "the Netherlands" because I don't yet know whether -I shall have to go to Holland or Belgium or both. Kindly -let me have a line or wire to former address.—Always yours, -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -CHAS. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -I was ill at the time the following letters were written, -and Captain O'Shea was coming to Eltham a good deal. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -ELTHAM, 1884. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Should have come sooner, but could not get away. There -was an explosion of a bomb at the Home Office just before I -left; it blew down a large piece of the front wall and did a -great deal of damage, they say. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I will not go near the hotel to-night if I see a crowd there, -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P227"></a>227}</span> -and will leave early in the morning and come down here to -breakfast. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - ELTHAM,<br /> - <i>Friday,</i> 4 p.m.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I came down here late last night and was immensely -relieved to hear that you were better. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I slept very comfortably here last night, and had an excellent -breakfast this morning, which Phyllis brought me. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Am now going up to London to settle the report of -Labourers' Committee, which had not time to attend to -yesterday, and hope to be back about eleven o'clock.—Yours, -C. S. P. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -ELTHAM. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Do you think I had best wait here or go up to London and -wait for a telegram from you? -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -We finished our committee yesterday, so if he[<a id="chap21fn4text"></a><a href="#chap21fn4">4</a>] goes early -I could return perhaps early enough to see you this evening -for a few minutes. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I felt very much relieved by your letter last night. -However, it is evident you must take great care. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -If you think I had best not wait, will you telegraph? -Otherwise see me later, when I will wait.—Yours. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -ELTHAM. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Many thanks for kind note. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am going to London now, and hope to return reasonably -early, as the debate is not likely to last long. I do not feel -the cold at all. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -There ought to be no difficulty in my seeing you to-morrow, -and I will manage it. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I do not like your having a headache, and you must really -take care of yourself and not get up too soon.—Yours always. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am obliged to go up early to attend Labourers' Committee, -which meets at eleven to-day to consider its final report. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Please send me telegram to House if you can, as I ought -to be able to return early this evening. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Phyllis is looking after me first rate.—Yours. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P228"></a>228}</span> -</p> - -<p> -Parnell was always unselfish and most considerate -when I was ill, and once when I was very weak after an -illness of some duration he returned home to Eltham in -broad daylight in a hansom cab, triumphantly supporting -one end of a large couch, the other end of which spread -its upholstered length over the roof. This invalid's chair -he with the help of my maids, arranged in my sitting-room, -adjusting its complicated "rests" with earnest -abstraction, after which he led the procession up to my -room, and in spite of my amused protests carried me down -and placed me on the couch amid cushions and shawls, -and spent a happy evening in "watching me" as I lay -comfortably on my new possession. -</p> - -<p> -In 1884 we ran down to Hastings for a few days in -the middle of the Session, when my aunt's old friend -came to stay with her and gave me freedom. Parnell -delighted in these sudden "run-away" visits to the sea -when the House was in full swing of business, and said -they braced and freshened him up more than anything -else could do. We stayed at the Queen's Hotel, and -Parnell revelled in the sudden freedom from politics—casting -all thought and care from him as we walked by -the sea and gave ourselves up to the enjoyment of the -fresh salt air. -</p> - -<p> -He was hugely pleased, on going into a shop in Robertson -Street for notepaper, to find some embossed with the -monogram "K.P." in blue and gold. He declared it was -a good omen, and bought me more boxes of it than I -could use for many years. He also bought me a little -red diary, after long and earnest efforts in selection. Red -he did not like much, as he said it was the sanguinary hue -of English oppression; but diaries can apparently only -be bound in red, green, or purple, and purple was the -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P229"></a>229}</span> -colour of sorrow, and green the most painful expression -of all ill-luck! -</p> - -<p> -This diary was to make up to me for my natural -indignation at, nearly, his first act on returning to me from -some absence. He had gone over to the fire and caught -sight of my diary, bound in green, that I had inadvertently -left on the mantelpiece. With an exclamation of -horror he had thrown it straight into the fire, holding me -back from the rescue I struggled to attempt, and only -replying to my indignant protests that he was sorry if -the contents were really so valuable as I said, but anything -between green covers was better burnt! -</p> - -<p> -In these short visits to the seaside we always looked -about for a house that Parnell could buy later on, but as -he always kept a regretful eye upon Brighton, where it -was inexpedient that we should be seen much together, we -never really settled on one for purchase, though he rented -one in Eastbourne with that idea, only to discover that a -brother of his was living there. When we had a few -hours to spare we had very happy times hunting round -Sussex in the neighbourhood of Brighton (Brighton air -did him so much good), hoping to find a suitable country -house, but the train service was always a difficulty, except -in the town itself. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap21fn1"></a> -[<a href="#chap21fn1text">1</a>] "The time will come," said Parnell in this speech, "when this -House and the people of this country will admit that they have been -deceived, and that they have been cheered by those who ought to be -ashamed of themselves, that they have been led astray as to the right mode -of governing a noble, a brave, a generous and an impulsive people." -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap21fn2"></a> -[<a href="#chap21fn2text">2</a>] Captain O'Shea. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap21fn3"></a> -[<a href="#chap21fn3text">3</a>] On the day of Parnell's death, October 6, 1891, a new planet was -discovered. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap21fn4"></a> -[<a href="#chap21fn4text">4</a>] Captain O'Shea. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap22"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P230"></a>230}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XXII -<br /> -HORSES AND DOGS -</h3> - -<p class="intro"> -"<i>Amid all the forms of life that surround us, not one, excepting -the dog, has made an alliance with us.</i>"—MAURICE MAETERLINCK. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -In 1885 I had a new room built on to my house at -Eltham, adjoining my sitting-room and leading into the -greenhouse, and thence to the garden. Parnell and I -took the greatest interest in the building of this room; he -superintended every detail, saw that the cement was laid -to the proper depth under the flooring, and sent to -Avondale for sufficient sweet-chestnut wood to have the room -panelled half-way up and to make beautiful, heavy -double-doors, window settings and the mantelpiece and fittings. -It was a very comfortable and warm room when finished, -and, to celebrate its completion—it was to be Parnell's -own study and workroom—I photographed him in it, -sitting in his own special easy chair, surrounded by his -assaying paraphernalia and holding his pestle and -mortar. This photograph was published years ago without -permission or acknowledgment by one or other of two -persons to whom I had given it, after my husband's -death, as a very private and special memento of him. It -hurt me much when I first knew of it—but people do -these things. -</p> - -<p> -Early in 1885 Parnell bought a new horse in Ireland -which he arranged to bring to England, and subsequently -brought others over. The two letters which follow refer -to these matters, and were written to me in case the horses -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P231"></a>231}</span> -should be noticed arriving in Eltham and the fact reported -to Captain O'Shea. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - AVONDALE,<br /> - <i>January</i> 14, 1885.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN QUEENIE,—A word to say that your promised -letter has not yet reached me, and I suppose it may turn up -to-morrow. The parcel came safely to Dublin, and the hamper -here. Mary and I unpacked it with fear and trembling, lest -there should have been no tea and sugar, as I had forgotten -to say anything to you about them; but they were all right. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The new horse is very quiet and a very fine one; strong -and short legs, with plenty of bone, a splendid fore-quarter, -and a good turn of speed. I suppose I may bring him back -with me. The telegram I sent you on Day of Convention was -found late at night posted in a letter box, and was returned -to bearer, who never said anything to me about it, otherwise -you would have heard result about six o'clock.—With best love -to my little wife, YOUR KING. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN.<br /> - <i>February</i> 3, 1885.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR MRS. O'SHEA,—I have sent two horses to London -to-day (Euston) and should feel very much obliged if you would -allow them to stand in your stables for a few days, until I can -make other arrangements. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -They will reach Euston about 1 p.m. to-morrow. Could -you find two careful men to meet them? One saddle is gone -with the horses, so another saddle would be necessary. They -should be walked carefully through London, as one of them -specially is very shy and unused to town. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am going over to Liverpool to-night. I enclose order -for the horses.—-Yours very truly, CHAS. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Parnell rented some stables fairly near my house for -his horses, and took much interest in their welfare. He -was not a man who had very much knowledge of horses, -but he was a fine horseman, and on his hunter President, -a beautiful horse of sixteen hands and a weight-carrier, -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P232"></a>232}</span> -he looked remarkably well. He took a scientific interest -in the shoeing of the horses and, to the great annoyance -of his grooms, would constantly try new methods of -shoeing in order to deaden the "jar" of the contact of the -road. This trial of new methods proved a boon to my horse -Dictator—given me by Parnell—for the tenderness of his -feet was completely cured when Parnell, dead against the -conservative ideas of my stableman, insisted on his having -leathers inserted between Dictator's foot and shoe. -</p> - -<p> -This horse Dictator was a great pleasure to us, though -he pulled rather badly. He was very fast and extraordinarily -sure-footed, keeping his feet in the worst frost, even -when driven on the slippery London paving in hard night -frosts. He would trot away to London in much less time -than Parnell could get there by any other means. Parnell -did not drive well, leaving the reins slack upon the horse's -back, so that he had no control over it in any emergency. -My nervousness in this was so great that he very -good-naturedly left all the driving to me, saying: "Well, -that's how the jarveys drive in Ireland!" in answer to my -plaintive "I've never seen anyone drive like that." -</p> - -<p> -President was a very solid horse, in mind as well as in -body, and once when Parnell had ridden him up to New -Cross in a frost President sat down violently and was so -impressed with the safety of his position that he refused -to get up again until Parnell—who was of immense -muscular strength—with the help of a couple of stalwart -policemen, literally lifted him to his feet. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell then went into an adjacent saddler's shop to -buy a "rubber" to give President a rub down and, finding -a rather original make of pocket-book on the counter, with -beautifully-sewn leather covers, became so immersed in -the selection of one for me that at length an irate policeman -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P233"></a>233}</span> -looked in to order him to remove his horse at once, -as it was causing "an obstruction!" Parnell, recalled -to the problem of how to get President and himself -to Westminster Bridge, where his servant was waiting -to take the horse, proceeded to rub him down while -considering the matter, thereby delighting the crowd of -onlookers. -</p> - -<p> -The policeman besought him to "get on the 'orse, sir, -and ride hoff," before the whole street got "'eld hup," -but Parnell gently declined, as he knew that President -had now no chance of keeping his feet on the ice-coated -pavement. After fully considering the matter he found -the chief thing was to get himself out of the crowd as -quickly as possible, and, slipping a little comfort into the -constable's hand, he ordered him to put the horse up at -the nearest stables and drove off, ignoring all queries and -protests. -</p> - -<p> -He sent me a telegram from the House to assure me -of his safe arrival, but forgot all about his waiting -servant, who, after some hours, not daring to return home, -telegraphed to me to know what he was to do, as his master -had not arrived. The whole thing amused Parnell -intensely, but unfortunately he had given the policeman the -name of Prescott, and, in absence of mind, sent his groom -the next day to find and bring back the horse of -"Mr. Stewart." It was a most expensive trial of President's -utility. The pocket-book I still use daily, and prize very -highly; it is as perfect, though much worn, as when he -bought it, some twenty-six years ago. -</p> - -<p> -After my old collie Elfie died, Parnell offered to get -me another dog, and, as I wanted an Irish wolf-hound, -he and I went to see one that was advertised for sale. It -was a magnificent animal, but we had much doubt as to -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P234"></a>234}</span> -its true breed, and decided that Mr. Parnell should not -buy it. -</p> - -<p> -He then suggested bringing me an Irish setter the -next time he went to Ireland, and, as the idea pleased me, -he brought a half-grown setter given him by Mr. Corbett, -M.P., who said this dog, Grouse, was the very best he -had ever had. Grouse became at once the constant -companion and pleasure of his master and myself. He was a -beautiful dog, and most faithful and affectionate. -Mr. Parnell would tease him by pretending to be jealous when -Grouse lay at my feet with his head on my foot, and when -the dog rose with the dignity that always characterized -him, and went over to Parnell, resting his head on his -knee and assuring him of his absolute devotion, I would in -my turn despair at having no dog to love me. -</p> - -<p> -After a few moments of this game poor Grouse would -sit exactly between us, looking from one to the other, and -whining at the impossibility of pleasing us both at once. -Then Parnell would move to my side on the sofa so that -Grouse could rest his chin on our clasped hands, to his -great contentment. The dog always slept in Parnell's -room, and, in his last illness, when the doctors wished to -have Grouse removed, Parnell would not allow it. -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Corbett was very sad when he heard that Grouse -had become a lady's pet, as the old sportsman considered -it a sin to "spoil" a gun dog; but I think that if he had -known the pleasure Grouse gave "the Chief" he would -have been glad that the dog should have exchanged the -Wicklow Mountains for the hated Saxon's home. Parnell -took Grouse over for the grouse-shooting one season and -telegraphed to me that he had done very well, but he soon -brought him back to me. -</p> - -<p> -Another dog that Parnell brought home to me from -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P235"></a>235}</span> -Ireland was a mongrel Irish terrier that he had found -wandering in the streets of Killaloe. He had been dreadfully -starved and ill-used, and was quite savage when handed -over to me at Brighton with muzzle and chain on, but -with kindness and good feeding he soon became as devoted -to us as Grouse was, and with him used thoroughly to -enjoy following Parnell when he rode over the Downs -for his daily exercise. -</p> - -<p> -After we went to Brighton Parnell would give the dogs -a swim in the sea every day, and Grouse's strong -swimming was a great delight to his master. Pincher, the -terrier, was the cause of much anxiety, as he used to swim -right out to sea—so far that we lost sight of the little dark -head—and Parnell had very often to get a boat out and -fetch the exhausted little beast back. This little dog lived -for many years after his master's death (Grouse only two -years), but he would never allow another man to touch -him without trying to bite him. He was fond of Parnell, -but always on guard with other men, though quite -good-tempered with women. Parnell used to say that Pincher -must have been so badly treated by some man that he had -learned distrust of all males. Many a time he came home -from his rides with rueful amusement at the exaggerated -value placed upon their legs by shepherds or labourers he -had met on the Downs who had been bitten by Pincher -with a careless indiscrimination that at last earned him a -muzzle. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell also brought to Eltham a very old setter, -Ranger. He had been a splendid dog, and now his limbs -were too feeble to follow his faithful heart in his master's -sport. So Mr. Parnell took pity on him, and asked -Mr. Corbett to let him have the dog for a lady who would care -for his old age, and Ranger came to us, spending the -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P236"></a>236}</span> -evening of his life in basking on the sunny lawn at Eltham, -wagging a dignified tail of appreciation and greeting to -those of us he met on his stiff walks about the place or -dreaming his doggie dreams of the sport of the past, happy -and cared for till he died. -</p> - -<p class="t3"> -* * * * * * -</p> - -<p> -The following letter was sent to <i>United Ireland</i> on -April 11, 1885, in regard to the proposed visit of the Prince -of Wales to Ireland:— -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -You ask for my views regarding the visit of the Prince of -Wales. In reply, I desire to say that if the usages of the -Constitution existed in Ireland as they do in England there -would, to my judgment, be no inconsistency in those who -believe in the limited monarchy as the best form of government -taking a suitable part in the reception of the Prince. -But in view of the fact that the Constitution has never been -administered in Ireland according to its spirit and precedents, -that the power of the Crown as wielded by Earl Spencer and -other Viceroys is despotic and unlimited to the last degree, -and that in the present instance the Royal personage is to be -used by the two English political parties in Ireland for the -purpose of injuring and insulting the Irish Nationalist Party, -and of impeding, if possible, their work, I fail to see upon what -ground it can be claimed from any lover of constitutional -government under a limited monarchy that the Prince is -entitled to a reception from the independent and patriotic people -of Ireland, or to any recognition save from the garrison of -officials and landowners and place-hunters who fatten upon the -poverty and misfortunes of the country. Let me suggest a -parallel. Would it be tolerated in England for a moment if -the Government, for their own party purposes, on the eve of -a general election, were to use the Prince of Wales as an -electioneering agent in any section of the country, and were -to send him upon a Royal progress in order to embarrass their -political opponents? The breach of constitutional privilege -becomes still graver when we consider that it is the march of -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P237"></a>237}</span> -a nation which is now sought to be impeded—the fruition of a -long struggle and of many sacrifices which the adventitious aid -of this Royal visit is enlisted to injure. I have, however, every -confidence that our people, having been suitably forewarned, -will not allow their hospitable nature and cordial disposition -to carry them into any attitude which might be taken as one -of condonation for the past or satisfaction with the present state -of affairs. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -CHARLES S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -This letter was written at Eltham, and there was a -laughing battle between us over the writing of it. I -threatened to make him hang out "Union Jacks" from -every window of Avondale if he made things unpleasant -in Ireland for the Prince, and he, in pretended horror, -wrote the above, and tossed it to me for the alterations -(which I, of course, did not make) that my "English -prejudices" demanded. But he seriously believed that this -visit of the Prince to Ireland was timed by the advisers of -his Royal Highness with singular and malicious advertence -to the State of the political situation, and he commented -most strongly upon the poverty of imagination and chivalry -of a great country such as England who could find no -better use for her Prince than that of an electioneering -agent. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap23"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P238"></a>238}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XXIII -<br /> -SEASIDE HOLIDAYS -</h3> - -<p class="poem"> - "<i>Green leaves a-floating,<br /> - Castles of the foam,<br /> - Boats of mine a-boating,<br /> - Where will all come home?</i>"<br /> - —STEVENSON.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -In May, 1886, I took my children to the Queen's Hotel, -Eastbourne, for a change, and, after a few days spent in -looking for lodgings, I settled them in St. John's Road. -Parnell enjoyed the bathing at Eastbourne greatly, and -was much distressed that the weakness of my heart -prevented my joining him in his swims, and that boating -had most disastrous effects on me. -</p> - -<p> -He was boyishly determined that I should at any rate -join him in some way in his sea "sports," and one warm -May evening he insisted that if I went into the sea fully -dressed it could not hurt me. I thought it would at any -rate be most uncomfortable, but to please him I held -tightly to his arm while we waded far out to sea till the -waves came to my shoulder and threw me off my feet. -</p> - -<p> -He held me tightly, laughing aloud as the ripple of -waves and wind caught my hair and loosed it about my -shoulders; and, as I grew cold and white, my wonderful -lover carried me, with all my weight of soaked clothing, -back to the shore, kissing the wet hair that the wind twisted -about his face and whispering the love that almost -frightened me in its strength. Luckily the dusk of -evening had come down upon us, and I was able to get back -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P239"></a>239}</span> -to the house in my wet things, half-walking and -half-carried by Parnell, without unduly shocking Eastbourne's -conventions. -</p> - -<p> -As I thought I should be able to be away from my -aunt, with occasional flying visits to her, for about two -months, Parnell had two of our horses brought down to -Eastbourne. He had during that time to go to London -and Ireland, but it was on the whole a peaceful little -interlude in his strenuous political life, and we were very -happy. He rode his horse President in the morning, and -afterwards I drove him far out into the country around -Eastbourne with Dictator in my phaeton. -</p> - -<p> -We often drove out to Birling Gap—a favourite haunt -of ours—and there we selected a site for the ideal house of -our dreams; a place where one could hear nothing but the -beating of the surf on the rocks below and the wild call -of the sea-birds. He loved that place, where we could be -absolutely alone save for the coastguardsman along the -cliff, who never intruded his interesting conversation, but -who was always ready for a chat when we cared to hear -his stories of the sea. -</p> - -<p> -It was impossible to drive near the place, so we had -to leave Dictator and the phaeton far off on the last bit -possible to drive upon. Parnell had an easy method of -"hitching" a horse to something, in the firm faith that -he would find it there on return a few hours later, and this -made me very uneasy where my far from patient Dictator -was concerned. Parnell would settle the horse with a feed, -in charge of his groom, well sheltered behind a hill, and -take a fantastic pleasure in observing the sulky gloom of -the young man's face after an hour or so of this isolated -meditation. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell had a great love of sea-storms, and when there -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P240"></a>240}</span> -was a gale blowing from the west, and rough weather -assured, he loved to get me out to Birling Gap to listen to -the roar of the sea and the screaming of the wind as it blew -around us, nearly carrying us off our feet. He would tie -his coat about me, and hold me firmly against the wind -as it tore about us, and while we gazed out at the raging -waves he would exclaim: "Isn't this glorious, my Queen? -Isn't it alive?" -</p> - -<p> -Our coastguardsman friend always seemed somewhat -pleased to see us, though undoubtedly he thought us odd -in our amusements. I have often thought since that if -we had built our house in that isolated loveliness, where -the sound of the sea and moan of the wind were incessant, -there would have been some truth in what was said afterwards -as to our house in Walsingham Terrace, that it was -so "terribly dreary." -</p> - -<p> -On one occasion we drove to Pevensey, and, passing -the station on our return, a crowd from some local train -came pouring out. Parnell asked me to pull up to let the -crowd go by; but to his consternation this attracted the -attention of some young men in the crowd, who at once -recognized him, and, waving their hats, cried "Parnell, -Parnell!" with that horrible emphasis on the "nell" that -is so prevalent. Parnell, lifting his hat, urged me in an -agonized tone to drive on, but it was too late. The crowd -clustered about us, insisting on shaking hands with him, -and throwing covertly interested glances at his companion. -They would not let us go on till he had made a little -impromptu speech on current affairs, after which we drove -off amid cheers. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell never swore, and "Goodness gracious!" -learned from his nurse in extreme youth, was the strongest -expression he ever used, but the dull, quiet anger such a -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P241"></a>241}</span> -contretemps as this caused him would, I felt, have been -relieved could he have acquired the habit of "language." This -little incident at Pevensey would lead to newspaper -paragraphs, and it was hard we could not have a few days' -quiet amusement without having it boomed through the -country. However, a brilliant thought struck me. If we -were to be bothered by paragraphs let them be our own! -So we drew up by the wayside, and concocted a paragraph -which told an over-interested world that "Mr. Parnell had -been staying at Hastings with his sister, and on visiting -Pevensey with her had," etc., etc. This, forwarded to -the Press Association, left us in peace at Eastbourne to -complete our little holiday. -</p> - -<p> -Apropos of Parnell's "Goodness gracious," he was at -first quite unconscious of his use of the words, and it was -only on Willie's plaintive query as to why he did not -d—-n like other men, instead of using "that foolish and -vulgar expression," he became aware of it. He then -admitted with some amusement that he liked the homely -old expression and did not d—-n merely because it never -occurred to him to do so. -</p> - -<p> -On the cliffs towards Beachy Head is a house that at -that time was built but not quite finished. Parnell took -me up to see it, and suggested that it might be a charming -seaside retreat for us, even though not the ideal we always -had in our minds. This house then had a beautiful and -wide outlook over the sea, and I liked it so much that -he arranged to take it on a three years' agreement directly -it was finished. He wanted to have all the walls -distempered instead of papered, and we spent many hours over -this and the selection of the Minton tiles for the hall. The -details of the house interested him greatly, and one day -when the men working there had gone to dinner Parnell -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P242"></a>242}</span> -showed me how to lay the tiles with so much energy that -we had finished their work by the time the men returned. -He then insisted upon my writing "Heatherbell Cottage" -on a tile, which he proceeded to inlay over the front door, -earning the comment from the men working there that he -seemed to know as much about the "job" as they did. -</p> - -<p> -He then turned his attention to making a smooth lawn -in our little garden, spending hours pulling a roller up -and down, while I sat on the steps writing from his -dictation "A Proposed Constitution for the Irish and the -English Peoples"—a production that excited the greatest -wrath in the minds of some of the Irish Party at a -subsequent meeting. I do not think that the English -members of Parliament were ever made acquainted with -the benefits proposed for their consideration under this -"Constitution." -</p> - -<p> -This Constitution was more fun than anything else. -Parnell undoubtedly put it before certain members of the -Irish Party instead of one drafted by his own hand. He -told me afterwards that they looked "absolutely ill" when -they saw my handwriting, so he would not withdraw it -in favour of his own—till later. -</p> - -<p> -I was sitting on the doorstep of our new house one -day, idly watching Parnell build a bank that was to be -turfed over to keep us from prying eyes, when he stopped -suddenly and, leaning on his spade, said: "I am a poet! -And descended from the poet, Thomas Parnell." -</p> - -<p> -"Not a poet," I answered gently, "even though -descended from one." -</p> - -<p> -"I am a poet myself; give me a pencil and paper." And, -throwing himself down beside me, he wrote down -the following verse proudly. "It came to me while I was -digging," he said as he tossed it over to me, "and it is a -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P243"></a>243}</span> -real poem, and makes me a real poet. It's as good as any -of Tom Parnell's stuff!" -</p> - -<p> -I was forced to confess that I agreed with him, as I do -now, that it was and is as good as, and better to me than, -any of Thomas Parnell's stuff, or "the stuff" of any poet -who ever graced the world with song. This is it:— -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - "The grass shall cease to grow,<br /> - The river's stream to run,<br /> - The stars shall ponder in their course,<br /> - No more shall shine the sun;<br /> - The moon shall never wane or grow,<br /> - The tide shall cease to ebb and flow,<br /> - Ere I shall cease to love you."<br /> - CHAS. PARNELL.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -One evening in 1886, on his return from town, Parnell -told me about Mr. O'Brien's Plan of Campaign. He did -not approve of it, and said that he did not wish to have -anything to do with the working of it, adding: "I shall -let O'Brien run it by himself." -</p> - -<p> -Parnell was looking and feeling very ill at this time, -and when Mr. O'Brien took upon himself to call at my -house to see him, entirely uninvited, Parnell was not really -well enough to see him. He was suffering from nervous -breakdown, chiefly brought on by gastric trouble, which -in its turn was produced by overwork and the strain of -political life. All through his life Parnell was delicate. -From 1880, when I first met him (and nursed him into -health) to 1891, when he died, it was only by incessant -watchfulness and care that I was able to maintain his -health at all. It is certainly the fact that only his -indomitable will and power of mind rendered him capable -of enduring the strain of his public life and of the feats -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P244"></a>244}</span> -of strength that few men of far greater physique would -have attempted. -</p> - -<p> -It was in allusion to this illness at the time of the visit -of Mr. O'Brien that Parnell said in his speech at the -Eighty Club (May 8, 1888): "I was ill, dangerously ill; -it was an illness from which I have not entirely recovered -up to this day. I was so ill that I could not put pen to -paper, or even read the newspaper. I knew nothing -about the movement until weeks after it had started, and -even then I was so feeble that for several months—absolutely -up to the meeting of Parliament—I was positively -unable to take part in any public matter, and was scarcely -able to do so for months afterwards. But, if I had been -in a position to advise, I candidly submit to you that I -should have advised against it." -</p> - -<p> -Mr. O'Brien called again to see Parnell during the -time he was so ill, and he left his room for the first time -to go down to the sitting-room to see him. They had -a long talk over the Plan of Campaign and other matters, -and the interview left Parnell so exhausted that he was -very ill again for some days afterwards. -</p> - -<p> -Long after he told me, "All I got for getting up to see -O'Brien was that he went about telling people that I was -insane." -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Parnell had been feeling low and depressed all -through the summer of this year, and towards the autumn -I became very much worried about his lassitude and -general feeling of illness. I tried different diets without -effect, and, thinking it might be better for him to go -straight to bed after "the House," I took a house in London -for him and settled him there, but he could not bear the -loneliness and came back to Eltham as usual after a few -nights. In November he became worse, and I insisted -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P245"></a>245}</span> -upon his consulting a doctor, suggesting Sir Henry -Thompson, as I had heard he was very clever. I took -him to London on the afternoon of November 6, in a closed -carriage, and he was feeling so weak and nervous that he -asked me to go in and see Sir Henry first for him. His -nerves had completely broken down and I felt terribly -worried about him. He stayed in the waiting-room while -I went into the consulting-room. Here Sir Henry hurried -in from dinner, extremely irritable at being disturbed at -such an unseemly hour for a "Mr. Charles Stewart," whom -he did not know. "Look, look, <i>look</i>! Look at the clock! -What's the matter? I have a consultation in a few -minutes!" -</p> - -<p> -I was very glad that the door between the rooms was -shut, as I felt that such a reception in his state of nerves -would have caused Parnell to leave the house without -waiting for an interview. I began to point out that "my" -patient could not, in such a low state, face such an ungenial -reception. So he permitted me to explain a little about -Mr. Stewart's ill-health, and as he was kindness itself, -losing every trace of impatience, he helped Parnell into -his room, where, after receiving a smile of assurance from -Parnell, and having seen the relief in his face, I left them -together, feeling what an inestimable blessing it was to -have placed Parnell's health in such a haven of security -in so far as human skill could aid it. -</p> - -<p> -The knowledge, throughout the rest of Parnell's life, -of being able to obtain Sir Henry Thompson's advice was -a great comfort to this overwrought man. -</p> - -<p> -Sir Henry Thompson warned me that it was most -important for Mr. Parnell's health that his feet should -be kept very warm, as his circulation was bad. When -his feet became cold it upset his digestion, and this so -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P246"></a>246}</span> -disorganized his general health that he was then laid up for -several days. I always insisted upon his frequently -changing his shoes and socks when he was at home, and -gave him a little black bag containing a change whenever -he was sure to be away for a few hours, as I found that the -trouble of the frequent changing was amply compensated -for in warm feet and therefore better health. -</p> - -<p> -So curiously inquisitive were some of the Irish Party -about its contents that the little bag with the change of -socks and shoes became an obsession with them till one of -them made the brilliant discovery that "Parnell had boots -and socks in it to save him from wet feet!" Parnell used -to complain to me when he handed it over to me that I -might see by the different coloured socks that he had kept -his promise of "changing" in town, that ——'s eyes -seemed to be boring holes in the bag, and he was really -thinking it would be better to hang the other shoes and -socks round his neck if he must take them about with -him! -</p> - -<p> -When Parnell had to go over to Ireland he desired -his secretary, Mr. Campbell, to bring his correspondence -down to me at Eastbourne in order that I might deal with -one or two matters on which he desired immediate intelligence -telegraphed to him in our private code. He had -long since registered the telegraphic address of "Satellite" -for me that he might be able to telegraph with more -privacy, and this arrangement had proved its usefulness -many times in political and private matters. He had -himself put together the code words we used, and insisted on -my learning them by heart, to obviate the risk of any -misunderstanding in case of loss. -</p> - -<p> -Most of the words used were taken from his assaying -operations, though not all, and were sent as from one -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P247"></a>247}</span> -engineer to another about work in hand. In the code -Willie appeared as "Tailings" and with Middlings, Crude, -Gas, Overseer, Slag, Concentrate, Deposit, and a few other -such words for Gladstone, Chamberlain, and other -politicians, our code was an excellent working medium of -private communication. -</p> - -<p> -Before we took the house in Eastbourne we made a -flying visit to Bognor, but this, though in those days a -pretty, fresh, little place, was very difficult to get at, and -impossible from a politician's point of view. We went -there on a gloriously stormy day, and thoroughly enjoyed -it. In our search for houses we even got as far as Selsey, -but when, on our going into the house we had come to see, -the caretaker carefully double-locked the door, Parnell -turned with a horrified gesture to me, and insisted upon -leaving at once without going over the house at all. It -was an omen of misfortune, he said, and we could never -be happy in such a house. -</p> - -<p> -I have always thought that one of the greatest charms -of Parnell's personality was the extraordinary simplicity -of his outlook on ordinary life allied to the extremely subtle -trend of his intellect. -</p> - -<p> -A man of moods, he never permitted a mood to blind -him to probable, or possible, issues in political matters. -A keen judge of character, he summed up, mentally -docketed, and placed in the pigeon-hole of memory, each -and every man who came into his political vision, and -could thus at any time place, sort, and direct any pawn -of the Irish political game. Yet in things having no -political significance his simplicity was almost absurd in its -naïveté. -</p> - -<p> -An amusing instance of what I mean occurred while -we were at Eastbourne in '86. There was a boy I -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P248"></a>248}</span> -employed about the house at Eltham, who was growing too -fast, and looked as though he would be all the better for -a little sea air. As I was taking my own servants down to -Eastbourne I took this boy down also for a holiday, since -it made little difference as to expense. This child was, I -suppose, about fourteen years old, and once as I sat at the -window, sorting Parnell's letters, and enjoying the -morning air, I was suddenly struck with consternation to see -my protégé, Jimmie, escorted up the road between two of -Eastbourne's largest policemen. I said to Parnell, -"Look!" and, following the direction of my horrified -forefinger, he gazed sadly out at Jimmie, and replied, -"Throwing stones, I'll wager. <i>More</i> paragraphs, -sweetheart! You shouldn't have boys about." -</p> - -<p> -But the large policeman insisted upon an interview -with "the gentleman," with "Mr. Stewart," and, on my -having the whole party in to hear the worst, we were -informed that poor Jimmie had been caught trying to change -a £50 note at the grocer's shop! "Mr. Stewart's" cold -gravity of expression changed to one of deprecating -amusement as I glanced indignantly at him. "I had no -change, constable, so of course sent the boy to change -the note," explained Parnell. "Told 'em so," threw -in Jimmie, now feeling fairly safe and the centre of -interest. But Eastbourne policemen are far too unimaginative -to believe that boys of Jimmie's age are to be sent -for change for £50 notes, and it was with the utmost -difficulty we got rid of these stolid guardians of our -pockets. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell, after sending the boy for change, had -temporarily forgotten the matter, and no explanation could -convince him that it was the obvious thing that the boy -should be "arrested" on trying to change so large a note. -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P249"></a>249}</span> -"Jimmie's a nuisance, but anyone can see that he is -honest," was his conclusion. -</p> - -<p> -On one of our excursions, ostensibly to look for a -house, but really as much as anything for the purpose of -getting away for a few hours to the sea, we went to Herne -Bay. This was a charming and lonely little place then; -a cluster of houses set in green fields and a fresh sea -dashing over the little pier. It was always on days when the -wind was high that the longing for the sea came over us, -and thus we generally found the sea responding to our -mood. -</p> - -<p> -At this little village of Herne Bay the house we saw -was unsuitable, but the day is a memory of salt wind and -rough waves, followed by a picnic dinner at the little inn, -where Parnell ordered a fowl to be roasted, and was -momentarily saddened by my refusal to eat that murdered -bird, which had been so pleasantly finding its own dinner -when he gave the order. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap24"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P250"></a>250}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XXIV -<br /> -LONDON REMEMBRANCES -</h3> - -<p class="poem"> - "<i>My true love hath my heart and I have his.</i>"<br /> - —SIR PHILIP SIDNEY.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Once when Parnell had to go to Ireland by the morning -mail, after a late sitting of the House, I went up to the -St. Pancras Hotel, where he had a room that night, and -made the waiter bring up a tray into the bedroom, with -a cold bird, some tomatoes and materials for salad dressing, -adding a bottle of still Moselle (Parnell always drank -still Moselle by his doctor's, Sir Henry Thompson's, -orders, and no other wine). I knew he would be rushed -to catch the train when he returned in the early morning, -and that he would miss the little meal I always had ready -for him, and this missing a meal was very bad for him. -</p> - -<p> -When I had prepared the supper table to my liking -I sat down by the open window and watched the flare of -light in the sky and the wide panoramic view of mean -streets and wide spaces I had from this window, of one -of the rooms highest up in this high building; and the -shrieks and oaths of men and women came up to me as they -quarrelled, and the drunken brawls of some past semblance -of humanity floated up to me till dawn brought peace to -the city, as these poor dregs of life slunk back to their dens -to seek the oblivion of sleep. I shall never forget the -sights and sounds of that night, for never before had the -horror of a great city's streets at night been so forcibly -brought before me. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P251"></a>251}</span> -</p> - -<p> -In the early dawn Parnell came, and, seeing his supper -there, sat down to eat it without question, as I had known -he would. He ate in a preoccupied way as he thought -over his speech, and after telling of various points in it, -suddenly said, "Ah, I was really hungry; and you found -some tomatoes. I'll make the salad if you'll eat some." So -he made a delicious salad, and we feasted upon it -before I left him to go down to Eltham by the early train, -and to give him time for a short rest before catching the -mail train for Ireland. -</p> - -<p class="t3"> -* * * * * * -</p> - -<p> -"There is one great comfort about this," I used to say -to myself, after two hours' walking up and down that most -uncomfortable station, Waterloo Junction, "and that is -that he always comes at last." I had often to comfort -myself with that reflection as I waited about at various -stations for Parnell. -</p> - -<p> -When he had to be late I often went up to the House -to fetch him out to dinner at a restaurant. He hated dining -in the House, and there were one or two points in the diet -ordered him by Sir Henry Thompson that I insisted upon -for him where he would not take the trouble to insist for -himself. After dinner I would drive him nearly back to -the House. There he got out, and if he felt lonely at the -idea of driving down to Eltham by himself as he sometimes -did, or if he thought he would want to talk to me -again before he came home (as he very often did!) I would -promise to wait for him at some station, so that he could -find me without observation. It would have been much -more comfortable, of course, for me to have waited in a -house or rooms somewhere, but people were so extraordinarily -curious about Parnell that it would have been -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P252"></a>252}</span> -impossible so to get any peace unless we changed the -address every week, and this would have been decidedly -too expensive. As it was, he was often followed to the -station by a detective or some private busybody who could -not realize that even a public man may possible prefer to -keep a little of his life to himself. -</p> - -<p> -So very many hours I waited for him at various -stations! The officials (at each and all) were most kind -and considerate to the lonely lady who had to be driven, -by sheer force of regulations, from one waiting-room to -another as the lights were put out, and who finally would -take to a steady tramp up and down the station platform -till at length (such a long length sometimes!) she was -joined by her husband and almost lifted into the hansom-cab -they invariably drove off in. -</p> - -<p> -When I felt that he really wanted me to wait I could -not bear to go home, and though Waterloo was the most -uncomfortable station of all to keep vigil in I often chose -it, as, owing to the early morning trains at the Junction, -I could always be sure that it would not be altogether -shut up. -</p> - -<p> -I think the officials must have known who Parnell was, -as I always had a free pass (from him) for all these lines, -but they never intruded, and, in spite of my pass, received -and kept his telegrams for me (he often telegraphed from -the little office near the House, in the name "Preston") -with perfect tact. The porters were very good to me also, -and many a scuttle of coal was recklessly emptied on a -waiting-room fire after hours as "reg'lations 'gainst keepin' -on gas strong, but it will be fairly cheerful like with the -firelight, ma'am." The railway men are a kindly race, -for I rarely tipped these men. -</p> - -<p class="t3"> -* * * * * * -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P253"></a>253}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - HOUSE OF COMMONS,<br /> - 12.30.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I arrived here to-night. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I fear I may be detained till rather late to-night, so hope -you will not wait up for me. I expect to return home about 3.30. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -The above is a note, one of very many, sent down to -me at Eltham, so that I should, if I wished, go to bed -before Parnell came home. I did this only once or twice, -as I fancied I heard him directly I closed my eyes, and -would go down, only to find a dreary blank of disappointment. -So I made him agree to my staying in my sitting-room, -where from the open window I could hear for miles -the regular trotting of the cab-horse bringing him home. -</p> - -<p> -He only stipulated that I should not go out along the -roads to meet him at night. In March, 1887, I thought -my King was looking tired and worried. There had been -various annoying happenings owing to new reports of his -life at Eltham having been put about. I had had -unpleasant letters from Willie, and the latter and I were not -now on speaking terms. With this and his hard work -Parnell was looking fagged and worn. His health, always -an anxiety to me, seemed to fail, and the languor that grew -upon him frightened me. I determined that he should -be spared the long cold night-drive down to Eltham, and -suggested his having a house near the House of Commons -to which he could return and get immediate rest after a -night sitting. He had a little house at Brockley, which he -had taken in the name of "Clement Preston," and furnished, -and here he had a man and wife to look after him. -I had never lived there, but used to drive over to see him -for a short time when it was inexpedient that he should -be at Eltham. He never liked this house, and hated the -way the people used to hang about to see him go in and -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P254"></a>254}</span> -out, "Clement Preston" apparently being but a poor -protection in keeping off curiosity as to Parnell's habits. He -wearily said he did not want to live in London unless I -would live there too, but, as I pointed out, that was -impossible, and I took a house in York Terrace, Regent's -Park (furnished), for him. Here I installed him with two -servants, who absolutely worshipped the ground he walked -upon, and, having placed various books about, books that -he considered of pleasant relaxation, such as engineering -and mining treatises, with a couple of Dickens' works that -he had always been "going to read," and a few technical -journals, I went home haunted by his grave, considering -eyes and his sad "You must not leave me here by myself; -I don't want to be here without you!" hoping that -after a day or two he would settle down and feel the benefit -of getting more quickly to bed. -</p> - -<p> -The house was charming, with, on one side, a lovely -outlook over Regent's Park. It was very pretty and -comfortable, and I used to make flying visits to him, to sit with -him while he ate his breakfast. -</p> - -<p> -For three weeks I congratulated myself on having been -self-denying enough to earn him better rest, even at the -cost to myself of not having him so much with me; then, -on my return from my aunt, whose great age was now -beginning to tell upon her, late one evening, I felt anxious -and worried about my lover, even though my good-night -telegram was awaiting me. He always telegraphed -"good-night" if he was away from me. I tried to shake -the feeling off, but after dinner I found myself mechanically -making up the fire in my sitting-room as I did when -sitting up for Parnell after a late sitting of the House. -I felt amused at my absent-mindedness, and sat down -before the fire, thinking that I would take advantage of -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P255"></a>255}</span> -the beautiful blaze I had made. I sat there idly, thinking -of Parnell, wondering what exactly he was doing at that -moment, and presently, hearing the servants go to bed, -and feeling disinclined for bed myself, I got a book. -</p> - -<p> -I could not settle to reading, and began to feel very -lonely and to wish I were really waiting up for Parnell, -as I used to. I thought of my aunt, of how very old -she was, of her immense goodness to me ever since I had -lived at Eltham, and of what a great blank there would -be when she died—her life seemed to be like a flame -flickering in the wind now, and it might go out any day. -I got up to shake off my sad thoughts, and, throwing -open my window, leant out and listened to the wind in -the trees. -</p> - -<p> -I heard the clock strike two, and listened, as I had -always done, about this time, for the regular beat of the -horse's hoofs that would bring my King home. I could -hear nothing, and my longing for his presence was so -great that I called out under my breath, "I wish you -would come. I do wish you would come." Then I think -I became drowsy, for I started up from the window, -suddenly hearing three o'clock ring out from the village and -the steady trot-trot of a horse in the distance. -</p> - -<p> -I held my breath to listen, my heart beating with an -eager joy. I could hear the beat of the hoofs round the -corner into the village as they came from the Common, -then lost as they went up the High Street, and suddenly -clearer with the jingle of the cab bells as they turned -the top of the road and stopped. I knew now, and opened -the door quickly as my love came up the little side-walk -past the window, giving the familiar signal as he went -up the two steps; and I was in his arms as he whispered, -"Oh, my love, you must not leave me alone again." -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap25"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P256"></a>256}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XXV -<br /> -THE PARNELL COMMISSION -</h3> - -<p class="poem"> - "<i>For none on earth so lone as he<br /> - Whose way of thought is high and free,<br /> - Beyond the mist, beyond the cloud,<br /> - Beyond the clamour of the crowd.</i>"<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -I had long since had a high paling put round my garden -to screen it from the inquisitive eyes of persons who had, -until this was done, the impertinence to lean over the -short stone wall and railings to watch Parnell as he went -in and out. This new paling was seven feet high. On -the carriage gates there was bronze ornamental work, -thick and heavy. Once this was cut through by someone -unknown and fell, the next time the gate was opened, upon -the head of the groom, as he stooped to unbolt it. -</p> - -<p> -This little "accident" was no doubt intended for -Mr. Parnell's or for my benefit, and the fact that the young -man's arm was pushed against the gate, above his head, -as he stooped to ease the bolt, doubtless saved him from -a cracked skull. As it was, he was badly bruised and -cut, some fifty pounds of bronze work falling partly upon -him. After this he examined the work on the other gate, -and, finding that this also had been cut through, with the -help of the gardener lifted it off before further damage -was done. This pointless and malignant spite might -easily have had far more serious consequences, since my -children were going out by these gates driving their -ponies, and it was quite by chance that they had called -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P257"></a>257}</span> -the groom to open the gates for them, for one or other -of them generally played at being the "footman" on these -occasions. The police could not trace the perpetrators of -the little pleasantry. -</p> - -<p> -I then made a beautiful, thick rose-hedge at one side -of this garden, and the roses grew and flourished to such -an extent that it proved an effectual screen from the -too-pressing attention of persons, who had not, I suppose, -very many interests of their own. -</p> - -<p> -On the morning that the (so-called) Parnell letters -appeared in the <i>Times</i> (March 7, 1887), they were cut out -and pasted on the gate by a person or persons unknown; -and here also the perspicacity of our local police failed -to find the merrymaker. -</p> - -<p> -On that day I did not give Parnell the <i>Times</i> opened -as usual for his glance over the political reports while he -breakfasted. He asked for it, but I wanted him to finish -his breakfast first, and replied: "The <i>Times</i> is unusually -stodgy; do eat your breakfast first." -</p> - -<p> -He said he must finish a bit of assaying he had left -over-night before going to London, and would not have -time for papers afterwards, so I told him of the letters, -and propped the <i>Times</i> against the teapot as usual. -</p> - -<p> -He read the whole thing; meditatively buttering and -eating his toast the while. I supplied him with -marmalade, and turned over the folded paper for him so that -he could read more easily. -</p> - -<p> -He made no remark at all till he had finished breakfast, -and carefully clipped the end off his cigar; then, with a -smile, he tossed the paper at me, saying, "Now for that -assaying I didn't finish! Wouldn't you hide your head -with shame if your King were so stupid as that, my -Queen?" -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P258"></a>258}</span> -</p> - -<p> -I helped him to set his chemicals right, urging on him -that the thing was very serious, and that he must attend -to it; but he only replied: "You think about it for me -while I am finishing this. Now don't spoil this for me. -It will do presently!" and I subsided with the <i>Times</i> -while he worked at his crucibles, and jotted down -results—absolutely absorbed for more than two hours, and only -brought back to politics by my call of "You absolutely -must start now." -</p> - -<p> -He had a wonderful little machine—a balance that -gave the weight of almost infinitesimal parts of a -grain—and this might be touched by no one but himself. He -now reluctantly covered it with its glass case and lovingly -padded it round with a cloth, lest a rough movement in -the room should put it out of balance. -</p> - -<p> -I said, "Now, my King, you must attend to the <i>Times</i>. -You must take an action against them." -</p> - -<p> -"No. Why should I?" struggling into his coat as I -held it for him. "I have never taken any notice of any -newspapers, nor of anyone. Why should I now?" -</p> - -<p> -However, he promised me he would consult the -"Party" about the letters, and left assuring me that the -English <i>Times</i> was a paper of no particular importance, -after all. -</p> - -<p> -He got home before I did that evening, and I found -him on my return weighing the infinitesimal specks of -his morning's extraction of gold with the utmost accuracy. -He gave me a smile and the fire-flame of his welcoming -eyes as usual, but murmured, "Don't speak for one -moment; I'll tell you the moment I have finished this," -and I had to sit with as much patience as I could muster -while he finished his calculations. Then, coming over to -me in triumph, he informed my for once uninterested ears -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P259"></a>259}</span> -that he had now completed the extraction of something or -other of a grain of the gold for my wedding ring. -</p> - -<p> -On my firmly recalling his attention to the matter of -the letters he said wearily—all the interest and buoyancy -gone—"They want me to fight it, but it will be a terrible -nuisance, my Queenie; I have seen Lewis, and he is going -to see Russell—Sir Charles, you know—and then I am -to see him again." -</p> - -<p> -He was very undecided about the necessity of taking -the action against the <i>Times</i>, and more than once pointed -out to me that the opinion of that paper and its readers -did not really interest him; but, on my refusing to accept -this at all, and urging that Ireland required that he should -defend himself in this, and that my view was that of the -Irish Party, he promised to take the matter seriously, -merely remarking with an amused cynicism that if Ireland -wanted him to cudgel a clean bill of health out of England -she would find work for all the blackthorns she grew. -</p> - -<p> -Soon my absorbed study of the forged letters caught -Parnell's interest, he shook off his apathy, and joined -my study of his handwriting of many years, and those -of the various possible (and impossible) imitators. Once -he became interested he threw himself into it as -wholeheartedly as he did into any other hobby. We spent hours -in this study of calligraphy, and made some interesting -and amusing discoveries. -</p> - -<p> -After a couple of interviews with Mr. Lewis and Sir -Charles Russell, Parnell one evening asked me if I would -mind seeing Lewis, as he had expressed a wish to see -me. I went therefore to Ely Place, and had an interview -with Mr. (Sir George) Lewis. After we had talked over -the situation he gave me tea, and made an appointment -for another interview in a few days' time. I put before -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P260"></a>260}</span> -him my various conclusions as to handwritings, one of -which he considered might be useful. -</p> - -<p> -We had frequent consultations after this, and, as the -time of the trial drew near, Lewis's offices and the -passages leading to it, with the waiting rooms, were filled -with the witnesses from Ireland concerned in the trial. -The case did not worry Parnell much—except that it took -up so much of our all too little leisure time, which was -so precious to us. -</p> - -<p> -The following letters, written from Avondale during -the anxious time preceding the trial, will serve to show -how little the matter affected his ordinary interests. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>August</i> 30, 1887.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN WIFIE,—I have been exceedingly anxious about -you ever since I left. You seemed so very ill that it has been -haunting me ever since that I ought to have stayed in London. -My own darling may write to me whenever she pleases. -I was so longing for a telegram all day yesterday, but not -getting one came to the conclusion that you had not been able -to go to London. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I have been round the place here, everything going on well. -The new mine is improving, so I have been tempted to continue -it for a short while longer. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -It will not be necessary for me to remain here longer than a -few days, so that whenever you are ready for me I can return. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR OWN LOVING HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am very well indeed. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - <i>January</i> 4, 1888.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I finished will before going to bed on Monday, and will -execute it and send it north to-morrow. Am pretty sure to be -able to return next Monday or Tuesday at latest. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN DARLING QUEENIE,—I got off all right yesterday -morning, forgetting the lamp, however, until I was in train, -when I decided upon telegraphing them from Chester to send -it on at once, which I did. I am having the carpenter to fix -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P261"></a>261}</span> -a strong hook in the ceiling joist for it to hang upon, and -it will be a great improvement on the present state of affairs, -as the consumption of candles is enormous, while giving very -little light. They are undoubtedly the best and safest lamps -out; in fact, absolutely safe. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -One of the little lamps here was broken since, so I have -suspended the other one also, as it was no use by itself. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The room will be very nice for a large suspended lamp; it -is about 13½ feet high, by 24 feet by 20 feet. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I had only half an hour to wait at Kingstown for the -train, which I spent in the waiting-room, and a quarter of an -hour at Bray. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The sea was rather rough, but not too rough for me. I -studied the swinging of a lamp minutely during the passage, -and derived valuable lessons for the new ship.[<a id="chap25fn1text"></a><a href="#chap25fn1">1</a>] -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Am going to Arklow in the morning. Everything going on -here very well, notwithstanding which I have been advising and -admonishing K.[<a id="chap25fn2text"></a><a href="#chap25fn2">2</a>] all day. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -E.[<a id="chap25fn3text"></a><a href="#chap25fn3">3</a>] is here all by herself, mother being expected to-night. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Miss B. B. was very old, very ugly, and very vulgar; in -fact, E. says the worst sponge that ever got hold of my mother. -She drank nothing but whisky, and took it to bed with her. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -There was dancing after theatricals till six in the morning.[<a id="chap25fn4text"></a><a href="#chap25fn4">4</a>] -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I am very anxious about my own love, and so glad to get -telegram to-day; expect letter to-morrow. Raining torrents -all day. YOUR OWN HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -A couple of weeks before the action came on Parnell -came home in great amusement. Lewis had written -asking him most particularly to call, as he had had a -consultation with Sir Charles Russell and wished to report -the result to Parnell. On Parnell's calling, thinking some -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P262"></a>262}</span> -new phase of the case had been evolved, Mr. Lewis had -"hoped he would not be annoyed," but Sir Charles and -he were rather worried about his (Parnell's) clothes, and -would he very much mind having a new frock-coat from -Poole's for the trial! Parnell had great fun with me over -that Poole coat, and when it came home we tried it on -with great ceremony, Parnell stroking its silk facings with -pride, and insisting upon a back view of it in the long -mirror in my room. -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Lewis inspired me with the greatest confidence, -and his charmingly deferential manner fascinated me, -while the keen brown eyes seemed to read the hidden -secrets of the soul. He was always exquisitely dressed, -and, when I made some playful remark about Parnell's -new coat, he told me in confidence that Parnell's Irish -homespuns were a great trial to him—this with such -earnestness that I tried to suppress my laughter, as -I explained to him what a pleasure it was to me to be -possessed of a man who was above clothes; not below -them in slovenliness, but above them and unconscious -of his coverings. -</p> - -<p> -Very many years after this, long after my husband's -death, this acquaintance with Sir George Lewis served -me in good stead. Circumstances arose which rendered -me very doubtful and uneasy in regard to the probity -of my trustee and solicitor, who had charge of my whole -income and the capital thereof. I had had no communication -with Sir George Lewis for very many years; but -then the happy thought struck me that he would advise -me privately and disinterestedly. My son went to him -on my behalf, and it is entirely owing to the prompt -action taken by Sir George that any part of my little -income was saved to me. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P263"></a>263}</span> -</p> - -<p> -My trustee had been speculating wildly, and, among -that of other clients, every penny of my small fortune -had been misappropriated. Sir George compelled the -repayment of what was possible by the discredited and -ruined man, and thus saved me by his kind and energetic -intervention from absolute destitution. Apart from the -very serious loss it entailed upon me, the downfall of my -trustee, clever, good-looking and altogether charming, -was a great blow to us all. He had been so much a friend, -and I and my son and daughters had trusted him so -completely. -</p> - -<p> -The result of the Parnell Commission is well known. -I continued to see Mr. Lewis regularly before the case -came on, and on one occasion he asked me if I would -mind going to Wood's Hotel, close by Ely Place, to meet -him on a matter that had to do with the case. This I did, -and, being early, awaited him in the coffee room. When -he came we had a long business talk about the case, and -he assured me that the issue was now completely secured. -People were passing in and out as we talked, and several -I noticed passed very close to us, and stared curiously at -me before going out. -</p> - -<p> -Suddenly, on observing this, I asked Mr. Lewis why -he had arranged our interview in this place instead of at -his office as usual. He made some evasive reply about -a client of his who occupied a very distinguished -position—and he mentioned this personage by name—having an -appointment at the office, and disliking the fact of any -other person being received during the same hour of his -visit. -</p> - -<p> -I pointed out to Mr. Lewis that he was surely speaking -at random, as the person he mentioned could not be -left about at his office like a nobody while he talked to -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P264"></a>264}</span> -me at an hotel. At this he laughed, and asked that I -should be satisfied with his reply until he saw me again, -and with this I had to be content, though I was somewhat -ruffled at his not offering a sufficient explanation of his -odd place of appointment, and I curtly refused to make -another at the office for the following week. -</p> - -<p> -Our interview had ostensibly been for the purpose -of discussing certain letters I had given into his care at -a former interview, but, as he afterwards told me, he had -asked those persons, who had, I thought, stared at me -in the hotel, if they could identify me with someone who -had been impersonating me with the hope of better -entangling Parnell, and of preventing him from publicly -protecting his honour for fear of dragging me into the -case. The "gentlemen from Ireland" who had had so -good a look at me were forced to admit that they had -never seen me before in their lives. -</p> - -<p> -Shortly before the case came on I asked Mr. Lewis if -he would mind my going to see Mr. Soames (solicitor for -the <i>Times</i>). He answered, "I do not see why you should -not do so if you wish it," and to Parnell, who had just -come in, "It will be quite safe for her to see Soames." "Yes, -of course, she knows best," answered Parnell, and -off I went, pursued by Mr. Lewis's "You must come -straight back here, Mrs. O'Shea," as he put me into the -waiting cab. -</p> - -<p> -My waiting cab was always an acute irritation to Lewis. -Alter his first greeting of me he invariably asked me if -my cab was waiting. "Yes, of course, how else should -get home?" "You are not going to drive home!" with -horror. "No, but to the station." "Pay him off, my dear -lady, and I'll send for another when I have given you -some tea," encouragingly. "But I <i>like</i> this horse, he -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P265"></a>265}</span> -has such good legs." Then dear Mr. Lewis used to get -intensely irritated, and send someone flying to pay my -cab to go away at once. I never dared at this stage to -tell him that I always made a compact with the cabman -that "waiting did not count." -</p> - -<p> -On my arrival at Mr. Soames's office he saw me at -once without any pretence of being "too busy." In fact -his office appeared almost deserted, and he welcomed me -as his "cousin." He took some time in arranging the -exact collateral degree of our relationship, but beyond this -our interview behind his closely shut glass-panelled door -led to nothing. I was desirous of finding out which way -his suspicions tended—as obviously he did not really think -that Parnell had written the letters; he, on his part, was -trying to find out why I had come. -</p> - -<p> -On the 1st of March, 1889, Pigott shot himself in -Madrid. It was a painful affair, and Parnell was sorry -for the poor creature. -</p> - -<p> -When Parnell attended the House for the first time -after the result of the Parnell Commission was made -known, I was not well, and could not get to the Ladies' -Gallery, as I had hoped to do, but long before he came -I had had reports of the tremendous ovation he received; -how every section of the House—Ministers, Opposition—all -rose at his entry as one man, cheering themselves -hoarse and shouting his name. I asked him afterwards if -he had not felt very proud and happy then, but he only -smiled, and answered, "They would all be at my throat -in a week if they could!" I thought of that speech a -little later on. -</p> - -<p> -Soon after the death of Pigott Mr. Parnell met Mr. and -Mrs. Gladstone at Mrs. Sydney Buxton's[<a id="chap25fn5text"></a><a href="#chap25fn5">5</a>] "at home." -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P266"></a>266}</span> -Almost the only comment, when he got home was: -"That's over; thank goodness!" -</p> - -<p> -On May 28th, 1889, Sir Charles and Lady Russell -gave a reception in honour of the hero of the fight. -Parnell hated these affairs, but, as I pointed out to him, -it would be very sad if all those people assembled to meet -him and he was not there. The reception was a time of -adulation for him from first to last, I afterwards heard, -but when Parnell came home and told me all about it he -remarked, "It was all very kind and just as troublesome -as usual—or would have been had I not discovered a pretty -little brown head with friendly eyes that looked as shy -as I felt." -</p> - -<p> -I answered, "Dear me, who was this charming lady? -I should like to know!" -</p> - -<p> -"That is just what she was, a charming little lady, an -Irishwoman. You know, Queenie, you are the only -Englishwoman I can bear! This was Katharine Tynan; you -read some of her things to me," and he went on to speak -of others at the reception, afterwards reverting to the -pleasure he had felt in meeting Katharine Tynan, who he -believed genuinely felt what all "those others" were -saying. -</p> - -<p> -Presumably "those others" were perfectly sincere in -their appreciation of him, but Parnell, so English in his -own nature, had a constitutional distrust of English -people, and, curiously enough, he did not understand -them well, while the Irish character was an open book to -him. At a reception like this where the guests were, of -course, mostly English, Parnell would retire behind his -coldest, most aloof bulwark of exquisite courtesy, and, to -use his own simile about Katharine Tynan, "I felt as -though a little friendly bird had made a song for me in -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P267"></a>267}</span> -an unfriendly land." We often afterwards spoke of the -"little friendly bird," and, should Mrs. Hinkson -(Katharine Tynan) ever see this book, she will know that the -"Chief" appreciated both her loyalty and her song. -</p> - -<p> -Directly the result of the Parnell Commission was made -known Mr. Parnell was elected a life member of the -National Liberal Club; an election which afforded him a -certain grave amusement at the time and a query later on, -when the "National Liberals" wished to depose him, as -to whether a "life member" can dare be so illogical as -to continue life without the membership. -</p> - -<p> -On the 8th March, 1889, he was entertained for the -second time at the Eighty Club, and, a few days later, -at a great meeting at St. James's Hall. At both meetings -the enthusiasm was so great that the whole body of people -present rose en masse as he entered, cheering, waving -handkerchiefs, and shouting his name for some time before -they allowed him to sit down. -</p> - -<p> -Naturally these ovations of my hero gave me the -greatest pride and joy, but he would never allow me to -say much about them. -</p> - -<p> -"You see, my dear, these people are not really pleased -with me," he would say. "They thought I had written -those letters, and now they are extolling their own sense -of justice in cheering me because I did not write them. -I might as wisely shout myself hoarse if a court of law -decided that Gladstone had not told somebody to rob a -bank!" And I would reply: "Well, I love to hear and -read about your being properly appreciated," only to get -a reproving "You are an illogical woman. These people -do not appreciate me, they only howl with joy because I -have been found within the law. The English make a law -and bow down and worship it till they find it -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P268"></a>268}</span> -obsolete—long after this is obvious to other nations—then they -bravely make another, and start afresh in the opposite -direction. That's why I am glad Ireland has a religion; -there is so little hope for a nation that worships laws." -</p> - -<p> -And when I persisted, "But don't you feel a little -excited and proud when they all cheer you, really you?" -and the little flames showed in his eyes as he said, "Yes, -when it is really me, when I am in the midst of a peasant -crowd in Ireland. Then I feel a little as I do when I see -you smile across the street at me before we meet, but for -these others it is then I know how I hate the English, and -it is then, if I begin to feel a little bit elated, I remember -the howling of the mob I once saw chasing a man to lynch -him years ago. Don't be too pleased with the clapping -of these law-lovers, Queenie. I have a presentiment that -you will hear them another way before long, and I am -exactly the same, either way!" -</p> - -<p> -At the National Liberal Club, at which Sir Frank -Lockwood presided, Mr. Parnell and Lord Spencer shook -hands for the first time. When Parnell rose to speak he -received a perfect ovation. He said: -</p> - -<p> -"There is only one way in which you can govern -Ireland within the Constitution, and that is by allowing -her to govern herself in all those matters which cannot -interfere with the greatness and well-being of the Empire -of which she forms a part. I admit there is another way. -That is a way that has not been tried yet.... There is -a way in which you might obtain at all events some present -success in the government of Ireland. It is not Mr. Balfour's -bastard plan of a semi-constitutional, a semi-coercive -method. You might find among yourselves some great -Englishman or Scotsman, who would go over to Ireland—her -Parliamentary representation having been taken away -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P269"></a>269}</span> -from her—and would do justice to her people notwithstanding -the complaints of Irish landlordism. Such a -man might be found who, on the other hand, would oppose -a stern front to the inciters of revolution or outrage, and -on the other hand would check the exorbitant demands of -the governing classes in that country, and perhaps the -result might be successful. But it would have to be a -method outside the Constitution both on the one side and -on the other. Your Irish Governor would have to have -full power to check the evil-doer; whether the evil-doer -were a lord or a peasant, whether the malefactor hailed -from Westminster or New York, the power should be -equally exercised and constantly maintained. In that way, -perhaps, as I have said, you might govern Ireland for a -season. That, in my judgment, from the first time when -I entered political life, appeared to me to be the only -alternative to the concession to Ireland of full power over -her own domestic interests, and her future. In one way -only, I also saw, could the power and influence of a -constitutional party be banded together within the limits of -the law; by acting on those principles laid down by Lucas -and Gavan Duffy in 1852, that they should hold themselves -aloof from all English political parties and combinations, -that they should refuse place and office for themselves or -for their friends or their relations, and that the Irish -constituencies should refuse to return any member who was -a traitor to those pledges." -</p> - -<p> -In July Parnell was presented with the freedom of the -City of Edinburgh. In his speech of acknowledgment -he said: -</p> - -<p> -"In what way could Ireland, supposing she wished to -injure you, be more powerful to effect injury to your -Imperial interests than she is at present? If you concede -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P270"></a>270}</span> -to her people the power to work out their own future, -to make themselves happy and prosperous, how do you -make yourselves weaker to withstand wrongdoing against -yourselves? Will not your physical capacity be the same -as it is now? Will you not still have your troops in the -country? Will you not still have all the power of the -Empire? ... In what way do we make you weaker? In -what way shall we be stronger to injure you? What -soldiers shall we have? What armed policemen shall we -have? What cannons shall we have? What single means -shall we have, beyond the constitution, that we have not -now, to work you injury?"[<a id="chap25fn6text"></a><a href="#chap25fn6">6</a>] -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap25fn1"></a> -[<a href="#chap25fn1text">1</a>] He studied the balance of the lamp -for the "new ship" he was -inventing—the one he was always trying -at Brighton. (See p. 277.) -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap25fn2"></a> -[<a href="#chap25fn2text">2</a>] Kerr, Mr. Parnell's agent and bailiff. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap25fn3"></a> -[<a href="#chap25fn3text">3</a>] Emily Dickinson, Parnell's sister. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap25fn4"></a> -[<a href="#chap25fn4text">4</a>] Mrs. Delia Parnell was giving the theatricals -and dance in the great -new cattle-shed he had had built from his own plans, -modelled on the -plan of the new station at Brighton. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap25fn5"></a> -[<a href="#chap25fn5text">5</a>] Now Viscountess Buxton. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap25fn6"></a> -[<a href="#chap25fn6text">6</a>] A letter of this period from Parnell to Cecil Rhodes, -dealing with the -Imperial aspect of Home Rule, is unfortunately the only important -document left of the correspondence between the two, -the rest having been -accidentally destroyed. Parnell had been greatly -interested in the political -tactics of Rhodes in South Africa. -When in London Rhodes sought an -interview, which took place at the Westminster Palace Hotel. -In the letter -of June 23, 1888, Parnell expresses his gladness -at knowing that Rhodes -considers that the measure of Home Rule -to be granted to Ireland should -be "thoroughgoing," and adds: -"I cordially agree with your opinion -that there should be effective safeguards -for the maintenance of Imperial -unity." The two men had been discussing -the question of the exclusion -or inclusion of Irish representation at Westminster. -Parnell judged -exclusion to have been a defect of the Bill of 1886, -and shared Rhodes's -view that inclusion would facilitate the larger measure of Imperial -federation. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -Parnell returned to this point in 1891 -in the course of his correspondence -with Dillon and O'Brien on the question -of the leadership of the Nationalist -Party. He asserted in a letter to Gill, -one of the intermediaries in these -discussions, that he could prove -"by documentary evidence" that the -second reading of the 1886 Bill was lost -"because the Liberal leaders -declined till too late to agree to the retention -of any Irish Members in any -shape or for any purpose." -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap26"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P271"></a>271}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XXVI -<br /> -BRIGHTON HAUNTS -</h3> - -<p class="poem"> - "<i>We went as children joyous, or oprest,<br /> - In some absorbing care, or blest,<br /> - In nodding conversation—hand in hand.</i>"<br /> - —HONORA SHEE (THE LOVER'S DIARY).<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -My aunt appeared to me to be failing in health a good -deal at the beginning of 1888, and, though she sometimes -seemed to be stronger, and chatted with all her old -interest in the things of the past, there were days when -she was so quiet and drowsy that I feared to rouse her -by talking. At other times she would like me to talk and -read to her as usual, but was so languid and tired that -a little smile and pressure of the hand I held was the only -response she made. In April she had a slight attack of -bronchitis, and her doctor ordered her opium to ease her -lungs. She much objected to all opiates, but her doctor's -treatment seemed to ease her. She would not let me sleep -in her house, as she thought, as usual, that it would -"disorganize the household," but I went now nearly every -night across the park in the fragrant spring nights to -inquire, under her maid's window, if Mrs. "Ben" was -asleep. -</p> - -<p> -The owls had nested for years in a great tree by my -aunt's bedroom windows, and I loved to watch them in -the moonlight hawking for the food they had to supply in -such abundance now to the screeching owlets in the nest. -The old birds used to sit on Aunt Ben's window-sill, and -hoot, and had done so, much to her pleasure, for the sixty -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P272"></a>272}</span> -or seventy years of her residence in the house; but now -her maid shook her head sadly, as she leant out of the -window to tell me of her mistress's condition, saying -"That's an omen, m'am; the dear mistress must be going -soon." I answered irritably that the owls had hooted there -since Mr. Benjamin's time, as her mistress had often told -her, but felt her "Time will show, m'am," to be -unanswerable. -</p> - -<p> -On these May nights, if he was at home, Parnell would -walk across the park with me and wait on a seat for me -till I had obtained the latest bulletin. -</p> - -<p> -One morning, very early, when her night had been -restless, I made Mary Ann (my aunt's personal maid) -come down and let me in. On going up to the great -four-post bed where the dear little old lady lay, looking as -small and frail as a child, she put out one, now feeble, -white hand, and held mine. I told the maid she could go -and rest a bit, and I would call her if my aunt wanted her. -</p> - -<p> -When she was gone, my aunt, who was breathing with -difficulty, whispered as I bent down to kiss her hand, -"You do believe, do you not, my Swan?" I answered, -"Yes, auntie, of course I do believe, most firmly." She -said, "I am glad. I wish you could come with me, my -darling!" and I sobbingly told her that I wished I could -too. -</p> - -<p> -I stayed by her side and smoothed her hand till she -ceased to breathe, and then waited by her as all her -servants who had been with her for many years filed past the -bed, and took a last look at their stern but just and -much-loved mistress. -</p> - -<p> -She left a great void in my life, and the sensation of -being always wanted and tied to one place that I had -sometimes felt so keenly hard I would now have given -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P273"></a>273}</span> -much to feel again. With this old lady died, so far as -my acquaintance went, the last of the old world—that old -world of leisure and books and gentle courtesy of days -when men might wear their gallantry without foolishness, -and women knew the value of their sex. -</p> - -<p> -Through all those years in which I waited on my aunt -I never heard her use a clipped word, or use a sentence not -grammatically perfect and beautifully rounded off, and -although in the hurry of modern life I sometimes felt -impatient when chided for some swallowed pronunciation -or ignored g's, I look back upon the years of my life spent -in that old-world atmosphere as a very precious memory. -</p> - -<p> -After my aunt's death Eltham became intolerable to -me, and I took a small country house near Mottingham -till I could let my own house. Directly we left Eltham the -pretty garden was devastated by relic-hunters, who pulled -the place to pieces in obtaining mementoes of "the house -where Parnell had lived." -</p> - -<p> -The house at Mottingham was damp, and we longed -for the sea. -</p> - -<p> -For various reasons we had been obliged to relinquish -any idea of living in the little house we had finished, with so -much pleasure, at Eastbourne, and at last we had removed -the few things we had stored there, and in 1887 had finally -decided to take the end house of Walsingham Terrace -(No. 10), Brighton. Shortly after my aunt's death we -went down to live there. The position then was attractive -to us: cornfields from one side of the house away up to -Shoreham basin and harbour, a waste of hay at the back -of the house, an excellent train service and a sufficient -distance from Brighton proper to enable us to avoid the -crowd. While we were living there people used to walk -and drive out to see "Parnell's house," but this was not -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P274"></a>274}</span> -particularly annoying, as when he was at home we went -out early, or late—anyhow, at a time when the average -person is kept at home by appetite. Personally, if it was -not glaringly inconvenient, I was always rather proud -and interested in the popular attention Parnell attracted -wherever he went. -</p> - -<p> -Here Parnell had the dining-room as his own sitting-room, -where he kept the roll-top desk I had given him -for all his papers and political work, while down in the -basement there was a room in which he had a furnace -fitted up, and where we used to burn the crushed ore -before assaying it. We spent many hours down there, -and I sometimes feared the excessive heat must have been -bad for him; but he did not think so, and would become -so absorbed in this work that I used to have the greatest -difficulty in getting him out for the gallop on his horse -President across the Downs, which did him so much good. -</p> - -<p> -I found at length the only way was to get his cap and -whip and show them to the dogs. Immediately I did this -they would begin to bark wildly and jump up at him to -make him start for the run they loved so much. Parnell -would then say reproachfully, "Oh, Queenie, how can you -deceive the poor dogs like that?" and I would answer -that the only way to keep them believing in us was to go -at once for that belated ride. Once started none of the -party, dogs or horses, enjoyed it more than he. -</p> - -<p> -In this house we had from the side windows of Parnell's -and from my room in which he afterwards died, a -view of the most wonderful sunsets I have ever seen in -England. Then the whole west was a veritable fairyland -of gold and crimson, and the harbour and Shoreham town, -with the little country church of Aldrington against the -setting of the Downs, were touched with a pearly mist of -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P275"></a>275}</span> -light that lifted them far out of the prosaic ugliness we -knew by the blank light of midday. Parnell used to say to -me as we walked away to the golden harbour, "Is it really -like this, my Queen, or as we see it at noon?" I could -only reply that it was both—the both that made life at -once so interesting and so difficult. -</p> - -<p> -Often in the following spring my King and I would -drive out as far as the foot of the Downs near the training -stables beyond Southwick; and then, climbing to the crest -of the hills, go for long walks, away over the Downs, -walking or resting as we felt inclined, returning as night -fell, to drive home. -</p> - -<p> -One sunny morning, lengthening into a brighter day, -I especially remember, when the south-west wind sent the -flickering shadows across the Downs where its sea-scents -mingled with the sweet pungency of the young herbage. -As we walked along hand in hand we were gay in the -glorious spring of the year, feeling that while love walked -so closely with us youth could not lag too far behind, and -in the wide expanse of the South Downs, which appealed -so much to both our natures, we forgot all care and trouble. -</p> - -<p> -Very far away, standing clear against the skyline, there -was a figure of a shepherd, his flock a little lower showed -grey against the dull green distance. He stood -motionless, as these lonely Down shepherds do. The tumbled -heap by him, we said, was his dog. So we watched him -some miles away for more than an hour. We wondered -what he thought of, and whether all this lonely loveliness -meant anything to him, or if he would be glad to change -his quiet life for the rush and hurry of a town. -</p> - -<p> -Presently, from where we sat, at the highest point of -the hills, we saw some horses going at full gallop over the -training ground, the horses straining at the bit, and -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P276"></a>276}</span> -seemingly glad to be alive. The dull thud of the hoofs came -up to us to mingle with the incessant trilling of the -skylarks and the bleating of the distant sheep. Now we -turned seaward, overlooking Shoreham Harbour, and -watched the vessels going out to sea on voyages fraught -with unknown possibilities. -</p> - -<p> -In spite of the excessive beauty of the scene, in the -region of thought it had a saddening effect on us; and, as -the last gleams of sunlight fell across the sea, lightly -touching the sails as they slipped out of the light into the wider -darkness of the leaden waves, we turned and retraced our -steps, I leaning on his arm as we went down to the valley -again. -</p> - -<p> -A favourite haunt of ours at Brighton was a little -shop in Pool Valley altogether devoted to the sale of -pebbles and crystals of various sorts, also of jet. Parnell -did not like the jet, but was greatly interested in the -pebbles and the polishing of them. -</p> - -<p> -He spent much time after we had found this shop in -watching the process of cutting crystals and polishing the -pebbles. Onyx ball beads he selected in sizes with the -greatest care, and had a long chain of them made for me -with a gold ball between each two onyx beads. To these -he had added a locket composed of crystal and onyx, and -was much pleased with the result. -</p> - -<p> -The chain, when finished, was a little heavy, but he -had had such a happy time in selecting each bead and -so carefully matching the markings that I wore it with a -light heart till he noticed it was rubbing my neck, and -insisted upon my taking it off there and then for ever. -</p> - -<p> -Another favourite haunt of ours was Smith's second-hand -bookshop in North Street, where he would stand -for an hour at a time poring over old books on mechanics, -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P277"></a>277}</span> -or mining, while I dug out "bargains" amongst the poets -of a bygone age, and discussed books with the proprietor. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell always tried to get a few days' shooting every -year in Ireland on the grouse moors he hired at -Anghavanagh, and I had much pleasure in getting together -hampers of provisions for him in London to take over -with him, as the arrangements he had been used to before -I met him were decidedly primitive and very trying to -his health. I always found that a good supply of hams -and tongues, with the very best tea that I could procure, -a new spirit kettle (every year) and a goodly supply of -rugs and blankets rendered him sufficiently comfortable, -and returned him to me without the acute attacks of -indigestion that had formerly rendered these holidays among -the mountains so little gain to him in health. -</p> - -<p> -I had to insist upon his learning to make his own tea -to save him from the "stewed" tea made by his servant -in Ireland, and I found it better to label the tea I got for -his personal use: "For presents," and that which he -might give away: "For Mr. Parnell's own use," as he -said plaintively, "They seem to like my tea best!" -</p> - -<p> -He used to love these shooting expeditions, but would -never stay more than a few days, as he could not bear to -be away from me longer. I used to wish it were possible -for me to go to Ireland with him in order that he might -enjoy his shooting to the full, but that was impossible, -and he always declared that "Three or four days broke -the back of that little shoot, anyhow!" -</p> - -<p> -For many months Parnell tried to invent a vessel which -would so cut through the water as to obviate any sensation -of the motion of the waves. When he had done this -the ship was to be built, and I would be enabled to cross -the Atlantic as comfortably as I now made the journey -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P278"></a>278}</span> -to Brighton! Incidentally this invention was also to -make our fortunes. Although the building of the ship had -to be indefinitely postponed, the models made and tested -by Parnell were really wonderful. He had had no training -in mechanics, nor did he know anything of shipbuilding -or engineering, except such information as he obtained -from the various books he read for amusement at rare -intervals—but these models he made, and tried off the -underdeck of the Chain Pier at Brighton, were -extraordinarily ingenious. -</p> - -<p> -I do not venture to record this on my own authority, -for I know absolutely nothing of such matters, but the -firm, who cast the copper "floats" for him from his plans, -and continually altered and corrected the models after -trials, came to the conclusion that Mr. "Smith" was on -the verge of a very useful invention; though, to his -annoyance, they would not dissociate the torpedo-like structure -from Portsmouth and the Admiralty. I frequently took -my children down to Brighton for a few days' change, and -on these occasions Mr. Parnell would stay at a place near -the Chain Pier, and we would spend most of the day on -the underdeck of the pier-head trying the "invention." -</p> - -<p> -Once a hobby like this got hold of him he could think -of nothing else in his leisure time, and this note is a -specimen of many sent round from his hotel:— -</p> - -<p><br/></p> - -<p class="letter"> -Am making new float, which will sink five feet, and shall -have it ready to try to-morrow at 12.30. Will meet you on -Chain Pier at that hour. Am anxious to make this trial before -returning, and we will take Hassocks and Burgess Hill in -afternoon on way back to look at houses to let. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -This new model we tried in all weathers, and, as at -last it seemed to answer perfectly, with the exception of -its lack of speed, he said he would patent it, and get -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P279"></a>279}</span> -someone who had more knowledge than he to overcome the -speed difficulty. To my uninitiated mind the thing looked -like a treble torpedo-boat. Had he lived I think he would -have gone further into the matter, but, by the time this -was finished, one thing after another occurred with such -rapidity that it was perforce laid aside. -</p> - -<p> -I remember one rough, stormy day when we had been -much worried and were wondering whether the time of -waiting we had imposed upon ourselves (that Ireland -might not risk the leadership which seemed her only hope) -till the way could be opened to our complete union before -the world, was not to be too long for our endurance. It -was a wild storm, and Parnell had to hold me as we slowly -beat our way to the pier-head. The chains were up to -prevent anyone going on to the lower deck, but Parnell -lifted me over, and we tried the "float," though it was -useless to do so, as the waves shattered the slight thing -against the pier before Parnell could sink it to the required -depth. -</p> - -<p> -Then we stood looking out at the great waves—so near, -and shaking the whole pier-head in their surge. Parnell -remarked that the old place could not last long, and as I -turned to get a fresh hold on him, for I could not stand -against the wind, and the motion of the sea sickened me, -the blazing fires in his eyes leapt to mine, and, crushing -me roughly to himself, he picked me up and held me clear -over the sea, saying, "Oh, my wife, my wife, I believe -I'll jump in with you, and we shall be free for ever." -</p> - -<p> -Had I shown any fear I think he would have done it, -but I only held him tight and said: "As you will, my -only love, but the children?" He turned then, and carried -me to the upper deck, hiding my eyes from the horrible -roll and sucking of the sea beneath our feet. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap27"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P280"></a>280}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XXVII -<br /> -THE DIVORCE CASE [<a id="chap27fn1text"></a><a href="#chap27fn1">1</a>] -</h3> - -<p class="poem"> - "<i>Papel y tinta y poca justicia.</i>"<br /> - ("<i>Paper, ink, and a little justice.</i>")<br /> - —OLD SPANISH PROVERB.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -In November, 1890, Parnell was served with a copy of -the petition in the divorce case, O'Shea <i>v.</i> O'Shea and -Parnell, by Wontner at Messrs. Lewis and Lewis's. I -was served with the petition in the same month at 10, -Walsingham Terrace, Brighton. Mr. George Lewis and -his confidential clerk came down, and took some evidence -for the case from me, but Parnell declined to instruct any -solicitor from the first to last. He, however, accompanied -me when I went to town to consult Sir Frank Lockwood, -my counsel, a junior counsel being also present. -</p> - -<p> -"The consultation broke up in peals of laughter," said -one of the less important of the evening papers of the time. -This was quite true, but it had no bearing on the case at -all, for the laughter was caused by the extremely funny -stories told us, in his own inimitable way, by Sir Frank -Lockwood. The two or three times I saw him stand out -in my memory as hours of brilliant wit and nonsense, -that cheered and invigorated us far more than the advice -we did not ask for could have done. Parnell would not -fight the case, and I could not fight it without him. The -last time I saw Sir Frank Lockwood, the day before the -case came on, he begged me to get Parnell to let him fight -it. I was suffering acutely from neuralgic headache at the -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P281"></a>281}</span> -time, but I did my best to get Parnell to defend the case, -though to no purpose. -</p> - -<p> -We left Sir Frank Lockwood with a promise to telegraph -to him by eight o'clock the next morning if we would -go up and appear in Court at all, as he had to be there -by ten o'clock. -</p> - -<p> -We had to return to Brighton in the Pullman car, as -we could not get a carriage to ourselves. It was crowded, -and Parnell was known; it was therefore very difficult to -talk without being overheard. Parnell appeared absolutely -unconscious of the eyes furtively watching him from behind -every newspaper, or, indeed, openly in the carriage, and -he had the power of putting himself absolutely beyond and -above self-consciousness. This is what rendered him so -completely impervious to criticism. But to me, with a -splitting headache, the gleam of so many eyes, seen -through a mist of pain, had the most uncanny effect. They -seemed like animals watching from their lair. Parnell -gave me a cheerful little smile now and then, and directly -we got home he insisted upon my going to bed. There he -fed me himself with the tiny amount I forced myself to -take to please him, and held the glass to my lips while I -sipped the sparkling Moselle I had been ordered to take -for the bad attacks of neuralgia. -</p> - -<p> -After he had had his own dinner he came up and -smoked by my bedside. I tried to persuade him to go up -with me in the morning to the Court and make some fight -in the case, but he said: -</p> - -<p> -"No, Queenie. What's the use? We want the divorce, -and, divorce or not, I shall always come where you are. -I shall always come to my home every night whatever -happens. Now I'm going to read you to sleep." -</p> - -<p> -He was always the most gentle and tender of nurses, -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P282"></a>282}</span> -and would sit by my side for hours without moving when -I was ill, reading or thinking. After a short sleep I lay -awake wondering what it would be best to say to Lockwood -in the morning. I had told him that anyhow I would -go up; but, as my lover said, what would be the use of it? -And whatever I could make of Captain O'Shea's desertion—or -practical desertion—of me, I knew absolutely nothing -of his private life, and cared less. Our position would be -worse if we were not enabled to marry, for we were -inseparable while life lasted. -</p> - -<p> -Then, after going over the pros and cons till my brain -felt on fire, I said irritably, "I don't believe you are -listening to what I say!" He replied, "I am not, beloved; here -is the telegram all written out for you while you slept. We -have been longing for this freedom all these years, and -now you are afraid!" -</p> - -<p> -I broke down and cried, because I feared for him and -for his work, and he soothed me as one would a child as -he told me that his life-work was Ireland's always, but -that his heart and his soul were mine to keep for -ever—since first he looked into my eyes that summer morning, -ten years before. -</p> - -<p> -"Queenie," he went on, "put away all fear and regret -for my public life. I have given, and will give, Ireland -what is in me to give. That I have vowed to her, but my -private life shall never belong to any country, but to one -woman. There will be a howl, but it will be the howl of -hypocrites; not altogether, for some of these Irish fools -are genuine in their belief that forms and creeds can -govern life and men; perhaps they are right so far as they -can experience life. But I am not as they, for they are -among the world's children. I am a man, and I have told -these children what they want, and they clamour for it. -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P283"></a>283}</span> -If they will let me, I will get it for them. But if they turn -from me, my Queen, it matters not at all in the end. What -the ultimate government of Ireland will be is settled, and -it will be so, and what my share in the work has been and -is to be, also. I do wish you would stop fretting about -me. We know nothing of how or why, but only that we -love one another, and that through all the ages is the one -fact that cannot be forgotten nor put aside by us." -</p> - -<p> -He spoke slowly, with many silences between sentence -and sentence, and presently I said: "But perhaps I have -hurt your work." -</p> - -<p> -"No, you have not. I sometimes think that is why -you came to me, for I was very ill then and you kept the -life in me and the will to go on when I was very weary of -it all; you have stood to me for comfort and strength and -my very life. I have never been able to feel in the least -sorry for having come into your life. It had to be, and -the bad times I have caused you and the stones that have -been flung and that will be flung at you are all no matter, -because to us there is no one else in all the world that -matters at all—when you get to the bottom of things." -</p> - -<p> -Late next morning I awoke from the deep sleep of -exhaustion to find him sitting by me superintending the -arrangement of "letters, tea and toast," and to my anxious -query as to the time I was answered by his quiet laugh, -and "I've done you this time, Queenie; I sent the telegram -long ago, and they must be enjoying themselves in Court -by now!" -</p> - -<p> -That was Saturday, November 15th, and on Monday, -the 17th, my Brighton solicitor brought me down a copy -of the "decree nisi." We were very happy that evening, -and Parnell declared he would have the "decree" framed. -We made many plans for the future that evening of where -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P284"></a>284}</span> -we should go when the six months had passed and the -decree made absolute. I even ventured to suggest that he -might marry someone else once I was set completely free, -but my lover was not amused and scolded me for -suggesting such disgusting ideas. -</p> - -<p> -Sir Frank Lockwood was terribly distressed about us -and his inability to "save Parnell for his country," but -he was very kind to me, and did all he could to help me -in certain legal matters. -</p> - -<p> -On November 26th there was a meeting of the Irish -Party, which my King attended. The meeting was -adjourned until December 1st. When my lover came -home to me that evening I would not let him speak till he -had changed his cold boots and socks; then he came over -to me, and took me into his arms, saying, "I think we -shall have to fight, Queenie. Can you bear it? I'm afraid -it is going to be tough work." -</p> - -<p> -I said, "Yes, if you can." But I must confess that -when I looked at the frail figure and white face that was -so painfully delicate, whose only vitality seemed to lie in -the deep, burning eyes, my heart misgave me for I very -much doubted if his health would stand any prolonged -strain. -</p> - -<p> -I burst out passionately, "Why does it matter more -now? They have all known for years," and his rare, low -laugh came out with genuine amusement as he replied, -"My sweetheart, they are afraid of shocking Mr. Gladstone." -</p> - -<p> -"But Gladstone——" I began, bewildered. -</p> - -<p> -"Just so, but we are public reprobates now, it just -makes the difference. He is a 'devout Christian,' they -tell me." -</p> - -<p> -While Parnell sat down at work at his manifesto I -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P285"></a>285}</span> -deliberated for hours as to whether I ought to let him -go on. Should I urge him to come abroad with me? -I knew he would come if I said I could not bear the public -fight. I looked at him as he sat now absolutely absorbed -in what he was writing, and now looking across at me -when he had something ready to be pinned together. He -did not speak, only the smoulder in his eyes grew deeper -as he wrote. -</p> - -<p> -I loved him so much, and I did so long to take him -away from all the ingratitude and trouble—to some sunny -land where we could forget the world and be forgotten. -But then I knew that he would not forget; that he would -come at my bidding, but that his desertion of Ireland would -lie at his heart; that if he was to be happy he must fight -to the end. I knew him too well to dare to take him away -from the cause he had made his life-work; that even if it -killed him I must let him fight—fight to the end—it was -himself—the great self that I loved, and that I would not -spoil even through my love, though it might bring the -end in death. -</p> - -<p> -I looked up feeling that he was watching me, and met -the burning fire-flame of his eyes steadily, through my -tears, as he said, closing his hand over mine, "I am feeling -very ill, Queenie, but I think I shall win through. I -shall never give in unless you make me, and I want you -to promise me that you will never make me less than the -man you have known." I promised it. -</p> - -<p> -He was feeling very ill. November was always a bad -month for his health, and the cold and damp gave him -rheumatism. His left arm pained him almost continuously -all this winter. I used to rub it and his shoulder with -firwood oil, in which he had great belief, and pack his arm -in wool, which seemed to be some relief. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P286"></a>286}</span> -</p> - -<p> -On Saturday morning, November 29th, his manifesto -appeared in all the papers.[<a id="chap27fn2text"></a><a href="#chap27fn2">2</a>] -</p> - -<p> -War was now declared, and the first battle was fought -in Committee Room 15, where all the miserable treachery -of Parnell's followers—and others—was exposed. The -Grand Old Man had spoken, and his mandate must be -obeyed. Ever swift to take advantage of a political -opportunity, he struck at the right moment, remorselessly, for -he knew that without giving away the whole of his policy -Parnell could not point to the hypocrisy of a religious -scruple so suddenly afflicting a great statesman at the -eleventh hour. For ten years Gladstone had known of the -relations between Parnell and myself, and had taken full -advantage of the facility this intimacy offered him in -keeping in touch with the Irish leader. For ten years. But -that was a private knowledge. Now it was a public -knowledge, and an English statesman must always appear on -the side of the angels. -</p> - -<p> -So Mr. Gladstone found his religion could at last be -useful to his country. Parnell felt no resentment towards -Gladstone. He merely said to me, with his grave smile: -"That old Spider has nearly all my flies in his web," and, -to my indignation against Gladstone he replied: "You -don't make allowances for statecraft. He has the -Non-conformist conscience to consider, and you know as well -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P287"></a>287}</span> -as I do that he always loathed me. But these fools, who -throw me over at his bidding, make me a little sad." And -I thought of that old eagle face, with the cruel eyes that -always belied the smile he gave me, and wondered no -longer at the premonition of disaster that I had so often -felt in his presence. -</p> - -<p> -For the Irish Party I have never felt anything but -pity—pity that they were not worthy of the man and the -opportunity, and, seeing the punishment that the years have -brought upon Ireland, that their craven hearts could not -be loyal to her greatest son. I have wondered at the -blindness of her mistress, England; wondered that England -should still hold out the reward of Home Rule to Ireland, -whose sons can fight even, it is said, their brothers, but -who fight as children, unknowing and unmeaning, without -the knowledge of a cause and without idea of loyalty. -</p> - -<p> -How long the Irish Party had known of the relations -between Parnell and myself need not be here discussed. -Some years before certain members of the Party opened -one of my letters to Parnell. I make no comment. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell very seldom mentioned them. His outlook was -so much wider than is generally understood and his -comment on members of the Party was always, both before -and after the split, calm, considerate, and as being -impersonal to himself. -</p> - -<p> -He regarded the Catholic Church's attitude towards -him as being the logical outcome of her profession. He -was not, even in the last months, when the priests' veto -to their people turned the fight against him in Ireland, -bitter against them, even though I was. His strongest -comment was:—"They have to obey their bishops, and -they Rome—and that's why the whole system of their -interference in politics is so infernal!" -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P288"></a>288}</span> -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Gladstone sent the following letter to Mr. Morley -on November 24th:— -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="quote"> -... While clinging to the hope of communication from -Mr. Parnell to whomsoever addressed, I thought it necessary, -viewing the arrangements for the commencement of the Session -to-morrow, to acquaint Mr. McCarthy with the conclusion at -which, after using all the means of observation and reflection -in my power, I had myself arrived. It was that, notwithstanding -the splendid services rendered by Mr. Parnell to his -country, his continuance at the present moment in the -leadership would be productive of consequences disastrous in the -highest degree to the cause of Ireland. -</p> - -<p> -I think I may be warranted in asking you so far to expand -the conclusion I have given above as to add that the -continuance I speak of would not only place many hearty and -effective friends of the Irish cause in a position of great -embarrassment, but would render my retention of the leadership of -the Liberal Party, based as it has been mainly upon the -presentation of the Irish cause, almost a nullity. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Thus Mr. Gladstone signed the death-warrant of Home -Rule for Ireland. -</p> - -<p> -On November 18th, 1890, there was a meeting of the -National League in Dublin. On the same day the -following paragraph appeared in the London letter of the -<i>Freeman's Journal</i>:— -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -"I have direct authority for stating that Mr. Parnell has -not the remotest intention of abandoning either permanently -or temporarily his position or his duties as leader of the Irish -Parliamentary Party. This may be implicitly accepted as -Mr. Parnell's firm resolution, and perhaps by learning it in -time the Pigottist Press may be spared the humiliation of -indulging in a prolonged outburst of useless vilification. In -arriving at this determination, I need not say that Mr. Parnell -is actuated exclusively by a sense of his responsibility to the -Irish people, by whose suffrages he holds his public position, -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P289"></a>289}</span> -and who alone have the power or the right to influence his -public action. The wild, unscrupulous, and insincere shriekings -of the Pigottists on the platform and in the Press can -and will do nothing to alter Mr. Parnell's resolve." -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Parnell wrote to me from London after the meeting -in Committee Room 15. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN DARLING WIFIE,—I have received your letter -through Phyllis, and hope to return to Brighton to-night per -last train and tell you all the news. Meanwhile I may say that -I am exceedingly well, having had twelve hours' sleep last night. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The meeting adjourned to-day till to-morrow at 12 or 1 -to consider an amendment moved by one of my side that -Gladstone, Harcourt, and Morley's views should be obtained -as to their action on certain points in my manifesto. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR OWN KING. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -December 3, 1890. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -The following letters speak for themselves:— -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -PARNELL <i>to</i> MR. WILLIAM REDMOND. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR WILLIE,—Thanks very much for your kind letter, -which is most consoling and encouraging. It did not require -this fresh proof of your friendship to convince me that I have -always justly relied upon you as one of the most single-minded -and attached of my colleagues.—Yours very sincerely, -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -CHAS. S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> -PARNELL <i>to</i> DR. KENNY. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>Saturday.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY DEAR DOCTOR,—I shall be very much obliged if you -can call over to see me this afternoon, as I am not feeling -very well, and oblige, yours very truly, -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -CHARLES S. PARNELL. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Don't mention that I am unwell to anybody, lest it should -get into the newspapers.—-C. S. P. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -To all his brothers and sisters, and, most of all, to -his mother, Parnell was most generous and affectionate, -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P290"></a>290}</span> -and of that generosity and affectionate regard I have -abundant proof. -</p> - -<p> -One of the last letters he wrote was to his mother:— -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="quote"> -I am weary, dear mother, of these troubles, weary unto -death; but it is all in a good cause. With health and the -assistance of my friends I am confident of the result. The -statements my enemies have so often made regarding my -relations with you are on a par with the endless calumnies -they shoot upon me from behind every bush. Let them pass. -They will die of their own venom. It would indeed be -dignifying them to notice their existence! -</p> - -<p class="t3"> -————————— -</p> - -<p class="quote"> -NOTE.—Mrs. Parnell preserved a long series of letters from -Captain O'Shea, dating from 1882 to 1891. The earlier ones -are mainly concerned with tactical political movements, the -most important of which are the conversations between O'Shea -and Chamberlain, noted on page 197. Those of the 1885 period -deal chiefly with O'Shea's grievance against Parnell in -connexion with the Clare election. In one he complains of the -"absolute baseness" of Parnell's conduct. To all who spoke -to him of it he says, "I replied, 'Poor devil, he is obliged to -allow himself to be kicked to the right or the left and look -pleasant. But he has the consolation of having been well paid -for the pain—£40,000, the tribute of the priests and people of -Ireland!'" The reference was to the great Irish subscription, -headed by the Archbishop of Cashel, made in order to enable -Parnell to clear his estates from the mortgages which oppressed -them. -</p> - -<p class="quote"> -The later letters, from the end of 1886 onwards, reveal the -violent strain in the relations of Captain and Mrs. O'Shea. -Beginning with a private letter to Mr. Stead, objecting to a -statement in <i>The Pall Mall Gazette</i> that Parnell was staying -on a visit with him, O'Shea went on to write to his wife's -solicitor, Mr. H. Pym, suggesting that she should, for her -children's sake, "declare her renunciation of communication -with" Parnell, and then consulted Chamberlain on his difficulties. -</p> - -<p class="quote"> -Finally, as a Catholic, he turned to Cardinal Manning for -advice. His first interview with the head of the Roman Catholic -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P291"></a>291}</span> -Church in England was on October 19th, 1889, when the -question of separation as against divorce was discussed. A -long correspondence followed. Manning was reluctant to agree -to the proceedings for divorce, and delayed his decision till -December 4th, when he laid down the course to be pursued, -viz., (1) to collect all evidence in writing; (2) to lay it before -the Bishop of the Diocese and ask for trial; (3) the latter would -appoint a day for hearing; (4) judgment having been given, -the case would go to Rome with a full report of the proceedings. -O'Shea had already become impatient, and when, in another -interview, Manning described to him the constitution of the -Ecclesiastical Court which would report to Rome, he declared -that he hesitated to approach a tribunal not having the right -to administer the oath, and respectfully intimated his intention -to take the case into the English Divorce Court. -</p> - -<p class="quote"> -The letters close in 1891 with a correspondence between -Captain O Shea and the Primate of Ireland in which the former -repudiates a suggestion made by the Bishop of Galway -(Dr. MacCormack) in February of that year that "in 1886 after -having failed to foist Captain O'Shea upon a neighbouring -county, the then leader had the effrontery of prostituting the -Galway City constituency as a hush gift to O'Shea." Describing -this as a "grotesquely false" libel, Captain O'Shea details -the course of events before the election, his refusal to take the -Nationalist pledge, and his support by the then Bishop of -Galway (Dr. Carr) and his clergy. -</p> - -<p class="quote"> -Mr. Healy, in a speech at Kilkenny, had made an attack on -Captain O'Shea on the same lines. O'Shea was defended by -Lord Stalbridge (formerly Lord Richard Grosvenor) and also by -Chamberlain. The former related the part he played in the -promotion of O'Shea's candidature at Liverpool as a supporter of -Mr. Gladstone and the latter quoted a letter in which on -January 22, 1896, he had urged O'Shea to "get Mr. Parnell's -exequatur for one of the vacant seats" in Ireland, as "it is -really the least he can do for you after all you have done for -him." "Surely," wrote Chamberlain, "it must be to the -interest of the Irish Party to keep open channels of communication -with the Liberal leaders." The point was clinched by a -letter addressed by Mr. Timothy Harrington to the <i>Freeman's -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P292"></a>292}</span> -Journal</i>, stating that "Mr. Parnell, during the Galway election -in 1886, explained to his followers that he had only adopted -Captain O'Shea as candidate for Galway at the special request -of Mr. Chamberlain.... The strongest confirmation was given -to it immediately after the election, when Captain O'Shea -followed Mr. Chamberlain out of the House of Commons, and -refused to vote on the Home Rule Bill." On this aspect of -the question, O'Shea himself says, in his letter to the Primate: -"If I were such a man as Dr. MacCormack insinuates—a man -who would buy a seat in Parliament at the price of his -honour—I need only have given a silent vote for Mr. Gladstone's -Home Rule Bill and my seat was as safe as any in Ireland." -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap27fn1"></a> -[<a href="#chap27fn1text">1</a>] See Note, page 290. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap27fn2"></a> -[<a href="#chap27fn2text">2</a>] Parnell dealt in detail with the question of the Parliamentary -independence of the Irish Party, -and repudiated the right of any English party -to exercise a veto on the Irish leadership. -He described his conversations -at Hawarden with Gladstone in the previous November -on the details of -the scheme to be fathered by the Liberal Party -when it returned to office, -related the circumstances of Morley's suggestion -to him that he should -become Chief Secretary for Ireland, -and referred scornfully to "the -English wolves now howling for my -destruction." He thought the Irish -people would agree with him that even -if their threats of the indefinite -postponement of a Home Rule scheme were realized, -postponement would -be preferable to a compromise of Irish national rights. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap28"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P293"></a>293}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XXVIII -<br /> -A KING AT BAY -</h3> - -<p class="poem"> -"<i>Vulneratus non victus.</i>" -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -In December a vacancy occurred in Kilkenny, and, on -December 9th, my King started for Ireland, and stayed -with Dr. Kenny for the night in Dublin. Of the great -meeting in the Rotunda I give Miss Katharine Tynan's -description, because of all the eye-witnesses' accounts of it -that I have kept, none gives the true glimpse of Parnell -as she does. -</p> - -<p> -"It was nearly 8.30 when we heard the bands coming; -then the windows were lit up by the lurid glare of -thousands of torches in the street outside. There was a -distant roaring like the sea. The great gathering within -waited silently with expectation. Then the cheering -began, and we craned our necks and looked on eagerly, -and there was the tall, slender, distinguished figure of -the Irish leader making its way across the platform. I -don't think any words could do justice to his reception. -The house rose at him; everywhere around there was a -sea of passionate faces, loving, admiring, almost -worshipping that silent, pale man. The cheering broke out -again and again; there was no quelling it. Mr. Parnell -bowed from side to side, sweeping the assemblage with -his eagle glance. The people were fairly mad with -excitement. I don't think anyone outside Ireland can -understand what a charm Mr. Parnell has for the Irish -heart; that wonderful personality of his, his proud -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P294"></a>294}</span> -bearing, his handsome, strong face, the distinction of look -which marks him more than anyone I have ever seen. All -these are irresistible to the artistic Irish. -</p> - -<p> -"I said to Dr. Kenny, who was standing by me, 'He -is the only quiet man here.' 'Outwardly,' said the keen -medical man, emphatically. Looking again, one saw the -dilated nostrils, the flashing eye, the passionate face; the -leader was simply drinking in thirstily this immense love, -which must have been more heartening than one can say -after that bitter time in the English capital. Mr. Parnell -looked frail enough in body—perhaps the black frock-coat, -buttoned so tightly across his chest, gave him that -look of attenuation; but he also looked full of indomitable -spirit and fire. -</p> - -<p> -"For a time silence was not obtainable. Then Father -Walter Hurley climbed on the table and stood with his -arms extended. It was curious how the attitude silenced -a crowd which could hear no words. -</p> - -<p> -"When Mr. Parnell came to speak, the passion within -him found vent. It was a wonderful speech; not one word -of it for oratorical effect, but every word charged with -a pregnant message to the people who were listening to -him, and the millions who should read him. It was a -long speech, lasting nearly an hour; but listened to with -intense interest, punctuated by fierce cries against men -whom this crisis has made odious, now and then marked -in a pause by a deep-drawn moan of delight. It was a -great speech, simple, direct, suave—with no device and -no artificiality. Mr. Parnell said long ago, in a furious -moment in the House of Commons, that he cared nothing -for the opinion of the English people. One remembered -it now, noting his passionate assurances to his own people, -who loved him too well to ask him questions." -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P295"></a>295}</span> -</p> - -<p> -During this meeting the anti-Parnellites took the -opportunity to seize Parnell's paper, <i>United Ireland</i>, and -the offices. A witness's account of the incident contained -in Mr. Barry O'Brien's "Life of Charles Stewart Parnell" -appealed to me immensely, because this little affair was -of intense interest to me, and all, or nearly all, I could -get out of Parnell himself on the subject was a soft laugh -and, "It was splendid fun. I wish I could burgle my -own premises every day!" -</p> - -<p> -Something like this appears to have happened. The -anti-Parnellite garrison was strongly entrenched in the -offices of the newspaper—doors and windows all barred. -The streets were filled with a crowd of Parnellites crying -death and destruction on the enemy, and pouring in faster -from the side streets. Men threading their way through -the mass were distributing sticks and revolvers. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell had been apprised of the event at the meeting, -and a pony-trap was waiting for him outside the Rotunda. -He got into it with Dr. Kenny, and they dashed off to -the scene of action. At the sight of their Chief the crowd -went wild; cheers for Parnell and curses for his enemies -filled the air. At full gallop the pony-trap dashed through -the mass of people (which gave way as if by magic), and -was brought up before the offices with a jerk that sent -the horse sprawling on the ground. Parnell jumped out -of the trap, sprang up the steps, and knocked loudly at -the door of the offices. There was a dramatic moment of -silence—the crowd hushed and expectant. Then Parnell -quietly gave some orders to those nearest him. In a brief -space they were off and back again with pickaxe and -crowbar. Parnell wished to vault the area railings and -attack the area door, but he was held back. So several -of his followers dropped into the area, while Parnell -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P296"></a>296}</span> -himself attacked the front door with the crowbar. The door -yielded, and he and many others rushed into the house. -A second party came from the area, and the united force -dashed upstairs. The rest was a Homeric struggle -between garrison and besiegers, fought from staircase to -staircase and story to story. At length the garrison was -downed to the last man. A window of the second story -was removed, and Parnell came out to his people. He -had lost his hat, his hair was tumbled, his face was quite -white, his eyes were filled with the wild joy of the battle. -His face and clothes were powdered with dust and plaster. -For a moment again the crowd was silent; then it burst -into a roar. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell made a short speech, came down, got into the -trap, and drove to the railway station. -</p> - -<p> -On the 11th, when he nominated Mr. Vincent Scully, -he stayed at Kilkenny. That day he wrote to me that -he was feeling ill, and his telegram of "good night" was -weary in tone. But the next day he wrote that he was -feeling far better, and his letter was very hopeful of -success. He insisted on returning to me every Saturday, -if it was in any way possible, during these months of -fighting, and going back to Ireland on the next evening, -Sunday. I begged him to spare himself the fatigue of -this constant journeying, but he could not rest away; so, -in despair, I gave up the fight against my own desire to -have him at home for even these few hours. This election -lasted ten days. Polling took place on December 22, -and that morning he telegraphed to me not to expect -victory, so I knew he was sure of defeat long before -the poll was declared. He returned to Dublin that -night, and addressed a meeting outside the National -Club. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P297"></a>297}</span> -</p> - -<p> -It was during one of these last meetings that someone -in the crowd threw lime in the Chief's face. It has been -said that the thing was a hoax, and that the substance -thrown was flour. It was not flour, but lime, and had -not Parnell shut his eyes in time he would undoubtedly -have been blinded. As it was his eyes were not injured, -and but for a tiny scar on the outer edge of his right -eye he was not hurt. I well remember the awful hours -I passed pacing up and down my room at Brighton -waiting, waiting for news after seeing the morning paper. -He had telegraphed to me directly after the cowardly -assault was made, but he could not send it himself as he -could not leave his friends. The man to whom he gave -the telegram for dispatch boasted to his fellows that he -had a message from Parnell, and in the crowd and scuffle -it was taken from him; so it was not until midday, when -my own telegram of inquiry reached him, that Parnell -knew that I had not received his; and by the time his -reassuring message arrived I was nearly out of my mind. -The newspapers had made the very most of the affair, -and I thought my husband was blinded. -</p> - -<p> -At the end of December Mr. William O'Brien returned -from America, but, as a warrant was out for his arrest, -he could not enter Ireland. Much against his own -wish Parnell went over to Boulogne to see him, as the -Party were so anxious that he should go. He did not -think that it would do any good, and, feeling ill, he hated -undertaking the extra fatigue. He felt, too, that he would -have to fight "all along the line" in Ireland, and -continued the war without cessation, although he went over -to Boulogne several times to hear what Mr. O'Brien -had to say. He was, however, on good terms with -O'Brien, and suggested him as leader of the Party in the -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P298"></a>298}</span> -event of his own resignation. The suggestion did not -prove acceptable to the Party.[<a id="chap28fn1text"></a><a href="#chap28fn1">1</a>] -</p> - -<p> -Throughout this time he occasionally attended the -sittings of the House, and, on returning home one sad -evening, he did not speak much after his first greeting. -I felt that something had troubled him unusually, but -forbore to worry him, knowing that he would tell me -presently. After a while he turned to me, and all he said -was, "O'Kelly has gone too." -</p> - -<p> -I did not answer in words, for my heart bled for him -in this the only personal sorrow he had suffered in the -disloyalty of his Party. Anger, scorn, and contempt, -yes! but this was the first and only blow to his affections. -For the first time since that miserable and most cowardly -exhibition of treachery in Committee Room 15 there was -a little break in his voice. They had been friends for so -long, and had worked with each other in American and -Irish politics so intimately. He had loved him, and now -O'Kelly had "gone too." -</p> - -<p> -When Mr. Gladstone gave the word, and the insecure -virtue of the country obeyed it, because it is a very -shocking thing to be found out, the anti-Parnellites were -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P299"></a>299}</span> -extremely ingenious in inventing new forms of scurrility -in connexion with my supposed name. From one end of -chivalrous Ireland to the other—urged on more especially -by a certain emotional Irish member of Parliament—the -name of "Kitty" O'Shea was sung and screamed, -wrapped about with all the filth that foul minds, vivid -imaginations, and black hatred of the aloof, proud Chief -could evolve, the Chief whom they could not hurt save -through the woman he loved! -</p> - -<p> -They hurt him now a little, it is true, but not very -greatly. My husband said to me after the Kilkenny election, -"It would really have hurt, my Queen, if those devils -had got hold of your real name, my Queenie, or even the -'Katie' or 'Dick' that your relations and Willie called -you." And then I was glad, so very glad that the gallant -company of mud-slingers had with one accord leapt to -the conclusion that those who love me called me "Kitty" -because my name was Katharine. For me it was a little -thing to bear for the man who loved me as never woman -has been loved before, and the only thing that I could -not have borne would have been the thought that one of -those who hated him had pierced the armour of his pride -and touched his heart. -</p> - -<p class="t3"> -* * * * * * -</p> - -<p> -On 22nd April, 1891, Mr. Frederick Kerley wrote from -10, Broad Court, Bow Street, W.C., to Mr. Thomson, -to say that he had succeeded that day in serving -Mr. Parnell with a copy of the Judge's Order, which -Mr. Thomson had handed to him on the evening of the 20th -instant. He saw Mr. Parnell at 7.5 p.m. pass through -the barrier on to the Brighton platform at Victoria -Station. He walked by his side and, addressing him, -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P300"></a>300}</span> -said, "Mr. Parnell, I believe?" Parnell replied, "Yes." He -said he was desired to hand him that paper, at the -same time handing him the copy, when the following -conversation ensued: -</p> - -<p> -Parnell: "What is it?" -</p> - -<p> -Kerley: "It is a Judge's Order." -</p> - -<p> -P.: "Oh, it is the costs." -</p> - -<p> -K.: "Yes, it is. That is a copy, this is the original, -and the signature of Mr. Justice Butt," and Kerley showed -the original to him. -</p> - -<p> -P.: "Oh, very well." -</p> - -<p> -K.: "This is Mr. Wontner's card, who is the solicitor -in the matter." -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Parnell took the card and said, "Thank you." -</p> - -<p> -It had all been clone very quietly. No one saw what -was done, and Parnell was not subjected to the slightest -annoyance, and he did not appear to be the least annoyed. -Kerley did not enclose the original, as he was afraid to -trust it through the post, but would hand it to Mr. Thomson -personally. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - WONTNERS, 19 LUDGATE HILL., E.C.<br /> - <i>Wired</i> 10 <i>a.m.,</i> 23 <i>April,</i> '91.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Copy Order costs P. served personally last evening. Letter -follows. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap28fn1"></a> -[<a href="#chap28fn1text">1</a>] The conversations with O'Brien and Dillon in France and the -correspondence which followed were concerned with the attitude of the Irish -Party towards the details of the Home Rule Bill to be introduced when -the Liberals came into power. Mr. Justin McCarthy had been elected -leader of the party, but Parnell insisted on his traditional right to a -predominant voice in its decisions. At the beginning of 1891 there were -anxious discussions about Gladstone's intentions as to the number of Irish -Members to be retained at Westminster and as to the basis of a public -declaration of Liberal policy. The proposals made to him were not -satisfactory either to Parnell's political judgment -or to his <i>amour propre</i>. They -came to nothing, however, and both O'Brien and Dillon were arrested -on their return to Ireland and put "out of the way for a bit," as Parnell -said. He complained of the "depressing effect" these two colleagues had -upon him; it was "so hard to keep them to the difficulties of the moment -while they were so eagerly passing on the troubles of to-morrow." -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap29"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P301"></a>301}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XXIX -<br /> -PARNELL AS I KNEW HIM -</h3> - -<p class="intro"> -"<i>If I must speake the schoole-master's language, I will confess -that character comes of the infinite moode</i> [Greek: charázo], -<i>which signifieth -to ingrave or make a deep impression.</i>"—(CHARACTERS) OVERBURY. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -When I first met Mr. Parnell in 1880 he was unusually -tall and very thin. His features were delicate with that -pallid pearly tint of skin that was always peculiarly his. -The shadows under his deep sombre eyes made them -appear larger than they were, and the eyes themselves -were the most striking feature of his cold, handsome face. -They were a deep brown, with no apparent unusualness -about them except an odd compulsion and insistence in -their direct gaze that, while giving the impression that he -was looking through and beyond them, bent men unconsciously -to his will. But when moved by strong feeling -a thousand little fires seemed to burn and flicker in the -sombre depths, and his cold, inscrutable expression gave -way to a storm of feeling that held one spellbound by its -utter unexpectedness. -</p> - -<p> -His hair was very dark brown, with a bronze glint -on it in sunlight, and grew very thickly on the back of -the shapely head, thinning about the high forehead. His -beard, moustache and eyebrows were a lighter brown. -His features were very delicate, especially about the -fine-cut nostrils; and the upper lip short, though the mouth -was not particularly well shaped. His was a very -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P302"></a>302}</span> -handsome, aristocratic face, very cold, proud and reserved; -almost all the photographs of him render the face too -heavy, and thicken the features. -</p> - -<p> -He had an old-world courtliness of manner when -speaking to women, a very quiet, very grave charm of -consideration that appealed to them at once in its silent -tribute to the delicacy of womanhood. I always thought -his manner to women, whether equals or dependents, was -perfect. In general society he was gracious without being -familiar, courteous but reserved, interested yet aloof, and -of such an unconscious dignity that no one, man or -woman, ever took a liberty with him. -</p> - -<p> -In the society of men his characteristic reserve and -"aloofness" were much more strongly marked, and even -in the true friendship he had with at least two men he -could more easily have died than have lifted the veil of -reserve that hid his inmost feeling. I do not now allude -to his feeling for myself, but to any strong motive of his -heart—his love for Ireland and of her peasantry, his -admiration that was almost worship of the great forces of -nature—the seas and the winds, the wonders of the planet -worlds and the marvels of science. -</p> - -<p> -Yet I have known him expand and be thoroughly happy, -and even boyish, in the society of men he trusted. -Immensely, even arrogantly proud, he was still keenly -sensitive and shy, and he was never gratuitously offensive -to anyone. In debate his thrusts were ever within the -irony permitted to gentlemen at war, even if beyond that -which could be congenial to the Speaker of the House or -to a chairman of committee. -</p> - -<p> -He was never petty in battle, and all the abuse, hatred -and execration showered upon him in public and in private, -whether by the opponents of his political life or by the -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P303"></a>303}</span> -(self-elected) judges of his private life, caused no -deviation in the policy that was his or on the path that he -meant to tread. His policy was the outcome of long, silent -deliberation, with every probable issue considered, every -possible contingency allowed for, and then followed up -with quiet, unwearying persistency and determination. -When he succeeded in forcing his will upon the House -it was well, but he was not elated, passing on to the next -point to be gained. When he failed, he had done his -best; but "the fates" willed otherwise than he, and again -he passed on to the next thing without perturbation. No -one could flatter Parnell, neither could anyone humiliate -him. "What I am, I am, what I am not I cannot be," -was his summing up of his own and of every other man's -personality. -</p> - -<p> -His cold, scientific way of sorting out and labelling his -own Party at first made me hesitatingly complain, "But, -after all, they are human beings!" and his characteristic -answer was "In politics, as in war, there are no men, only -weapons." -</p> - -<p> -In regard to "Nationalization," he declared that, while -there must be growth, there could be no change, and when -I would point out in friendly malice that his "nationalism" -of one year need not necessarily be that of another, and -could very easily be less comprehensive, he would answer -with smiling scorn, "That only means that lack of -judgment is righted by growth in understanding!" -</p> - -<p> -Parnell went into nothing half-heartedly, and was never -content till he had grasped every detail of his subject. -For this reason he gave up the study of astronomy, which -had become of engrossing interest to him, for he said that -astronomy is so enormous a subject that it would have -demanded his whole time and energy to satisfy him. He -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P304"></a>304}</span> -was constitutionally lazy, and absolutely loathed -beginning anything, his delicate health having, no doubt, -much to do with this inertia, of which he was very well -aware. He always made me promise to "worry" him into -making a start on any important political work, meeting -or appointment, when the proper time came, and often I -found this a very sad duty, for he was so absolutely happy -when working at one of his many hobbies, or sitting -quietly in his chair "watching" me, and talking or -keeping silent as the mood possessed him, that it was misery -to me to disturb him and send him off to do something -that was not interesting to him. He used to comfort me -by assuring me that it was only the "beginnings" he -hated, and that he was all right when he was "once -started." -</p> - -<p> -He was extraordinarily modest about his own intellectual -ability, and decidedly underrated the wonderful -powers of his mind, while he had the utmost admiration -for "brain," whether of friend or foe. Frequently he -would say that that "Grand Old Spider" (his private name -for Mr. Gladstone) was worth fighting because he was -so amazingly clever. His own followers he picked with -careful consideration of their usefulness to his policy, and -appreciated to the full the occasionally brilliant ability -some of them showed. His mind, in politics at least, was -analytical, and he would sift, and sort, and mentally -docket each member of the Irish Party, in company with -the more prominent of the Liberal Party, till the whole -assumed to him the aspect of an immense game, in which -he could watch and direct most of the more important -moves. The policy of the Conservatives he considered to -be too obvious to require study. -</p> - -<p> -In character Parnell was curiously complex. Just, -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P305"></a>305}</span> -tender and considerate, he was nevertheless incapable of -forgiving an injury, and most certainly he never forgot -one. His code of honour forbade him to bring up a -wrong of private life against a public man, and he had -the subtle love of truth that dares to use it as the shield -of expediency. -</p> - -<p> -Physically Parnell was so much afraid of pain and -ill-health that he suffered in every little indisposition and -hurt far more than others of less highly strung and -sensitive temperament. He had such a horror of death that -it was only by the exercise of the greatest self-control that -he could endure the knowledge or sight of it; but his -self-control was so perfect that never by word or deed did he -betray the intense effort and real loathing he suffered when -obliged to attend a funeral, or to be in any way brought -into contact with death or the thought thereof. Whenever -we passed, in our drive, a churchyard or cemetery he -would turn his head away, or even ask me to take another -road. The only exception to this very real horror of his -was the little grave of our baby girl at Chislehurst, which -he loved; but then he always said she did not die, "she -only went to sleep." -</p> - -<p> -Oppression of the weak and helpless, or any act of -cruelty, filled him with the deep hatred and indignation -that had first led him to make the cause of his hapless -country his own, and he would spend hours in silent, -concentrated thought, altogether oblivious of his surroundings, -working out some point or way to lift a little of the -burden of the wronged. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell was very fond of animals, and was their very -good friend always, taking every care himself to see that -his horses and dogs were properly looked after. During -one of the last meetings he attended in Ireland he jumped -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P306"></a>306}</span> -off his car in the midst of a hostile crowd to rescue a terrier -that was being kicked and run over by the mob. -</p> - -<p> -His will was autocratic, and once he had made up his -mind to any course he would brook no interference, nor -suffer anything to stand in his way. Yet, in his home -life, he would come to no decision without seeking my -approval, and was absolutely unselfish and considerate. I -have known him deadly white, with the still, cold passion -that any deliberate thwarting of his will produced in him, -sweep aside out of "the Party" and out of all further -recognition in any capacity a man who had done useful -work, and who, thus thrown out, might have been—and -was—dangerous to Parnell's political policy in many -ways. He had gone against Parnell's explicit instructions -in a certain matter. I ventured to point out that this -man might be dangerous as an enemy, and he answered: -"While I am leader they (the Party) are my tools, or they -go!" From his servants also he exacted prompt, -unquestioning obedience always, but he was the most gentle -and considerate of masters, and they, as a rule, almost -worshipped him. -</p> - -<p> -He had much pride of family and family affection, -but he was utterly undemonstrative and shy. Even when -he nursed his brother John through a long and painful -illness, caused by a railway accident in America when -they were both very young men, the wall of reserve was -never broken down, and I do not think his family ever -realized how strong his affection for them was. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell was not in the least a well-read man. His -genius was natural and unaided; he was a maker of history, -not a reader of it. He took no interest in literature -as such, but for works on subjects interesting to -him—mining, mechanics, or engineering and (later) astronomy—he -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P307"></a>307}</span> -had an insatiable appetite and such a tremendous -power of concentration that he absolutely absorbed -knowledge where he chose. I have known him to argue some -intricate and technical point of engineering with a man of -thirty years' practical experience (in America and India), -who at length admitted Parnell to be right and himself -mistaken, though on this particular point Parnell's -deductions were made from a two hours' study of the subject -some three years or more before. -</p> - -<p> -For pictures he cared not at all, and music he -absolutely disliked; though to amuse me he would sometimes -"sing," in a soft undertone and with much gravity, funny -little nursery rhymes and snatches of the songs of his -college days. -</p> - -<p> -His dislike of social life was so great that he would -never accept any invitation that could be in any way -avoided; and if sometimes I absolutely insisted upon his -going to any reception or dinner party, he would go with -the grim determination of one fulfilling a most unpleasant -duty. He often told me that it was because he hated -"Saxons" (a hatred which years of tradition had fostered) -so much, and felt ill at ease in any gathering of English -people. -</p> - -<p> -He certainly did not feel this with the working classes, -with whom he would constantly converse and watch at -work when we were out together. Agricultural labourers -did not interest him so much, but he used to spend hours -talking to mechanics of all classes, seamen, road-menders, -builders, and any and every kind of artisan. To these he -always spoke in an easy, friendly way of their work, their -wages, and the conditions of labour, and I never remarked -that suspiciousness and reserve, characteristic of the -English wageworker, in these men when Parnell talked -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P308"></a>308}</span> -with them. They seemed to accept him, not as one of -themselves, but as an interesting and an interested "labour -leader," who had the unusual merit of wishing to hear their -views instead of offering them his own. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell was intensely superstitious, with all the superstition -of the Irish peasant, and in this he was unreasoning -and unreasonable. This trait was evidently acquired in -earliest childhood and had grown with his growth, for -some of these superstitions are the heritage of ages -in the Irish people, and have their origin in some -perfectly natural fear, or association, that has, -generation by generation, by alteration of habit or -circumstance, lost its force while retaining, or even adding to, -its expression. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell would agree perfectly that this was a fact, -nevertheless to do so-and-so was "unlucky," and there -was the end of it—it must not be done. Certain -combinations of numbers, of lights or circumstances, were -"omens," and must be carefully avoided. Evidently, as -an intelligent child will, he had eagerly caught up and -absorbed all and every suggestion offered him by the -converse of his nurse and her associates, and the impressions -thus made were overlaid, but not erased, as he grew up -isolated, by the very reticence of his nature, from his -fellows. His dislike of the colour green, as being -unlucky, he could not himself understand, for it is -certainly not an Irish feeling, but it was there so decidedly -that he would not sit in any room that had this colour in -it, nor would he allow me to wear or use any of the -magnificent silks or embroideries that were so often presented -to him, if, as was generally the case, they had green in -their composition. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell had no religious conviction of creed and -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P309"></a>309}</span> -dogma, but he had an immense reverence, learnt, I think, -from the Irish peasantry, for any genuine religious -conviction. He personally believed in a vast and universal -law of "attraction," of which the elemental forces of Nature -were part, and the whole of which tended towards some -unknown, and unknowable, end, in immensely distant -periods of time. The world, he considered, was but a -small part of the unthinkably vast "whole" through which -the "Spirit" (the soul) of man passed towards the fulfilment -of its destiny in the completion of "attraction." Of -a first "Cause" and predestined "End" he was convinced, -though he believed their attributes to be unknown and -unknowable. -</p> - -<p> -As I have said before, he was not a man who read, -or sought to acquire the opinions or knowledge of others, -unless he had some peculiar interest in a subject. He -considered, and formed his own beliefs and opinions, -holding them with the same quiet, convinced recognition -of his right of judgment that he extended to the judgment -of others. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell's moral standard was a high one, if it is once -conceded that as regards the marriage bond his honest -conviction was that there is none where intense mutual -attraction—commonly called love—does not exist, <i>or where -it ceases to exist</i>. To Parnell's heart and conscience I -was no more the wife of Captain O'Shea when he (Parnell) -first met me than I was after Captain O'Shea had divorced -me, ten years later. He took nothing from Captain -O'Shea that the law of the land could give, or could -dispossess him of, therefore he did him no wrong. I do not -presume to say whether in this conviction he was right or -wrong, but here I set down Parnell's point of view, with -the happy knowledge that never for one moment have I -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P310"></a>310}</span> -regretted that I made his point of view my own in this as -in all things else. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell's political life was one single-minded ambition -for the good of his country. He was no place or -popularity hunter. Stung to the quick in early manhood -by the awful suffering of the Irish peasantry and by the -callous indifference of the English Government, he, with -all the pure chivalry of youth, vowed himself to their -service, and, so far as in him lay, to the forcing of the -governing country to a better fulfilment of her -responsibilities. In the course of years the gaining of Home Rule -for Ireland became for him the only solution of the -problem. To this end he devoted all his energies, and -for this end men became as tools to him, to be used and -thrown aside, so that he could carve out the liberation of -Ireland from the great nation whom he declared could -"rule slaves as freemen, but who would only rule free men -as slaves." -</p> - -<p> -Some have said that Parnell was avaricious. He was -not. In small matters he was careful, and on himself -he spent the very smallest amount possible for his position. -He indulged himself in no luxuries beyond the purchase -of a few scientific books and instruments, on which -indulgence he spent many moments of anxious deliberation -lest he should need the money for political purposes. His -own private income was spent in forwarding his political -work, in the "relief funds" of Ireland's many needs, and -on his estates in Ireland, where he did his utmost to -promote industries that should prove to be of real benefit to -the people. To his mother and other near relations he -was always generous, and to the many calls upon his -charity <i>in Ireland</i> he was rarely unresponsive. -</p> - -<p> -In temper Parnell was quiet, deep and bitter. He was -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P311"></a>311}</span> -so absolutely self-controlled that few knew of the volcanic -force and fire that burned beneath his icy exterior. -</p> - -<p> -In the presence of suffering he was gentle, unselfish -and helpful. Indeed, I may say that at all times at home -he was the most unselfish man I have ever met. -</p> - -<p> -Of his moral courage all the world knows, yet no one, -I think, but myself can know how absolute it was; how -dauntless and unshaken, how absolutely and unconsciously -heroic Parnell's courage was. Through good -report, or ill report, in his public life, or in his private -life, he never changed, never wavered. Hailed as his -country's saviour, execrated as her betrayer, exalted as a -conqueror, or judged and condemned by the self-elected -court of English hypocrisy, he kept a serene heart and -unembittered mind, treading the path he had chosen, and -doing the work he had made his own for Ireland's sake. -</p> - -<p> -And there are those who can in no way understand -that some few men are born who stand apart, by the very -grandeur of Nature's plan—men of whom it is true to say -that "after making him the mould was broken," and of -whom the average law can neither judge aright nor -understand. In his childhood, in his boyhood, and in his -manhood Parnell was "apart." I was the one human -being admitted into the inner sanctuaries of his soul, with -all their intricate glooms and dazzling lights; mine was -not the folly to judge, but the love to understand. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap30"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P312"></a>312}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -CHAPTER XXX -<br /> -MARRIAGE, ILLNESS AND DEATH -</h3> - -<p class="poem"> - "<i>O gentle wind that bloweth south<br /> - To where my love re-paireth,<br /> - Convey a kiss to his dear mouth<br /> - And tell me how he fareth.</i>"<br /> - —OLD BALLAD.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="intro"> -"<i>He that well and rightly considereth his own works will find -little cause to judge hardly of another.</i>"—THOMAS À KEMPIS. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -On June 24th, 1891, Mr. Parnell drove over to Steyning -to see that all the arrangements for our marriage at the -registrar's office there on the next day were complete. -Mr. Edward Cripps, the registrar, had everything in order, -and it was arranged that we should come very early so -as to baffle the newspaper correspondents, who had already -been worrying Mr. Cripps, and who hung about our house -at Brighton with an inconvenient pertinacity. We had -given Mr. Parnell's servant elaborate orders to await us, -with Dictator in the phaeton, at a short distance from the -house about eleven o'clock on the 25th, and told him he -would be required as a witness at our wedding. This -little ruse gave us the early morning of the 25th clear, as -the newspaper men soon had these instructions out of the -discomfited young man, who had been told not to talk to -reporters. -</p> - -<p> -On June 25th I was awakened at daybreak by my -lover's tapping at my door and calling to me: "Get up, -get up, it is time to be married!" Then a humming and -excitement began through the house as the maids flew -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P313"></a>313}</span> -about to get us and breakfast ready "in time," before two -of them, Phyllis Bryson, my very dear personal maid—who -had put off her own marriage for many years in order -to remain with me—and my children's old nurse, drove -off to catch the early train to Steyning, where they were -to be witnesses of our marriage. Phyllis was so determined -to put the finishing touches to me herself that she -was at last hustled off by Parnell, who was in a nervous -fear that everyone would be late but the newspaper men. -Phyllis was fastening a posy at my breast when Parnell -gently but firmly took it from her and replaced it with -white roses he had got for me the day before. Seeing her -look of disappointment he said, "She must wear mine -to-day, Phyllis, but she shall carry yours, and you shall -keep them in remembrance; now you must go!" -</p> - -<p> -He drove the maids down the stairs and into the waiting -cab, going himself to the stables some way from the -house, and returning in an amazingly short time with -Dictator in the phaeton and with a ruffled-looking groom -who appeared to have been sleeping in his livery—it was -so badly put on. Parnell ordered him in to have a cup -of tea and something to eat while he held the horse, -nervously calling to me at my window to be quick and -come down. Then, giving the groom an enormous -"buttonhole," with fierce orders not to dare to put it -on till we were well on our way, Parnell escorted me -out of the house, and settled me in the phaeton with -elaborate care. -</p> - -<p> -As a rule Parnell never noticed what I wore. Clothes -were always "things" to him. "Your things become you -always" was the utmost compliment for a new gown I -could ever extract from him; but that morning, as he -climbed in beside me and I took the reins, he said, -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P314"></a>314}</span> -"Queenie, you look lovely in that lace stuff and the -beautiful hat with the roses! I am so proud of you!" -</p> - -<p> -And I was proud of my King, of my wonderful lover, -as we drove through that glorious June morning, past the -fields of growing corn, by the hedges heavy with wild -roses and "traveller's joy," round the bend of the river -at Lancing, past the ruined tower where we had so often -watched the kestrels hover, over the bridge and up the -street of pretty, old-world Bramber into Steyning, and -on to the consummation of our happiness. -</p> - -<p> -Parnell hardly spoke at all during this drive. Only, -soon after the start at six o'clock, he said, "Listen," and, -smiling, "They are after us; let Dictator go!" as we -heard the clattering of horses far behind. I let Dictator -go, and he—the fastest (driving) horse I have ever -seen—skimmed over the nine miles in so gallant a mood that it -seemed to us but a few minutes' journey. -</p> - -<p> -Mr. Cripps was in attendance, and Mrs. Cripps had -very charmingly decorated the little room with flowers, -so there was none of the dreariness usual with a registry -marriage. As we waited for our witnesses to arrive—we -had beaten the train!—my King looked at us both in the -small mirror on the wall of the little room, and, adjusting -his white rose in his frock-coat, said joyously, "It isn't -every woman who makes so good a marriage as you are -making, Queenie, is it? and to such a handsome fellow, -too!" blowing kisses to me in the glass. Then the two -maids arrived, and the little ceremony that was to legalize -our union of many years was quickly over. -</p> - -<p> -On the return drive my husband pulled up the hood -of the phaeton, and, to my questioning look—for it was -a hot morning—he answered solemnly, "It's the right -thing to do." As we drove off, bowing and laughing -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P315"></a>315}</span> -our thanks to Mr. Cripps and the others for their kind -and enthusiastic felicitations, he said, "How could I kiss -you good wishes for our married life unless we were hooded -up like this!" -</p> - -<p> -Just as we drove out of Steyning we passed the -newspaper men arriving at a gallop, and we peered out -doubtfully at them, fearing they would turn and come -back after us. But I let Dictator have his head, and, -though they pulled up, they knew that pursuit was -hopeless. My husband looked back round the hood of the -phaeton, and the groom called out delightedly, "They've -give up, and gone on to Mr. Cripps, sir." -</p> - -<p> -On our return to Walsingham Terrace we had to run -the gauntlet between waiting Pressmen up the steps to -the house, but at my husband's imperious "Stand back; -let Mrs. Parnell pass! Presently, presently; I'll see you -presently!" they fell back, and we hid ourselves in the -house and sat down to our dainty little wedding breakfast. -Parnell would not allow me to have a wedding cake, -because he said he would not be able to bear seeing me eat -our wedding cake without him, and, as I knew, the very -sight of a rich cake made him ill. -</p> - -<p> -Meanwhile the reporters had taken a firm stand at -the front door, and were worrying the servants to exasperation. -One, a lady reporter for an American newspaper, -being more enterprising than the rest, got into the house -adjoining ours, which I also rented at that time, and came -through the door of communication on the balcony into -my bedroom. Here she was found by Phyllis, and as -my furious little maid was too small to turn the American -lady out, she slipped out of the door and locked it, to -prevent further intrusion. -</p> - -<p> -Then she came down to us in the dining-room, found -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P316"></a>316}</span> -on the way that the cook had basely given in to bribery, -having "Just let one of the poor gentlemen stand in the -hall," and gave up the battle in despair—saying, "Will -Mrs. O'Shea see him, Mr. —— wants to know?" -</p> - -<p> -"Phyllis!" exclaimed my husband in a horrified voice, -"what do you mean? <i>Who</i> is Mrs. O'Shea?" -</p> - -<p> -Poor Phyllis gave one gasp at me and fled in confusion. -</p> - -<p> -Then my King saw some of the newspaper people, and -eased their minds of their duty to their respective papers. -The lady from America he utterly refused to see, as she -had forced herself into my room, but, undaunted, she left -vowing that she would cable a better "interview" than any -of them to her paper. They were kind enough to send it -to me in due course, and I must admit that even if not -exactly accurate, it was distinctly "bright." It was an -illustrated "interview," and Parnell and I appeared seated -together on a stout little sofa, he clad in a fur coat, and -I in a dangerously <i>décolleté</i> garment, diaphanous in the -extreme, and apparently attached to me by large diamonds. -My sedate Phyllis had become a stage "grisette" of most -frivolous demeanour, and my poor bedroom—in fact, the -most solid and ugly emanation of Early Victorian virtue -I have ever had bequeathed to me—appeared to an -interested American State as the "very utmost" in fluffy -viciousness that could be evolved in the united capitals -of the demi-mondaine. -</p> - -<p> -I showed this "interview" to my husband, though -rather doubtful if he would be amused by it; but he only -said, staring sadly at it, "I don't think that American -lady can be a very nice person." -</p> - -<p> -After he had sent the reporters off my King settled into -his old coat again, and subsided into his easy chair, -smoking and quietly watching me. I told him he must -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P317"></a>317}</span> -give up that close scrutiny of me, and that I did not stare -at him till he grew shy. -</p> - -<p> -"Why not?" he said. "A cat may look at a king, -and surely a man may look at his wife!" -</p> - -<p> -But I refused to stay indoors talking nonsense on so -lovely a day, and we wandered out together along the -fields to Aldrington. Along there is a place where they -make bricks. We stood to watch the men at work, and -Parnell talked to them till they went off to dinner. Parnell -watched them away till they were out of sight, and then -said, "Come on, Queenie, we'll make some bricks, too. -I've learnt all about it in watching them!" So we very -carefully made two bricks between us, and put them with -the others in the kiln to burn. I suggested marking our -two bricks, so that we might know them when we returned, -but when we looked in the kiln some hours later they all -appeared alike. -</p> - -<p> -Then we got down to the sea and sat down to watch it -and rest. Far beyond the basin at Aldrington, near the -mouth of Shoreham Harbour, we had the shore to ourselves -and talked of the future, when Ireland had settled -down, and my King—king, indeed, in forcing reason upon -that unreasonable land and wresting the justice of Home -Rule from England—could abdicate; when we could go -to find a better climate, so that his health might become all -I wished. We talked of the summer visits we would make -to Avondale, and of the glorious days when he need never -go away from me. Of the time when his hobbies could be -pursued to the end, instead of broken off for political work. -And we talked of Ireland, for Parnell loved her, and what -he loved I would not hate or thrust out from his thoughts, -even on this day that God had made. -</p> - -<p> -Yet, as we sat together, silent now, even though we -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P318"></a>318}</span> -spoke together still with the happiness that has no words, -a storm came over the sea. It had been very hot all day -and a thunderstorm was inevitable; but, as we sheltered -under the breakwater, I wished that this one day might -have been without a storm. -</p> - -<p> -Reading my thoughts, he said: "The storms and -thunderings will never hurt us now, Queenie, my wife, -for there is nothing in the wide world that can be greater -than our love; there is nothing in all the world but you -and I." And I was comforted because I did not remember -death. -</p> - -<p> -The news of our marriage was in all the evening papers, -and already that night began the bombardment of telegrams -and letters of congratulation and otherwise! The -first telegram was to me, "Mrs. Parnell," and we opened -it together with much interest and read its kind message -from "Six Irish Girls" with great pleasure. The others, -the number of which ran into many hundreds, varied from -the heartiest congratulation to the foulest abuse, and were -equally of no moment to my husband, as he made no -attempt to open anything in the ever-growing heap of -correspondence that, for weeks I kept on a large tray in -my sitting-room, and which, by making a determined -effort daily, I kept within bounds. -</p> - -<p> -"Why do you have to open them all?" he asked me, -looking at the heap with the indolent disgust that always -characterized him at the sight of many letters. -</p> - -<p> -"Well, I like reading the nice ones, and I can't tell -which they are till they're opened," I explained. "Now -here is one that looks the very epitome of all that is good -and land outside-thick, good paper, beautiful -handwriting—and yet the inside is unprintable!" -</p> - -<p> -Parnell held out his hand for it, but I would not give -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P319"></a>319}</span> -anything so dirty into his hand, and tore it across for the -wastepaper basket, giving him instead a dear little letter -from a peasant woman in Ireland, who invoked more -blessings upon our heads than Heaven could well spare us. -</p> - -<p> -Little more than three months afterwards the telegrams -and letters again poured into the house. This time they -were messages of condolence, and otherwise. And again -their message fell upon unheeding ears, for the still, cold -form lying in the proud tranquillity of death had taken -with him all my sorrow and my joy; and as in that perfect -happiness I had known no bitterness, for he was there, -now again these words of venom, speaking gladness -because he was dead, held no sting for me, for he was gone, -and with him took my heart. -</p> - -<p> -The very many letters of true sympathy which reached -me after my husband's death were put away in boxes, and -kept for me till I was well enough for my daughter to read -them to me. Among these were many from clergymen of -all denominations and of all ranks in the great army of -God. As I lay with closed eyes listening to the message -of these hearts I did not know I seemed to be back in the -little church at Cressing, and to hear my father's voice -through the mists of remembrance, saying: "And now -abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest -of these is <i>Charity</i>." ... -</p> - -<p> -Among our many wedding presents was a charming -little alabaster clock from my husband's sister, Emily -Dickinson. It was a ship's "wheel," and we were very -gay over its coming, disputing as to which of us should -henceforth be the "man at the wheel." Parnell's mother -also was very sweet and kind to me, sending me several -much prized letters. Other members of my husband's -family also wrote very kindly to me, and I can still see -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P320"></a>320}</span> -his tender smile at me as he saw my appreciation of his -family's attitude. -</p> - -<p> -The presents we liked best, after Mrs. Dickinson's -clock, were the little humble offerings of little value and -much love sent by working men and women, by our servants, -and by others of far countries and near. Parcels -arrived from the four quarters of the globe, and many -were beyond recognition on arrival, but the fragments -were grateful to me as bearing a message of true homage -to my King. -</p> - -<p> -Of other feeling there was little among these wedding -gifts, though one evening my eldest daughter who was -with me, remarked casually to me that she had confiscated -a newly arrived "registered" parcel addressed to me. -"Oh, but you must not," I exclaimed, "I want them all!" But -she answered gloomily that this parcel had contained -a mouse, and "not at all the kind of mouse that anyone -could have wanted for days past." So I subsided without -further interrogation. -</p> - -<p> -Once when Parnell and I were staying at Bournemouth -we became very fond of some old engravings hanging -in our hotel sitting-room, illustrating "The Dowie -Dens of Yarrow," and now, through these fighting months -in Ireland, we used this old ballad as a medium for private -telegrams, as we could not be sure they would not fall -into other hands. The idea took root when he first left -me to attend what I feared would be a hostile meeting in -Ireland. He had wired the political result to me, but had -not said how he was feeling. I telegraphed to him: "O -gentle wind that bloweth south," and promptly came the -reply to me: "He fareth well." -</p> - -<p> -All through these fighting months in Ireland he -telegraphed to me always in the morning and also in the -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P321"></a>321}</span> -evening of every day he was away from me, and whenever -he could snatch a moment he wrote to me. He was in -no way unhappy in this last fight, and had only the -insidious "tiredness" that grew upon him with such deadly -foreshadowing of the end we would not see given him -a little respite, he could, he said, have enjoyed the stress -and storm of battle. To bend these rebels in Ireland to his -will became but a secondary driving force to that of gaining -for Ireland the self-government to which he had pledged -himself for her, and I think it gave that zest and joy in -hardness to the battle that all the great fighters of the -world seem to have experienced. -</p> - -<p> -I am not giving all his letters of this time; just a few -of the little messages of my husband's love in these last -days I must keep for my own heart to live upon; but the -two or three that I give are sufficient to show the high, -quiet spirit of the man who was said to be "at bay." Letters, -I think, rather of a king, serene in his belief in -the ultimate sanity of his people and of the justice of his -cause. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - BALLINA,<br /> - <i>March</i> 24, 1891.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The reception here yesterday was magnificent, and the whole -country for twenty-five miles from here to the town of Sligo -is solid for us, and will vote 90 out of 100 for us, the priests -being in our favour with one exception, and the seceders being -unable to hold a meeting anywhere. I am to keep in this -friendly district, and to hold meetings there, and shall not go -outside of it. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The town of Sligo, and the district from there to Cliffony, -is hostile, the priests being against us, and I shall not go into -it, but we have a good friendly minority even in this district, -whom our agents will canvass privately. You will see the -situation on the map. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Wire me to Ballina, every day, which will be my -headquarters; also write particulars if any news. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P322"></a>322}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> - BIG ROCK QUARRIES, ARKLOW, Co. WICKLOW,<br /> - <i>August</i> 15, 1891.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN WIFIE,—Your telegram only received this evening, -in consequence of my being at the mine. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I think you might fix the end of the year as the time you -and I would guarantee the payment of the costs.[<a id="chap30fn1text"></a><a href="#chap30fn1">1</a>] If Wontner -accepts this or any modification of it which would give me, -say, three months to pay, telegraph Pym as follows: "No." If -he declines to accept, or you cannot come to any definite -arrangement with Wontner by Tuesday at midday, telegraph -Pym "Yes." I have written Pym advising him accordingly -about the appeal, and sending the lodgment money, but it -would be better if possible that you should telegraph Pym -on Monday afternoon. I trust to be able to cross on Tuesday -morning or evening at latest. It is very fine here, but I have -had no shooting, and do not expect any, as I have to be in -Dublin all day Monday arranging about new paper.—-With -best love, YOUR OWN HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -You should ask Wontner to telegraph you definitely as early -as possible on Monday. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>September</i> 1, 1891.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN WIFIE,—I have received Magurri's letter safely, -and hope to be able to leave here on Wednesday (to-morrow) -evening, sleeping at Holyhead, and visiting the place in Wales[<a id="chap30fn2text"></a><a href="#chap30fn2">2</a>] -next morning on my way back to London. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MacDermott says he does not think I can get the loan from -Hibernian Bank concluded within a fortnight, but will hasten -matters as much as possible. The bank and their solicitors -approve the security and proposal generally, but it will take a -little time to make the searches and go through other formalities -which lawyers always insist upon in such cases. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -By to-morrow I expect to have done as much as I possibly -can for the present in the matter of the new paper. It has -been a very troublesome business, as a dispute has arisen -between different sections of my own friends as to who shall -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P323"></a>323}</span> -have the largest share in the management of the new organ. -This dispute somewhat impedes progress and increases the -difficulties. However, the matter is not so pressing, as the -<i>Freeman</i> question is again postponed for another fortnight. -I expect to make a satisfactory arrangement about my <i>Freeman</i> -shares, under which I shall lose nothing by them. Kerr -is making progress in getting up a small company to buy a -steamer, and I think he may succeed. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I have been very much bored, as I am obliged to remain -in the hotel all day every day, waiting to see people who may -call about the different undertakings. I wonder whether you -have been driving at all, and how the eyes are, and how you -have been doing. You have not written to tell me.—With -much love, -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN LITTLE WIFIE'S HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - MORRISON'S HOTEL, DUBLIN,<br /> - <i>Monday, September</i> 7, 1801<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -MY OWN WIFIE,—I have told Kerr that he cannot have any -of the first thousand, so he is going to manage without it for -the present, so you may reckon on that amount -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The bank was to have given me that sum to-day, but a -hitch occurred on Saturday which I removed to-day, and the -board will meet to-morrow and ratify the advance. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -YOUR OWN HUSBAND. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -In great haste. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -The trouble about the jealousies of would-be directors on -the new board still continues, and have postponed selection -till next week—crossing to-morrow night. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -On my husband's return home from Ireland in -September, after having established the <i>Irish Daily -Independent</i>, he was looking so worn out and ill that -I was thoroughly alarmed about his health. He was very -cheerful and happy while he was at home, and I had much -difficulty in keeping him quietly lying down to rest on -the sofa. But, though he protested while following my -wishes, I saw as I sat watching him while he slept that -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P324"></a>324}</span> -the tired, grey shadows were growing deeper upon his -beautiful face, and that in sleep he had that absolute -stillness which one only finds in very healthy children or in -the absolutely exhausted sleep of adults. -</p> - -<p> -I tried to induce him to see Sir Henry Thompson in -town, but he would not consent—saying that he could -not waste a moment of his little time at home, and that, -though he did feel tired, that was all. -</p> - -<p> -"I am not ill," he said, "only a little tired. Queenie, -my wife, you do not really think I am ill, do you?" -</p> - -<p> -Knowing the one weakness of his brave heart, his -anger and terror at the idea of illness and of the far-off -death that might divide us, I answered only that I thought -he was too tired, that nothing, not even Ireland, was worth -it, and I besought him now at last to give it all up, and -to hide away with me till a long rest, away from the -turmoil and contention, had saved him from the tiredness -that would, I feared, become real illness if he went on. -</p> - -<p> -He lay watching me as I spoke, and, after a long pause, -he answered, "I am in your hands, Queenie, and you -shall do with me what you will; but you promised." -</p> - -<p> -"You mean I promised that I would never make you -less than——-" -</p> - -<p> -"Less than your King," he interrupted, "and if I -give in now I shall be less than that. I would rather die -than give in now—give in to the howling of the English -mob. But if you say it I will do it, and you will never -hear of it again from me, my love, my own wife." And -as I gazed down into the deep, smouldering eyes, where the -little flames always leapt out to meet mine, I knew I could -not say it, I knew that in the depths of those eyes was more -than even my love could fathom, that in the martyrdom of -our love was to be our reparation. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P325"></a>325}</span> -</p> - -<p> -I sent him off bright and happy to the last meeting -at Creggs. As he drove off to the station and Dictator -rounded the corner of the house, he turned, as usual, to -wave to me, and raised the white rose in his buttonhole -to his lips with an answering smile. -</p> - -<p> -He sent me a telegram from London as he was starting -from Euston Station, one from Holyhead, and another -from Dublin. For the Creggs meeting he stayed with -Mr. and Mrs. Mahoney, and his telegram from their -house was cheerful, though he said he was not feeling -very well. -</p> - -<p> -In the few lines I had from him here I knew he was in -much pain again from the rheumatism in his left arm. He -always told me exactly how he was feeling, as he knew -that unless he did this I would have suffered untold misery -from apprehension while he was away. From Creggs he -telegraphed that he was about to speak, and it was "terrible -weather." I thought with satisfaction that I had put a -special change into a bag for him, and he had promised -not to be parted from it, so I knew he would find means -of changing his things directly after the meeting. His -"good night" telegram did not reassure me; he was in -bad pain from the rheumatism, but hoped to get it out -with a Turkish bath on the way home. -</p> - -<p> -He stayed in Dublin to see about the new paper which -though "going" well, was a perpetual trouble to him -owing to the petty jealousies of the staff. He crossed -over from Ireland feeling very ill, with violent pains all -over him; he was implored to go to bed, and remain there -for a few days till he felt better, before starting for -England; but he only replied: "No, I want to get home; -I must go home!" -</p> - -<p> -He telegraphed to me from Holyhead as usual, and -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P326"></a>326}</span> -directly he got to London, and before coming on to -Brighton he had a Turkish bath in London. -</p> - -<p> -He seemed to me very weak when he got out of the -buggy. I had sent a closed fly to meet him, as well as -the buggy, but as a forlorn hope, for he would always be -met by Dictator in the buggy at the station -</p> - -<p> -I helped him into the house, and he sank into his own -chair before the blazing fire I had made, in spite of the -warm weather, and said: "Oh, my Wifie, it is good to be -back. You may keep me a bit now!" -</p> - -<p> -I was rather worried that he should have travelled -immediately after a Turkish bath, but he said it had done -him much good. I did not worry him then, but after he -had eaten a fairly good dinner I told him that I wanted -him to have Sir Henry Thompson down the next day. -He laughed at the idea, but I was very much in -earnest, and he said he would see how he felt in the -morning. -</p> - -<p> -He told me that he had had to have his arm in a sling -all the time he was away, but that he thought he had -become so much worse because the change of clothes I had -packed separately in a small bag (which he had promised -not to be parted from) in case he had to speak in the rain, -had been taken home in error by his host, and he had had -to sit in his wet things for some hours. -</p> - -<p> -I was much vexed when I heard this, for I always -made such a point of his not keeping on damp things, -and provided against it so carefully when starting him off. -</p> - -<p> -He said: "It is no matter, really, I think, and I won't -go away again till I'm really well this time. They were -all so kind to me, but I was feeling so ill that I had to -point out that breakfast was made for me, not I for -breakfast, when I was expected to come down quickly for it. -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P327"></a>327}</span> -I do hate being away from home, especially when I feel -ill." -</p> - -<p> -After dinner that night he sat before the fire trying -to smoke a cigar, but he did not care for it as usual, -and presently threw it away half smoked. He wanted to -"feel" I was there, he said, so I sat by his feet on the -rug, and leant my head against his knee while he stroked -my hair. I stopped his hand because I feared the pain -might come on again, and held it while he smiled assent -to my suggestion that he should try to sleep a little. -Grouse and Pincher, our setter and terrier, had to come -close by us, and, as they settled by his feet, he said: -"This is really a beautiful rest." -</p> - -<p> -He dozed now and then, and I could see how wan and -exhausted the still, clear-cut face was, and I vowed to -myself that he should not again leave my care until his -health was completely re-established. -</p> - -<p> -Presently he asked for his stick and wanted to go into -the other room for a while, but he could not walk without -my assistance, his legs were too weak to support him. -I was terribly worried now, but did not let him see it, -and only said: "Now you are up you must let me help -you to bed, so that you can get all the rest you need—and -you are not going to leave home again till you take -me for a real honeymoon in a country where the sun is -strong enough to get the cold out of your bones. We -will get out of England this winter." And he answered: -"So we will, Wifie, directly I get that mortgage through." -</p> - -<p> -Then, as we made our painful way up the stairs—for -the last time—he laughed at the Irish setter, who was -trying to help him lift the stick he used, and said: "Grouse -thinks we are doing this for his own special benefit." I -undressed him, and got him into bed, and he said: "Come -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P328"></a>328}</span> -and lie down as quickly as you can, Wifie," but I rubbed -him with the firwood oil, and packed his arm in the wool -he so much believed in, before I lay down. -</p> - -<p> -He dozed off, but woke shortly, and could not sleep -again. He asked me if I thought the champagne -Dr. Kenny had made him take in Dublin had made him worse, -but I reassured him, for he had been so exhausted he had -required something, and no doubt Dr. Kenny had known -that it would do him good, although in a general way -it was bad for him. -</p> - -<p> -During the night I made him promise he would see a -doctor in the morning. Presently he said: "I would -rather write to Thompson, as he understands me." I -said I would telegraph to him to come down, but this -excited my husband, who said, "No, the fee would be -enormous at this distance." I pointed out that his health -was more precious than the quarries and saw-mills at -Arklow, on which he was just proposing to spend some -hundreds of pounds, but he put me off with, "We'll make -it all right in the morning, Wifie." -</p> - -<p> -Finding he still did not sleep, I gently massaged his -shoulders and arms with oil, and wrapped him in wool -again. -</p> - -<p> -He talked a good deal, chiefly of the Irish peasantry, -of their privations and sufferings, the deadly poverty and -the prevalence of the very pain (rheumatism) from which -he was suffering, in their case aggravated by the damp, -insanitary cabins in which they lived. And he murmured -under his breath: "There are no means at hand for -calculating the people who suffered in silence during those -awful years of famine." That was what J. H. Mohonagy -said of the famine, from '79 to '80. And he went on: -"I wish I could do something for them—the Irish -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P329"></a>329}</span> -peasantry—they are worth helping. I have always wished -it, but there is so much between—and they 'suffer in -silence,' Wifie." -</p> - -<p> -In the morning he felt better, and was much happier -about himself. He absolutely refused to let me send for -Sir Henry Thompson, and, sitting up in bed after a good -breakfast, smoked a cigar while he wrote notes for a -speech. During his last absence I had bought a large -engraving of Lord Leighton's picture "Wedded," and, -seeing this hanging in the room, he made me bring it -and put it up at the foot of the bed for him to see. He -was very much amused at the muscular young couple in -the picture, and waving his cigar at it said: "We are a -fine pair, Wifie; hang us up where I can look at us." -</p> - -<p> -I had ready for him to sign an agreement to rent a -house near Merstham, Surrey, that we had arranged to -take so that he could get to London more quickly, and -have a change from the sea. It was a pretty little country -house, and he had taken great interest in it. I would not -let him sign it now, or do any business, but he made me -read the agreement over to him, and said that part of our -real "honeymoon" should be spent there. He later -insisted upon writing to his solicitor (his brother-in-law, -Mr. MacDermott) about a mortgage he was raising on his -estate, as he wished to have the matter completed quickly. -(It was not completed, owing to his death.) -</p> - -<p> -On Sunday he was not so well, but insisted that what -he had written to Sir Henry Thompson was enough, as -he would answer at once. My persistence seemed to fret -him so much that I desisted, and told him that I had sent -for a local doctor, as I could not bear to be without advice -about the pain. -</p> - -<p> -He was a good patient in one way, scrupulously -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P330"></a>330}</span> -following his doctor's directions, but in another a very difficult -patient, as he was so very easily depressed about himself, -all the fatalism that was natural to him tending to -overcome his immense desire for health. A short talk with -the doctor who saw him seemed to inspire him with -confidence, and he said he felt better. -</p> - -<p> -That night (Sunday) he did not sleep, and this worried -him a great deal, as he had a superstition that if he did -not sleep for two consecutive nights he would die. I tried -at first to reason him out of this idea, but he said he had -always "felt" this, and had never before failed to sleep. -I besought him to let me telegraph for Sir Henry Thompson -now, but he would not allow it, and became so feverish -at the idea that I did not press the point, though I -determined to consult the doctor in attendance about this in -the morning. Towards morning he became very feverish, -and it was difficult to keep his skin in the perspiration -that he desired. -</p> - -<p> -That morning Sir Henry Thompson telegraphed -recommending me to call in Dr. Willoughby Furner, but as -Dr. Jowers was already in attendance, and my husband -liked him, there was no reason to change. That day he -was in much pain, afraid to move a finger because of it. -He heard from Sir Henry Thompson and, after I read the -letter to him, he said: "You see, sweetheart, I was right; -Thompson says just what Jowers does; there's no need to -have him down." -</p> - -<p> -After my husband's death I received the following -letters from Sir Henry Thompson:— -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - 35 WIMPOLE STREET, W.,<br /> - <i>October</i> 7, 1891.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -DEAR MRS. PARNELL,—I am indeed shocked and distressed -by the news which the afternoon journals announce here to-day. -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P331"></a>331}</span> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -So little did I think when I received the letter written by -my old esteemed patient, dated October 3, that his end was -so near. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -With the feelings which this shock have aroused I cannot -do otherwise than ask permission to express my sincere -sympathy and condolence in the terrible and, I imagine, even to -you who must have known more of his health than anyone -else, this sudden affliction. The more so as I think you -accompanied him once, if not more than once, in his visits to me in -Wimpole Street. Of such expression of feeling towards you -in this great trial you will at least find multitudes ready to -join, and may find some slight consolation in the knowledge -that sympathy with you will be widely felt both here and in -America. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Under present circumstances I cannot expect or wish to -trouble you to communicate with me. But I should be deeply -interested in knowing (for my private interest in him and in -what befell him) what followed the communication I made -to you, whether you had attendance (professional) on the spot -before my letter arrived, and what was said, or supposed, to -have been the cause of the fatal result, or any details which -some friend could send me. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -With renewed assurance of my deep sympathy,—Believe -me, yours truly, HENRY THOMPSON. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I think I must have received one of his very last letters, -if not his last. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="letter"> - 35 WIMPOLE STREET, W.,<br /> - <i>Saturday afternoon, October</i> 10, 1891.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -DEAR MRS. PARNELL,—I am very glad you have written -me, if the doing so, or if the reply I may be able to send you, -can in any way help to mitigate any one of the numerous and -infinitely painful circumstances, or their influence, rather, on -your mind just now. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Such inquiries as those which suggest themselves to you -are so natural that it is impossible to repress them. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -One never knows exactly what might have happened in -any incident of life had some other course been taken. But -whatever course may be supposed, it is useless to pursue it, -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P332"></a>332}</span> -since only one can ever be taken in this life, namely, that one -which is chosen by the individual in every case. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -In reference to that asked by you, I feel very strongly that -the sad catastrophe was by no means the outcome of any one -act—or omission to act—and is far more truly indicated in -that passage in yours which describes him as saying to -Dr. Jowers, "had he only been able to follow my advice during -the last few months," etc. There is the gist of the matter! I -doubt whether anything would have saved him when passing -through London. A blow had been struck—not so -heavy—apparently a light one; but his worn-out constitution, of -late fearfully overtaxed by a spirit too strong for its bodily -tenement, had no power to resist, and gave way, wholly -unable to make any fight for itself against the enemy. Hence -what would in a fairly robust state of health have been only -a temporary conflict with a mild attack of inflammation, -developed into a severe form, overwhelming the vital force -with great rapidity and rendering all medical aid powerless. -I don't believe that any medicine, any treatment, could have -enabled his weakened condition to resist successfully. He -wanted no medicine to combat the complaint. He wanted -physical force, increased vitality to keep the attack at bay. I -have nothing to say of the prescription, except that it appears -to me quite appropriate under the circumstances and these -I have learnt from the public Press. Dr. Jowers is an -experienced and most capable man, and I think you may rest assured -that he could scarcely have been in safer hands. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -If I were to regret anything it would be that he had not -found a spare half-hour to come and see me <i>some time ago</i>. -Let me see then how his strength was and whether he could -not be fortified a little for the wearing life he was leading. -But then these are acts of prudence and foresight which very -few ardent men of action ever find time to take. Nevertheless, -it is then that advice is really efficient. It is in nine times -out of ten sought too late; when it is indeed a matter of little -consequence what prescription is written, or, indeed, who has -written it, provided only that it does no mischief. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -I should very much have liked to see him again at any -time. After the first visit I always knew my patient, and -felt much interested in him, although I never showed any -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P333"></a>333}</span> -reference to the fact, preferring to follow his own lead in reference -to name, a matter he refers to in the letter of the 3rd inst. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -By the way, you know, of course, I received that letter only -on Monday morning, and lost not an instant in replying, -telegraphing that I was doing so. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -You ask me to return it—"<i>his last letter</i>"—as I suspected. -I cannot tell you how I was valuing it, and that I intended to -place it among my most treasured souvenirs, of which I have -many. But I cannot refuse it to his suffering and heart-broken -widow, if she desires me to return it, and will do so. -It consists only of a few professional words, a patient to his -doctor—nothing more, and it is addressed by yourself—as I -believe. It is not here—I am writing at the club; but if you -still ask me I cannot hesitate an instant, and will send it to you. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -Come and see me any time you are able, by and by. I -will answer any inquiries you may wish to make. I am at -home (only let me know a day beforehand, if you can) every -morning from 9.30 to 12—not after, except by quite special -arrangement. -</p> - -<p class="letter"> -With sincere sympathy, believe me, dear Mrs. Parnell, -yours truly, HENRY THOMPSON. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -My husband was in great pain on the Monday, and -seemed to feel a sudden horror that he was being held -down by some strong unseen power, and asked my -help—thank God, always my help—to fight against it. He -tried to get out of bed, although he was too weak to stand, -and I had to gently force him back, and cover him up, -telling him how dangerous a chill would be. He said: -"Hold me tight, then, yourself, till I can fight those -others." Then he seemed to doze for a few minutes, and -when he opened his eyes again it was to ask me to lie -down beside him and put my hand in his, so that he could -"feel" I was there. I did so, and he lay still, quite happy -again, and spoke of the "sunny land" where we would -go as soon as he was better. "We will be so happy, -Queenie; there are so many things happier than politics." -</p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P334"></a>334}</span> -</p> - -<p> -He did not sleep that night, and the next morning -(Tuesday) he was very feverish, with a bright colour on -his usually white face. I wanted to send the dogs from -the room, because I feared they would disturb him, but -he opened his eyes and said: "Not Grouse; let old Grouse -stay, I like him there." -</p> - -<p> -His doctor said that for a day or two we could not -look for much improvement. After his medicine that -afternoon he lay quietly with his eyes closed, just smiling -if I touched him. The doctor came in again, but there -was no change, and he left promising to call early the next -morning. During the evening my husband seemed to -doze, and, listening intently, I heard him mutter "the -Conservative Party." -</p> - -<p> -Late in the evening he suddenly opened his eyes and -said: "Kiss me, sweet Wifie, and I will try to sleep a -little." I lay down by his side, and kissed the burning lips -he pressed to mine for the last time. The fire of them, -fierce beyond any I had ever felt, even in his most loving -moods, startled me, and as I slipped my hand from under -his head he gave a little sigh and became unconscious. -The doctor came at once, but no remedies prevailed against -this sudden failure of the heart's action, and my husband -died without regaining consciousness, before his last kiss -was cold on my lips. -</p> - -<p> -There is little more to add. All that last night I sat -by my husband watching and listening for the look and -the word he would never give me again. All that night -I whispered to him to speak to me, and I fancied that he -moved, and that the fools who said he was dead did not -really know. He had never failed to answer my every -look and word before. His face was so peaceful; so well, -all the tiredness had gone from it now. I would not open -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P335"></a>335}</span> -the door because I feared to disturb him—he had always -liked us to be alone. And the rain and the wind swept -about the house as though the whole world shared my -desolation. -</p> - -<p> -He did not make any "dying speech," or refer in any -way at the last to his "Colleagues and the Irish people," -as was at the time erroneously reported. I was too broken -then and too indifferent to what any sensation-lovers put -about to contradict this story, but, as I am now giving to -the world the absolutely true account of the Parnell whom -I knew and loved, I am able to state that he was incapable -of an affectation so complete. The last words Parnell -spoke were given to the wife who had never failed him, to -the love that was stronger than death—"Kiss me, sweet -Wifie, and I will try to sleep a little." -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap30fn1"></a> -[<a href="#chap30fn1text">1</a>] Of the Divorce Case. -</p> - -<p class="footnote"> -<a id="chap30fn2"></a> -[<a href="#chap30fn2text">2</a>] We had an idea of renting a house in Wales. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="index"></a></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P337"></a>337}</span> -</p> - -<h3> -INDEX -</h3> - -<pre class="index"> - "AGONY" column advertisements, <a href="#P35">35</a> - - Aldershot, a review at, <a href="#P7">7</a> - - Allen, Fenian leader, <a href="#P52">52</a> - - Arklow, quarries at, <a href="#P213">213</a> - - Arms Bill, the, introduction of, <a href="#P50">50</a> - - Arrears Bill, a promised, <a href="#P165">165</a> - becomes law, <a href="#P180">180</a> - introduction of, <a href="#P171">171</a> - - Astronomy, Parnell's study of, <a href="#P303">303</a> - - "Aunt Ben" (<i>see</i> Mrs. Benjamin Wood) - - Austin, Alfred, friendship with, <a href="#P37">37</a> - - Avondale, Parnell's estates at, <a href="#P51">51</a> - Parnell's love of, <a href="#P209">209</a> - - - BADER, DR., <a href="#P43">43</a>, <a href="#P68">68</a> - - Baily, L. R., <a href="#P189">189</a> (note) - - Balfour, Rt. Hon. A. J., <a href="#P194">194</a> - - Ballina, Parnell's reception at, <a href="#P321">321</a> - - Ballot Act, the, passing of, <a href="#P52">52</a> - - Barker, Edgar, <a href="#P35">35</a> - - Barlow, Captain, <a href="#P147">147</a> - - Barrett-Lennard, Lady, <a href="#P10">10</a>, <a href="#P14">14</a>, <a href="#P16">16</a>, <a href="#P19">19</a> - Sir Thomas, <a href="#P6">6</a>, <a href="#P14">14</a>, <a href="#P31">31</a> - - Beaufort Gardens, <a href="#P36">36</a> - - Belhus, visits to, <a href="#P6">6</a>, <a href="#P16">16</a> - - Bennington Park, Hertfordshire, <a href="#P24">24</a> - - Biggar, J. G., <a href="#P74">74</a> - obstructs Parliamentary business, <a href="#P53">53</a> - warrant for arrest of, <a href="#P118">118</a> - - Birling Gap, visits to, <a href="#P239">239</a> - - Bognor, visit to, <a href="#P247">247</a> - - Book-keeping, Parnell's studies in, <a href="#P100">100</a> - - Boulogne, Parnell meets O'Brien at, <a href="#P297">297</a> - - Bourke, Walter, murder of, <a href="#P179">179</a> - - Boycott, principle enunciated, <a href="#P74">74</a> - - Brennan, Thomas, <a href="#P119">119</a> - - Brighton, a day on the downs at, <a href="#P30">30</a> <i>et seq.</i> - life at, <a href="#P28">28</a> - - Brighton, Local Government Bill discussed at, <a href="#P223">223</a> - Mrs. O'Shea's house at, <a href="#P273">273</a> - railway station rebuilt, <a href="#P100">100</a> - visits to, <a href="#P229">229</a> - - Brompton Oratory, <a href="#P37">37</a> - - Bryson, Phyllis, <a href="#P313">313</a>, <a href="#P315">315</a>, <a href="#P316">316</a> - - Burke, Mr., murder of, <a href="#P168">168</a> - - Butt, Isaac, <a href="#P50">50</a>, <a href="#P53">53</a> - - Butt, Mr. Justice, <a href="#P300">300</a> - - Buxton, Mrs. Sydney, <a href="#P265">265</a> - - - CALASHER, MR., <a href="#P35">35</a> - - Campbell, Mr. Parnell's secretary, <a href="#P246">246</a> - - Campbell-Bannerman, Sir Henry, accepts Irish Secretaryship, <a href="#P182">182</a> - enters the Cabinet, <a href="#P197">197</a> - - Canada, Parnell's reception in, <a href="#P54">54</a> - - Carlingford, Lord, opposes Home Rule, <a href="#P197">197</a> - - Carnarvon, Lord, becomes Lord Lieutenant, <a href="#P186">186</a> - meets Parnell, <a href="#P187">187</a> - resignation of, <a href="#P193">193</a>, <a href="#P196">196</a> - - Carr, Dr., Bishop of Galway, <a href="#P291">291</a> - - Cavendish, Lord Frederick, becomes Chief Secretary, <a href="#P166">166</a> - murder of, <a href="#P168">168</a> - - Chamberlain, Joseph, <a href="#P158">158</a>, <a href="#P184">184</a> - and Healy's speech, <a href="#P291">291</a> - and the Chief Secretaryship, <a href="#P166">166</a> - opposes coercion, <a href="#P185">185</a> - proposes National Board for Ireland, <a href="#P185">185</a>, <a href="#P197">197</a> (note) - resignation of, <a href="#P197">197</a> - - Childers, Mr., supports Home Rule, <a href="#P197">197</a> - - Churchill, Lord Randolph, <a href="#P184">184</a> - - Clare, Capt. O'Shea returned for, <a href="#P56">56</a> - - Clive, Colonel, <a href="#P13">13</a> - - Coercion Bill, the, introduced, <a href="#P91">91</a> - memorandum on, from Parnell to Gladstone, <a href="#P178">178</a> - - Collings, Jesse, <a href="#P196">196</a> - - Colthurst, Col., <a href="#P58">58</a> - - Committee Room Fifteen, momentous meeting in, <a href="#P286">286</a> - - Compensation for Disturbances Bill, <a href="#P73">73</a> - - Congleton, Lord, <a href="#P51">51</a> - - Constable and Mrs. Wood, <a href="#P2">2</a> - - Corbett, Mr., <a href="#P234">234</a> - - Cork, banquet at, in honour of Parnell, <a href="#P221">221</a> - - Cowper, Lord, resignation of, <a href="#P164">164</a> - - Creggs, Parnell goes to his last meeting at, <a href="#P325">325</a> - - Crimes Bill, becomes law, <a href="#P180">180</a> - introduced by Sir W. Harcourt, <a href="#P171">171</a> - negotiations on, <a href="#P199">199</a> - second reading of, <a href="#P174">174</a> - - Cripps, Edward, <a href="#P312">312</a>, <a href="#P314">314</a> - - - DALLAS, MR., <a href="#P18">18</a> - - Dasent, Sir George, <a href="#P18">18</a> - - Davitt, Michael, <a href="#P53">53</a>, <a href="#P54">54</a>, <a href="#P119">119</a> - quarrels with Parnell, <a href="#P210">210</a> - release of, <a href="#P168">168</a> - - Derby, Lord, opposes Home Rule, <a href="#P197">197</a> - - Devoy, John, <a href="#P53">53</a>, <a href="#P54">54</a> - - Dickinson, Emily, <a href="#P261">261</a> (note), <a href="#P319">319</a> - - "Dictator," horse named, <a href="#P207">207</a>, <a href="#P232">232</a>, <a href="#P313">313</a>, <a href="#P314">314</a> - - Dilke, Sir Charles, <a href="#P166">166</a> - defeated at General Election, <a href="#P197">197</a> - opposes coercion, <a href="#P185">185</a> - - Dillon, John, arrest of, <a href="#P118">118</a> - quarrels with Parnell, <a href="#P210">210</a> - sails for New York, <a href="#P54">54</a> - - "Disturbances Bill," debate on, <a href="#P78">78</a> <i>et seq.</i> - - Dublin, freedom of, presented to Parnell, <a href="#P210">210</a> - Land League Convention at, <a href="#P109">109</a> - Parnell defeated in, <a href="#P52">52</a> - Parnell's meeting at, <a href="#P293">293</a> - - Duffy, Sir Charles Gavan, <a href="#P187">187</a> - - Dyke, Sir W. Hart, resigns, <a href="#P196">196</a> - - - EASTBOURNE, holiday at, <a href="#P238">238</a> <i>et seq.</i> - - Edinburgh, freedom of, presented to Parnell, <a href="#P269">269</a> - - Egan, Patrick, <a href="#P119">119</a> - - Eighty Club, ovation for Parnell at <a href="#P267">267</a> - Parnell's speech at, <a href="#P244">244</a> - - Eltham, a snowy Christmas at, <a href="#P223">223</a>, <a href="#P224">224</a> - fifth of November celebrations at, <a href="#P75">75</a> - life at, <a href="#P30">30</a>, <a href="#P43">43</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#P68">68</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#P223">223</a>, <a href="#P228">228</a> - new room built at, <a href="#P230">230</a> - Parnell at, <a href="#P69">69</a>, <a href="#P79">79</a>, <a href="#P83">83</a>, <a href="#P223">223</a>, <a href="#P228">228</a> - - Errington, Mr., <a href="#P181">181</a> - - Eversley, Lord (<i>see</i> Lefevre, Shaw) - - Evictions in Ireland, <a href="#P81">81</a> - Gladstone on, <a href="#P171">171</a> - - Explosives Bill, introduction of, <a href="#P181">181</a> - - - FARWELL, GEORGE (Lord Justice), <a href="#P9">9</a> - - Fenian movement, the, <a href="#P52">52</a> - - Finden, the brothers, <a href="#P2">2</a> - - Fitzgerald, Sir Seymour, <a href="#P19">19</a> - - Ford, Patrick, starts dynamite crusade against England, <a href="#P181">181</a> - - Forster, W. E., and the Land League, <a href="#P74">74</a> - attacks Parnell, <a href="#P219">219</a> - becomes "disagreeable," <a href="#P124">124</a> - Coercion Bill of, <a href="#P91">91</a> - denounces the Cabinet, <a href="#P165">165</a> - introduces "Disturbances Bill," <a href="#P78">78</a> - resignation of, <a href="#P164">164</a> - suggests Parnell's arrest, <a href="#P110">110</a> - - Franchise Bill, <a href="#P184">184</a> - - <i>Freeman's Journal</i>, announcement as to Parnell's intentions in, <a href="#P288">288</a> - letter from Timothy Harrington to, <a href="#P291">291</a> - - - GAFFNEY, SUSAN, and "first aid," <a href="#P210">210</a> - - Galway, Bishop of, <a href="#P291">291</a> - O'Shea returned for, <a href="#P291">291</a> - - Geston, Thomas, <a href="#P119">119</a> - - Gill, Mr., <a href="#P270">270</a> (note) - - Gimson, Dr., <a href="#P26">26</a> - - Gladstone Herbert (Lord), <a href="#P187">187</a>, <a href="#P194">194</a> - - Gladstone, Rt. Hon. W. E., <a href="#P158">158</a> - a tribute to Parnell, <a href="#P93">93</a> - a yachting expedition, <a href="#P188">188</a> - action after divorce case, <a href="#P286">286</a> - an elusive speech of, <a href="#P189">189</a> - and Capt. O'Shea, <a href="#P68">68</a> - and evictions, <a href="#P171">171</a> - and Parnell's Home Rule draft, <a href="#P187">187</a> - and the Coercion Bill, <a href="#P91">91</a> - announces arrest of Parnell, <a href="#P117">117</a> - approaches Tory Party on Home Rule, <a href="#P194">194</a> - forms a Ministry, <a href="#P50">50</a>, <a href="#P54">54</a> - interviews Mrs. O'Shea, <a href="#P172">172</a> - introduces his Land Bill, <a href="#P109">109</a> - letter to Morley on overthrow of Parnell, <a href="#P288">288</a> - on Parnell's character, <a href="#P220">220</a> - perfect manners of, <a href="#P199">199</a> - promises an Arrears Bill, <a href="#P165">165</a> - resignation of, <a href="#P186">186</a> - speech on "Disturbances Bill," <a href="#P79">79</a> - summarizes position between Parnell and himself, <a href="#P195">195</a> - - Glasnevin Cemetery, Parnell's grave in, <a href="#P205">205</a> - - Glazenwood, life at, <a href="#P3">3</a> - - Graham, Robert Bontine Cunninghame, <a href="#P15">15</a> - - Graham, Robert Cunninghame, <a href="#P15">15</a>, <a href="#P18">18</a> - - Grantley-Barkley, the Hon., <a href="#P9">9</a> - - Granville, Lord, <a href="#P185">185</a> - supports Home Rule, <a href="#P197">197</a> - - Greenwich Observatory, visits to, <a href="#P109">109</a> - - Grosse, Rev. Thomas, author and, <a href="#P4">4</a> - - Grosvenor, Lord Richard, <a href="#P184">184</a>, <a href="#P188">188</a> - and Capt. O'Shea's candidature for Liverpool, <a href="#P189">189</a> (note), <a href="#P291">291</a> - asks for Home Rule draft, <a href="#P186">186</a> - - "Grouse," dog named, <a href="#P234">234</a>, <a href="#P327">327</a>, <a href="#P334">334</a> - - Gull, Sir William, <a href="#P39">39</a> - - - HARCOURT, SIR W., introduces Crimes Bill, <a href="#P171">171</a> - introduces Explosives Bill, <a href="#P181">181</a> - supports Home Rule, <a href="#P197">197</a> - - Harrington, Timothy, and O'Shea's candidature, <a href="#P291">291</a> - - Hartington, Lord, <a href="#P54">54</a> - opposes Home Rule, <a href="#P188">188</a>, <a href="#P197">197</a> - - Hastings, visits to, <a href="#P41">41</a>, <a href="#P228">228</a> - - Hatherley, Lord Chancellor, <a href="#P28">28</a>, <a href="#P38">38</a> - - Hawarden, Parnell's visit to, <a href="#P202">202</a> - - Healy, Timothy, attacks Capt. O'Shea, <a href="#P291">291</a> - returned for Monaghan, <a href="#P221">221</a> - State trial of, <a href="#P83">83</a> - warrant issued for arrest of, <a href="#P118">118</a> - - Herne Bay, a day at, <a href="#P249">249</a> - - Herschell, Lord, enters the Cabinet, <a href="#P197">197</a> - - Hertfordshire, social customs in, <a href="#P24">24</a> <i>et seq.</i> - - Hicks-Beach, Sir Michael, becomes Chief Secretary, <a href="#P186">186</a> - - Hinkson, Mrs. (<i>see</i> Tynan, Katharine) - - Hobson, Mr., <a href="#P27">27</a> - - Holbrook Hall, honeymoon at, <a href="#P19">19</a> - - Home Office, explosion of bomb at, <a href="#P226">226</a> - - Home Rule Bill, the first, <a href="#P197">197</a> <i>et seq.</i> - - Home Rule League, the formation of, <a href="#P52">52</a> - - Home Rule scheme submitted to Gladstone, <a href="#P182">182</a> - - Hood, Marion, actress, <a href="#P59">59</a> - - Hook, Dean, <a href="#P39">39</a> - - Hozier, Mr. (Sir H.) <a href="#P12">12</a>, <a href="#P13">13</a> - - Hurley, Father Walter, <a href="#P294">294</a> - - - IRELAND, evictions in, <a href="#P81">81</a> - fundamental failure in English government of, <a href="#P79">79</a> - how news of Parnell's arrest was received in, <a href="#P119">119</a> - State trials in, <a href="#P79">79</a> <i>et seq.</i> - - <i>Irish Daily Independent</i> founded by Parnell, <a href="#P323">323</a> - - Irish Party, the, Parnell and, <a href="#P50">50</a> <i>et seq.</i> - Parnell elected chairman of, <a href="#P57">57</a> - treachery of, after divorce case, <a href="#P287">287</a> - - <i>Irish World</i>, Patrick Ford's crusade in, <a href="#P199">199</a> (note), <a href="#P181">181</a> - - - JENNER, SIR WILLIAM, <a href="#P39">39</a>, <a href="#P40">40</a> - - Jowers, Dr., <a href="#P330">330</a>, <a href="#P332">332</a> - - - KENNY, DR., <a href="#P122">122</a>, <a href="#P289">289</a>, <a href="#P293">293</a>, <a href="#P294">294</a>, <a href="#P328">328</a> - - Kent, hop-pickers' reception of Parnell in, <a href="#P70">70</a> - - Kerley, Frederick, serves Parnell with Judge's Order, <a href="#P299">299</a> - - Kerr, Mr., Parnell's agent, <a href="#P93">93</a>, <a href="#P261">261</a> - - Kettle, A. J., <a href="#P118">118</a> - - Kilkenny, a vacancy in, <a href="#P293">293</a> - Healy's speech at, <a href="#P291">291</a> - - Kilmainham Gaol, Parnell in, <a href="#P99">99</a>, <a href="#P119">119</a> <i>et seq.</i> - - Kilmainham Treaty, the, <a href="#P157">157</a> <i>et seq.</i> - - Kimberley, Lord, supports Home Rule, <a href="#P197">197</a> - - - LABOURERS' COMMITTEE, the, <a href="#P227">227</a> - - Ladies' Land League, <a href="#P119">119</a>, <a href="#P167">167</a>, <a href="#P175">175</a> - - Land Bill, Gladstone's, <a href="#P197">197</a> - introduction of, <a href="#P109">109</a> - - Land League, the, amazing growth of, <a href="#P78">78</a> - formation of, <a href="#P53">53</a> - Forster and, <a href="#P74">74</a> - "three F's of," <a href="#P55">55</a> - - Land Purchase Bill, <a href="#P185">185</a> - - Landseer, Edwin, <a href="#P2">2</a> - - Lane, Charles, <a href="#P28">28</a> - - Larkin, Fenian leader, <a href="#P52">52</a> - - Lefevre, Shaw, defeated at General Election, <a href="#P197">197</a> - opposed to coercion, <a href="#P180">180</a>, <a href="#P185">185</a> - refuses Irish Secretaryship, <a href="#P182">182</a> - - Lewes, Mr., <a href="#P18">18</a> - - Lewis, Sir George, and divorce case, <a href="#P280">280</a> - and the "Parnell letters," <a href="#P259">259</a>, <a href="#P261">261</a>, <a href="#P262">262</a> - - Liberal Government in 1885, <a href="#P185">185</a> - - Lime thrown in Parnell's face, <a href="#P297">297</a> - - Liverpool, Capt. O'Shea's candidature for, <a href="#P189">189</a> (note) - - Lockwood, Sir Frank, <a href="#P268">268</a>, <a href="#P280">280</a>, <a href="#P284">284</a> - - London remembrances, <a href="#P250">250</a> <i>et seq.</i> - - Lords, House of, and the Arrears Bill, <a href="#P180">180</a> - - Lytton, Lord, <a href="#P37">37</a> - - - MACCORMACK, DR., BISHOP OF GALWAY, <a href="#P291">291</a> - - MacDermott, Mr., <a href="#P329">329</a> - - Madrid, Pigott's suicide in, <a href="#P265">265</a> - - Manchester, the Fenian movement in, <a href="#P52">52</a> - - Manning, Cardinal, and O'Shea's divorce, <a href="#P290">290</a> et seq. - opposes Mr. Errington's mission, <a href="#P181">181</a> - - Mary (parlourmaid), <a href="#P86">86</a>, <a href="#P87">87</a>, <a href="#P127">127</a> - - McCarthy, Justin, <a href="#P58">58</a>, <a href="#P59">59</a>, <a href="#P187">187</a> - and Kilmainham Treaty, <a href="#P159">159</a> - leader of Irish Party, <a href="#P298">298</a> (note) - - Meath, Parnell M.P. for, <a href="#P52">52</a> - - Meredith, George, reminiscences of, <a href="#P43">43</a> - - Michell, Admiral, <a href="#P1">1</a> - - Michell, Caroline, <a href="#P1">1</a> - - Michell, Maria, <a href="#P1">1</a> - - Mohonagy, J. H., <a href="#P328">328</a> - - Monaghan, election at, <a href="#P221">221</a> - - Morley, John (Lord), <a href="#P16">16</a>, <a href="#P17">17</a>, <a href="#P185">185</a> (note) - enters the Cabinet, <a href="#P197">197</a> - Parnell and, <a href="#P202">202</a> - - Mundella, Mr., enters the Cabinet, <a href="#P197">197</a> - - - NATIONAL LEAGUE founded, <a href="#P211">211</a>, <a href="#P212">212</a> - - National Liberal Club, Parnell elected a life member of, <a href="#P267">267</a> - Parnell's speech at, <a href="#P268">268</a> - - Nationalism, Parnell's conception of, <a href="#P303">303</a> - - Niton, a visit to, <a href="#P39">39-40</a> - - Nolan, Colonel, <a href="#P58">58</a> - - No Rent manifesto, issue of the, <a href="#P119">119</a> - - Northbrook, Lord, opposes Home Rule, <a href="#P197">197</a> - - - O'BRIEN, Fenian leader, <a href="#P52">52</a> - - O'Brien, William, arrest of, <a href="#P118">118</a> - chats with Parnell, <a href="#P244">244</a> - meets Parnell at Boulogne, <a href="#P297">297</a> - - O'Connell, Daniel, <a href="#P89">89</a> - - O'Connor, Arthur, <a href="#P118">118</a> - - O'Gorman Mahon, The, <a href="#P49">49</a>, <a href="#P56">56</a>, <a href="#P106">106</a> - - O'Hart and Civil List pension, <a href="#P181">181</a> - - O'Kelly, arrest of, <a href="#P118">118</a> - deserts Parnell, <a href="#P298">298</a> - - O'Shea, Capt. ("Willie"), <a href="#P18">18</a> - a forgotten appointment, <a href="#P49">49</a> - an accident to, <a href="#P14">14</a> - and Kilmainham Treaty, <a href="#P159">159-160</a> - and Land League's policy, <a href="#P80">80</a> - and Mid-Armagh election, <a href="#P188">188</a> - and Phoenix Park murders, <a href="#P169">169</a> - and "Romeo," <a href="#P34">34-5</a> - and the Irish Party, <a href="#P188">188-9</a> (note) - as actor, <a href="#P7">7</a> - candidate for Liverpool, <a href="#P189">189</a> (note) - challenges Parnell to fight a duel, <a href="#P106">106</a> - desire for Under-Secretaryship, <a href="#P198">198</a> (note), <a href="#P199">199</a> - divorce case against Mrs. O'Shea, <a href="#P280">280</a> <i>et seq.</i> - enters 18th Hussars, <a href="#P11">11</a> (note) - enters political life, <a href="#P49">49</a> - financial difficulties of, [25 <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#P34">34</a> <i>et seq.</i> - his ancestry, <a href="#P11">11</a> - illness of, and operation on, <a href="#P35">35</a> - leaves his regiment, <a href="#P11">11</a> (note), <a href="#P19">19</a> - love of social life, <a href="#P24">24</a>, <a href="#P37">37</a> - marriage of, <a href="#P18">18</a> - returned for Parliament, <a href="#P56">56</a> - strained relations with his wife, <a href="#P104">104</a>, <a href="#P253">253</a>, <a href="#P290">290</a> - stud-farming, <a href="#P24">24</a> - takes Parnell's letter to Forster, <a href="#P164">164</a> - week-end visits to Eltham, <a href="#P48">48</a> - - O'Shea, Carmen, birth of, <a href="#P38">38</a> - George Meredith and, <a href="#P46">46</a> - - O'Shea, Comtesse, <a href="#P11">11</a> (note), <a href="#P20">20</a>, <a href="#P21">21</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#P38">38</a> - - O'Shea, Gerard, <a href="#P27">27</a> - - O'Shea, Henry, <a href="#P11">11</a> (note) - pencil portrait of Parnell, <a href="#P99">99</a> - - O'Shea, John, <a href="#P11">11</a> (note), <a href="#P20">20</a> - - O'Shea, Katharine, <a href="#P29">29</a> - a dinner to Parnell, <a href="#P59">59</a> - a prized pocket-book, <a href="#P233">233</a> - an afternoon with George Meredith, <a href="#P44">44</a> - and Longfellow, <a href="#P6">6</a> - as companion to "Aunt Ben," <a href="#P43">43</a> - as intermediary between Government and Parnell, <a href="#P91">91</a>, <a href="#P95">95</a>, <a href="#P172">172</a>, - <a href="#P174">174</a>, <a href="#P178">178</a> <i>et seq.</i> - assists at an operation, <a href="#P35">35</a> - astronomical studies, <a href="#P108">108</a> - birth of Parnell's child, <a href="#P120">120</a>, <a href="#P146">146</a> - children of, <a href="#P27">27</a>, <a href="#P37">37</a>, <a href="#P38">38</a>, <a href="#P46">46</a> - death of "Aunt Ben," <a href="#P272">272</a> - death of Parnell's child, <a href="#P155">155</a> - dinner parties in London, <a href="#P57">57</a> <i>et seq.</i> - dislike of society, <a href="#P24">24</a>, <a href="#P37">37</a>, <a href="#P48">48</a> - early life of, <a href="#P3">3</a> <i>et seq.</i> - family life, <a href="#P5">5</a> <i>et seq.</i> - first letter from Parnell, <a href="#P59">59</a> - first literary success, <a href="#P5">5</a> - first meeting with Parnell, <a href="#P58">58</a> - friction with Capt. O'Shea, <a href="#P104">104</a>, <a href="#P253">253</a>, <a href="#P290">290</a> - her love of music, <a href="#P6">6</a> - her name abused by anti-Parnellites, <a href="#P299">299</a> - hides Parnell at Eltham, <a href="#P84">84</a> - instructed in the Catholic religion, <a href="#P38">38</a> - interview with Gladstone on Parnell's feelings, <a href="#P220">220</a> - interviews Mr. Soames, <a href="#P265">265</a> - interviews Sir G. Lewis, <a href="#P259">259</a>, <a href="#P262">262</a>, <a href="#P263">263</a> - intimate knowledge of Parnell's character, <a href="#P301">301</a> <i>et seq.</i> - leaves Eltham, <a href="#P273">273</a> - letter from Parnell formulating Irish policy, <a href="#P190">190</a> - letters from Capt. O'Shea, <a href="#P290">290</a> - London remembrances, <a href="#P250">250</a> <i>et seq.</i> - marries Capt. O'Shea, <a href="#P18">18</a> - marries Parnell, <a href="#P314">314</a> - meets Capt. O'Shea, <a href="#P10">10</a> <i>et seq.</i> - nurses Parnell, <a href="#P69">69</a> - overstrained nerves, <a href="#P214">214</a> - parliamentary associations, <a href="#P91">91</a> - refuses to fight divorce case, <a href="#P282">282</a> - reminiscences of Gladstone, <a href="#P174">174</a> <i>et seq.</i> - removes to Brighton, <a href="#P273">273</a> - "Romeo" and, <a href="#P34">34-5</a> - seaside holidays, <a href="#P238">238</a> <i>et seq.</i> - served with petition in divorce case, <a href="#P280">280</a> - wedding presents, <a href="#P19">19</a>, <a href="#P20">20</a>, <a href="#P31">31</a> - with Parnell at his death, <a href="#P334">334</a> - - O'Shea, Mary, <a href="#P11">11</a> (note), <a href="#P20">20</a>, <a href="#P21">21</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#P38">38</a>, <a href="#P156">156</a> - - O'Shea, Norah, <a href="#P46">46</a> - - O'Shea, Thaddeus, <a href="#P11">11</a> (note) - - O'Shea, William, <a href="#P11">11</a> (note) - - "Owen Meredith" (<i>see</i> Lytton, Lord) - - - PARIS, a visit to, <a href="#P21">21</a> - - Parliament, a long sitting of, <a href="#P91">91</a> - - Parnell, Anna, <a href="#P119">119</a> - and the Ladies' Land League, <a href="#P167">167</a> - burned in effigy, <a href="#P76">76</a> - - Parnell, Charles Stewart, a love avowal by, <a href="#P33">33</a> - a poem by, <a href="#P243">243</a> - a warrant for his arrest, <a href="#P115">115</a> - aim of his political life, <a href="#P310">310</a> - and Cecil Rhodes, <a href="#P270">270</a> (note) - and death of his sister Fanny, <a href="#P204">204</a> - and O'Shea's candidature, <a href="#P189">189</a> (note) - and the Irish Party, <a href="#P50">50</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#P284">284</a> - arrested for sedition, <a href="#P116">116</a> - as autocrat, <a href="#P306">306</a> - assaying work of, <a href="#P101">101</a> - astronomical studies of, <a href="#P108">108</a> - at Brighton, <a href="#P98">98</a>, <a href="#P100">100</a>, <a href="#P223">223</a>, <a href="#P229">229</a>, <a href="#P273">273</a> - at Eltham, <a href="#P69">69</a>, <a href="#P79">79</a>, <a href="#P83">83</a>, <a href="#P223">223</a>, <a href="#P228">228</a> - attends banquet at Cork, <a href="#P221">221</a> - attends nephew's funeral on parole, <a href="#P153">153</a> <i>et seq.</i> - birth of his child, <a href="#P120">120</a> - buys dogs for Mrs. O'Shea, <a href="#P234">234</a>, <a href="#P235">235</a> - complex character of, <a href="#P304">304</a> - conducts Healy's election, <a href="#P221">221</a> - consults Sir Henry Thompson, <a href="#P245">245</a> - death of his daughter, <a href="#P155">155</a> - death of his father, <a href="#P51">51</a> - deserted by O'Kelly, <a href="#P298">298</a> - dictator in the Commons, <a href="#P193">193</a> - discusses Local Government Bill with Capt. O'Shea, <a href="#P223">223</a> - dislike of green bindings, <a href="#P229">229</a> - dislike of social life, <a href="#P307">307</a> - distrust of Gladstone, <a href="#P110">110</a> (note), <a href="#P173">173</a> - elected life member of National Liberal Club, <a href="#P267">267</a> - entrusts political correspondence to Mrs. O'Shea, <a href="#P85">85</a> - family affection of, <a href="#P306">306</a> - fatalism of, <a href="#P170">170</a> - founds <i>Irish Daily Independent</i>, <a href="#P323">323</a> - freedom of City of Dublin presented to, <a href="#P210">210</a> - freedom of City of Edinburgh for, <a href="#P269">269</a> - general appearance of, <a href="#P301">301</a> <i>et seq.</i> - generosity of, <a href="#P310">310</a> - great meeting at Rotunda, Dublin, <a href="#P293">293</a> - hatred of oppression, <a href="#P305">305</a> - his ancestry, <a href="#P51">51</a> - his fear of death, <a href="#P225">225</a>, <a href="#P305">305</a> - his hatred of England, <a href="#P51">51</a>, <a href="#P81">81</a> - his love of animals, <a href="#P305">305</a> - hobbies and interests of, <a href="#P99">99</a> <i>et seq.</i> - holiday at Eastbourne, <a href="#P238">238</a> - Home Rule scheme submitted to Gladstone, <a href="#P182">182</a> - illness of, <a href="#P243">243</a> - in danger, <a href="#P204">204</a> et seq. - interest in the working classes, <a href="#P216">216</a>, <a href="#P307">307</a> - interviews newspaper men after his marriage, <a href="#P316">316</a> - interviews Sir Geo. Lewis, <a href="#P261">261</a> - Irish subscribe to pay off mortgages on his estates, <a href="#P290">290</a> (note) - joins Home Rule League, <a href="#P52">52</a> - Kilmainhain days and letters, <a href="#P119">119</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#P139">139</a> <i>et seq.</i> - last hours and death of, <a href="#P319">319</a>, <a href="#P333">333</a> <i>et seq.</i> - learns of Phoenix Park murders, <a href="#P168">168</a> - leaves for Ireland, <a href="#P320">320</a> - letter to his mother, <a href="#P290">290</a> - letters in invisible ink, <a href="#P125">125</a>, <a href="#P132">132</a>, <a href="#P133">133</a> - letters of congratulation (and otherwise) on his marriage, <a href="#P318">318</a> - love of white roses, <a href="#P206">206</a> - makes bricks, <a href="#P317">317</a> - makes model ships, <a href="#P278">278</a> - manifesto to people of Ireland, <a href="#P284">284</a>, <a href="#P286">286</a> - marries Mrs. O'Shea, <a href="#P314">314</a> - meets Katharine Tynan, <a href="#P266">266</a> - meets Lord Carnarvon, <a href="#P187">187</a> - meets O'Brien at Boulogne, <a href="#P297">297</a> - modesty of, <a href="#P304">304</a> - moral standard of, <a href="#P309">309</a> - nightmares and sleep-walking, <a href="#P205">205-6</a> - nominates Vincent Scully for Kilkenny, <a href="#P296">296</a> - on trial for conspiracy, <a href="#P79">79</a> - opens Home Rule campaign, <a href="#P188">188</a> - organizes for General Election, <a href="#P184">184</a> - ovation in Parliament after trial, <a href="#P265">265</a> - ovations at Eighty Club and St. James's Hall, <a href="#P267">267</a> - picks wild flowers, <a href="#P207">207</a> - President of Home Rule Confederation, <a href="#P53">53</a> - President of the Land League, <a href="#P53">53</a> - puts Tories in power, <a href="#P186">186</a> - quarrying at Arklow, <a href="#P213">213</a> - reads forged letters in the <i>Times</i>, <a href="#P257">257</a> - reads report of his assassination, <a href="#P218">218</a> - recognized at Pevensey, <a href="#P240">240</a> - refuses to defend divorce case, <a href="#P280">280</a>, <a href="#P281">281</a> - release of, <a href="#P165">165</a> - religious beliefs of, <a href="#P309">309</a> - replies to Forster's attack, <a href="#P219">219</a> - retakes offices of <i>United Ireland</i>, <a href="#P295">295-6</a> - return home and beginning of last illness, <a href="#P323">323</a> - sails for New York, <a href="#P54">54</a> - sees his dying child, <a href="#P154">154</a>, <a href="#P155">155</a> - sends horses to Eltham, <a href="#P231">231</a> - served with Judge's Order, <a href="#P299">299</a> - shaves his beard, <a href="#P98">98</a> - shooting in Ireland, <a href="#P277">277</a> - shooting practice of, <a href="#P207">207</a> - speech at Eighty Club, <a href="#P244">244</a> - speech at National Liberal Club, <a href="#P268">268</a> - speech on first Home Rule Bill, <a href="#P200">200</a> - stands for Parliament, <a href="#P52">52</a> - superstitious nature of, <a href="#P247">247</a>, <a href="#P308">308</a> - takes house at Brockley, <a href="#P253">253</a> - takes house in Regent's Park, <a href="#P254">254</a> - takes house near Beachy Head, <a href="#P241">241</a> - telegraphic code with Mrs. O'Shea, <a href="#P246">246</a> - temper of, <a href="#P310">310</a> - threats against, <a href="#P214">214</a> - unselfishness of, <a href="#P311">311</a> - views on proposed visit of Prince of Wales, <a href="#P236">236</a> - visits "Aunt Ben," <a href="#P89">89</a> - visits Gladstone, <a href="#P202">202</a> - visits Morley, <a href="#P202">202</a> - wedding presents, <a href="#P319">319</a> - Wexford speech of, <a href="#P110">110</a> - with Mrs. O'Shea at Hastings, <a href="#P228">228</a> - - Parnell, Fanny, <a href="#P52">52</a> - death of, <a href="#P204">204</a> - - Parnell, Mrs. Delia, <a href="#P51">51</a>, <a href="#P100">100</a>, <a href="#P261">261</a> (note), <a href="#P319">319</a> - - Parnell, John, <a href="#P306">306</a> - - Parnell, Sir John, <a href="#P51">51</a> - - Parnell, Thomas, poet, <a href="#P51">51</a> - - Parnell Commission, the, <a href="#P256">256</a> <i>et seq.</i> - - Patcham, life at, <a href="#P28">28</a> - - Pevensey, Parnell recognized at, <a href="#P240">240</a> - - Phoenix park murders, <a href="#P166">166</a>, <a href="#P168">168</a> <i>et seq.</i> - - Pigott, suicide of, <a href="#P265">265</a> - - "Pincher," dog named, <a href="#P235">235</a> - - Power, Richard, <a href="#P58">58</a> - - "President," Parnell's horse, <a href="#P231">231</a>, <a href="#P239">239</a> - - "Preston, Clement," <a href="#P253">253</a> - - Pym, H., <a href="#P290">290</a>, <a href="#P322">322</a> - - - QUINLAN, CATHERINE, <a href="#P11">11</a> (note) - (<i>see also</i> O'Shea, Comtesse) - - Quinlan, Edward, <a href="#P11">11</a> (note) - - Quinn, J. P., arrest of, <a href="#P118">118</a> - - - "RANGER," dog named, <a href="#P235">235</a> - - Redistribution of Seats Bill, <a href="#P184">184</a> - - Redmond, William, letter from Parnell to, <a href="#P289">289</a> - - Redmond's Land Bill, <a href="#P164">164</a> - - Rhodes, Cecil, Parnell's letter to, - on Home Rule, <a href="#P270">270</a> (note) - - Ripon, Lord, supports Home Rule, <a href="#P197">197</a> - - Rivenhall, life at, <a href="#P3">3</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#P18">18</a> - visitors at, <a href="#P8">8</a>, <a href="#P26">26</a> - - "Romeo," <a href="#P34">34</a>, <a href="#P35">35</a> - - Rosebery, Lord, supports Home Rule, <a href="#P197">197</a> - - Russell, Sir Charles, <a href="#P259">259</a> - a reception to Parnell, <a href="#P266">266</a> - - - ST. JAMES'S HALL, ovation for Parnell at, <a href="#P267">267</a> - - St. Peter's, Cornhill, <a href="#P1">1</a> - - Salisbury, Lord, diplomatic statement about Ireland, <a href="#P188">188</a> - first Ministry of, <a href="#P186">186</a> - - Scully, Vincent, nominated for Kilkenny, <a href="#P296">296</a> - - Selby, stud-groom of Capt. O'Shea, <a href="#P28">28</a>, <a href="#P36">36</a> - - Sexton, Mr., arrest of, <a href="#P118">118</a> - - Shaw, William, and the Irish Parliamentary Party, <a href="#P50">50</a>, <a href="#P57">57</a> - - Sheridan, Charles, and Mrs. Wood, <a href="#P2">2</a> - - Sleeplessness, a specific for, <a href="#P40">40</a> - - Sligo, hostility of, to Parnell, <a href="#P321">321</a> - - Smart, Capt. Hawley, <a href="#P27">27</a> - - Soames, Mr., interview with, <a href="#P265">265</a> - - Spain, Capt. and Mrs. O'Shea in, <a href="#P24">24</a> - Capt. O'Shea's managerial post in, <a href="#P47">47</a> - - Spencer, Lord, and Phoenix Park murders, <a href="#P181">181</a> - appointed Lord-Lieutenant, <a href="#P166">166</a> - shakes hands with Parnell, <a href="#P268">268</a> - supports Home Rule, <a href="#P197">197</a> - - Stalbridge, Lord (<i>see</i> Grosvenor, Lord Richard) - - Stanley, Dean, <a href="#P39">39</a> - - "State trials" in Ireland, <a href="#P79">79</a> <i>et seq.</i> - - Stead, Mr., O'Shea and, <a href="#P290">290</a> - - Steele, Lt.-Col., <a href="#P8">8</a> - - Steele, Mrs., <a href="#P18">18</a>, <a href="#P58">58</a>, <a href="#P59">59</a>, <a href="#P60">60</a>, <a href="#P106">106</a> - - Steele, Sir Thomas, <a href="#P113">113</a> - - Stephens, T. E., retirement of, <a href="#P189">189</a> (note) - - Stephens, William, Dean of Winchester, <a href="#P39">39</a> - - Stewart, Commodore Charles, <a href="#P51">51</a> - - Steyning, Parnell's marriage at, <a href="#P312">312</a> - - Sussex, Duke of, <a href="#P1">1</a> - - - TELEGRAPHIC CODE, Parnell's, <a href="#P246">246</a> - - Thomson, Mrs., <a href="#P204">204</a> - - Thompson, Sir Henry, consulted by Parnell, <a href="#P245">245</a> - letters to Mrs. Parnell, <a href="#P330">330</a>, <a href="#P331">331</a> - treats Parnell for nervous breakdown, <a href="#P206">206</a> - - "Three acres and a cow," <a href="#P196">196</a> - - <i>Times</i>, the, "Parnell letters" in, <a href="#P257">257</a> - - Tintern, Mr., and Capt. O'Shea, <a href="#P67">67</a> - - "Tory," Parnell's horse, <a href="#P212">212</a> - - Trevelyan, Mr., ceases to be Irish Secretary, <a href="#P182">182</a> - resignation of, <a href="#P197">197</a> - - Trollope, Anthony, <a href="#P8">8</a> - - Tynan, Katharine, on Parnell's Dublin meeting, <a href="#P293">293</a> - Parnell's meeting with, <a href="#P266">266</a> - - - <i>United Ireland</i>, and proposed visit of Prince of Wales, <a href="#P236">236</a> - publishes No Rent manifesto, <a href="#P119">119</a> - seized by anti-Parnellites, <a href="#P295">295</a> - - United States, Parnell in the, <a href="#P54">54</a> - - - VAUGHAN, MRS., <a href="#P29">29</a> - - Ventnor, a visit to, <a href="#P40">40</a> - - Vincent, Sir Howard, and police protection for Parnell, <a href="#P217">217</a> - - - WALES, Prince of, a proposed visit to Ireland, <a href="#P236">236</a> - - Wallace, Corporal, murder of, <a href="#P179">179</a> - - Weguelin, Christopher, <a href="#P47">47</a> - - Weston, Sir Thomas Sutton, <a href="#P3">3</a> - - Werford speech, Parnell's, <a href="#P110">110</a> - - Whitbread, Judge, <a href="#P43">43</a> - - Wilkinson, Rev. Mr., <a href="#P43">43</a> - - Wonersh Lodge, Eltham, <a href="#P47">47</a> - - Wontner, Mr., and the costs of divorce case, <a href="#P322">322</a> - - Wood, Anna, <a href="#P4">4</a>, <a href="#P7">7</a>, <a href="#P15">15</a>, <a href="#P37">37</a> - marriage of, <a href="#P8">8</a> - - Wood, Benjamin, death of, <a href="#P42">42</a> - marriage of, <a href="#P1">1</a> - - Wood, Charlie, <a href="#P5">5</a> - - Wood, Clarissa, <a href="#P6">6</a> - - Wood, Emma, <a href="#P6">6</a> - - Wood, Evelyn, <a href="#P4">4</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#P17">17</a> - - Wood, Frank, <a href="#P6">6</a>, <a href="#P7">7</a>, <a href="#P10">10</a>, <a href="#P26">26</a> - - Wood, Fred, death of, <a href="#P3">3</a>, <a href="#P6">6</a> - - Wood, Katharine (see O'Shea, Katharine) - - Wood, Lady, <a href="#P1">1</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#P27">27</a> - - Wood, Maria (Pollie), <a href="#P6">6</a> - - Wood, Mrs. Benjamin ("Aunt Ben"), <a href="#P1">1</a>, <a href="#P18">18</a>, <a href="#P27">27</a>, <a href="#P28">28</a>, <a href="#P31">31</a>, <a href="#P39">39</a>, <a href="#P40">40</a>, - <a href="#P41">41</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#P68">68</a> - and carol singers, <a href="#P224">224</a> - and George Meredith, <a href="#P43">43</a> <i>et seq.</i> - and O'Connell, <a href="#P89">89</a> - and Parnell, <a href="#P89">89</a> - death of, <a href="#P43">43</a>, <a href="#P272">272</a> - - Wood, Sir Matthew, <a href="#P1">1</a> - - Wood, Sir Matthew (grandson of preceding), <a href="#P59">59</a> - - Wood, Sir John Page, <a href="#P1">1</a> - appointed rector of St. Peter's, Cornhill, <a href="#P1">1</a> <i>et seq.</i> - becomes vicar of Cressing, <a href="#P2">2</a> - birth of a son, <a href="#P2">2</a> - death of, <a href="#P17">17</a> - political views of, <a href="#P3">3</a> - - - YATES, Mrs. A., <a href="#P27">27</a> -</pre> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="t4"> - PRINTED BY CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED, LA BELLE SAUVAGE LONDON, E.C.4<br /> - F35.621<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Charles Stewart Parnell, by Katharine O'Shea - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLES STEWART PARNELL *** - -***** This file should be named 60895-h.htm or 60895-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/8/9/60895/ - -Produced by Al Haines -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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