his vehement
sympathy with the principle of nationality, the irresistible attraction
for him of all the grand and eternal commonplaces of liberty and
self-government, would inevitably carry him much further on the Irish road
than either Lord Salisbury himself may have been disposed to travel, or
than he could be sure of persuading his party to follow. He may (M99) well
have seen grounds for pause before committing himself to so delicate and
precarious an enterprise.

II

Early in December Lord Granville was at Hawarden, and the two discussed
the crucial perplexities of the hour, not going further than agreement
that responsibility lay with the government, and that the best chance for
settlement lay in large concession. From Hawarden Lord Granville went to
Chatsworth, where he found Lord Spencer on his way to visit Mr. Gladstone;
but nothing important passed among the three leaders thus brought together
under the roof of Lord Hartington. Lord Granville imparted to Lord Spencer
and Lord Hartington that Mr. Gladstone was full of Ireland in the
direction of some large concession of self-government. The host discussed
the thing dispassionately without much expression of opinion. Proceeding
to Hawarden, Lord Spencer was there joined by Lord Rosebery. Their chief
repeated to them the propositions already stated (p. 258). Mr. Gladstone
wrote to Lord Granville (Dec. 9):

You have, I think, acted very prudently in not returning here. It
would have been violently canvassed. Your report is as favourable
as could be expected. I think my conversations with Rosebery and
Spencer have also been satisfactory. What I expect is a healthful,
slow fermentation in many minds, working towards the final
product. It is a case of between the devil and the deep sea. But
our position is a bed of roses, compared with that of the
government....

Lord Spencer was hardly second in weight to Mr. Gladstone himself. His
unrivalled experience of Irish administration, his powers of firm decision
in difficult circumstances, and the impression of high public spirit,
uprightness, and fortitude, which had stamped itself deep upon the public
mind, gave him a force of moral authority in an Irish crisis that was
unique. He knew the importance of a firm and continuous system in Ireland.
Such a system he had inflexibly carried out. Extreme concessions had been
extorted from him by the radicals in the cabinet, and when th