ress of an
alderman who could tell him what he wanted to know.

The alderman was not in either, but his wife was, and begged him to stop
to lunch, which was just being served.

Lord Carlisle told her he hardly ever ate lunch, and was not in the
least hungry.

But under pressure he sat down to the meal, and got on very well with
it, whereat the lady remarked:--

'You see, your Excellency, eating is like scratching: when you once
begin it is hard to stop.'

His predecessor, Lord Clarendon, had been in office when Lord John
Russell, the Prime Minister, urged on the House of Commons a bill for
the abolition of the Lord-Lieutenancy. The great point that he made was
that the Chief Secretary might become a mayor of the viceregal palace, a
thing that has now long been the case, for the Lord-Lieutenant has to be
a plutocrat of high descent, and the Chief Secretary is the virtual
administrator of Ireland--a thing unknown, however, until the advent of
Mr. Foster. The second reading was carried by a majority of over a
hundred and fifty, but it was then dropped.

The story went that the Duke of Wellington had suggested to Prince
Albert the possible diminution of respect for the Crown in Ireland
without a visible representative, and the Teutonic mind could not endure
such a notion.

Lord Clarendon upheld the dignity of his position, though he was liked
by neither party in Ireland. He is the only Lord-Lieutenant who ever
administered sharp discipline to the Orangemen--who regard their loyalty
as permitting them a good deal of licence--for he removed the name of
their leader, Lord Roden, from the Commission of the Peace because he
encouraged a turbulent procession at Dolly's Brae. With his pompous
manner he made a very Brummagem monarch, quite indifferent to his
unpopularity. As a matter of fact, some allege that all Lord-Lieutenants
are hated by the disloyal section of the populace, and if they go
through the farce of currying popularity, they can only do so by largely
patronising about a dozen shopkeepers, who eventually curse because yet
more has not been spent. But this is altogether too limited to be true.

Lord Kimberley followed Lord Carlisle. In those days he was Lord
Wodehouse, and the Fenians used to issue mock proclamations, in ridicule
of his, signed 'Woodlouse.' He was an experienced parliamentarian--a man
who held office for many years, and worked conscientiously, according to
his lights.

In Ireland he alwa