he will dare to trifle with
Irish demands, it will be at the risk of endangering those
institutions she feels so proud of, but which Irishmen have no
reason to respect. To Mr. Butt is due a debt of gratitude by the
Irish people which they can never repay, for he has taught them
self-reliance and knowledge of their power. If I have felt it my
duty to put myself in antagonism with Mr. Butt I hope he will
forgive me. If I have said or written harsh things I have never
said more nor less than was due to the gravity of the occasion.

Mr. O'Donnell, who expressed a wish that the next session might find Mr.
Butt at the head of a United Irish Party, supported the vote of thanks
to Mr. Butt, which was carried unanimously, and with all sincerity and
depth of feeling.

Mr. Butt replied, saying he would be ashamed of himself if he were
unmoved by that vote, and the manner in which it had been passed. He
hoped that the wish expressed by Mr. O'Donnell might be realized, and it
would not be his fault if they had not a United Irish Party in the House
of Commons. After expressing his good wishes for the Home Rule
Confederation of Great Britain, which he hoped might long continue to
assert the power of the Irish people in this country, he took his
farewell.

Mr. Parnell was then elected President.

The Convention of 1877 ended with the adoption of a resolution, on the
motion of Mr. Peter Mulhall (Liverpool), seconded by Mr. Ryan (Bolton):--

That this Convention of the Home Rule Confederation of Great
Britain hereby endorses the vigorous policy of the Home Rule
Parliamentary Party who are termed "Obstructionists."

Mr. Mulhall just mentioned was an active worker in the National ranks in
Liverpool, and even a more valuable adherent a little later was his
younger brother James, one of the most thorough, sincere, and upright of
our young men, who never spared himself when there was good work to do.

Before the venerable figure of Isaac Butt disappears from the scene, let
me say a few words about his eminently agreeable personality.

There was not an atom of selfishness about him. I remember his making
little of the difficulties some people used to raise in connection with
the planning of a Home Rule Bill, and saying, "Three men sitting round a
table could in a short time draw up a plan of Home Rule for Ireland that
would act, providing people all round meant honestly."

He use