he Parliamentary representation in the
hands of the great bulk of the people of Ireland, added greatly to our
political power in England, Scotland and Wales. Many thousands of Irish
householders obtained votes where formerly, under the restricted
franchise, such a thing as an Irish county voter was extremely rare.

At the General Election of 1885, Mr. Parnell made Liverpool his
headquarters. The Re-Distribution Act had given Liverpool nine
Parliamentary Divisions, in one of which (Scotland Division) we had
sufficient votes to return a Nationalist. As Mr. T.P. O'Connor was the
candidate chosen, and was, besides, the President of the organisation in
Great Britain, he, also, was on the spot.

A central committee room was engaged in the North-Western Hotel, where
Mr. Parnell and Mr. T.P. O'Connor were staying. I was detailed to act as
secretary to them, and, as the electoral campaign all over the country
was directed from this centre, I was kept busy from early morning until
late in the night answering the letters which poured in from all parts
of the country. Mr. T.P. O'Connor having recently been married, Mrs.
O'Connor also was staying in the North-Western. She presided at our
luncheon every day, and made a charming hostess.

I have some pleasant remembrances of those days in Liverpool, when I was
assisting Mr. Parnell in carrying on the electoral campaign. One day, as
we stood together looking out of the window across Lime Street, he
pointed to the hotel on the opposite side of the street, reminding me
that it was there we first met. This was when he came amongst us, a
promising young recruit, under the wing of Isaac Butt. I remembered it
well, and the number of questions he asked me about the condition of our
people, social and political, in this country, for he knew that I had
had opportunities of acquiring a closer knowledge of them than most
people. He often afterwards sought from me such information. To me, from
first to last, he was always most open and friendly, and I never found
him so "stand-off" and unapproachable as was the very common opinion
about him.

In the Exchange Division of Liverpool, a Mr. Stephens, the official
Liberal candidate, had, for some reason, been replaced by Captain
O'Shea, who got the full support of the Liberal party. Following
instructions from headquarters, the Irish Nationalists had denounced the
candidate of the Liberals, who, when recently in power, had coerced
Ireland, and O'Sh