arm of interested people, needy friends, meddling
politicians, "supporters" generally. The chief magistrate will have
influence on the bench which they all wish to invoke now and then, and
they all wish to see him there. They don't approve of any principle that
stands in the way. They group themselves together as his "supporters,"
and claiming to have put him into public life, they act as if they had
acquired a lease of his soul. Not what he knows to be right, but what
they believe to be useful, must be done; and before the first day is
done the first fight must be made. However, the old Fenian has enough of
the spirit of old times to come safe through the first round. But the
second is close on his heels: Dublin Castle has been attentive. The
mayor, as chief magistrate, has privileges on which the Castle now
silently closes. There are private and veiled remonstrances by secret
officials: "The mayor is acting illegally; he must not do so-and-so;
such is the function of a magistrate; he has not taken the oath," etc.
All this renewing the fight of the first day, for the Castle, too, wants
the mayor on the bench to brand him as its own and alienate him from the
old flag. It puts on the pressure by suppressing his privileges,
weakening his influence, and disappointing his "supporters." All this is
silently done. Still, the mayor holds fast, but he has not counted on
this, and is beginning to be baffled and worried. Meanwhile a sort of
guerilla attack is being maintained: invitations arrive to garden
parties at Windsor, lesser functions nearer home, free passages to all
the gay festivals, free admissions everywhere, the route indicated, and
a gracious request for the presence of the mayor and mayoress. Genuine
business engagements now save the situation, and the invitations are put
by, but our chief citizen is now bewildered. These social missiles are
flying in all directions, always gracious and flattering, never
challenging and rude--who can withstand them? Still he is bewildered,
but not yet caught. A new assault is made: the great Health Crusade
Battery is called up. Here we must all unite, God's English and the wild
Irish, the Fenian and the Castleman, the labourer and the lord. Surely,
we are all against the microbes. There is a great demonstration, their
Excellencies attend--and the mayor presides. Under the banner of the
microbe he is caught. It is a great occasion, which their Excellencies
grace and improve. His Excel