t Parnell could never
hold the place he does in history, that he could never have overawed
the House of Commons as he did, nor could he have emerged so
triumphantly from the ordeal of _The Times_ Commission were he
not superabundantly endowed with all the elements and qualities of
greatness. But apart from this no dispassionate student of the Parnell
period can deny that it was fruitful in massive achievement for
Ireland. When Parnell appeared on the scene it might well be said of
the country, what had been truly said of it in another generation,
that it was "as a corpse on the dissecting-table." It was he, and the
gallant band which his indomitable purpose gathered round him, that
galvanised the corpse into life and breathed into it a dauntless
spirit of resolve which carried it to the very threshold of its
sublimest aspirations. To Isaac Butt is ascribed the merit of having
conceived and given form to the constitutional movement for Irish
liberty. He is also credited with having invented the title "Home
Rule"--a title which, whilst it was a magnificent rallying cry for a
cause, in the circumstances of the time when it was first used, was
probably as mischievous in its ultimate results as any unfortunate
nomenclature well could be, since all parties in Ireland and out of it
became tied to its use when any other designation for the Irish demand
might have made it more palatable with the British masses. Winston
Churchill is reported to have said, in his Radical days, to a
prominent Irish leader: "I cannot understand why you Irishmen are so
stupidly wedded to the name 'Home Rule.' If only you would call it
anything else in the world, you would have no difficulty in getting
the English to agree to it."

But although Isaac Butt was a fine intellect and an earnest patriot he
never succeeded in rousing Ireland to any great pitch of enthusiasm
for his policy. It was still sick, and weary, and despondent after the
Fenian failure, and the revolutionary leaders were not prone to
tolerate or countenance what they regarded as a Parliamentary
imposture. A considerable body of the Irish landed class supported the
Butt movement, because they had nothing to fear for their own
interests from it. They were members of his Parliamentary Party, not
to help him on his way, but rather with the object of weakening and
retarding his efforts.

It was at this stage that Parnell arrived. The country was stricken
with famine--the hand of the lor