in Kilmainham
Prison. Mr. Gladstone on his visit to Leeds, early in October, had met
with a reception more than royal from the folks of Yorkshire. For two or
three days special trains from every part of that densely populated
county poured into the great emporium of the cloth-trade thousands of
enthusiastic admirers eager to catch a near glimpse of the foremost
statesman of the age as he rode from point to point through the
barricaded streets. In one of the speeches made during the visit, he had
strongly reprobated the policy and proceedings of Mr. Parnell. At a
meeting in Wexford, a few days after, Mr. Parnell replied with some
bitterness. A few days more brought the exciting news of the arrests by
the Irish Executive. The situation was desperate. The imprisoned leaders
at once issued a manifesto calling upon the tenantry of Ireland to
withhold payment of rents. This was a direct violation of the law, as
well as a great political blunder, and the government at once seized the
occasion as a fitting opportunity for suppressing the Land League and
the advanced Nationalist press. In the session of 1882 there appeared a
manifest indisposition on the part of a majority of the cabinet to give
further sanction to the policy of Mr. Forster in Ireland. The imprisoned
Home Rulers were released from Kilmainham on conditions which he thought
perilously lenient, and he resigned, as also did Earl Cowper. The entry
of the new Lord-lieutenant, Earl Spencer, on the 6th of May, into the
Irish capital, promised well; but the assassin had bargained with the
fates for the day, and before the sun had ceased to shed his bright
beams on the green grass and budding trees of Phoenix Park, a scion of
the noble house of Devonshire and his companion in office had been
immolated on the altar of Irish vengeance before the eyes of the new
viceroy as he stood in the window of the viceregal lodge. The civilized
world was horror-struck. Ireland expressed her profound regret at a
transaction which was thought to have been planned and executed by some
designing foe. Messrs. Parnell, Dillon, and Davitt hastily met to
disclaim any sympathy with the crime and to denounce the criminals. The
rest of the story is now familiar and needs not be retold. The
government was known to have been contemplating a milder _regime_ for
Ireland; but the disastrous incident of the 6th of May drove them back
upon their former policy. A Crimes Bill was passed, followed by a
measu