that universal provider of knowledge,
Dr. Lardner, had set him in the interests of the 'Cabinet
Encyclopaedia'--an enterprise to which men of the calibre of Mackintosh,
Southey, Herschell, and even Walter Scott had lent a helping hand.

Lord John landed in Ireland in the beginning of September 1833, and went
first to Lord Duncannon's place at Bessborough. Afterwards he proceeded
to Waterford to visit Lord Ebrington, his colleague in the
representation of Devonshire. He next found his way to Cork and
Killarney, and he wrote again to Moore urging him to 'hang Dr. Lardner
on his tree of knowledge,' and to join him at the eleventh hour. Moore
must have been in somewhat reduced circumstances at the moment--for he
was a luxurious, pleasure-loving man, who never required much persuasion
to throw down his work--since such an appeal availed nothing. Meanwhile
Lord John had carried Lord Ebrington back to Dublin, and they went
together to the North of Ireland. The visit to Belfast attracted
considerable attention; Lord John's services over the Reform Bill were
of course fresh in the public mind, and he was entertained in orthodox
fashion at a public dinner. This short tour in Ireland did much to open
his eyes to the real grievances of the people, and, fresh from the scene
of disaffection, he was able to speak with authority when the late
autumn compelled the Whig Cabinet to throw everything else aside in
order to devise if possible some measure of relief for Ireland. Stanley
was Chief Secretary, and, though one of the most brilliant men of his
time alike in deed and word, unfortunately his haughty temper and
autocratic leanings were a grievous hindrance if a policy of coercion
was to be exchanged for the more excellent way of conciliation.
O'Connell opposed his policy in scathing terms, and attacked him
personally with bitter invective, and in the end there was open war
between the two men.

[Sidenote: POOR LAW REFORM]

Lord Grey, now that Parliamentary Reform had been conceded, was
developing into an easy-going aristocratic Whig of somewhat contracted
sympathies, and Stanley, though still in the Cabinet, was apparently
determined to administer the affairs of Ireland on the most approved
Tory principles. Althorp, Russell, and Duncannon were men whose
sympathies leaned more or less decidedly in the opposite direction, and
therefore, especially with O'Connell thundering at the gates with the
Irish people and the English Radica