ers of the committee who
were responsible for this Nationalist or rather Fenian monument have
immortalised themselves on three tablets. But although party feeling
runs high, and the town as a whole appears to be eminently disloyal
and inimical to England, there are not wanting reasonable people who
look on the proposed change with grave suspicion, even though they
nominally profess to support the abstract doctrine of Home Rule.
Naturally, their main opinions are very like those I have previously
recorded as being prevalent in the neighbouring counties of Limerick,
Cork, and Kerry. They believe the present time unseasonable, and they
have no confidence in the present representatives of the Nationalist
party. They believe that the Irish people are not yet sufficiently
educated to be at all capable of self-government, and they fail to see
what substantial advantages would accrue from any Home Rule Bill. More
especially do they distrust Mr. Gladstone; and although in England the
Nationalist leaders speak gratefully of the Grand Old Man, it is
probable that such references would in Ireland be received in silence,
if not with outspoken derision. A well-known Nationalist thus
expressed himself on this point:--

"Gladstone's recent attack on Parnell was one of the meanest acts of a
naturally mean and cowardly man, whose whole biography is a continuous
story of surrender, abject and unconditional. Parnell was his master.
With all his faults, Parnell was much the better man. He was too cool
a swordsman for Gladstone, and, spite of the Grand Man's tricky
dodging and shifting, Parnell beat him at every point, until he was
thoroughly cowed and had to give in. What surprises me is that the
English people are led away by a mere talker. They claim to be the
most straightforward and practical people in the world. Answer me
this:--Did you, did anybody, ever know Gladstone to give a
straightforward answer to any one question? Straight dealing is not in
him. He is slippery as an eel--with all his 'honesty,' his piety, his
benevolence. But as he reads the Bible in Hawarden Church, the English
believe in him. They have no other reason that I can see. Have you
heard any Irishman speak well of Gladstone? No, and you never will.
How long in the country? Five weeks only? You may stay five years, and
you will not hear a word expressing sincere esteem. About separation?
Well, most of the unthinking people, that is, the great majority,
would vote