st conservative in the world. They will not
stir for telling, and they will not stir when you take them by the
collar and haul them along. They are wedded to the customs of their
ancestors; and yet, when once they see the advantage to be obtained by
any given change, no people are so quick to follow it up. The
difficulty is to start them. The Araners had actually less knowledge
of the sea, of boats, nets, and fishing, than people coming here from
an inland place. Surprising, but quite true."

Speaking on the general question of Home Rule, I asked Father
McPhilpin if the people of Ireland would be loyal.

"Loyal to what?" said the Father, replying quickly.

"Loyal to England, to the Crown, to Queen Victoria."

"The Irish people have always been loyal--much more loyal than the
English people. You have only to look at English history. How far
shall I go back, Father Tom?" said my genial host to the coadjutor,
who just then entered the room. "Shall we go back to Henry II.? Where
shall we begin, Father Tom?"

"Well," said Father Tom, "I'd not be for going back quite so far. I
think if we began with Charles I.----"

"Very good. Now, were not the Irish loyal when the English people
disloyally favoured their Oliver Cromwell and their William the
Third?"

I proceeded with the imbibition of Father McPhilpin's excellent tea.
The answer was obvious, but Father Tom clearly believed that his
senior had me on the hip, and good-naturedly came in with a Latin
quotation or two. Both clerics were deeply interested in the condition
of the poor in their charge, and indeed all over Ireland, and their
profound belief that a Home Rule Bill would benefit the poorer
classes, by changing the conditions affecting the tenure or ownership
of land, was apparently their chief reason for advocating a College
Green Parliament. Father McPhilpin holds some honorary official
position in connection with the Aran fisheries, and from him I derived
most of my information. Another authority assured me that the Araners
were not grateful to England nor to Mr. Balfour, and spoke of the
viper that somebody warmed in his bosom with disagreeable results.
But, as Father Tom would say, _Omnis comparatio claudicat_, and all my
experience points to a proper appreciation of the great ex-Secretary's
desire to do the country good. The people know how thoroughly he
examined the subject; how he spent weeks in the Congested Districts;
how he saw the parish priests, th