d
themselves from the polling booths."

M151 The Catastrophe

272 "That the effect of this trial will be to relegate Mr. Parnell for a
time, at any rate, to private life, must we think be assumed....
Special exemptions from penalties which should apply to all public
men alike cannot possibly be made in favour of exceptionally
valuable politicians to suit the convenience of their parties. He
must cease, for the present at any rate, to lead the nationalist
party; and conscious as we are of the loss our opponents will
sustain by his resignation, we trust that they will believe us when
we say that we are in no mood to exult in it.... It is no
satisfaction to us to feel that a political adversary whose
abilities and prowess it was impossible not to respect, has been
overthrown by irrelevant accident, wholly unconnected with the
struggle in which we are engaged."--_Daily Telegraph_, Nov. 17, 1890.

M152 Opinion In Ireland

273 Speech at Retford, Dec. 11, 1890. _Antony and Cleopatra_, Act I. Sc.
2.

M153 Judgments In Great Britain

274 Lord Granville, Sir W. Harcourt, Mr. Arnold Morley, and myself.

M154 The Liberal Leaders
M155 The Irish Leader Obdurate

275 If anybody cares to follow all this up, he may read a speech of Mr.
Parnell's at Kells, Aug. 16, 1891, and a full reply of mine sent to
the press, Aug. 17.

M156 Mr. Parnell's Decision

276 On the day after leaving Hawarden Mr. Parnell spoke at Liverpool,
calling on Lancashire to rally to their "grand old leader." "My
countrymen rejoice," he said, "for we are on the safe path to our
legitimate freedom and our future prosperity." December 19, 1889.

277 See _The Parnell Split_, reprinted from the _Times_ in 1891.
Especially also _The Story of Room 15_, by Donal Sullivan, M.P., the
accuracy of which seems not to have been challenged.

M157 Committee Room Fifteen
M158 The Irish Bishops
M159 Break-Up Of The Irish Party

278 The case for the change of mind which induced the majority who had
elected Mr. Parnell to the chair less than a fortnight before, now
to depose him, was clearly put by Mr. Sexton at a later date. To the
considerations adduced by him nobody has ever made a serious
political answer. The reader will find Mr. Sexton's argument in the
reports of these proceedings alre