uneasiness about the state of
Ireland.

In the middle of October (1885) Lord Randolph Churchill visited the
viceroy in Dublin, and found him, as he afterwards said, extremely anxious
and alarmed at the growing power of the National League. Yet the viceroy
was not so anxious and alarmed as to prevent Lord Randolph from saying at
Birmingham a month after, on November 20, that up to the present time
their decision to preserve order by the same laws as in England had been
abundantly justified, and that on the whole crime and outrage had greatly
diminished. This was curious, and shows how tortuous was the crisis. Only
a fortnight later the cabinet met (December 2), and heard of the
extraordinary development and unlimited resources of the league. All the
rest of the month of December,--so the public were by and by informed,--the
condition of Ireland was the subject of the most anxious consideration.
With great deliberation, a decision was at length reached. It was that
ordinary law had broken down, and that exceptional means of repression
were indispensable. Then a (M103) serious and embarrassing incident
occurred. Lord Carnarvon "threw up the government of Ireland," and was
followed by Sir William Hart Dyke, the chief secretary.(171) A measure of
coercion was prepared, its provisions all drawn in statutory form, but who
was to warrant the necessity for it to parliament?(172)

Though the viceroy's retirement was not publicly known until the middle of
January, yet so early as December 17 the prime minister had applied to Mr.
Smith, then secretary of state for war, to undertake the duties of Irish
government.(173) This was one of the sacrifices that no man of public
spirit can ever refuse, and Mr. Smith, who had plenty of public spirit,
became Irish secretary. Still when parliament assembled more than a month
after Lord Salisbury's letter to his new chief secretary, no policy was
announced. Even on the second night of the session Mr. Smith answered
questions for the war office. The parliamentary mystification was
complete. Who, where, and what was the Irish government?

The parliamentary session was rapidly approaching, and Mr. Gladstone had
good information of the various quarters whence the wind was blowing.
Rumours reached him (January 9) from the purlieus of Parliament Street,
that general words of confidence in the government would be found in the
Queen's Speech. Next he was told of the report that an amendment would be