ls. The rejection of the Budget by the Lords was made the real
issue before the electors, and little was heard of Home Rule, either
on the platform or in the Press. True, Mr Asquith made a vague and
non-committal reference to it at the Albert Hall on the eve of the
election, but the Liberal candidates, with extraordinary unanimity,
fought shy of it in every constituency, except where there was a
considerable Irish vote to be played up to, and one of the Liberal
Party Whips even went so far as to declare there was no Home Rule
engagement at all. Far different was it in other days, when Parnell
was in power. He would have pinned the Party to whom he was giving his
support down to a written compact, which could not be broken without
dishonour, and he would leave nothing to the mere emergencies and
expediencies of politics, which are only the gambler's dice in a
devil's game.

But the men of lesser calibre who had now the destiny of a nation in
their hands "trusted" in the good faith of the Liberals and in return
asked the country to "trust" them. There never was such a puckish game
played in history. Criticism was stifled and the people were told, and
no doubt in their innocence believed it, that Home Rule was already as
good as carried and that the dream of all the years was come true. Mr
Dillon was audaciously flying the flag of "Boer Home Rule as a
minimum," although he had not a scrap of authority or a line of
sanction for his pronouncements.

It seemed as if every friend of Mr O'Brien was to go under in the
campaign of opposition that was being elaborately carried out against
them. Our constituencies were swarming with paid organisers and men
and money galore were pouring in from outside, so that our downfall
and defeat should be made an absolute certainty.

It was in this crisis that the generous spirit of Mr O'Brien impelled
him to come to our assistance. For my own part I never had a doubt
that when the hour struck the champion of so many noble causes would
be found once again stoutly defending the men who had staked all for
the sake of principle, but who, without his aid, must be mercilessly
thrown to the wolves. We were in a most benighted state, without any
trace of organisation of our own (except that I had the Land and
Labour Association unflinchingly on my side), without any newspaper to
report our speeches, and with only the bravest of the brave to come
upon our platforms and say a good word for us. The o