n so friendly a spirit. But the first place where we met as a
body with informal ease was at the Mansion House as guests of the Lord
Mayor--a popular figure in our assembly.

Next day the Lord Mayor of Belfast rose at the adjournment to express
all our thanks, and to insist that there should be a session in Belfast,
where he could return the compliment. Immediately, there came another
proposal for a similar visit to the South of Ireland. We went to Belfast
at the beginning of September, and the attitude of the Ulster members,
which had till then been somewhat guarded and aloof, changed into that
of the traditional Irish hospitality. They showed us their great linen
mills and other huge manufactories; they showed us the shipyards, in
which the frames of monster ships lay cradled in gigantic gantries,
works of architecture as wonderful in their vast symmetry as any
cathedral, and having the beauty which goes with any perfect design
combining lightness and strength. Perhaps the most impressive sight of
all was the disbandment of workmen from the yards. Endless lines of
empty tramcars drawn up on the quay awaited the turn-out of some ten
thousand artisans, who streamed past where we stood assembled; and as
the crowds swept along, all these eyes, curious, but not unfriendly,
scrutinized us, and one word was in all their mouths as they came
up--"Which is Redmond? Where's John Redmond?"

A fortnight later Cork completed what Belfast had begun; and, perhaps
because Cork is less strenuous, the whole atmosphere there was even
friendlier. It had almost the quality of a holiday excursion, for we
assisted at the ancient ceremony by which the Lord Mayor of Cork asserts
his jurisdiction over the harbour waters--proceeding outside the
protecting headlands and flinging from him a ceremonial dart outwards to
the sea. This day, however, we accomplished the ceremony well within the
limits; we passed the narrow gateway in the chain of mines, but outside
that, submarines were a very real menace, and the Admiralty cut short
our steamer's voyage. We were none the less festive on board.

It was not all mere holiday in Cork. One speech in particular at this
meeting impressed the whole Convention. A Southern delegate illustrated
from his personal knowledge how cumbrous and uneconomic were the
dealings of a government at Westminster with the meat supply from
Ireland; and a mass of complicated and important trade detail was
skilfully linked to th