L200

l200, or a capital of l4000, elected for ten years by l25 occupiers, were to constitute the first order. the second was to have 204 members returned for five years by the usual parliamentary electorate. the status of the lord-lieutenant was unalterable by this legislature. holders of judicial offices and permanent civil servants had the option of retiring with pensions, but the constabulary, whom the home rulers had openly threatened to punish when their time came, were to come after an interval under the power of the irish parliament. parnell accepted the bill, but without enthusiasm. the government of ireland bill gave no protection to landowners, but as the crisis was mainly agrarian, it would have been hardly decent to make no show of considering them. a land purchase bill was accordingly introduced on the 16th of april by the prime minister under "an obligation of honour and policy," to use his own words. fifty millions sterling in three years was proposed as payment for what had been officially undervalued at 113 millions. it was assumed that there would be a rush to sell, the choice apparently lying between that and confiscation, and priority was to be decided by lot. the irish landlords, however, showed no disposition to sell their country, and the purchase bill was quickly dropped, though gladstone had declared the two measures to be inseparable. he reminded the landlords that the "sands were running in the hour-glass," but this threat had no effect. the unionists of ireland had been taken by surprise, and out of ulster they had no organization capable of opposing the national league and the government combined. individuals went to england and spoke wherever they could get a hearing, but it was uphill work. in ulster the orange lodges were always available, and the large protestant population made itself felt. terrible riots took place at belfast in june, july and august. in october there was an inquiry by a royal commission with mr justice day at its head, and on the report being published in the following january there were fresh riots. foolish and criminal as these disturbances were, they served to remind the english people that ireland would not cease to be troublesome under home rule. in parliament the home rule bill soon got into rough water; john bright declared against it. the "dissentient liberals," as gladstone always called them, were not converted by the abandonment of the purchase bill, and on the 7th of june 93 of them voted against the second reading, which was lost by 30 votes. a general election followed in july, and 74 liberal unionists were returned, forming with the conservatives a unionist party, which outnumbered gladstonians and parnellites together by over a hundred. gladstone resigned, and lord salisbury became prime minister, with lord londonderry as lord-lieutenant and sir m. hicks-beach (afterwards lord st aldwyn) as chief secretary. the "plan of campaign." the political stroke having failed, agrarianism again occupied the ground. the "plan of campaign" was started, against parnell's wishes, towards the end of 1886. the gist of this movement was that tenants should offer what they were pleased to consider a fair rent, and if it was refused, should pay the money into the hands of a committee. in march 1887 sir m. hicks-beach resigned on account of illness, and mr arthur balfour (q.v.) became chief secretary. the attempt to govern ireland under what was called "the ordinary law" was necessarily abandoned, and a perpetual crimes act was passed which enabled the lord-lieutenant to proclaim disturbed districts and dangerous associations, and substituted trial by magistrates for trial by jury in the case of certain acts of violence. in august the national league was suppressed by proclamation. the conservative instincts of the vatican were alarmed by the lawless state of ireland, and an eminent ecclesiastic, monsignor persico, arrived in the late summer on a special commission of inquiry. he made no secret of his belief that the establishment of an occupying proprietary was the only lasting cure, but the attitude of the clergy became gradually more moderate. the government passed a bill giving leaseholders the benefit of the act of 1881, and prescribing a temporary reduction upon judicial rents already fixed. this last provision was open to many great and obvious objections, but was more or less justified by the fall in prices which had taken place since 1881. the steady administration of the crimes act by mr balfour gradually quieted the country. parnell had now gained the bulk of the liberal party, including lord spencer (in spite of all that he had said and done) and sir g. trevelyan (in spite of his hawick speech). in the circumstances the best chance for home rule was not to stir the land question. cecil rhodes, hoping to help imperial federation, gave parnell l10,000 for the cause. in september 1887 a riot arising out of the "plan of campaign" took place at mitchelstown. the police fired, and two lives were lost, mr henry labouchere and mr (afterwards sir john) brunner, both members of parliament, being present at the time. the coroner's jury brought in a verdict against the police, but that was a matter of course, and the government ignored it. a telegram sent by gladstone a little later, ending with the words "remember mitchelstown," created a good deal of feeling, but it did the home rulers no good. in october mr chamberlain visited ulster, where he was received with enthusiasm, and delivered several stirring unionist speeches. in november lord hartington and mr goschen were in dublin, and addressed a great loyalist meeting there. parnell commission. in july 1888 an act was passed appointing a commission, consisting of sir james hannen, mr justice day and mr justice a. l. smith, to inquire into certain charges made by _the times_ against parnell and his party. what caused most excitement was the publication by _the times_ on the 15th of may 1887 of a _facsimile_ letter purporting to have been written by parnell on the 15th of may 1882, nine days after the phoenix park murders. the writer of this letter suggested that his open condemnation of the murders had been a matter of expediency, and that burke deserved his fate. parnell at once declared that this was a forgery, but he did nothing more at the time. other alleged incriminating letters followed. the case of _o'donnell_ v. _walter_, tried before the lord chief justice of england in july 1888, brought matters to a head, and the special commission followed. the proceedings were necessarily of enormous length, and the commissioners did not report until the 13th of february 1890, but the question of the letters was decided just twelve months earlier, richard pigott, who shot himself at madrid, having confessed to the forgeries. a few days later, on the 8th of march 1889, parnell was entertained at dinner by the eighty club, lords spencer and rosebery being present; and he was well received on english platforms when he chose to appear. yet the special commission shed a flood of light on the agrarian and nationalist movement in ireland. eight members of parliament were pronounced by name to have conspired for the total political separation of the two islands. the whole party were proved to have disseminated newspapers tending to incite to sedition and the commission of crime, to have abstained from denouncing the system of intimidation, and to have compensated persons injured in committing crime. (see parnell.) new tipperary. the conduct of the agrarian war had in the meantime almost passed from parnell's hands. the "plan of campaign" was not his work, still less its latest and most remarkable exploit. to punish mr smith-barry (afterwards lord barrymore) for his exertions in favour of a brother landlord, his tenants in tipperary were ordered to give up their holdings. a sum of l50,000 was collected to build "new tipperary," and the fine shops and flourishing concerns in the town were deserted to avoid paying small ground-rents. the same course was pursued with the farmers, some of whom had large capitals invested. mr william o'brien presided at the inaugural dinner on the 12th of april, and some english m.p.'s were present, but his chief supporter throughout was father humphreys. parnell was invited, but neither came nor answered. no shopkeeper nor farmer had any quarrel with his landlord. "heretofore," a tenant wrote in _the times_ in the following december, "people were boycotted for taking farms; i am boycotted for not giving up mine, which i have held for twenty-five years. a neighbour of mine, an englishman, is undergoing the same treatment, and we alone. we are the only protestant tenants on the cashel estate. the remainder of the tenants, about thirty, are clearing everything off their land, and say they will allow themselves to be evicted." in the end the attack on mr smith-barry completely failed, and he took back his misguided tenants. but the town of tipperary has not recovered its old prosperity. land purchase. the principal irish measure passed in 1891 was mr balfour's purchase act, to extend and modify the operation of the ashbourne acts. l30,000,000 were provided to convert tenants into proprietors, the instalments paid being again available, so that all the tenanted land in ireland might ultimately be passed through if desired. the land itself in one shape or another formed the security, and guaranteed stock was issued which the holder might exchange for consols. the 40th clause of the land act of 1896 greatly stimulated the creation of occupying owners in the case of over-incumbered estates, but solvent landlords were not in a hurry to sell. the interests of the tenant were so carefully guarded that the prices obtainable were ruinous to the vendor unless he had other resources. the security of the treasury was also so jealously scrutinized that even the price which the tenant might be willing to pay was often disallowed. thus the land commission really fixed the price of all property, and the last vestige of free contract was obliterated. compulsory purchase became a popular cry, especially in ulster. owners, however, could not with any pretence of justice be forced to sell at ruinous prices, nor tenants be forced to give more than they thought fair. if the state, for purposes of its own, insisted upon expropriating all landlords, it was bound to find the difference, or to enter upon a course of undisguised confiscation. the purchase act was not the only one relied on by mr balfour. the light railways act, passed by him in 1890, did much to open up some of the poorest parts of the west, and the temporary scarcity of that year was dealt with by relief works. parnell's downfall. an action begun by parnell against _the times_ was settled by the payment of a substantial sum. the nationalist leader seemed to stand higher than ever, but the writ in the divorce proceedings, brought by captain o'shea against his wife, with the irish leader as co-respondent, was hanging over him. to public astonishment, when the case came on for trial there was no defence, and on the 17th of november 1890 a decree nisi was granted. parnell's subsequent marriage with the respondent before a registrar did him no good with his roman catholic supporters. the irish bishops remained silent, while in england the "nonconformist conscience" revolted. three days after the verdict a great meeting was held in the leinster hall, dublin, attended by 25 members of the irish parliamentary party. the result was an enthusiastic vote of confidence in parnell, moved by mr justin m'carthy and seconded by mr t. m. healy. five days later he was unanimously re-elected chairman by his party in parliament, but the meeting was scarcely over when gladstone's famous letter to mr morley became public. the writer in effect demanded parnell's resignation of the leadership as the condition upon which he could continue at the head of the liberal party. he had to choose between the nonconformist vote and the irish leader, and he preferred the former. next day the secession of the irish members from their chief began. long and acrimonious debates followed in committee-room 15, and on the 6th of december parnell was left in the chair with only 26 supporters. the majority of 45 members--anti-parnellites, as they came to be called--went into another room, unanimously deposed him, and elected mr justin m'carthy in his place. parnell then began a campaign as hopeless as that of napoleon after leipzig. he seized the office of _united ireland_ in person. the fenian element was with him, as he admitted, but the clergy were against him, and the odds were too great, especially against a protestant politician. his candidate in a by-election at kilkenny was beaten by nearly two to one, and he himself was injured in the eyes by lime being thrown at him. similar defeats followed at sligo and carlow. he went over to france to meet messrs dillon and o'brien, who had not yet taken sides, but nothing was agreed to, and in the end both these former followers went against him. every saturday he went from london to dublin and addressed some sunday meeting in the country. the last was on the 27th of september. on the 6th of october 1891 he died at brighton, from the effects of a chill following on overwork and excitement. his funeral at glasnevin was attended by 200,000 people. at the general election of 1892, however, only 9 parnellites--the section which under mr john redmond remained staunch to his memory--were returned to parliament. home rule bill 1893. the "parnellite split," as it was called, proved fatal to the cause of home rule, for the nationalist party broke up into factions. no one of the sectional leaders commanded general confidence, and personal rivalries were of the bitterest kind. an important result of these quarrels was to stop the supply of american money, without which neither the land league nor the home rule agitation could have been worked. the unionist party had adopted a policy of local government for ireland while opposing legislative independence, and a bill was introduced into the house of commons by mr balfour in february 1892. the principle was affirmed by a great majority, but the measure could not then be proceeded with. at the general election in july the gladstonians and nationalists together obtained a majority of 40 over conservatives and liberal unionists. lord salisbury resigned in august, and was succeeded by gladstone, with lord houghton (afterwards earl of crewe) as lord-lieutenant and mr john morley as chief secretary. the crimes act, which had already been relaxed, was altogether suspended, and the proclamation declaring the national league illegal was revoked. the lord-lieutenant, on taking up his quarters in dublin, refused a loyal address because of its unionist tone; and in october the government issued a commission, with mr justice mathew as chairman, which had the restoration of the evicted tenants as its avowed object. two of the commissioners very shortly resigned, and the whole inquiry became somewhat farcical. it was given in evidence that out of l234,431 collected under the plan of campaign only l125,000 had been given to evicted tenants. in february 1893, on the application of the sheriff of kerry, an order from dublin castle, refusing protection, was pronounced illegal in the queen's bench, and persons issuing it were declared liable to criminal prosecution. in the same month gladstone introduced his second home rule bill, which proposed to retain 80 irish members in the imperial parliament instead of 103, but they were not to vote on any proceedings expressly confined to great britain. on the 8th of april 1886 he had told the house of commons that it "passed the wit of man" to draw a practical distinction between imperial and non-imperial affairs. on the 20th of july 1888 he informed the same assembly that there was no difficulty in doing so. it had become evident, in the meantime, to numberless englishmen that the exclusion of the irish members would mean virtual separation. the plan now proposed met with no greater favour, for a good many english home rulers had been mainly actuated all along by the wish to get the irish members out of their way. the financial provisions of the bill were objected to by the nationalists as tending to keep ireland in bondage. during the year 1892 a vast number of unionist meetings were held throughout ireland, the most remarkable being the great ulster convention in belfast, and that of the three other provinces in dublin, on the 14th and 23rd of june. on the 22nd of april 1893, the day after the second reading of the bill, the albert hall in london was filled by enthusiastic unionist delegates from all parts of ireland. next day the visitors were entertained by lord salisbury at hatfield, the duke of devonshire, mr balfour, mr goschen and mr chamberlain being present. between the second reading and the third on 1st september the government majority fell from 43 to 34. a great part of the bill was closured by what was known as the device of the "gag" without discussion, although it occupied the house of commons altogether eighty-two nights. it was thrown out by the lords by 419 to 41, and the country undoubtedly acquiesced in their action. on the 3rd of march 1894 gladstone resigned, and lord rosebery (q.v.) became prime minister. a bill to repeal the crimes act of 1887 was read a second time in the commons by 60, but went no farther. a committee on the irish land acts was closured at the end of july by the casting vote of the chairman, mr morley, and the minority refused to join in the report. the bill to restore the evicted tenants, which resulted from the mathew commission, was rejected in the lords by 249 to 30. in march 1895 mr morley introduced a land bill, but the government majority continued to dwindle. another crimes act repeal bill passed the second reading in may by only 222 to 208. in july, however, the government were defeated on the question of the supply of small-arms ammunition. a general election followed, which resulted in a unionist majority of 150. the liberal unionists, whose extinction had once been so confidently foretold, had increased from 46 to 71, and the parnellites, in spite of the most violent clerical opposition, from 9 to 12. lord cadogan became lord-lieutenant of ireland, and mr gerald balfour--who announced a policy of "killing home rule by kindness"--chief secretary. land act 1896. in the session of 1896 a new land act was added to the statute-book. the general effect was to decide most disputed points in favour of the tenants, and to repeal the exceptions made by former acts in the landlord's favour. dairy farms, to mention only a few of the most important points which had been hitherto excluded, were admitted within the scope of the land acts, and purely pastoral holdings of between l50 and l100 were for the first time included. a presumption of law in the tenant's favour was created as to improvements made since 1850. the 40th clause introduced the principle of compulsory sale to the tenants of estates in the hands of receivers. the tendency of this provision to lower the value of all property was partly, but only partly, neutralized by the firmness of the land judge. the landlords of ireland, who had made so many sacrifices and worked so hard to return lord salisbury to power, felt that the measure was hardly what they had a right to expect from a unionist administration. in their opinion it unsettled the agricultural mind, and encouraged judicial tenants to go to law at the expiration of the first fifteen years' term instead of bargaining amicably with their landlords. financial relations. in the autumn of this year was published the report of the royal commission on the financial relations between england and ireland. mr hugh c. e. childers was the original chairman of this commission, which was appointed in 1894 with the object of determining the fiscal contribution of ireland under home rule, and after his death in 1896 the o'conor don presided. the report--or rather the collection of minority reports--gave some countenance to those who held that ireland was overtaxed, and there was a strong agitation on the subject, in which some irish unionists joined without perceiving the danger of treating the two islands as "separate entities." no individual irishman was taxed on a higher scale than any corresponding citizen of great britain. no tax, either on commodities or property, was higher in ireland than in england. the alleged grievance was, however, exploited to the utmost extent by the nationalist party. in 1897 a royal commission, with sir edward fry as chairman, was appointed to inquire into the operation of the land acts. voluminous evidence was taken in different parts of ireland, and the commissioners reported in the following year. the methods and procedure of the land commission were much criticized, and many recommendations were made, but no legislation followed. this inquiry proved, what few in ireland doubted, that the prices paid for occupancy interest or tenant right increased as the landlord's rent was cut down. local government act 1898. the session of 1898 was largely occupied with the discussion of a bill to establish county and district councils on the lines of the english act of 1888. the fiscal jurisdiction of grand juries, which had lasted for more than two centuries and a half, was entirely swept away. local government for ireland had always been part of the unionist programme, and the vote on the abortive bill of 1892 had committed parliament to legislation. it may, nevertheless, be doubted whether enough attention was paid to the local peculiarities of ireland, and whether english precedents were not too closely followed. in ireland the poor-rate used to be divided between landlord and tenant, except on holdings valued at l4 and under, in which the landlord paid the whole. councils elected by small farmers were evidently unfit to impose taxes so assessed. the poor-rate and the county cess, which latter was mostly paid by the tenants, were consolidated, and an agricultural grant of l730,000 was voted by parliament in order to relieve both parties. the consolidated rate was now paid by the occupier, who would profit by economy and lose by extravagance. the towns gained nothing by the agricultural grant, but union rating was established for the first time. the net result of the county council elections in the spring of 1899 was to displace, except in some northern counties, nearly all the men who had hitherto done the local business. nationalist pledges were exacted, and long service as a grand juror was an almost certain bar to election. the irish gentry, long excluded, as landlords and unionists, from political life, now felt to a great extent that they had no field for activity in local affairs. the new councils very generally passed resolutions of sympathy with the boers in the south african war. the one most often adopted, though sometimes rejected as too mild, was that of the limerick corporation, hoping "that it may end in another majuba hill." efforts not wholly unsuccessful were made to hinder recruiting in ireland, and every reverse or repulse of british arms was greeted with nationalist applause. the scheme for a roman catholic university--of which mr arthur balfour, speaking for himself and not for the government, made himself a prominent champion--was much canvassed in 1899, but it came to nothing. it had not been forgotten that this question wrecked the liberal party in 1874. board of agriculture. the chief irish measure of 1899 was an agricultural and technical instruction act, which established a new department (see the section _economics_ above) with the chief secretary at its head and an elaborate system of local committees. considerable funds were made available, and mr (afterwards sir) horace plunkett, who as an independent conservative member had been active in promoting associations for the improvement of irish methods in this direction, became the first vice-president. the new county councils were generally induced to further attempts at technical instruction and to assist them out of the rates, but progress in this direction was necessarily slow in a country where organized industries have hitherto been so few. in agriculture, and especially in cattle-breeding, improvement was formerly due mainly to the landlords, who had now been deprived by law of much of their power. the gap has been partly filled by the new department, and a good deal has been done. some experience has been gained not only through the voluntary associations promoted by sir h. plunkett, but also from the congested districts board founded under the land purchase act of 1891. this board has power within the districts affected by it to foster agriculture and fisheries, to enlarge holdings, and to buy and hold land. in march 1899 it had from first to last laid out a little more than half a million. the principal source of income was a charge of l41,250 a year upon the irish church surplus, but the establishment expenses were paid by parliament. 1900. at the opening of the session in january 1900 there was a formal reconciliation of the dillonite, healyite, and redmondite or parnellite factions. it was evident from the speeches made on the occasion that there was not much cordiality between the various leaders, but the outward solidarity of the party was calculated to bring in renewed subscriptions both at home and from america. it was publicly agreed that england's difficulty in south africa was ireland's opportunity, and that all should abstain from supporting an amendment to the address which admitted that the war would have to be fought out. mr john redmond was chosen chairman, and the alliance of nationalists and gladstonian liberals was dissolved. the united irish league, founded in mayo in 1898 by mr william o'brien, had recently become a sort of rival to the parliamentary party, its avowed object being to break up the great grass farms, and its methods resembling those of the old land league. the most striking event, however, in ireland in the earlier part of 1900 was queen victoria's visit. touched by the gallantry of the irish regiments in south africa, and moved to some extent, no doubt, by the presence of the duke of connaught in dublin as commander-in-chief, the queen determined in april to make up for the loss of her usual spring holiday abroad by paying a visit to ireland. the last time the queen had been in dublin was in 1861 with the prince consort. since then, besides the visit of the prince and princess of wales in 1885, prince albert victor and prince george of wales had visited ireland in 1887, and the duke and duchess of york (afterwards prince and princess of wales) in 1897; but the lack of any permanent royal residence and the long-continued absence of the sovereign in person had aroused repeated comment. directly the announcement of the queen's intention was made the greatest public interest was taken in the project. shortly before st patrick's day the queen issued an order which intensified this interest, that irish soldiers might in future wear a sprig of shamrock in their headgear on this national festival. for some years past the "wearing of the green" had been regarded by the army authorities as improper, and friction had consequently occurred, but the queen's order put an end in a graceful manner to what had formerly been a grievance. the result was that st patrick's day was celebrated in london and throughout the empire as it never had been before, and when the queen went over to dublin at the beginning of april she was received with the greatest enthusiasm. the general election later in the year made no practical difference in the strength of parties, but mr george wyndham took mr gerald balfour's place as chief secretary, without a seat in the cabinet. both before and after the election the united irish league steadily advanced, fresh branches continually springing up. recent years. the visit of mr redmond and others to america in 1901 was not believed to have brought in much money, and the activity of the league was more or less restrained by want of funds. boycotting, however, became rife, especially in sligo, and paid agents also promoted an agitation against grass farms in tipperary, clare and other southern counties. in roscommon there was a strike against rent, especially on the property of lord de freyne. this was due to the action of the congested districts board in buying the dillon estate and reducing all the rents without consulting the effect upon others. it was argued that no one else's tenants could be expected to pay more. some prosecutions were undertaken, but the government was much criticized for not using the special provisions of the crimes act; and in april 1902 certain counties were "proclaimed" under it. in february 1902 lord rosebery definitely repudiated home rule, and steps to oppose his followers were at once taken among irish voters in english constituencies. lord cadogan resigned the viceroyalty in july 1902, and was succeeded by lord dudley. in november sir antony macdonnell (b. 1844), a member of the indian council, became under-secretary to the lord-lieutenant. during a long and successful career in india (1865-1901) sir antony had never concealed his nationalist proclivities, but his appointment, about the form of which there was nothing peculiar, was favoured by lord lansdowne and lord george hamilton, and ultimately sanctioned by mr balfour, who had been prime minister since lord salisbury's resignation in july. about the same time a conference took place in dublin between certain landlords and some members of the nationalist party, of whom mr w. o'brien was the most conspicuous. lord dunraven presided, and it was agreed to recommend a great extension of the land purchase system with a view to give the vendor as good an income as before, while decreasing the tenants' annual burden. this was attempted in mr wyndham's land purchase act of 1903, which gave the tenants a material reduction, a bonus of 12% on the purchase-money being granted to vendors from funds provided by parliament. a judicial decision made it doubtful whether this percentage became the private property of tenants for life on settled estates, but a further act passed in 1904 answered the question in the affirmative. after this the sale of estates proceeded rapidly. in march 1903 was published the report of the royal commission on irish university education appointed two years before with lord robertson as chairman, trinity college, dublin, being excluded from the inquiry. the report, which was not really unanimous, was of little value as a basis for legislation. it recommended an examining university with the queen's colleges at belfast, cork and galway, and with a new and well-endowed roman catholic college in dublin. the "devolution" question. in august was formed the irish reform association out of the wreckage of the late land conference and under lord dunraven's presidency, and it was seen that sir a. macdonnell took a great interest in the proceedings. besides transferring private bill legislation to dublin on the scottish plan, to which no one in ireland objected, it was proposed to hand over the internal expenditure of ireland to a financial council consisting half of nominated and half of elected members, and to give an irish assembly the initiative in public irish bills. this policy, which was called devolution, found little support anywhere, and was ultimately repudiated both by mr wyndham and by mr balfour. but a difficult parliamentary crisis, caused by irish unionist suspicions on the subject, was only temporarily overcome by mr wyndham's resignation in march 1905. mr walter long succeeded him. one of the chief questions at issue was the position actually occupied by sir antony macdonnell. the new chief secretary, while abstaining from displacing the under-secretary, whose encouragement of "devolution" had caused considerable commotion among unionists, announced that he considered him as on the footing of an ordinary and subordinate civil servant, but mr wyndham had said that he was "invited by me rather as a colleague than as a mere under-secretary to register my will," and lord lansdowne that he "could scarcely expect to be bound by the narrow rules of routine which are applicable to an ordinary member of the civil service." while mr long remained in office no further complication arose, but in 1906 (sir a. macdonnell being retained in office by the liberal government) his nationalist leanings again became prominent, and the responsibility of the unionist government in introducing him into the irish administration became a matter of considerable heart-burning among the unionist party. mr balfour resigned in december 1905 and was succeeded by sir henry campbell-bannerman, lord aberdeen becoming lord-lieutenant for the second time, with mr james bryce as chief secretary. the general election at the beginning of 1906 was disastrous to the unionist party, and the liberal government secured an enormous majority. mr walter long, unseated at bristol, had made himself very popular among irish unionists, and a seat was found him in the constituency of south dublin. speaking in august 1906 he raised anew the macdonnell question and demanded the production of all correspondence connected with the under-secretary's appointment. sir a. macdonnell at once admitted through the newspapers that he had in his possession letters (rumoured to be "embarrassing" to the unionist leaders) which he might publish at his own discretion; and the discussion as to how far his appointment by mr wyndham had prejudiced the unionist cause was reopened in public with much bitterness, in view of the anticipation of further steps in the home rule direction by the liberal ministry. in 1908 sir antony resigned and was created a peer as baron macdonnell. soon after the change of government in 1906 a royal commission, with ex-lord justice fry as chairman, was appointed to investigate the condition of trinity college, dublin, and another under lord dudley to inquire into the question of the congested districts. mr bryce being appointed ambassador to washington, mr birrell faced the session of 1907 as chief secretary. before he left office mr bryce publicly sketched a scheme of his own for remodelling irish university education, but his scheme was quietly put on the shelf by his successor and received almost universal condemnation. mr birrell began by introducing a bill for the establishment of an irish council, which would have given the home rulers considerable leverage, but, to the surprise of the english liberals, it was summarily rejected by a nationalist convention in dublin, and was forthwith abandoned. the extreme party of sinn fein ("ourselves alone") were against it because of the power it gave to the government officials, and the roman catholic clergy because it involved local control of primary education, which would have imperilled their position as managers. an evicted tenants bill was however passed at the end of the session, which gave the estates commissioners unprecedented powers to take land compulsorily. in the late summer and autumn, agitation in ireland (led by mr ginnell, m.p.) took the form of driving cattle off large grass farms, as part of a campaign against what was known as "ranching." this reckless and lawless practice extended to several counties, but was worst in galway and roscommon. the government was determined not to use the crimes act, and the result was that offenders nearly always went unpunished, benches of magistrates being often swamped by the chairmen of district councils who were _ex officio_ justices under the act of 1898. the general election of 1910 placed the liberal and unionist parties in a position of almost exact equality in the house of commons, and it was at once evident that the nationalists under mr redmond's leadership would hold the balance of power and control the fortunes of mr asquith's government. a small body of "independent nationalists," led by mr william o'brien and mr t. m. healy, voiced the general dislike in ireland of the budget of 1909, the rejection of which by the house of lords had precipitated the dissolution of parliament. but although this band of free-lances was a menace to mr redmond's authority and to the solidarity of the "pledge-bound" irish parliamentary party, the two sections did not differ in their desire to get rid of the "veto" of the house of lords, which they recognized as the standing obstacle to home rule, and which it was the avowed policy of the government to abolish. bibliography.--ancient: the _annals of the four masters_, ed. j. o'donovan (1851), compiled in donegal under charles i., gives a continuous account of celtic ireland down to 1616. the independent _annals of lough ce_ (rolls series) end with 1590. the _topographia and expugnatio_ of giraldus cambrensis (rolls series) are chiefly valuable for his account of the anglo-norman invaders and for descriptions of the country. sir j. t. gilbert's _viceroys of ireland_ (dublin, 1865) gives a connected view of the feudal establishment to the accession of henry viii. the _calendar of documents relating to ireland_ in the public record office extends from 1171 to 1307. christopher pembridge's _annals from 1162 to 1370_ were published by william camden and reprinted in sir j. t. gilbert's _chartularies of st mary's abbey_ (dublin, 1884). _the annals of clyn, dowling and grace_ have been printed by the irish archaeological society and the celtic society. for the 16th century see volumes ii. and iii. of the _printed state papers_ (1834), and the _calendars of state papers, ireland_, including that of the carew mss. 1515 to 1603. see also richard stanihurst's _chronicle_, continued by john hooker, which is included in holinshed's _chronicles_; e. spenser, _view of the state of ireland_, edited by h. morley (1890); fynes moryson, _history of ireland_ (1735); thomas stafford, _pacata hibernia_ (1810); and r. bagwell, _ireland under the tudors_ (1885-1890). for the 17th century see the _calendars of irish state papers, 1603-1665_ (dublin, 1772); _strafford letters_, edited by w. knowler (1739): thomas carte, _life of ormonde_ (1735-1736), and _ormonde papers_ (1739); roger boyle, earl of orrery, _state letters_ (1743); the _contemporary history of affairs in ireland, 1641-1652_ (1879-1880), and _history of the irish confederation and the war in ireland, 1641-1649_ (1882-1891), both edited by sir j. t. gilbert; edmund ludlow's _memoirs_, edited by c. h. firth (1894); the _memoirs_ of james touchet, earl of castlehaven (1815); and _cromwell's letters and speeches_, edited by t. carlyle (1904). see also j. p. prendergast, _the cromwellian settlement of ireland_ (1870); denis murphy, _cromwell in ireland_ (1885): m. a. hickson, _ireland in the 17th century_ (1884); sir john temple, _history of the irish rebellion_ (1812); p. walsh, _history of the remonstrance_ (1674); george story, _impartial history of the wars of ireland_ (1693); thomas witherow, _derry and enniskillen_ (1873); philip dwyer, _siege of derry_ (1893); lord macaulay, _history of england_; and s. r. gardiner, _history of england, 1603-1656_. further writings which may be consulted are: _the embassy in ireland of rinuccini, 1645-1649_, translated from the italian by a. hutton (1873); sir william petty's _down survey_, edited by t. a. larcom (1851), and his _economic writings_, edited by c. h. hull (1899); charles o'kelly's _macariae excidium_, edited by j. c. o'callaghan (1850); and _a jacobite narrative of the war in ireland, 1688-91_, edited by sir j. t. gilbert (1892). for the 18th century j. a. froude's _english in ireland_ and w. e. h. lecky's _history of england_ cover the whole ground. see also the _letters 1724-1738_ of archbishop hugh boulter, edited by g. faulkner (1770); the _works_ of dean swift; john campbell's _philosophical survey of ireland_ (1778); arthur young's _tour in ireland_ (1780); henry grattan's _life of the right hon. henry grattan_ (1839-1846); the _correspondence_ of the marquess cornwallis, edited by c. ross (1859); wolfe tone's _autobiography_, edited by r. b. o'brien (1893); and r. r. madden's _united irishmen_ (1842-1846). for the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century see the _annual register_; r. m. martin, _ireland before and after the union_ (1848); sir t. wyse, _historical sketch of the late catholic association_ (1829); g. l. smyth, _ireland, historical and statistical_ (1844-1849); sir c. e. trevelyan, _the irish crisis_ (1880); n. w. senior, _journals, conversations and essays relating to ireland_ (1868); sir g. c. lewis, _on local disturbances in ireland and on the irish church question_ (1836); john morley, _life of w. e. gladstone_; lord fitzmaurice, _life of lord granville_ (1905); and r. barry o'brien, _life of parnell_ (1898). other authorities are isaac butt, _irish federalism_ (1870); h. o. arnold-forster, _the truth about the land league_ (1883); a. v. dicey, _england's case against home rule_ (1886); w. e. gladstone, _history of an idea_ (1886), and a reply to this by j. e. webb entitled _the queen's enemies in america_ (1886); and mrs e. lynn linton, _about ireland_ (1890). see also the _report of the parnell special commission_ (1890); the _report_ of the bessborough commission (1881), of the richmond commission (1881), of the cowper commission (1887), and of the mathew commission (1893), and the _report_ of the congested districts board (1899). for the church in ireland see: henry cotton, _fasti ecclesiae hibernicae_ (1848-1878); w. m. brady, _the episcopal succession_ (rome, 1876); r. mant, _history of the church of ireland_ (1840); j. t. ball, _the reformed church in ireland, 1537-1886_ (1886); and w. d. killen, _ecclesiastical history of ireland_ (1875). a. theiner's _vetera monumenta_ (rome, 1864) contains documents concerning the medieval church, and there are many others in ussher's works, and for a later period in cardinal moran's _spicilegium ossoriense_ (1874-1884). the _works_ of sir james ware, edited by walter harris, are generally useful, and alice s. green's _the making of ireland and its undoing_ (1908), although written from a partisan standpoint, may also be consulted. (r. ba.) footnotes: [1] the importance of the commerce between ireland and gaul in early times, and in particular the trade in wine, has been insisted upon by h. zimmer in papers in the _abh. d. berl. akad. d. wissenschaften_ (1909). [2] on the subject of ptolemy's description of ireland see articles by g. h. orpen in the _journal of the royal society of antiquaries of ireland_ (june 1894), and john macneill in the _new ireland review_ (september 1906). [3] scholars are only beginning to realize how close was the connexion between ireland and wales from early times. pedersen has recently pointed out the large number of brythonic and welsh loan words received into irish from the time of the roman occupation of britain to the beginning of the literary period. welsh writers now assume an irish origin for much of the contents of the mabinogion. [4] it seems probable that the celebrated monastery of whithorn in galloway played some part in the reform movement, at any rate in the north of ireland. findian of moville spent some years there. [5] the o'neills who played such an important part in later irish history do not take their name from niall noigiallach, though they are descended from him. they take their name from niall glundub (d. 919). [6] at this period it is extremely difficult to distinguish between norwegians and danes on account of the close connexion between the ruling families of both countries. [7] this name survives in fingall, the name of a district north of dublin city. dubgall is contained in the proper names macdougall, macdowell. [8] in anglo-norman times the scandinavians of dublin and other cities are always called ostmen, i.e. eastmen; hence the name ostmanstown, now oxmanstown, a part of the city of dublin. [9] on the name see k. meyer _erin_, iv. pp. 71-73. [10] donaban, the son of this ivar of waterford, is the ancestor of the o'donavans, donoban that of the o'donovans. [11] the term _rath_ was perhaps applied to the rampart, but both _lis_ and _rath_ are used to denote the whole structure. [12] see d'arbois de jubainville, _revue celtique_, xxv. 1 ff., 181 ff. [13] the whole question is discussed by mr j. h. round in his article on "the pope and the conquest of ireland" (_commune of london_, 1899, pp. 171-200), where further references will be found.