ABSTRACT
William Ewart Gladstone had before him on November 25, 1890, the sudden prospect of the destruction of all his high hopes for Home Rule. Gladstone had seen it as a state of mind, something alive, persistent and haunting in the Irish imagination. Parnell said to Morley when they parted that Gladstone would of course have to attack him. What he meant was that he would have to attack Gladstone. Parnell was unhappily little accessible to argument or suggestion from his followers. One influence alone moved him. It was that of his mistress, who had no Irish blood and no Irish interest except her interest in Parnell’s fortunes. Opposition to his new policy from public motives was certain to be reinforced and embittered by the animosities lurking under that iron discipline. Parnell had every ground for acting with care and circumspection.
