solely the good opinion of the Irish people, and viewed with indifference the opinion of Englishmen respecting him. He entered into few details concerning his own action, but disavowed all sympathy with Patrick Ford's ‘aims and objects and programme.’ These involved the employment of dynamite, and the passage is notable as the only one in Parnell's reported speeches in which he directly expressed disapproval of the dynamite conspiracy (Report, p. 76). Forster's attack was hotly resented by the moderate party among Parnell's followers, and steps were at once taken to present him with a public testimonial. Thirty-seven thousand pounds were subscribed in Ireland and America before the end of the year; this sum was presented to him at a banquet in the Rotunda at Dublin on 11 Dec. ‘Thus,’ said Mr. Davitt, ‘had the Irish people replied to the calumnies of Mr. Forster.’
The following session of parliament (1884) was mainly devoted to the consideration of a measure for an extension of the franchise in Great Britain and Ireland. The certainty that his power would be largely increased by such legislation led Parnell to give it a general support. In December the House of Lords finally accepted the Franchise Bill on condition that a Redistribution of Seats Bill should accompany it. The number of members for Ireland remained at 103, but the electoral power was for the first time conferred on the masses of the people—the agricultural labourers and the artisans.
In January 1885 Parnell showed his power over his own followers by attending a convention of home-rulers at Thurles, when he forced the local leaders to withdraw their candidate, Mr. O'Ryan, and to accept his own nominee, Mr. John O'Connor, an extreme nationalist. In the next session of parliament Parnell awaited the decision of the government respecting their coercive legislation. The Crimes Act of 1882 was only passed for three years; but any hope that Parnell may have entertained of a change in the government's policy on the subject was dispelled on 15 May, when Mr. Gladstone announced that he proposed to renew the chief provisions of the expiring act. After this announcement Parnell nerved himself to drive the government from office. The opportunity soon came. On 8 June the tories forced an important division on the second reading of the Customs and Inland Revenue Bill, by which the beer and spirit duties were to be increased. Parnell voted with the tories, and the government were defeated by 264 votes to 252 (thirty-nine Irish members voting in the majority). Mr. Gladstone resigned immediately, and the conservative leader, Lord Salisbury, undertook to form a ministry on 13 June. Sir William Hart Dyke became chief secretary, and Lord Carnarvon, to whom the direction of Irish policy was mainly entrusted, was appointed lord lieutenant [see Herbert, Henry Molyneux, fourth Earl of Carnarvon].
Carnarvon announced that he went to Ireland to conciliate Irish sentiment as far as lay in his power, and the government took immediate steps to evince sympathy with some of Parnell's views. Ministers promptly declared their intention of allowing the Crimes Act to lapse, and the act accordingly expired on 14 Aug. An inquiry connected with the execution of men charged with murder in Ireland, which had been refused by the liberals, was now granted by the conservatives. A land purchase act, known as Lord Ashbourne's Act, was rapidly passed through all its stages, and was gratefully accepted by the Irish tenants. On 14 Aug. parliament was prorogued on the understanding that a general election was to take place in November.
During the recess the tory government continued to show an inclination to come to terms with Parnell. At the close of July Carnarvon had invited him to meet him in London. What happened at this confidential interview, which Parnell made known to the public in June 1886, was for many years a subject of controversy. According to Parnell's version, Carnarvon promised, in the event of the conservatives obtaining a majority in the House of Commons at the coming election, that they would give Ireland a statutory parliament, with the right to protect Irish industries, and that they would propose at the same time a liberal scheme of land purchase. According to Carnarvon's account, he told Parnell at the outset that he acted solely on his own responsibility, that he only sought information, and that no understanding, however shadowy, was to be deduced from the conversation. There is little doubt that Carnarvon, directly or indirectly, confided to Parnell his personal predilection for ‘some limited form of self-government, not in any way independent of imperial control, such as might satisfy real local requirements, and to some extent national aspirations.’
Events proved Carnarvon's action to have been, from a party point of view, singularly ill-advised; but it was a striking testimony to Parnell's commanding influence. The incident, combined with the kindly tone in which Carnarvon's colleagues approached
