Till- AliRAKI -KM OF 1903. 



reover, the United States did not take the 



uterest as formerly in Irish afta ieir 



had grown much frir-mllier; 



ontrilmtiuns to the Irish Parliamentary 



rould not, in spite of the collection- 



s vigorously undertaken by Irish poli- 



^ed to the old figure. The breach 



Parnell's tall had made in the Irish party 



hdd never been fully healed, loudly though the 



unity of the pa | now proclaimed. Personal 



orness between the various fractions had 



increased in proportion as the differences on 



matters of principle grew more insignificant. 



The great opportunity, longed for by generation 



after generation, when England should be 



entangled in a dangerous foreign crisis, had 



passed away unutilized. The deeds of the Irish 



vjade in the Transvaal war had done no serious 



in to the position of England, while the Irish 



regiments in the Br rmy had done more 



duty, and the leaders of the Celtic 



people had been wise enough to give to the 



e of the Boers a purely moral support. 



The Irish landlord too had become a wiser 



man. He saw that his role as a feudal magnate 



had been played to the end. He shuddered to 



think of the moment when, at the end of another 



en years' term, the Land Court would again 



reduce his rent. That Ireland must become a 



pea ul has long been clear to all eyes. 



Already, in the year 1898, Gerald Balfour had 



drawn the necessary adi .live conclusions, 



