1886 HOME RULE 441 



There was a time when the political madness of one 

 party was sure to be checked by the sanity, or at any 

 rate the jealousy of the other. At the last election I 

 should have voted for the Conservatives (for the first 

 time in my life) had it not been for Lord Randolph 

 Churchill ; but I thought that by thus jumping out of 

 the Gladstonian frying-pan into the Churchillian fire 

 I should not mend matters', so I abstained altogether. 



Mr. Parnell has great qualities. For the first time 

 the Irish malcontents have a leader who is not eloquent, 

 but who is honest ; who knows what he wants and 

 faces the risks involved in getting it. Our poor Right 

 Honourable Rhetoricians are no match for this man 

 who understands realities. I believe also that Mr. Parnell's 

 success will destroy the English politicians who permit 

 themselves to be his instruments, as soon as bitter 

 experience of the consequences has brought Englishmen 

 and Scotchmen (and I will add Irishmen) to their senses. 



I suppose one ought not to be sorry for that result, 

 but there are men among them over whose fall all will 

 lament. I am, yours very faithfully, T. H. HUXLEY. 



Some of the newspapers took these concluding 

 paragraphs to imply support of Parnell, so that at 

 the end of June he writes : 



The Tribune man seems to have less intelligence than 

 might be expected. I spoke approvingly of the way in 

 which Parnell had carried out his policy, which is rather 

 different from approving the policy itself. 



But these newspaper scribes don't take the trouble to 

 understand what they read. 



While at Bournemouth he also finished and sent 

 off to the Youth's Companion, an American paper, 

 an article on the evolution of certain types of the 



