Ireland 129 



that had fallen on the bed, after being flattened against 

 the wall. 



It was not long after this occurrence that the world 

 was startled by the terrible murder of Lord Frederick 

 Cavendish and Mr. Burke in the Phoenix Park. I may have 

 had a lucky escape from not having been with them that 

 evening, for Mr. Burke had kindly invited my wife 

 and myself to stay with him to meet Lord Frederick on 

 his arrival, and if we had gone it is probable that 

 I should have accompanied them home. An attack of 

 malarial fever prevented me from going there, just at the 

 last moment. It may be in the memory of some people 

 that the same assassins who accomplished these murders 

 had on a great many occasions attempted previously 

 the murder of Mr. Forster, whom Lord Frederick was 

 succeeding, but had invariably been frustrated in their 

 attempts. Perhaps no statesman has ever been more 

 disillusioned than was Mr. Forster. He had been employed 

 to administer the dole in the great famine of 1847-48, 

 and in his simplicity he believed that the Irish had ever 

 retained great gratitude for him, and that his very presence 

 would pacify Ireland. He was rewarded by receiving the 

 nickname of " Buckshot," and he felt this very keenly ; 

 but the bitterest blow was to find how near he had been 

 to assassination. To his credit, be it said, that he was 

 a clear-headed man, and when he once grasped the fact 

 that Ireland was practically in open rebellion, he did 

 his very utmost to use the forces that were at his dis- 

 posal, and to seek greater powers than Gladstone was 

 willing to concede. He was very fortunate, indeed, in 

 returning to England alive, for luck could not have be- 

 friended him much longer. Another friend of ours, poor 

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