in a tight place.

[Illustration: Weighed down with Thought.]

"You go to him," says PARNELL, "and demand certain pledges on Home
Rule scheme. If he does not consent, he will be in a hole; threatened
with loss of Irish Vote. You will be in a dilemma, as you cannot then
side with him against me, the real friend of Ireland; whilst I shall
be confirmed in my position as the only possible Leader of the Party.
If, on the contrary, this unrivalled sophist is drawn into anything
like a declaration that will satisfy you in the face of the Irish
People, he will be hopelessly embarrassed with his English friends;
I shall have paid off an old score, and can afford to retire from the
Leadership, certain that in a few months the Irish People will clamour
for the return of the man who showed that, if only he could serve
them, he was ready to sacrifice his personal position and advantages.
Don't, Gentlemen, let us, at a crisis like this, descend to topics of
mere personality. In spite of what has passed at this table, I should
like to shield my honourable friends, Mr. TIMOTHY HEALY, Mr. SEXTON,
and that _beau idéal_ of an Irish Member, Mr. JUSTIN McCARTHY,
from references, of a kind peculiarly painful to them, to certain
proceedings in a court of law with respect to which I will, before I
sit down, say this, that, if all the facts were known, they would be
held absolutely free from imputation of irregularity."

General cheering greeted this speech. Members shook hands all round,
and nominated Committee to go off and make things hot for Mr. G.
_Business done_.--In British House Prince ARTHUR expounded Scheme for
Relief of Irish Distress.