warned Butt of the hands into which he was falling may not, probably,
have been far astray as regards some of those from whom he had received
the invitation; seeing that when the organisation for Great Britain was
duly formed, John Barry, John Ryan, John Walsh, and myself were elected
on the Executive; but, at all events, Isaac Butt turned up.

Some twenty Home Rule Associations responded to the invitation by
sending delegates to the Convention. There is a remarkable contrast
between this, the first of these Conventions, and those held every year
since; for, at some of those, several hundreds of branches have been
represented--showing the growth of the organisation since 1873.

At this Manchester Convention, at which Mr. Butt presided, it was
resolved to form a central body from the existing local associations, to
be called the Home Rule Confederation of Great Britain. Isaac Butt
himself was elected the first President. I was elected the first General
Secretary, and it became my duty to find out the existing associations
which had not sent delegates to Manchester, and to invite them, as well
as those who had been represented at the present gathering, to a
supplementary convention. It was decided to hold this in Birmingham, to
complete the arrangements made in Manchester for the future working of
the organisation.

On the night of the Manchester Convention Mr. Butt was the chief speaker
at the public demonstration. Mr. John Ferguson, of Glasgow, was our
Chairman. He was a sterling Ulster Protestant Nationalist. Many used to
think he was a Scot. Indeed, I thought at one time myself he must be of
Scottish extraction at all events, there being, I thought, more Scottish
Fergusons than Irish. Speaking to him on the subject, I was reminded by
him of the Irish king, Fergus, the founder of the Scottish monarchy; and