On October 17th Chamberlain wrote 'on another letter of Mr. Gladstone's,
which I do not possess:

'"I do not think it is wise to do anything about Mr G.'s letter on
Ireland. I agree with your recollection of the matter. But Mr. G. is
not far wrong, and we have our hands full of other things. The Irish
business is not the first just now."

'About this time I was taken as arbitrator in a considerable number
of disputed candidatures, in most of which I acted by myself, and in
one, the Walworth case, with Chamberlain and John Morley.'

'I had been to see Manning, at his wish, with my wife, and he had
spoken kindly about Chamberlain, on which I wrote to Chamberlain
about him; and Chamberlain replied:

'"Our experience in the Irish Question has not been encouraging. We
understood the Cardinal cordially to approve of my scheme of
National Councils and to be ready to use his influence in any way to
promote its acceptance. On our part we were prepared to press the
question at any sacrifice, and to make the adoption of our scheme a
condition of our membership of any future Government. And yet, when
the time came to ask the Cardinal for his help, he refused
categorically so small a matter as an introduction to the Irish
Bishops, and, as I understood, on the ground that the Conservatives
were in office. Would not the same influence prevail in the matter
of education? Besides, I do not see what Cardinal Manning has to
offer. The majority of English Catholics are Conservative, and no
concession that it is in our power to make would secure their