has been trying to make a treaty all to himself. It must fail.'

No such treaty was made, and on the eve of the General Election of
November, 1885, Parnell issued an instruction that the Irish in England
should vote Tory.

'On Tuesday, November 24th, our poll took place in Chelsea, and on
Wednesday, November 25th, the count, which showed that I was
returned, although only by a small majority.... The Irish had voted
for Whitmore, the Conservative candidate, my opponent, in
consequence of the issue at the last moment of the bill, "Mr.
Parnell's order--Vote for the Conservative, Mr. Whitmore. Irishmen,
do your duty and obey your leader."'

'I had been summoned by Chamberlain, who desired a meeting of our
party within the party, in a letter in which he said:

'"It does not look as if the Tories would have the chance of doing
much mischief; but I should much like them to be in for a couple of
years before we try again, and then I should 'go for the Church.'"'

Dilke notes that Chamberlain was persuaded to drop this line of attack,
on which he had already embarked. Disestablishment of the Church of
England had proved to be anything but a good election cry; the ransom
doctrine had not brought in more votes than it lost; and the 366 certain
Liberal seats with twenty-six doubtful ones which Mr. Schnadhorst
counted up at the end of October were now an illusion of the past. The
election was generally taken as a set-back to the extreme Radicals.

'On Saturday, December 5th, we met at Highbury, and remained in