Thus began the foul attempt to exterminate Mr O’Brien’s friends, who, be it noted, were still members of the Irish Party, against whom no crime was alleged or any charge of Party disloyalty preferred.  The funds of the League, its organisers and its executive machinery, instead of being used for the advancement of the Irish movement along constitutional lines, were brutally directed to the political execution of Mr O’Brien’s friends, who, now that he had gone for good, and was reported to be in that state of physical breakdown which would prevent him from ever again taking an active part in Irish affairs, were supposed to be at the mercy of the big “pots” and their big battalions.

Mr Maurice Healy, who had been elected for Cork City by an overwhelming majority over the nominee of “the leaders” after Mr O’Brien’s retirement, was unconstitutionally and improperly refused admission to the Party, although he was quite prepared to sign the pledge to sit, act, and vote with it.  There was scarcely a thing wrong they could do which these blind leaders of the blind did not clumsily attempt at this juncture.  They might have shown us, whose only crime was loyalty to principle and to a policy which had been signally ratified by the repeated mandates of the people, a reasonable measure of generosity and a frank fellowship and all would be well.

But no; we had committed the cardinal offence of preferring a policy to a personality and, in famous phrase, we were marked down to “suffer for it.”  Hordes of organisers were dispatched to our constituencies to “pull the strings” against us.  I can aver, with a certain malicious satisfaction, that wherever they made their appearance in Cork, we met them and we routed them.  This may appear an ill way to conduct a political campaign, but be it remembered that we were fighting for our lives, almost resourceless, and that the aggressors had practically limitless powers, financially and otherwise.  I will mention one incident to explain many.  It was announced that Mr Redmond was to speak at Banteer, on the borders of my constituency.  I could not allow that challenge to pass unnoticed without surrendering ground which it would be impossible to recover; and so I took the earliest opportunity of proclaiming that if Mr Redmond came to Banteer my friends and I would be there to meet him.  He never came!  Meanwhile through a private source—­for none of his colleagues were in communication with him—­Mr O’Brien heard of the nefarious attempts that were being made to exterminate his friends and he broke silence for the first time since his retirement by despatching the following message to the Press Association:—­

“If these people are wise they will drop their campaign of vengeance against my friends.”