It was this letter of Gladstone which set the ball rolling against Parnell.  Up till then the members of the Irish Party and the Irish people were solidly and, indeed, defiantly with him.  No doubt Michael Davitt joined with such zealots as the Rev. Mr Price Hughes and W.T.  Stead in demanding the deposition of Parnell, but one need not be uncharitable in saying that Davitt had his quarrels with Parnell—­and serious ones at that—­on the Land Question and other items of the national demand, and he was, besides, a man of impetuous temperament, not overmuch given to counting the consequences of his actions.

Then there came the famous, or infamous, according as it be viewed, struggle in Committee Room 15 of the House of Commons, when, by a majority of 45 to 29, it was finally decided to declare the chair vacant, after a battle of unusual ferocity and personal bitterness.  And now a new element of complication was added to the already sufficiently poignant tragedy by the entry of the Irish Catholic bishops on the scene.  Hitherto they had refrained, with admirable restraint, from interference, and they had done nothing to intensify the agonies of the moment.  It will always remain a matter for regret that they did not avail themselves of a great opportunity, and their own unparalleled power with the people, to mediate in the interests of peace—­whilst their mediation might still avail.  But unfortunately, with one notable exception, they united in staking the entire power of the Church on the dethronement of Parnell.  The effect was twofold.  It added fresh fury to the attacks of those who were howling for the head of their erstwhile chieftain and who were glad to add the thunderbolts of the Church to their own feebler weapons of assault; but the more permanent effect, and, indeed, the more disastrous, was the doubt it left on the minds of thousands of the best Irishmen whether there was not some malign plot in which the Church was associated with the ban-dogs of the Liberal Party for dishing Home Rule by overthrowing Parnell.  It was recalled that the Catholic priesthood, with a few glorious exceptions, stood apart from Parnell when he was struggling to give life and force to the Irish movement, and thus it came to pass that for many a bitter year the part of the Irish priest in politics was freely criticised by Catholics whose loyalty to the Church was indisputable.

Even still—­if only the temporary withdrawal of Parnell were secured—­all might have been well.  And it was to this end that the Boulogne negotiations were set on foot.  Mr William O’Brien has, perhaps, left us the most complete record of what transpired in the course of those fateful conversations.  Parnell naturally desired to get out of a delicate situation with all possible credit and honour, and his magnificent services entitled him to the utmost consideration in this respect.  He insisted on demanding guarantees from Mr Gladstone on Home Rule and the Land Question, and these given he expressed