It should in frankness be stated, however, that when during the session of 1907 the Prime Minister remarked on a certain occasion that he always thought Mr. Wyndham resigned the Chief Secretaryship in consequence of criticisms from the Orangemen below the gangway on his own side, Mr. Balfour interrupted with the remark—­“That is a complete mis-statement, and I think the right honourable gentleman must know it.”

One may well ask, in view of this, what was meant by Mr. Wyndham when, speaking on the reasons for his retirement, on May 9th, 1905, he accounted for it by the fact that “the situation in Ireland was complicated by personal misunderstandings,” producing “an atmosphere of suspicion,” which was an obvious reference, as most people supposed, to such denunciations as that of Mr. William Moore of the Chief Secretary’s “wretched, rotten, sickening policy of conciliation.”  The disingenuousness marking the whole proceeding is well shown by the fact that although on announcing Mr. Wyndham’s resignation Mr. Balfour said:—­“The ground of his resignation is not ill-health,"[23] less than a year later, when asked during the election at Manchester by a heckler to state the reason why Mr. Wyndham retired, the reply of Mr. Balfour was—­“He retired chiefly on account of health."[24]

From the correspondence which passed in March, 1906, between Lord Dudley and Sir Edward Carson, and which was published in the Press, we have the express statement from the ex-Lord Lieutenant that Mr. Balfour “never conveyed to me any intimation that he or the Government disapproved strongly or otherwise of my conduct.”

The correspondence arose over a remark made by Sir Edward Carson, to the effect that Lord Dudley had made statements both ways as to the desirability of governing Ireland according to Irish ideas.  Challenged to make good the assertion, which he declared was based on a private conversation, Sir Edward Carson went on to assert that the Viceroy had on another occasion expressed the opinion to him that Ireland should be governed through the agency of the Catholic priesthood.  This Lord Dudley denied as vehemently as he did the imputation of facing both ways, and in reply went on to write:—­

“That you should have formed an impression of that kind from any conversation with me confirms my belief that the violence of your opinions on Irish political questions make it quite impossible for you to estimate justly the standpoint of anyone whose views on such questions may be more moderate and tolerant than your own.  It is not, however, by violence and intolerance that the cause of union is best served, and my experience in Ireland has shown me very clearly that the present system of government constantly receives from its most clamorous advocates blows as heavy and as effective as any that could be dealt to it by its avowed enemies.”