No doubt, the one-man system had a tactical value, of which the English themselves were ever ready to make use.  “If all Ireland cannot rule this man, then let this man rule all Ireland,” said Henry VII. of the Earl of Kildare; and the echo of these words was heard when the Kilmainham Treaty was negotiated with the last man who wore the mantle of the chief.  But whatever may be said for the one-man system as a means of political organisation, it lacked every element of political education.  It left the people weaker, if possible, and less capable than it found them; and assuredly it was no fit training for Home Rule.  While Parnell’s genius was in the ascendant, all was well—­outwardly.  When a tragic and painful disclosure brought about a crisis in his fate, it will hardly be contended by the most devoted admirer of the Irish people that the situation was met with even moderate ability and foresight.  But the logic of events began to take effect.  The decade of dissension which followed the fall of Parnell will, perhaps, some day be recognised as a most fruitful epoch in modern Irish history.  The reaction from the one-man system set in as soon as the one man had passed away.  The independence which Parnell’s former lieutenants began to assert when the laurels faded upon the brow of the uncrowned King communicated itself to some extent to the rank and file.  The mere weighing of the merits of several possible successors led to some wholesome questioning as to the merits of the policies, such as they were, which they respectively represented The critical spirit which was now called forth, did not, at first, go very far; but it was at least constructive and marked a distinct advance towards real political thought.  I believe the day will come, and come soon, when Nationalist leaders themselves will recognise that while bemoaning faction and dissension and preaching the cause of ‘unity’ they often mistook the wheat for the tares.  They will, I feel sure, come to realise that the passing of the dictatorship, which to outward appearances left the people as “sheep without a shepherd, when the snow shuts out the sky,” in fact turned the thoughts of Ireland in some measure away from England into her own bosom, and gave birth there to the idea of a national life to which the Irish people of all classes, creeds, and politics could contribute of their best.

I sometimes wonder whether the leaders of the Nationalist party really understand the full effect of their tactics upon the political character of the Irish people, and whether their vision is not as much obscured by a too near, as is the vision of the Unionist leaders by a too distant, view of the people’s life.  Everyone who seeks to provide practical opportunities for Irish intellect to express-itself worthily in active life—­and this, I take it, is part of what the Nationalist leaders wish to achieve—­meets with the same difficulty.  The lack of initiative and shrinking from responsibility, the moral timidity