I always find that story popular at the Carlton, where I spend my afternoons when in London.  I was proposed by Mr. James Lowther and seconded by the Duke of Marlborough, and very much obliged have I been to them both, for I have many acquaintances there, and it has all the conveniences of a comfortable hotel, without having to pay extravagantly for the privilege of looking at a waiter.

In the intervals of reading the papers and listening to other people, I have there, as elsewhere, endeavoured to impart what I know to others who know nothing about Ireland.  They know much more about China or the aboriginal tribes of Australia, in London, than they do on the topics dearest to me.

An English Radical member, after a long chat with my son Maurice, observed:—­

’You actually mean to say that if Home Rule were given to Ireland you would not be allowed to reside there?’

‘Certainly not,’ replied Maurice, who knew what he was talking about.

The member replied that he could not believe him, but that if he had known that that was the real nature of the Bill he would never have voted for it.

I could not desire a better example of English wisdom on this subject—­one which Lord Rosebery has consigned to a distant date in futurity, foreseeing that if the Opposition are to be handicapped with Home Rule they will not stand a forty to one chance at the next election.

That election will, of course, turn on Protection, and I am therefore tempted to quote from an article I contributed to Murray’s Magazine in July 1887, entitled ‘After the Crimes Bill, What Next?’ for I feel my forecast of over fourteen years ago may serve a useful purpose to-day.  It ran thus:—­

’In my next suggestion I feel that I am treading on dangerous ground; still, having undertaken to suggest a remedy for Irish discontent and anarchy, I must not shrink from offending the prejudices of some of the wise men of England.

’Ireland is an agricultural country.  There are in Ulster, as in England and Scotland, factories which support the greater portion of the population, and cause the prosperity of the province; but outside of Ulster, cattle and butter are the staple products.  And how does Ireland stand in her only market, England, as compared with other nations?  She enjoys free trade in butter, no doubt, but so do France and Holland; but these countries, while they find an open market in England, tax all English and Irish productions, and being manufacturing countries themselves they can afford to sell butter at so cheap a rate as to swamp Ireland’s market.  A slight protective duty on foreign butter would be hailed with gratitude in Ireland, and do more to allay discontent than any further acts of so-called “generosity.”