The best reply was that of the Attorney-General for Ireland,
who showed conclusively that the real object of the " Plan of Campaign " was to begin " slicing " down rents until there were none left; that the rejection of unfit jurymen was essential when juries were constantly threatened ; that landlords were the objects of unceasing menace—Lord Lansdowne, for example, being threatened even in Canada—and that the Government, in strengthening the law, intended to use it against criminals, and not against political offenders. If the right of challenge were not exercised, it would soon be impossible to try a case in Ireland. Mr. Holmes's speech was exceedingly calm, not to say judicial; but it was pervaded by a kind of despair about the possibility of administering the law. It was evident that he believed the root of the evil to lie there, and not evident that he perceived any practicable remedy.
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