Mr. Parnell, of course, also spoke, and said that he
valued the opinion of Lord Spencer more than the opinion of "a hundred mushrooms such as Balfour, who are here to-day and will be gone to-morrow." Was not that a little vulgar, which Mr. Parnell has never been- before ? We do not see why Mr. Balfour is more of a mushroom than Lord Spencer. He has now governed Ireland almost as long as Lord Spencer did in his second administration, and he is not yet, we hope, very near the " to-morrow " when he is to be gone. What Mr. Parnell appears to mean by a mushroom is a statesman who has not changed his opinion from one of hostility to Mr. Parnell into one of sympathy with him ; but that is a very strange definition of a mushroom. Mr. Parnell thinks that the only alternatives for Ireland are a temporary enlightened despotism which should keep above all the various Irish parties on the one hand, and legislative and administrative independence for Ireland on the other. If he is right, then we greatly prefer the former alternative. The close of Mr. Parnell's speech was couched in an almost suppliant tone to "the great people of England" to recognise the "small claims," "small interests," and "small rights" of Ireland.
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