Mr. Redmond is, no doubt, at heart a Protectionist, like
most Nationalists; but he has, nevertheless, done a signal service to the Free-trade cause. Speaking at the Irish National banquet at the Hotel Cecil on Thursday, he de- nounced Lord Rosebery's recent utterance in regard to the question of Home-rule with intense bitterness, and described it as "a dishonourable recantation of his pledges on Home- rule." The Irish party, declared Mr. Redmond, would support no Liberal party or Government which took the Rosebery view of Home-rule. He warned Liberals that even if they succeeded in achieving the "doubtful feat" of returning to Parliament with a majority independent of the Irish vote, they would find the government of Ireland a sheer impossibility, and it would be the duty of the Irish party to make it so if it were attempted on Rosebery lines.
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