We have given our estimate of Mr. Parnell elsewhere, but
may say here that, while we doubt as to his governing motive, which was probably antipathy to England, and condemn both his indifference to cruelty and his carelessness as to the means by which he achieved his ends, we think the recent depreciation of his powers as leader and statesman almost absurd. He had never read anything, except a little science, and cared really only for politics and wealth—the latter as a means, not an end—but he knew how to govern. The striking feature in his mental nature was the force of his will. He was a famous cricketer, and once carried an eleven, all of whom were unwilling, off the ground, because his oppo- nents refused to yield some trifling point. He was certainly a very nervous, and probably by constitution a timid man, but he could make himself do anything he wanted to do by sheer strength of determination. It is coming out, too, that he had both hot temper and geniality, and suppressed the evidences of both habitually, as part of the conduct necessary to his posi- tion. He could be pleasant to a few intimates, and liked con- versation; but he had a deep scorn for most of those round him, and avoided Englishmen as possible enemies, also, perhaps, because he resented the "English manner," which he himself possessed. No man, perhaps, ever rose to such a position with so little spontaneity in him ; and it is wonderfully to the credit of Irish acuteness that they detected so quickly how strong an instrument they had found. In all but principle, the man he is most like in history is William III., who, how- ever, cared more for individuals.
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