On Monday, the dullness of Home-rule agitation was for a
moment illuminated by a genuine touch of Dish humour. An immense gathering took place in the Rotunda to protest against the Press prosecutions and the suppression of free speech in Ireland, at which speeches of great violence were made by the Nationalist leaders. Mr. O'Brien was particularly vehement. "They might be prepared any hour or any day for some fresh development of brutality on the part of the Government. Balfour was bound to go blundering along." He earnestly hoped that "nothing he said there that night would prevent Balfour from pursuing hie present spirited policy up to the very top of his bent." Daring the course of the meeting, a Mr. Elliott, an American editor, declared that " be had been a dynamiter," but "was now a devoted follower of William Ewart Gladstone." The proceedings terminated by a portion of the audience singing "God Save Ireland." Nowhere but in Ireland could so gigantic a " bull " have been perpetrated with the perfect unconsciousness displayed by the Nationalist leaders.
