Mr. Parnell added that a proposal was recently made by
Mr. Morley that he should accept the Irish Secretaryship under Mr. Gladstone, in case of Mr. Gladstone's return to power, a proposal which he regarded with surprise, as one which it was perfectly well known that he regarded as totally inadmissible, and which he at once declined. These pour-parlers and soundings are treated by Mr. Parnell in the manifesto as indicating a great danger for Ireland, and a danger which would be greatly aggravated by his retirement from his post of leader of the Irish Party. He added that Mr. Morley threw up his hands in despair as to the steps to be taken with the tenants evicted on the "Plan of Campaign" estates. The whole drift of the manifesto was to represent the Gladstonian leaders as vacillating dangerously between the English and Irish view, and as certain to propose half-measures if the Irish Party were not vigorously and intelligently led.
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