Sidelights on the home rule movement

Preface

It is often difficult to find a suitable name for a child. Far more difficult is it to find a suitable title for a book. For while a name may be chosen just because it is borne by some one else, a book must have a title peculiar to itself. The title of the present work satisfies at least that condition.

It has the further merit indeed of indicating that the scope of these pages is limited. For, apart from the personal element which pervades them, they contain but little save what is either not generally known, or generally misunderstood. "Party politics" are rigidly excluded, as is everything that would savour of appeals to prejudice or passion.

And though the author is an Irishman, considerations of a kind that concern only the Irish themselves are here ignored. The Home Rule which the Revolutionists demand might be compared to a divorce ; while the Devolutionists of various grades would be content with something akin to a judicial separation. But it often vi

PREFACE happens that a woman who is eager for that sort of limited independence fails to realise until too late that it involves loss of social position, and deprives her of access to her husband s cheque book.

This parable does not need to be interpreted. With very many Irishmen who love their country quite as much as the Home Rulers do, England's share in governing Ireland weighs but little in comparison with Ireland's share in governing not only England but the Empire. And mere sentiment docs not blind them to an intelligent appreciation of the substantial benefits of the I Tnion.

But in Ireland Provincialism is apt to be mistaken for Patriotism.

Some readers may think that the authors acquaintance with the matters of which lie treats is unduly limited. Others may conjecture, possibly, that he has been deliberately economical in using the knowledge he possesses ; but it is hoped that readers of both classes may derive some interest and information from the volume.

EL \

Chapter I Introductory : The Affaire Le Caron Page

How this book originated — Mr. Morley's " Life of Gladstone " — The affaire Le Caron — Origin of the Times-Parnell Special Commission — Le Caron and his evidence — I return his letters to him— Sir William Harcourt's attack on me for doing so — My defence — My letter to the Times 1

Chapter II My Relations Avith Sir William Harcourt

The purpose and effect of my Times letter — A letter from Sir William Harcourt— Mr. Labouchere and Mr. John Morley attack me — Mr. Matthew's defence of me — My relations with Sir William Harcourt : personal incidents — A Home Office wrangle — A dinner party at Lord Rosebery's — Henri Le Caron and my dealings with him ... 18

Chapter III Local And Personal

I introduce myself to the reader — My claim to be Irish — My College days — Reminiscences of Trinity College^ Dublin — Absence of religious intolerance — Attitude of the Roman Catholic Bishops — Evil influenceof Maynooth — Theological Colleges — Parallel of the Dutch Protestant ministers in South Africa : letter from an " old Free State burgher n — The demand for a Roman Catholic University ... 27

b viii

Chapter IV Ancient History Page

My knowledge of the Fenian movement — The Stated trials of 1865 — My work for Lord Mayo — Mr. Morley on ignorance of Irish history — His book deepens it — Ancient history : Noah's niece — Strongbow's invasion under Pope Adrian's bull, instigated by Dermod, King of Leinster — Henry II. lands — Cromwell's cruelties — Hume , on the rebellion of 1641 — The Penal Laws — The state of Ireland under Grattan's Parliament — The u Coercion Acts" of that period — Lord Clare on the state of Ireland in 1800 . 36

Chapter V The Fenian Movement

The condition of Ireland before and during the Famine — Repeal of the AlW Act — Sir George Grey's Crime and Outrage Act — ITie Rebellion of 1848 — A decade of prosperity, 1K.50-1860— Misgovernment of 1860-1865 : Lord C arlisle and Sir Robert Peel — w Larcom and the Police " — The origin of Fenianism ! James Stephens and John O'Mahony — The McManus funeral — 'Hie Irish People newspaper — The /rrsonnri at Dublin Castle : Lord Wodehouse's Viceroyalty — The newspaj>er seized and its staff | convicted and sentenced 46

( HAPTEB VI

THE u F.B." AND THE " RISING " OF 1867

The American Fenian Brotherhood — Three Annual Conventions — John Mitchell released by President Johnson"at the request of the Fenians— Stephens' plans for the " Rising'' — Fenian activity: the Habeas Corpus Sus|>ension Act, 1866 -The first Fenian raid on Canada — 'Hie Campobello expedition Stephens' arrival in America: assumes the control and announces that an Irish insurrection is imminent — The effect of the agitation in Ireland- Stephens' overtures to Cluserct and others — Stephens deposed —Kelly's leadership - Godfrey Masscy's mission — Hie "Rising" of March 5, 1867- Account of the skirmishes at Tallaght and Kilmallock— John Mitchell's estimate 66 ix

Chapter VII The Clerkenwell Explosion Page

The prisoners of the " Rising " — The selection of cases for trial: mode of procedure — Finding i( Queen's evidence" — Selection of Godfrey Massey — The Special Commission — Death sentences for High Treason — The Manchester outrage — Dublin Castle en vacance — Neglect of the warning— The Clerkenwell explosion — The warning from Dublin neglected — The plot carried out, but its purpose thwarted — The police action — Panic in London — Enrolment of special constables — A wild scare — Effects of the explosion — Mr. Gladstone's speeches . ' . . .69

Chapter VIII

I come to London — Effects of the Fenian scare — Michael Barrett convicted and executed — Michael Davitt becomes Fenian arms agent — The Fenians steal volunteer rifles — A " mid " in Soho— A Home Office Conference — Sir J. D. Coleridge — The proceedings of the American Fenians — The Canada raid of 1870— From 1870 to 1878— John Devoy and the "New Departure" — Espoused by Michael Davitt — The Land League — Parnell visits America, and accepts the Fenian platform 80

Chapter IX From 1880 To The Kilmainham Treaty

Dislike to Secret Service work — Sir William Harcourt sends for me — His resentment at my reserve — The safety of informants — An illustrative incident — How a leading Fenian was secured — Boycotting in Ireland — Forster's "Suspects Act, 1881"— The Ladies' Land League— Mr. Gladstone's Leeds speech, October, 1881 — ParnelFs reply — His arrest — A further philippic by Mr.* Gladstone — The Kilmainham Treaty — The negotiations for the treaty — Captain O'Shea and Mr. Chamberlain — An admission by Mr. Gladstone in 1893 — Lord Ashbourne's article on it— Mr. Gladstone and Mrs. O'Shea .... 88

X

Chapter X The Phoenix Park Murders Page

Murder of Lord F. Cavendish and Mr. Burke — No memorial of the crime — Neglect of precautions — Plots against Sir S. L. Anderson and Mr. Forster — Mr. Morley's comments on the crime — Of less significance than preceding murders — An opportunity to test Parnell and the treaty — Fatal policy of compromise — Gladstone's Coercion Act of — Other Laud League murders — Mr. Gladstone's responsibility— Action taken by Parnell and Davitt — Complicity of the Land League officials — My efforts to seize the money supplied to the criminals — An interview with Sir W. Hareourt — Parnell's knowledge of the Land League crimes — Mr. Morley's silence — His injustice to Mr. Forster 102

Chapter XI The Irish National League

The Irish National League- -Its programme an answer to a challenge of Mr. Gladstone's— The American branch formed by Fenians and Parnellite M.P.'s — The Philadelphia Convention of 1889: attended by the refugees of the Dublin murder conspiracy— Me— aire from Parnell — Speech by Alex. Sullivan, who was elected President — The dynamite work of the League — I he Hoston Convention of 1881 ; Patrick Egan president — Speeches by Mr. Sexton and Mr. VV. K. Redmond . . . . .lib*

CHAPTBB XII

THE DYNAMITE CAMPAIGN

Col. Brackenbury's appointment at I >ublin ( astle — My relations with him The dynamite emissaries : Gallagher, Mackay Lomasney — Plots against the House of Commons— Sir W. Harcourt's Explosives Act — Edward Hell's Case, 1890 — A reference to Lord Salisbury - Application by the prisoner's lawyer — Abandonment of the prosecution — The Queen's Jubilee plot -Revelations of the Cronin murder trial in Chicago 124 xi

Chapter XIII The Special Commission Page

Mr. Morley's prejudices — His erroneous estimate of the tribunal — The absence of a jury — The course of procedure — An Irish juryman's story — The Pigott letters : a coup de theatre — The gravity of the charges proved by legal evidence — The Byrne cheque — The Invincibles — The Land League books spirited away — -Mr. Morley's attitude — The expense of the inquiry — The neutrality of the Government — The conduct of the Times case — Pigott's evidence — The " facsimile" letter — Parnell's character, career and lapse . 135

Chapter XIV Why I Was Not A Witness

My connection with the case — Mr. Labouchere's charges, and my action respecting them — Mr. Morley on Le Caron and his evidence — The introduction of my name — I ask to be examined — Sir Henry James objects— Why I did not press my demand — The nature of the evidence offered . . 147

Chapter XV

i LE CARON AND HIS EVIDENCE

Le Caron's interview with Parnell — It was Parnell who asked for it — Parnell's overtures — Le Caron's account of the interview — Significance of the interview — Mr. Morley's misrepresentation of it — Parnell's Fenian sympathies— His ignorance of public affairs — His hatred of England — Le Caron's discharge of the mission entrusted to him — The action taken on it by the 1881 Convention — My use of Le Caron's information — My visits to him during his last illness 155

Chapter XVI The Case For Home Rule

The origin of this book — The nature of the present inquiry — The Irish hatred of England : a legacy from the past — The destruction of Irish industries — Mr. Swift MacNeill quoted — Most felt by the Protestants, and especially xii by the Presbyterians — These classes were England's bitterest opponents — Their present "attitude : united in favour of the Union — But Home Rule not a religious question — The educated classes are for the Union — The Union a signal success — The need for " coercion " discussed— An illustrative case — Criminal apathy followed by extreme measures of repression — ParnelPs answer to Davitt — Home Rule would create a new Irish question of the most dangerous kind . 100

CHAPTER XV1L

MR. GLADSTONE AND HIS POLICY

Mr. Moi ley's presentation of Home Rule — The agitation was a personal triumph for Mr. Gladstone — His power over men — Two personal incidents — The grounds on which Home Rule is commended — G rattan's Parliament and Pitt's method- — " The sea forbids the Union " — Inhabiting an island does not constitute a nation — 11>ere is no "Irish race" — Hie demand of the electorate — The real "city" and the real Ireland — Mr. Rright's testimony — The question claims decision on practical lines . . . 182

CHAPTER Will

CONCLUSION: AN ALTERNATIVE POLICY

The "devolution" scheme — Mr. Gladstone's testimony— The Rarnellite demand for National -elt-t'overninent— RarneHs refusal to accept anything else as final- Mr. Gladstone ami Mr. Morley on a u divided Ireland " They both contemptuously ignore the real Ireland Mr. Rright's letter of May 13, 1KS0- Impossibility of separating between local and Imperial affairs— Mr. Morley's statement —The latest demand by Mr. J. E. Redmond— Mr. Gladstone's former answer -Home Rule administration : governing according to Irish ideas— Sir W. Ilarcourt's refutation of this — Governing according to Imperial ideas the real need — And yet the Union has won its way— Hie great Uniookft Conventions of 1802 194

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SIDELIGHTS ON THE HOME RULE MOVEMENT

Chapter I Introductory I The Affaire Le Carox

In the course of a country walk with some Irish friends, who were not unversed in public affairs, " the Parnell Movement," and the Special Commission wrhich dealt with the Times charges against the Irish leader, became the subject of our conversation. Certain remarks of mine led my friends to urge upon me that I should write my " Reminiscences."

In reply, I assured them of my intention to take to salmon fishing, and to write a book of reminiscences as soon as my mental faculties began to fail.

But, they pleaded, history was in the making about these matters, and to throw what light I could upon them was a debt I owed the public.

" That may be so," I replied, " but the debt must remain unpaid till Sir William Harcourt goes."

B

Which brought up the inquiry whether I was under any obligations of secrecy or loyalty to Sir William Harcourt ; and the answer that, on the contrary, he had treated me very badly indeed in this very matter of the Special Commission. " And yet," I went on to say, " I have a feeling of regard for him which borders almost on affection, and I would not write a single line that would be likely to annoy or distress him in his closing years." And in explanation of my words I told them something of what I am about to record in the present chapter.

Little did I think that that very day Sir William Harcourt was lying dead at Nuneham ! For the date was October 1, 1904.

Many things have intervened to delay my fulfilling the task thus suggested to me. And yet considerations have not been wanting to make me desire to enter on it. I may instance in particular that the publication of that charming historical romance, the Irish sections of Mr. John Morley's " Life of Gladstone," is fitted to lend importance to some portions of my story.

For that biography, being the work of an ex-Minister for Ireland, gives a quasi-official sanction to many false beliefs now current. It assumes, for instance, that the Fenian movement originated on Irish soil as the natural outcome of bad land laws and the presence of "an alien i] THE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK 3

Church." It represents the outrages of 1867, at Manchester and Clerkenwell, as the work of a deeply rooted conspiracy, and thus as being events that rightly forced " the Irish question " to the front. And on other matters, such as the Parnell Special Commission, for example, it presents a wholly misleading picture ; not, of course, by any departure from the truth, but by presenting facts and persons in a false perspective. The story is, in fact, the work of a dramatist rather than of a historian.

Possibly, therefore, it will not be deemed presumptuous in one who has very special knowledge of these matters to contribute his quota to the materials on which a history of this movement and of these events may yet be based. Opportunities of obtaining information do not, of course, imply capacity to use it ; but so far as the opportunities are concerned, my position has been exceptional, if not unique.

Apart, moreover, from considerations of this kind, my purpose has been stimulated by the wish, in anticipation of the appearance of Sir William Harcourt's Biography, to place my humble wreath upon his grave. And this wish it is which leads me, even at the cost of dislocating my narrative, to make the " Affaire Le Caron " of 1889 the burden of these opening pages. For my tournament with my former chief over that matter illustrates a side of his character which was not understood even by some who think they knew him well.

This book makes no pretensions to be " history." My aim, as I have said, is merely to make some slight additions to the stock of materials upon which historians may draw. 1 need not apologise, therefore, for thus violating chronological order by bringing in matters here which will come up again at a later stage of my story. And as a new generation has grown to manhood since the days when Le Caron's name was on everybody's lips and the Special Commission attracted universal notice, a few explanatory sentences may be opportune, in order to bring all my readers abreast of the events with which I am about to deal.

Early in 1887 a series of articles appeared in the Times, under the heading ' ' Parnellism and Crime."* As indicated by their title, these articles sought to identify the Irish Nationalist movement with various criminal conspiracies. And they culminated in the publication, on April 18, of a letter attributed to the Irish leader, in which the murder of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr. T. H. Burke was condoned and justified. Other letters of a still more discreditable character appeared in later issues of the paper. In the following year a " Special

* The tirst article of the series was published in the Times of March 7, 1887- i] LE CARON IN THE WITNESS-BOX 5

Commission," consisting of three judges of the Supreme Court, was appointed by Lord Salisbury's Government to investigate these allegations and charges ; and the proprietors of the Times were called upon to produce the evidence on which they were based.

One of the chief sensations of that inquiry was the appearance of Major Henri le Caron in the witness-box. This remarkable man has told his own life story,* and I need not give it here. The son of a Mr. Beach, a worthy and respected citizen of Colchester, his love of adventure led him to leave home as a boy. After filling some engagements in London and elsewhere, he crossed the Channel to seek his fortune in Paris, and in 1861 he crossed the Atlantic to serve in the Federal army during the American Civil War. Thus it came about that he made acquaintance with " General " John O'Neil, who afterwards became head of the Fenian organization in America, and promoted Fenian raids on Canada. Le Caron s patriotism was of the type that a cynic would deem quixotic, and he joined the Fenians in order to thwart their projects — "to serve as a military spy in the interests of his native country." He had no thought of " Secret Service money," or of

* " Twenty-five Years in the Secret Service. " In that book lie tells how, in pure wantonness, he assumed his French name when landing in America.

employment under the Home Office or Scotland Yard. His only " reports " were his private letters to his father, whom he kept informed of all he saw and heard, and who communicated some of the information thus obtained to Mr. Rebow, M.P. for Colchester. Matters remained on this footing until the winter of 1867, when the Clerkenwell explosion brought Fenianism to the front in England. Mr. Rebow then suggested that Le Caron should be placed in touch with some one representing the Government. He was put in communication with me, and thus began the correspondence which lasted for the twenty years that ended by his appearing as a witness before the Special Commission.

Our bargain was that, while the information he afforded might be used by me freely in the public interest, his letters were to be deemed private. And so, when he decided, as he expressed it, " to testify for the Times" he claimed, in pursuance of this bargain, to have access to his letters in order to enable him to prepare his evidence. To this demand I acceded ; and for doing so Sir AVilliam Harcourt declared war upon me. In reply to a question in Parliament, on March 1, 1889, Mr. Matthews, the Home Secretary, informed him that in this matter " I had acted without his knowledge or sanction." And he thereupon gave notice — t] sir w. harcourt ATTACKS ME 7

" That on the Vote on Account relating to the Metropolitan Police he would call attention to the conduct of Mr. Anderson in handing over confidential documents without leave from the Secretary of State, and its bearing upon his position as Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department."

A fortnight later, speaking on a political platform in Lambeth, he used these words —

" The confidential agent, the Commissioner of Police, the head of the Criminal Investigation Department, goes and hands over to an informer and to the agent of the Times, the secret papers of the Home Office without the consent of the Home Secretary. I should have liked to see a man in that position do such a thing under any of the predecessors of the Home Secretary. I know where he would have been to-day. It would not have been at Scotland Yard."

This appeared in the newspapers of Wednesday, March 20. At five o'clock that day I had a visit at my office from a friend, who came straight from the House of Commons to tell me " that the whole business of the empire had been put aside in order to discuss my evil deeds," and that Sir William Harcourt, in particular, had attacked me fiercely. His object in calling was to warn me that my position was critical, and to urge me to move at once in my own defence. 4 6 A letter to the Times" I remarked, " might roll back the tide of war. But would it embarrass the Secretary of State ? " "It would only help the Secretary of State," he assured me ; and as he was a personal, as well as a political, friend of Mr. Matthews, I accepted his assurance. I should here say, however, that, as I afterwards ascertained, he had had no communication whatever with Mr. Matthews on the subject.

My first requirement, of course, was to know exactly what had been said in the House. So after dinner that evening I made lor the Times office, and appealed to the editor to let me see a proof of the report of the debate — a request to which he at once acceded.

Sir William Harcourt's platform denunciations had not alarmed me. In the same connection he branded Sir Richard Webster as 44 a disgrace to the English Bar; "and nothing he said of me was quite as bad as that. That w as 44 his way." But his words as leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons could not be treated lightly. And he had charged me 1 learned, with 44 acting as a tout for the Times," and " betraying the secrets of my Department," thus proving that I was " utterly useless in the office I held." Had he been i] I DEFEND MYSELF

Home Secretary, he declared. ~a man in Mr. Anderson's position would not have reclamed twenty-four hours in Scotland Yard.^

Though I am a man of peace I never shirk a tight, and this sort of thing was just what was best fitted to put me on my mettle. So I to#jfc up my pen at once, and a couple of hoarlater I handed my apologia to the editor. Mr. Buckle was most sympathetic, and set himself to impress on me the gravity of the course I was taking. He urged me to hoW hack my letter till I had " slept over it/* - And give the He twenty-four hours start ~ said L - Xo : I know what I'm doing, and I fear nothing but delays

The first leading article in the Tine* of next morning (March 21. 1SSS) began as follows : —

" We have too much respect tor the Special Commission Court and for the purity and independence of public justice to attempt to discuss in any detail the questions raised by Sir William Harcourt in the House of Commons yesterday : and, in spite of all provocations, we intend to maintain the reserve we have hitherto shown tOl the time comes when it wffl be permissible to speak. For the same reasons we cam hardly comment upon the substance of Mr. Anderson's letter, which we publish to-day. and will only say that it seems to stand out in striking

C contrast, for dignity of tone and straightforward statement, with the combination of recklessness and shiftiness displayed by his unscrupulous

accusers."

And on the opposite page the following letter appeared, with all the prominence which the best position and the largest type could give to it : —

"Sir W. Harcourt and Mr. Anderson. " To the Editor of the ' Times: " Sir,

u It is an excellent rule that Civil servants of the Crown, when publicly attacked, should leave their defence in the hands of their Parliamentary chiefs. I have always observed that rule, and I have no intention of departing from it. But when acts done by me wholly outside the sphere of my official position are assigned as proof that I am unworthy of the office I have the honour to hold under Her Majesty's warrant, I must not shelter myself behind the Secretary of State, for whose generous defence of me in Parliament to-day I am most deeply grateful. It is my privilege, as it is clearly my duty, to put myself right with the public immediately.

" The proper method of doing so is, I admit, by appearing in the witness-box of the Commission Court, and I feel seriously aggrieved i] MY TIMES LETTER 11

that this has been hitherto denied me. As soon as my name was mentioned in the case I asked to be called. For that purpose I saw the Attorney-General on three different occasions, and pressed my wishes upon him and Sir Henry James with a good deal of warmth and pertinacity. And when Sir R. Webster announced what has been called ' the closing of the Times case/ I communicated with him again and received a renewed assurance that my position as a witness was entirely unchanged.

" If I am right in thinking that this whole discussion is grossly disrespectful to the Court over which Sir James Hannen presides, I must plead that I am forced against my will to make myself a party to the ' contempt.'

" I have already intimated that my action in relation to Major Le Caron's evidence was wholly apart from my official position as Assistant Commissioner of Police. It arose from the fact that in former years, in an entirely unofficial position, I rendered advice and assistance to the 1880 Government in matters relating to political crime. A complete explanation of my conduct would involve such an appeal to documents and details as would amount to a disclosure of the secret service arrangements of that period. To me, personally, the disclosure would be intensely gratifying. It would, moreover, supply a missing chapter of uncommon interest in the political history of recent years. But Sir W. Harcourt knows me well enough to feel assured that I would not, except under compulsion, say anything to embarrass ex-Ministers of the Crown who admitted me in any measure to their confidence. Whether it is generous of him to take advantage of this in attacking me as he has done 1 will not discuss. It is not in keeping with the kindness I have hitherto experienced at his hands.

6 ' For the present, at least, I will confine myself to a bare statement of the facts. I think it will suffice to satisfy even Sir W. Harcourt himself that he has wronged me. This statement, be it remembered, I expect to repeat on oath at the Commission Court.

" When Major Le Caron called on me in December, having been summoned to England by his fathers death, he repeated the expression of his desire to give evidence before the Commission. He had written to me several times about this, and I had already tried to dissuade him from it. I found he was under the impression that the ' prosecution,' as he called it, was a Government matter, and that I was personally interested in it. I set him right on both these points. I assured him that ' Scotland Yard ' had no part whatever in the conduct of the case — had it been otherwise, the presentation of it would possibly be very different ; but that, in fact, I had never received even a hint that Government wished me to assist the Times, and I had never been as much as asked a question as to what I knew of the matters involved in the inquiry. I went on to i] MY TIMES LETTER. CONTINUED 13 speak of the terrible risks and penalties he would incur by coming forward, and I urged him strongly to reconsider his decision.