But  it  was  still  easy  to  repair  past  blunders.  I  recalled
the  fact  that  the  manifesto  of  Lord  Dunraven's  Association
had  within  a  month  forced  Home  Rule  to  the  front  again,
after  it  had  been  for  years  ignored  by  Liberal  and  Tory
alike  :

Here  was  an  event  of  even  more  national  importance  than  the
Land  Conference.  You  would  expect  it  to  be  received  with  respect,
at  least  with  common  decency,  by  responsible  Irishmen.  On  the
contrary,  the  Thnes  was  not  more  virulent  than  some  prominent
Irishmen  have  been  in  repelling  the  conciliatory  approaches  of  Lord
Dunraven  and  his  friends,  in  aspersing  their  motives  and  doing  their
worst  to  wreck  their  work  at  the  outset  by  every  species  of  misrepre-
sentation and  insult.   .   ..
