The Irish standard., 1897-01-02

: :" Z (.
mainly instrumental in calling forth In
Ireland. No one who knows him would
ever dream Of thinking that he is COM
posed Of the stuff which martyrs or revo-
lutionists are made Mr.. Redmond, there
fore, believes that, under all the circum-
stances, the most prudent course to adopt
is to stand aside for the moment, to al
low events to develop, and to watch for
an opportunity to assert himself again
in the councils of his party, and to re-
assume the authority which has slipped
from his grasp"
: But the real purpose of the anonymous
article was to attack and discredit MIR.
Timothy M. ,Healy. The writer's review
of the assault on Parnell and his picture
of Redmond as a broken-down leader
were but the skirmishes preliminary to
the general bonn bardment of the position
of the member for North Louth. He
undertakes to show that Mr.. Healy has
gradually but surely lost the confidence
of the hierarchy and clergy of Ireland,
and that he Is losing the support Of the
people of the country as we'll. He con-
tends that Healys used the ParneA d.
vorce proceedings cunningly. to work up
On the feelings of the bishops and priests,
who were naturally susceptible to the In
flnence Of moral principles, but that his
intrfgues for supremacy we're worked too
finely, and that when the reaction came
1t was disastrous to his ambitions. The
defeat Of his candidate in one of the
Kerry divisions last year, and the sub
sequent rout of his party in division
adjoining his own in Louth, brought him
to realizing sense Of his waning power
as a party leader. These reyerses were
followed by his failure to retain control
of the Freeman directory.
But the greatest disaster that befell his
prestige. was the recent Dublin sconven-
ton. according to the view Of this writer.
This gathering" he says, will have a
very important effect in bringing about
the unifcation and solidarity of the Irish
party in another way. OF the thoroughly
representative character of that gather
ing no one who knows Ireland entertains
the least doubt. Its verdict against dis
sension was clear, decisive, unanimous.
The full effect OF the convention will not,
perhaps, be felt for considerable time.
But the spirit which animated that as
semblage will percolate through every
stratum of Irish life, and will help mater
tally in the formation of public opdn-
ion such as existed in Ireland before the
division in the Irish party. The fact that
such an opinion must be reckoned with
is a factor Of great Importance In decid-
ing the action of parliamentary repre-
sentatives."
We are glad to recall the fact that the
Westminster writer takes the same view
Of the Dublin convention which we UNI
dertook to express Immediately after the
close of its deliberations. We said then
that Mr.. Healy made grievous mistake
in not attending that thoroughly repre-
sentative assembly. He claims. to be still
a member Of the party, and to be bound
by his pledge to resign If majority Of
his colleagues should so demand. Had he
gone into the convention and nbided by
it's decision he might have recovered
some of the ground he has lost. We be-
lieve that the people. of Ireland were
we'll and adequately represented in that
gathering, and we feel confident that the
ultimate result Of it will be to crush out
factional influences and to restore har-.
mony among the people. Leaders who fail
to see the plain drift of events must take
the consequences of their recalcitrancy.