The Irish standard., 1903-09-19
He is the Most Popular Viceroy Ireland
Ever Had," is the Verdict of
an Irish Nationalist
Lord and Lady Dudley are Kind and Generous
and Both Possess the Golden Art
of Making Friends.

When King Edward and Queen
Alexandra visited Ireland recently
aley We're warmly greeted; but the
crowds cheered just as heartily for
Lord and Lady Dudley, who piloted
the King and Queen around Dublin.
And with good reason. Lord Dudley is
the man who is making peace between
England and Ireland, says the New
York Sun.
He is the most popuar Viceroy Ire
Sand has ever had,'' is the verdict of
an Irish Nationalist Member of Par
lament. ''Viceroy after Viceroy has
come here with the notion that he
is the head of an English garrison in
a hostile country. They have stayed
in Dublin Castle surrounded by old
fashioned, prejudiced officials, and
have learned nothing about the people
sor the country except through official
reports and minutes. They have al
lowed themselves to be swathed like
s,nummies in red tape, and then they
have wondered why their administra-
stion was a failure.
''Not SO Lord Dudley. AS soon as
c1le was made Lord Lieutenant and
took up the reins of government in
Dublin, the officials swarmed around
.$iim and expected him to %. X all
their proposals like an automa ton, as
Ais predecessors had done. But he
ea,olitely declined, saying, in effect:
''I am going among the people to
find out things for myself. l won't
.<tlo anything blindfolded. When I
come back I'll consider your schemes
,:on their merits. I am going to make
II tour Through Ireland in my automo-
l,ile'
'Alone?' the officials gasped. 1T
is madness, my Lord. You will be
n lssassinated.'
"'No, not alone. Lady Dudley is
going with me-
"ln vain. the officials implored him
10 give up the idea. He said he was
going among the people as friend,
2and he was sure they would receive
aim as one.
80 they did. That automobile trip
was triumphal progress. Lord and
Lady Dudley both possess the golden
enrt of making friends. They made
themselves so popular that anybody
who had even insulted them, much
aess harmed them, would have run a
good chance of being mobbed.
"Often they would stop their auto
mobile at PEASANTS cottage, ask for
"A glass of milk, and chat with the
family. Lord Dudley would get the
husbands views about politics and
ahe land question, while Lady Dudley
would find out from the wife all about
the woman's side of Irish life and the
need for reviving the lacemaking craft
and other old industries which would
give employment to the girls.
'They didn't go to the big country
houses Of their acquaintances, for they
knew the landlords views already
They gathered information from the
blacksmith, the village tradesman, the
rural constable the postman and the
..cottager. When he returned to Dub.
Hin he had made hosts of friends eve.
-rywhere and there was hardly phase
-Of Irish life with which he was not
familiar.
Then" continued the speaker, che
%2iorrified the officials by bursting all
the bonds of red tape and rejecting
their schemes for more coercion. In
"A hundred different directions he ini
tiated peacemaking policy which
eliminated eventually in the great
Irish Land Purchase bill. Most Won
tilerful of all. he--a great landlord
went among his friends. the Irish land
lords. and talked to them like a Dutch
alncle until he convinced them that il
was folly to remain in open warfare
with their own tenants.
George Wyndham. the Irish Sec.
'retary. has aided this policy of peace,
and so have others: but we Irishmen
are convinced that the credit is main
ay due to King Edward and the Lord