"—and there is one stirring hour ... when a wakeful influence goes abroad over the sleeping hemisphere.... do the stars rain down an influence?"—robert louis stevenson.
during his leisure moments at eltham mr. parnell took up the study of astronomy with the vigour that always characterized him when he was interested in a subject. he had picked out from my bookshelf a book of stars—one of sir robert ball's, i believe, that i had bought at random one day, and became at once interested. from the teaching of an old friend of my father's i had a fairly good knowledge of astronomy, and, though by no means well up in the latest research and discoveries, i was able to tell him much of the stellar systems that was new to him. finding how he devoured the little book of sir robert ball's, i got several of the latter's interesting works for him, besides herschel's.
then mr. parnell told me of a magnificent telescope he had at avondale, and sent for it. when this arrived he sent for a few sacks of portland cement, with which he made a pedestal in my garden, and himself mounted the telescope upon it. he made an ingenious arrangement whereby the slightest touch would tilt the telescope to the desired angle, and we spent many nights, he and i, watching the stars and following the courses of the planets till they faded in the dawn. then he thought of how near to us was the observatory at greenwich, and got a permit to {109} go over the observatory. after that, on the days when my aunt had her readers with her, i used to accompany him to the observatory, where we spent many hours.
he could always absorb very quickly any knowledge that appealed to him, and he soon had the pleasure of teaching me much about the latest discoveries, and about a subject intensely interesting to him—the wonderful way in which the telescopes used in the great observatories of the world are made.
in time this study of the stars began to worry him too much, and he reluctantly gave up all serious work on the subject. he said it was all too immense and absorbing to think about in a life that was primarily concerned with politics. but the pedestal remained, and still we occasionally mounted the telescope and kept vigil with the stars through the summer night.
on april 7, 1881, mr. gladstone had introduced his land bill into the house of commons. it was a better bill than the irish party had reason to expect, but it had grave defects, and the irish had not been consulted; while the government's policy of coercion and forster's attitude towards parnell and his followers made co-operation between the liberals and the irish impossible. parnell's policy was to hold aloof and press for amendments. after being crippled in the house of lords the bill became law. at a land league convention held in dublin on september 14 a resolution was adopted, on the suggestion of parnell, that the act should be tested by selected cases. "nothing," said parnell, "could be more disastrous to our cause or our organization, and to your hopes of getting your rents reduced, than an indiscriminate rush of the tenantry into the land courts."
{110}
a few days later parnell was drawn in triumph through the streets of dublin. the same day forster wrote to gladstone suggesting that parnell should be arrested under the coercion act.
he suggested, moreover, that in his next speech at leeds, on october 7, mr. gladstone should impeach parnell and his policy. gladstone obeyed. the people of ireland, he cried, wished to use the land act and parnell would not let them, but "the resources of civilisation were not yet exhausted."
parnell retorted with passion and scorn in his famous wexford speech delivered on october 9.[1]
"suppose they arrest you, mr. parnell," asked an irish member, who dined with the leader on the evening of the speech, "have you any instructions to give us? who will take your place?" "ah!" he said, deliberately, looking through a glass of champagne which he had just raised to his lips. "ah, if i am arrested captain moonlight will take my place."[2]
all through 1881 parnell was constantly paying flying visits to ireland, and also to various parts of england, working up the "league," addressing meetings and privately ascertaining for himself how far the temper of the "reactionaries" could be trusted to do the work he wished without becoming too greatly involved in the tactics of the "invincibles" proper. he came home to me now always between the times of his journeyings up and down {111} the country, and if it was not certain that i should be alone he would write me a formal though friendly note or letter that anyone could have been shown, in which was given some word or sign that let me know a place or time of meeting him, either in london or nearer my home. on some of these occasions my duties to my aunt would keep me, so that i might be an hour or more late in arriving at the place where he awaited me; but never once in all those years did he once fail me or leave the place of appointment before i came, even though it might be at the loss of the mail train to ireland, and leaving some thousands of people waiting in vain for the speech he was too far away to make. sometimes i would become conscience-stricken on such an occasion, but he would only comment that one speech more or less was a little matter, and what was lost by a speech not made was amply compensated for by the deepened impression of his mystery and power gained by the people. "for it is the strange thing i found out early in political life," he would say, "they think i'm much more wonderful when i do nothing than when i'm working hard."
morrison's hotel, dublin,
september 10, 1881.
my dear mrs. o'shea,—will you kindly address and post enclosed.
i am quite recovered from my attack, and the doctor says that i shall be able to travel in a few days.—yours very truly, chas. s. parnell.
the enclosure was the following letter:—
morrison's hotel, dublin,
september 10, 1881.
my own wifie,—i know that you must have been much {112} worried yesterday by my failure to send you a few words, but my beauty will forgive her own husband.
your wire has been put into my hand as i write, and shall have an instant answer.
it gives me so much pleasure to know that your trouble has not returned since i left, and that my wires give you pleasure. your king thinks very very often of his dearest queen, and wishes her not to be sad, but to try and be happy for his sake. everything is going on very well here, and your king is much satisfied.
morrison's hotel, dublin,
september 25, 1881.
my own loveliest,—i send you these few words to assure wifie that her husband always thinks of her and hopes that she is well and happy. your own king.
october 4, 1881.
my own wifie,—i have satisfied myself, by two separate tests to-day, that there is a good deal of silver in the dark stone of which there is so much in the old mine. in fact nearly the whole lode consists of this (the miners are working in it in the north level). i cannot say how many ounces there will be to the ton until i get it assayed, but if there should be six or eight ounces to the ton it ought to pay to work.
your own king.
morrison's hotel, dublin,
october 7, 1881.
my own wife,—i called to-day to see him[3] on my return from dungarvan, but he was out, and i waited for him three hours. calling again at eleven to-night, he was again out, but returned just as i was writing to make an appointment for the morning. he says that he leaves to-morrow (friday) evening, and stops to shoot on saturday in wales, and goes on tuesday to paris to see the papal nuncio, who he says has requested him to come. this, then, is the last letter i can send you for the present through eltham, so i hope to have the other address from you to-morrow morning.
my dearest katie must have been very lonely ever since. {113} did she get my three letters? her husband has been so busy he has not even had time to sleep, but he has never been too busy to think of her.
i can go over to london early next week if i may see you. should i remain in london or go down to you?
with numerous kisses to my beautiful queenie.
c. s. p.
october 8, 1881.
my dearest little wifie,—your husband has been very good since he left you, and is longing to see you again. he has kept his eyes, thought, and love all for you, and my sweetest love may be assured that he always will.
to-morrow i go to avondale, thence to wexford on sunday, whence i return monday morning and hope to be with my queenie on tuesday or wednesday at latest.
everything in dublin has been settled up pretty satisfactorily, and i trust only to have to make an occasional appearance in ireland during the rest of the autumn and winter. always your king.
on october 11th, forster crossed to england, having first arranged with sir thomas steele, commander-in-chief in ireland, that, should the cabinet agree to arrest parnell, forster would wire the one word "proceed."
the same day parnell returned to avondale, and on the next night was back in dublin.
morrison's hotel,
october 11, 1881.
my own katie,—i found two letters and two wires from your king's queen here on my arrival an hour ago. your telegram this morning took a great weight off my mind, as your silence made me almost panic-stricken lest you had been hurt by that —— and had not been able to get to town.
to-morrow i go to kildare,[4] and shall try and start for london friday morning; but i cannot be sure of this, as "something"[5] may turn up at last moment, and there is {114} also a meeting of the executive on saturday, which they want me to stay for.
however, wifie knows i will do the best i can, and she will get a wire from me on friday, soon after or as soon as she receives this, telling her what i have done. if i arrive london friday night shall go to same hotel and shall wait for my darling.
will she mind asking for my number?
always your own king.
on october 12th, 1881, i was in london on mr. parnell's business—to ascertain the movements of the government. he, of course, was in ireland and had warned me that it would be impossible for him to keep out of prison much longer, and that any further effort to avoid arrest would be inexpedient on all counts. i was much depressed about this and urged him to put it off as long as possible.
my health was then delicate, and i felt an unreasonable fear and loneliness when he was away from me. he was very tender and considerate to me, but pointed out that the turmoil and rebellion he had brought to a head in ireland must be very carefully handled to be productive of ultimate good, and that he could "mark time" with the land league better in kilmainham than out, thus rendering this force more useful to the home rule campaign and less wanton in destruction. parnell used, but never abused, the weapons of political strife he forged.
he desired immediate information of the decision of the government to arrest him, that he might destroy any papers that, found on him, might frustrate his plans and cause unnecessary difficulty to those working with him. so when on october 12th information was sent to me, at the house where i waited in london in the neighbourhood of piccadilly, that a cabinet council had been hurriedly {115} summoned, i wired in code to parnell and directly after the cabinet council i was able to inform him that forster had left for ireland with the warrant for his arrest.
i could not bear the thought of his arrest, and after writing to him under cover to a person in ireland who would, i knew, get my letter to him, whether in or out of prison, i telegraphed to parnell again to know if he could meet me at holyhead if i started at once. i had so much of his business in hand now, and he had expected to see me at least once more before the inevitable separation of his imprisonment. i felt almost unable to cope with the situation; i was not strong and i was full of anxiety as to the probable effects upon parnell's health of life in kilmainham gaol. in addition to my anxiety, the deception i had to practise towards captain o'shea, seldom as i saw him, told upon my nerves just now. however, parnell's message in reply, written in our private code, reassured me. while he still thought it better to suffer arrest at once, he would not go out of his way to meet it, and would be careful when in kilmainham so that his imprisonment should be of short duration. he would not allow me to go to the fatigue of a journey to holyhead, nor would he go abroad to avoid arrest, and i went home comforting myself as i could with his confident spirit and loving messages.
on october 13th there was a terrible gale throughout the south of england, and at eltham, after a sleepless night, i was up early—far too early to disturb my old aunt—and wandered out through her park in the gale. the battling with the wind lifted a little the load of restlessness and anxiety as to what was happening in ireland from my heart.
i was with my aunt as usual all that day, and was {116} glad of the quiet and rest. the old lady gazed out at the still raging storm and told me tales of her youth, while i listened to the voice i loved in the wind outside, saying to me again and again what he had said before he left me, "be brave, queenie. i cannot stay outside while all these others are arrested, and it is bound to be soon now."
towards evening, when the storm had cleared a little, and my aunt had fallen asleep before the fire, i went home to get the evening papers i always had sent over from blackheath before willie came down from london to dinner, as he had written to say he would do. however, on my return home i found willie already there, extremely pleased to be able to announce to me that parnell had been arrested that morning. i knew his news directly i saw his face, and as i was really prepared for it i did not flinch, but replied languidly that i had thought parnell "couldn't keep out of gaol much longer, didn't you?"
but willie was so fiercely and openly joyful that my maids, who were ardent parnellites, were much shocked, and i, being terribly overwrought, laughed at their disgusted faces as i went to dress for dinner. it was really the laugh of tears, but that laugh of jangled nerves and misery did me good service with willie, and we got through dinner amicably enough, while he descanted upon the wickedness and folly of parnell's policy and the way the irish question should really be settled, and would be if it could be left to him and those who thought with him. he observed me closely, as he criticised parnell and his policy, and reiterated his pleasure in knowing he was "laid by the heels."
i was now quite calm again, and smiled at him as i reminded him that i was now as ardent a parnellite as {117} parnell himself, and had already done so much hard work for "the cause" that my politics were far more reactionary that when he had introduced parnell to me: unlike his (willie's) own, which were less so. my heart being in kilmainham gaol with my lover, i was momentarily at peace, and could ask willie questions as to the mode of life and prison discipline of political prisoners. willie, as are so many men, was never so happy as when giving information.
the next day i received my king's letter, written as he was arrested:—
morrison's hotel, dublin,
october 13, 1881.
my own queenie,—i have just been arrested by two fine-looking detectives, and write these words to wifie to tell her that she must be a brave little woman and not fret after her husband.
the only thing that makes me worried and unhappy is that it may hurt you and our child.
you know, darling, that on this account it will be wicked of you to grieve, as i can never have any other wife but you, and if anything happens to you i must die childless. be good and brave, dear little wifie, then. your own husband.
politically it is a fortunate thing for me that i have been arrested, as the movement is breaking fast, and all will be quiet in a few months, when i shall be released.
speaking at the guildhall on the day of parnell's arrest mr. gladstone said: "within these few minutes i have been informed that towards the vindication of the law, of order, of the rights of property, and the freedom of the land, of the first elements of political life and civilization, the first step has been taken in the arrest of the man who has made himself pre-eminent in the attempt to destroy the authority of the law, and substitute what {118} would end in being nothing more than anarchical oppression exercised upon the people of ireland."
when he uttered the word "arrest" he was stopped by the audience rising en masse and cheering frantically. "parnell's arrest"—i quote from the "life of forster"—"was hailed almost as though it had been the news of a signal victory gained by england over a hated and formidable enemy."
sexton, o'kelly, dillon, o'brien, and j. p. quinn, secretary of the league, were quickly arrested, while warrants were issued for biggar, healy, and arthur o'connor. healy was in england, and biggar and o'connor managed to join him there.
[1] parnell in this speech vigorously attacked gladstone's policy, calling him a "masquerading knight-errant" and a champion of the liberties of every nation except ireland. he pointed out that gladstone had a good word for the late isaac butt, and added scornfully that "in the opinion of an english statesman no man was good in ireland until he was buried." by implication he challenged the government to arrest him under the coercion act.
