A conference held in Dublin in January, 1903, known also as the Dunraven Conference, between representatives of the Irish Landlords and the tenants, under the presidency of Lord Dunraven. The conference issued a unanimous report recommending the abolition of dual ownership by means of a comprehensive scheme of land purchase. They proposed that the landlords should be bought out at a price based on their present income from rent, and that the tenants should purchase at from 15 per cent. to 25 per cent. less, the balance being found by the State, which would also advance the purchase money, to be repaid by instalments. Irish National League. An association formed in Dublin in 1882, after the suppression of the Land League, to unite all sections of Irish Nationalists. Irish Society. A society formed by twelve of the City Companies of London to colonize lands in Ulster forfeited from O’Neill and O’Donnell. They were granted a charter by James I in 1613, which was suspended in 1637 but restored in 1670. Irish Volunteers, Society of. _See_ Friends of Ireland. Iron Chancellor. A sobriquet of Prince Bismarck. Iron Chest. A secret closet in the bedchamber of Louis XVI. Its existence was revealed by Gamain, the king’s locksmith, who had constructed it, and it was searched immediately by order of the National Convention, when certain compromising documents were found. Iron Cross. A Prussian decoration conferred for bravery in the field. It was established in 1813. Iron Crown. The royal crown of Lombardy, said to have been forged from a nail of the true cross. It was first used in 591 at the coronation of Agilulf, King of the Lombards, and is now the royal crown of Italy. Iron Duke. The sobriquet of the great Duke of Wellington. Iron Emperor. Nicholas I of Russia (1825-55) was so called. Iron Hand, Götz of the. The sobriquet of Götz von Berlichingen, the leader in the German Peasants’ War of 1525. His right hand, which he had lost in battle, was replaced by an artificial hand made of iron. Iron Mask, The Man with the. A mysterious personage whose face was always covered with an iron mask, who was confined in the Bastille and other State prisons in France during the reign of Louis XIV. Many theories have been advanced as to his identity. It has been contended that he was an elder brother, a twin brother, and a natural son of the king, Count Matthioli, minister of the Duke of Mantua, and M. de Marchiel, the head of a wide-spread conspiracy against Louis XIV, while many other solutions of the problem have been put forward. Iron Tooth. The nickname of Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg (1688-1713). Ironclad Oath. The oath of office established by the United States Congress in 1867 at the conclusion of the Civil War. It was designed to prevent the assumption of office by any possible enemy of the Union. Ironside. The nickname of Edmund, King of the English in 1016. Ironsides.