measures he adopted were skilfully designed, in harmony with the 'New Departure,' and with the double-dealing nature of a true conspirator. A Central Land League was established in Dublin; it was to have 'branches' extending through the country; it was to make a steady attack on the land system. Its professed objects, however, were constitutional, nay, fair; it was 'to agitate against rack-rents and unjust evictions,' and to 'facilitate the ownership of the soil by its occupants.' The ultimate purpose of the League, nevertheless, was that of the Fenian chiefs; of its seven high officers four were Fenians; it was wholly supported by Fenian moneys; its most prominent members made a boast of their Fenian sentiments.[66] It was, in a word, a rebellious organisation in a constitutional garb; it was the embodiment of what Parnell avowed afterwards: 'A true revolutionary movement in Ireland should, in my opinion, partake both of a constitutional and an illegal character. It should be both an open and a secret organisation, using the Constitution for its own purposes, but also taking advantage of its secret combination.'[67] The Land League established, under these auspices, gradually made some progress in the western parts of Ireland, always centres of poverty more or less developed. It had not, however, as yet, become a power in the land; Parnell went to the United States, as I have mentioned before, in order to obtain support for the 'New Departure.' He was the grandson of a distinguished American; the elections for a President were near; it was necessary to bid for the Irish vote; the chief of the League was invited to say what his Irish policy was in the Representative House of the people; and this he did in moderate and carefully chosen language. His real attitude, however, was very different; he associated with well-known Fenian leaders, became acquainted with a contributor to the _Irish World_, the worst journal of the Clan na Gael press; and more than once gave utterance to what was plain treason, notably to the 'last-link' speech already referred to. He obtained considerable funds for the League in Ireland, and before long founded a similar League in America, which became a Fenian organisation of the very worst type. Meanwhile a season of distress had visited Ireland; this quickened the elements of disorder being already let loose. The harvest of 1878 was not good; that of 1879 was the worst known since the Great Famine; the prosperity of the country suddenly came to an end. There was a universal calling in of demands, especially from tenant farmers, who, I have said, had been rather extravagant, and had become involved in debt;[68] the whole class suffered more or less, though there was very little extreme indigence, and Lord Beaconsfield's Government was not slow in providing relief, which private charity largely increased. In these circumstances the landed gentry acted