I had told the Chief of Police not to allow O'Brien to go anywhere on the streets without a strong police guard, for, as I told him, "I do not want him hurt for one thing, and, on the other hand, I should be very sorry that the idea should get abroad that he could walk the streets of Toronto (under the circumstances) without protection." The following evening, O'Brien and his party of three or four friends, including one Yankee reporter, started from the hotel in the dusk to walk round a block, and would not wait for the police escort for which the police sergeant was sending. The party had not gone two hundred yards when the crowds began to gather and follow them. They were pelted with stones and eggs, the New York reporter being badly cut by a stone. They escaped with difficulty back to the hotel. In Hamilton, Kingston, and other places O'Brien was also mobbed and chased and was obliged to hide. He then left the country, while Lord Lansdowne, who remained, received a few days later a remarkable ovation on his return to Ottawa. I left for England the day after O'Brien's meeting (on my vacation) and a day or two after my arrival in London I was dining at Lord Salisbury's, where I met Mr. Balfour, then Chief Secretary for Ireland. They were interested in hearing the particulars. I told Lord Salisbury that the "silent masses" had spoken out, and with no uncertain sound. Both he and Mr. Balfour said that O'Brien's reception in Canada had helped the passage of the Coercion Bill through the House of Commons, for it proved that the statement of the Nationalists that every country in the world was on their side was not quite accurate. CHAPTER IX THE IMPERIAL FEDERATION LEAGUE In 1884 a movement was begun in England, and the Imperial Federation League was formed, for the purpose of securing the Federation of the whole Empire, on somewhat the same lines as the Confederation of Canada. The Right Hon. W. E. Forster was the moving spirit, and the first President of the organisation. The objects of the League are clearly laid down in the following resolutions defining its nature and objects, which were passed at an adjourned conference held in London on the 18th November, 1884: That a Society be now formed to be called "The Imperial Federation League." That the object of the League be to secure by Federation the permanent Unity of the Empire. That no scheme of Federation should interfere with the existing rights of local Parliaments as regards local affairs. That any scheme of Imperial Federation should combine, on an equitable basis, the resources of the Empire for the maintenance of common interests and adequately provide for an organised defence of common rights. That the League use every constitutional means to bring about the object for which it is formed and invite the support of men of all political parties.