Shortly after the conclusion of her visit she wrote to Lord Cadogan: 'How very much gratified and how deeply touched she had been by her {315} reception. After the lapse of thirty-nine years her reception had equalled that of previous visits, and she carried away with her a most pleasant and affectionate memory of the time she had spent in Ireland, having been received by all ranks and creeds with an enthusiasm and affection which cannot be surpassed.' [Sidenote: Death of Queen Victoria] The next important event was the reconstruction of the Salisbury Ministry following the Election of 1900. Mr. Gerald Balfour, not too successful at the Irish Office, was transferred to the Board of Trade, and Mr. George Wyndham took his place in Ireland. The new Chief Secretary was eager to effect reforms, but the influence of the Lord-Lieutenant and the Prime Minister compelled him to pursue the conventional course of Chief Secretaries who are neither poets nor dandies. The death of Queen Victoria in January placed the court in mourning for a year, and when that was over the resignation of Lord Salisbury became an imminent event. To Lord Cadogan it meant something more than the severance of old ties. Lord Salisbury and he were bound together by numerous social and political ties, and when the great statesman resigned in the summer of 1902 Lord Cadogan immediately tendered his resignation to the king of the high office of Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. Speaking to his tenantry on the subject, the viceroy declared that all his political life had been bound up with Lord Salisbury's, and he had no desire to continue in it now that his old chief was retiring. He had spent seven years in Ireland--seven years of peace--and {316} his success was notable and inspiring. Mere wealth could not have achieved it unaided; it was personality and the desire to be as non-political as one in his position could be. It is no exaggeration to say that his departure was universally regretted. For the time the acerbities of political life were forgotten, and Ireland turned out to say good-bye to a good friend and his charming comrade, Lady Cadogan. On all sides people expressed the opinion that Mr. Balfour would find it impossible to nominate a suitable successor, and bad times were predicted for the man brave enough to attempt to follow Lord Cadogan in the viceroyalty. Had he chosen to do so, the retiring viceroy might have taken a high post in Mr. Balfour's ministry, but he stood aside to accompany Lord Salisbury into private life--that is, as private as the husband of a political hostess can be. His social services were still at the disposal of the party to which he belonged, and they were strong supporters of the Balfour regime.