The Dudley reign in Ireland was full of incident, social and political. It opened unluckily enough, for in the early days of December, 1902, Lady Dudley was seized with a serious illness at the Viceregal Lodge, and at one time the gravest fears were entertained. The operation for appendicitis, however, was successful, and the countess recovered to adorn the office she shared with her husband. The mother of a young family, she won the hearts of all Ireland by sending one of {318} her daughters to the Alexandra High School--an institution deservedly famous for its successful training and teaching of girls. This was one of many triumphs achieved by tact and good nature, and within a few months of her arrival in Ireland there was no more popular person in the country. Mr. Balfour had been fortunate, indeed, in finding a Lady Dudley to follow a Lady Cadogan, while the Lord-Lieutenant at once proved himself to be strong, fearless, open-minded, and just. It was said of a Chief Secretary--Sir Robert Peel--that his one-sided opinions of Irish affairs were due to the fact that he had driven through the country on an outside car. Lord Dudley went all over Ireland in a motor-car, and therefore could not help but see both sides. Ever an enthusiastic motorist, His Excellency pursued his hobby all the time he was in Ireland, and unexpected visits to remote hamlets were numerous. This passion for motoring had a practical result--it enabled the viceroy to gather a great deal of first-hand information about the country and the people; and when he consented to become chairman of the Royal Commission on Congestion in Ireland, the year he retired from the viceroyalty, he brought to bear upon the subject and the problem a knowledge unequalled by any other non-Irish member of the Board. [Illustration: Lord Dudley] [Sidenote: The Wyndham Land Act] The supreme political event of Lord Dudley's term was undoubtedly Mr. George Wyndham's Land Act of 1903. Had Gladstone lived to witness a Tory Chief Secretary piloting such a measure through Parliament he must assuredly have gasped. {319} It caused great searchings of heart amongst the colleagues of Mr. Wyndham, but it came into the statute-book--another proof of the political axiom that the Tory party have done more for Ireland than the Liberal, that Tory Cabinets have worked more for Home Rule than their political rivals.