Chapter IV

THE QUESTION OF THE IRISH LAND (_continued_)--THE IRISH LAND
ACT OF 1870--THE LAND LEAGUE AND THE NATIONAL LEAGUE--THE LAND
ACT OF 1881--SUBSEQUENT LEGISLATION AS REGARDS THE LAND SYSTEM
OF IRELAND

State of landed relations in Ireland in 1869-70--Mr. Gladstone
Prime Minister--The Land Act of 1870--Its merits and defects--
A short period of prosperity in Ireland--Ominous symptoms--
Michael Davitt--The teaching of John Finton Lalor in 1848--The
'New Departure' in Fenianism arranged in America--Foundation
of the Land League--It was a foreign rebellious conspiracy,
with an agrarian side, under a constitutional mask--Parnell
the master spirit of the League--His visit to America and the
results--A short period of distress in Ireland--Conduct of the
Irish landlords--Progress of the Land League--Mr. Gladstone
again Prime Minister in 1880--The Compensation for Disturbance
Bill rejected by the House of Lords--Outburst of agrarian
crime, as the Land League increases in power--Rents at
Griffith's valuation--Boycotting--Frightful state of Ireland
in 1881--After a short attempt to repress it, Mr. Gladstone
surrenders to the Land League--The Land Act of 1881--Mr.
Gladstone breaks the pledges he had made in 1870--His promise
of compensating the Irish landlords--The Land Act of 1881 a
bad and unjust measure directly inconsistent with that of
1870--The 'No Rent Manifesto'--The Kilmainham Treaty--The
Phoenix Park tragedy--Coercion--Parnell founds the National
League, the successor of the Land League--Renewal of agitation
in 1886--Struggle with law and the Government--Subsequent
agrarian legislation for Ireland--This is really a concession
to agitation, for the benefit of Irish tenants, and to the
injury of Irish landlords 130-187