public; that we were pleased to note that they had in a fairly held election determined that they desired a Republican form of Government, and that we congratulated them upon their choice and hoped that their aspirations would be consummated, the very same sentiments that we had always held and thought in America, and to which the people of Ireland had responded?"

The President replied: "Yes, Governor Dunne; but suppose that during our war of the rebellion an Englishman had declared that the South had a right to secede, or sided with the South, nobody would have criticised him for that; but suppose that he had gone into the South while the rebellion was going on, or immediately before the rebellion, would not our Government have said that he was fomenting the rebellion ?"

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Governor Dunne said: There is no parallel here. Here is a people who, after the armistice, held an election under the forms and securities of British Law, and declared for a Republic, and I don't believe the cases are in any way similar."

Mr. Walsh then interjected: "If you are drawing that comparison between the Southern States attempting the exercise of that called the 'right of secession' and the case of Ireland, I am inclined to say, I do not see the parallel. Would you please state in what way the cases are similar?”

Mr. Walsh continued: "Of course Ireland has a separate nationality; it is a nation that has always asserted its nationhood, except when repressed by overwhelming force," and then asked the President where the parallel was. The President replied that he did not say it was a parallel

case.

Towards the close of the interview the President said : "I wish that you would bear in mind that I came here with very high hopes of carrying out the principles as they were laid down. I did not succeed in getting all I came after. I should say I should say that there was a great deal— no, I will put it this way-there was a lot of things that I hoped for but did not get."

CHAPTER VI.

ARLY in June (1919), while the delegates of the Irish Race Convention were still fencing with President Wilson at Paris, de Valera suddenly disappeared from Ireland. His disappearance was, in many respects, as dramatic as his escape from Lincoln. The British Navy had formed a ring of steel around Ireland, through which it was thought impossible for anyone to make his way unless armed with a passport from the Foreign Secretary; and de Valera had neither sought nor received such passport. Yet it was certain that he had left these islands, but whether by sea or air seemed equally a mystery. His more intimate friends were, of course, aware that he had travelled by what afterwards came to be known as the "Sinn Fein route.' In English circles it was thought that he had gone to the Peace Conference, but de Valera had now little faith in the Peace Conference. He saw that instead of loosing the fetters which kept subject nations in bondage, the allied statesmen were only bent in making them more secure. Were he to go to Paris, he would probably have, like many other distinguished visitors, to spend fruitless hours hanging around the Hotel Grillion. But all speculation was soon set at rest by the announcement, on the 21st June, by Mr. Harry Boland, that de Valera had arrived in New York.

Simultaneously with the announcement of de Valera's arrival in America came the news that the Germans had agreed to sign the Peace Treaty, thus putting an end to the world war.

On his arrival in New York de Valera took up his resi

dence at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, which he made his headquarters. Thousands of messages and invitations at once began to pour in upon him from the different States. His apartments became a hub of activity. Leading journals sent representatives to interview him and columns were devoted daily to his views on the Irish situation. Surrounded by men of all ranks, his bearing reminded one of the young King Connor Mac Nessa, slender, handsome, and upright. In his youth de Valera was really handsome, but later on the rigour of prison life caused his features to become slightly furrowed. His beauty, however, was never of that effeminate type which we associate with certain classes of young men. Compared with these a glance at de Valera was like looking at a da Vinci instead of a schoolboy's daub.

The charm of de Valera's personality appears to have preceded him to America, for apart from the glorious cause which he represented the people appeared to be already filled with a burning desire to meet the man himself and to shake him by the hand. How often distance lends enchantment," said a writer in the Pittsburg Despatch, "and it is the most glorious thing in the world not to be disillusioned."

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"I knew," continued this writer, that I would like Eamonn de Valera, but I did not know that I would like him half as much as I did. He does not look in the least like his pictures. When he came into the room to greet me, for a moment I was not sure that it was he. I had imagined from his picture that he was gaunt looking, and that he would be very slow in his movements, but—well, in the first place, whether I was disappointed in him personally or not, for he did not do as many a lesser and lesser sought after light has done keep me waiting and waiting. He came out as soon as my card was presented, and he greeted me as though it was a real pleasure. Eamonn de Valera is easily six feet tall and may be a little over. He is very straight in figure, and very active, and he gives one the impression of strength and health. His hair is light brown, with not a bit of grey in it; and he has as

nice a pair of clear light brown eyes as I have ever had the pleasure of looking into. He was dressed in a suit of very dark grey, made by a very good tailor, and he had a little bit of white around the vest and his tie was black. Eamonn de Valera is not in the least conceited or affected, or full of his own importance. He is like all really great men ; simple, kind, sympathetic, and genuine. He laughed when I told him that I was far more anxious to meet him than I was to meet King Albert or the Prince of Wales. Even if I was not for Irish independence I would be for Eamonn de Valera, strong, strong, strong."

This was how most Americans felt about de Valera It was his personality, coupled with the sacredness of his cause that fired the enthusiasm of Americans and stirred to the highest pitch the love of Ireland in their hearts. He did not seek personal glorification, even though it was accorded to him. In his triumphal march through the States he wished that every cheer with which he was greeted be recorded for Ireland. When the great universities and colleges conferred honorary degrees on him in recognition of his intellectual powers he wished it to be known that these honours were for Ireland, and not for him. But with all his humility we can say of him what Remy de Gourmont said of Goethe, that he was the supreme hero of intellectual humanity."

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Before de Valera's departure for America Dail Eireann had authorised the flotation of an Irish Republican loan of £1,000,000. Of this amount £500,000 was to be issued in bonds immediately, £250,000 in America and £250,000 in Ireland. The machinery was at once set in motion for the American quota and backed by the Friends of Irish Freedom, the Clan na Gael, the A.O.H. and the Women's auxiliary, of which Mrs. MacWhorter was President, de Valera had little difficulty in securing the required amount. Everybody from the workingman upwards subscribed so generously that it was indeed necessary after a while to increase the maximum amount to ten million dollars.

An appeal for funds was not, however, the main object de Valera had in view. In the course of an eloquent address to 50,000 people in San Francisco he said :

I come to the people of America, and I am more than satisfied with what the people of America have already done. I come here to float bonds of our country and to get your financial support for our industries. But the main thing I want to get in this country, the main thing I want is recognition of the Irish Republic. We have a nation big enough, with resources great enough, to look after ourselves. would rather go back to Ireland without a penny piece, and the recognition of our Republic through this country than I would if you were to give me all the gold you possessed in the country.'

I

In seeking recognition of the Irish Republic, de Valera made it clear that he did not want America to take any hostile step against England. To recognise the Irish Republic would not, he held, mean war with England. England would not dare go to war with America, and even if she wanted to she would first have to borrow American money to carry on the fight! The decision therefore rested with America. Ireland, he said, was at war with England for over 700 years, and that war would continue until England's interfering hand was entirely withdrawn. With Ireland's right recognised, all animosity and illfeeling would disappear. It would, indeed, be to the interest of both nations to become friendly. England could have the friendship of the Irish nation at any moment all that was required was to grant complete self-determination-to allow the people to select their own form of Government in accordance with the principles outlined by President Wilson. The so-called Irish problem which Government after Government made the pretence of grappling with did not exist. Sir Edward Carson was there at the behest of the Government. He had been set up in Ireland to keep British interests alive and he