higher power behind them that can hope to reach the final goal.

De Valera's mother was accompanied to Ireland by her second son, now Father Wheelright, and after having spent a few months at Knockmore, Bruree, returned to America. She now resides with her husband in the City of Rochester, New York, in which city a sister of hers-Mrs. Patrick Connolly--has also been resident for many years.

In 1912 de Valera, was a candidate for the chair of Mathematical Physics, University College, Cork; a position he would, no doubt, have filled with distinction had he been appointed, but a poll taken between himself and another candidate-the President's nominee-resulted in a tie. Sir Bertram Windle was President of the College at the time, and each of the Munster County Councils had a representative on the Governing Body. De Valera put forward excellent credentials, but many of the County Council representatives at that time were not disposed to give due weight to credentials—if they gave any at all—hence the result. But even under these conditions he would have won had the County Limerick representative, who recognised his worth, attended the meeting. It was said that he missed the train at Kilmallock by just one minute. At any rate his absence was responsible for the position going to the President's nominee; for the appointment was then transferred to the Senate, and on the advice of his friends de Valera declined to further contest the matter. Had de Valera won, it is to be assumed that he would have been in Cork and not in Dublin during the stirring weeks leading up to the Rebellion. How would this have affected his future career? It is certain that wherever domiciled he would have been a Volunteer, but would he have had the same opportunities of distinguishing himself in Cork that he had in Dublin? Greatness often depends on our being in a position to avail of the opportunities that come our way and taking advantage of them. It is indeed strange what a trifling incident will sometimes change a man's whole career. Wolfe Tone had once

determined on going off to India, but he missed the last boat. By the time the next boat was due to sail he had changed his plans. Thus our Annals were near being shorn of a glorious name and our history of a glorious page.

At the very time that de Valera was seeking this appointment at Cork political events in Ireland were taking new shape. Sir Edward Carson had now decided upon forming an Ulster Volunteer Force, with the avowed object of defeating the Home Rule Bill which Mr. Asquith was then piloting through the English House of Commons. Civil war was hinted at and rebellion threatened from many platforms on which Sir Edward was supported by prominent Englishmen, all of whom were imbued with the old spirit of intolerance. Army officers of various ranks, secretly and otherwise, declared their adhesion to the new movement, and not a few generals were willing to give their aid in any emergency. In the meantime, British diplomacy drew from Mr. John Redmond a tacit approval of the Government's objects-the partition of Irelandin which he later acquiesced to the full extent required. Such, briefly, was the political outlook when the first enrolment of the Irish Volunteers took place in Dublin on the 25th November, 1913. In the beginning the Irish Party and some of its supporters looked askance at the new movement. Yet volunteers were being enrolled by the thousand. They could be seen drilling in the parks and greens, in the country roads and suburban areas, whilst the Government and the Irish Party looked on with subdued amazement. In the North Sir Edward Carson and his supporters became still more outspoken in their defiance of the Government, and when in March, 1914, troops were ordered to the North the ignominious affair known as the " Curragh Mutiny" took place. The echoes of this event had hardly died away when the great gunrunning coup at Larne was effected with great pomp and eclat; the weakness or connivance of the Liberal Government having filled the Orange leaders with ideas of something more than ephemeral power. De Valera was now

an energetic Volunteer, as were almost all those who were active members of the Gaelic League. Whilst the north threatened and the Irish Volunteers continued to drill and grow in numbers, Mr. Redmond, seeing the power and influence of the new organisation, endeavoured to obtain control of it. He demanded permission to nominate to the Provisional Committee of the Volunteers 25 members of his own choosing, and rather than disrupt the movement at this particular juncture, many well-founded objections to the proposal were waived. But when later on he attempted to commit the Volunteers to a policy not contemplated or sanctioned, either by the Provisional Committee or the Volunteers themselves, a break occurred; and thenceforward the movement followed its own course, untrammelled by party interest or control. De Valera was not a member of the Provisional Committee, but he was an officer in one of the Dublin Battalions, when the manifesto reaffirming the original objects of the Volunteers, viz.: "To secure and maintain the rights and liberties common to all the people of Ireland," was issued on the 24th September, 1914. Since the issue of this manifesto made secure the foundation stone upon which the events of 1916 were built and upon which de Valera continued to work, it is only just that the names of those who signed it should be reproduced here. They were as follows:

Eoin MacNeill (Chairman, Provisional Committee), The O'Rahilly (Treasurer, Provisional Committee), Thomas MacDonagh, Piaras Beaslai, Joseph Plunkett, P. P. Macken, M. J. Judge, P. H. Pearse, Sean MacGiobuin, Bulmor Hobson, Padraic O'Ryan, Eamon Martin, Con Colbert, Eamonn Ceannt, Sean MacDermott, Seamus O'Connor, Liam Mellows, L. C. O'Loughlin, Liam Goggin, Peter White.

As an officer of the Irish Volunteers, de Valera took an important part in the landing of arms and ammunition at Howth on Sunday, 26th July, 1914, and he narrowly escaped being wounded when, as the Volunteers reached

Clontarf on their return to Dublin, the Assistant-Commissioner of Police with over 150 men, supported by a company of soldiers, endeavoured to intercept their progress. The police made an attempt to seize the arms, but failed, the Volunteers getting clear away with the loss of but a few rifles; and when the tragic shooting at Bachelor's Walk occurred, all the officers and men were in their respective homes. From this onward de Valera became more and more proficient in the duties allotted to him, and when, in 1915, a big concentration and review of Volunteers took place in Limerick, he was second in command to P. H. Pearse. He also took a prominent part in the O'Donovan Rossa funeral arrangements; the efficient manner in which he carried out his part of the programme calling forth many encomiums from those with whom he was associated. As yet his name had not come to the notice of the Press, for like many more of the heroes brought to light by the rising of 1916, he evinced no desire for publicity. After this he took part in no other public event of importance until the month before the rising, when an incident occurred at a great St. Patrick's Day demonstration, that caused the Dublin Castle officials to think more seriously still of the type of men that now confronted them, and were soon to contest their authority. It appears that Lord Powerscourt, who it was believed had been sent from the Castle to view the parade and report, endeavoured to cross the Volunteer lines at a point where de Valera was in charge. He was instantly refused permission, and this not being to his liking, as his words will indicate, he remarked: This damn thrash would not be tolerated in any other country in the world." De Valera replied firmly, that if the military were marching he, or his fellow-countrymen, would not be allowed to pass. It was no trifling matter to cross the path of a noble lord in those days of Dublin Castle supremacy.

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De Valera certainly possessed all the qualities befitting an officer of the Volunteers. Besides being a fluent Irish speaker, he was brave, manly and upright; and there