for my address, with a view to a further communication. I proposed to write it. 'Give me your card,' he said rather brusquely. 'I have not got a card,' I replied. 'Good God!' exclaimed the overworked Secretary, in a tone which was a lesson to me, 'think of a sane man coming to transact business at a public department without a card of address.'

"During Drummond's career there was an organisation of the Liberals of Ulster under Sharman Crawford and Mr D. R. Ross, to keep rampant Orangeism in check, which he promoted if he did not project. But you have probably better information on this subject than I can supply.1

"Since that era, nearly half a century now, I have gathered and scattered libraries in widely separated countries; but, among a few books with which I have never parted, there is a copy of Drummond's 'Irish Railway Report,' given to me by a friend of his and a dear friend of mine as a cyclopædia of practical knowledge on Ireland. It was published at the same time as Gustave de Beaumont's L'Irlande, sociale, politique, et religieuse.' In a time of great intellectual barrenness, it is strange that a Frenchman and a Scotchman should have produced books which are still landmarks in the sluggish record of Irish progress. Believe me to be, my dear O'Brien, very faithfully yours,

"C. GAVAN DUFFY."

1 Sir Gavan Duffy is right in supposing that Drummond was interested in the formation of a Liberal party in Ulster; and so highly were his services recognised, that he was asked in 1839 to become a candidate for the representation of Belfast in the Imperial Parliament.

MR GIBSON TO DRUMMOND.

"BELFAST [1839].

"DEAR SIR,-I had the honour to day of receiving a deputation from a very large and most respectable meeting of the Reform Society, requesting me to again stand for the town at the ensuing general election. This honour

The end of 1839 found Drummond a dying man, but resolved to remain at his post to the last. There were no personal reasons for this determination. Drummond's

marriage with Miss Kinnaird had made him financially independent. But he had given himself up to Ireland, and he was ready to sacrifice life itself in the service of his adopted country. His friends urged him to retire from the public service for a time, but he would only promise to take another holiday early in the ensuing year. He thought that the weightiest duties of his office were done, that the most anxious period was past. He had the government of the country well in hand. He had survived the storms of abuse which the Ascendancy hoped would have overwhelmed him. He had won the respect of all classes, and gained the affections of the masses of the people. He believed he was in smooth water now, but he would not give up the helm until the ship was safely in port.

personal considerations have obliged me positively to decline, and I have been requested by a Committee appointed at the meeting (namely, Mr Sinnet, Mr Grimshaw, Mr Dunville, Mr Cranton, Mr Moorly), to state to you their conviction that you are the person most acceptable, under present circumstances, to the great body of the Liberal electors, and most likely to meet with their united support, and to inquire from you whether you are willing to entertain the proposal to become their candidate?

"I have not time, as the deputation have only just left me, to enter into any details. These can form matter of subsequent communication. Letters have been forwarded to Lord Belfast, to ascertain his Lordship's views, but until your answer is received no mention shall be made of this communication. Allow me to express the satisfaction I should feel if that answer should be favourable, and my hope, if so, that the town shall possess a representative so worthy of its highest confidence.—I remain, my dear Sir, yours faithfully,

"JAMES GIBSON."

CHAPTER XII.

1840.

DRUMMOND had promised to take a holiday early in the year 1840, but when the time came he put off the day. He was better, he said, and would gradually grow strong; moreover, he could ill be spared at the Castle just then. But his family and friends were not satisfied with these excuses; they urged him daily to leave Ireland and seek change and rest. He, however, made light of his ailments, and said it would be time enough to go away in the autumn. In January he wrote to his mother, to quiet her fears and cheer her by giving a good account of himself.

DRUMMOND TO HIS MOTHER.

"DUBLIN, January 29, 1840.

"MY DEAREST DEAR MOTHER,-My throat is so much better that I do not think I shall have to leave home at all; and the doing so would be very inconvenient at present. I am quite sure that if I do go, I should not go either to London or Edinburgh, or to anywhere I am like to meet anyone I know. Speaking is the thing to be avoided.

"If we are all spared till autumn, I shall propose running over to Scotland after Lord Morpeth comes over, or even before, and bring my Maria and little May, who will then be four years old, with me. This would be very delightful, and to this we may look forward with some confidence.

"Kindest love to my ever dear Eliza.-Believe me, dearest Mother, your ever affectionate son,

"T. D."

But his mother's fears were not quieted. She wrote an anxious letter, begging him to think more of himself, and to seek the change and rest which the physicians enjoined. He replied on Feb. 2:

DRUMMOND TO HIS MOTHER.

"I do assure you, my dearest dear Mother, that you are distressing yourself very unnecessarily about me. I have carefully told you the whole extent of throat affection, which is really very trifling. It is so much diminished that I am going to the office to-morrow; but if it be not gone entirely by the end of the week I shall run over to Cheltenham for seven or eight days. I have no cough, and really very little discomfort.-Ever your affectionate

son,

"T. DRUMMOND."

But Drummond's wife, the best and most watchful of nurses, would not desist from urging her husband to yield to the advice of the doctors and the entreaties of friends until at length he consented to go to Cheltenham. On February 16 he wrote to his mother :

DRUMMOND TO HIS MOTHER.

"MY DEAREST DEAR MOTHER,-I have just time to say that we are on the point of starting to sail this evening by the half-past eleven o'clock packet for Liverpool. The night calm and pleasant. All well here-pets and all. We go by railway to Birmingham, and thence to Cheltenham, where we shall remain. Maria sends her kindest love to you.

"Adieu, my dearest dear Mother, and with kindest love to my ever dear Eliza, and affectionate remembrances to John, believe me, ever most affectionately,

"T. DRUMMOND."

It was scarcely worth Drummond's while to have gone away. He was back again in less than a fortnight, and hard at work in Dublin Castle. Throughout March he continued at his post, and still remained the life and soul of the administration.

The Ascendancy did not trouble him much now. In 1839 they had put forth their whole strength to crush him, but failed ignominiously. They had not yet recovered from the effects of their defeat. The debates in the Commons, Drummond's evidence before the Lords' Committee, were fresh in their memory. They were demoralised. From the beginning of 1840 to the day of Drummond's death they scarcely stirred to attack him. Peace reigned throughout the land, and the Under Secretary gave himself up to the preparation of schemes for developing the resources of the country and improving the condition of the labouring poor. In the midst of this work he was struck down by fatal illness.

On Friday, April 10, he went to the Castle as usual. He always looked pallid and careworn now. His slender and graceful figure had grown very thin. His step had lost its elasticity. The genial and kindly smile which lighted up his handsome face was overcast. But his flashing eye still told of the energy and spirit that lived within. He never complained, and no one knew how he felt on any particular day. On this day he did not seem to suffer from any special illness. In the evening he entertained a number of friends at dinner. He was bright and cheery, and full of plans for the good of Ireland. On Saturday he went to the Castle again, and worked for nine hours. On Sunday morning he confessed to Mrs Drummond that he felt seriously unwell. The family physician, Dr Johnson, was at once sent for. He saw that Drummond was suffering from peritonitis. The case was one of the greatest gravity. On Monday, Drummond was worse, and Sir