The old tactics which used to draw plaudits and dollars from the United States, as well as a tribute from every parish in Ireland, had lately been unsuccessful.

There were still violent scenes in the House of Commons, but they no longer produced anything except contemptuous smiles.

Members of Parliament still succeeded occasionally in getting the Chief Secretary to imprison them, but the glory of martyrdom was harder to win than in the old days.
Latterly things had come to such a pass that even the reduced stipends offered to the members fell into arrear.

The attendance at Westminster dropped away.

The Government could afford to smile at Mr.O'Rourke's efforts to make himself disagreeable, and the Opposition were frankly contemptuous of a people who could not profit them by more than a dozen votes in a critical division.