Sir Alexander McDowell had been prevented by illness from attending any of the meetings.

He had no further part in the Convention's work, and died before it ended.
Redmond in a confidential talk spoke of his absence as lamentable.

The two had arranged--on the Belfast man's proposal--to meet for private interviews before the Nine came together.

Neither had control of the forces for which he spoke; but both stood out, by everyone's consent, from the rest of the assembly.

It is impossible to say how much they might have achieved had they come to an understanding; but assuredly no other representative of the North spoke with the same self-confidence or the same weight of personality as Sir Alexander McDowell.