MR STEAD'S ACCOUNT OF THE SCENE IN COURT. AN EFFECTIVE PERORATION. (From Our London Correspondent.) London, April 20. SIR. CHAS. RUSSELL'S GREAT SPEECH.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 373, 1 June 1889, Page 4

MR STEAD'S ACCOUNT OF THE SCENE IN COURT. AN EFFECTIVE PERORATION. (From Our London Correspondent. ) London, April 20.

SIR. CHAS. RUSSELL'S GREAT SPEECH.

As was gone) ally anticipated, the kernel of Sir Chae. Russell's lengthy review of the Painellites 1 caso lay in his peroration, or r ather in tho last two hours of his speech. This period he devoted to summing up tho leading points of the defence, and, as a matter ot fact, it is the only portion of the great barrister's prodigious ellort one really require? to read. Mr Stead, who was in Court all^ day, wrote the account of the scene on Fdday afternoon, which 1 append. Ifc ii certainly tho most graphic I have read ; — Tho Court ■was crowded, as usual, ladies piedominating. Tho '* Times " bench was empty afc first, bub afterwards came in Simplo Simon and Mr So-unes. Mrs Gladstone, Lady Day, Lady Russell, and Countes.s Russell weic among those who were present. Mr Childers and Mr Lulu Harcourt safe on opposite sides of the Court. Sir Charles Russell, who was to speak for two and a half hours or so, began promptly to sum up his six days' harangue by summaibing the specific weighty and grievous charges. Mr Parnell came in almost immediately after he had begun. Mr Davitt was of course in attendance. So was Mr Lewis. Mr Alfred Walter came in late. Sir Chaile* spoke without tho least appearance of weariness, nor was hi? voice even husky. The summary of the charges shows that the real biict from which Parnellism and Crime was written was the bogus document which Pigotb imputed to Eugene Davis, but which he subsequently admitted ho had invented himself. Charged with the statements of this pi odious document, Ml' Houston lirsfc sa»v Mr Stead, when he endeavoured in \uin to induce him to purchase the letters, and then a?tei wards succeeded in palming them oil upon the " Time?." All the statements made by the " Times " are found in the pseudo Eugene Davis's " confession," and nowhere else. That "confession" is the foundation and the inspiration of the whole case. The letters were an aftei thought, invented to bolster up the false confession. This, how- j ever, by the way. It is enough to state the charges as extracted and condensed by Sir Charles Russell to anyone who has followed the evidence to overwhelm them with ridicule. The cruellest things in Sir Charles Rus- | sell s speech aie hi 3 quotations from the Attorney-General's opening, wfiich proved how completely he has committed himself body and soul to the mosb grotesque inventions of Pigotb. Poor Sir Wretched did his best to look unconcerned as Sir Charles read out the monstrous as?ei tions tor which he had produced no proof, no scintilla of proof, nob even a veslige of evidence tainted or otherwise, but as he has a conscience he rsust have been a3 acutely miserable as any man could be. If he were a man and nob meiely a lawyer, ho would piobab'y have been unable to resist the impulse to spring to his feet and declare, " I ha\e tinned in that I have falsely accused innocent men !" But being a barrister who believes that it is the man who draws his instructions who will go to the fiery lake reserved for him *' who loveth and maketh a lie,*' the Attorney-General sat still and made no sign. Sir Charles was very felicitous in his scornful references to the beggaily scraps of isolated assertion sprinkled o\erava&b heterogeneous mass of extraneous matter, the gist of all which was that if their lordships had been sitting in a criminal trial they had not any evidence fit to be submitted to the consideration of a jury. Puiub by point he went over all the hideous libels emitted by the AttorneyGeneial, and contrasted what Sir Richard had stated with what he had even attempted to prove. In brief, it was nob unlike the defence of a man who, having accused another of shooting his father and poisoning his wife, tried to justify his libel by leading evidence to pi ove that the man had occasionally sworn at his servants and kicked a cab downstairs. Occasionally a witty phrase lit up the argument, as, for instance, when he referred to Le Caron as the den* ex machina, or peihaps as diabolic ex machina, who, disgusted with the weak and wretched manner in which the case of the "Times' 5 was presented, came forward to save them by his evidence. On one occas'on, and only one, he even drew a grisly, ghastly smile from Sir Richard Webster. He read the Attorney-General's declaration that if the letters were forged, a ; grosser libel had never been wiitten. '■ 1 agree with the Abtorncy-Oeneral," said Sir Charles impressively, turning round to the leader of the English bar, " a grosser libel wa3 never peuned." The Atto neyGeneral squitmed, and a sepulchral emile flitted across his features. As Sir Chailes went on it became more and moie clear that the forged letters and the forged confessions were the varp and woof of the whole case. They were the rotten ground which had given way under the feet of the AttorneyGeneral. Sir Charles left to the last the famous cheque to Byine. He proved by correspondence, which Mr Asquith read, that Mr Parnell's lelations with Mr Byrne had been perfectly straightforward and aboveboard, that the money sent Byrne was £ont for defi'Ute: and specific purpose. " A plain, straightfoi waid, and perfectly innoeen b bransaction. " Ib wa3 now twelve o'clock, and we were all beginning to gather oursehes for the peroration. It began almost immediately, and kept on in a stream of the loftiest eloquence for just half an hour. Sir Charles has seldom risen more completely to the height of a trreab opportunity. He spoke with sustained and intense feeling. Sir Chailes began by referring once more to the contiasfc between the insi<;mn"canb and utterly weak evidence which alone had been adduced in support ot the indictment, so broad, so serious, making charges of the gravest kind. Where theso charges had been specific, he claimed that in the case of the letters and of the cheque they had disproved them ; where they weie general, what fragmentary proofs, from what tainted and unworthy sources they had been shown to come. Pasting on to consider " Parnellism and Crime," the original source of the libels with which he had to deal, he remarked that they had been written by a young gentleman, he was sorry to say an Irishman, whose considerable literary ability should have been much better employed than in defaming his countrymen and discrediting his country's claims ; but although his had been the pen which had painted this grievous indictment, working all the scattered chargea into a curious piece of literary mosaic, he was but the machine and the creature that was employed with a pen dipped in political gall to make charges broad and strong and blastine enough to ruin a political opponent. Then Sir Charles quoted with great feel- j ing and immense effect four or five lines of '

pcotry, tho source of which did not appear Tho instruction of the poet to the libeller to "do all that art could think and pregnant spite devi&e," to " strike home, gash deep," was vory effective, and there was much pathos in the tone wich which he rendered the closing line, "A wound, though cured, yet leaves behind a scar," That was the close of the first of half-a-dozen compact perorations that were crammed into the final peroration of all. Then Sir Charles began again, and summarised what he considered he had proved betore tho Court. The passage was a \ery close compendium of a statesmanlike diagnosis of tho Irish situation, and presented tho caro for the formation of the Land Lougue in a nutshell. It was a combination inevitable under tho circumstances after the failure of Pailiament and bhe landlord class to provide protection for th& tillers of the soil, by , which they sought to shield them-olvcs fiom a repetition of the namoloss horrors of 1846 and 1847. Again, he reminded their lordships that they wcio trying tho history oi ten years of revolution in Ireland, partly social and partly political, and afc tho same time, while they wore sitting in judgment there, tho tenants of Ireland wero reaping by legal processin-the courts legally established the fruits of that revolution. Then he apostrophised the judges, expressing his confidence that they would without predisposition or predilection, political or otherwise, deal with the caso on the evidence before thorn, giving it the same impartial consideration that they would if their own country had not in any way been concerned in tho issue. Then passing in rapid revi w the two great parties which between them divide the Irish peoplehe presented a vivid pictureof ft strange phenomenon unknown in any other country governed under constitutional forms in the civilised world — of a land in which the smalltr party held all the positions of executive power and authority, and in which " the Castle "' and Jts tenants had no touch with the popular mind or the popular opinion. " Giave words," said Sir Charles. " weightier than mine, but which I will adopt as my own, represent the existing condition of things in that country "— and then Sir Charles lead out the striking passage from Mr Chamberlain's speech, in which he imeighed against the system of "Cattle'" government in Ireland as that by which an nbsutd and irritating anachronism was kept in existence by the bayonets of 30,000 soldiers encamped in the midst of a country which wsis treated as Russia treated Poland. Sir Charles did not say from whom he was quoting until he had finished the passage, although it was generally recognised. He led up to it : " This man is no excited orator ; he is a Privy Councillor of the Queen — it is Mr Chamberlain !" Mr Justice Smith looked as if he had swallowed something the wrong way. The impassive countenance of the Lord President never moved. Mr Justice Day looked more steadfactly than ever at the speaker, while an almost audiblo smilo went round the Court. "Is it any wonder," said Sir Charles, 11 that there should be alienation from the law, that there should be no faith in an Administration which never asks their advice, and no sense of responsibility in those who have never been entrusted with power? Nor was that all ; in England the Executive stood apart from the ordinary administration of the law ; in Ireland it was the Executive which set the law in motion." Then came a very telling and dramatic passage : — " If there be a gleam of returning health across the face of Ireland, I can only say, Deo Gratias ! If crime be lessened again, Deo Gratias !" But could that country be healthy which had twenty-five of its representatives in prison, not for offences regarded as crimes by men of moral sense, but for deeds which caused them to be regarded with sympathy by a large section of the English and as heroes and martyrs by the whole of tho Irish race ? The best guarantee of peace and order was the hope which Mr Parnell had planted in the Irish breast that this anomalous and diseased state of things must come to an end. It was because thoy had brought this consummation, devoutly to be wished, to be close at hand, that these men stand at your lordships' bar ! Then Sir Chat lea drew a brilliant picture of the Irish peasant in ] 879 and in 1889, eulogising the transformation of the serf into the free citizen, who, instead of regarding England with distrust-— if not with hate — tenders the hand of brotherly friendship to the English people, and buries for ever the daik and bitter memories of tho past. We had now got into very exalted region?, and everyone was wondering how he would manage to keep 021 any longer in this lofty strain, let alone to cap it with a climax. Sir Charles, however, diJ not fail. In a voice full of deep feeling, he exclaimed : 11 I have spoken not merely as an advocate. I have spoken for the land of my birth "—" — the pau&e that followed filled the Court'with f-ilence, and then, crushing down that lump in the throat which at such moments chokes utterance, Sir Chatles went on : "I feel profoundly that I have also spoken to, for, and in the best interests of England, of the country where years of my laboijous life have been passed, and where I have received kindness, consideration and regard which I would be glad to repay ;" a fine touch that, and admirably pub in. Then came a fine passage : He said that the trial intended for a curse had proved a blessing. " I &a ; d in my opening (said Sir Charles) that we represented the accused. That is so no longer. The positions aie reversed. We are the accusers. The accused " (with a gesture of indig.iant scorn, pointing to the " Times " bench, where sat Mr Walter and Mr Macdonald) " sit there !" That was fine, but finer slill was the closing passage of all, when, with a voice tremulous with emotion, he declared that the result of the trial would be to bring about a real reconciliation and a true union between two prcat people.". It had dispelled, and dispelled lor ever, a cloud, and a weighty cloud, which had bowed down a noble head and dimmed the glory of a mighty Empire." It Mas a struggle for him to get through without bieaking down. There was half a cob as the eloquent counsel, woo, as he said, stood pleading with passionate fervour for " the land of m}' birth," forced himself to proceed, until the last word, and then, the long tension over, he sank down quivering into his seat, while the hot tears, forcing themselves to unaccustomed eyes, told how intense had been the strain now happily at an end. Round the great advocate gathered all the horsehair wigs, eager with congratulations. Sir Charles was silent. Then came a little pencil-note from the Bench. It was ! from the President, who had flushed with emotion as Sir Charles Russell sat down. It was brief, but to the point : — " A great speech, worthy of a great occasion !" " What is it?" said the Attorney-General> picking up the note and reading it. " Of course ; and so we all think," said he kindly, and turned away. Then the Court slowly dissolved, the sitting being adjourned bill after Easter. | Mr Parnell will enter the witness-box on ! the 30th of April.