THE CASE OF MR. PARNELL.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIX, Issue 16, 16 January 1891, Page 25

THE CASE OF MR. PARNELL.

DCBLIJr, November 30 — Public bodies and ihe Leagne, with all its branches, ccn inue to pars resolutions of confidence. A monster meeting in support of the Tenants' Defence Fund was held in Leinster Hall, Dublin. Ihe hall was packed from floor to ceiling, and speeches weie made strongly in favour of continuing Mr. Paroeil in the positK n of leader of the Irish party. The Lord Mayor presided aLd nineteen members of Parliament were oo the platform. The firot r solution was proposed by Mr. Justin McCarthy, the V c • President of tie Iri-h P.rliamentary party, and seconded by Mr. T Healy. It approved the action of thn Irish party in its unswerving allegiance to Mr. Parnell end reasoned the feilty of the lush people to his leadership. Tbe resolution was supported by Mr. Samuel Walker Q C, ex-Attorney-General for Ireland. AmoDg the ep ake>B were Mr. MacDeimot, Q.'\, ex-Solicitor-Oeneral ; Messrs. Juhn Redmond, Pierce Mahoney, J. Cl»ncey, and Dr. Kenny, who read amid lond cheers a telegram from the Irish delegates in America to Mr. E. Leamy. On the platform were many distinguished citisens, including members of the Inner and Outer Bar, medical men, and leading merchants, the Lord Mayor and High Sheriff-elect and Burgesses of the City of Dublin. The Mayors of Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Clonmel ware also present. Tbe proceedings were mofct enthusiastic. Everybody seemed not only re•olved bnt determined that Mr. Parnell should con'inue to lead the paity. London, November 25.— A meeting of the Irish Home Rule members of Parliament was held to-day before the opening of the session of the Home cf Commons. Mr. Parnell was present. He was loudly cheered as be entered the rcom. A motion whs made that Mr. Parnell be re-elected chairman of the Irish Parliamentary party. It was carried nnanimouily. It is announced that Mr. Prrneh will retain tbe leaders Lip at the express de6ire of his followers. Mr. Parnell made an address to the meeting in which be thanked bis followers for his re-electiOD. He said it was for tbe Irish members to decide whether he sbould lead them. If their decision had been a negative one or there had been any diversity of opinion among them, he would cheerfully have withdrawn from public life. Nothing but the conviction that his colleagues desired to still utilise his services in their common cause induced him to resume a position which, under bis altered circumstances, exposed him, and them through him, to the attacks of their opp> nents. The Irub Parliamentary delegates who are in America have cablsd the iollowi. g dispatch to their colleagues in Ireland concerning tbeir future attitude towards Parnell s leadership of the Parliamentary party :—: — 11 We stand firmly by the leadership of the man wbo has brought the Irish people through unparalleled difficulties and dangers from eervimde and desp.ir to the very threshold of emancipation, with a genius, courage, and success uoequa<led in our history. We do so not only out of gratitude for those imperishable services in the p*st but in the profound conviction that Parnell's statesmanship and matchless qualities as a leader are essential to the safety of our cause." Tbe Dublin Irish Catholic says :— " Mr. Parnell has wounded deeply the moral ana religious sense of the people. He has sinned nearly as much agains-t Ireland as against morality. He has needlessly created what may be a barrier to the National movement, but the grave political exigency demands that he continue to be the leader of bi§ party." United Ireland, commenting on the case, says :— " We do not desire to condone Mr. Parnell's grievous sin ; but from Ireland, which he has served so long and faithfully, wiih such dear aevotion and such magnificent success, he may at least look for generous forbearance in tbe hour of his trial. To his praise be it spoken that he has not attempted to shield himself by perjury, lie yielded to a temptaion to which many great and wise men have succumbed since and before the days of King David. He has atoned by what to a man of his proud and high spirit must have beea indeed bitter and haimliating. But to the Coercionisc clamour for his dismissal from the Iriad leadership Ireland's answer is sharp and decisive, • No 1 ' Irishmen have no mission to judge bis private life. Leave that to his conscience and to hia God, who weighs the temptation with the offence." Toe Dablin Freeman's Journal, which is the organ of the National party, commenting on the case recalls the private live* of the Duke of We.lingto-i, Lord Nelson, Lord Palmerston, and a number of other prominent personages, who in their time were the subject of scandals similar to that in which Mr. Parnell is now involved in, anJ it goes on to write : — " The gabble about the social ostracism to which Mr. Parnell will be subjected is absurd, because he never went into society. The pastors charged with his moral well-being are not tbe pastors of the majority of the Irish people. 11 It is neither our duty nor our province to adjudge his private life, nor to examine his conscience. irelaaJ's bu-inesa with him is entirely of a political nature. He has ably, faithfully and successfully served the country, and has brought her out of bondage and led her to within sight of that promised land. A juncture has now been reached where there can be no swapping or changing of leaders. We would not change if we could, and "we could not if we would. The Irish, not the Knglish, people will decide if the toil of the nation for years is to be lost, or the fruit of that toil risked because a man bad been weak and a woman frail. It is imperative that Mr. Parnell continue as a leader of the Irisb Parliamentary party " The Nation, says " Mr. Parnell will still lead, and will lead powerfully. Tuere area few Englishmen, not inconspicuous, wbo recognise that. Lord Hartington, we note, is one of these 'Mr Parnell is a powerful leader,' said Lord Hartington to a Unionist mettiDg at Gnmsby the oiber evening. ' Was,' interrupted a voics from tbe gsllery. 'Is a powerful leader,' repeated tbe leader of the Liberal Unionists. It was Lord Hartington wbo first gave weight

+o Pigott's forgeries, ani declared they demanded an answer. It is noteworthy that his mi ad is open to the truth here. Yes, Mr. Parnell will nill lead. We recognise his past services; we know h<9 can serve us still in spite of ihis fall which we all deplore, which we all ondemo. We are mindful, too, that in standing oat from his own class, and taking his stand by the poor and the down trodden of his countryman, hn shut hianelf out from the pleasures and companionships of his old 1 fe. He forfeited them for the people ; and |ie thusexDOseJ himself to th«j plnters by whom he has fallen, and iacreised their cha ices Wo dj not to g<-t eitber that ha h*s been attacked chiefly because of the work he h>s done for Ireland. All t .ese recollections, thjugh (hey cannot rase oat the trouble which is written on the brain of Ireland by this untoward event, etill justify our resolve to shape our conduce towards oar leader now by the necessities of our case, and to maron still forward, unitedly and determinedly, along the road wtico he «it tbe first to lead the strength of Ireland to, and whioh bu judgment and foretigbt will still ba available to descry and to define— the road to the goal of Irish liberty." Michael Divitt says in the Labour World :— " There is no task we have had to perform since the birth of iha Labour World that dm been so repugnant as is that we have to face witb this issue. It is a duty we would gladly avoid if we could do ao without earning by our silence a suspicion oE indiff -renc}. M jreover, silence would be misconstrued. Mr. Parnell i» under amoral cloud, which has brought upon himself a crisis into which he precipitated the Home Bule movement. This crisis hat been brought about by no other agtnoy than Mr. Parnell's own conduct. We say emphatically that both tbe Iriah and British Home Rulers have the right to look to him alone to deliver tbe cause of which he has been, until now, the trusted leader from the deadliest peril by which it has just been assailed. Mr. Parneli is called upon to make a sacrifice that is a comparatively small one in return for the many sacrifices which the moat coafidiug and generous people that ever followed a political leader have made for him. He now ia called upon to Btudy, not his own political future, not the exigencies of party, but what is the best course to adopt in the interest of Home Kale. There can ba no two opinions. Mr. Parnell must remember that he defied popular sentiment. In Ireland be rode rough-shod over tha feelings of his own party, when, in 1887, in the presence of another Berioua crisis, he thrust this man O'ihea upon the electors of Galway. His action then left a wound in tbe mindj of some of his ablest followers which time has not bealed." London, November 20 —Mr. Morley addressed a meeting of the Liberal Federation at Sheffield to-day. Referring to the Paroell case he said they had special difficulties and anxieties at this moment, but they never expected, when toey embarked on this voyage, cloudless skies and summer seas. Having put their hands to the work it was tbeir duty to keep the great Irish national question apart from personal conaidera ions which did not belong to it. It was their duty niw, as it always had been, to hold that question at the top of the public view. This duty happened to be difficult at a moment when the country was stirred by anxious incidents and painful disclosures, (hear, hear.) Tois matter might be considered in its proper time and place. But they should not slacken for a moment their devotion to what they had undertaken (prolonged cheering.) Ojly let them recognise that none of those disclosures in the slightest degree derogated from the justice, urgency, and sacredness of a great cause, (cheers). That cause was as sound to-day as it ever was, and it became from day to-day more urgent as it drew nearer to the final issue (cheers). So it was more than ever necessary to look at the case on us merits and allow Dothing else, however grave, to interfere, London, No»ember 21.— Mr. Siead, the editor of the Review of Reviews, cilled to-day at the London office of the Dublin Tretman's Journal to prt-seut an ultimatum to Mr. Parnrll, to whom he wisbed to have it conveyed that unless Mr. Parnell intimated within twenty hours to Mr. Stead that he had resigned the leadership of tbe Irish party Mr. Stead would proceed to open the batteries of tbe social purity movement on him. It is not the offence against morals that excited Mr. Stead's wrath, who says in his ultimatum :— '• I am prepared toalloT, if you like, that committing adultery is no worae than taking a glass of wt.iskey." What Mr. Stead alleges to be the cause of bis wrath is that Mr. Parnell has deceived bis friends. Mr. Stead says that he will publish the verbatim report of tbe proceedings before the divorce court, to wLich he will prefix a mild criticism and commentary. This pamphlet he proposes to sell at one penny. Mr, Stead declares his opinion that Irish Home Rule may as well be relegated to the planet Saturn unless Mr. Parnell is thrown overboard immediately. The London Tablet says .— " In itself the conduct of Mr. Parnell cannot prejudice the Irish cause in eitber land. But it will be a different thing if his followers persist in retaining him, in the teeth of bis abhorrence of their Liberal allies, as co-leader with Gladstone. Intercourse with Mr. Gladstone will be especially difficult. There ought to be no hesitation on the part of the Nationalists. In tbe interest of elementary morality Catholics are bound to sever their connection with Mr. Parnell. Tney may gratefully remember his services, but as a leader he ought to be impossible in the future." All the English weekly Catholic paperß are unanimous in tbeir condemnation of Mr. Parnell. The part of tbe Protestant religious press of England which has been, on general Christian principles, a strong advocate of Home Rule for Ireland, now goes beyond the Tory newspapers in warmth of language in denouncing Paroell. Tbe anger at bis conduct finds exprsssion in some pretty firm sentences. Tbe Methodist Times says : — " If the Irish people are so degraded as to retain Parnell, good-by to Home Rule. We have made many sacrifices to the Irish cause, but if the Irish race deliberately selec as their chief a man of Parn ell's type they are as incapable of self-government as their bitterest enemies haveever asserted. Such a race would prove themselves to be unfit for anyihii g except a military despotism." Doctor Clifford, tbe Congregational leader, writes :—": — " A man legally convicted of immorality cannot lead in legislation. If the members of tbe Irish party do not wish to alienate the sympathy of the English Radicals

they must insist on Parnell's immediate retirement." The Baptist declares that " Baptists of everj shade of politics f-el acutely tha' the interes s of righteousness are menaced by the possibility of the association of Parnell witb the leaders of any party having any concern lor the national honour." ■->• (Pall Mall Gazette.) Mr. Parnell should resign. It is tbe only patriotic course he can pursue. He has no right to ask every Liberal c-.ndidato in England, Scotland, and Wales to fight with the weigh' of his disjrace upon them, which it will be necessary for them to assum*, owing ti the close alliance existing between the Irish Home Bulersand the English Radicals. (New York Sun ) The hysterical outcry of the London Tory Press for the dismissal of Mr. Parnell from the leadership of the Irish patty on the score of his connection with the O'Bhea divorce case excites at ooce amusement and disgust among those who know something about the private lives of English public men in recent and present times. Glass enters too largely into tha structure of their own houses for Briish politicians to indulge ia throwing stones. If any professed Glaistonians j >in in the Tory bua and cry, they will reveal to Mr. Gladstone the worthlessness of their support. They will nnke it clear that they are waiting for a pretext to betray him, as he was betrayed by Messrs. Hartington, Chamberlain, and company in 1886. No man who sincerely approves of Mr. Gladstone's pHrpose to give self-government to Ireland will m-kw the retirement of *be Irish leader a condition of his file ity to the Home Rule cause. Tbe rightful ness of Irelani'i demand for local legisla nre and tbe cogency of Mr. Parnell's arguments on behalf of his countrymen are not impaired an lot* became the private character of tbe Nationalist chief seems on prima fads evidence to be open to grave censure. Tbe duty of Gladatonians, if they mean what they profess, is to render Ireland justice ; it is not their business to dictate to Irishmen whom they shall choose for the direction of their political movement. (New Fork Tribune.) The Irish conspiracy trials have resulted in the conviction of three Members of Parliament and four obscure associates. The penalty for agrarian agitation is imprisonment for terms of four or twelve months without labour. Wnliam O'Brien and John Dillon being now if the United States will enj j a brief re«pit<?, but when they return they will be arrested at oaca and taken to gaol Whether they are under sentence in America or are prisoners in Ireland these Members of Parliament are no' degraded by conviction. At horns they are looked upon as patriots aDd martyrs ; their c^nvic ion is not a token of reproach, but of honour; ihey will be greeted with cheers when they enter the g»ol, aad they will be feastel and glorified when they come out. Abroad they will bi r-trarded, not aa criminals and convicts but ai political offenders and vi:t m« of unwise and oppressive c ercion laws. Tnis ia the f^tal wetknessof Mr Balfour'e syst-m of governing by free.f >rce. Coercion d es not carry with it the moral force of public opinion either in Ireland or in Christendom. Instea i of degrading it ennobles the so-called criminal. It dignifies the cmvict's Crll and thereby paralyses the agencies of criminal law. Mr. Parnell is ia a very different p ijht. He stand* s^lf-convicted before Irelanl an 1 the world of bareness and immorality. Political a*Boci tea may rally about him and refuse to desert h\m, but the moral forces of publu opi ,ion athjme and abroad are massed ag.ir st him. Convicti n may enn>ble Dillon and tbe O'Br enß : but it degrades him, sullies the prestige of his honourable servict for bis country, aad brn.'s tbe patriotic cause with which he is identified into uiideeervei repraach. If he seeks to defy public opinion in Ireland and England, th • Home Bule movement will be seriously endangered when its proppects ar* bright and encouraging. Mr. Gladstone and the Et phsb Liberal-*, who have raadp great sacr.fices for Irehnd and its interests, ought not to be compelled to condone the most ehcckmg private immo ality by continuing to labour and ass ciato with Mr. Parnell. He stands convicted and disgraced before the world. He ebuuld step down and out. Patrick Donohoe of B ston, the founder of the Pilot newspaper, says :— " A great Bbame has come to a gre^t mio. Id> not care to s^y more on the subject. But 1 reuarded Pamell as the greatest man since O'Connell, ana he baa b r ought shame upon the purest nation of tbe world. Any other country would condone his fault. If he be as guilty as they say (and I hope and pray the contrary) I donbt if Ireland ever will pardon him, 1 ' (Special cable letter to the New York Sun ) London, November 26.— Mr Glads ou^'s letter has ciused a startling change in the political situation. Immedia'elv after the verdict in tbe O'Sbea divorce case there was a pr ispt ct that by the r tirement, temporary or otherwit-e, of Mr. P.irne'l serious injury to the H ime Bule cau«e might be averted. N'owit is merely a quean m whether he cause shall be damage lor ruined. Im-neas^ haun has already been done, which no tardy repentanc- c«n remedy. But Mr. Gladstone's retirement from po meal lif-, whicn can o-jly be avoided by Parnell's resignation, means no momentary disaster, but temporaiy ruia to the cause of Home Rule. (Special cable letter to the New York Timet ) London, November 29 — Such cxci ement as h<is to-dqy prevailed throughout the length and breadth of this country has never been experienced since the d^ys when England was convulsed by the rumours of the advents of Nnpoleon'- fl ets. Any ordinary disaster, such ac tbe outbreak ot one of England s many wars, the news of the annihilation cf an English expedition, or the story of some ensanguined encounter wuh oue or other of tbe nation 8 habitual petty foen, wouid have left tne c mntry comparative y calm. There would have ben a dp-pitch of troops, there w>mld bave been a calm statement of the existing pi sition of affairs made in the H )ush, and the nut ion would i aye gone comfortably to sleep, secure in the knowledge that <be matter was adjustable, and that the bnet energies of the nation were devoted to its settlement. On top of these anxious reckonings th- manifesto came with a detonating force of a dynamite

explcnion. From an early hoar this morning London dm been in a state of turmoil. The private bouses of the Minifterg and the cMefs of tha parties have been beset by newspaper reporter! seeking either tha tra h or, at leas', the refutation, of soiae one of the many lies coatained in the extraordinary publication that Parnell h«s thouzht advisable to give to the world. The houses of Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Morley, above all others, have been snrronnded by crowds thronghont the day, as tbongh either of these gentlemen was likely to stand oat in the snow to give public refutation of the falsehoods that had been so widely circulated. Probibly no political dooament published within the memory of the present generation has created so profound and astonniingan impression as has the manifesto given to tha world this morning. On the face of it, the manifesto is as unscrupulous a document as ever was penned by a politician. It purports to reveal party secrets with shameless contempt for the decencies and confidences of political life, and the fact that these revealed confidence* are immediately denounced as falsehoods, having no foundation, in fact, detracts in noway from the disgrace of making them public. Mr Gladstone his lout no time in giving the lie direct to the Ptrnell version of the confidential discussion at Hawarden in November last. It is specially worthy of no c that only one of the twenty-three admit* ed supporters of Mr. Paraell was consulted in the mater. The original draft of the manifesto was drawn up in consultation with J. O'Kelly, who had as his colleague in the matter a btnkrujt retainer of Mr. Parnell's named Loudeo. This Louden was in 1882 expelled from the Nationa' League for cowardice in connection with the Land League during Mr. Fonter's suspect epoch. Dublin, November 30. — Archbishop Oroke has sent the following to Mr. Justin McCarthy as representing the views both of himself and of the Catholic clergy of Cashel :— " We are all sorry for Parnell, but in God's name let him retire quietly and with God's grace from the leadership. If he does co the Irit-h party will be kept together, the honorable alliance with the Gladstonitn Liberals will be maintaine 1, success at the general election assured, and Home Bole will be certain. But if he does not retire, the alliance will be dissolved, the election lost, the Irish party seriously damaged, if not broken up, and Home Rule indefinitely postponed. Coercion will be repeated, the evicted tenants will be hopelessly crashed, and the public conscience outraged. Parnell's manifesto is flat and discreditable. Archbishop Walsh to-day telegraphed to Mr. William Martin Murphy, Member of Parliamant for the St. Patrick's Division of Dublin, that the Hierarchy would me;t on Wednesday next to consider the situation. The Archbishop says : — " We have been slow to act, trusting that the party will act man* fully. Our considerate silence and reserve are being dishonestly interpreted, but Archbishop Crcke's telegram will make further misrepresentation impossible." In an interview Archbishop Walsh, referring to his recent letter on the Parne 1 difficulty, sajs ; — " The letter was guarded because Mr. Parnell had not then spoken. But now his manifesto enables me to sp?ak more plainly. Unless Sir. Parnell clears himself of the charge of adultery, the party taking or retaining him as their leader will not fiad 'he support, co-operation, or confidence of the Irish Bshops. Mr. Parnell's breach of Mr. Gladstone's confidence is blamable." At the meeting of the Irish party in London on Monday, December Ist, to consider the situatioa the question of Mr. Parnell's breach of confiienca with Mr. G ads'one was warmly discussed. Jus in McCarthy explained how he went to Mr. Gladst >ne on Saturday to reopen negitntioos. Mr. Gladstone told him that he regretted toe disorganisation of tbe Irnh par y. He would offer do suggestion, nor would be sign ny documen' or give any message to be conveyed to the party. Mr. Gladstone informed him that he could not give aoy document with any certainty that it might not be printed by s >tne of those concerned. He (McCarthy) also saw Harcourt, who said that in view of the disclosures m ide in the Ptrnell mamf -ste, he would not give anybo'y, verbally or in writing, aasnraices which were to be brought to the notice of Parnell. As to the general question of Parnell re'irin*, Mr. McCarthy Raid Parnell's leading error had been his keeping private until n w the Hawarden onv rsation. Mr. McCarthy severely reproached Parnell for accepting a pledge of secrecy, for declining to disclose it when be saw that his party and his country were sliding down to a precipice and fjr glorifying Gladstone on public platforms, while as be (Parnell) alleged he knew that Gladstone's purpose was to betray the Irish cause and the Irish people '■ But," continued Mr. McC irthy, " supposing I had felt that terrib c bond of silence, that seal rigid as the confessional, pressing upon me, would I have broken it for the sake of publishing a manifesto Under any conceivable condniou cf public affairs 1 The whole transaction appears »o me to have betrayed from the beginning a vital error of judsment on the part of Parnell." Mr. McCirtlw concluded :—" This error has so shaken mycoofllence in the judgment of our leader that I have ceased to hopa for success unless be be retired. ' (Cable message from the Irish delegates, under date Chicago November 3J). What Mr. ParneU asks us to do, stripped of all side issues, is to sacr.fioe all the hopes of an early settlement of tbe Irian struggle to his r^« ilve to m-untaia his personal position. We are driven t^ choose between oir leader and our cause. In that sad choica we canno r hesitate. We Uv thise view 3 respectfully before all our colleagues of the Irish Parliamentary party in the earnest belief that a decisive vote on their part will dedver Ireland from 'he tearful anxiety which n >w overhangs her people. We are co ivmeed that a ca m, but resolute, course of action on our p^rt iv tbu cruel omerg j n^y will redounl to the advantage of our cause, by furnishing conclusive testimony to the capacity of our party and of our people for self-government. We cannot relinqaiah the nope that ia the face of such decisive action by the elective representatives of tbe liish people, Mr. Parnell'd sense of patriotism will withhold bim from plunging Ireland into tbose horrors of dissension which have so often already, in her tragic and unhappy history, robbed her of liberty at the moment it was

•

within her grasp, and will save him from undoing in one passionate topr the result of all his incomparable services to bis country. *" {London Daily Newt ) Mr. Parnell't inability to appresiata reticence and consideration makes one more most painful feature in this distressing case. We say nothing of the outline he has given of the proposals which, as ha says, Mr. Gladstone and John Morley have talked over with him in confidence. The breach of confidence, if it has been committed, wonld be bnt a small part of the fault which the whole of the English Liberals will find with this letter. We regietit most for tbe almost irreparable injury it inflicts on the Irish cause. Of Parnell himself nothing more can be expected. This letter s-ems to us to be a last, fatal disservice, which obliterates many if not all tbe incomparable services he has hither tot ore performed for his afflicted country. Bat are tbe Irish people to be left under the serious misiDprehension of their English friends with which this manifesto is full? If so, if they believe tbat this is a full account of the difficulty that has arisen, there will, we fear, be an end of the confi lence and sympathy which for the last four years have been fast growing between them. It will sorely be for tha Irish members and Irish bishops and the priesthood to see to it that all tbe good work of these years be not swept away. Mr. Parnell seems to have resolved that if he falls be will drag tbe Home Bale cause and tbe cause of the people and tenants of Ireland with him. It will be for the patriotic men who have been the mainstay of tbe Nationalist movement to stand like the priest of old— between the living and the dead till the plague be stayed. They mast make the Irish masses fully acquainted with the sad revelations of the Divorce Court, and they must make it clear to tbem tbat the whole of the present difficulty arises from the moral revulsion of the English people against the lawlessness which invades the family aad destroys the saoredness of domestic life. The question before the Irish people is whether they will qnarrel with their English friends on grounds like these or whether they will go on to gain the freedom they desire under another leader. ( United Ireland, November 29.) From the day United Ireland started, a gojd nine years ago, even to the present boar, Ireland has suffered no such terrible ordeal as at present afflicts her. . . . Never before was so momentous a decision to be made; never so melanctoly a choice presented itself. Tbe party are nqaired, on tbe one hand, to forego (for the present at least) the services of tbe great Leader who in a sense created it, led it on with matchless skill from victory to victory, even to the very threshold of the final triumph, dreamed of in vain for seven long centuries. Failing this, Ire and, it at pres-nt seems, must forfeit tbe invaluable support of tbe greatest English statesman of the generation, who has made her cause bis own, and devotpd the glorious snnset of his hie with generous self-abandonment. With him may go a great body of his followera, by whose hearty support alone Home Kule is possible in the immediate fu ure. There is no blinding our eyes to the laet thateuch defection means an ma finite pest, ponement of tne nation's hopes — an indefinite prolongation of the terrible struggle with Coercion. It is a pitiable choice at best. It is hard, indeed, to find the lesser svil when both are of such immea-ur-able dimenbions. . . . There can be little doubt the result will be largely swayed by final advices from the delegates. Meanwhile, the country must possess its soul in patience, praying God to guide the decision of her representatives for the best. Tms only she will entreat— nay, inmst on— at their bands. Whatever their decision may be thire matt be no disunion or appearance of disunion. All mnst loyally abide by it. Whatever else is lost the one indispens. able necessity of tha situation— a united Irish Parry— must be preserved. Disunion or disloyalty is the one crime hat Irelaud, taught by past experience, will not tolera c in her representatives. (The Nation, November 29 ) We must, however, jface the tacts, lsittrui that all the fruits of the labour and sacrifices of the past five years will be lost if Mr. Parnell does not bow to the storm? Is it true that his leadeiship will mean for thefiißt time defeat and humiliation for Irelaud, suffering for the Iri9h peasantry, the sacrifice of Irish liberty ? Is it true that noton'y will the next general election hi lost, but that it will involve, as tbe leading organ of English Liberalism puts it, " the indefinite postponment of Home Bule?" It would hi treason to Ireland, treason to our past, and treason to our future, to sacrifice all our hopes out of loyalty and gratitude to any man. Besides, his resignation "for the moment" would not mean his loss to Ireland. Whatever the issue for the moment, justice will yet be done him. These are the consideiations tbat within the next few days ought to determine the decision of the natiou and its leaders. In coming to thit dtcision, one danger will threaten greater than any that is involved iv the break-up of the Liberal and lush alliance or tbe loss ot Mr. Paruell — it is the danger of disunion n Ireland. Trie secret of what is called Parnelhsm has been v ion among Irishmen. Let it continue. Let us show our enemies tnat tven when the outlook turnb gloomy, and when our courage is tried, we c>n sta d together to meet and struggle with the wois-, as well as when we bad lo rtjoice iv the btst. Tbat will be a better piooJ that we are earnest in our pursuit of liberty than any we could give while the prospect was fair, and it will turn threatening danger into thesifetyofa glorious victory. Let us stand together and act together, for the sake of Ireland and for Ireland's take alone. (The IrUh World, December 6.) If Mr. Parnell's explanation suggests itself to men's minds as the afterthought of an unscrupulous man who is driven to find excuses in the perplexites of a desperate situation, m*de desperate by himself, it is only what is natural to suppose and what even the most heated of Parnell 'a adherents will recognise when they have recovered their sobriety. A demagogic appeal to Irish national feeling, which the exigencies of his sitoation now impel him to make, is the last trick card in Par*

nells pack. Popular excitement lenis canning opportuneness to the device. It suits his preseat purpose to pasture as the solitary guardian of Irish independeoce and Irish integrity ; it suited his purpose before tbe Time* Commission to forswear utterances that be bad made to Irish audiences in America and that ha had supposed were pleating to Irish ears. . . .We have faith in Glaistone— faith in bis honesty and hid intelligence Ij straighten out this tangle. Ha is the most conspicuous figure and the most potent iaflueace to-day in the statemanship of Europe. He can now cherish no petty ambition here below, He has entered the eighty-first year of his age, and in the course of na'urehe must soon go before the Great Judge. What remains to him of time he should be allowad to derote to positive work, not to contradictions and inharm my. America-is are to a man with Gladstone for the cause of Ireland. Taey are now looking to see how Ireland herself shill treat this greit aad good man, to whom she owes so deep a debt of gratitude. (The Pilot, December 6.) The trusted head of the Irish people, the man whose matchless statesmanship has carried them to tie very threshold of victory, has committed a fault for which he has to atone by resigning his leadership. The grief of Ireland's friends wilt not be alone for the fall of the leader, though that is hard enougd to bear, but for the weakness which caused h s fall and for the sibs-queat steps which h&ve made fnrtber alliance between him and Gladstone impossible. No matter if Gladstone had intended less for Ireland thaa was expeoted of him, the disclosure of his off « by Mr. P^rnell, at this tim \ does not mend ma' ten in tbe least, while it adds a new wall to the barriers that separate them. Nor is this the worst of tbe calamity. The discussion of Mr. Pa:nell's case his been conducted wi<h needless acrimony on both sides. If be has beea obstimt jin clinging to the leadership, some of his opponents have passed judgement on his motives and actions with a bitter vehemence that common gratitude might have forbidden. The people of Ireland will help no man to eminence who attempts to rise by pulling down their I mg-hjaored leadir. Suci work as that should be left to Unionist ingrates and British phuisees. Irishmen ovve gratituie to Parnell for sis^en ye irs of labour and sacrifice in their cause. Taey owe another duty to thetnialves. It la to avoid, at aay cjsc, in the present crisis, the accursed spirit of faction and discori. . . . If Ay Parnell miitniiki t&3 faanfic^ of aU pride for the good of his com try, we are confident that he needs only to be assured of tae oni, ani he will consent to tha otner. It will not be the first of his sicnficds ; anl be neei noi fair that he will lose the gratitude ani lova of a people who hive nevei learned now to be ungrateful.