The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE Published every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday Morning. Tuesday, March 5, 1889. THE PARNELL LETTERS.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume II, Issue 269, 5 March 1889, Page 2

The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE Published every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday Morning.

Tuesday, March 5, 1889. THE PARNELL LETTERS.

Be just and fear not; Let all the ends thou aim’st at be thy country’s, Thy God's, and truth’s.

We have all along expressed our opinion that the criminating letters alleged to have been written by Parnell, were not genuine. In the absence of proof of their being forgeries, that opinion could only be based upon the utter improbability of such letters having been written by Parnell, coupled with that gentleman’s prompt and emphatic denial of their authorship. We admit that it seemed at least Quixotic to place the bare denial of Parnell against the strong and positive assertions of such a powerful journal as the London Times. That journal maintained over and over again that it had in its possession indisputable proof that Parnell had written the letters imputed to him. Hundreds of journals, trusting to their faith in the veracity of the Times, re-iterated the charges of that journal. The refutation of those grave charges is contained in the apology of the Times, which is now published to the world. We are now in possession of the facts connected with the fabrication of the letters, and when we see the slender thread upon which the Times relied, we can quite understand its anxiety not to make the authenticity of those letters the sole question for the Special Commission to decide. The appointment of that Commission was considered as a great victory for journalism and a brilliant example of the wonderful power of the press. The ridiculous ending of the matter cannot but bring journalism into disrepute, and will go far to dethrone the Times from the high position it has hitherto occupied as the leader of the press. The Times challenged Parnell to disprove in a Court of Law the accusations made against him, but for reasons now made apparent Parnell declined the invitation. The great difficulty he would have had to contend with had he gone into Court and sued the Times for libel would be that he would have had to prove the letters to be forgeries. This would have been almost impossible, seeing that the Times absolutely refused to divulge the source of the letters, and without some clue it would be hard indeed to trace the anthorship of the letters. The appointment of the Special Commission made it incumbent on the Times to prove Parnell guilty by establishing the authenticity of the letters. To this end they produce the witness Piggott, and a skilful cross-examiner lays bare the whole conspiracy. The Times in its bitter ©position to Home Rule has overstepped the mark, and in its anxiety to injure the cause it has made very grave charges on what now appears to have been very insufficient and untrustworthy evidence. This will no doubt have an altogether unintended effect. Persecution against any cause begets sympathy for it, and unsuccessful persecution con verts sympathisers into partisans