Mr. Courtney on Thursday made a speech at Liskeard much
of which was devoted to the Parnell Commission. The speaker intimated the unusual opinion that if the letters attributed to Mr. Parnell had been acknowledged by him, they would not injure his character much. Four Members out of five would, under the circumstances, have written the one explaining away his denunciation of the murders. Their importance had been exaggerated, but of course, as Mr. Parnell had solemnly denied them, he would, if they were proved to be authentic, be politically ruined. The debate on the Parnell Commission was, said the Chairman of Com- mittees, the worst scene he ever saw in the House of Commons. Party feeling rose so high, that "reason seemed to. be abandoned, and the very Bench itself was be- spattered." He could see no reason for the creation of a special -tribunal, and thought the Government wrong in con- senting to one; but still, he was not prepared to say that the investigation would do no good. Whichever way the decision went, however, it would have no effect upon the Irish Question, which was independent of the character of any individual. 'If Mr. Parnell's character were utterly blasted for ever, we should not have got rid of the Irish difficulty. If Mr. Parnell's character were established for ever, the difficulty would remain." We are not sure that this is completely true. The difficulty would remain, but Mr. Parnell's method of settling it —namely Home-rule — would be greatly discredited or advanced.
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