A statement made by Mr. Davitt, and intended, it is
said, to have been used at the O'Donnell trial, has been got hold of and published by the Press Association. It contains an assertion that he was unjustly convicted in 1870, the letter written by him to the Fenian, Forrester, and used as evidence, having been, he declares, really intended to prevent the crime of murder. This is the letter, the explanations in brackets being given by the witness Forrester :—" In reference to the other affair, I hope you will not take any part in carrying it out. If it is decided upon, and you receive Tim's, and through him Fitz's consent, let it be done by all means, but one thing you must remember, and that is that you are of too much importance to your family [the Fenian organisation] to be spared, even at the risk of allowing a rotten sheep to exist among the flock [the Fenian]. All care and trouble of the last twelve months will have been in vain. Whoever may be employed to do it [commit the murder], let him not use the pen [revolver] we have been selling, but a common one."
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