Arizona republican., 1914-03-27
TRIAL OF PARNELL

Charles Stewart Parnell, the emi- nent Irish political leader of the second half of the nineteenth cen tury, was brought before the English bar of justice at various times and for various offenses. He was tried in Dublin for conspiracy in 1880; he was imprisoned at Kilmainham dur ing parts of 1881 and 1882, but the most important of his trials occurred in 1888.
 On March [. 1888, the first of q series of articles entitled "Parnell- ism and Crime" appeared in the London Times" which were written to prove that the Parnell movement was revolutionary in character and designed to overthrow British au thority in Ireland In the middle of the summer the same paper printed the fac -simile of a letter supposed to be in Parnelrs penmanship, in which he excuses and condones, over his own signature, the Phoenix Park. murders.
 | This publication produced an eX- i traordinary amount of excitement, and the letter was the talk of the l town, and every one predicted 1t ! meant the death knell to home rule and the liberal party. The same | evening of the day of publication Parnell dealt with the subject in the 1 house of commons, and told that ! body without any apparent anger. that he could not understand how q. respectable and careful journal as the Times" could have been so imposed upon.
 1 Parnell promptly, on July 6. asked ! the house of commons to appoint a select committee to inquire whether the fac -simile was forgery. The government would not consent to this proposal, but agreed to appoint d special commission, composed of three judges, to investigate all the charges made by the Times"
 In September. 1888. the special commission met. It consisted of MT.
 Justice Hannen, MT. Justice Day and Mir Justice Smith. Each party in the case was represented by eminent
 counsel the attorney general. Sir Richard Webster. leading for the
 Times and Sir Charles Russell, later chief justice of England lead-
 ing for Parnell By a remarkable coincidence Webster, as Lord Aver
 stone, succeeded Lord Russell as chief justice of England.
 Parnell concentrated all his at tentions at the hearings on the fac
 simile letter The general charges against the league were. in his opin- ion. subordinate. In the meantime
 Parnell and his friends left nothing
 undone to secure full evidence as to the forger of the letter. It was fin ally traced to a renegade Irishman
 by the name of Dick Pigott. He
 was cleverly fooled into coming to London by agents employed by Par
 nell Here in the office of Mir. La
 bouchere he was confronted by Par nell He was charged point-blank
 with forgery, but denied the accusa =
 tions. After show of fight Pigott
 finally collapsed and confessed his
 guilt.
 It was arranged that the following
 day he should make clean breast
 of everything in writing But next
 day Pigott was in a different frame
 of mind. and instead determined to
 brazen it out.
 i On Wednesday, February 20, 1882
 Pigott went into the box as q wit
 ness for the Times" The following day he was cross examined by Sir
 Charles Russell. A person present at
 the trial said: 'I went into court
 with the feeling that I would like to ] see Pigott pilloried, but before he
 had been an hour under the harrow of Russell. it was not impossible to
 pity the doamed wretch
 When the trial was resumed the
 following day and Pigott's name was
 called. he was nowhere to be found
 He had fled to Paris and as soon as
 mail could be carried between tho
 two cities. Pigott wrote to the
 Times" confessng the forgery. A warrant was issued for Pigott's ar
 rest He was traced to Madrid, and when about to be apprehended. the
 report of a pistol was heard in his
 room, and when the door was opened { he was found on the floor with a bullet through his brain. He diet hy his own hand. So ended the tria and the elaborate plot to destroy the Irish leader.
 Sittings were continued to be helc by the Parnell commission up tt November P. and on February E 1890, the report was made, Parnel was completely exonerated, the com missioners giving judgment on every roint for Parnell. In fine, the Irisl statesman had weathered the storn and came again into the sunshine with more friends than ever before. Ii The London Times did not con test the Parnel action for libel. bu . paid $25,000 into court. which Par
 nell accepted as damages withOu pushing the charges to trial.
 Tomorrow-The Trial of Genera
 BouIanger.