After disposing of his dealings with Lord Carnarvon, Mr. Parnell
entered on the subject of the Papal rescript which has recently condemned the" Plan of Campaign" and "Boycotting." On the latter subject he was severely silent,—for it was hc himself who started that greatest curse of society in
Ireland. On the subject of the "Plan of Campaign," he strove to show that it was initiated when he was dangerously ill, that he had no voice in the matter till the Government were already embroiled with some of his colleagues in relation to it, and that then, though he thought it impolitic, it was too late for him to condemn it, his rule being, "when the Government strikes an Irishman, to fight for that Irishman whether he is right or wrong." Still, though Mr. Parnell did not condemn the "Plan of Campaign," he conditioned that the National League should not adopt it, that it should not be ex- tended by the leaders who had started it to any estate on which it had not already been adopted, and that it should be worked with as little violence as possible where it had already been started. Hence he argued that if the Roman Catholic Church succeeded in extinguishing the "Plan of Cam- paign," it would be no defeat for the National League, and would be rather playing into his hands. The general effect of this part of the speech in Ireland will be, we think, to give the impression that Mr. Parnell's colleagues, Mr. Dillon and Mr. O'Brien, have been too strong for him, and that he had not the courage to oppose them openly till the Pope came to his aid.
