17 JULY 1886, Page 2

Lord Hartington's language naturally alarmed Mr. Parnell, who, in a

letter published on Wednesday, declared most positively, "I know nothing whatever further than what can be gained by reading the newspapers of the Fenian organisations either in Ireland or America. I have never had any communi- cations with either of these organisations or their leaders, nor have I accepted any alliance with them. I do not even know who the leaders of these organisations are, nor has there been any means of communication, either through the National League or through the Land League, between me and them." "I have always endeavoured to keep the movement of the National League within the strictest bounds of legality and of the Constitution, and I have been successful in so doing." That is an odd assertion. Mr. Parnell, in a celebrated speech, himself originated the practice of boycotting on a large scale, and it is perfectly certain that boycotting is illegal, and. might be severely punished under the law in Ireland, if the administration of that law were not actively obstructed by this National League itself. Moreover, in Thursday's Times there appears an extract from one of Mr. Parnell's half- forgotten speeches which illustrates the extremely non-natural sense in which Mr. Parnell's words as to his complete ignorance of the Fenian organisation in America must be construed. He said at 'Galway, after his return from the United States :--" It was only on my entry to New York that I first commenced to appreciate the undeveloped power that is available for your succour, not only in the matter of charity, but in other matters of a very different nature, if you call upon them," a statement significantly received with load cheers. "I feel convinced," he went on, "that if you ever call upon them in another field and in another way for help, and if you can show them that there is a fair and good chance of success" [enthusiastic cheering], "that you will have their assistance, their trained and organised assistance, for the purpose of breaking the yoke that encircles you, just in the same way that you had their assistance last winter to save you from famine." These are not the words of a leader who knows no more of Fenianism than of the man in the moon. Note also Mr. Arnold-Forster's letter in Friday's Times on the subject of Mr. Parnell's various illegalities.