It is believed that the Parnell Fund will pass £25,000,
and the largest mortgage on his estate, £13,000, has already been paid off We regret the success of the subscription, because we consider that Mr. Parnell's agitation has done more injury to Irishmen by demoralising them than it has done good by assist- ing them to combine against oppressive land laws. Apart from the cause, however, we see no discredit in the acceptance of a. subscription of the kind, which has precedents in the cases of Daniel O'Connell, Mr. Cobden, General Grant, and Mrs. Garfield. There is no more reason why a nation should not pay its heroes informally, than why it should not pay them formally. The drawback to such popular grants of money is that they encour- age the agitators, who are seeking nothing but gain, to devote themselves to agitation as a business, and to rival one another in currying favour with the populace. They know their claims will not be sifted as they would be by a Parliament. and strive to make them look great by excessive violence The English prejudice against rewarding politicians in money, as we reward soldiers aud sailors, has its root in an instinctive reason. If the statesman works for us for cash, he may also sell us for coin.
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