John Morley's Wife
SIR,—Your issue of October 24th carries a paragraph over the signature of Janus which evokes relevant memories. I personally visited Morley at Elm Park Gardens and, after an interview with him in his study, was invited by him into the drawing-room to be introduced to the lady whom I took to be his wife, and was received graciously. I do not recall the form of words used in the introduction, and no significant conversation occurred, but I carried away a pleasant impression of the lady. The'clate ? It was the Monday on which the Divorce Court pronounced its decree nisi in favour of Captain O'Shea in .1890; and I brought with me an early edition of an evening paper telling of the verdict—a foregone conclusion, as was agreed, to anyone who had read in the morning papers the reported evidence of the previous Saturday's hearing.
It was only later that I learned that there was some ambiguity as to Morley's matrimonial relations. There were others, too, in the ranks of those who attacked Parnell " on moral grounds " similarly open to counter-attack. Parnell himself frowned on all idea of any such counter-attacks by his supporters—his code was the code of a high-minded gentleman; and we his followers agreed, no matter how virulent the provocation might be.—Yours faithfully,
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