4 JULY 1891, Page 11

The Irish Bishops have made and published a joint declara-

tion, signed by all of them except the Bishop of Limerick, that, in their judgment, "as pastors of the Irish people, Mr. Parnell by his public misconduct has utterly disqualified himself to be the political leader." Moreover, by his recent utterances, in their "open hostility to ecclesiastical authority," he has supplied " new and convincing proof that he is wholly un- worthy of the confidence of Catholics," wherefore " we call on our people to repudiate his leadership." We imagine that Bishop O'Dwyer has declined to sign this manifesto, not because he does not agree with it, but because he long ago repudiated Mr. Parnell's leadership at a time when most of his brother-Bishops enthusiastically endorsed it.