A heavy cloud has settled this week upon the Parnellite
Party. It was the full belief of Mr. Parnell's followers in England, and of some of them in Ireland, that the divorce suit instituted by Captain O'Shea against him would break down, possibly as completely as the charges against him in reference to the letters from Kilmainham. When the trial opened on Saturday, however, neither Mr. Parnell nor Mrs. O'Shea put in an appear- ance; the charge was, in fact, admitted ; and but that counter- charges had been made against Captain O'Shea of connivance, and of adultery with Mrs. O'Shea's sister, there would have been no necessity for evidence. Evidence was, however, taken, and it was shown that, in spite of constant denials from both the accused, Captain O'Shea had been per- sistently deceived by his friend and his wife for six years, and that so far from Captain O'Shea conniving, he had challenged Mr. Parnell, and that Mr. Parnell had on one occasion only avoided a personal collision through a descent by a fire-escape from a window in Mrs. O'Shea's house, after which he presented himself at the front door as a guest just arrived. The Judge and jury held the evidence to be complete —an opinion in which the public of all shades of opinion fully concur—and a verdict was returned condemning Mr. Parnell and Mrs. O'Shea, and exonerating the latter's husband from all counter-charges. The Judge immediately granted a decree nisi, with costs.
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