Tue fiasco of the Parnell letters shews at least what an enormous hold the Times still had of the British public, and how long it takes to make or lose a great reputation in England. The Standard, which has been gradually creeping up to the first place, and the Daily Telegraph, had both long passed it in circulation, but the Times was still the British organ. The forged letters themselves owed more than half their importance in English eyes to the fact that the Times published them and insisted on their authenticity. To all Mr, Parnell's denials, tu all the assertions of the separatist journals, tu all arguments based on their
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.