' This extract,' he continued, ' throws a lurid light on
the whole system of the government of Ireland and on
the character of the Times. I do not care for mere abuse
and virulence. But here you have the Lord-Lieutenant
of the country keeping in touch with the one man who
possessed the confidence of the people of the country, and
for this he is denounced by the Times. Lord Mulgrave
and O'Connell both tried earnestly to bring about better
relations between England and Ireland, and for this they
were both attacked. It gives some colour, my friend, to
your contention that moderation is of little use ; (shaking
his head) the 7^imes has done more than any Irish agi-
tator to keep the people of the two countries apart.'
223
LORD RUSSELL OF KILLOWEN [1889
I met him shortly afterwards at a dinner party, and
he referred to this quotation again, calling the attention
of our hostess the widow of Thomas Drummond to
the Times attacks on the Irish administration of her
husband.
It was very pleasant working with Russell in those
days ; it was very interesting to see his great speech
gradually taking shape in his mind.
One day we talked over the state of Ireland between
1850 and 1860. I said, ' You ought to see John Cashel
Hoey on this period, and indeed on every period. He
knows more about Irish history than any of us.'
' You are right,' said Russell, ' I ought to have
thought of him before.' I suggested that he should ask
Hoey down to Tadworth, which he did. Hoey gave me
an account of the visit afterwards. ' Russell,' said he,
' does not leave many corners of your mind unsearched ' ;
and few men had a better-stored mind than this able and
kind-hearted northerner, who, like Russell himself, came
from the town of Newry. Russell was helped by two
other northerners in the historical part of the case
Judge O'Hagan and Sir Gavan Duffy.
The Commission dragged its weary length along,
and the stale story of agrarian outrages, Land League
lawlessness, and Fenian plots were spun out until the
whole investigation palled on the public mind, and every
one asked, ' When shall we get to the letter ? ' The
Irish members said from the outset that the letter had
been forged by Richard Pigott the same Richard
Pigott who had been clerk in the Ulsterman office in
Russell's Belfast days, and who had now, after a career
of ill-fortune and ill-fame, sunk to the lowest depths of
224
JET. 57] RICHARD PIGOTT
misery and despair. In February 1889 it was known
that the Times had bought the letter from Mr. Houston,
the Secretary of the Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union, and
that Mr. Houston had bought it from Pigott. But how
did Pigott come by it? That was the question of the hour,
and people looked forward to the day when Pigott should
go into the box to tell his story, and when Sir Charles
Russell would rise to cross-examine him.
' Have you any materials for the cross-examination
of Pigott ? ' I asked Russell.
' Mind your own part of the case,' was the sharp
rejoinder. He did not wish to discuss Pigott. However,
I followed up the subject on my own account, and
learned that he had materials for the ' annihilation ' of
the ' forger.' I saw him subsequently.
' I know all about Pigott,' I said ; ' I hear you have
materials for his cross-examination.'
He looked surprised and a little angry.
' What do you know ? ' he asked.
' I know,' I replied, ' that you have got materials from
Archbishop Walsh.'
Russell'. 'Then you ought not to know it. If it
were my secret I would have told it to you. It is not my
secret, it is Dr. Walsh's, and no one ought to have
spoken about it. He does not wish to have it mentioned,
and you can see yourself how important it is to keep
everything very secret relating to Pigott. You know
how much depends upon his cross-examination.'
About a week before Pigott was called, Russell grew
restless and irritable. He looked ill. As usual, I sat
occasionally with him at luncheon. He did not like to
speak about the case. It pleased him best to talk of
225 Q
LORD RUSSELL OF KILLOWEN [1889
something far away from the Special Commission. At
times he remained altogether silent, looking fixedly on
his plate, and giving no sign. His expression was grave,
thoughtful, anxious ; and his face and manner showed
that the strain upon him was intense. Every one knew
that all depended on the cross-examination of the man
who sold the letter to the Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union.
Russell felt it.
On Wednesday, February 20, Pigott went into the box.
He looked well and pugnacious. Any person unaware
of the flaws in his character would have regarded him as
a respectable man, and a staying witness. He gave his
evidence clearly and calmly ; and at the conclusion of the
first day's examination left the box with a self-satisfied
expression. On Thursday morning he returned, look-
ing radiant, and confidently surveyed the Court. Before
the adjournment for luncheon the examination-in-chief
closed.
His evidence, so far as the letter was concerned,
came, practically, to this : he had been employed by the
Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union to hunt up documents
which might incriminate Parnell, and he had bought the
facsimile letter, with other letters, in Paris from an agent
of the Clan-na-Gael, who had no objection to injure
Parnell for a valuable consideration. 1
On the rising of the Court Russell returned to his
chambers. I went with him. We sat at luncheon
together. He looked unusually pale, talked little, and
was impatient and irritable. He mentioned some point
on which I differed from him. ' Don't argue,' he said with
an angry gesture ; then added gently, ' Don't you see how
1 Special Commission, Q. 51,872.
226
. 57] PIGOTT'S CROSS-EXAMINATION
highly strung I am ? ' He seemed to have a poor
appetite, and rather forced himself to eat ; but he enjoyed
a deep draught of Apollinaris water. After luncheon he
turned his chair towards the fire and took a stiff pinch of
snuff. ' I'll have a pinch too,' I said. He smiled and
handed me the box. ' Do you remember,' I asked, ' Dr.
Kenealy's theory about snuff-taking ? ' 'No,' he answered.
' He said,' I rejoined, ' that excessive snuff- taking
destroyed the intellect ! ' ' Ha ! ' said Russell, getting
up and going to wash his hands. ' I never knew that
Kenealy had stated that theory,' he remarked, after a
short pause in the middle of his ablutions. ' Oh, yes,'
I said, ' and he urged that excessive snuff-taking had
weakened the memory of Roger Tichborne. I re-
member the incident very well, for while he was develop-
ing his argument you suddenly came into Court and took
a seat in the front row, producing your snuff-box on
the instant. The Bar laughed, and the judges joined in
the general merriment. You looked bewildered, which
made people laugh the more. At last you asked Pat
MacMahon what it was all about and he told you.' ' Poor
MacMahon ! ' said Russell, ' I had a great regard for him.'
He then walked back to the table, put on his wig, and
strode out of the room. I followed. ' Where are you
going ? ' he asked as we walked across the yard. ' To
see Pigott smashed,' I replied. He lapsed into silence
and we entered the Court again. I stood near the clock
just facing the witness-box, and had an excellent view
both of Russell and Pigott, whom I watched alternately
during the memorable encounter. At about twenty
minutes past two Pigott stepped jauntily into the box
and Russell rose. I never saw such a sudden metamor-
227 Q 2
LORD RUSSELL OF KILLOWEN [1889
phosis in any man. During the whole week or more he
had looked pale, worn, anxious, nervous, distressed. He
was impatient, irritable, at times disagreeable. Even at
luncheon, half an hour before, he seemed to be thoroughly
out of sorts, and gave you the idea rather of a young junior
with his first brief than of the most formidable advocate at
the Bar. Now all was changed. As he stood facing Pigott,
he was a picture of calmness, self-possession, strength ;
there was no sign of impatience or irritability ; not a trace
of illness, anxiety, or care ; a slight tinge of colour lighted
up the face, the eyes sparkled, and a pleasant smile played
about the mouth. The whole bearing and manner of the
man, as he proudly turned his head towards the box,
showed courage, resolution, confidence. Addressing the
witness with much courtesy, while a profound silence fell
upon the crowded Court, he began : 'Mr. Pigott, would
you be good enough, with my Lords' permission, to write
some words on that sheet of paper for me ? Perhaps you
will sit down in order to do so ? ' A sheet of paper was
then handed to the witness. I thought he looked for a
moment surprised. This clearly was not the beginning
that he had expected. He hesitated, seemed confused.
Perhaps Russell observed it. At all events he added
quickly :
' Would you like to sit down ? '
1 Oh, no, thanks,' replied Pigott, a little flurried.
The President : ' Well, but I think it is better that you
should sit down. Here is a table upon which you can write
in the ordinary way the course you always pursue.'
Pigott sat down, and seemed to recover his equi-
librium.
Russell: ' Will you write the word " livelihood " ? '
228
JET. 57] PIGOTT'S CROSS-EXAMINATION
Pigott wrote.
Russell: 'Just leave a space. Will you write the
word "likelihood"?'
Pigott wrote.
Russell : ' Will you write your own name ? Will
you write the word " proselytism " ; and finally (I think I
will not trouble you at present with any more) " Patrick
Egan"and "P. Egan"?'
He uttered these last words with emphasis, as if they
imported something of great importance. Then, when
Pigott had written, he added carelessly, ' There is one
word I had forgotten. Lower down, please, leaving
spaces, write the word " hesitancy." Then, as Pigott
was about to write, he added, as if this were the vital point,
' with a small " h ".' Pigott wrote and looked relieved.
Russell : ' Will you kindly give me the sheet ? '
Pigott took up a bit of blotting paper to lay on the sheet,
when Russell, with a sharp ring in his voice, said rapidly,
' Don't blot it, please.' It seemed to me that the sharp ring
in Russell's voice startled Pigott. While writing he had
looked composed ; now again he looked a little flurried, and
nervously handed back the sheet. The Attorney-General
looked keenly at it, and then said, with the air of a man who
had himself scored, ' My Lords, I suggest that had better
be photographed, if your Lordships see no objection.'
Russell (turning sharply towards the Attorney-
General, and with an angry glance and an Ulster accent,
which sometimes broke out when he felt irritated) : ' Do
not interrupt my cross-examination with that request.'
Little did the Attorney-General at that moment know
that, in the ten minutes or quarter of an hour which it
had taken to ask these questions, Russell had gained a
229
LORD RUSSELL OF KILLOWEN [i
decisive advantage. Pigott had in one of his letters to
Pat Egan spelt ' hesitancy ' thus : ' hesitancy.' In one of
the incriminatory letters ' hesitancy ' was so spelt ; and in
the sheet now handed back to Russell, Pigott had written
' hesitancy ' too. In fact, it was Pigott's spelling
of this word that had put the Irish members on his
scent. Pat Egan, seeing the word spelt with an ' e '
in one of the incriminatory letters, had written to
Parnell saying in effect ' Pigott is the forger. In the
letter ascribed to you "hesitancy" is spelt "hesitancy."
That is the way Pigott always spells the word. 1 These
things were not dreamt of in the philosophy of the
Attorney-General when he interrupted Russell's cross-
examination with the request that the sheet ' had better
be photographed.' So closed the first round of the
combat.
Russell went on in his former courteous manner, and
Pigott, who had now completely recovered confidence,
looked once more like a man determined to stand to his
guns.
Russell, having disposed of some preliminary points,
at length (and after he had been perhaps about half an
hour on his feet) closed with the witness.
Russell : f The first publication of the articles
" Parnellism and Crime" was on the 7th March, 1887 ?'
Pigott (sturdily) : ' I do not know.'
Russell (amiably) : ' Well, you may assume that is
the date.'
Pigott (carelessly) : * I suppose so.'
Russell : ' And you were aware of the intended
publication of the correspondence [the incriminatory
letters] ? '
230
JET. 57] PIGOTT'S CROSS-EXAMINATION
Pigott (firmly) : ' No, I was not at all aware of it.'
Russell (sharply, and with the Ulster ring in his
voice) : ' What ? '
Pigott (boldly) : ' No, certainly not.'
Russell : ' Were you not aware that there were grave
charges to be made against Mr. Parnell and the leading
members of the Land League ? '
Pigott (positively) : ' I was not aware of it until they
actually commenced.'
Russell (again with the Ulster ring) : ' What ? '
Pigott (defiantly) : ' I was not aware of it until the
publication actually commenced.'
Russell (pausing, and looking straight at the witness) :
1 Do you swear that ? '
Pigott (aggressively) : ' I do.'
Russell (making a gesture with both hands, and look-
ing towards the Bench) : ' Very good, there is no mistake
about that.'
Then there was a pause ; Russell placed his hands
beneath the shelf in front of him, and drew from it
some papers Pigott, the Attorney-General, the judges,
every one in Court looking intently at him the while.
There was not a breath, not a movement. I think it was
the most dramatic scene in the whole cross-examination,
abounding as it did in dramatic scenes. Then, handing
Pigott a letter, Russell said calmly :
' Is that your letter ? Do not trouble to read it ; tell
me if it is your letter.'
Pigott took the letter, and held it close to his eyes as
if reading it.
Russell (sharply) : ' Do not trouble to read it.'
231
LORD RUSSELL OF KILLOWEN [1889
Pigott : ' Yes, I think it is.'
Russell (with a frown) : ' Have you any doubt of it ? '
Pigott: ' No.'
Russell (addressing the judges) : ' My Lords, it is from
Anderton's Hotel, and it is addressed by the witness to
Archbishop Walsh. The date, my Lords, is the 4th of
March, three days before the first appearance of the first
of the articles, " Parnellism and Crime."
He then read :
' " Private and Confidential.
' " My Lord, The importance of the matter about
which I write will doubtless excuse this intrusion on your
Grace's attention. Briefly, I wish to say that I have
been made aware of the details of certain proceedings that
are in preparation with the object of destroying the
influence of the Parnellite party in Parliament."
Having read this much Russell turned to Pigott and said :
' What were the certain proceedings that were in
preparation ? '
Pigott : ' I do not recollect.'
Russell (resolutely) : ' Turn to my Lords and repeat
the answer.'
Pigott : ' I do not recollect/
Russell : * You swear that writing on the 4th March,
less than two years ago ? '
Pigott: 'Yes.'
Russell : ' You do not know what that referred to ? '
Pigott : ' I do not really.'
Russell : ' May I suggest to you ? '
Pigott : ' Yes, you may.'
Russell : ' Did it refer to the incriminatory letters
among other things ? '
232
JEr. 57] PIGOTT'S CROSS-EXAMINATION
Pigott : ' Oh ! at that date. No, the letters had not
been obtained, I think, at that date, had they, two years
ago?'
Russell (quietly and courteously) : ' I do not want to
confuse you at all, Mr. Pigott.'
Pigott : ' Would you mind giving me the date of that
letter ? '
Russell: ' The 4th of March.'
Pigott : ' The 4th of March.'
Russell: ' Is it your impression that the letters had
not been obtained at that date ? '
Pigott: ' Oh, yes, some of the letters had been obtained
before that date.'
Russell : ' Then, reminding you that some of the
letters had been obtained before that date, did that
passage that I have read to you in that letter refer to
these letters among other things ? '
Pigott : ' No, I rather fancy they had reference to the
forthcoming articles in the Times. 1
Russell (glancing keenly at the witness) : ' I thought
you told us you did not know anything about the forth-
coming articles ? '
Pigott (looking confused) : ' Yes, I did. I find now I
am mistaken that I must have heard something about
them.'
Russell (severely) : ' Then try not to make the same
mistake again, Mr. Pigott. " Now," you go on (con-
tinuing to read from Pigott's letter to the Archbishop),
" I cannot enter more fully into details than to state that
the proceedings referred to consist in the publication of
certain statements purporting to prove the complicity of
Mr. Parnell himself, and some of his supporters, with
233
LORD RUSSELL OF KILLOWEN [1889
murders and outrages in Ireland, to be followed in all
probability by the institution of criminal proceedings
against these parties by the Government."
Having finished the reading, Russell laid down the
letter and said (turning towards the witness) : ' Who told
you that ? '
Ptgott : ' I have no idea.'
Russell (striking the paper energetically with his
fingers) : ' But that refers among other things to the
incriminatory letters ? '
Pigott : ' I do not recollect that it did.'
Russell (with energy) : ' Do you swear that it did
not?'
Pigott : ' I will not swear that it did not.'
Russell : ' Do you think it did ? '
Pigott : ' No, I do not think it did.'
Russell : ' Do you think that these letters, if genuine,
would prove or would not prove Parnell's complicity in
crime ? '
Pigott : ( I thought they would be very likely to prove
it.'
Russell : ' Now, reminding you of that opinion, I ask
you whether you did not intend to refer, not solely I
suggest, but among other things to the letters as being
the matter which would prove complicity or purport to
prove complicity ? '
Pigott : ' Yes, I may have had that in my mind.'
Russell'. ' You could have had hardly any doubt that
you had ? '
Pigott : ' I suppose so.'
Russell : ' You suppose you may have had ? '
Pigott: 'Yes.'
234
JET. 57] PIGOTT'S CROSS-EXAMINATION
Russell : ' There is the letter and the statement :
(reading) " Your Grace may be assured that I speak with
full knowledge, and am in a position to prove, beyond all
doubt and question, the truth of what I say." Was that
true ? '
Pigott : ' It could hardly be true.'
Russell : ' Then did you write that which was false ? '
Pigott : ' I suppose it was in order to give strength to
what I said. I do not think it was warranted by what I
knew.'
Russell : ' You added the untrue statement in order to
add strength to what you said ? '
Pigott: 'Yes.'
Russell : ' You believe these letters to be genuine ? '
Pigott: ' I do.'
Russell : ' And did at this time ? '
Pigott: 'Yes.'
Russell (reading): '"And I will further assure your
Grace that I am also able to point out how these designs
may be successfully combated and finally defeated." How,
if these documents were genuine documents, and you be-
lieved them to be such, how were you able to assure his
Grace that you were able to point out how the design
might be successfully combated and finally defeated ? '
Pigott : ' Well, as I say, I had not the letters actually
in my mind at that time. So far as I can gather, I do not
recollect the letter [to Archbishop Walsh] at all. My
memory is really a blank on the circumstance.'
Russell : ' You told me a moment ago, after great
deliberation and consideration, you had both [the in-
criminatory letters and the letter to Archbishop Walsh]
in your mind ? '
235
LORD RUSSELL OF KILLOWEN [i
Pigott : ' I said it was probable I did ; but I say the
thing has completely faded out of my mind,'
Russell (resolutely) : ' I must press you. Assuming the
letters to be genuine, what were the means by which you
were able to assure his Grace that you could point out
how the design might be successfully combated and finally
defeated ? '
Pigott (hopelessly) : ( I cannot conceive really.'
Russell: 'Oh ! try. You must really try.'
Pigott (in manifest confusion and distress) : ' I cannot.'
Russell (looking fixedly at the witness) : ' Try.'
Pigott : ' I cannot.'
Russell : ' Try.'
Pigott : ' It is no use,'
Russell (emphatically) : ' May I take it, then, your
answer to my Lords is that you cannot give any expla-
nation ? '
Pigott : ' I really cannot absolutely.'
Russell (reading) : ' " I assure your Grace that I have
no other motive except to respectfully suggest that your
Grace would communicate the substance to some one or
other of the parties concerned, to whom I could furnish
details, exhibit proofs, and suggest how the coming blow
may be effectually met." What do you say to that, Mr.
Pigott ? '
Pigott : ' I have nothing to say except that I do not
recollect anything about it absolutely.'
Russell : ' What was the coming blow ? '
Pigott : ' I suppose the coming publication.'
Russell : ' How was it to be effectively met ? '
Pigott : ( I have not the slightest idea.'
Russell : ' Assuming the letters to be genuine, does it
236
. 57] PIGOTT'S CROSS-EXAMINATION
not even now occur to your mind how it could be effec-
tively met ? '
Pigott\ 'No!'
Pigott now looked like a man, after the sixth round
in a prize fight, who had been knocked down in every
round. But Russell showed him no mercy. I shall
take another extract.
Russell ': ' Whatever the charges [in " Parnellism and
Crime," including the letters] were, did you believe them
to be true or not ? '
Pigott : 'How can I say that when I say I do not
know what the charges were ? I say I do not recollect
that letter [to the Archbishop] at all, or any of the cir-
cumstances it refers to.'
Russell'. ' First of all you knew this : that you procured
and paid for a number of letters ? '
Pigott : 'Yes.'
Russell : ' Which, if genuine, you have already told
me, would gravely implicate the parties from whom these
were supposed to come ? '
Pigott : ' Yes, gravely implicate.'
Russell : ' You would regard that, I suppose, as a
serious charge ? '
Pigott\ 'Yes.'
Russell'. ' Did you believe that charge to be true or
false ? '
Pigott : ' I believed that charge to be true.'
Russell : ' You believed that to be true ? '
Pigott'. 'I do.'
Russell: ' Now I will read this passage [from Pigott's
letter to the Archbishop] : "I need hardly add that, did I
237
LORD RUSSELL OF KILLOWEN [i
consider the parties really guilty of the things charged
against them, I should not dream of suggesting that your
Grace should take part in an effort to shield them ; I only
wish to impress on your Grace that the evidence is
apparently convincing, and would probably be sufficient
to secure conviction if submitted to an English jury."
What do you say to that, Mr. Pigott ? '
Pigott (bewildered) : ' I say nothing, except that I am
sure I could not have had the letters in my mind when I
said that, because I do not think the letters conveyed a
sufficiently serious charge to cause me to write in that
way.'
Russell : ' But you know that was the only part of the
charge, so far as you have yet told us, that you had any-
thing to do in getting up ? '
Pigott : ' Yes, that is what I say ; I must have had
something else in my mind which I cannot at present
recollect that I must have had other charges.'
Russell : ' What charges ? '
Pigott : ' I do not know. That is what I cannot tell
you.'
Russell : ' Well, let me remind you that that particular
part of the charges the incriminatory letters were
letters that you yourself knew all about ? '
Pigott : ' Yes, of course.'
Russell (reading from another letter of Pigott 's to
the Archbishop) : ' " I was somewhat disappointed in not
having a line from your Grace, as I ventured to expect I
might have been so far honoured. I can assure your
Grace that I have no other motive in writing save to
avert, if possible, a great danger to people with whom
your Grace is known to be in strong sympathy. At the
238
JET. 57] PIGOTT'S CROSS-EXAMINATION
same time, should your Grace not desire to interfere in
the matter, or should you consider that they would re-
fuse me a hearing, I am well content, having acquitted
myself of what I conceived to be my duty in the circum-
stances. I will not further trouble your Grace save to
again beg that you will not allow my name to transpire,
seeing that to do so would interfere injuriously with my
prospects, without any compensating advantage to any
one. I make the request all the more confidently because
I have had no part in what is being done to the prejudice