m back, and considering who is in power,
it is very problematical if the officers of justice will be any more
successful.

We have no wish to be disrespectful to the Commission, and it is
far from our intention to pronounce judgment on a case which is _sub
judice_, though who can help sundry exclamations when the chief witness
on one side bolts, leaving no trace but a few more lies and counter
lies? Our object, indeed, is not political but religious. We desire
to make the noble Pigott point a moral and adorn a tale. He and his
achievements in connection with the _Times_ splendidly illustrate the
process by which Christianity was built up. Pigottism was at work for
centuries, forging documents, manufacturing evidence, and telling the
grossest lies with an air of truth. What is still worse, Pigottism was
so lucky as to get into the seat of despotic power, and to crush out all
criticism of its frauds; so that, at length, everyone believed what
no one heard questioned. It was Pigottism in excelsis. The liar gave
evidence in the witness box, stifled or murdered the counsel for the
opposite side, then mounted the bench to give judgment in his own favor,
and finally pronounced a decree of death against all who refused to own
him the pink of veracity.

Just look for a moment at these Parnell letters. They were printed
in facsimile in the _Times_, published in _Parnellism and Crime_,
circulated among millions of people, and accepted as genuine by half
the population of England. And on what ground? Solely on the ground that
Parnellism was heterodox and the _Times_ was a respectable journal.
That was enough. The laws of evidence were treated with contempt.
Investigation was thought unnecessary. Thousands of people fatuously
said, "Oh, the letters are in print." And all this in an age of Board
schools, printing presses, daily papers, and unlimited discussion; nay,
in despite of the solemn declaration of Mr. Parnell and his colleagues,
backed up by a demand for investigation, that the letters were absolute
concoctions.

Now if such things can happen in an age like this, how easily could they
happen in ages like those in which Christianity produced its scriptures.
Credulity was boundless, fraud was audacious, and lying for the profit
of the Church was regarded as a virtue. There was no printing press, no
free inquiry, no keen investigation, no vivid conception of the laws of
evidence; and the few brilliant critics, like Celsus and