What we know now as an impudent forgery, but what was then regarded by many as a terribly incriminating document, is the famous "Parnell letter," published by the Times in 1888. It would seem that the very circumstance of the cramped writing at the bottom of the first page would have aroused suspicion. The signature is, of course, genuine, Mr. Parnell having written on a sheet of paper, without dreaming what use was to be made of it by unscrupulous parties.
THE FORGED PARNELL LETTER.
[A Tiny Shoe.]
I.
Only a tiny outworn shoe
Tied with a ribbon that once was blue,
Filled with memories, hopes and fears,
Stealing back from the vanished years.
There it is lying, hidden away—
Where is the other?—who can say;
Odd as it is, and worn and old,
Somebody would not sell it for gold!
Only a little outworn shoe,
Tied with a ribbon that once was blue!