The Commission consisted of Sir James Hannen, Sir J. C. Day, and Sir A. L. Smith. Once more the Attorney-General appeared as leading counsel for the _Times_, and from the outset the enquiry had all the appearance of a Ministerial impeachment of certain Irish members. The exposure of the atrocious character of Pigott, one of the chief witnesses relied on by the _Times_, and his subsequent suicide, caused that part of the charge which depended on the authenticity of certain letters attributed to Parnell to be abandoned. The judgment of the Commission was not delivered until February 13, 1890. While exonerating the Irish members from some of the heaviest charges made against them by the _Times_, and pronouncing the _facsimile_ letter to be a forgery, it was to the effect, _inter alia_, that (1) they had joined a conspiracy to promote by coercion and intimidation an agrarian agitation against the payment of rent, in order to expel "the English garrison" of landlords from Ireland; (2) that they had disseminated newspapers tending to incite to the commission of crime; (3) that although some of the respondents did express _bonâ fide_ disapproval of crime and outrage, they all persisted in the system of intimidation which led to crime, with knowledge of its effect; (4) that they made payments to procure the escape of criminals from justice and to compensate persons injured in the commission of crime, and (5) that they invited and obtained assistance and subscriptions from known advocates of crime and dynamite. [Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Russell & Sons._ THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, WITH HIS TRAIN-BEARER.] On the whole, the prestige of the Government was greatly compromised by its connection with this great trial, and the _Times_ paid £5,000 solatium to Mr. Parnell on account of the libel. Parliament was prorogued early, on August 12, 1890, in order to meet again before Christmas to take up the Irish Land Bill and the Tithes Bill, which had been sacrificed for want of time. The prospects of a discredited Government in meeting an exhilarated Opposition were far from auspicious, but an unexpected event in the interval altered the whole scene. A divorce suit was brought against Mr. Parnell by Captain O'Shea, formerly one of his party in Parliament, but latterly known to have departed from his allegiance, and the co-respondent in the suit allowed judgment to go against him without offering any defence. [Sidenote: Fall of Parnell.]