Davin’s American Invasion
The gravest political development of the year was the establishment of the Special Commission, conventionally called the Parnell Commission. Its immediate background lay in The Times campaign of 1887, Parnellism and Crime, which had accused Parnell and fellow nationalists of encouraging agrarian violence and associating with murder. The most sensational item was a facsimile letter purportedly written by Parnell after the Phoenix Park murders of 1882. Parnell denied it at once; it was in fact a forgery, though that decisive exposure still lay in the future at the close of 1888.