300 



FENIAN BROTHERHOOD. 



tion was made to the President of the United 

 States, but with no decisive effect, to grant bel- 

 ligerent rights to the insurgents, and to inter- 

 fere in behalf of naturalized citizens of the 

 United States in British prisons. 



In the latter part of May the projected inva- 

 sion of Canada again attracted public attention. 

 Buffalo, N. Y., and Detroit, Mich., became the 

 principal points of interest, and at those places 

 recruiting of men and drilling were vigorously 

 prosecuted. St. Albans, Vt., and Ogdensburg, 

 N. Y., were spoken of as depots for the accumu- 

 lation of arms and stores, or as points of de- 

 parture for different branches of the expedition. 

 The vigilance of the United States Government, 

 however, to which may probably be added the 

 lack of preparation on the part of the Fenian 

 leaders, prevented any thing being accom- 

 plished ; and the excitement attending their 

 demonstrations against Canada so far subsided, 

 that orders issued to the United States district- 

 attorneys and marshals on the 30th of July, 

 directing them to make arrests for violations of 

 the neutrality laws, were all the extra exertion 

 which the emergency seemed to call for. 



The Congress of the Brotherhood assembled 

 at Cleveland, Ohio, early in September, and 

 sat with closed doors. Their proceedings were 

 of a stormy character throughout. Notwith- 

 standing strict injunctions of secrecy, detailed 

 reports of what transpired found their way to 

 the public. President Eoberts gave to the 

 congress an account of his conference at Paris 

 (France), during his late visit to that capital, 

 with the representatives of the Irish revolu- 

 tionary brotherhood, and claimed to have 

 effected a reunion of that body with the Fenian 

 brotherhood in America. This was accom- 

 plished on the 4th of July, 1867. He denounced 

 the agents of the Stephens party, who had been 

 sent to work for the cause in Europe ; accused 

 them of wasting in dissipation the funds in- 

 trusted to them, and of causing the failure of 

 the expedition against Canada in 1866, in con- 

 sequence of which the brotherhood in Ireland 

 had been greatly discouraged. The acting 

 secretary of war, General Spear, also reported 

 to the congress. He estimated the force of the 

 Fenian brigade at 9,300 enlisted men, and 

 about 20,000 stand of arms. The Stephens 

 wing claimed to have in addition 15,000 stand 

 of arms, 15,000 sabres, a large quantity of am- 

 munition, and a vessel in New York harbor. 

 The congress adopted further 'measures for 

 raising and organizing troops. Arrangements 

 were also concluded to unite the Roberts with 

 the Stephens party, the latter of whom had 

 requested a conference upon the subject ; and 

 to place the Fenians in America and Ireland 

 under one organization, to be known as the 

 Irish Republic. The time and place of the next 

 campaign were left to the decision of the mili- 

 tary officers. A declaration of independence 

 was 'issued, reciting the oppressions of the 

 British Government, setting forth the claims of 

 the Irish to a separate nationality, and invoking 



the aid of the American people to accomplish 

 it. Colonel Roberts was reflected President, 

 and the congress adjourned September 9th. 



Among the earliest of the recent violent pro- 

 ceedings of the Fenians which have produced 

 so much alarm throughout Great Britain, was 

 the riot at Manchester, occurring in August. 

 Funeral processions, instituted in honor of 

 O'Brien, Allen, and Larkin, executed for their 

 participation in the riot, were in most instances 

 suppressed throughout the kingdom ; but on 

 November 28th an imposing one took place in 

 the city of New York. 



The excitement and indignation against the 

 brotherhood were renewed and increased by 

 the blowing-up of the wall of Clcrkenwell 

 Prison, in London, in December, whereby the 

 lives of many innocent men, women, and chil- 

 dren were sacrificed. (See GEEAT BEITAIN.) 



The effect of these and other acts of violence, 

 while it has stimulated the fears and hatred of 

 the Irish people, has nevertheless led the British 

 press and Parliament to consider the necessity 

 of ameliorating their condition. 



The negotiations for a union between the 

 Roberts and Stephens parties were consum- 

 mated December 19th, and John Savage was 

 elected chief executive of the united organiza- 

 tions, the office having been previously tendered 

 to, and declined by, John Mitchel. 



The Fenian senate published an address, De- 

 cember 31st, in which they declare that the blow- 

 ing-up of the wall of the Clerkenwell Prison in 

 London, the firing of post-offices and gas-works, 

 the sending of explosive or deadly missiles to 

 individuals through the mails, and other recent 

 outrages, " are neither authorized, approved, 

 nor encouraged by the authorities whom the 

 brotherhood recognize : but, on the contrary, 

 are regarded by them as the work of secret 

 agents of the English Government, endeavoring 

 to bring odium upon the national cause by the 

 perpetration of crimes foreign both to the 

 genius, the instincts, and the religious training 

 of the Irish people." 



At no previous period, probably, have the 

 numerous adherents to the Fenian organization 

 felt more encouraged with hopes of ultimate 

 success than they do at the present. Their 

 claim of "Ireland for the Irish " is thought to 

 be in sympathy with the efforts for indepen- 

 dent nationalities so successfully made by the 

 people of Italy, of Hungary, of Poland, of 

 Candia, of Mexico, and so warmly approved 

 by the liberal party in every country of Chris- 

 tendom, not excepting England. "Writers in 

 English periodicals have even proclaimed this 

 in the ears of Englishmen, and accused them 

 of inconsistency in encouraging freedom every- 

 where abroad, and suppressing it in the case 

 of Ireland. With the tendencies of the age 

 and the course of events in their favor, sooner 

 or later, they declare, the Fenians are destined 

 to succeed in achieving independence for Ire- 

 land. "Whether these predictions are well or 

 ill founded, it is at least highly probable that 



