THE FENIAN MOVEMENT 197 



called for another general congress 1 which met 3 in New York on January 

 3, 1866, with 500 3 delegates in attendance. The Senate, of which 

 Roberts was president, refused to convene, not recognizing the legitimacy 

 of the call for the Congress. The Congress supported O'Mahony, 

 his plan of carrying the war directly to Ireland was approved, and the 

 Chicago constitution was readopted, thus giving O'Mahony full sway 

 once more. Thus supported, he issued a war circular 4 and sent money, 

 men and arms to Ireland. 



With the prospect of aid from the United States, the Irish contingent 

 of the Brotherhood took fresh courage. Charles Francis Adams, our 

 ambassador at the court of St. James, 5 reported to Secretary Seward 

 that the Fenian organization was "spreading in every direction carrying 

 with it many of the more intelligent class of the tenantry, and even com- 

 pelling the acquiescence of some of the priests." Soon the island was 

 once more in chaos and revolution was imminent. American Fenians, 

 pouring into the island, added to the turmoil. 7 Business stopped. 

 Industry came to a standstill. Panic ensued. The gentry barricaded 

 their doors and the Protestant Irish talked of civil war. 8 The Irish 

 officials saw that if they were to thwart the revolution at all, more deci- 

 sive measures would have to be taken than those they had taken four 

 months before. They therefore urged Parliament to repeal, quickly 

 and secretly, the writ of habeas corpus. Parliament did so. 9 The 

 moment the writ was repealed, the Irish police swooped down upon 

 the unsuspecting conspirators and clapped them into jail. 



Parliament had acted on Saturday (January 17, 1866), an unusual 

 day for such business. The reasons given by the government for request- 



1 Providence Daily Journal, January 3, 1866. 



* A guard of 22 men from the goth N Y. state militia refused admission to all not provided with cre- 

 dentials, Geneva Arbitration, Vol. II, p. 255; Providence Daily Journal, January 3, 1866. 



> Providence Daily Journal, January 2, 3, and 5, 1866. 



* Contemporary Review, Vol. XIX, p. 311. 



s Diplomatic Correspondence, 1866, Vol. I, p. 58. 



6 "Thus far," he continues, "the Orange party, though much alarmed, has committed itself to no overt 

 effort at counteraction, so that things wear an appearance of calm which is not warranted by the reality." 



' Lalor, Vol. II, p. 173. 



8 Diplomatic Correspondence, 1866, Vol. I, p. 58; Lalor, Vol. II, p. 173. 



» Contemporary Rexnew, Vol. IX, p. 309; Diplomatic Correspondence, 1866, Vol. I, p. 60; McCarthy, 

 History 0/ Our Own Times, Vol. IV, p. 122; Lalor, Vol. II, p. 173. 



