204 UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDIES 



On December 13, in London a party of Fenians, with the hope of rescuing 

 two of their number, attempted to blow up the wall of Clerkenwell prison. 

 Property and lives were lost. " Excitement in England," wrote Adams, 2 

 "ran higher than at anytime since the discovery of the scheme of Guy 

 Fawkes." Attention of the English was directed toward the condition 

 of affairs in Ireland. Regiments were sent over to the island. Arrests 

 were made and thus the last of the Fenian attempts at revolution was 

 frustrated. The Fenian Brotherhood, in time, lost its social, political, 

 and soon even its military character and, after 1870, as an effective organi- 

 zation, passed out of existence, but not before two more attempts were 

 made to invade Canada from the United States. 



At Fenian congresses, held in Philadelphia in November, 1868, and 

 in New York in March, 1870, preparations were made for a second 

 invasion of Canada. On April 9 the Canadian authorities, thinking an 

 invasion imminent, called out 5,000 militia. On May 25 O'Neill made 

 an attack from near St. Albans. The raid was repulsed. The United 

 States marshal arrested O'Neill and several other leaders and seized 

 thirteen tons of ammunition. Those arrested were convicted and 

 sentenced to not more than two years' imprisonment. President Grant 

 at once (October 12, 1870) pardoned them. Not a year after his pardon 

 O'Neill made another raid into Canada (October 6, 187 1) on the 

 Pembina frontier. He was arrested and brought back by United States 

 troops, and this time met with entire immunity. 3 



During all these attempts at instigating rebellion, the Fenians were 

 meeting with no opposition from the United States government, save 

 that already spoken of at the time of the invasion of Canada. In many 

 ways, indeed, the United States was lending a helping hand. On the 

 very day that President Johnson issued his proclamation of warning, 

 the Fenians that were arrested on June 2, as they were returning from 

 Canada, were released on their own recognizances, save O'Neill and 

 two other leaders, and these were released on bail the next day. 4 The 



1 Lalor, Vol. II, p. 174; Annual Cyclopedia, 1865, pp. 300, 375; Morley, Lije of Gladstone, Vol. II, 

 p. 241. 



' Diplomatic Correspondence, 1868, Vol. I, p. 130. 



' Geneva Arbitration, Vol. II, p. 260; Bourinot, Canada, p. 230. 



* Geneva Arbitration, Vol. II, p. 257. 



