Chapter IV: Part 4

“All persons of Irish birth or descent, or of partial Irish
descent, shall be eligible to membership; but in cases of persons
of partial Irish descent, the camps are directed to make special
inquiries in regard to the history, character, and sentiments of
the person proposed.”

In view of the whole situation, I determined that I should live down any ill-feeling which might exist regarding my previous exploits, and that I should take advantage of the interval thus brought about by arranging some plan for my election later, on the ground of my partial Irish descent. I had, of course, hitherto passed myself off as a Frenchman, strongly sympathising with Irish affairs, though never laying any claim to connection with the country. Now I had to change my tactics a little, and so I gradually got it put about that my mother—poor lady, she is living to-day, and will probably never know till she reads this of the liberty I took with her birthright—was of Irish descent. Of course, as the people out there had never seen or heard of my mother, and it was quite a common thing for French and Irish to intermarry, the deception was not likely to be discovered, as indeed it never was.

There was still yet another reason for my being cautious. The most insane and implacable enemy of O’Neill’s—and through my friendship for O’Neill, of myself—Major William M‘Williams, of old Fenian fame, was now high in the councils of the new organisation. In the O’Neill _régime_, presumably jealous of my position, he had denounced me as an adventurer, and the ill-feeling he had for me had culminated during the sittings of a Fenian congress in an open attack, reported in the New York papers as follows:—

“THE FENIAN CONGRESS AND A FENIAN ROW.

“The Fenian Congress was in session yesterday. A quorum of the
Executive Committee appointed in Chicago was in session all day.
They say they intend to commence work as soon as they obtain
possession of the munitions of war. Major M‘Williams and Major Le
Caron, two of the delegates, had a little onset in front of the
Whitney House last eve, and blood might have flowed had it not been
for the interference of several delegates.”

The altercation, I may add, on this occasion involved the use of revolvers, and created too pronounced a feeling between us to allow of my ever after expecting anything but the bitterest opposition from M‘Williams. To my relief, however, M‘Williams eventually got into a personal altercation with a fiercer antagonist than myself, by whom he was shot in Columbia, S.C., being killed on the spot. His exit cleared the way of the only difficulty which existed at the time of his death, and so I considered it prudent to accept the invitation, often extended to me, to join the Clan-na-Gael. I joined, and an appointment upon the Military Board of the organisation quickly followed. It must not, however, be thought that I had been “out of things” meantime. Not at all. Possessed, as I was, of more than one confiding friend, I secured information about everything that took place.

XXIII.

Slowly but surely the Clan-na-Gael was gaining ground, despite all the forces arrayed against it. Triumphing over Church opposition, conscientious scruple on the score of joining secret societies, and the single opposing Revolutionary faction still faithful to the memory of Stephens, it had, in 1876, a membership exceeding 11,000, which included amongst its leading names those of Alexander Sullivan, John Devoy, O’Donovan Rossa, Thomas Clarke Luby, Thomas F. Burke, Dr. Carroll, James Reynolds, Frank Agnew, Colonel Clingen, Wm. J. Hynes, P. W. Dunne, Michael Boland, Denis Feeley, J. J. Breslin, Michael Kirwen, and General Millen.

These were the men who in the after years were to be in the front rank of the Clan-na-Gael, and by their position and influence to model and direct the policy of the organisation. Of them and their position at this time I shall now have some little to say.

With Sullivan I have already dealt, and here I need only state that, having established himself in Chicago, he had taken to the study of law, in which branch of the profession he was now—in 1876—preparing to practise. He had been maintaining his questionable reputation, for he had shot a man in cold blood; and though twice tried, had been successful in escaping the consequences of his act, owing to the employing of that process so frequently charged against the Government in Ireland—packing the jury. Of Devoy and O’Donovan Rossa I have also spoken before. The former, drifting to New York, had since we parted with him been engaged on some two or three American papers, and he was now, if I remember aright, engaged on the _New York Herald_ staff. Rossa, very much to the front for the moment, in consequence of his “skirmishing” theory, had meantime been living on the proceeds of the fund raised for himself and his fellow-exiles on their arrival in 1871, and a special subscription for himself, which Ford inaugurated in the _Irish World_. Luby had been a well-known patriot since 1865, when, in company with John O’Leary and Charles J. Kickham, he had been sentenced to a long term of penal servitude for the part he played in Ireland as one of the editors of the _Irish People_. General Thomas Fras. Burke had served with the Confederate Army, and had been amongst those who, in 1867, left America to lead in that most disheartening of fiascos, the Irish rising of 1865, as the result of his part in which he was sentenced to death, but subsequently amnestied.

Dr. William Carroll, one of the principal physicians in Philadelphia, whose name will appear prominently in the future, and who stood one of the sponsors for Mr. Parnell on the occasion of his arrival in America, was best known as the admirer, friend, and associate of John Mitchell, and was himself nothing if not a Revolutionist. James Reynolds of New Haven, Conn., whom I first met in connection with the secret organisation, was by profession a gas- and brass-fitter, and an avowed advocate of “extreme” measures. He was in fact a member of the Revolutionary Directory of this period. Frank Agnew had a Fenian record extending as far back as the Senate period of the Fenian Brotherhood. Strangely enough, I first came in contact with him when, on an inspecting tour, I had occasion to inspect a Fenian Company of which he was captain in Chicago. He was one of those who arrived too late to be of use in connection with the Fenian raid of ’70. He was now a contractor of some importance in Chicago, and a great friend and ally of Sullivan’s. Of Colonel Clingen I need not say much, save that he had been an old Fenian ally of mine in days gone by, and had sat with myself on the Military Board during O’Neill’s _régime_.

Of the others I have mentioned, Hynes and Dunne perhaps deserve the most prominent place, by reason of the part they have recently played in the Cronin affair. Both these men, it will be remembered, came out as very strong opponents of Alexander Sullivan, whom they roundly accused of causing Dr. Cronin’s death. Hynes I knew as far back as 1865, when, as a clerk to John O’Neill, he took a very active part in the work of the Fenian Brotherhood. Owing to a row between O’Neill and himself, he severed his connection with active Fenianism, and obtained a clerkship in one of the departments at Washington, finding his way, after a little time, to Arkansas. Although returned as a carpet-bag Congressman for the State, he failed to prosper, and at last he found himself without a dollar in Chicago. Here the first man to help him was Alexander Sullivan, against whom he is now arrayed. Through Sullivan’s political influence, Hynes was engaged as professional juryman at a fee of two dollars a day, from which position he worked himself forward to that of a prominent politician and a well-known member of the bar at which he practises.

P. W. Dunne proved to be a duplicate of O’Donovan Rossa, in appearance and in many other ways, with this one strong exception, that, whereas Rossa never sacrificed any of his means for the good of his countrymen, but rather lived upon them in fact, Dunne sacrificed an almost princely fortune. In early years he had been a prominent distiller (a very lucrative business) in Peoria, Illinois; and he was one of the leading seceders from the Stephens wing of the Fenian Brotherhood, after the failure of 1865, in which he himself participated, in company with P. J. Meehan, editor of the _Irish American_. He was now situated in Chicago, occupying the position of Superintendent of Streets, and had preceded Sullivan and Clingen upon the Executive of the Clan-na-Gael.

As for the remainder, Boland, once a lieutenant in the United States Army, was now a practising lawyer in Kentucky, having meantime taken part in the ’66 raid on Canada. He was also one of the most prominent of Clan-na-Gael officials, and an advocate of extreme measures. Feeley, also an attorney-at-law, had been a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary in his early days, and was now, as of yore, one of the most prominent and bloodthirsty of rebels in the States. Kirwen had been Brigadier-General and Fenian Secretary of War during the Canadian raid of 1870, and had preserved his Revolutionary record unbroken; while Breslin, chiefly remarkable for the part he had played in helping James Stephens to escape from Richmond prison (Ireland) in 1866, now, as ever since then, a prominent and avowed Revolutionist, was occupying his public life in some municipal office of an important character, while, in secret, playing his part on the Revolutionary Directory of the Clan-na-Gael.

One name I have left to the last, and that is General Millen’s. The discredited hero of the Jubilee Explosion Scheme of 1887 was at this time engaged on the editorial staff of the _New York Herald_. Unlike almost every one whom I have named, his military title was neither of Fenian nor of American extraction. He had, according to his own account, gained both his military knowledge and his rank when, out in Mexico on the part of the _New York Herald_, he had thrown in his lot with Juarez prior to the overthrow of the government of Maximilian and the establishment of the First Republic, of which Juarez was President. Be the claims to military knowledge which he advanced good or bad, they were accepted with a certain amount of good faith by the Clan leaders; and his usefulness in this regard being appreciated, he held a position of some importance at this time, being in fact Chairman of the Military Board.

XXIV.

My advent in the organisation, though gratifying to a certain extent, did not satisfy me as fully as I wished. I wanted to know everything that took place on the inner side of the movement, and I found that, as one of the rank and file, I could really learn nothing. Accordingly, I set my wits to work to see how I could accomplish my desire of gaining such a position as would give me all I wanted. Very little consideration was needed to show me that, in a large centre like Chicago, where jealousy and ambition governed every motive, it would be impossible for a new-comer to get to the front, and so I decided to work out my designs in a smaller and more unimportant place, where internal dissensions would find little if any home. It will be remembered that Braidwood was the place where I had my drug-store, and where I had had strong evidence of my popularity in my election as Supervisor by a majority of 103 over my opponents. In the end, therefore, I determined to establish a camp in Braidwood, and with the assistance of the official organiser, a most promising “camp” was got together, to the Senior Guardianship or Presidency of which I was unanimously elected. Sullivan unconsciously assisted me in my design. It was through his influence, though at my suggestion, that the official organiser was sent down in the first instance.

Having once obtained the position, I spared neither pains nor money to make myself secure in it. My status and extensive practice as a doctor permitted of my playing the _rôle_ of the generous patriot, and there was no subscription list on which my name did not figure in some capacity as the patriotic, political, charitable, or religious friend. The latter was not by any means the most infrequent, for religion of a certain type plays a very large part in Irish politics. Where money and the other arts failed, then I took to diplomacy. Year in, year out, I continued president of my camp, though always at election time asking to be allowed to retire in favour of some better and more deserving brother. Of course it was simply a case of “swearing I would ne’er consent, consenting.”

I was too useful to my brothers of “Camp 463,” now 204, to allow of their permitting me to retire to the ranks. If no other reason but the question of money came in, then this of itself alone would have been sufficient. When a delegate had to be despatched to conventions or gatherings elsewhere, none were more ready to start than I, while—more important still for the patriots—my bills for expenses, instead of being of the large and unjustifiable character usually associated with such proceedings, could only be got from me under protest, and with every manifestation of desire to save them outlay. Of course, this travelling about from centre to centre, this mixing with many men from many points, and the opportunities thus afforded for gaining information and opening up new sources of supply, admirably suited my purpose; and by taking advantage of the varied openings given me, I was enabled to extend my usefulness as a Secret Service agent to a very appreciable extent.

Matters, indeed, were satisfactorily situated for me at every point. As Senior Guardian of the Braidwood camp, I was in receipt of every document issued from head-quarters, and through me many of these found their way to Mr. Anderson on the English side of the water. My work in connection with these documents taxed all my powers of resource; and had it not been for the popular and trusted position which I held, I could have accomplished very little in regard to them. A stringent regulation of the Executive required that all documents—when not returned to head-quarters, as many had to be—should be burned in view of the camp, in order that the most perfect secrecy should be secured. It was, of course, impossible for me to retain the originals of those which had to be returned, and of them I could only keep copies. With those requiring destruction in the presence of my camp, I was enabled to act differently. Always prepared for the emergency, I was, by a sleight-of-hand performance, enabled to substitute old and unimportant documents for those which really should have been burnt, and to retain in my possession, and subsequently transmit to England, the originals of all the most important. I was, of course, shaking hands with danger and discovery at every turn, and yet so marvellous was my success that I not only escaped betrayal, but that which would undoubtedly have led to it, namely, suspicion.

To this end, I was much assisted by the confidence reposed in me by my fellow-officials, the Junior Guardians, who exhibited their trust to the extent of giving me possession of their keys of the strong-box, of which they held possession during their period of office. This contained all the papers of the camp; and with a view to its safety, one key was given to the Senior Guardian, and the other to the Junior Guardian, the locks being different in construction, so that the box could only be opened by the concurrence of both officials. Had I not been able to obtain the confidence of my Junior Guardians to the extent of possessing their keys, I could never have brought my designs to such a successful issue. Strangely enough, when I appeared in the witness-box at the Commission—for I was even then Senior Guardian of my Clan-na-Gael camp—I had both keys of our strong-box in my possession, which I jokingly offered to Mr. Houston as a memento of our strange and unlooked-for meeting.

XXV.

Meantime, events had been developing themselves in a strange and unlooked-for way. O’Donovan Rossa—speaking to the Irish in America through the columns of the _Irish World_—had advocated the establishment of a Skirmishing Fund in the following style:—

“Five thousand dollars will have to be collected before the
campaign can be started. England will not know how or where she
is to be struck. A successful stroke or any stroke that will do
her 500,000 dollars’ worth of damage will bring us funds enough to
carry on the work: and by working on incessantly and persistently,
the patient dirt and powder shock will bring out enough perhaps to
carry on the war.”

In the same issue of the _Irish World_, Patrick Ford, in the course of a commendatory article, said—

“What will this irregular warfare of our Irish Skirmishers effect?
It will do this much. It will harass and annoy England. It will
help to create her difficulty and hasten our opportunity. It will
not only annoy England, but it will hush her too. This is what we
look for from the Skirmishers. One hundred dollars expended on
skirmishing may cause to England a loss of 100,000,000 dollars.
That would be a damaging blow to the enemy; and what is to prevent
the dealing one of three or four such blows every year?”

Here I shall drop Rossa and his Skirmishing Fund for the moment, to say a few words about Ford. The opportunity seems a favourable one for dealing with a man whose name has been so prominent of late years, and clearing up a few of the many misconceptions which appear to exist regarding him. Like O’Donovan Rossa, his colleague at this time in skirmishing matters, Ford’s position in Irish revolutionary affairs has been quite misunderstood in British quarters outside the Parnellite party. As a matter of fact Ford is not, and never has been, a member of the Clan-na-Gael. True it is that he was a member of the old Fenian organisations which preceded it—as, for instance, the Irish Confederation, but in the membership of the last and most powerful of all the branches of the Irish-American conspiracy, the editor of the _Irish World_ has had no place. The secret of his position and influence lies in his paper. This, from the very moment of its start, has been a pronounced success, reaching a high-water mark of influence and circulation, which threw the puny efforts of its competitors completely into the shade. The paper came into existence at the proper moment for itself; it was well edited, well printed, and splendidly equipped with news from every quarter, and on every point. It caught the public fancy and “went” amazingly. Ford, originally a printer and a man of no mean attainment, gathered round him a staff of equally clever writers, established correspondents at every important centre, and working at very high pressure, was on the point of failing on several occasions, only to escape through the assistance of friends, politicians, or capitalists, willing to oblige for certain considerations. Indeed, if I am not very much in error, matters are not in the most favourable way for the paper at this very time.

Patrick Ford, according to Michael Davitt, is a most worthy disciple of the Christian principles, and a man whose life would serve as a model for very many of those who criticise this dynamite advocate’s character in no enthusiastic vein. Speaking of the man simply “on the view” as the American phrase has it, Davitt’s observations are not so far-fetched as they would appear to be at the first blush. In appearance and manner, the editor of the _Irish World_ is quite the opposite of the man you would figure to yourself after reading his dynamite appeals and exordiums in his own journal. Quiet and unobtrusive alike in look and speech, he is as mild a mannered man as ever scuttled a ship. Of medium height, spare of build and spare of feature, without any ferocity whatever marking the outer man, he gives the observer the idea of being a quiet, sedate, and rather retiring business person. Although a vigorous and effective writer, he is not remarkable for his platform utterances, and while a good talker, is by no means an orator.

Associated with Patrick Ford in his connection with Irish-American affairs have been his brother Augustine and his nephew Austin. Augustine, whose name comes into prominence with Rossa in the Skirmishing Fund affair, was the publisher, as distinct from the editor, of the _Irish World_; while Austin, then a young fellow, was afterwards to become a member of the Clan-na-Gael, and to serve as the medium of communication between the leaders of the Revolutionary organisation and his uncle, the editor of what was undoubtedly, though unofficially, their mouthpiece, the _Irish World_. There were many reasons for an alliance, unofficial though it might be, existing between the _Irish World_ and those charged with the conduct of the vast secret conspiracy known to the initiated as the V.C. For what the _Irish World_, with its extended popularity, its great influence, and its enormous circulation, championed in public, the Clan-na-Gael worked for in private. Ford and his fellow-workers, in a different path, understood each other full well; and when, within a year after the establishment of the Skirmishing Fund, it became desirable that the Clan-na-Gael should take charge of it, there was no more ardent advocate of the change than he. And as in the early, so in the later years. When the new departure came to the front, Ford and his Clan-na-Gael friends were of the same mind as to its importance, and the necessity for supporting it. When dynamite came to be the order of the day, he was its loud-tongued apostle; and when, later still, “martyrs” like Brady and Curley suffered in Ireland the just consequences of their fiendish part in the Phœnix Park murders, the editor of the _Irish World_ was first to fill the gap with a fund on behalf of their families, excluding from its benefits all connected with those who had had the good sense, though bad patriotism, to plead “guilty” to their part in the fell transaction.

XXVI.

To return, however, to Rossa and his Skirmishing Fund. As a prominent Fenian of “the old guard,” and a member of the Clan-na-Gael, Rossa’s influence, backed up by Ford’s advocacy, succeeded in getting together no less than 23,350 dollars by the 14th March following the issue of the appeal—in something less than twelve months in fact. Although, however, this large sum had been accumulating during this period, and portions of it had been ready at different times for use if required, no skirmishing or pretence at skirmishing had taken place, and some little dissatisfaction commenced to manifest itself at the non-fruition of the many promises which had been held out of “hurting England.” There then occurred the transfer of the fund to the Clan-na-Gael under very mysterious circumstances, which have never been thoroughly explained or understood. The nearest approach to an explanation was afforded by a communication from Rossa, which appeared in the _Irish World_ of the 21st April 1877, which, I think, I cannot do better than quote here.

“When I started this Skirmishing Fund, the council-men of the two
Irish revolutionary societies in America—the Fenian Brotherhood
and the Clan-na-Gael—took it into their heads that I was going to
interfere with the regular revolutionary work, that I was going to
play the deuce with everything, and they gave me no friendly help.
I have been doing all I could to convince them that I am not the
very desperate character I was in prison or out of prison; and some
six months ago, being telegraphed to visit a convention of one of
those societies, I went there. I there proposed to receive into the
trusteeship and Executive Council of the Skirmishing Fund one or
two of their body, provided that the one or two meant skirmishing
work such as was laid down in our programme. This proposition of
mine was accepted, and all passed off harmoniously.

* * * * *

“Here is how things stand now:—Mr. James J. Clancy, who acted as
treasurer of the fund, got married a few weeks ago and ceased his
connection with the _Irish World_. Then Austin Ford wrote me (on
14th March) the following note:—

“‘I told you that, at a certain Irish convention, I had
consented to admit to the trusteeship of the fund some members
of their body. They gave me several names to select from; and
looking about for men who meant work, I took the names of John
J. Breslin, who rescued the Australian prisoners, and who was
the principal actor in the rescue of James Stephens in 1865;
of Doctor William Carroll, of Philadelphia, who left his
professional business (and being a particular friend of John
Mitchell), came to New York when Mitchell was going to Ireland
two years ago, went on board the steamer to see him off, went on
the steamer with him to Ireland, having no other idea in his head
but to take care of him. The other name I took was that of James
Reynolds of Newhaven, Connecticut. He is the man in whose name
the _Catalpa_ was registered, and he mortgaged his property to
raise $4000, when it was needed at a crisis in connection with
the expedition. Now Mr. Clancy and Mr. Ford have resigned, I
have in connection with these three men I have mentioned taken
into the trusteeship John Devoy, Thomas Clarke Luby, and Thomas
Francis Bourke.’

* * * * *

“Last night Thomas Clarke Luby went to Washington, carrying
with him $17,500 in American bonds endorsed by me, to have them
transferred for safe keeping to the names of Dr. Carroll, Thomas C.
Luby, John Devoy, Tom Bourke, John Breslin, and James Reynolds....
John O’Mahony died. It was deemed well to send his remains to
Ireland. There was no money to bear the expenses. I thought I might
trespass on the skirmishing money. I consulted Mr. Ford and Mr.
Clancy about a loan. They said it could be legitimately looked upon
as within the pale of our work, and they paid me $2030 to defray
the expenses. The Clan-na-Gael and the Fenian Brotherhood have
promised to refund the money.”

No secret was made of the connection which now existed between the “trustees” and the “fund,” for a public address was issued “to the Irish people in the United States,” and published in the _Irish World_ of the 21st April, containing the following passages:—

“But since the ‘skirmishing’ project was first announced,
circumstances have greatly altered.... Old Europe is threatened
with a general convulsion. War on the most tremendous scale cannot
much longer be staved off by all the artifices and subtleties of
all the diplomatists in the world. Russia and Turkey are equally
resolute to fight the inevitable fight.... The rest of the Great
Powers of Europe will be drawn by an irresistible force into the
arena. England, above all, whether she likes it or not, must draw
her sword once more or meanly confess herself a third-class power.
She is too proud of the part to yield her high place without a
blow. She must first be beaten to her knees.

“England’s difficulty then has all but come; in other words,
‘Ireland’s opportunity.’ Is Ireland prepared to seize that
opportunity?...

“In view of the altered circumstances of the time, ‘big with
fate to us and ours,’ we propose to enlarge the basis of the
‘Skirmishing Fund,’ established by Rossa, and of the plans it was
intended to further. We propose forthwith to create a ‘Special
National Fund’ to aid the work of Ireland’s deliverance.

“Action, some may think, has been postponed too long. Be this as it
may, _we_ are determined to lose as little further time as possible
ere we furnish our countrymen with practical results of our work.
But a blow must be followed up by blows. Unhesitatingly then” (they
ask for) “the means to do what may give heart and inspiration
to our brothers at home, and prepare the way for the last grand
struggle.

... “We shall only add that it is plain that ‘the Home Rule
Agitation’ has signally failed to satisfy the yearnings of the
Irish people. The O’Mahony funeral demonstration, with its
deep heroic significance, has exercised the vain misleading
phantom. Every true Irishman in Ireland (and shall we not say in
America too?) once more believes in the old creed of our gallant
fathers—that the sole way to free or regenerate Ireland is by
total separation from England; and that total separation can only
be achieved by desperate sacrifices, daring enterprises, and the
strong hand.

“JOHN J. BRESLIN, }
“THOMAS CLARKE LUBY, }
“JOHN DEVOY, } New York.
“THOMAS FRANCIS BOURKE, }
“JER. O’DONOVAN ROSSA, }
“WM. CARROLL, M.D., Philadelphia, Pa.
“JAMES REYNOLDS, New Haven, Conn.”

The names of the trustees will, of course, be familiar, as being amongst those regarding whom I gave some details some few pages back, and who were all remarkable for their past Fenian records and present prominence in the Clan-na-Gael ranks.

XXVII.

While the Skirmishing Fund and its custodians were engaging public attention in this way, the secret work of the organisation was by no means being neglected. The ordinary work of shipping arms to Ireland, and communicating with the sister society as regards members, organisation, &c., was conducted with regularity and precision; while operations of an extraordinary character were indulged in as opportunity offered. Amongst these latter must be classed the negotiations, commenced about this time, for an alliance between the Revolutionary party in America and the Russian Government. Wild and absurd as the idea may at first appear, it is nevertheless an undoubted fact that these negotiations were not alone started in sober earnest, but they were in the end finally completed and developed to the stage of a regular diplomatic compact at headquarters in Russia. As is well known, the relations between England and Russia were for some three or four years previous to 1880 of a distinctly strained character, and war at many times appeared imminent. Filled with the idea that war would actually take place, the Clan-na-Gael Executive caused overtures to be made to the representative of the Russian Government, proposing that they in America should fit out privateers which, sailing with letters of marque from Russia, should worry English vessels and assist in every way possible in furthering the designs of Russia, in return for which Russia should pledge assistance to the Irish in their attempt to wrest Ireland from English domination.

The matter assumed the proportions of a really serious proposal, and Dr. William Carroll, of Philadelphia, about whom I have already spoken, and who was one of the trustees of the Skirmishing Fund, as well as Chairman of the Executive Body of the Clan-na-Gael, was delegated by the Executive to represent their interests in the negotiation. Dr. Carroll, through the assistance of Senator Jones of Florida, was placed in communication with the Russian minister at Washington, and to this gentleman the Clan-na-Gael ambassador represented that some millionaires—the names of two were mentioned—were prepared to subsidise the undertaking, and that several points had been fixed upon for fitting out the privateers, San Francisco being notably one of them. So satisfactorily did the negotiations progress for the Clan-na-Gael people, that in a few months Dr. Carroll left America for the Russian capital, where, it was subsequently reported in an official way, the treaty between the Russian Government and the Revolutionary organisation was formally ratified.

It was a significant fact that shortly after this the Russian minister at Washington was recalled. The report in the official ranks of the Clan-na-Gael was that the proceeding was the result of an action taken by the British Government in consequence of what had occurred. Of course, regarding this view of the occurrence, as far as I can speak, there was neither definite information nor proof.

This was but one of the many wild schemes indulged in at this period. Another had to do with the manufacture of a submarine torpedo-boat, with which it was intended to inflict terrific damage on the British navy under water. After one failure, the boat was actually built at the shipyard on the Jersey side of the North River at a cost of some 37,000 dollars; but nothing ever came of it, for it was apparently completed only to be towed to New Haven, where it lay, and where, for aught I know, it may be rotting at the present day. Its principal use, as far as I could make out, was in supplying a certain number of patriots, charged with the control of its construction, some five dollars a day each as recognition for their invaluable services.

On the other plots and schemes I can only touch in the lightest possible way. They included the assassination of Queen Victoria, the kidnapping of the Prince of Wales or Prince Arthur, an attack on Portland Prison, with the rescue of Michael Davitt therefrom, and a hundred and one odd schemes in which Dhuleep Singh, General Carroll Thevis, Aylward, and other soldiers of fortune or discontent all figured.

XXVIII.

The month of September ’78 was remarkable for the arrival in America of Michael Davitt. He had been released from Portland Prison on ticket-of-leave several months previously, and having travelled through Ireland in the meantime, now came to the States with the ostensible object of lecturing. This first visit of his differed from the second one paid in 1880 by reason of the change which his opinions underwent in the interval. When in September 1878 Davitt landed in America to be met by Devoy and others, and welcomed in an effusive address, he took pains, in replying, to state he was still faithful to the principles of his youth, for which he had suffered imprisonment, and that the dungeon had not changed his political convictions in the least. Apparently not, for during his visit Davitt put in an appearance at several Clan-na-Gael camps, and took part in their proceedings as a duly accredited brother and representative. Contact with Devoy, however, and with the theories on the subject of the “New Departure,” to which Devoy at this time was giving prominence, must have changed Davitt’s views somewhat, for references to past principles, life-long convictions, &c., soon made way for pleasant pictures and prophecies of the development known as the “New Departure,” which was at last to bring the Irish political plotter within sight of his Mecca.

There is no need for me at this late day to deal at any great length with what has since been known as the “New Departure.” It proved to be nothing more or less than the scheme which found its development and outcome in the Parnellite movement, viz., the bringing together the two forces of Irish discontent—the Constitutional and the Revolutionary sections—and, while allying them for strategic and financial purposes, yet so arranging the compact that each was allowed to work in its own way for the accomplishment of the object which all had in view—the repeal of the Union between Great Britain and Ireland.

The exact terms of the treaty or alliance proposed by the American Fenians, after consultation with Davitt, were set forth in a cable sent to Mr. Parnell by Devoy and some of his fellow-trustees of the Skirmishing Fund in the month of October 1878, at a time indeed while Davitt was still in the country. As the cable has a historic interest, I will quote it in full here:—

“The Nationalists here will support you on the following
conditions:—

“First, abandonment of the federal demand, and substitution of a
general declaration in favour of self-government.

“Second, vigorous agitation of the Land Question on the basis of a
peasant proprietary, while accepting concessions tending to abolish
arbitrary evictions.

“Third, exclusion of all sectarian issues from the platform.

“Fourth, Irish members to vote together on all imperial and home
questions, adopt an aggressive policy, and energetically resist
coercive legislation.

“Fifth, advocacy of all struggling nationalities in the British
Empire and elsewhere.”

Following up this proposal, to which, by the way, no direct public reply was ever given, there appeared in the press letters from John Devoy advocating the new move in arguments which I think I can best summarise by using the following extracts from one of his epistles:—

“The question whether the advanced Irish National party—the party
of separation—should continue the policy of isolation from the
public life of the country, which was inaugurated some twenty
years ago by James Stephens and his associates, or return to
older methods—methods as old at least as the days of the _United
Irishman_—is agitating the minds of Irish Nationalists on both
sides of the Atlantic just now; and certainly no similar incident
has aroused such wide discussion in Ireland for many a day as the
publication of the views of the exiled Nationalists resident in New
York on the subject.

“The object aimed at by the Irish National party—the recovery of
Ireland’s national independence, and the severance of all political
connection with England—is one that would require the utmost
efforts and the greatest sacrifices on the part of the whole Irish
people.... I am not one of those who despair of Ireland’s freedom,
and am as much in favour of continuing the struggle to-day as
some of those who talk loudest against constitutional agitation.
I am convinced that the whole Irish people can be enlisted in
an effort to free their native land, and that they have within
themselves the power to overcome all obstacles in their way.... I
am also convinced that one section of the people alone can never
win independence; and no political party, no matter how devoted or
determined, can ever win the support of the whole people if they
never come before the public, and take no part in the everyday life
of the country. I have often said it before, and I repeat it now
again, that a mere conspiracy will never free Ireland. I am not
arguing against conspiracy, but only pointing out the necessity
of Irish Nationalists taking whatever public action for the
advancement of the National cause they may find within their reach,
such action as will place the aims and objects of the National
party in a more favourable light before the world, and help to win
the support of the Irish people.”

XXIX.

While the ball was thus rolling in this way, Davitt completed his tour in America, and returned to Ireland to resume his work there. He did not return alone, however, for in his wake there travelled his new colleague, Devoy, who, journeying as one of the secret agents of the Clan-na-Gael, went to Ireland to inspect and report on the condition of the Revolutionary organisation there to the V.C. Convention, to be held in Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, in July 1879. Associated with Devoy in this work of inspection was General Millen, acting in the capacity of military envoy. Devoy, while in Ireland, made good use of his time. While he organised the Irish Republican Brotherhood in their secret meetings, he openly advocated the proposed alliance with all his might and main. In Ireland, however, as the report which he afterwards made to the Clan-na-Gael showed, the Fenians were not so ripe as his colleagues in America for giving up, even temporarily, their secret methods for constitutional agitation; and the work which he was to accomplish was not destined to bear too early fruit.

As the report which Devoy presented of the visit thus made gave an interesting account of how matters stood in Fenian circles there at this period, I give a few extracts. They are important as showing the condition of the Revolutionary forces, which gave Mr. Parnell so much trouble a year or two later, when, through me, he appealed to Devoy to come over and cripple the opposition he was receiving from this quarter:—

“Three of the best organised counties—Dublin, Louth, and
Wexford—seceded from the S.C. (Supreme Council or Executive of
the Irish Republican Brotherhood), and believing the statements,
so often repeated, that the American organisation supported Mr.
Stephens, transferred their allegiance to that gentleman. There
still remained with the S.C. (Supreme Council), Ulster, Connaught,
Munster, a portion of Leinster, Scotland, and South of England; but
the work in these districts was almost paralysed, and the attention
of the men distracted by repeated visits and communications of a
conflicting nature from contending factions, who all claimed to
be ‘working for Ireland.’ The numbers stood at this time (1878)
as follows:—About 19,000 men stood by the S.C., some 3000 acted
independently in the North of England, and not more than 1500,
chiefly in Leinster, followed Mr. Stephens. No real work could be
done; it was a struggle for existence, and ultimately the majority
prevailed. When your former envoy arrived in Ireland, this was the
state of things he found existing. As you have been informed, he
succeeded, with the help of another member of the V.C. residing in
Ireland, in first gaining over the Leinster men to the S.C., by
telling them the real truth about the state of things in America.

* * * * *

“A reorganisation of the S.C. satisfactory to all parties concerned
was then effected, and an efficient secretary elected, who has
since then rendered invaluable service in repairing the damage
done during the short period of turmoil and contention. Some years
before the organisation had been a compact body of over 40,000 men,
acting under its elected council, and making commendable efforts to
arm its members in spite of the most discouraging difficulties. At
the beginning of last year, after the S.C. had triumphed over the
difficulties above mentioned, it was reduced to about 24,000 men,
the confidence of many of its members greatly shaken, and much of
the material accumulated during past years badly damaged through
neglect or entirely lost.

“It was deemed better to endeavour to weld into a solid mass the
united fragments than to increase its size by the addition of new
members. Some mistakes were made, but, upon the whole, the action
of the S.C. seemed to me judicious and safe. Some 17,000 dollars
had been sent by the F.C. (10,000 dollars came from the National
Fund for arms) for the purpose of introducing arms into the
country; but it was left in the hands of the R.D. until my arrival,
in the belief that the machinery of the movement had undergone too
great a strain to be able to bear much pressure, and the hands
of the S.C. were too full with the work of restoration to allow
them to undertake any more. The organisation was just beginning
to breathe a little freely, and to feel that it was again a solid
living body, when I arrived to confer with the S.C. as to the best
means to infuse new life and vigour into it.

* * * * *

“I began with Tipperary, Limerick, and Clare, and continued my tour
till I had a fair idea of the condition of the organisation in all
of the seven provinces.... Besides county and circle meetings, I
attended provincial conventions in Munster, Ulster, Connaught,
North of England, and South of England, and local district meetings
in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Derry, Ennis, Glasgow, Dundalk, and
other towns.

“When Leinster and Munster shall have been thoroughly reorganised,
which will take some time, I hope to see 50,000 good members in
Ireland alone, and I should not care to see many more. In Ulster,
Connaught, Tipperary, and Clare the great bulk of the men are small
farmers or farmers’ sons, and, on the whole, there is a much better
representation than in ’65. I am glad to be able to report also the
presence in the organisation, and in positions of trust, of a few
of the smaller landed gentry, a few professional men, and a large
sprinkling of comfortable business men.”

Nothing calls for further attention in connection with this visit of Devoy and Millen to Ireland, beyond the fact that the expenses of it were defrayed out of a sum of 10,000 dollars taken from the Skirmishing Fund for the purpose. Nor need I speak in any detail of the proceedings of the Wilkesbarre Convention to which the delegates reported. There was no incident connected therewith which calls for any special mention, as particularly affecting events at this period.

XXX.

Though lacking official recognition and support, the scheme of the “New Departure” was creating a good deal of enthusiasm throughout the ranks of the Gaels; and the reports which continued to come from Ireland as to the condition of the Land Question kept the matter fully alive. The arrival, too, of Mr. Parnell in New York in the month of January 1880 gave a fresh impetus to the whole thing. And whatever doubt had heretofore existed as to the possibility of working the new move, and making it subservient to the requirements of the Revolutionary organisation, took immediate flight after a week’s experience of Mr. Parnell in America. In the view of the conspirators scattered throughout the States, Mr. Parnell had given himself over, body and soul, to the chiefs of the Clan-na-Gael. At every point, under every circumstance, without a single exception, well-known and trusted men of the secret councils were by his side and at his elbow, pushing him forward into prominence here, bespeaking a welcome for him there, and answering for his thorough fealty to the grand old cause at all manner of times. Nor did his own utterances leave any room for question. Brimful of references of deep meaning, and constantly lit up with the flashing of bayonets and rattling of musketry, his speeches breathed the sounds of war and the policy of the hill-side in every note, till men listening to his accents thought that at last the hour and the man had come. Poor fools! They knew not that his enthusiasm was the enthusiasm of the dollar, or its equivalent in English coin when totted up to £40,000, and his only weapon the House of Commons lie!

Mr. Parnell’s efforts in America to collect funds for the famine-stricken Irish—this was the ostensible object of his visit—were cut short by the general election which took place in Ireland in the spring of 1880, and he left hurriedly, but not before he had laid the foundations of the Land League, and played into the hands of the secret conspirators by giving them a very leading share in its control. Exit therefore Mr. Parnell to give way to Michael Davitt, and enter Mr. Davitt once more on the American stage in quite a new _rôle_. Flushed with the triumphs of his recent proceedings in Ireland in the establishment of the Land League organisation, and the position he had suddenly sprung into, he now came out as a Constitutionalist pure and simple. There were no more visits to Clan-na-Gael camps, for the time at least. All was open and above board. He had his fad; that fad was the Land League; and his fad was to win in the political race, hands down. No matter where he went, it was the same story. Travelling Braidwood-way in order to lecture in my district, he spent three days in my company, part of which time he was my guest, and fell ill on my hands, when I honestly and successfully ministered to his needs. In our intercourse at this period we had many talks over the situation, and with me as with everybody else, he could only speak of the new movement. At his request, I told him the whole story of the second Canadian raid; and so great was his enthusiasm in his new _rôle_, that he seized upon the fiasco I related as yet another proof for me of the utter impossibility of doing anything in the way of active operations. Amused and interested, I watched the dark determined face glowing with light and enthusiasm, and wondered within me how long this born conspirator would be content to walk in the trammels of a truly constitutional path. The opportunity, however, was too good to be neglected, and I improved it by getting some very useful information unawares from my patient and guest.

I was quite _au courant_ with Land League matters, for as an official of the Clan-na-Gael I had been instructed to develop the movement in my district, which I accordingly did, following the usual practice of enrolling my colleagues of the Clan-na-Gael as members of the League Branch, and thus keeping the control in our own hands. At public meetings held in favour of the open movement—it will be noted I speak of the Land League as the “open,” and the Clan-na-Gael as the “secret” movement—I frequently presided, and when the occasion arose, introduced Davitt and Devoy.

XXXI.

So matters progressed and developed, the only important incident of the interval being the discovery that James J. O’Kelly, late M.P. for Roscommon, after being despatched by the Revolutionary Directory of the Clan-na-Gael to England with moneys to attend to the shipping of arms to Ireland, had thrown in his lot with the advocates of the New Departure in Ireland, and been returned to Parliament with the funds placed at his disposal by the Revolutionary chiefs in New York. This, of course, was not the only occasion on which the moneys subscribed for blowing up England went to subsidise the New Departure. Davitt and Devoy had both drawn upon them to a large extent, though Davitt conscientiously paid every farthing of his share back in 1882.

In the month of November 1880, John Devoy issued a very peculiar circular to the Senior Guardians of the V.C., or Clan-na-Gael camps, which was remarkable as showing how loyal after all this author of the New Departure was to the methods of revolutionary work, and how he regarded the Land League but as the stepping-stone to more decisive things. This is how he put the matter:—

P.O. BOX 4, 479.

NEW YORK, _November 1, 1880_.

“DEAR SIR AND BROTHER,—I propose to give a course of lectures this
winter on the subject of “The Irish National Cause and the Present
Crisis,” with a view to stirring up our people here and increasing
the resources of the National movement. I will stipulate beforehand
that the proceeds shall either go to the Revolutionary Fund of the
V.C. or to the National Fund, so that we may be better prepared to
meet any emergency that may be forced upon us by England. While
believing that all our efforts should be directed to restraining
the people in Ireland from any premature insurrectionary movement,
I think the excitement at home should be utilised for the purpose
of procuring the funds necessary to enable the National party to
complete the preparations for the struggle for independence. The
_time_ for that struggle must be selected by us and not by England;
but one must not forget that our hand may be forced in spite of all
our endeavours; and it therefore behoves us to commence stirring
up our people in America now. I think the Land League has now
money enough for present purposes, and that the state of things
prevailing in Ireland demands that all money that can be got from
our people here should be devoted to revolutionary purposes. I am
convinced, in fact, that the doing of this is the best help we can
at present give the Land League. The prosecutions have already
given the agitation a more decidedly national tone. Let us help to
broaden it into a truly national movement, and make it serviceable
to the cause of independence.

“If you agree with this view of the situation, I should be glad to
receive your assistance in organising lectures in your vicinity,
_provided your doing so would not be detrimental to the interests
of the V.C._

“I intend to begin in the New England States, then to go through a
portion of New York State and Penna, and thence west. Communicate
to the P.O. Box mentioned.—Fraternally yours,

“JOHN DEVOY.”