en I have as much friendship as anybody, not being himself an
Englishman, can entertain. What I dislike is English rule, and the
present movement does not interest me, because its leaders profess
allegiance--for the present, anyhow. No doubt the general idea is to
obtain as much advantage as possible, and to gradually increase the
strength of Ireland; but, in my opinion, the Fenian movement was the
true and legitimate method, and the one best suited to the genius of
the Irish nation. Notwithstanding all that has been said and written
by English speakers and writers, the movement was worthy of honour,
and had it been successful, would have received high praise and
commendation from every country except England. To be respectable,
revolutions or insurrections must be successful, or at any rate, must
have a certain amount of success to commence with. The English people
never properly understood the Fenian movement. To begin with, the name
of Fenians was not assumed by the Irish body of conspirators. The
Fenians proper were entirely confined to America, where they acted
under the instructions of John O'Mahony, with Michael and Colonel
Corcoran as lieutenants. The Colonel commanded the Irish brigade of
the American army, and was pledged to bring over a strong contingent
at the right moment. The Irish party in Ireland under Stephens was
called the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood, to which I am proud to say
I belonged. That is all over now, and I am content to be loyal, under
compulsion. There is nothing else for it. The young men are all gone
to America, and the failure of the enterprise has damaged the prestige
of the cause. The organisation was very good, and you might say that
the able-bodied population belonged to it, almost to a man. England
never knew, does not know even now, how universal was the movement.
The escape of James Stephens, the great Number One, from Richmond
Bridewell, was something of an eye-opener, but not half so astonishing
as some things that would have happened if the general movement had
been successful. It was Daniel Byrne and James Breslin, who let him
out. Byrne was a turnkey, Breslin was hospital superintendent, and
both held their posts on account of their well-known loyalty. Byrne
was found out, or rather it was discovered that he was a Fenian, but
they could not prove his guilt in the Stephens affair, and he never
rounded on Breslin, who went on drawing his screw from the British
Government fo