Fenian leaders opposed to an immediate
outbreak, but still they persevered. How ably they performed their work
there is plenty of evidence to show, and if the Irish outbreak of '67
was short-lived and easily suppressed, it was far from contemptible in
the pre-concert and organization which it evidenced.

One hitch did occur in the accomplishment of their designs. On
Wednesday, February 13th, the exciting news was flashed throughout the
land that the Fenians had broken into insurrection at Kerry. The news
was true. The night of the 12th of February had been fixed for a
simultaneous rising of the Fenians in Ireland; but the outbreak had been
subsequently postponed, and emissaries were despatched to all parts of
the country with the intelligence of the change of date. The change of
date was everywhere learned in time to prevent premature action except
at Cahirciveen, in the west of Kerry, where the members of the
Brotherhood, acting upon the orders received, unearthed their arms, and
gaily proceeded towards Killarney to form a junction with the insurgents
whom they imagined had converged from various parts of the county in
that town. Before many hours had elapsed they discovered their
mistake--they heard before arriving at Killarney that they were the only
representatives of the Irish Republic that had appeared in the field,
and turning to the mountains they broke up and disappeared.

Short-lived as was their escapade, it filled the heart of England with
alarm. In hot haste the _Habeas Corpus_ Suspension Act, which had been
permitted to lapse a month before, was re-enacted; the arrests and
police raids was renewed, and from the Giant's Causeway to Cape Clear
the gaols were filled with political prisoners. Still the
Irish-Americans worked on; some of them were swept off to prison, but
the greater number of them managed to escape detection, and spite of the
vigilance of the authorities, and the extraordinary power possessed by
the government and its officials, they managed to carry on the business
of the organization, to mature their plans, and to perfect their
arrangements for the fray.

We do not propose to write here a detailed account of the last of the
outbreaks which, since the Anglo-Norman invasion, have periodically
convulsed our country. The time is not yet come when the whole history
of that extraordinary movement can be revealed, and such of its facts,
as are now available for publication, are fresh in the minds