armed rising in Ireland; and, after consultation
with the Fenian leaders in New York, Cluseret came to England with
a view to organizing the insurrection. What then befell can be
read in Lathair, where Cluseret is thinly disguised as "Captain
Bruges," and also in his own narrative, published in _Fraser's
Magazine_ for 1872. He arrived in London in January, 1867, and
startling events began to happen in quick succession. On the 11th
of February an armed party of Fenians attacked Chester Castle,
and were not repulsed without some difficulty. There was an armed
rising at Killarney. The police-barracks at Tallaght were besieged,
and at Glencullen the insurgents captured the police-force and
their weapons. At Kilmallock there was an encounter between the
Fenians and the constabulary, and life was lost on both sides.
There was a design of concentrating all the Fenian forces on Mallow
Junction, but the rapid movement of the Queen's troops frustrated
the design, and the general rising was postponed. Presently two
vagrants were arrested on suspicion at Liverpool, and proved to be
two of the most notorious of the Fenian leaders, "Colonel" Kelly
and "Captain" Deasy. It was when these prisoners, remanded for
further enquiry, were being driven under a strong escort to gaol
that the prison-van was attacked by a rescue-party, and Sergeant
Brett, who was in charge of the prisoners, was shot. The rescuers,
Allen, Larkin, and Gould, were executed on the 2nd of November,
and on the 1st of December Clerkenwell Prison was blown up, in
an ineffectual attempt to liberate the Fenian prisoners confined
in it. On the 20th of December Matthew Arnold wrote to his mother,
"We are in a strange uneasy state in London, and the profound sense
I have long had of the hollowness and insufficiency of our whole
system of administration does not inspire me with much confidence."
The "strange uneasy state" was not confined to London, but prevailed
everywhere. Obviously England was threatened by a mysterious and
desperate enemy, and no one seemed to know that enemy's headquarters
or base of operations. The Secret Societies were actively at work
in England, Ireland, France, and Italy. It was suspected then--it
is known now, and chiefly through Cluseret's revelations--that the
isolated attacks on barracks and police-stations were designed
for the purpose of securing arms and ammunition; and, if only there
had been a competent General to command the rebel forces,