THE FENIAN "HEAD-CENTRE."

Grey River Argus, Volume III, Issue 168, 9 February 1867, Page 3

THE FENIAN "HEAD-CENTRE."

. ■ .. (From the Times, December 1.) -Mr James Stephens has announced, and he actually obliges us to anticipate, that, he will invade Ireland for the purpose .of separating it from the dominions of the Crown. He does this in open defiance of one of the strongest powers in the world, stronger at this moment than at any -fanner period of its history, forewarned and forearmed, and completely prepared, with the unanimous support and approval of the nation, to suppress by stern force the first essay at insurrection. His sole resource in this adventure lies in a conspiracy which has already been detected, revealed, and punished, and the leaders of which, with the exception- of himself, are jn prison or exile. He, discovered, and ' he confessed, that even : on his own desperate estimate there was no chance for an Irish rebellion at this, time L-vstye^r, and, therefore, though he was ; {tlferi in the country and in cominunicatibh .with his chief accomplices, he thought- it best to '•■ retire to America and leave Ireland to itself, while he inquired what could be done for the causQ ;6ri;the :6ther sidebf the Atlantic.- ' His' inquiries taught liiin that nothing could: be done. He found the American split into, factions with only one sentiment in common, and. that was hatred or .jealousy, of himself. They, denounced him publicly, as a spy, . derided his proposal of invading Ireland, and organised their 'own" plan for appropriating Canada: All this Mr James Stephens not only discovered, but ac-; knowledged ; for it is one of the strangest features of this. wild conspiracy that all , the .conspirators : make public statements

of their 'views, designs, and calculations. Nevertheless, this "Head Centre of the Fenian Brotherhood," or, as He now prefers to be stjded, " Central Organizer of the Irish Republic," Has probably set sail from America, without any of the aid which ho owed to be indispensable and which he went to seek, for the resumption' of an enterprise which was never anything but a chimerical dream, and which He Himself at last discerned to be an impossibility even when the facts were not so evident to Him as they must be now. For an explanation' of .such folly we can only turn, and we shall not turn quite in vain, to the speeches which lie delivered to large, though not sympathising, audiences in the United States during His twelve months stay there. No sooner did he arrive in New York than He called a meeting, at which He told almost the whole story of his escape from Dublin, omitting only the immediate incidents of His prison-breaking. Then he related at great 'length, and with elaborate circumstauces, his proceedings in the origination and development of Feniauism from the year 185S to the present time, coining down even to the establishment and sup-in-ession of lii 3 newspaper by tlie Irish Government. On another occasionjie reviewed the course taken, by Feniauism in America, deplored the division of the Brotherhood, and stated what, in his opinion, it was necessary to do, if the objects of the conspiracy were -to be promoted at all. In short, except that he did not publish; the. names of his asso-ciates,;-or toll where their rifle 3 were hidden, He made no secret of His doings, Hopes, and disappointments during the twelve months ])revious. .Finally, after lie had sounded American opinion to His heart's content, though not much to his satisfaction,- He calmly said, with considerable resolution, though without any confidence, that ho should go back again to Ireland for the. last stake. .He.'evenstated the time . of His departure, and there.is reason to believe that He punctually kept it. ' If we must now give the apparent explanation of tins conduct, it is this— that Stephens was resolved tv do something, and saw nothing else to be done. Amid all His unreason, he Had reason enough to convince him that his project could not be kept alive without some practical adventure, and he could' -.not -prevail upon Himself te see it die. Over and over again he repeated His warning that if a blow was not struck in Ireland before tlie end of the present year it could never be struck at all. The Opposition Fenians were exactly in the same predicament, only with this advantage, that, they Had proposed to attack not Ireland but Canada —a country more easily reached. That attempt, however, they did make, and then Stephens, unless He chose to be convicted of imposture, had to make His. It was a good deal more desperate, but, with the alternative before Him, He did not iiinch from it. His lanj guage in announcing his determination was sorrowful and almost despairing, but it was that or nothing, and His .habits of mind as well as his past experience probably gave him some hopes of escape, though not of success. In His dark ways of mystery and/ scheming : He Had lost the uso"6f His p?>iiticareyes. He ! counted His followers on His paper returns, ! reckoned up the A's and the Bs and the C's, calculated the number of pikes manufactured and the cases of rifles successfullysmuggled in. All this gave Him goodiiumerical results, and against the numbers of the Brotherhood nominally enrolled He balanced, thosa "of the British, garrisons. Of course the difference in ■ His favor was very gratifying, but of the difference' in substantial strength he took no Heed; He left entirely out of consideration the irresistible might of , an organised government acting against a mere multitude of men. He thought that his squads of shop-boys, drilled to <• form fours"- by moonlight, were diciplined soldiers ; and if they Had no officers they would get spine from America, and take to them naturally when presented to them for the first time ; and that, as to arms, they could be either bought or seized in good time. How much all this fell short of the reality of an army it never entered His Head to reflect. He once recapitulated with great, though perhaps not conscious, exaggeration his resources and His wants, and declared that a few thousand pounds would enable him to put in the field at 24 Hours' notice an. " army," we forget how strong. The ludicrous contrast between his demands and His project did not seem to strike Him, nor, for that^ matter, his audience. They were used to such talk ; biit still, small as was the amount asked, they would not give it. They took up with the other party, and subscribed for tlie conquest of Canada; though, as Stephens told them they might as well think of reaching Ireland through Japan. With all this, however, Mr James Stephens: would" have 7 thought better of His resolution but for a confidence in the personal impunity which his adroitness would secure him. And.for this,presumption He certainly Has- soniewhat greater warrant. . He has;/been engaged in revolutionaiy conspiracies for the last twenty years, and this long experience Has enabled Him to.' cultivate a strong- natural .talent for disguise, personation, and expedients. THe^e gifts, wlncli He may be really held to possess in a surprising degree, he brings to a country where • far slighter proficiency Has; often sufficed for similar purposes. In Ireland it is a coinmpn thing for somebody to be evading the law, and either terror, or. instinct, or both, put foTir-fiftHs of the population on the side of the fugitive. So Mr Step Kens, who eluded;the police at the first cast of the legal net, who,. thpugH captured after-' wards, walked quietly out of prison: and who actually got from Ireland to America as safely as. any ordinery: passehger, may persuade himself that if; the worst conies to.the worst He can retire oiice more with a good, reputation, upon the whole, enhanced by his adventure. He; probably does not, even in His own judgment, stand to win much, but neither does He expect to lose. His bold assertion that : "he. would be fighting British troops in Ireland before the year was out" may not be exactly verified, but it ivould be something; at any i rate, to come andgoin the face; of: such risks; ; That is, perhaps the History of the affair, but the Government ; cannot -be^pp watchfully on their guard ;6r too^careful in.tHeir pieparatiohs. /