GERMAN SOCIETIES

GERMAN SOCIETIES


  The Mosel Club.-In 1737 there was a carpenter named Vogt, living at Weimar, who, beinganative of Traubach, on the Mosel, was, according to the custom of craftsmen, called "the Moseler." He established a tavern, which was largely patronised by students, who, in time, formed a club, which called itself the Mosel Club, and in 1762 became a secret political club, whose object was to raise Prussia to the ruling power of Germany, to effect which the members even pledged themselves to send Frederick II., who was a Freemason, armed assistance. In1771 a more secret league was formed within the Mosel Club, consisting chiefly of Alsatians and Badois, and calling itself the "Order of Friendship." None was received into it who was not a member of the Mosel Club. The sign was a peculiar pressure of the hand, and touching the face. The members wore a cross attached to a yellow ribbon. After the year 1783 the candidate had to swear fidelity to the Order over four swords, laid crosswise on a table, on which four candles were burning. The words were: "If I become unfaithful to my oath, my brethren shall be justified to use these swords against me." Lodges were established at Jena, Giessen, Erfurt, Gottingen, Marburg, and Erlangen. The students defied the statutes of the universities, which in 1779led to a judicial inquiry and the abolition of the Order, which, however, was quickly re-formed under the new name of the "Black Order"; at Halle it assumed that of the "Unionists." But in the course of a few years the Order became extinct. Still Germany continued till the middle of this century to be a hotbed of secret societies, in which the students of its many universities were the chief actors. Between the years 1819 and 1842 such associations were especially numerous ; legal investigations on the part. of the different governments proved in the latter year the existence of thirty-two of them. How much the members of such societies loved the rulers "restored " to them, appears from the fact that "Young Germany" amused itself on the king's (of Prussia) birthday with shooting at his portrait. Their statutes were very severe against treason, or even mere indiscretion. A Dr. Breidenstein wrote to Mazzini in June 1834 that one Strohmayer, a member of the society, had been sentenced to death, not that he was a traitor, but his indiscretion was to be feared. Sixteen months after, on the morning of 4th November 1835, a milkman found the body of the student Louis Lessing, pierced with forty-nine dagger wounds, in the lonely Sihl valley, near Zurich. Though the legal investigation did not positively prove it, yet it was the general opinion that Lessing had acted as spy on the "German Youth" society, and been sentenced to death by them.

  Still, what those obscure students aimed at is now an accomplished fact; and the prediction of Carl Julius Weber in his "Democritos" (published in 1832), that Prussia, united with the smaller German states, would be the dictator of Europe, a reality. But a sad reality for Europe, since it has
" Thrust back this age of sound industriousness To that of military savageness ! "

  Yes, Germany seems to be retrograding to the days of Hildebrand ; for has not Bismarck gone to Canossa, in spite of his assertion he would not do so? and has not the mighty emperor-king knelt to the Pope ?

  German Feeling against Napoleon.-Napoleon, whilst he could in Germany form a court composed 'of kings and princes obedient to his slightest nod, also found implacable and incorruptible individualities, who swore undying hatred to him who ruled half the world. Still, those who opposed the French emperor had no determined plan, and were misled by fallacious hopes; and the leaders, always clever in taking advantage of the popular forces, threw the more daring ones in front like a vanguard, whose destruction is predetermined, in order to fill up the chasm that separates the main body from victory.

   Formation and Scope of Tugendbund.-Two of the men who were the first, or amongst the first, to meditate the downfall of the conqueror before whom all German governments had fallen prostrate, were Count Stadion, the soul of Austrian politics, and Baron Stein,' a native of Nassau, who possessed great influence at the Prussian Court. The latter, devoted to monarchical institutions, but also to the independence of his country, groaned when he saw the Prussian Government degraded in the eyes of Europe, and undertook to avenge its humiliation by founding in 1812 the secret society of the "Union of Virtue"(Tugendbund), whose first domiciles were at Konigsberg and Breslau. Napoleon's police discovered the plot; and Prussia, to satisfy France, had zto banish Stein and two other noblemen, the Prince de Wittgenstein and Count Hardenberg, who had joined him in it. But the Union was not dissolved; it only concealed itself more strictly than before in the masonic brotherhood. During Stein's banishment, also, the cause was taken up by Jahn, Professor at the Berlin College, who, knowing the beneficial influence of bodily exercise, in 1811 founded a gymnasium, the first of the kind in Germany, which was frequented by the flower of the youth of Berlin, and' the members of which were known as Turner,an appellation which is now familiar even to Englishmen. TheseTurnerseemed naturally called upon to enter into the Union of Virtue; and Jahn thought the moment fast approaching when the rising against the oppressor was to take place. Among his coadjutors were the poet Arndt; the enthusiastic Schill, who with 400 hussars expected in 1809 to rouse Westphalia and overthrow Jerome Bonaparte; Doremberg, the La Rochejaquelein of Germany, and several others. Stein, in the meanwhile, continued at the court' of St. Petersburg the work on account of which he had been exiled. The Russian Court made much of Stein, as. a man who might be useful on certain occasions. He was, especially protected by the mother of the emperor, in whom he had enkindled the same hatred he himself entertained against France. He kept up his friendship with the Berlin patricians, and had his agents in the court of Prussia, who procured him and Jahn adherents of note, such as General Blucher.

  Still there was at the Prussian Court a party opposed to theTugendbund,whose chiefs were General Bulow and Schuckmann, who preferred peace to the dignity of their country, and possibly to royal and serene drill-sergeantswho, though no friends to Napoleon, were indifferent to the 'public welfare. A party quite favourable to the Union of Virtue was that headed by Baron Nostitz, who formed the society of the "Knights of the Queen of Prussia," to defend and avenge that princess, who considered herself to have been calumniated by Napoleon. This party was anxious to wipe away the disgrace of the battle of Jena, so injurious to the fate, and still more to the honour, of Prussia; and therefore it naturally made common cause with the Tugendbund, which aimed at the same object, the expulsion of the French.

  Divisions among Members of Tugendbund.-Thebases of the organisation of the Tugendbund had been laid in 1807 at the assembly at Konigsberg, where some of the most noted patriots were present-Stein, Stadion, Blucher, Jahn. The association deliberated on the means of reviving the energy and courage of the people, arranging the insurrectionary scheme, and succouring the citizens injured by foreign occupation. Still there was not sufficient unanimity in the counsels of the association, and an Austrian party began to be formed, which proposed the re-establishment of the German Empire, with the Archduke Charles at its head; but the opposition to this scheme came from the side from which it was least to be expected, from the Archduke himself. Some proposed a northern and a southern state; but the many small courts and provincial interests strongly opposed this proposal. Others wanted a republic, which, however, met with very little favour.

   Activity of the Tugendbund.-One of the first acts of the Union of Virtue was to send auxiliary corps to assist the Russians in the campaign of 1813 . Prussia having, by the course of events, been compelled to abandon its temporising policy, Greisenau, Scharnhorst, and Grollmann embraced the military plan of the Tugendbund. A levyen massewas ordered. The conduct of these patriots is matter of history. But, like other nations, they fought against Napoleon to impose on their country a more tyrannical government than that of the foreigner had ever been. They fought as men only fight for a great cause, and those who died fancied they saw the dawn of German freedom. But those who survived saw how much they were deceived. The Tugendbund,betrayed in its expectations, was dissolved; but its members increased the ranks of other societies already existing, or about to be formed. The" Black Knights," founded in 1815, and so called because they wore black clothes, said to be the old German costume, headed by Jahn, continued to exist after the war, as did "The Knights of the Queen of Prussia." Dr. Lang placed himself at the head of the "Concordists," a sect founded in imitation of similar societies already existing in the German universities. A more important association was that of the "German Union"(DeutscherBund),founded in 1810,whose object was the promotion of representative institutions in the various German states, which Union comprised within itself the more secret one of the " Unconditionals " (Die Unbedingten), whose object was the promotion of Liberal ideas, even without the concurrence of the nation. The Westphalian Government was the first to discover the existence of this society. Its seal was a lion reposing beside the tree of liberty, surmounted by the Phrygian cap. All these societies were in correspondence with each other, and peacefully divided the territory among themselves; whilst the German Union, true to its name, knew no other limits than those of the German confederation. Dr. Jahn was active in Prussia, Dr. Lang in the north, and Baron Nostitz in the south. This latter, by means of a famous actress of Prague, Madame Brode, won over a Hessian prince, who did not disdain the office of grand master.

   Hostility of Governments against Tugendbund.-After the downfall of Napoleon the German Government, though not venturing openly to attack the Tugendbund, yet sought to suppress it. They assailed it in pamphlets written by men secretly in the pay of Prussia . One of these, Councillor Schmalz, so libelled it as to draw forth indignant replies from Niebuhr and Schleiermacher. What the Germans could least forgive was the scurrilous manner in which Schmal had calumniated Arndt, the "holy." Schmalz had to fight several duels, and even the favour of the Court of Prussia could not protect him from personal outrages. The king then thought it fit to interfere. He published an ordinance, in which he commanded the dispute to cease; admitted that he had favoured the "literary" society known as the Tugendbund during the days when the country had need of its assistance, but declared that in times of peace secret societies could not be beneficial, but might do a great deal of harm, and therefore forbade their continuance. The action of the Government, however, did not suppress the secret societies, though it compelled them to change their names. The Tugendbund was revived, in 1818, in the Burschenschaft,or associations of students of the universities, where they introduced gymnastics and martial exercises. These associations had been projected as early as the year i8io, as appears from Jahn's papers. Their central committee was in Prussia; and sub-committees existed at Halle, Leipzig, Jena, GOttingen, Erlangen, Wiirzburg, Heidelberg, Tiibingen, and Freiburg. Germany was divided into ten circles, and there were two kinds of assemblies, preparatory and secret. This secret section was that of the Black Knights, mentioned in the preceding paragraph. The liberation and independence of Germany-so, Waterloo had not effected these objects ?-was the subject discussed in the latter; and Russia being considered as the greatest opponent of their patriotic aspirations, the members directed their operations especially against Russian influences. It was the hatred against Russia that put the dagger into the hand of Charles Louis Sand, the student of Jena, who stabbed Kotzebue (9th March 1819), who had written against the German societies, of which there was a considerable number. This murder led to a stricter surveillance of the universities on the part of governments, and secret societies were rigorously prohibited under stern penalties; the Prussian Government, especially, being most severe, and prosecuting some of the most distinguished professors for their political opinions. The Burschenschaft was broken up, and its objects frustrated, to be revived in 1830; the insurrectionary attempt made by some of the students at Frankfort on the 3rd April 1833, the object of which was the overthrow of the despotic, in order to establish a constitutional, government, led to the prosecution of many members of theBurschenschaft,and to the suppression-at least nominally and apparently-of all their secret societies.



THE BABIS



  Bab, the Founder.-His name-for Bab is a title-was Ali Mohammed, and he is said to have been a Seyyid, or descendant of the family of the Prophet. He was born in 1810 at Shiraz, where his father was a merchant. Ali at first engaged in trade himself, but in 184o he began to preach his new doctrine, declaring himself to be the Bab,' i .e.' Door of Truth, the Mahdi. In 1843 he made the pilgrimage to Mecca, but on his return was arrested by order of the Shah, and from 1844 to 1849,kept in semicaptivity at Ispahan and Tauris, at which latter place he was sentenced to be shot. He was suspended by cords from the walls of the citadel, and a dozen soldiers were ordered to fire at him. When the smoke from their discharges was dispelled the Bab had disappeared-a cleverly-managed manceuvre to establish a miracle. But he was soon after reapprehended, and again condemned to death. The details of his execution are not known; it is reported that he was shot. His long captivity and mysterious death were favourable to the spreading of his doctrine, as also the fact that during his life he was subject to occasional fits of frenzy, and in the East-and sometimes in the West-a madman is considered to be inspired. And the Bab, like all prophets, did not disdain availing himself of mundane means to propagate his new doctrines; he was greatly assisted therein by the eloquence, combined with marvellous personal beauty, of Kurratu'l 'Ayn, a young lady of good family, who early embraced Babism, and suffered martyrdom for it (655). The Bab was examined as to his teaching in 1848by Nasreddin, then Crown Prince of Persia, afterwards Shah, and a number of Mullahs, the result of which inquiry was that he was sentenced to the bastinado, in consequence of which it is

1 Bab in Arabic and Chaldean means door, gate, or court; hence we have Babylon, the court of Bel; Babel-Mandeb, the gate of sorrow, probably so called on account of its dangerous navigation and rocky environs.


said herecanted and revoked all his claims; but as we have none but Mussulman historians-his enemies-to rely on, as the examination was held with closed doors, we may doubt this statement.

  Progress of Babism.-The Bab's teaching had not only theological, but also political aims. Persian rulers have always been conservative, but Babism was reformatory, and the common people readily embraced it, as it seemed favourable to the breaking down of the despotic powers exercised by provincial governors, by whom the country was fearfully oppressed. When, therefore, the Babis considered themselves strong enough they seized Mazanderan, about fourteen miles south-east of Barfurush; but the Shah's troops having cut off all supplies, they had to surrender, and were all slain. This was in 1847. In 1848, on the accession of the late Shah a thousand Babis rose against him ; they, however, were defeated by Mehdi Kouli Mirza, uncle of the new Shah, and the three hundred survivors who surrendered cruelly slaughtered, though they had been promised their lives.

  Moulla Mol immed Ali, a Bab leader,- in 1849 converted seven thousand of the twelve thousand inhabitants of Zanjan, seized the town, and drove the governor from the citadel; eighteen thousand royal soldiers were sent against him, and more than eight thousand of the combatants killed, and the surviving Babis had to surrender, and were put to death with horrible tortures. In 185o a follower of Bab, ambitious rather than fanatical, Sayid Yahya Darabi, preached Babism at Niriz, and gathered round him two thousand followers, with whose help he hoped to hold the town. But the Shah's troops attacked him; he was assassinated by being strangled with his own girdle; the starved-out Babis had to yield, and were all cruelly butchered. In 1852 some Babis attempted to murder the Shah; the inquiry following thereon proved that at Ispahan and in all the great towns of Persia there was a vast association of Babis and Loutis, whose object was the overthrow of the reigning dynasty. All convicted of Babism were seized, and executed openly or in secret ; terrible scenes were enacted by the Shah's orders in many towns of Persia during a reign of terror, which lasted nearly two years. The Shah's anger at the attempt, but especially his alarm, was so great, that to test the loyalty of his subjects he devised the "devilish scheme," as one writer calls it, of making all classes of society share in the revenge he took on the Babis. Thus the man who had fired the shot which wounded the king was killed by the farrashes-literally, the carpet-spreaders, but officially, the lictors of Eastern rulers.

  They first tortured him by the insertion of lighted candles in incisions made in his body. When the candles were burnt down to the flesh, the fire was for some time fed by that. In the end he was sawn in two. The Master of the Horse and the attendants of the royal stables showed their loyalty by nailing red-hot horse-shoes to the feet of the victim handed over to them, and finally 11 broke up his head and body with clubs and nails." Another Babi had his eyes plucked out by the artillerymen, and was then blown from a gun. Another Babi was killed by the merchants and shopkeepers of Teheran, every one of whom inflicted a wound on him until he died. Vamb4ry, in his "Wanderings and Experiences in Persia," mentions one Kasim of Niriz, who was shod with red-hot horse-shoes, had burning candles inserted in his body, all his teeth torn out, and was eventually killed by having his skull smashed in with a club. These are but a few specimens of the cruelties inflicted by order of the amiable gentleman who, on his visits to this country, was so loudly cheered by the assembled crowds. Among the victims of that persecution was Kurratu'l 'Ayn (the Consolation of Eyes), a beautiful and accomplished woman, who professed and preached Babism. The manner of her death is uncertain; some say she was burnt, others that she was strangled. Dr. Polak, who actually witnessed her execution, in his "Persia, the Land and Its Inhabitants," simply says, `  I was a witness to the execution of Kurratu'l 'Ayn, which was performed by the Minister of War and his adjutants; the beautiful woman underwent her slow death with superhuman fortitude." -He gives no details as to the manner of it. In spite of this persecution, or rather, in consequence of it, Babism spread with astonishing rapidity throughout Persia, even penetrating into India. Not only the lower classes, but persons of education and wealth have joined the sect. The only portion of the Persian population not affected by its doctrines appear to be the Nuseiriyeh and the Christians.

  Babi Doctrine.-It is contained in the Biyyan, the '~ Expositor," attributed to the Bab himself, and consisting of three parts written at different periods. It is to a great extent rhapsodical, frequently unintelligible. It abounds with mysticism, degenerate Platonism, beliefs borrowed from the Guebres, vestiges of Magism, and in many places displays the influence of a transformed Christianity and French philosophy of the last century, propagated as far as Persia through masonic lodges, though they were never tolerated in Persia. We shall see further on how one recently established came to grief. The Babi Koran inculcates, among other superstitions, the wearing of amulets, men in the form ofa star, women in that of a circle; the cornelian is particularly recommended to be put on the fingers of the dead, all which implies a return to Aramean Paganism. The book maintains the divinity of the Bab; he and his disciples are incarnations of superior powers; forty days after death they reappear in other forms. "God," says the Biyyan, "created the world by His Will; the Will was expressed in words, but words are composed of letters; letters, therefore, possess divine properties." In giving their numerical value to the letters forming the words expressing God, they always produce the same total, viz. 19. Hence the ecclesiastical system of the Babis; their colleges are always composed of 1g priests; the year is divided into 19 months, of 1g days each; the fast of the Ramadan lasts 19 instead of 3odays. During his life Ali Mohammed chose eighteen disciples, called "Letters of the Living," who, together with himself, the "Point" (the Point of Revelation, or "First Point," from which all are created, and unto which all return), constituted the sacred hierarchy of nineteen, called the "First Unity." Now, Mirza Yahya held the fourth place in this hierarchy, and on the death of the " Point," which occurred, as already stated, in 1849, and the first two "Letters," rose to be chief of the sect; but Beha, whose proper name is Mirza Huseyn Ali of Nur, was also included in this unity, and he asserted that he was the one by whom God shall, as Bab had prophesied, make His final revelation; for, be it observed, the Babi Koran, which at present consists of eleven parts only, shall, when complete, contain nineteen, and when that revelation is made, Babism will be finished, and with it will come the end of this present world; for, according to the belief of his followers, the Bab was the forerunner of Saheb-ez-Zeman, the Lord of Ages, who resides in the air, and will not be seen till the day of resurrection. 1 In consequence of the claim of Beba the sect was split up into two divisions, the Behais and the followers of Mirza Yahya Subh-i-Ezel (the Morning of Eternity), and after him called Ezelis. The majority of the sect are Behais, and the exiled chief Yahya lives at Famagusta,

1 find this mentioned by one writer only, Professor de Filippi, in his "Viaggio in Persia nel1862,"published in the Italian periodicalPoliteenico, vol. xxii. P. 252,where there is a lengthy account of the Babis.


  in Cyprus, where Mr. Browne, the translator of the work "A Traveller's Narrative," visited him in i89o, as he also visited Beha, at Acre, shortly after. The Babis are so far in advance of their Eastern brethren that they wish to raise the status of woman, maintaining that she is entitled tok the same civil rights as man; and one of their first endeavours to attain that end is that of abolishing the veil. Various charges, as against all new sects, are made against them ; they are accused of being communists, of allowing nine husbands to a woman, of drinking wine, and of other unlawful practices; but proofs are wanting. It is said that they have special modes of salutation, and wear a ring of peculiar form, by which they recognise one another. They arrange their hair in a characteristic manner, and, as a rule, are clothed in white, all which practices, on the part of people who have to conceal their opinions, appears very strange to outsiders. The Bab forbade the use of tobacco, but the prohibition was withdrawn by Beha. Though only half a century old, the sect already possesses a mass of controversial writings on points of faith-for in all ages men have disputed most on what they understood least. The Babis may yet become a great power in the East; in the meantime they afford us an excellent opportunity of watching within our own day the genesis and development of a new religious creed, in which vast power and authority is conferred on the priests, greatly overshadowing that of the king himself, unless he is a member of the sect, which, in fact, if the creed becomes paramount, he must be to preserve his dignity; for, according to the teaching of the founder, he who is not a Babi has no right to any possession, has no, civil status. To enhance the influence of the priests, divie service is to be performed with the utmost pomp; the temples are to be adorned with the costliest productions of nature and art.

  But it is certain the doctrines of the Babis suit neither the Sunnites nor the Shiites,' the latter of whom are the dominant religious party in Persia, and who particularly objected, to the Bab's claim of being the promised Mahdi, whose advent was to be ushered in by prodigious signs, which, however, were not witnessed in the Bab's case. The latter also was opposed by the new Sheykhi school. Early


1 According to the doctrine of the Sunnites, the Imamate, or viceregency of the prophet, is a matter to be determined by the choice and election of his followers; according to the Shiites, it is a matter altogether spiritual, having nothing to do with popular choice or approval


  in this century Sheykh Ahmad of Ahsa preached anew doctrine, considered heterodox by true believers; still he found many adherents, and on his death, about the year 1827, was succeeded by his disciple Haji Seyyid Kazim of Resht. He died in 1844, prophesying the coming of one greater than himself. . Then Mirza Ali Mahammad, who came in contact with some disciples of the deceased Seyyid Kazim, saw his opportunity, and proclaimed himself the Bab ; the old Sheykhi party strongly supported him. But some of the followers of Seyyid Kazim did not accept the new prophet, and became, as the new Sheykhi party, hid most violent persecutors. The Bab consequently called the leader of the latter party the "Quintessence of Hell-fire," whilst he, in his turn, wrote a treatise against the Bab, entitled, "The Crushing of Falsehood." From such mutual courtesies the transition to mutual recrimination and accusation of objectionable teaching and practice is easy, and consequently quite usual, and therefore not to be too readily believed.

  Recent History of Babism.-Thefearful reprisals the late Shah in 1852 took on the sect of the Babis, whatever may be thought of their moral aspect, appear to have had the desired political effect. From that day till the recent assassination of the Shah, the outcome of old grievances, and of an uncalled-for renewal of a fierce persecution, they have committed no overt act of hostility against the Persian Government or people, though their number and strength are now double what they were in 1852. But this has not softened the feeling of the Shah or of the Mullahs against them. This was clearly shown in 1863. In that year a Persian who had travelled in Europe suggested to the Shah the establishment of a masonic lodge, with himself as the grand master, whereby he would have a moral guarantee of the fidelity of his subjects, since all persons of importance and influence would no doubt become members, and masonic oaths cannot be broken. The Shah granted permission, without, however, being initiated himself; a lodge, called the Feramoush-Khanek, the"House of Oblivion "-since on leaving the lodge the member was supposed to forget all he had seen in it-was speedily opened, and the Shah urged all his courtiers to join it. He then questioned them as to what they had seen in it, but their answers were unsatisfactory; they had listened to some moral discourse, drunk tea, and smoked. The Shah could not understand that the terrible mysteries of Freemasonry, of which he bad heard so much, could amount to no more than this; he therefore surmised that a great deal was withheld from him, and became dissatisfied. This dissatisfaction was taken advantage of by some of his friends who disliked the innovation, and they suggested to him that the lodge was probably the home of the grossest debauchery, and, finally, that it was a meetingplace of Babis. Debauchery the Shah might have winked at, but Babism could not be tolerated. The lodge was immediately ordered to be closed, and the author of its establishment banished from Persia. In quite recent times the Babis have undergone grievous persecutions. In 1888 Seyyid Hasan and Seyyid Huseyn were put to death by order of the then Shah's eldest son, Prince Zillu's Sultan, for refusing to abjure Babism.

  When dead their bodies were dragged by the feet through the street and bazaars of Ispahan, and cast out of the gate beyond the city walls. In the month of October of the same year Aga Mirza Ashraf of Abade was murdered for his religion, and the Mullas mutilated the poor body in the most savage manner. Ini89othe Babi inhabitants of a district called Seh-deh were attacked by a mob, and seven or eight of them killed, and their bodies burnt with oil. But it appears that on various occasions the Shah restrained the fanaticism of would-be persecutors of the Babis; it did not, however, save him from the vengeance sworn against him by the sect for former persecutions. On the 1 st May 1896 Nasreddin Shah, the Defender of the Faith, was shot in the mosque of Shah Abdul Azim, near Teheran, and died immediately after he was brought back to the city. The assassin, who was at once arrested, was Mirza Mahomed Reza of Kirman, a follower of Jemal-ed-din, who was exiled for an attempt at dethroning the Shah in 1891. After Jemal's departure Mahomed Reza was imprisoned; after some time he was set free, but continuing to speak against the Persian Government, he was again imprisoned, but some time after obtained his release, and even a pension from the Shah. He confessed that he was chosen to kill the Shah, and that he bought a revolver for the purpose, but had to wait two months for a favourable opportunity. His execution, some months after the deed-has it inspired the Babis with sufficient dread to deter them from similar attempts in the future?




IRISH SOCIETIES


  The White-Boys .-Ireland, helpless against misery and superstition, misled by hatred against her conquerors, the rulers of England, formed sects to fight not so much the evil, as the supposed authors of the evil. The first secret society of Ireland, recorded in public documents, dates from 1761, in which year the situation of the peasants, always bad, had become unbearable. They were deprived of the right of free pasture, and the proprietors, in seven cases out of nine not Irish landlords, but Englishmen by blood and sympathy, began to enclose the commons. Fiscal oppression also became very great. Reduced to despair, the conspirators had recourse to reprisals, and to make these with more security, formed the secret society of the "White-Boys," so called, because in the hope of disguising themselves, they wore over their clothes a white shirt, like the Camisards of the Cevennes. They also called themselves "Levellers," because their object was to level to the ground the fences of the detested enclosures. In November 1761 they spread through Munster, committing all kinds of excesses during the next four-and-twenty years.

  Right-Boys and Oak-Boys.-In 1787 the above society disappeared to make room for the "Right-Boys," who by legal means aimed at obtaining the reduction of imposts, higher wages, the abolition of degrading personal services, and the erection of a Roman Catholic church for every Protestant church in the island. Though the society ways guilty of some reprehensible acts against Protestant pastors, it yet, as a rule, remained within the limits of legal opposition. The vicious administration introduced into Ireland after the rising of 1788, the burden of which was chiefly felt by the Roman Catholics, could not but prove injurious to the Protestants also. The inhabitants, whether Catholic or Protestant, were subject to objectionable personal service-hence petitions rejected by the haughty rulers, tumults quenched in blood, whole populations conquered by fear, but not subdued, and ready to break forth into insurrection when it was least expected. Therefore the Protestants also formed societies for their security, taking for their emblem the oakleaf, whence they were known as the °° Oak-Boys." Their chief object was to lessen the power and imposts of the clergy. Established in 1764, the society made rapid progress, especially in the province of Ulster, where it had been founded. Unable to obtain legally what it aimed at, it had recourse to arms, but was defeated by the royal troops of England, and dissolved.

   Hearts-of-Steel, Threshers, Break-of-Day-Boys, Defenders, United Irishmen, Ribbonmen.-Manytenants of the Marquis of Donegal having about eight years after been ejected from their farms, because the marquis, wanting to raise £100,000, let their holdings to Belfast merchants, they, the tenants, formed themselves into a society called 11Hearts-ofSteel," thereby to indicate the perseverance with which they intended to pursue their revenge against those who had succeeded them on the land, by murdering them, burning their farms, and destroying their harvests. They were not suppressed till 1773, when thousands of the affiliated fled to America, where they entered the ranks of the revolted colonists. The legislative union of Ireland with England in 1800 did not at first benefit the former country much. New secret societies were formed, the most important of which was that of the "Threshers," whose primary object was the reduction of the exorbitant dues claimed by the clergy of both persuasions, and sometimes their conduct showed both generous impulses and grim humour. Thus a priest in the county of Longford had charged a poor woman double fees for a christening, on account of there being twins. The Threshers soon paid him a visit, and compelled him to pay a sum of money, with which a cow was purchased, and sent home to the cabin of the poor woman. This was in 1807. Government called out the whole yeomanry force to oppose these societies, but without much success. Political and religious animosities were further sources of conspiracy.

  Two societies of almost the same nature were formed about 1785. The first was composed of Protestants, the "Breakof-Day-Boys," who at dawn committed all sorts of excesses against the wretched Roman Catholics, burning their huts, and destroying their agricultural implements and produce. The Roman Catholics in return formed themselves into a society of "Defenders," and from defence, -as was natural, proceeded to aggression. During the revolt of 1798 the Defenders combined with the"United Irishmen," who had initiated the movement. The United Irish were defeated, and their leader, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, having been betrayed by Francis Higgins, originally a pot-boy, and afterwards proprietor of the Freeman's Journal, was taken and condemned to death; but he died of his wounds before the time fixed for his execution. The society of the United Irish, however, was not dispersed. Its members still continued to hold secret meetings, and to reappear in the political arena under the denomination of '° Ribbonmen," so named because they recognised each other by certain ribbons. The Ribbonman's oath, which only became known in 1895, was as fzollows:-" In the presence of Almighty God and this my brother, I do swear that I will stiffer my right hand to be cut off my body and laid at the gaol door before I will waylay or betray a brother. That I will persevere, and will not spare from the cradle to the crutch or the crutch to the cradle, that I will not pity the groans or moans of infancy or old age, but that I will wade knee-deep in Orangemen's blood, and do as King James did."

  St. Patrick Boys.-These seem to have issued from the ranks of the Ribbonmen. Their statutes were discovered and published in 1833. Their oath was: "I swear to have my right hand cut off, or to be nailed to the door of the prison at Armagh, rather than deceive or betray a brother; to persevere in the cause to which I deliberately devote myself; to pardon neither sex nor age, should it be in the way of my vengeance against the Orangemen." The brethren recognised each other by dialogues. "Here is a fine day ! " "A finer one is to come."-" The road is very bad." "It shall be repaired."-" What with?" "With the bones of Protestants."-" What is your profession of faith?" "The discomfiture of the Philistines."-" How long is your stick?" "Long enough to reach my enemies." ,, To what trunk does the wood belong?" "To a French trunk that blooms in America, and whose leaves shall shelter the sons of Erin." Their aim was chiefly the redress of agrarian and social grievances.

  The Orangemen.-Thissociety, against which the St. Patrick Boys swore such terrible vengeance, was a Protestant society. Many farms, taken from Roman Catholics, having fallen into the hands of Protestants, these latter were, as we have seen (660), exposed to the attacks of the former. The Protestants in self-defence formed themselves into a society, taking the name of "Orangemen," to indicate their Protestant character and principles. Their first regular meeting was held on the 21st September 1795, at the obscure village of Loughgall, which was attended by deputies of, the Breakof-Day-Boys (660), and constituted into a grand lodge, authorised to found minor lodges. At first the society had only one degree: Orangeman. Afterwards, in 1796, the Purple degree was added; after that, the Mark Man's degree and the Heroine of Jericho (see 701) were added, but eventually discarded. The oath varied but little from that of the entered Apprentice Mason, for Thomas Wilson, the founder of the Order, was a Freemason. The password was Migdol (the name, of the place where the Israelites encamped before they passed through the Red Sea-Exod. xiv. 2)'; the main password was Shibboleth. The pass sign was made by lifting the hat with the right hand, three fingers on the brim, then putting the three fingers on the crown, and pressing the hat down; then darting off the hand to the front, with the thumb and little finger together.

  This sign having been discovered, it was changed to exhibiting the right hand with three fingers on the thigh or knee, or marking the figure three with the finger on the knee. This was the half sign; the full sign was by placing the first three fingers of each hand upon the crown of the hat, raising the elbows as high as possible, and then dropping the hand perpendicularly by the side. This sign was said to be emblematical of the lintels and side-posts of the doors, on which the blood of the passover lamb was sprinkled. The distress word of a brother Orangeman was, "Who is on my side? who?"(2 Kings ix. 32). The grand hailing sign was made by standing with both hands resting on the hips. In the Purple degree the member was asked,"What is your number? "-"Two and a half." The grand main word was, "Red Walls" (the Red Sea). The password was Gideon, given in syllables. The society spread over the whole island, and also into England, and especially into the manufacturing districts. A grand lodge was established at Manchester, which was afterwards transferred to London, and its grand master wasnoless a person than the Duke of York. At the death of that prince, which occurred in 1821,the Duke of Cumberland, afterwards King of Hanover, succeeded himboth of them, men to have the interests of religion confided to them! In' 18 the Irish statutes, having been revised, were made public. The society bound its members over to defend the royal family, so long as it remained faithful to Protestant principles. In the former statutes there were obligations also to abjure the supremacy of the Court of Rome and the dogma of transubstantiation; and although in the modern statutes these were omitted, others of the same tendency were substituted, the society declaring that its object was the preservation of the religion established by law, the Protestant succession of the crown, and the protection of the lives and property of the affiliated. To concede something to the spirit of the age, it proclaimed itself theoretically the friend of religious toleration; but facts have shown this, as in most similar cases, to be a mere illusion. From England the, sect spread into Scotland, the Colonies, Upper and Lower Canada, where it reckoned 12,000 members; and into the army, with some fifty lodges. In the United States the society has latterly been showing its toleration ! Its political action is well known ; it endeavours to influence parliamentary elections, supporting the Whigs. The efforts of the British House of Commons to suppress it have hitherto been ineffectual.

  That the custom of indulging in disgraceful mummeries at the ceremony of initiation into this Order has not gone out of fashion, is proved by an action brought in January 1897, in the Middlesex (Massachusetts) Superior Court by one Frank Preble against the officers of a lodge, he having at his initiation been repeatedly struck, when blindfolded, with a rattan, hoisted on a step-ladder, and thrown into a sheet, from which he was several times tossed into the air. Afterwards a red-hot iron was brought to his breast, and he was severely burnt. The jury disagreed, but the outside world will not disagree as to the character of such proceedings. Other Irish societies, having for their chief object the redress of agrarian and religious grievances, were the "Corders," in East and West Meath; the "Shanavests" and"Caravats" in Tipperary, Kilkenny, Cork, and Limerick; the Whitefeet and Blackfeet, and others, which need not be more fully particularised.

   Molly Maguires.-ThisIrish sect was the successor of the White-Boys, the Hearts of Oak, and other societies, and carried on its operations chiefly in the West of Ireland. It afterwards spread to America, where it committed great outrages, especially in the Far West. Thus in 1870 the Molly Maguires became very formidable in Utah, where no Englishman was safe from their murderous attacks, and the officers of the law were unable, or unwilling, to bring the criminals to justice. This led to the formation of a counter society, consisting of Englishmen, who united themselves into the Order of the Sons of St . George, who were so successful as to cause many of the murderers to be apprehended and executed, and ultimately the Molly Maguires were totally suppressed. The Order of St. George,'however, continued to exist, and still exists, as a flourishing benefit society; it has lodges in Salt Lake City, Ogden, and other towns in Utah. The name of Molly Maguires was afterwards adopted by a secret society of miners in the Pennsylvanian anthracite districts; with the name of their Irish prototypes they assumed their habits, the consequence of which was that in 1890 ten or twelve members of the society were hanged, and the society was entirely broken up.

  Ancient Order of Hibernians.-This Order is widely diffused throughout the United States, where it numbers about 6000 lodges. It is divided into two degrees, in the first of which, counting most members, no oath is exacted, and no secrets are communicated. But the second consists of the initiated, bound together by terrible oaths, and who receive their passwords from a central committee, called the Board of Erin, who meet either in England, Scotland, or Ireland, and every three months send emissaries to New York with a new password. Their avowed object is the protection of Irishmen in America-they receive only Roman Catholics into the society-but they are accused of having given great encouragement and assistance to the Molly Maguires, above spoken of, and also of having greatly swelled the ranks of the Fenians. The bulk, however, of the Hibernians ignore the criminal objects of their chiefs ; hence the toleration they enjoy in the, States, a toleration they undoubtedly deserve, for they have recently (November 1896) nobly distinguished themselves by providing £10,000 for the endowment of a chair of Celtic in the Roman Catholic University of New York.

   Origin and Organisation of Fenianism.-The founders of Fenianism were two of the Irish exiles of 1848, Coloxiel John O'Mahoney and Michael Doheny, the latter one of the most talented and dangerous members of the Young Ireland party, and a fervent admirer of John Mitchel. O'Mahoney belonged to one of the oldest families in Munster, but becoming implicated in Smith O'Brien's machinations and failure, he made his escape to France, and thence to America, where, in conjunction with Doheny and General Corcoran, he set the Fenian Brotherhood afloat. It was at first a semi-, secret association; its meetings were secret, and though its chief officers were publicly known as such, the operations of the Brotherhood were hidden from the public view. It rapidly increased in numbers, spreading through every State of the American Union, through Canada, and the British provinces. But in November 1863 the Fenian organisation assumed a new character . A grand national convention of delegates met at Chicago, and avowed the object of the Brotherhood, namely, the separation of Ireland from England, and the establishment of an Irish republic, the same changes being first to be effected in Canada. Another grand convention was held in 1864 at Cincinnati, the delegates at which represented some 250,000 members, each of which members was called upon for a contribution of five dollars, and this call, it is said, was promptly responded to. Indeed, the reader will presently see that the leaders of the movement were never short of money, whatever the dupes were.

  One of the resolutions passed at Cincinnati was that "the next convention should be held on Irish soil." About the same time a Fenian Sisterhood was established, and the ladies were not inactive; for in two months from their associating they returned upwards of £200,000 sterling to the Fenian exchequer for the purpose of purchasing arms and other war material. At that period the Fenians confidently relied on the assistance of the American Government.

  The New York press rather favoured this notion. In Ireland the Brotherhood never attained to the dimensions it reached in the United States, and without the assistance of the latter could do nothing. Still the Irish, as well as the American Fenian, association had its chiefs, officers, both civil and military, its common fund and financial agencies, its secret oaths, passwords, and emblems, its laws and penalties, its concealed stores of arms, its nightly drills, its correspondents and agents, its journals, and even its popular songs and ballads. But traitors soon set to work to destroy the organisation from within. Thus the Head Centre O'Mahoney, who was in•receipt of an official salary of 2000 dollars, is thus spoken  of in the Official Report of the Investigating Committee of the Fenian Brotherhood of America (1866) :-

“ After a careful examination of the affairs of the Brotherhood, your Committee finds in almost every instance the cause of Ireland made subservient to individual gain ; men who were lauded as patriots sought every opportunity to plunder the treasury of the Brotherhood, but legalised their attacks by securing the endorsement of John O'Mahoney.

  . . . In John O'Mahoney's integrity the confidence of the Brotherhood was boundless, and the betrayal of that confidence, whether through incapacity or premeditation, is not a question for usto determine. . . . Sufficient that he has proved recreant to the trust. . . . Never in the history of the Irish people did they repose so much confidence in their leaders; never before were they so basely deceived and treacherously dealt with. In fact, the Moffat mansion (the headquarters of the American Fenians) was not only an almshouse for pauper officials and hungry adventurers, but a general telegraph office for the Canadian authorities and Sir Frederick Bruce, the British Minister at Washington. These paid patriots and professional martyrs, not satisfied with emptying our treasury, connived at posting the English authorities in advance of our movements."

  From this report it further appears that in 1866 there was in the Fenian treasury in the States a sum of 185,000 dollars; that the expenses of the Moffat mansion and the parasites who flocked thither in three months amounted to 104,000 dollars; and that Stephens, the Irish Head ,Centre, in the same space of time received from America, in money sent to Paris, the sum of upwards of 106,000 dollars, though John O'Mahoney in many of his letters expressed the greatest mistrust of Stephens . He no doubt looked upon the latter as the more clever and daring rogue, who materially diminished his own share of the spoil. Stephens's career in Ireland is sufficiently well known, and there is scarcely any doubt that whilst he was leading his miserable associates to their ruin, he acted as spy upon them, and that there existed some understanding between him and the English authorities.

  How else can we explain his living for nearly two months in the neighbourhood of Dublin, in a house magnificently furnished, whilst he took no precautions to conceal himself, and yet escaped the vigilance of the police for so long a time ? His conduct when at last apprehended, his bravado in the police court and final escape from prison, his traversing the streets of Dublin, sailing for Scotland, travelling through London to France without once being molested-all point to the same conclusion. The only other person of note among the Fenians was John Mitchel, who had been implicated in the troubles of 1848,was transported, escaped, and made his way to the United States. During the civil war which raged in that country he was a supporter of the Southern cause, was taken prisoner by the North, but liberated by the President at the request of the Fenians in America.

  The Fenian agitation also spread into England. Meetings were held in various towns, especially at Liverpool, where men of considerable means were found to support the Fenian objects and organisations ; and on one occasion as much as £200 was collected in a few minutes in the room where a meeting was held. But disputes about the money thus collected were ever arising. The man who acted as treasurer to the Liverpool Centre, when accused of plundering his brethren, snapped his fingers at them, and declared that if they bothered him about the money he would give evidence against them and have the whole lot banged.

   Origin of Name.-Irishtradition says that the Fenians were an ancient militia employed on home service for protecting the coasts from invasion. Each of the four provinces had its band, that of Leinster, to which Fionn and his family belonged, being at the head of the others. This Fionn is the Fingal of MacPherson, and the leaders of the movement no doubt saw an advantage in connecting their party with the historical and traditionary glories of Ireland. . But the Fenians were not confined to Erin. The name was invented for the society by O'Mahoney, but the Irish never adopted it ; they called their association the Irish Republican Brotherhood, or briefly, the I. R. B. Fenianism was officially restricted to the American branch of the movement.

   Fenian Litany.-Fromthe Patriotic Litany of Saint Lawrence O'Toole, published for the use of the Fenian Brotherhood, the following extract may suffice :-44 Call to thine aid, 0 most liberty-loving O'Toole, those Christian auxiliaries of power and glory-the soul-inspiring cannon, the meek and faithful musket, the pious rifle, and the conscience-examining pike, which, tempered by a martyr's faith, a Fenian's hope, and a rebel's charity, will triumph over the devil, and restore to us our own in our own land for ever. Amen.
O'Toole, hear us.

From English civilisation,
Front British law and order,
From Anglo-Saxon cant and freedom,
From the hest of the English Queen,
O'Toole, deliver us!
From Rule Britannia,
From the cloven hoof,
From the necessity of annual rebellion,
From billeted soldiery,
From a pious church establishment,

Fenianism to be stamped out like the cattle plague! We will prove them false prophets, O'Toole.

Ireland reduced to obedience,
Ireland loyal to the crown, It is a
Ireland pacified with concessions, falsehood,
Ireland to recruit the British army, O'Toole.
Ireland not united in effort,

Ireland never again to be dragged at the tail of any other nation! Proclaim it on high, O'Toole.

  Events from 1865 to 1871.-In speaking of Stephens, it was mentioned that he was a spy on the Fenians, but he was not the only informer that betrayed his confederates to the English Government; which latter, in consequence of "information thus received," made its first descent on the Brotherhood in 1865, at the office of theIrish People, and captured some of the leading Fenians. Shortly after, it seized Stephens, who, however, was allowed to make his escape from Richmond Prison, where he had been confined, in'the night of November 24 of the above year. Further arrests took place in other parts of Ireland, and also at Liverpool, Manchester, and other English towns. The prisoners were indicted for treason-felony, and sentenced to various degrees of punishment. Various raids into Canada, and the attempt on Chester Castle, all ending in failure, next showed that Fenianism was still alive. But it was more prominently again brought before the public by the attack at Manchester, in September 1867, on the police van conveying two leaders of the Fenian conspiracy, Kelly and Deasey, to the city prison, who were enabled to make their escape, whilst Sergeant Brett was shot dead. by William O'Meara Allen, who was hanged for the deed. A still more atrocious and fatal Fenian attempt was that made on the Clerkenwell House of Detention, with a view of liberating two Fenian prisoners, Burke and Casey, when a great length of the outer wall of the prison was blown up by gunpowder, which also destroyed a whole row of houses opposite, killed several persons, and wounded and maimed a great number. On that occasion again Government had received information of the intended attempt by traitors in the camp, but strangely enough failed to take proper precautionary measures. On December 24, 1867, the Fenians made an attack on the Martello Tower at Fota, near Queenstown, Co. Cork, and carried off a quantity of arms and ammunition; and their latest exploit, in 1871, was another Canadian raid, when they crossed the border at Pembina, and seized the Canadian Custom-House and Hudson's Bay post. They were, however, attacked and dispersed by American troops, and General O'Neil was made prisoner.

  This raid, the object of which was to secure a base of action, and also to receive from the American Government a recognition of belligerency, was carried out totally independently of the new Irish Fenian confederation, of which O'Donovan Rossa was the moving spirit; and the Irish papers therefore pooh-poohed the account of thisfiasco altogether, or merely gave the telegrams, denying that the enterprise had any connection with Fenianism. About this time it seemed as if the Fenian Brotherhood was breaking up; O'Donovan Rossa retired from the "Directory" of the confederation, and went into the wine trade. The Fenians themselves denounced the notorious Stephens, who reappeared in America, as a "traitor" and government informer; and though the acquittal of Kelly for the murder of head-constable Talbot seemed to point toastrong sympathy surviving amongst the Irish people with Fenianism, the jury perhaps could give no other verdict than the one they arrived at, the prosecution having been altogether mismanaged by the Government.

   The Soi-disant General Cluseret.-Another personage had in the meantime become connected with the Fenians, a soi-disant General Cluseret, who had been a captain in the French army, but had been compelled to quit it in consequence of some irregularity in the regimental funds, of which Cluseret had kept the books and the cash. He afterwards served with Garibaldi in Sicily, and Fremont in the United States, after which he bestowed on himself the rank
of General. He came to Europe with the mission of reporting to the Fenians of New York on English arsenals, magazines, and ports of entry. In an article published by him in Fraserin 1872, entitled, "My Connection with Fenianism," he tells the world that he offered to command the Fenians if 10,000 men could be raised, but the money to do so was not forthcoming. He asserted that he had communications with the Reform League, whose members favoured his designs; but he, failed, as he says, because he had a knot of self-seekers and ignorant intriguers to deal with; "and traitors," he might have added, for it is certain that the intended attack on Chester Castle failed because the English Government had had early notice of the plot. A rising Cluseret attempted to head in Ireland came to grief, and the general speedily made his escape to France, where he became mixed up with the Commune (507). 670. Phoenix Park Murders, and Consequences.-Fenianism for a time was quiescent, but about 1880 the Land League was established, and byits agents, the "Moonlighters," entered on a course of outrages, chiefly against farmers for paying rent, which has not yet ceased, though their leader, D. Connell, and a number of his followers were apprehended early in 1882. This year was farther distinguished in the annals of crime by the murder of Lord F. Cavendish, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, and Mr. Thomas Burke, the Under-Secretary, in Phoenix Park, Dublin; but the assassins were not apprehended until January 1883, one of the guilty parties, James Carey, having turned informer. He received a pardon, and was sent out of the country, but shortly after shot by O'Donnell, who was executed for this murder. The law, of course, cannot sanction the slaying of an informer, but public sentiment says, "Served him right," especially in this case, as Carey was as deeply implicated in the Phoenix Park murders as any of the other criminals. The trial of these led to the disclosure of an organisation known as the "Irish Invincibles," whose chief was P. J. Tynan, who passed under the sobriquet of Number One, and which organisation was the instigator and executor of the Phoenix Park and of many other murders, including, for instance, the massacre of the Maamtrasna family.
 
  Dynamite Outrages.-Inthis year (1882) the Fenians began the use of dynamite; a large quantity of this material was discovered, together with a quantity of arms, concealed in a vault in the town of Cork ; later on the Fenians attempted the storing up of dynamite and arms in London and other English towns; a considerable number of rifles and large quantities of ammunition were seized in a house at Islington in July 1882; dynamite was sent to this country from America, but its introduction being difficult, the Fenians attempted to manufacture it here; a laboratory, stocked with large quantities of the raw and finished material, was discovered at Ladywood, near Birmingham, in April 1883. Still, the explosive and infernal machines continued to be smuggled into this country, and attempts were made to blow up public buildings in London and elsewhere, the attempts, however, doing, fortunately in most cases, but little harm. One of the most serious was the one made at Glasgow early in 1883 . In a manifesto issued in April 1884 by the Fenian brotherhood, signed by Patrick Joyce, secretary, the Fenians call this "inaugurating scientific warfare," and declare their intention to persevere until they have attained their object, the freedom of Ireland.

  In December 1884 an attempt to blow up London Bridge with dynamite had no other result but to blow up the two men who made the attempt; the chief instigators of all these attempts were two American organisations ; the first was that of O'Donovan Rossa, the second that of the association called the Clan-na-Gael. Rossa had agents in Cork, London, and Glasgow; but two of the most important, Fetherstone (whose real name is Kennedy) and Dalton, were apprehended, and sentenced to penal servitude for life. Since then the party of Rossa has been powerless. An unsuccessful attempt on O'Donovan Rossa's life was made early in 1885 by an English lady, a Mrs. Dudley. Within a fortnight after an advertisement appeared in O'Donovan's paper, offering a reward of ten thousand dollars for the body of the Prince of Wales, dead or alive. And yet, but a few months ago (1896), this would-be assassin, or instigator of assassination,, was permitted to walk about in England, in perfect freedom, and even to enter the Houses of Parliament! The Clan-na-Gael is a more serious affair; originally it was a purely patriotic scheme for the removal of British power over Ireland; it did not advocate the slaughter of innocent people by the indiscriminate use of dynamite. But eventually a certain violent faction obtained control, and gained possession of the large funds of the Clan, the bulk of which they absorbed for their own enrichment.

  Dr. Cronin, who could have proved this, was murdered. The branches of the Clau-na-Gael extend over the whole of the United States. Its heads are three in number Alexander Sullivan, of Chicago; General Michael Kerwin, of New York; and Colonel Michael Bolan'd, of the same city. Sullivan was a great friend of Patrick Egan, the treasurer of the Land League. One of the agents of the Clan-na-Gael was John Daly, who intended to blow up the House of Commons by throwing a dynamite bomb on the table of the House from the Strangers' Gallery. He was arrested at Chester in April 1884, and sentenced to penal servitude for life. The attempts on the House of Commons, and the explosions at the Tower and Victoria Railway Station, were also the work of the Clan-na-Gael, twenty-five members of which have been condemned to penal servitude, two-thirds of them for life. John S. Walsh, residing in Paris, and the Ford family in America, are also known as dangerous agents of the association.

  The dynamiters were not quite so active after the capture and conviction of so many of their party, but confined themselves- to occasional and comparatively insignificant attempts, but murder was rife in Ireland. These events, however, are now, thanks to the Report of the Judges of the Parnell Commission, so easily accessible to every reader, that they need not be specified here.

  The National League .-This isscarcely an association, though generally considered such. It is not an Irish production, but created in a foreign land, and directed by foreign agents, whose designs are unknown. The people have given their allegiance to it because of the large bribes it offered to their cupidity, and the fear it inspired. The secret societies give the League their assistance, without which it would be powerless. But the real heads who direct the operations of the rank and file keep carefully out of the way; but whilst the rank and file know they have nothing to fear from the people, who will not give them up, they know that any one of their own body may at any time betray them by turning informer. The Invincibles held their own for a long time, but once the police got hold of them, informers appeared in every direction. This shows, according to Ross-of- Bladensburg, in Murray's Magazine, December 1887, from which I quote, that the Irish have no real faith in their own cause; that they are not, like the Nihilists, honest patriots, prepared to suffer in a cause they consider just, but, a people led astray by a band of selfish agitators, whose machinations .are pleasantly exposed in the following passages, with which I will endeavour to give an enlivening finish to this necessarily dry account of the Fenian movement up to 1888.