By John Francis Maguire, 1868
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CHAPTER XXX.
Feeling of the Irish in America towards England--A Fatal Mistake--Not Scamps and Rowdies--Who they really are--Sympathy conquering Irritation--Indifference to Danger--Down in the Mine--One of the Causes of Anti-English Feeling--More of the Causes of Bad Feeling--What Grave and Quiet Men think--If they only could 'see their way'--A Grievance redressed is a Weapon broken--The Irish Element--Belief in England's Decay--War with England--Why most Injurious to England--Why loss Injurious to America--The only Possible Remedy
IT is a matter of more importance to understand what is the real feeling entertained by the Irish in America towards England, or the British Government, than to ascertain the nature or the details of any organisation to which that feeling may give rise. If the feeling be ephemeral or factitious, the organisation, however formidable its aspect, resembles a torrent caused by a summer storm, or a tree with wide branches yet having no hold in the soil. And, on the other hand, though an organisation may be ill-designed or even ridiculous, or, on account of the folly, or violence, or treachery, of those who are responsible for its management, may come to a speedy dissolution, if it have its origin in an earnest and enduring feeling, it is significant of danger--it represents more than is seen; and die down as it may, it is sure to spring up again in some new form. Here the abiding life is, as it were, in the soil, whose vital energy throws these its creations to the surface. The question, then, should rather be, what is the feeling in which an organisation--Fenianism, or any other `ism'--has its origin, than what is the organisation which springs from the feeling? With the special organisation, much less with its details, I have no concern whatever; while with the feeling I cannot, in duty or in honesty, refuse to deal.
Of the leaders, the real or ostensible leaders, of the existing organisation various opinions are entertained and freely expressed; and far stronger language has been used by different sections of the same nominal body with respect to the merits or demerits of rival chiefs than has been employed by the most indignant and out-spoken Crown Prosecutor, or the most enthusiastic advocate of British connection. It is only just, however, to state, that against the personal character, the honour and integrity, of the present most prominent member * of the Fenian organisation I have never heard a word. Personal ambition, or a desire for display, may have been urged against him by those who did not agree with his policy, or were opposed to the movement; but no one, not even a partisan of a rival leader, accuses him of dishonesty or of treachery.
There cannot be a more fatal mistake, whether fallen into in England or in Ireland, than that which has its origin in the desire to make light of the feeling existing among the Irish in America--namely, of depreciating the position, character, and motives of those who have either joined or aided the present movement, or who sympathise with its objects, whether special or general. It has been frequently asserted that the Fenian organisation embraces within its ranks none but the looser portion of the population--in fact, 'the scum of the great cities,' and that it depends altogether for its support on the contributions extorted from day labourers and servant-girls. That the organisation embraces many young men of loose habits or irregular lives must of necessity be the case--it must be so with every movement or organisation of a similar nature; yet, though such supporters of an organisation may not be the steadiest members of the community, or the most remarkable for self-restraint, they bring to it physical force, courage, and a reckless desperation which no obstacle can daunt or deter. Men of this class, however, do not constitute its strength; they certainly are not its guiding spirits, nor do they form more than a section or percentage of the whole body--they are, in fact, but a mere minority of the rank and file of American Fenianism.
That an individual who takes the lead in a certain locality may be actuated by the lowest motives--vanity, self-interest, or the desire of obtaining influence to be employed for the furtherance of personal objects--is probably true, and it would be strange if such were not the case; but the body, meaning thereby the thousands or the tens of thousands who constitute the strength of the organisation, even in the locality in which there may happen to be a worthless leader, are neither 'roughs' nor 'rowdies,' nor men of irregular or dissipated habits; and the feeling by which these men are animated is as pure as it is unselfish. That what they propose to themselves as their immediate or ultimate object may be as impracticable as mischievous --that it would rather aggravate and intensify the evils which they desire to remedy by sweeping revolution,--this is not properly the question; it is rather, what is their true character?--what is their real feeling? Then, so far as I have been able to learn, my belief is, that among the Fenians in almost every State of the Union there are many thousands of the very cream of the Irish population. Indeed, in several places in which I have been I have learned, on unquestionable authority--very frequently of those who regarded Fenianism with positive dislike, and its leaders with marked mistrust--that the most regular, steady, and self-respecting of the Irish youth, or the immediate descendants of Irish parents, constituted its chief strength.
A few facts, given without method, will best illustrate the real character of those who take part in this organisation, and the feelings by which they are animated.
I happened to be in Buffalo a few months after the famous raid into Canada; and the impression produced by what I then learned was not weakened, but rather confirmed, by every day's additional experience in the United States. I was then brought into contact with persons holding the most opposite opinions as to the character of this raid--those who condemned or those who applauded it; but from the very persons who denounced it, as wanton and wicked, I received as strong testimony in favour of the conduct of the Fenians who took part in it, or who had come to take part in it, as from those who gloried in the attempt, and deplored its failure. It is not necessary to repeat the oft-told story of the Canadian raid, or the part taken by the American Government, under the solemn obligations of international law, to ensure its defeat. Not calculating on the active interference of the authorities, an immense body of Fenians, several thousands in number, concentrated in Buffalo, with the intention of crossing the frontier; and though they were badly provided, if not utterly unprovided, with commissariat, and though, notwithstanding the generosity or the efforts of their friends, they had to subsist on the simplest and even scantiest fare; and though hundreds of these young men were to be seen lying on the side-walks, their only sleeping-places at night (it was in the midst of the summer)--there was not committed by any one of that vast body during the time, fully a fortnight, that they remained in that large and populous city, a single offence against person, or property, or decency, or public order! This fact, so creditable to the Irish character, was admitted, however reluctantly, by the opponents of the Fenians, and was proudly proclaimed by their sympathisers.
In this raid, or ready to take part in it, were men of the best character and the steadiest conduct. Instances were numerous of those who had abandoned well-paid offices, lucrative situations, and valuable appointments--who had given up happy homes and quiet enjoyments, to risk liberty and life in this expedition. Fathers were not restrained from joining in it by family obligations; and those who were beyond the period of active service rather encouraged than checked the ardour of their sons. A striking case in point came under my immediate observation. I visited, on invitation, the store of a respectable man, whom I had known many years before in Ireland, and whose feeling, I knew, had always been strongly 'national.' Speaking of the Canadian raid, in the presence of his wife and children and one or two friends, all grouped round the stove at the far end of his place of business, he pointed to a handsome fresh-coloured young fellow of twenty, and said--'That boy joined them over the way, and with my full consent. His mother there was in a terrible state about him, like all women, I suppose, and wanted not to let him go on any account; but I said to her, "if you do not let him go, I will take his place; and if I say I will go, no power on earth will stop me." It was only then she consented--she will tell you so herself. He did go, and he came back, safe too, to his mother and me, thank God!' A deep, heart-felt 'Amen!' was the mother's only response, as she caressed the soft cheek of her youngest child, that, sitting at her feet, rested its head against her knee.
I was passing through an hospital in Buffalo, which was in the charge of a community of Irish Sisters, when the gentleman by whom I was accompanied asked me if I should like to see 'a live Fenian.' I replied that I had seen more than one specimen of the genus Fenian before, and that I had no special curiosity to see one on that occasion. 'Ah,' said he, 'but he was one of the raiders into Canada, and was severely wounded. This case may be interesting to you for this reason--that it affords the best reply to those who, in their eagerness to put down a so-called secret organisation (and, God knows, it puzzles me to discern where the secresy is), represent all who belong to it as infidels and everything bad. This young man, who was wounded at Limestone Ridge, is, to my personal knowledge, one of the best-conducted men in this city. He was and is a monthly communicant, and, I can answer for it, he is exemplary in every relation of life. He is, besides, a man of superior intelligence. Now I am, if anything, an anti-Fenian; yet I tell you it is absurd to suppose that the organisation is what it has been described by your English newspaper correspondents.' The appearance, manner, and bearing of the wounded man, who was sitting on the side of his bed, and who laid down a prayer-book as soon as he saw the visitor approaching, evidently justified the description given of him by my companion.
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