CHAPTER XXII.

THE FEXIANS.
Agitation for separating Ireland from England has been kept up for over one hundred years by the people of Ireland, not only at home oil the island itself, but wher of the earth. The different societies mentioned before being defective and not successful, new organisiations arose to take their place.
In 1857 the "Phcenix Society" in Ireland was reor- ganized in the United States under the name of "Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood," "Xationalists" or "Fenian BrotlKTliood." The name may have been taken in honor of I'ingal, also named Finn or Fionn of Ossian, a commander of an Irish home guard or militia which existed in the Third Century.. Although the chief of- ficers of the Order in the United States were known, the society Av as from the very start, a secret one. It spread rap icily over every state in the American Union and the British possessions. In 1863 a great convention of delegates of the order met at Chicago and avowvjd the object of the Brotherhood, namely the separation cf Irelaml, from England, and the establishment of an Irish Republic. The delegates represented fifteen thou- sand enrolled Fenians, one-half of whom were in the Union army. The assembly proclaiuKMl the Fenian
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Brotiicrhood to be strictly in accordance with the laws of the UhiIcmI States, ignored partisan politics and dif- ferences of n.'ligion, and declared the Irish people fo be a distinct nationality with James Stephens as pres- ident; to whom with central officers elected by an annual congress, state officers elected by state organizations, and centers elected' by circles, the directions of affairs should be entrusted. The second Fenian Congress met in Cincinnati in 1865 and about 250,000 members were represented, each of which mem- bers was called upon for a contribution of five dollars, and it is said that this call was responded to. About the same time a Fenian Sisterhood was established, and the ladies were not inactive, for in two months from their associating they returned upward of a million dollars to the Fenian exchequer for the purpose of pur- chasing arms and other war material. The surrender €)f the confederate armies and the disbandment of the Union forces left free those Irish officers and soldiers &n whom were mainly centered the expectations of the revolutionists. ;^[any of the officers went to Great Britain and soon spread their principles among the British troops. The "Fenian conspiracy" spread rap- idly over England. Ireland and tlie British possessions.
On the eighth of September. 1805, a proclamation from Stephens was circulated stating that the time for action had come. ''I speak with a knowledge and au- thority to whicli no otlier man could pretend," he says, and concluding: "Tlie flag of Ireland, of the Irish Re- public must this year l)e raised."
In the United States an army of Fenians was organ- ized and marched into Canada, but was defeated by the British troops. For several years efforts were made to
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Ireland, but without success. The society had its oaths, pass-words, emblems, its laws and penalties, its con- cealed stores ol* arms, its nightly drills, its correspond- encies and agents, its journals, and even its popular songs and ballads, and plenty of money in the hands of its leaders who drew large salaries.
The Irish Bishops repeatedly warned their people against joining the Fenians and many of them publicly denounced the society as a secret one whose principles were forbidden by Catholic morals.
On January 12, 1870, the Eoman authorities issued a decree forbidding all Catholics to become members of th6 Fenian Brotherhood.
The "Molly Maguires" were a secret society which, both in Ireland and the United States, was accused of many outrages during the years* from 1863 to 1875. Clan-na-Gael is the name of the latest Irish society which according to Le Caron in his "Twenty-five year:3 in the Secret Service," was organized with a "Masonic form of ritual, grips, signs, pass-words, and terrorizing penalties." The Clan announces itself to be: "The vanguard and embodiment of Irish nationality, the mo- tive power which' animates and regulates the Irish struggle, and has nobly kept the national flag and na- tional principles to the front in dark and evil days." Though the membership is not very large, the Order is manipulating its forces in various ways to further its objects.