The Express.
London, England, 1867-03-15 00:00:00

FRENCH VIEWS OF FENIANISM.

The Patrie examines the nature of the Fenian
insurrection in Ireland, and looks on it as certain to be a
frequent source of trouble and agitation in that country.
Not that it will succeed in gaining ground against
the power of England, but because ita organisation
I. apparently independent of the party which
supporta it in Ireland. The writer goes on to remark:
" What must strike at first sight is its exotic character.
The social condition and the frightful misery in Ireland
have given rise for a century past to a current of emigra-
tion, in which, perhaps, one half of the Irish race have
sought a refuge elsewhere. This has brought about the
creation of a sort of Transatlantic Ireland, constituted and
organised on American ground, whose predominant idea
is that of delivering their native land from the oppres-
sion which they have themselves escaped by
exile. Fenisnism is but the armed expression
of this national re-vindication. Thence arises the pro-
found separation to be noticed between the tendencies of
the new sect and those which inspired the agitation
directed by O'ConnelL That personage, in spite of his
oratorical vehemence and the imprecations he often per-
mitted himself to utter against the Saxons, had never at
bottom any desire to sever the tie which united Ireland
to England ; be was only claiming for his country,
at the hands of the British community, certain privi-
leges, and the redressing of wrongs which had ex-
isted for ages. Another very important point is to be
noted : he was ever invoking the sentiment of religion ;
he always remained quite as much a catholic orator as a
national dictator. Fenianism has violently broken off
from the tradition of O'Connell. There is no longer any
question of exacting from the British community certain
privileges and acts of justice continually refused; the
object is to break the bond by force, and to give full
career to the reprisals of the Celt against the Saxon.
That Inspiration, drawn by the Irishman from
his legends—and be representa, as is well known,
the most legendary and poetical race in the world—
has only been the more developedby the state of misery and
persecution in which he has lived. Those yearnings have I
been also strengthened by an admixture of American
elements, namely, the fondness for daring enterprises, the
teak for violent solutions, and a certain spirit of socialism.
Add to this that the government and usages of the Ameri-
cans have sheltered Fenian organisation under a protec-
tive toleration. The combination of all these circumstances

has been strong enough to throw into the background the
influence which the church so long exercised over the
Irish population. We see, in fact. that, in spite
of the opposition ct the bishops both in America
and Ireland the Fenian movement has only gone on deve-
loping itself more and more. What constitutes the serious
danger for England is precisely the American base on which
it rests. The Fenian" already possess beyond the Atlantic
an immense storehouse from which they can unceasingly
obtain supplies ; there they find war munitions, money,
and men : and what principally constitutes the danger is
that the reservoir is beyond the reach of English reprisals.
Who knows whether we may not see here a first feature of
the future relations between America and the Old World,
and an indication of the international law meditated by
the United States for future generations ?"
The Nord of to-day says :—" The conclusion to be
drawn from the present state of Ireland shows that
Fenianism, in spite of the treason, folly, and incapacity
of its leaders, has extensive ramifications in the country,
and the absence of sympathy on the part of the upper
classes, so far from weakening the conspiracy, is on
the contrary an indication of the depth of the movement.
The principal element of success in Fenianism is to be
found in its agrarian and socialistic character ; its pro-
gramme is naturally rejected by those who possess
—the territorial aristocracy, the clergy, and the middle
class. But these classes in Ireland are not numerous as
compared with the agricultural proletarians. The pea-
santry, though, in general, too timid to take any part in
the movement, have but one thought—to acquire the pro-
perty of the bit of land which they occupy. It is, there-
fore, perfectly natural that this ignorant population should
be captivated by the promises of the American Irish, who
represent to them that republican institutions will prove
an infallible means of putting them in possession of the land,
and these agrarian illusions, which are fostered by the
constant agitation on the other ride of the Atlantic, are
of themselves quite sufficient to prolong indefinitely the
state of general insecurity which arrests ►ll progress in
Ireland. In regard to the internal policy of Great Britain,
Fenianism is the living proof of a fact which the English
progressista find it difficult to admit—namely, that the
liberal concessions made by the House of Commons
to Ireland have completely failed in their ob-
ject of reconciling the mass of the Irish people
to foreign domination. Those concessions have no
doubt a substantial value : they show the sincere
desire of the British government to efface as far
as possible the traces of the centuries of oppression
from which Ireland has suffered, but they have not touched
the economical and social condition of the country. The
monied class, both protestant and/ catholic, have been
enabled to acquire land through the operation of the
Encumbered Estates Court, the abolition of the penal laws
has enabled educated c►tholics to be appointed to
public, offices, and the clergy have no reason to com-
plain of the amount of religious liberty allowed them
or the extent of their control over primary education.
The condition of the occupiers of the soil alone has not
changed ; their wretchedness has remained unabated, and
after, as before the Emancipation Act, the peasantry have
only a choice between periodical famine and emigration.
It is true that the adjustment between population and
subsistence cannot be established by laws, but as long as
the agricultural proletarians are convinced that a division
of the great estates is the best method of restoring comfort
and prosperity to the country, it is vain to hope that they
will be content to accept the remedies of eoonomista."
The Nord then proceeds to argue that the abolition of
the Anglican church and tesent-right would prove only