The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-20 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—The inexhaustible topic of the ironclads
in the Mersey receives one more illustration this
morning. Let no reader fear any hard discussion of
technical subtleties or deep analysis of public law.
This time, at any rate, the " explanation" will be
amusing, if not authentic, and that our description
of the case may be verified at once we transcribe
from a New York paper some of the " headings" un-
der which the new intelligence is introduced to the
world. " Ireland to be Free." " Programme of a new
Irish Revolution." "200,000 of the Sons of
Erin ready for Battle." " The Secret of England's
Back-down on the Ram Question." "Mystery
of the Fenian Brotherhood Explained." "What
became of the Irish Directory Fund." " Faugh a
Ballag h." " England's Terror of the Coming Sturm."
"Ireland's Deliverance at Hand." There is the pro-
gramme. What it all means or is designed to mean
shall be now explained. Till the other day, the
Fenian Brotherhood was a reputed mystery. Ame-
rica is now the land of secret Societies, but this
Brotherhood contained the greatest secret of all, in-
somuch that the brothers themselves did not know
it. Now, however, it has come out. The association
was a society of Irishmen aiming at the "liberation
of Ireland from British rule, and the creation of an
Irish republic" moulded upon the desirable and well
approved model of the American Union. It was
" essentially a revolutionary organisation," and,
although not one in a thousand of its alleged mem-
bers had any knowledge of the " splendid pro-
gramme sketched out for them, we are assured
that they were all so thoroughly disciplined and
obedient as to represent a formidable army available
for immediate service. On a signal given the Brother-
hood would have been ready to send from America
to Ireland " an armed force of 100,000 men, as well
as munitions, arms, ships, and everything, in fact,
that the new Irish nationality would need." Au op-
portunity was anticipated in the outbreak of war
between the Federal Government and Great Britain
on the question of the steam rams in the Mersey.
The revolution was to come off this very autumn.
The Fenian Brotherhood had ascertained that Ire-
land had entirely recovered from the effects of the
potato famine ; that the Encumbered Estates Act
had been " most beneficial ;" that the harvest had
been abundant; that " the country, on the whole,
was tolerably well off;" and that, consequently,
having been so well governed and rendered so
prosperous, " it was never in a better position than
at present for an insurrection." So, having drawn
that conclusion, the Fenians thought the time for
the expedition had arrived. The rupture between
the two Governments on the " Ram Question" was
expected the other day, and three landings were to
have been forthwith effected in Ireland—one in the
extreme West, one near Dublin, and one in Kinsale
Harbour. Unluckily, the Brotherhood was betrayed,
and the traitor, it is intimated, was no other than
Mr. William H. Seward, on whose " secret counte-
nance" the Fenians had been taught to rely. That
intelligent statesman, it seems, was well affected to-
wards his own countrymen. He had no great objec-
tion to an Irish Secession, bat the detention of
these two Steam Rams interested him far
more. So we are given to understand that in
putting a stress upon our Government he let
slip the great Fenian secret, and informed Lord
Russell not only that the United States would go to
war upon the point, but that the Fenian Brother-
hood would take the opportunity of appearing in
Ireland with an army of 150,000 or 200,000 men.
This discovery startled the British Government, and
Mr. Seward carried his point, though at the cost of
the new Irish revolution. Since, therefore, the game
is up and the secret out, and the expedition de-
molished, the leaders of the Brotherhood have
thought it an eligible occasion for telling all about
themselves, and proclaiming their disappointment
to the world—a genuine Irish resolution, and one
bespeaking the true nationality of the Association.
The Brotherhood hope for another opportunity,
but we doubt if their case is very promising. If
they have 200,000 men anywhere, or the tenth
part of that number, we are not surprised at Mr.
Seward's having his eye upon them and endeavour.
ing to retain them in the country. They are more
likely, we fancy, to find their way to Tennessee
than to Tipperary. The " fleet steamships" and
ponderous Ironclads of the projected Armada will
be wanted at home. The Federal Government is
more disposed to get men from Ireland than to
send men over there. Of course the thing, if
it could have come off, would have supplied a
charming bit of retaliation. The new Irish revo-
lutionists were to have been promptly " recognised
as belligerents," and then, when the British
cruisers were blockading Cork and Dublin, New
York shipbuilders were privately to build steam
rams on Irish account, and Mr. Seward was to
reply to the remonstrances of Lord Russell by
lamenting the inability of his Government to bring
the laws to bear upon the offenders. The " tit for
tat" would have been complete and the parallel
absolute, with one slight exception—that, whereas
we had found the civil war and the belligerents
ready made to our hands before we recognised the
facts, our friends across the Atlantic were to kindle
the war in Ireland and create the belligerents for
us in order to recognise them afterwards. Perhaps
the reader has been curious all this while to learn
the meaning of one rather significant line among the
" sensation headings." We do not deny that we
ourselves approached the question " What became
of the Irish Directory Fund ?" with more interest
than ordinary. Funds are ticklish things, and it is
often hard to say what does become of them. In
this case, however, the account is presented as
offering great expectations. It seems that about
the year 1848 a sum of money had been raised by an
" Irish Directory" in New York for the support
and encouragement of an Irish insurrection. When
the scheme proved abortive it became necessary to
dispose of this money, and It was accordingly lodged
in the hands of trustees, to be put out at interest,
and allowed to accumulate for another opportunity.
The fund now constitutes the financial hope of the
Fenian Brotherhood. It is to supply them with the
sinews of war, but w e can hardly help concluding
either that the expedition will be done very cheaply,
or that the army will run short of money. The
original sum amounted to just £14,000. No doubt,
interest in America is very high, especially if
receoned in greenbacks, and 15 years would allow
of a good deal of accumulation. Still, we fancy
that £28,000 or £30,000 will not go so far in a war
as the Brotherhood seem to imagine. It is now, we
imagine, to be supposed that everything about this
famous mystery is known. As there appears nothing
for the Brotherhood to do, they have called a great,
meeting. Notice has been sent to all the " circles'
of the Brotherhood that each circle is to despatch
its " centre" to " the Hall of the F. 8., Chicago, Ill.,"
on November 3 next, where grave and important
matters are to be considered. We hope itis not true
that the consultations are to be secret, Having
made so opportune a disclosure of the organisation
and aims, the Brotherhood need not resort to mys-
tery any longer. They may as well publish their
debates ; but in the meantime, there is one secret
which they have not explained, and which we
really think the most interesting of all. What is
" Fenian ?" What language is it ? What is the
root, origin, or meaning of the word ? Is it Erse,
or " Ogharn," or only American slang ? People do
not quite know how to spell it, still less how to ex-
plain it. However, the Fenians have given the
world one little piece of evidence which may be
useful tot,hose who like an " Irish question" to
discuss.. `I hey have acknowledged that Ireland is
well off and well to do, and we suspect that most
non•Fentans would regard that fact as by no means
suggesting the propriety of an immediate insur-
rection.

POST.—Sir Roundell Palmer's words at Rich-
mond are but the echo of public opinion throughout
the country. That this is the cas is not their dis-
paragement in point of originality, but their
panegyric in point of justice. The Attorney-Gene-
ral puts the case very fairly before his constituents.
What he says amounts almost to a confession that
party government is for the moment in abeyance.
There is no question really at issue in the heart of
the country as to which party should con hearth
Government. The advantage of an Opposition, in-
deed, is fully recognised. Lord Derby and Mr.
Disraeli are highly useful as correctives of the Ad-
ministration. If there were no organised body'in
Parliament charged with the special duty of finding
fault, the Executive might grow lethargic; and
Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli may be relied upon
to keep the public duly informed if there is really
anything to be complained of. But nobody dreams
of putting Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli in power.
The truth is, that parties are becoming narrower
and narrower with every dissolution ot•Parliament.
The partisan Conservatives, the partisan Whigs, and
the select society known as the Manchester party,
present but infinitesimal sections of the country at
large. The massof the community have ceased to hold
partisan opinions. They are neither. Tory, Wt:ig, nor
Radical. They will be found siding with those
political leaders in whom they have the greatest de-
gree of confidence. In domestic government there
are no great questions practically at issue. In
foreign politics perhaps there is more divergence;
but wherever there is a difference between the
Ministry and the Opposition, the country appears
generally to side with the former; while whether
there be difference or none, it places greater trust
in the discretion of the former also. Possibly the
real explanation of the apparent decline of
warfare refers, to which Sir Roundell Palmer p.arty
Is to
be found in the fad that we are at this day

London: Prira,!d and Pie?!ished by WILLIAM ANDREWS,
of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at TILE SUN Office No. 112,
Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, ,n the critvitY of
T u clay, October:2o, leo,