The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-06 00:00:00

Prospects of the Fenians.

There are in Ireland to-day about six millions of peo-
ple. They are not all identified with the Fenian move-
meat, and some, for instance the remnant of Orangeism,
do not wish it to succeed. Of such, however, there are
not perhaps twenty thousand, and in revolutionary times
these would .be absorbed by the national army. At all
events the anti-nationalists in Ireland are not more num-
erous proportionately than were the revolutionary Tories
in America or similar rotrogressionists in other countries
striking for freedom and new institutions.

As for opposition of other kinds, it will necessarily dis-
appear as soon as the initiation of the war leaves but two
sides to the question. The opposition of the Roman
Catholic clergy, next to that of Orangeism the strongest,
founded as it is for the most part on a matter of policy,
will eventually merge into acquiescence when it is seen
that a trial of strength on the battle-field is now inev;t-
able. If there are any clergymen whose opposition to
the Irish republican body proceeds upon an apprehen-
sion that the contagion of revolution in Ireland would
spread through the Continent and agitate the uneasy
spirits of Italy, they would assuredly be left alone in their
position ; for once a war rages between the native re-
publicans and the foreign monarchists, no possible out-
side consideration could stay a single Celtic arm. The
war cry would then be, " Ireland a republic, or the world
in a blaze !"

Another class who stand aloof as yet from the national
movement are the capitalists. But capital has always
the privilege of waiting till the revolutionary workers de-
monstrate a determination, skill, and power befitting, on
the part of the body of the people, the objects they pro-
pose to themselves and the country. These men will ac-
cept the now government as soon as it ha 3 a de facto
existence, and should any refuse allegiance they would,
of course, experience in property, at least, at the hands of
the national government, the usual treatment of refractory
citizens.

It is the organised minority that generally effects revo-
lution, its combinations, if worth anything, eventually
embracing the whole people in their operation. The
Fenian movement has already the bone and sineW of the
land ; its numbers are as large as the projectors desire, and
its system of plans is of the most elaborate and consum-
mate character. The whole six millions, then, are to be
included in any calculation as to tho strength of Ireland
within her own shores. Six millions of an Irish popula-
tion, according to the usual estimate (ten per cent. of the
aggregate,) yield six hundred thousand fighting men.
England's chequered population could not yield that many,
and she cannot, at any one time, devote to Ireland moer
than half her strength, for the other half will largely
counteract demonstrations incited in other lands by the
suffering and disaffection of the subjugated, encouraged,
as they will be, if not directly incited, by Fenian branch
movements.

The resident population of Ireland, which we have thus
seen would prove a powerful and possibly victorious an-
tagonist to British rule in Ireland, is only one portion, and
scarcely the larger one, of tho Irish race. That race is
located as follows:

Ireland
America 5,000,000 Other countries at
Canada
En gland 2,000,000
Scotland 1,000,000 Total
So closely are all these portions of the Irish raco allied
in a love and ardent desire for the opportunity to enable
the parent nation to resume its independent functions that
they will vie with each other in forwarding the cause once
the flag is raised. The 17,000,000, then, 53.- all possible
revolutionary purposes, form one people. More, such is
the ardent faith all have in the justice and final triumph
of the cause of independence at home that the respective
peoples among whom they live have become more or less
impregnated with their ideas, and in every country there
are millions of non-Irish population earnest advocates of
Irish independence. These may be made available for
many practical purposes, and it is no exaggeration to place
the Irish population in favor of expelling English rule
and instituting a froe, republican government in Ireland
at 0,000,000. We have seen that England has virtually
a counter population of not more than one-half that
number.--New York Herald.

SOUTHERN EMIGRATION TO BRAZIL.—When the
war closed (says the New Orleans Delta) there was a
strong desire amongst retu:ned Confederates to emis.-ate
from the United States, and Brazil was the point of attraction.
Luckily, sober second thought told the adventurous spirits
who were dissatisfied with the idea of being vanquished
that there were opportunities in the land of their birth
which had not been taken advantage of, and fields open to
industry which had not been cultivated. The desire for
expatriation sprung from a reeling of mortification and
sensitiveness, engendered by deLeat. A great many
thought that they would meet with no sympathy, not
even with mercy, at the hands of the victors, and that
exile was necessary for their personal security. The
example of the leading minds of the South has taught
them differently. The cheerful alacrity with which
Robert E. Lee and General Beauregard, and other great
leaders, have accepted the situation, has encouraged the
late Confederates to cherish the Union of the States.
Everybody is willing to follow blindly where such men
lead. Brazil and exile are forgotten, and honest toil recon-
ciles the laborer to the vicissitudes and poverty which
four years of war have entailed upon him. There is a
sincere and hearty impulse in the Southern heart which
ought to convince the Northern people of the soundness
of our reconciliation. Men who had sacrificed everything
in aiding a cause which they honestly believed to be a
just one, now that they can reflect dispassionately, and find
that the Government of the United States is the best go-
vernment for the country, are willing to venture their own
welfare, and that of their children, in sustaining the
Union.