The Sun.
London, England, 1869-08-17 00:00:00

It would be a misfortune to Farcedom, at least, if
the Fenian movement in America wholly expired.
The doings of the circle are as good as a play, and
must be an endless source of amusement to Ameri-
cans. The Garryowen circle mustered on the 26th
July at the Jefferson Assembly Rooms to induce
Irishmen to join the association, and most of the
150 present were newly-arrived emigrants, whore
ears were charmed by Miss O'DALE and her two
appropriate Irish songs, the magnetic influence of
which drew twelve persons into the circle. But the
GRIFFIN'S soaring eloquence was not equally success-
ful. He compared "perfidious Albion" to an old
oak tree rotten at the core, thirteen of the branches
of which had been lopped off by WASHINGTON, the
rest being pinned to the trunk, which only awaited
the Fenian axe to lay it low ; but he did not ex-
plain why the Fenian woodsman should not spare
the old oak that had flourished for a thousand years,
braving the thunderbolt and the storm, and giving
shelter to millions. No hasty action is intended,
but the Brotherhood's fixed determination is to pro-
ceed to Ireland, and the next time with men as well
as with arms, for during the late 'outbreak a Fenian
ship was 20 days on the coast, loaded with arms, but
as the agents could get no men to use them she had
to return to America. The Legion of St. Patrick,
an armed and trained Order, now mere publicly
organises, and its members are pledged to proceed
to Ireland and fight there. We fear that if they
do, there will be an Ond to the fun ; but we may
console ourselves with the fact that there is very
little chance of any such movement. Mr. PAUL
denounced the Fenians who had joined the Cuban
expeditions, for it is a Fenian dogma, that the Irish
are the only oppressed race, but, if not, at any rate
the only oppressed race who ought to be freed.
Irishmen were warned against being humbugged by •
the disestablishment of the Irish Church, which
was, however, admitted to be the first triumph of
the Fenian Brotherhood ; though we always thought
that that triumph was the Clerkenwell explosion.
It is very evident that the Fenian fire requires pok-
ing up ; but all lovers of the fun at which the Irish
are rare adepts, would regret to learn that the fire
bad died out altogether. A writer in the Times has
been gathering information in the "West as to what
sort of settlers the Irish make, and he is informed
that the north of Ireland men are about the best.
Of course ; considering that they are among the
most thrifty and hard-working of people, having
all the good qualities of the Scotch, with a less con-
sumption of whisky, but these are exactly the men
who oppose Fenians to the death—Protestant, and
generally Orangemen. That their ranks are strength-
ened by many genuine Celts, who become quite as
good settlers as they, we know to be the case; yet
these are little less Fenian than are the northern
Irish; and it was over their backsliding that the Irish
Republic sang its late dirge. Fenianism is the un-
der-growth of the slums of large towns; it fur-
nishes a fine theme for the spouting of orators and for
writers to descant on, and brings in coppers abun-
dantly. It imparts notoriety to things which would
otherwise be mere gaol-birds, and a pleasing ex-
citement to adventurous young Celts, who really
believe in the abundant lies written and spoken by
the Brotherhood. The idea of the Order of tl'e
Legion of St. Patrick crossing to Ireland in a fleet,
with colours flying and bands playing to fight Eng-
land, requires all an Irishman's imagination to pic-
ture, considering that England's fleet is a match for
all the fleets of the world combined, with the chances
that after a year's fighting her superiority would
be' fully established, as she has more means imme-
diately effective for constructing and equipping
men-of-war than the rest of the world. The Fenian
Circle struggling for the $20,000 held by Messrs.
BELMONT and Co., overlook this little obstacle to
an Irish invasion from America, or in the fervour
of their oratory count it for nought. Indeed,
GEORGE FRANCIS TRAIN announced himself as
ready to accept a contract for the capture of Lon-
don ; and be has written a great deal about the
egg-shell fleet and the ineffective pop-guns in the
way. But TRAIN has a vaulting imagination, and
rotten as Old England may be deapriaaa, aaa has a
very hard iron. side to crack as well as some very
powerful crackers. We have but little belief in
further Fenian invasions of Canada, for GRANT is
a dangerous President with whom to deal, being
advised by himself as far as military maters go,
and advised by Attorney-General llotn (who does
not expri ss a very high opinion of the Brotherhood
and its objects) on legal points. 'WILLIAM 11.
BAILEY has procured an injunction from the
Superior Court restraining the receiver and the
bankers from I crying the $20,000 to 01MAnoxy until
the bonds of the Fenian Republic are redeemed; an
infringement on sovereignty which has naturally
excited much indignation. That the Irish Republic
should not be permitted to repudiate its debts, a
right held and exercised by every paltry Central
American Republic, is insufferable, and will very
properly lead to GRANT'S Administration being de-
nounced, while even effete JOHN BULL has had the
audacity to refuse the exequatur as Consul at Glas-
gow to Major HAGGERTY, on the allegation that he
was a Fenian. Whether he has been or not we do
not pretend to decide ; but we know that his friends
in Glasgow, of which town his mother was a native,
and where, we believe, he was born, deny it. How
a man of his name could reside in New York and
not be a Fenian it is difficult to see; but if he did,
instead of refusing his exequatur, the Government
should award him a good-conduct badge and pay, as
they do in the army. The New York Herald,
which has always assumed that Major HAGGERTY
was a Fenian, expresses satisfaction at the Bri-
tish action, and denounces his appointment as
a mark of ignorance, and a wanton insult to Great
Britain. Now, if the newly-laid French Cable fairly
epitomizes the Herald's remarks, m e must express
our surprise at the contradiction into which our
great American contemporary has been betrayed.
How can a thing done in ignorance be a wanton
insult? If the Government did not know that
Major HAGGERTY was a Fenian, it was no insult to
appoint him, although the ignorance might be culp-
able ; but if the insult of appointing a Fenian was
intended, there was no ignorance on the part of the
Government. Hence the dilemma in which the
Herald has become entangled in piling up its accu-
sations against the Administration. But we take it
for granted that the British Government is better
informed than Major HAGGERTY'S Scotch friends,
and that we have been misled on the subject, and
the more so as this opinion is confirmed by the
action of Mr. MOTLEY, who has appointed Mr.
EASTMAN, now Consul at Cork, to be the ad in-
terim Consul at Glasgow, pending instructions from
Washington ; and in Mr. EASTMAN Glasgow will
get a gentleman alike acceptable to the Briton and
the American.