The Sun.
London, England, 1867-12-19 00:00:00

UST.

an attempt would be made to attack the prison, Captain
Codd determined to alter the usual routine.
About nine o'clock on Friday morning he ordered the
cleaning of the prison to be stopped, and the officers to
proCeed at once to the yard with their prisoners- for
exercise. When the warder in charge went to
Burke's cell, the prisoner asked, " Why am I
brought out before the usual time ? " The warler
lightly answered him, and ordered him to the yard. A
change came over his countenance, and- he appeared de-
jected. He ground his teeth and clenched his fists. at the
same time casting glances toNo. 7, Corporation-lane, where
Crowley, one of the officers, noticed several men and a
woman in the top room, which caused him to call the at-
tention of the governor and chief warder. When the pri-
soners returned to their cells from -exercise, Buries wa3
transferred from the cell which he had occupied to anether,
and three times during that day he was removed in order
to baffle. his friends as to his whereabouts. About a • neater-
past three in the afternoon of Friday last, the f,'6 vern or
(Captain Codd) paraded the officers of the prison, ami gave
separate instructions to each man as to how he was to act
as to .any attempt being made to obtain access to the
prison over the exterior or boundary wall. The officers
then took up their positions in the top octagon rooms,
giving them a perfect view all over the exterior of the
prison, each man being armed with a revolver and a
carbine, and twenty rounds of ball cartridge. The posi-
tions were not taken up for many minutes, when Crowley
noticed a man on the top of a house overlooking the
prison-yard where Burke usually took exercise, and
he answered the description subsequently forwarded.
Crowley reported the circumstance to the governor and
to Moore, the chief warder. About twenty minutes to
four Crowley saw a woman open a window of a top room
in the house where the man was seen, and three men were
there. They all seemed excited, and occasionally looked
at the place where the explosion took place about ten
minutes afterwards, hurling the officers about, blowing the
carbines out of their hands, and shattering the windows
into thousands of fragments. The prisoners were highly
excited. They beat the cell doors with their stools,
kicked, and shouted for assistance. Order and discipline
were speedily restored,,among the offict4es.aand Mr. Per-
ryman, the clerk of the prison, arrived with' a load.ed car-
bine in his hand, as7b.L:o Dr. Smiles, the surgeon is. the
prison, who was very instrumental in allaying the fears of,
the prisoners, as they thought they were being fired upea,
or the prison being blown up. Immediately after the Ae.
plosion the governor called for six volunteers to guard the
breach in the wall which had been blown away, -himself
taking the lead. No police had then arrived., and the
enterprising or inquisitive public were driven, out of the
yard, and told that if they attempted to enter over the boun-
dary wall they would Le fired upon. They kept the mob
at bay until the arrival of the police and 'soldiers.

Yesterday information was conveyed to Mr. Pownall,
chairman of the Middlesex magistrates, that a scheme for
attacking the House of Detention had been secretly ma-
tured by the Fenians, who designed to make the venture
without delay; that since Saturday last 150 men had
been designated by their leaders, and prepared for this
action ; that h was proposed these men should meet in
small parties at a given hour in the neighbourhood of the
prison, and then, at a signal agreed upon, concentrate and
carry out the attack, which they were to effectuate with
two pieces of artillery, said to be in their possession con-
cealed in Clerkenwell. Mr. Pownall, to whom it will be
remembered was made known beforehand the plot for
delivering Burke and Casey on Friday last, considered
the warning information he had received sufficiently re-
liable to take instant action upon it. He communicated
with the Home Secretary, and forthwith a strong detach-
ment of the Guards, as well as a numerous body of police,
were sent down to accupy the House of Detention. Last
night a tall man, of gentlemanly appearance, was ar-
rested at a public-house near the bottom of Whitefriars-
street, Fleet-street, in the immediate vicinity of the great
gasometers of the City Gas-works, which are said to be
threatened by the Fenians, and are accordingly closely
watched by the police. The gentleman in question was
exhibiting a revolver in front of the bar, and foolishly
declaiming about the Fenians, so loudly as to attract
much attention. The police took him into custody, and
he was removed to the station in Fleet-street, where
he was able to explain and prove to the satisfaction of the
inspector that he had purchased the pistol (which was
unloaded) for his own protection, and had spoken as. he
did only for a freak. He is very respectably connected,
and resides at Tulse Hill. He was suffered to depart.
The Morning Herald says :—" Last night, between ten
and eleven o'clock, another man, answering very closely to
the description of tho Fenian who fired the barrel on
Friday, was arrested by the police and lodged in Bow.
street police station. The (-3- division having been tele.
graphed to, Sutto-i, the plain clothes man, and a number
of other witnesses, were taken to the chief office, and there
four of these witnesses were introduced, ,after one o'clock
this morning, one by one into a circle of men taken off the
street, and having the prisoner placed among them. The
utmost care was taken by Mr. Superintendent Durkin
and Mr. Superintendent Gernon that there should be no
clue to identification, save that inevitable one which the
prisoner supplied by his obvious nervousness. None of
the witnesses could identify the prisoner, but one of them
afterwards spoke of his general appearance being the
same. This, however, is obviously nothing, but the
prisoner will be detained until all the witnesses have
seen him."

The condition of the wounded lying at the hospitals is
about the same as that last reported, and no other death
has happened.
The recommendation of the Home Secretary that, as a
precautionary measure, special constables should be sworn
in throughout the several districts of the metropolis, was
largely acted on yesterday. The Vice-Chancellor Wood,
iu court during the afternoon, stated that, as treasurer
of Lino dn's Inn, he had received the Home Secretary's
communication on the subject in 6pecial reference to the
barristers of his inn. The court, he said, would rise at
half-past three o'clock, in order that gentlemen migl.t
be directly sworn in the hall of Lincoln's Inn, where two
magistrates would be in attendance to administer the
oath. Vice-Chancellor 'Violins made a similar an-
nouncement. After the rising of the courts a great num-
ber of barristers were sworn in as special eonstables.
Vice-Chancellor Wood and Vice-Chancellor Malins
were the first two who took the oath. At all the
police-courts the subject came under the ma;;istmtes'
notice. At Bow-street, Marlborough-street, Clerkenwell,
Westminster, Marylebo.)e, and Southwark, all the necessary
formalities having been complied with, a great many gen-
tlemen were duly enrolled, and arrangements were male
to carry on the swearing-in with proper activity. At oil
the other police-courts the requisite information, in coin-
pliance with the statute, is to be directly laid, and arrange-
ments for the enrolment of special constables have heel
made. Everywhere the magistrates expressed their deter-
mination to give prompt effect to the recommendation of
the Government.

At the ordinary meeting of the FxlinburL
Council on Tuesday the Lord Provost, before tl_
nary business was begun, took occasion to refer to the
Fenian outrage in London on Friday last, and expressA,
in the name of the corporation and community of Edin-
burgh, the deep abhorrence they entertained of the con-
duct of a band of traitorous and merciless conspirators.
Anything more atrocious, he said, had not occurred
in our time ; and as the crime was great, he could
only trust that the punishment would be strict and
unhesitating. He hoped the Government would
not flinch from their duties in the matter, and went on to
say that all rebellious demonstrations and outward tokens
of sympathy with murderers must be put down with
vigour. His lordship concluded by referring to the grati-
fying fact that there was no appearance of Fen ~.-,a-spiracy,
spiracy, or even of sympathy with Fenians, in
and at the same time stated that by the provisional
order obtained last year no procession whatever was
legal in the city without the sanction of the magistrates.
The remarks of the Lord Provost elicited warm marks of
approbation from all the members of the council.
Similar expressions of opinion are received on all sides.
The workinen of Mr. Freake, 400 in number, have held
an indignation meeting to denounce the attempt to destroy
his house in Grosvenor-street by Greek fire. The follow-
ing resolution was proposed and carried unanimously :
"That this meeting of men in the employ of Mr. Franke,
having been convened by themselves to enable them to
express their opinion on the late diabolical outrage at
Clerkenwell which has caused such destruction of life
and loss of property, and also at the dastardly attempt
to destroy No. 4, Grosvenor - square, the property
of our employer, do hereby declare that they can
have no sympathy with such inhuman ;wretches, who
disgrace the name of man by such devilish actions, and
who have now by their attacks on private property brought
the matter home to our own firesides, and we can no
longer remain passive spectators of the action of such
diabolical agencies, by
means of which our wives and little
ones arc threatened with destruction." Several of the
working men followed, expressing the utmost detestation
of the crime. Subsequently the meeting agreed that the
workmen should form themselves into a volunteer watch
corps to protect the property of their employer, and in
doing so protect their own tools. A vote of sympathy
with their employer was passed, and the chairhian Vins
requested to convey the same to Mr. Freake.

An authoritative denial has been given to the statement
that a barrel of gunpowder has been found near to Mill-
bank Prison. A few cartridge papers, which are supposed
to have laid there for a very considerable time, were
found by the constable patrolling round the outer wall of
the prison.
The authorities of Wolverhampton are said to be sat:s-
fied that the document which was found in Darlington-
street was no hoax. Itl authenticity has been established.
Indisputable information has been obtained confirmatory
of a planned simultaneous Fenian attack on the militia,
armouries throughout England. Further personal commu-
nications have taken piaci between the mayor and chief
constable and the county authorities, and all necessary
steps have been taken to render the plot abortive.
_ _ _

Captain Gibbs, the governor of Kirkdale Gaol, Liver,
pool, has just received a communication to the effect that
the Fenians contemplate au attack upon the gaol, the
means to be employed in the. attack being Greek, or
" Fenian " fire. As soon as Captain Gibbs was informed.
of the intended attack he at once made preparations for
the defence. Officers are appointed to watch the gaol,
the guards are doubled at various points, and every step
that prudence suggests has been taken to ensure the safety
of the prison and the inmates. If the information received
be genuine the attack can only be suggested with one
object--a reckless destruction of life and property, v. there
f),11 ,E 9 Flnian§ in taw gaol to liberate.