The Sun.
London, England, 1867-11-26 00:00:00

A FENIAN CIRCULAR.

A circular, signed in cypher, by a person styling
himself Secretary of External Relations, addressed
to the agents and friends of the Irish Revolutionary
Government, and dated Dublin, Nov. 16, was left
at the office of the Daily News, and published by
that journal. The paper is written with force and
skill, free from ranting and the general spread-
eagleism of Irish declamation ; no green sods, green
flag of freedom, rising sun of liberty, hated oppres-
sors, and bloated foreign bloodsuckers. It is argu-
mentative, and strength is given by the simple, terse
language used. The rescue of Kelly and Deasy is
detailed ; the necessity for the act at all hazards
stated ; " its probable cost was estimated before-
hand, and the actual cost was less than estimated."
The rescue was acknowledged to bean offence against
the laws of England, which must be broken by in-
surgents, as the oppressor makes these laws to pro-
tect himself. " The insurgent breaks the law at
his peril ; the oppressor enforces the law on the
same condition." Humanity restrains both. The
insurgents have adhered to the moral obligation
refraining in England, Ireland, and in Canada,
where enemies' life and property have been and are
at their mercy. Although not acting with equal
moderation, England has not yet put to death any
of her Irish political prisoners. But now she seems
disposed to depart from that practice, and some
may be executed at Manchester. "She has an
undoubted right to do so, but the exercise of
that right will leave this Government free to
exercise the right and power of retaliation
which it amply possesses. lam instructed to
say that for every judicial assassination she is
guilty of the life of, a prominent Englishman will be
exacted by this Government, and you will point out
that upon England must rest the odium of having
first inaugurated the policy of assassination in her
present struggles with Ireland."
Oppressed nationalities have ever had warm sup-
porters in the people of England. English aid in
men and money, and more still in the support a cause
derives from public opinion, has always been freely
accorded to struggling nationalities by the inhabi-
tants of this island. Foreign Governments have
resented this interference, representing Englishmen
as firebrands, ever ready to aid revolutionary pro-
jects. If England has often acted thus without
due consideration, giving way in many in-
stances to maudlin sentiment, she is now very pro-
perly punished. She has a revolutionary Govern-
ment established in her midst issuing circulars to its
foreign agents, rescuing prisoners by the force of
arms in the streets of her largest towns, decreeing
reprisals, to be effective in case the solemn sentence
of a judge be executed, and openly inaugurating a
war of assassination. Her policemen are shot
down in the courts and alleys of her cities, her
coasts are navigated by ships carrying hostile bands
seeking the most desirable points for disembarka-
tion ; even the ante-room of ber Secretaries of
State in the sacred precincts of Whitehall are in-
vaded by deputations who hold indignation meetings
within ear-shot of her rulers, and express in no
measured terms their intention of pitching the
whole gang into the sea, while the police
are fuming on the pavement outside. The
lesson is indeed bitter, but we predict that liberty
will lose more than it can ever gain by such pro-
ceedings. It is fast alienating one of its best and
strongest friends. England learns the hard truth
often before taught to the best of rulers, that there
is no cause, however vile, that in skilful hands may
not he made to appear just —that an honest and
upright discharge of her duties does not save her
from slander, or the inauguration of proceedings jus-
tifiable alone when directed against a Government
which is the enemy, at least, of a section of its people.
It is not a little strange that the Pope should regard
England as the ally of revolution, and the Pope's
supporters in Ireland should regard England as the
ally of despotism. In Europe she is considered to
be the friend and champion of nationalities ;
in America she is represented as herself a despot,
and the support of despots everywhere. But one
thing at least is certain, she has a great deal of re-
volution in her midst—of what kind it is hard to
understand. The writer of the circular quoted
above, might give to the world a list of the grievances
under which Ireland labours, and a clear statement
of the wrongs his Government proposes to redress.
Those who know something of Ireland being at a
loss to understand the object of Fenianism, in the
absence of any grievance worth fighting for, regard
the conspiracy as a struggle not for empire—for
that would be a ridiculous word to usa for so con-
temptible an organisation but for plunder. In
doing this he ought not to tell bold, straight-
forward lies, because they are easily exposed,
and lessen the weight of his otherwise able, and,
it may be, truthful statement. For instance, the
circular represents Allen as having killed Brett
accidentally—when be was in reality trying to
destroy the lock by a pistol shot. Now, it is a no-
torious fact that the sergeant was shot by Allen
taking aim at him through the ventilator. Finlan,
and a crowd of persons holding similar views, re-
present the crime as a misfortune, the perpetrators
not having proceeded to the theatre of the exploit
with any malice against the police officer, or any
fixed plan of taking his life. If such a rule held the
mass of murders would dwindle into manslaughter.
For instance, if a party of burglars planned
the robbery of a house, and, when executing the
project were compelled to kill some obstructive per-
son on the premises who obstinately held to the