The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-09-30
FEN1ANIsM I'M A NEW ASPECT.

can Fenian," has written long letter to the
- Dublin freeman, in which he claims to SET
~ forth the exact aims and objects ofthe eiliaS
in America. The organization, he declares "
be essentially American. It is inis.''As' A0
says, to suppose it composed eAclaSiseis ~
even largely Of Irishmen.4 1t numbers many
Thousand natives and has large treasury at
;ts bacl Its.plans and proceedings are wink
81. 81 bv the authorities and sanctioned by the
z : Govenment while its supreme pontiff and
chief engineer rolled in one is Mr.. VIM. a.
Seward, 4the why and able Secretary o. Stated
"A y, Moreover he informs the Dublin paper that
Mr. Stanton, the Secretary of War, during the
rebellion andsince its close, has been organizing
fa8 the Irish element in the army into regiments
brigades and divisions, for use early next year.
The officers are kept under pay, and the men
: are promised large bounty when they hnlsh
the work assigned them. Is q
Concerning the nature of tlth work which
2 these brieades and divisions-tne whcrea Souts
of which viii be apt to puzzle some of US
are intended to perform, he is very frank. 1t
8 is not to make any attempt on Ireland that
idea is only a blind, a kind of bait held out IT,
catch poor paddy withal. The real object is
Z to attack and conquer Canada, and to gdivide
the immense territory of Britain on the
American Continent among the exiles of Err
in" He thus enlarges: a'2 Hi7i-
Darcy MCGEE was right when he said that
~ the next great war for American ideas would
be fought on Canadian soil, THOUGH he little
knew how deeply his countrymen in the Cana
das were tinctured with disloyalty then; or, ii
he did, he must be a Fenian traitor himself
When joined the Fenian organization was
led to believe that the freedom eff Ireland was
the grand OBJECT of the society, and believe
that such was the intention of the leaders
then; but the United States Government saw
the uses to which the Fenians could be ap
Piled and soon found channel to conduct the
ardour of Irish patriots to Yankee ends. Let
me assure your readers that the laws and gov
er1ling rules of the society areframec at WASH
ington, printed in the Government printing
office, and sent free through the mails to every
Circle in the Union and in Canada. When
the United States notified Canada that the
Reciprocity treaty should terminate next July
the President might as well have declared wa
between the two nations, except that he did
not wish to give Canada the advantage OF
knowledge so important; and time to profit by
it. Thai a. quarrel will be picked with Eng
land before the 4th Of next July is as certain,
as that / live while pen these lines. Every
nationality represented in American society
d.
tiles Of the States, if they were even averse to
-. such war, would have to yield to popular
clamor or vacate their places-a thing an
American statesman never does.
And he concludes by declaring that if the
British War Office would send Sir Hugh
Rose and all the troops under his command to
"Canada, and the fleet that has been striking
"such terror into the French, into American
/. "waters, more might be done for the safety of
the country and the perpetuation of the
'sUnion Jack, than by keeping them idle in
"Irish barracks, and in st. Georges Channel
"and the Irish Sea-"
Of course, the fleet which has "sttuck ter
rOr' into Johnny Crapeau must scare Broth
er Jonathan out of his five wits. The bare
proposition that it be sent over here merely to
glover at us, is so alarming that we dismiss
it from contemplation at once. But the idea
Of war for the conquest Of Canada being
imminent, and especially offs being demanded
by every nationality represented in American
Society" will be likely to strike some of om
people with surprise. They did not know
that they had any such bloody intentions.
They have been in the habit of looking on Fe-
mans as body much more enthusiastic than
dangerous, and Fenianism as affording a safe
outlet for certain very efferverscent qualities of
the Irish character which must always have
vent somehow. They know very well that it
has no effective organization, no arms nc
driA, no money, no favor from either of the
great bodies of the clergy and consequently no
support in the religious sentiment, worse than
all no clear and definite purpose or principle,
The plans and projects of the Fenians are ut.
Z terly chimerieal, and hopeless from the outset
The power which the british Government can
bring against them must crush them inevita-
bly, were they to attempt an invasion o. Ire
D land and it would be little short of miracle ii
the English navy did not scatter them to the
the four winds before they could even effect a
As landing. Any expedition against Canada
would be almost equally preposterous, because
1.-The correspondent of the Dublin Freeman to
the contrary notwithstanding would have
no countenance or assistance from the United
States. For our own part we must admit that
Fenianism has never had for us any serious
side. 1t is absurd on all its faces ANY actu-
4sse al contest between it and the powerof Great
Britain would be as unequal as that memora-
bic one, related by Sidney Smith, which good
Mrs. Partington waged with her mop against
the Atlantic ocean,. aoisalossi1
That lrishmen are brave, Americans in the
q e last fouryea have well learned; that they
are devotedly patriotic, all their history shows
but in this case any sane person ought to see
that the odds are SO fearfully against them
that heroism and patriotism could not carry
them through. They could only dash them
selves in pieces against solid wall Great
Britain, notwithstanding all her lectures TO us
- on the wickedness of coercion, is prompt to
gs put down rebellion in hergown dominions. A
few moonlight drillings and unarmed parades
have already set her fleets and armies in mo-
ton. She does not wait for rebels to build
batteries and fire on her flag, though she
thought It quite tyrannical in us to do any
thing even after such extreme provocation.
G % Then she has q way Of blowing rebels from
the mouths of guns, which It mnst he confess
ed is rather disagreeable for the rebel, IN con-
template IA sfv1.fs4 F.-......
On the whole, the prospects of Fenian sue
cess do not look fattering As tor the idea of
any encouragement offered to the order from
Americans for the purpose of furtherinp de-
signs on Canada, it is very midsummer mad
ness. If the Fenians have really been betray-
ed by2demagogues who wish to control the
q Irish vote, Unto any such delusion, the sooner
they are disabused of it the better 1t has nc
foundation to stand on--not the shadow of {
shade. s f's~
THEwORD OF A FRIEND.