The Cleveland leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1865-1865, 1865-10-03
THE FEKIAN BROTHERHOOD.
Letter from a FenIan.

I
article TO HThs Fenian Movement In Ire
land" Before expressing my dissent from
you views, permit..me, on the part Of on
organization in this city, to tender you, and
the other members of the public press, our
sincere thanks for many acts of kindness
extended to us for the last few years.
1 believe your sympathies are with US
l believe that il is your heartfelt wish to
see an independent government on Irish
soil. Ibelieve that the majority Of this great
American people would hail with pesns Of
| joy the achievement of Irish independence.
But 1 regret to have to say that frequently
your opinions are based on false dats, pro-
cured from English sources, and hence
partial, Illogical and unsound. What are
We contending fsr? We are contending
for that principle for the maintenance Of
which your fathers fought and bled; for
which the English tea was emptied into
Boston HSrbor; for which the English
Stamp Act was trsmpled in the dust for
the defense of which Warren and Mont
gOmery shed their blood-the one On the
| Hill Of Bunker, the other beneath the
walls Of Quebec for which the immortal
Washington drew his sword, to be sheAthed
only when this country was declared free
and independent. It is the principle of
Liberty The right of self government.
Liberty unsullied By single tsint
| Of sectsrisnism. Liberty for all - for
the Catholic, the Protestant, the Meth
dist, for all sects and creeds; liberty 10 till
the soil and develop the resources of our
native land for the benefit Of her children
liberty, that our people may not staTVe but
live-that ireland may no longer be 9
beggar, knocking at the door of every ma
tion, asking for eleemosynary subsistence,
but stand erect, happy and powerful among
the nations Of the earth and I care not
who gsinssys it, whether he wears a crown
or mitre, whether he be king or kaiser,
priest or layman, 10 fight, to die for that |
ibsrty is not nconsIsteRtWith any principle, |
human or divine
What is the condition of Ireland to day, |
after seven centuries of British rule, or
rather misrule? Let me tell you : and |
permit me to say that speak not from
hearssy, but from sctusl experience, and |
after sounding the depths of society there
from top to bottom. Four out of the five
millions of people are disffected, and would
welcome any change of rulers-sye, even
the despotism Of the sutocrst of Russia
and furthermore, the first blow struck, the
first victory achieved by the Fenians, will
send into the field before week AfterWard
l00o 600 men. Forty years ago the poet
Byron, speaking from his home by the
Egesn sea, wrote Of the then condition of
Ireland.
The castle still stands tho the senates n1more,
And the famine that dwells on her freedonless
crags |
Is extending its steps to her desoIa'e shore.
To her desolate shore, whsre the emig ant stands
For q mement 70 gaze. ere he es from his hea tn
Tears f.ll from his chains, tho it dr1ps from his
hands,
For the dungeon he leaves is the plscsof his birth
And the foregoing language truly and
faithfully depicts her sad condition at this
hour Travel through the Island, what do
you eee2 You see black spots like the
plague spots of Egypt; 10 tell you of fire.
sides made desolate; TO trace the footsteps
of Lord Tumble Cabin. And where are
the inmates Ask the Atlantic to give
up its victims-the lonely graves by the
American forest TO give up their tenants.
Travel through the Island, what do you
find 2 The city, town snd village deserted,
the merchant bankrupt, the mechanic idle,
the peasant starving, and all this In lsnd
favored by nature above all others, teeming
with all the resources that make nation
wealthy. Consider for moment the des-
potism exercised over the people. Let the
farmer but dare to act contrary to the
ulSsse of his heartless Landlord, and,
though his forefsthers and himself have,
by their toll and labor, turned the morass
into garden, be and his family are flung
houseless and homeless on the world to
stsrve, to die. And then consider the re-
ligious equality, which is prscticed by our
rulers.
The Presbyterian and Catholic are
OJLigcd 10 contribute to the support of the
Episcopal church, whose worship they
never attend, whose tenets they do not be-
lieve in-and the Presbyterian or Catholic
student is debarred by LGt0 from aspiring |
10 the rank of scholar in our Dublin Uni
yersity, though he was as learned as s
Newton or 8 Melsnethon. With these
facts before them, what
wonder that the people of Ireland should
be determined to shake off the incubus
that has pressed them to the earth and
kent them there. From the tone of your
articles one would be led to believe that
opposition to British rule has been confined
TO The ignorant peasant. You have read
history to very little account, then; you
forget there were such men as Lucas, Mol
lynesux, Swift, Grattan, Ourrau, Burke,
Flood, Charlemont, the Protestant Bishop
of Derry, Tone, Russell, Emmett, NJ Nevin
and the noble Lord Edward Fitzgerald,
brother of Duke, and of all those illus
trious names 1 have given, only one was OF
the Catholic faith. In 1898 the United
Irish Society was composed almost exclu
aiyely of Protestants and Presbyterians,
and thousands of them laid down their
lives in defense of their political faith.
There are in Ireland, It's true, those who
would prefer Slavery TO liberty. There
are those who wear the livery of the Eng.
lish Government, "Who would barter their
birthripht for q mess of pottage r.
Also the deluded Orangemen of the
North, and the grinding, tyrannical land
lords who are the English garrison In Ire
land. and for whose benefit the laws are
framed, but tell you, and I assert it with
ont fesr of contradiction, that the majority |
of the mercantile classes are seditious, the i
tillsrs of the soil and the mechanical classes
ara seditious, and that those who have not |
vet ioined the Fenian organization only |
wait until they see an armed force of suf- |
fcient strength to afford them protection.
But you say we are only 1900 strong |
in this country. II is not my wish to tell |
YOU our actual strength, but you would re.
auire to multiply $4,000 BY q goodly round
number to arrive at any thing even near |
it. And the English government could not |
to-day concentrate 10000 men at any one
poipt in Ireland. And where can she re- |
cruit her armies from2 In Irelsnd2 Oh, |
no There is no one there now base enough
TO take the Saxon bounty.
But you tell Us TO procure redress from
the English government-to wait till we
are stronger, and that We are not fit for
liberty, The best proof that We are fit for
the enjoyment of liberty is that We are
ready 70 peril our lives in order TO obtain
it. Some such slsvish advice was given
before the Convention of Delegates of the
several Counties and Corporations OF Viz