Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1866-01-17


Of IS and '65-Eaqlsa JfeIrs Of tl-
character O tie Present Noremcas-
Rerolut~oRs as brought by .Sous-iI
GrmiHg Pro2f5 Of Culture and IlteHi-
geucs among the IqitgtorS-S Sfaytlfay
Eridences Of the Ertent Of tie Fcuiag
Sentiments, &c, &c.
FcniaH literature has not attracted its
fair share ot attention Whilst the pris-
oNers who profess to despiSa and 6efy
British law are occupying the Four Courts
on all the technicalities Of certt0r4ri,
1zcRdaH71ts, and criminal information. it
would be mistake to imagine that the
copious legal rgumeEts With which the
Irish journals abound are the on Y con-
tFlbutsoEs for which the reading public
are indebted to the Fenians The abor~
tive rebellion of IS was more Of q liter
airy imposture than anything else The
Young Ireland party wrote 50 we'll that
they managed 10 excite the interest Of all
classes except the people Of Ireland In
this country we became familiar with the
anti English ballads of Davis and Duffy.
The song beginning,
''Who fears to speak Of Nincty-efght."
and the stirring verses Of Ferguson, Me-
Cafthy, and Barry. were very generally
read here, and they were criticised as lit
erary efforts, in no unf-iendlv spirit, bv
English writer's But we all fell into the
deiusion, as the authors themselves are
now ready to acknow edge. that these
political poems were known to the masses
IN ireland. The people knew very little
about the authors, and less about their
works. They had heard OF Guvan Duffy
a. an opponent af O'Cunucll; but they
,4.. !. go - =
or The Voice Of Labor 1t was only
when some Of these gentlemen got down
to BailingarrY that their ewes were opened
to the political blindness Of the peasantrv.
The people looked with aStuuishment and
doubt upon such totally unknown leaders
as q Gorman, o 3ricn and Dillon 1t il
said that some gray-haired farmers, whom
the rnmor spread that fighting was intend
ed, asked If Boney was come across p
and others inquired If Lord Edward was
really come back or 'if the Counsellor
(meaning Otounell,) was friend of
theirs ? Then the brinfess barristers
ana clever young gentlemen who had
never grown tired of repeating. witu a lit
tie verbal alteration, the djctuIl Of Fletcher
q Saltoun let me make the ballads
ami ! care not who makes the laws" be-
gan to discover the difference between
making ballads and securing readers
The movement suddenly CO Iapscd in the
disgust Of the w9uid-be leaders and the
laughter Of officials and friends Of the
Government who for months previously
had been in Il state Of ignorant terror
jhe mistake that the lritsh public
made IN giving undue Importance to the
TyheI3Jus literature oC the YOUNG ire' su8
rrtr, and thus uycrra.in- the strength Of
taa agitation. was NOT, however. greater
than the mist. k now universally made
IN l3o opposite direction The vast mass
Of our readers vii. 'aayu with surprise
that NOT only Is thar. IN ireland col ee-
trou Ct .oH.an writings published in I~G5
quite equal, I'M point OF literary ability.
to anything in the saU5e strain published
from 1913 to iS4S but (Which is far more
Important than any question Of literary
merit1 a collection of writings which has
found il way iuro the cabins and whisky
shops Of the lower classes
In Is GOOD many editors Of newSre>
pers were arrested hat not one ballad
singer. Ia 50 only one dis'oyal editor
Mr. Clark Lubv. has been arrested: hut
the arrests Of Lullad-singers in Cork.
Dublin, TraIee Limerick. and the country
towns Of the south. have given constant
employment to the police Not fair )
held IN Ireland now az which the author
itics do not take precautions for Selling
upon the ballad singers and conGscatin-
their sclitious wares Among the most
rprcmptorv orders sent from the castle to
tho stipeu3ary magistrates are those
toucEinE the suppression of popular ball
LAOS This gives to the Fcuian conspiracy
a character far gravcr than the affair Of
t> and 5000 lN- 1trra "A tho faaf.rraa rt