Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1868-01-22

the mansions of the warlike sons of
Meleseus The Fenie were the ma
tion's soldiers; and the Irish tribes
aud Caledonan clans were then in
close. compact and coherent unity !;
but the setting up of kings and petty
kings found on the love of liberty and
the free exercise of individual right
caused in the course of time a division
or diversion of the people. which
generated the republics OF l'aly,
Greece and Rome The CeltS loved
to be free, and III their freedom, and
wild i'm petuosity ofnature, they spread
from Thessaly to Lacedemon, and
might have ebbed back in a tide Of
conquest to the lands from whence
they came, had they remained united
as a people. There never was. and
has never been, a race OF peo%le.
which so strictly preserves its ident t.
and love of Independence, through a
longer line OF centuries, than the
Celtic lrish-if we except the sleepy
| CtlestialS, whose birth Is claimed to
be cO-eval with the mOon-whlle gen
Grafton after generation and nation
tide of invasion. Like the polar star,
the Irish Celtic race remained in
cuangeless splendor through thou
sands of wears The four great inva-
sions Of Britain struck against the bold
rock and defiant shores of the brave
Celtic race, and were fretted into
foam. The Eagle of Rome never pol
luted with her perch the fowerv, free
capped hills of Erin. Not so with
Britain The Romans circumscribed
thcne with walls OF separation, and Cal
edonia and Erin were free. There Is
an unquestionable vitality and resist
ing power in the Celtic race which no
human, earthly power can overcome.
But the united Scotch and Saxon
came down upon disunited Irish peo-
pie after the Dane had inflicted dee
and hiding wounds. They had been
gnawiug at the national Irish heart
for centuries and at last succeeded.
! Ireland, like the tabled Prometheus
Of the ancitnts, has SINCE been chain
| ed to the imperyious rock of seven
centuries of oppression, and her heart,
/ though surrounded by vultures, and
/ enduring the agonieS Of death from
/ the torture Of their faugs, grows as
! fast AS it is devoured, and IT never
dies. She lives and muttipies in her
/ chains, As Ierad OF old, rising like the
/ Phoenix from her ashes. Neither
time, nor rebellion, nor famine, nor
unjust legislation, nor the sword, nor
EN- nigration, nor confscation, nor any
other exterminating agency. has been
able to unpeople that strange. mvste
/ rious island called Ireland, of her own
/ Celtic population; and although rob
/ bed &C wealth, privilege and education,
although malignpd. traduced and ca
| Illuminated. the Irish race still lives,
/ having braved the waves and storms
/ Of thousands of years. They are the
same immutable, distinctive race
The ancient Irish national militia
were called the Fenie, or Fenians, and
/ the qualifications necessary for those
/ bard-<ung Irish legionS, were various
and peculiar. The Fenian soldier
should devote himself to the protec-
tion of women. He should escape
unhurt from the javelins of nine men.
There We're many athle,Ic exercises.
such as jumping. bounding, &c, that
must have constituted them q iormid
able band of warriors so that the Fe
mans of to-day can refer with pride
to their ancient namesakes, drawing
courage. chivalry and renown from
the military annals OF ancient Irish
history to sustain, encourage aud
stimulate them to defy, to dare and to
battle against the foes Of freedom and
for their countrv,s rights. Ies, the
spirit of the Irish race has been stru1
Cling for zoe years, and little over.
for Independence and sutouomv--
Does ireland wish it? Empha ha5ically
she does How can it be otherwise,
since she is forced, under the existing
law, and at the point of the bayonet,
to send over to England annually, in
the form Of revenue taxes, absentee
rents, imported manufactured articles, /
&c, without any corresponding equiv
alent, s30.OO0.O00, nearly equal TO
$500. 600. 600 which, not being spent
in Ireland. might Just as we'll. as FAR
as she is concerned, be thrown into
the Irish sea What country could /
stand such an annual drain as that
without being impoverished No re- +
form bills that the British Parliament
would be willing to pass. or rather un- +
likely to entertain, will be sufficient +
to stanch the deep, gaping wounds of
Ireland There is needed a power I
that will cause the money made in /
ireland by the Impoverished, toiling
millions TO be spent there. The Fe /
Man movement strikes at the root Of
this evil, and the manner IN which it /
spreads among the Irish people Is /
proof that they regard it as the great I
national pauacea. while the alarm It .
spreads in England is equally signif- (
cant Of its well understood aim to stop
this system Of legalized plunder.
Ireland has been suffering for cen
turies under the rigor OF penal codes.
For more than ninety years before
the sword of the American coloni-s
was unSheathed in resisting their
would-be oppresSor., a renal code
continued in Ireia nd, and exercised its
baneful and degrading influence on
three successive generations, comhin-
ing in It's naIisnan. foldings ovsr s~-.