The Northern Pacific farmer., 1885-04-02

"Rossa was an early convert to Fem
:anism-or, as it is called by the initia-
led this side of the Atlantic, the
[(rish) R(epublican) B(rotherhood)-
having been sworn in so far back as1853.
He was already man OF mark, not un-
leservedly; for, beginning life at 16 a
DOOR, friendless lad, his strong quail
;ies and business aptitude had made
him comparatively rich. He was just
the sort of recruit that the shewd
Stephens-whon never troubled himself
with the 'tag-rag' of the brotherhood
delighted to make. Having named;
Rosa the district c., the captain:
went his way, leaving the new officer
to swear in as many of his acquaint7
ances as he could persuade to join.
Putting his heart into the work, Rosa
gathered a regiment some hundreds
strong in and about Skibbereen. This
done, he followed the example of his
elsewhere, established a
mechanics institute and reading-room1
and became an ardent social reformer-.
He dubbed his literary association the;
Phoenix club, in compliment to O'Ma-.
honey, whose branch of the conspiracy;
not then so strong as it afterward be-
came, was known as the Phoenix assO-
citation. And under the cover of this;
club he carried on the business of the.
conspiracy with such skill.
"James Stephens usually kept a
;ight hand over such clubs, and as;
;uredly would not have permitted a.
number of vagaries in which Rosa
and the Phoenix men indulged in 1858,
had he been at home. AS it happened,
ae spent the earlier half of that year
IN America, teaching O'Mahoney, who
Was greatly in need of the lesson, how
20 org :nize. And, in consequence,
;he demonstrative and aggressive Rosa,
being left very much to himself, con-
trived to attract the attention of the
government. The whole affair was
very curious, and, on many accounts.
merits elucidation. Suffice it to say
now, that Rosa and number of his
convicted, But it was the interest of
everybody concered to make as light
Of the affair as possible, so that the
prisoners, after many months of inn
prisonment, were released in 1859, on
condition of coming up for Judgment
when called upon. They were now all
marked men; so most of them took
themselves otf-some to America, some
to England, and one or two to Dublin.
Among the last was Rosa, who came
out of prison to find his business ru-
med.
His fellow-Phenix men drifted ab bout
10 80 f,,1
man to be allowed to drift. Stephens
look him as confidential aid and kept
aim employed-now as an organizer
IN one or the other of the Irish prov
nces, now in breaking up the meetings
If such nationalists as refused to con-
spirc, and now as one of the series of
messengers that were constantly COM
Ing and going between the American
and European branches of the con-
spiracy. In all these avocations Rosa
distin guished himself by zeal and ad-
dress, rs we'll as by a turbulence which
was thoroughly good-humored and
Irish in those days.
''At length that notorious journal,
The Irish People. was established to-
ward the close of 1868, and Rosa be-
came the nominal proprietor. He now
took wife for the Second time, find
ing considerable difficulty in getting a
priest to perform the ceremony, in
such disreputc at the time was the
conspiracy with the great body of the
Irish Roman Catholic clergy. Shortly
afterward Rosa started to America on
Fenian business. After short stay
on the other side of the water he re-
turned to Ireland toward the end of
July, 1865, in company with Messrs.
P. w. Dunn and P. J. Meehan. These
two gentlemen were deputed by O'Ma-
hony to do certain business with
Stephens as to the rising, fixed to
take place on the ensuing anniversary
of Emmet's execution. In stepping
ashore Meehan lost some important
papers in a way that has never been
fully explained. These papers were
picked up and placed in the hands Of
the authorities. The leading conspir-
ators were greatly dismayed and
hardly to be restrained by Stephens
and Rossa (the latter being merciful
man in those days) from Furnishing
Meehan severely.
'The government took no action un-
til within a few days of the date fixed
for the insurrection. Then, however,
it flung it's net over the Fenian leaders,
and caught nearly every one of them
of any consequence at a single sweep.
On the night of the 10Th of September
the Office of The Irish People was taken
possession of by the police, and half
an hour later Rosa himself, who, like
most of the other leaders, had been
expecting it, was arrested. Like the
others, too, he believed that his incar,
by the success of the rebellion.
''On the 10th of September Stephens
was caught and placed in the next cell
to Rossa in Richmond bridewell. A
Fenian, one Frank Byrne, ex-soldier OF
the Papal brigade, was one of the
warders, and Stephens escaped.
thanks to Byrne, Rossa and the others
were parfectly aware of what was CO.
ing on that night, and lay still, conf
dent that their turn would come ere
long. We all know how miserably
they were disappointed.
eat the trial that followed, Rossa
rendered himself conspicuous above
his fellows by audacity and energy.
In return he got the heaviest sentence
of any penal servitude for life.
When released in 1871 he was an al
tered man. He was no longer light
hearted anil rollicking. He had lost
his geniality and fun. He seemed to
have lost altogether his rough but
hearty kindness. At the same time he
preserved all his intelligence, tirmness
and energy. He was a (or rather they
Fenian martyr, and he bad the repute
of being the most honest and trust-
worthy of all the chiefs. It was nat.
ural, therefore, that he should gather
to himself a strong party of the Amer
lean Fenians, and as natural that the
said party should exceed all the oths
ers in steady ferocity of purpose, !