Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1885-01-08
A w0SDERFuLFE NIAN ofRC LIZ.
Row an Organization was Effected
IN lhe Heart ofTrInity College, Dub

Now an Organization was Effected
In The Heart ofTrInity College, Dub
lin.
The irish police DO not know to
this hour that there was a Fenian cir
Gle in full working order at one time
among the students Of Trinity cellege,
Dublin, writes . gentleman whose
nome de plume is THE Man Taught
Them" to The New York Sun All
the men who belonged TO it are now
scattered over the world. Some are
officers in the British army; other are
ia holy orders, and few have become
soldiers Of fortune, and are known in
many foreign lands, while others have
taken to literature and journalism
and made this republic their home.
Most of them are out of harm way,
and the few who remain in Ireland
are wearing the wigs and gowns of
Irish harristerS, and are above Sus-
picion, for, to all appearances they
have become loyal subject of the
crown. The Eaglish officials are
never likely to guess the names Of the
men who played conspirators inside
the wall Of Trinity in the days not so
long ago They may be sitting at the
mess of English regiments; they may
be attending the queens receptions
In Great Britain or Ireland. THEA
thorities would as soon think OF sus-
pecting the members Of the queen s
household Of treason as these mem
bers Of old trinity, that nursey Of IN
tellectual West Britonism in Ireland.
The very stones IN the courtyards
would rise in mutiny against so foul a
charge, and yet there we wee, full
ledged, and "a eoodly uursber Of US
too, throwing aside the studies Of tho
hour, and devoting our time to con
coctlng the ruin Of the empire.
I laugh at our folly now, and 40
doubt SO do all tue rest | was the
head and front Of the grave offend
ing. 1t was on NE that the teaching
devolved, and it was to me that the
students looked for instruction in the
art of war. That was our heroic age.
We threw aside Homer and Tele-
machus and applied ourselves to the
art Of military engineering, while we
foudly hoped that we We're going TO
revoIutionize the empire with piece
of chalk and q black boald, We
abandoned the study of Newton and
Kepler and took uT the military work
OF Jomini and the campaigns of Ma
poleon. Coperni0us and Tycho were
placed on the shelf to give us time 70
learn the mysteries Of the trench and
the dangers of the escalade. We took
more interestin knowing how to make
a pontoon than IN Sir Charles Lyell
or "Old Red Sandstone, and for the
time thought it better that we Should
be able to sketch an outpost than read
Sanscrit or bother ourselves with
"L'Allegr0" or Paradise Lost.
We only met once a week for our
regular course of instruction, but we
were expected to read up meanwhile
and come prepared to tell why Napo-
leon did not win the battle of Boro-
demo, or to discuss the question Of our
hopes aud fears I'D the event Of civil
war on our own green hillsides. This
was to us more interesting then than
treatises ON prehistoric man, the works
of Spencer, the history Of the renais
sance, or the recreation we were sup
posed to have by reading Alfred de
Musset Lamartne, and Helne. We
wanted to know how battles could be
fought and won, and we studied the
histories Of Gustavus, Adolphus,
Forstsnson, Marlborough, Uragnol,
Monk, and even Tamerlane. We
thirsted to follow to the field some
warlike lord, and our regular studies
did not supply our thirst for the
knowledge necessary for our purpose.
IT looked like a dream now. After
many years Of sober experience and
battling with the world, ! often won
der at our credulity. But there we
were, week after week, seriously
going through our course Of instruct
ION with all the gravity of men who
were resolute and strong. Hours were
stolen from mathematics, from chem
istry, from the dissecting room, the
easel, aud from the commentators on
the bible to devote our time TO the
phantom of hope and instruction in
ireland. The divinity students, the
law studens, the youths intended, by
their fathers, for the army we're all
the same-young and enthusiastic,
full Of hope, and brimful of folly.
Our studies were mostly intellectual.
and we seldom shouldered our rifles
in manual exercise. When we did all
the orders were given in whispers.
We took off our boots when march
ing. We did not make much noise.
but when noise was Necessary two or
three of our Number were detached
to keep hammering on board as the
tramp, tramp. tramp of the classmen
fell spon The l..of. There were stu
dents at their studies all around US,
and detection might mean expulsion,
and. perhaps. fifteen years imprison-
ment with hard labor The lights
were Kept burning as usual. The outer
door was indeed bolted, bat that was
all. and we laughed and were merry
enough, knowing that our boldness
was our safeguard, and that suspicion